SCIENCE SCENE.

• Position: Safety awards for electric vehicles, covid-19 vaccines safely protects pregnant women and their offsprings from covid-19, Salk Institute for Biological Studies uses machine learning algorithms to speed up plant phenotyping

Evidence Is growing that electric vehicles are at least as safe as conventional ones, with autos that run exclusively on battery power earning safety awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In fact, an updated analysis of insurance data shows injury claims are substantially less frequent for such vehicles. "We can now say with confidence that making the U.S. fleet more environmentally friendly doesn't require any compromises in terms of safety," says NHS Pres. David Harkey.

COVID-19 vaccines safely protect expectant mothers and their newborns from the coronavirus, maintains research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "If you are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding and have questions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine, speak with your OB/GYN about what may be best for you," says maternal fetal medicine specialist Dimitry Zilberman.

Father of genetics Gregor Mendel spent years tediously observing and measuring pea plant traits by hand in the 1800s to uncover the basics of inheritance. Today, botanists can track the traits, or phenotypes, of hundreds of thousands of plants much more quickly with automated camera systems. Now, researchers at the the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, Calif., have helped speed up plant phenotyping even more with machine-learning algorithms that teach a computer system to analyze three-dimensional shapes of the branches and leaves of a plant.

It is imperative for engineers to design offshore and floating structures with materials that can withstand the hazardous environment of the ocean, but there is more to keep in mind than the constant beating of the waves. Corrosion, for instance, causes materials to weaken and decompose. There is "the necessity to discover new materials that will be stronger and resistant, with improved mechanical and chemical characteristics for energy production and offshore installations," notes...