Science News - December 17, 2022 USA

Surprisingly Social Marsupials | Our Favorite Books of the Year
MAGAZINE OF THE SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE s DECEMBER 17, 2022 & DECEMBER 31, 2022
NEW VISTAS
AS The science that made headlines in 2022
ARE YOU 15-17
YEARS OLD?
APPLY TO RISE
Rise is a program that finds brilliant
people who need opportunity and
supports them for life as they work
to serve others.
The program starts at ages 15–17

and offers Global Winners access to
benefits that last a lifetime including
scholarships, mentorship, access
to career development
opportunities, funding, and more as
they work toward solving humanity’s
most pressing problems.
Apply by January 25, 2023

www.risefortheworld.org
Note: Applicants must be 15-17 as of

July 1, 2023, meaning they were born
on or between July 2, 2005 and July 1,
2008.
VOL. 202 | NO. 11
2022 Year in Review

14 TOP STORIES: The James Webb Space
Telescope’s dazzling views of the cosmos
offered a respite from more somber
news — pandemic fatigue, monkeypox
and other virus outbreaks, Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, and climate change.
PLUS: Read about other news from space,

scientific record breakers and more.
14
News
6 A child treated for a rare Brain implants can turn 11 A meteorite strengthens
genetic disease while still thoughts into words — the case for asteroids
in the womb appears to and could give voice to delivering water to Earth
be thriving people who can’t speak
12 Rulers of an ancient Maya
7 What Greenland’s 9 Tiger sharks helped city may have faked it till
shrinking inland ice may map the largest known they made it 4
mean for sea level rise seagrass bed
The oldest known
8 Researchers mix metal
droplets and ultrasound
10 Many loner marsupials
may actually be social
sentence written in a
phonetic alphabet is
Departments
to make stretchy wires butterflies a plea against lice 2 EDITOR’S NOTE
4 NOTEBOOK
A clam known only from
fossils is found alive; world
FROM TOP: KATTY HUERTAS; J. GODDARD; DAFNA GAZIT/ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY
population passes 8 billion
34 REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

Check out our favorite
science books of 2022
38 SCIENCE VISUALIZED
Climate change intensified
natural disasters all over
the world this year
40 FEEDBACK
COVER The James Webb

Space Telescope reveals
new details of the iconic
Pillars of Creation. NASA,
ESA, CSA, STScI, Joseph
DePasquale, Anton M.
Koekemoer and Alyssa
12 Pagan/STScI
www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 1

EDITOR’S NOTE
This was a year of both

PUBLISHER Maya Ajmera
EDITOR IN CHIEF Nancy Shute
EDITORIAL
triumphs and challenges EDITOR , SPECIAL PROJECTS Elizabeth Quill

