Science News Roundup: Neutralizing antibody; new virus details to aid vaccine research; China launches spacecraft via largest carrier rocket: CCTV and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Soccer: Will the player of the future be 'plant-based'?

The days of English football's once-notorious drinking culture are long gone and few professionals would now list the once obligatory 'steak and chips' as their favorite meal but things are moving to a different level entirely when it comes to what players used to call 'looking after yourself'. Whether it be the influence of dieticians, sports scientists, or foreign coaches and teammates, you only need to look at the physique of modern Premier League players to realize they take health and nutrition very seriously.

How do koalas drink? Not the way you might think

Scientists have solved a lingering mystery about koala behavior - how these tree-dwelling marsupials native to Australia consume enough water to live. A new study describes koala drinking behavior in the wild for the first time, finding that they lick water running down the smooth surface of tree trunks during rainfall - a phenomenon called "stemflow" - and do not rely merely on the water content of the leaves that make up their diet.

Neutralizing antibody; new virus details to aid vaccine research

The following is a brief roundup of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Antibody that "neutralizes" the novel coronavirus.

Exclusive: Trump administration drafting 'Artemis Accords' pact for moon mining - sources

The Trump administration is drafting a legal blueprint for mining on the moon under a new U.S.-sponsored international agreement called the Artemis Accords, people familiar with the proposed pact told Reuters. The agreement would be the latest effort to cultivate allies around NASA's plan to put humans and space stations on the moon within the next decade, and comes as the civilian space agency plays a growing role in implementing American foreign policy. The draft pact has not been formally shared with U.S. allies yet. Belgian,

U.S. scientists look to llama in search for COVID-19 treatment

A llama called Winter could prove useful in the hunt for a treatment for COVID-19, according to U.S. and Belgian scientists who have identified a tiny particle that appears to block the new coronavirus. The scientists, from Belgium's VIB-UGent center for medical biotechnology and the University of Texas at Austin, published research on Tuesday in the journal Cell, with the llama in Belgium central to their studies.

China launches spacecraft via largest carrier rocket: CCTV

China on Tuesday successfully launched its largest carrier rocket, which was carrying a new-generation spacecraft, state broadcaster CCTV said. The Long March-5B carrier rocket took off at 1800 local time (1000 GMT) at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the southern island province of Hainan. It was the first mission carried out by the Long March-5B, CCTV reported, citing the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

Kremlin says U.S. moon mining proposals need thorough legal analysis

The Kremlin on Wednesday said a U.S.-proposed legal blueprint for mining on the moon would need to be analysed thoroughly to check if it complies with international law. The Trump administration is drafting the proposals under a new U.S.-sponsored international agreement called the Artemis Accords, people familiar with the proposed pact told Reuters, and that Russia, a major partner with NASA on the International Space Station, would not be an early partner.