Science News Roundup: Australian scientists find huge new healthy coral reef; U.S. researchers dream of life after Trump and more

Australian scientists find huge new healthy coral reef off northern coast Australian scientists found a detached coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef that exceeds the height of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower, the Schmidt Ocean Institute said this week, the first such discovery in over 100 years.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Australian scientists find huge new healthy coral reef off northern coast

Australian scientists found a detached coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef that exceeds the height of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower, the Schmidt Ocean Institute said this week, the first such discovery in over 100 years. The "blade like" reef is nearly 500 metres tall and 1.5 kilometres wide, said the institute founded by ex-Google boss Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy. It lies 40 metres below the ocean surface and about six kilometres from the edge of Great Barrier Reef.

Make Science Great Again: U.S. researchers dream of life after Trump

From his lab in Toulouse, France, Benjamin Sanderson models the range of extreme risks to humans from climate change, research he hopes can inform policymakers planning for worsening wildfires and floods. It is the kind of work he once performed in the United States - and hopes to again soon. Sanderson is among dozens of U.S.-based climate scientists who shifted their research to France, or sought refuge in academia or in left-leaning states like California after Republican Donald Trump was elected in 2016. They worried his administration’s distrust of science would impact their ability to finance and advance their work.

Chinese spacecraft set for Mars landing in May: state media

A Chinese spacecraft is expected to land on Mars in May, state-run media reported on Thursday, citing a space agency official. The spacecraft, which left Earth in July, is set to land in Utopia Planitia, a plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars, the China News Service reported, citing Liu Tongjie, spokesman for the Mars mission.

U.S. nursing homes still face COVID-19 test delays; you can wash Halloween candy

The following is a roundup of some 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. U.S. nursing homes lack access to prompt COVID-19 diagnoses.

Why NASA's moonshot, Boeing, Bezos, and Musk have a lot riding on U.S. election

U.S. President Donald Trump's differences with rival presidential candidate Joe Biden extend far beyond planet earth. President Trump's plans to win the race in space call for a 2024 moon mission, and ending direct U.S. financial support for the International Space Station in 2025 - turning over control of the decades-old orbital laboratory to private space companies.

UK R number edges down to 1.1-1.3, growth rate slows

The reproduction "R" number of the COVID-19 epidemic in Britain fell slightly for the second week in a row, government scientists said on Friday, adding the estimated growth rate had slowed too. The "R" number was 1.1-1.3, down from 1.2-1.4, the UK's Government Office for Science said. That means on average every 10 people infected will infect between 11 and 13 other people.

(With inputs from agencies.)