NEWS DIRECTOR Macon Morehouse
DIGITAL DIRECTOR Demian Perry
FEATURES EDITOR Cori Vanchieri
The cover of this year-end issue of Science News spot- MANAGING EDITOR , MAGAZINE Erin Wayman
DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR Emily DeMarco
lights a spectacular scientific achievement: an image of ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS Christopher Crockett,
Ashley Yeager
deep space captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Cassie Martin
ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR Helen Thompson
After decades of delay and cost overruns, the absurdly AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Mike Denison
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT PRODUCER Kaitlin Kanable
complicated craft started beaming back images this sum- CIVIC SCIENCE FELLOW Martina G. Efeyini
ASTRONOMY Lisa Grossman
mer. Each image has exceeded scientists’ wildest expectations. We had a hard BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Bruce Bower
BIOMEDICAL Aimee Cunningham
time choosing just one for the cover. EARTH AND CLIMATE Carolyn Gramling
LIFE SCIENCES Susan Milius
These extraordinary views, some looking more than 13 billion years back MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, SENIOR WRITER Tina Hesman Saey
NEUROSCIENCE , SENIOR WRITER Laura Sanders
in time, brought our staff joy too — so much so that we’ve led off our year-end PHYSICS , SENIOR WRITER Emily Conover
SOCIAL SCIENCES Sujata Gupta
review with this technological triumph, including more gorgeous images STAFF WRITERS Erin Garcia de Jesús, Nikk Ogasa, Meghan Rosen
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Aina Abell
(Page 15). This year had plenty of other big news in astronomy, including the SCIENCE WRITER INTERN Deborah Balthazar
CONTRIBUTING CORRESPONDENTS
launch of NASA’s Artemis I mission, a key step in sending people to the moon Laura Beil, Tom Siegfried, Alexandra Witze
and beyond. For sheer fun, it’s hard to beat NASA’s DART spacecraft elbowing DESIGN
CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER Stephen Egts
an asteroid off course. It was the first test of a method to protect our planet DESIGN DIRECTOR Erin Otwell
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Tracee Tibbitts
from dangerous collisions with space rocks (Page 30). ART DIRECTOR Chang Won Chang
It was also a big year for efforts to counter the impacts of climate change, SCIENCE NEWS EXPLORES
EDITOR , DIGITAL Janet Raloff
EDITOR , PRINT Sarah Zielinski
with the U.S. Congress passing legislation to invest billions of dollars in green ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Jill Sakai
ASSISTANT EDITOR Maria Temming
energy technologies (Page 28). ASSISTANT DIGITAL EDITOR Lillian Steenblik Hwang
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Aaron Tremper
And here at Science News, we wrapped our 100-year anniversary project, the
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE
Century of Science, taking deep dives into the evolution of climate science, our PRESIDENT AND CEO Maya Ajmera
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Rachel Goldman Alper
digital lives, quantum reality and more. Our March 26 issue (below) chronicled CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Matt Fuller
CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER Michele Glidden
how our journalism, like the science, has evolved over the decades. CHIEF, EVENTS AND OPERATIONS Cait Goldberg
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING OFFICER
Please forgive me for opening with the good news; it’s the optimist in me. Gayle Kansagor
CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Bruce B. Makous
There were many challenges in 2022 as well. The SARS-CoV-2 virus continues CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER James C. Moore
to defy hopes that it will slink off, with the omicron variant driving a historic BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIR Mary Sue Coleman
surge in infections and deaths earlier this year. Vaccines for children and an VICE CHAIR Martin Chalfie TREASURER Hayley Bay Barna
SECRETARY Christine Burton AT LARGE Thomas F. Rosenbaum
updated booster were bright spots (Page 23). But “pandemic fatigue” plus mixed MEMBERS Craig R. Barrett, Adam Bly, Lance R. Collins,
Mariette DiChristina, Tessa M. Hill, Charles McCabe,
messaging from public officials W.E. Moerner, Dianne K. Newman, Roderic Ivan Pettigrew,
Afton Vechery, Gideon Yu, Feng Zhang, Maya Ajmera, ex officio
War in Ukraine Disrupts Space Science | Peanut Allergy Pill Tested encouraged many people to aban-
ADVERTISING AND SUBSCRIBER SERVICES
don precautions and skip booster ADVERTISING Daryl Anderson
MAGAZINE MARKETING John Pierce
MAGAZINE OF THE SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE s MARCH 26, 2022
shots, even though the virus is kill- SCIENCE NEWS LEARNING Anna Pawlow
PERMISSIONS Jackie Ludden Nardelli
ing more than 300 people a day in
Science News
CELEBRATING the United States (Page 20). And 1719 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 785-2255
now, when all we really want is a Subscriber services:
E-mail subscriptions@sciencenews.org
holiday season with no worries Phone (800) 552-4412 in the U.S. or
about spreading dreaded diseases, (937) 610-0240 outside of the U.S.
Web www.sciencenews.org/subscribe
flu and other viruses are piling on For renewals, www.sciencenews.org/renew
Mail Science News, PO Box 292255, Kettering, OH
(Page 24). When are these germs 45429-0255
going to cut us a break? Never, a Editorial/Letters: feedback@sciencenews.org
Science News Learning: snlearning@societyforscience.org
YEARS OF virologist would likely say. Advertising/Sponsor content: ads@societyforscience.org
SCIENCE But I take consolation in the fact

Science News (ISSN 0036-8423) is published 22 times per
year, bi-weekly except the first week only in May and October
JOURNALISM We’ve covered the Scopes trial, the

that with each vast new challenge,
scientists are continuing to lead
and the first and last weeks only in July by the Society for
Science & the Public, 1719 N Street, NW, Washington, DC
20036.
moonwalk, Dolly the Sheep and more Subscribe to Science News: Subscriptions include 22 issues
the way in seeking solutions. of Science News and full access to www.sciencenews.org and
cost $59 for one year (international rate of $77 includes extra
— Nancy Shute, Editor in Chief shipping charges).
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE
Subscribe www.sciencenews.org/subscription
Single copies are $4.99 (plus $1.01 shipping and handling).
Society for Science & the Public is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization founded in 1921. The Society seeks to Preferred periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C.,
promote the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement: to inform, edu- and an additional mailing office.
cate, inspire. Learn more at societyforscience.org. Copyright © 2022 by Society for Science & the Public. Title registered Postmaster: Send address changes to Science News,
as trademark U.S. and Canadian Patent Offices. Republication of any portion of Science News without written permission of PO Box 292255, Kettering, OH 45429-0255. Two to six
the publisher is prohibited. For permission to photocopy articles, contact permissions@sciencenews.org. Sponsor content weeks’ notice is required. Old and new addresses, including
and advertising appearing in this publication do not constitute endorsement of its content by Science News or the Society. zip codes, must be provided.
2 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

A.
44 million year old
honey gold Baltic amber
gives you a glimpse into
the fascinating world of
prehistoric times
Get the complete set
for only $199 plus
Free Shippping
with call-in only!*
Prehistoric Perfection
44 million year old Baltic amber priced at just $99
B oth in love and in gemstones, it can take a long time to we made certain
achieve perfection. Just as your relationship has matured you can bring
and strengthened over the years, so has Baltic amber. This home 160 total
PRAISE FOR STAUER AMBER JEWELRY

“When it arrived I was blown away
natural gemstone is a scientific phenomenon that contains carats of the world’s by it’s beauty and uniqueness.”
fossilized plant and animal life that date back over 40 million oldest natural gem – J. R., Port Angeles, WA
years. In fact, most of the life-forms found in Baltic amber for only $99.
are now extinct.
Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. Revel in the
B. Thankfully, the fine art of a unique beauty of Cherry Amber for 30 days. If it fails
great deal is alive and well at to delight, send it back for a full refund of the item price.
Stauer. The amber pieces you Limited Reserves. Baltic amber at these prices won’t stick
see here feature ample carats of around. Call today before this great deal becomes extinct.
amber from the icy Baltic region,
famous for containing the Cherry Amber Collection
world’s finest amber deposits. A. Necklace (160 ctw) ...............$499† $99 + S&P Save $400
And, adding to the prehistoric B. Ring (8 ctw) ...........................$399† $79 + S&P Save $320
mystique is the fact that no two
C. stones are identical–– each piece C. Earrings (15 ctw) ...................$399† $99 + S&P Save $300
captured something different as Necklace, Ring & Earrings Set $1297 $277 + S&P Save $1,020
it formed, just as every love *Call and ask how to get the set for only $199 with free shipping
story is unique.
You must use the insider offer code to get our special price.
Now, there are necklaces with
generous gems of amber going 1-800-333-2045
for nearly $15,000. We think Your Insider Offer Code: CAC215-01
that’s barbaric. Which is why
† Special price only for customers using the offer code versus the price on
Stauer.com without your offer code.
“People have been making amber jewelry for over
10,000 years, which could make it the first gem
material ever used.”
Stauer ®
14101 Southcross Drive W., Ste 155, Dept. CAC215-01,

— The International Gem Society (IGS) Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 www.stauer.com Rating of A+
• 20" Necklace • 160 ctw tumbled Baltic amber • Ring set in yellow gold-finished .925 sterling silver • Ring: whole sizes 5-10
Stauer… Afford the Extraordinary.®
A DV E RTI SE M E NT
NOTEBOOK
Excerpt from the

December 23, 1972
issue of Science News
50 YEARS AGO
A perfect ending
This Cymatioa cooki clam
for Apollo extends the foot it uses to
Project Apollo ended move around in the sand
beyond its translucent,
this week. The last moon white shell. Until now, the
men … returned to Earth … and clam had been known
splashed down on a target only from fossils.
in the Pacific Dec. 19.… All
of the surface and orbital THE SCIENCE LIFE
instruments appear to be
working with the exception
Clam discovery resurrects a long-dead species
of the surface gravimeter.… A species of clam is back from the dead. the 1930s by paleontologist George Willett.
The geology investigation Known as Cymatioa cooki, the clam had “Once I physically saw that original
team summed it up this way: only ever been found as a fossil, and sci- specimen that Willett had used … I knew
“Apollo 17 will be remembered entists presumed that the species had right away” that the live clam was the same
as the most scientifically been extinct for about 30,000 years. Then, species, Valentich-Scott says.
sophisticated, not as the last, while scouring tide pools for sea slugs off The researchers still puzzle over how
manned lunar landing.” the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., in 2018, the clam eluded scientists for so long.
marine ecologist Jeff Goddard spotted One idea is that C. cooki’s preferred habi-
UPDATE: The Apollo missions something unfamiliar: a white, translucent tat may be a remote area in Baja California,
continue adding to our bivalve roughly 11 millimeters long. Mexico. A mass of warm water might have
knowledge of the moon and Not wanting to disrupt the clam, washed some clam larvae north toward
Earth. Scientists have used Goddard, of the University of California, Santa Barbara. So far, Valentich-Scott and
lunar soil samples collected Santa Barbara, photographed it and shared Goddard have found at least two, and poten-
by Apollo astronauts to show the images with a colleague. Paul Valentich- tially four, of the living clams.
that growing plants on the Scott, curator emeritus of malacology at “It’s rare to find something first as a fos-
moon, while challenging, may the Santa Barbara Museum sil and then living,” says
be possible (SN: 7/2/22, p. 4). In of Natural History, didn’t David Jablonski, a paleon-
May, NASA researchers began recognize the marine crit- tologist at the University of
scrutinizing untouched lunar ter either, which made him Chicago.
rock and soil samples from the happy. “New discoveries The triumphant re-
Apollo 17 mission for hints are part of why we’re in sci- appearance of C. cooki,
of past moon conditions and ence,” he says. described November 7 in
the chemicals crucial for life. The pair captured a ZooKeys, places the clam
Then in November, a new era live specimen in 2019 and among a group of “back-
of moon missions dawned with brought it back to the from-the-dead” creatures
the launch of NASA’s Artemis I museum for comparison dubbed Lazarus taxa. Even
mission (see Page 30). NASA with known species from with the vast array of ani-
BOTH: J. GODDARD
hopes to land humans on the the fossil record. The A Cymatioa cooki clam (arrow) sits mal specimens available to
moon in 2025 to pick up where creature bore a striking next to a larger mollusk called a modern scientists, Jablonski
chiton in a tide pool. The clam,
Apollo 17 astronauts left off. resemblance to a fossil presumed extinct for millennia, is says, “there’s always more
bivalve first described in about 11 millimeters long. to find.” — Allison Gasparini

SCIENCE STATS Estimated global human population, 1950–2100
15
Human population hits a milestone 14
14 In the 2080s, the
13 population is projected
Eight billion. That’s the number of humans estimated to be to peak at 10.4 billion.
alive on Earth as of November 15, according to a projection 12
12
Population (billions)
from the United Nations. 11 On November 15, 2022,
10
10 the global population
The landmark “brings important responsibilities, and high- reached 8 billion.
9
lights related challenges for social and economic development
88
and environmental sustainability,” Maria-Francesca Spatolisano,
7 Median
the U.N. assistant secretary-general for policy coordination and
66 projection
interagency affairs, said at a July news conference.
5
Though the global population continues to expand, the rate
44
of growth is slowing. Current projections predict the world’s
3
population will peak at about 10.4 billion in the 2080s and
22
remain steady until 2100. Previously, the U.N. had predicted 1950 1970 1990 2010 2030 2050 2070 2090
that the world’s population could reach 11.2 billion by 2100, Year
based on the rate of population growth in 2017. Population projections The global population is expected to
In the coming decades, migration is expected to be the peak at about 10.4 billion in the 2080s and then level off until the end
of the century, according to projections from the United Nations. The
sole driver of population growth in high-income countries, red line is the median of many projections (some shown in gray), each
according to the U.N.’s World Population Prospects 2022 computed by varying factors such as fertility and mortality rates.
report, released in July. What’s more, the populations of
61 countries and territories are projected to decrease by While population growth may put more stress on the envi-
1 percent or more between now and 2050. In lower-income ronment, Spatolisano said, developed countries that consume
countries, population growth is expected to still be driven by the most resources are the most responsible for mitigating
more births than deaths. that stress. — Allison Gasparini
MYSTERY SOLVED knew that polymyxins somehow interfere with bacterial cell
membranes. But nobody had imagined a scenario like the
Here’s how mysterious ‘last-resort’ crunchy waffles Hiller and colleagues discovered.
antibiotics kill infectious bacteria The team exposed bits of cell membrane from E. coli to vary-
To kill drug-resistant bacteria, “last-resort” antibiotics borrow ing concentrations of colistin. Atomic force microscopy imaging
a tactic from Medusa’s playbook: petrification. revealed that crystals formed at the minimum concentrations
New high-resolution microscope images show that a class of required to kill the bacteria. Membranes from colistin-resistant
antibiotics called polymyxins crystallize the cell membranes of E. coli strains that were exposed to the drug didn’t crystallize.
FROM TOP: POPULATION DIVISION/DESA/UNITED NATIONS (CC BY 3.0 IGO); SELEN MANIOĞLU
bacteria. The resulting honeycomb-shaped crystals that form The results indicate that polymyxins work by arranging the
turn the microbes’ usually supple skins into thin brittle sheets, cell membrane into a crystalline structure that leaves the skin
researchers report October 21 in Nature brittle and vulnerable. “That’s something
Communications. When the petrified mem- Bacterial membranes are usually supple that has not even remotely been hypoth-
branes break, the bacteria die. and smooth. But polymyxin antibiotics esized so far,” says Markus Weingarth, a
crystallize the membranes and turn them
The finding was a total surprise, says into brittle sheets of hexagonal “waffles” biochemist at Utrecht University in the
structural biologist Sebastian Hiller of the (shown in this microscope image). Netherlands. “It’s a very important study.
University of Basel in Switzerland. I’d even say it’s a breakthrough.”
Hiller and colleagues had been using But how exactly polymyxins crystallize
the antibiotics as a control for a differ- cell membranes remains unclear. That’s
ent experiment. When the researchers a problem because some bacteria have
turned on their microscopes, “we saw these developed resistance to polymyxins and
waffles,” Hiller says. “I immediately recog- are becoming more widespread. Hiller
nized, wow, this must be something special.” hopes that this first glimpse of polymyxins’
Polymyxin antibiotics like colistin were petrifying powers will help scientists
discovered in the 1940s and are now used combat resistance to the antibiotics.
as a powerful last-ditch defense against “Understanding these concepts will defi-
bacteria that have evolved resistance to nitely bring a lot of ideas,” Hiller says.
20 nm
most other drugs. Researchers already — Elise Cutts

News
BODY & BRAIN
Baby treated in utero for rare disorder

Pompe disease can begin damaging organs even before birth
especially if treatment starts soon after

Ayla Bashir, shown here birth (SN: 11/4/00, p. 303).
with her mother, is the
first child treated for a Early studies in mice suggested that
rare genetic disorder treatment before birth showed promise
called infantile-onset for controlling a Pompe-like disease. So
Pompe disease while
still in the womb. pediatric geneticist Jennifer L. Cohen
of Duke University School of Medicine
and colleagues launched an early-stage
clinical trial covering Pompe disease and
seven similar conditions broadly called
lysosomal storage diseases.
The team began treating Bashir by
infusing lab-made GAA through the umbil-
ical vein when her mother was 24 weeks
pregnant. Her mother received a total
of six infusions, one every two weeks.
Since Bashir’s birth, the medical team has
been treating her with now-weekly infu-
sions. She will continue to need treatment
throughout her life.
The therapy was safe for both mother
and child, Cohen says. But until more
patients are treated and monitored in
BY ERIN GARCIA DE JESÚS “It’s a great step forward,” says Bill the trial, it’s unclear whether this enzyme
A young girl is flourishing after receiving Peranteau, a pediatric and fetal surgeon replacement will always be a safe and
treatment for a rare genetic disease. In at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia effective option. So far, two other patients
a first for this disease, she received that who wasn’t involved in the work. with other lysosomal storage diseases have
treatment before she was even born. Infantile-onset Pompe disease is a rare received treatment in the trial, but it’s too
Sixteen-month-old Ayla Bashir has condition affecting less than 1 in 138,000 early to know how they’re faring.
infantile-onset Pompe disease, a genetic people globally. It’s caused by genetic Researchers are also exploring in utero
disorder that can cause organ damage changes that either reduce levels of an therapies for other rare genetic dis-
before birth. Babies born with Pompe enzyme called acid alpha-glucosidase, or eases, including the blood disorder
disease typically have enlarged hearts GAA, or prevent the body from making alpha thalassemia. And in 2018, scientists
and weak muscles. If left untreated, most the enzyme at all. described three children who were suc-
infants die before they turn 2. Treatment Inside cells’ lysosomes, structures that cessfully treated for a life-threatening
usually begins after birth, but that tactic act as garbage disposals, GAA turns the sweating disorder before they were born.
doesn’t prevent the irreversible and poten- complex sugar glycogen into glucose — the Such approaches have the potential to
tially deadly organ damage that happens body’s main source of energy. Without treat other rare diseases in the future,
in utero. GAA, glycogen accumulates to danger- Peranteau says. But it will be important
Bashir received treatment while still in ously high levels that can damage muscle to first show that any newly developed
the womb as part of an early-stage clini- tissue, including the heart and muscles treatments are safe and work when given
cal trial. Today, the toddler has a normal that help people breathe. after birth before trying them in utero.
heart and is meeting developmental mile- While some people can develop Pompe For now, it’s unclear how Bashir will
stones, including walking. Her success disease later in life or have a less severe fare over the long term, Cohen says.
is a sign that prenatal treatment of the version that doesn’t enlarge the heart, “We’re cautiously optimistic, but we want
CHEO MEDIA HOUSE
disease can stave off organ damage and Bashir was diagnosed with the most severe to be careful and be monitoring through-
improve babies’ lives, researchers report form. Her body doesn’t make any GAA. out the patient’s life. Especially those first
November 9 in the New England Journal Replacing the missing enzyme through an five years, I think, are going to be critical
of Medicine. infusion can help curb glycogen buildup, to see how she does.”

EARTH & ENVIRONMENT larger than we have predicted until now.” of tectonic plates. The team analyzed GPS
In the new study, Khan and colleagues data from three stations along the ice
Greenland is focused on the Northeast Greenland Ice stream’s main trunk, all located between
hemorrhaging ice Stream, a titanic conveyor belt of solid ice

that crawls about 600 kilometers through
90 and 190 kilometers inland. The ice
stream had accelerated at all three points
Inland flows may raise sea the landmass’s ice sheet out of the hinter- from 2016 to 2019, the data showed. In
levels faster than expected land and into the sea. The stream drains that time frame, the ice speed at the
about 12 percent of the country’s entire station farthest inland increased from
BY NIKK OGASA ice sheet and contains enough water to about 344 meters per year to surpassing
Sea level rise may proceed faster than raise global sea level more than a meter. 351 m/yr.
expected in the coming decades, as a Near the coast, the ice stream splits into By comparing the GPS measure-
gargantuan flow of ice slithering out of two glaciers, Nioghalvfjerdsbrae and ments with data from polar-orbiting
Greenland’s remote interior both picks Zachariae Isstrøm. satellites and aircraft surveys, the team
up speed and shrinks. While intact, these glaciers keep the detected that acceleration more than
By the end of the century, the ice ice behind them from rushing into the 200 kilometers upstream. What’s more,
procession’s deterioration could con- sea, much like dams hold back water in shrinking — or thinning — of the ice stream
tribute nearly 16 millimeters to global a river. When the ice shelf of Zachariae that started in 2011 at Zachariae Isstrøm
sea level rise — more than six times as Isstrøm collapsed about a decade ago, had advanced more than 250 kilometers
much as scientists had previously esti- scientists found that the ice f lowing upstream by 2021.
mated, researchers report November 9 behind the glacier started accelerating. “This is showing that glaciers are
in Nature. But whether those changes penetrated responding along their length faster than
The finding suggests that inland deep into Greenland’s interior remained we had thought previously,” says Leigh
portions of large flows of ice elsewhere largely unresolved. Stearns, a glaciologist at the University of
could also be withering and acceler- “We’ve mostly concerned ourselves Kansas in Lawrence who was not involved
ating due to human-caused climate with the margins,” says atmosphere- in the study.
change, and that past research has prob- cryosphere scientist Jenny Turton of the Khan and colleagues then used the
ably underestimated the rates at which nonprofit Arctic Frontiers in Tromsø, data to tune computer simulations that
the ice will contribute to sea level rise Norway, who was not involved in the new forecast the ice stream’s impact on sea
(SN: 3/12/22, p. 16). study. That’s where the most dramatic level rise. The researchers predict that
“It’s not something that we expected,” changes with the greatest impacts on sea by 2100, the ice stream will have single-
says glaciologist Shfaqat Abbas Khan of level rise have been observed, she says. handedly contributed between about
the Technical University of Denmark Keen to measure small rates of move- 14 and 16 millimeters to global sea level
in Kongens Lyngby. “Greenland and ment in the ice stream far inland, Khan rise — as much as Greenland’s entire ice
Antarctica’s contributions to sea level rise and colleagues used GPS, which in the sheet has in the last 50 years.
in the next 80 years will be significantly past has exposed the tortuous creeping The findings suggest that past research
has underestimated rates of sea level
rise driven by the ice stream, Stearns
and Turton agree. Similarly, upstream
thinning and acceleration in other large
flows of ice, such as those associated with
Antarctica’s shrinking Pine Island and
Thwaites glaciers (SN: 7/2/22, p. 8; SN:
1/29/22, p. 12), might also cause sea levels
to rise faster than expected, Turton says.
Khan and colleagues plan to investi-
gate inland sections of other large ice
GUARDIAN_V2/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
streams in Greenland and Antarctica,

with the aim of improving forecasts of
sea level rise (SN: 2/29/20, p. 18).
The Nioghalvfjerdsbrae glacier
(shown) is one outlet of the roughly Such forecasts are crucial for adapting
600-kilometer-long Northeast to climate change, Stearns says. “They’re
Greenland Ice Stream, which helping us better understand the pro-
drains ice from the country’s
massive ice sheet into the sea. cesses so that we can inform the people
who need to know that information.”

NEWS
MATH & TECHNOLOGY charges that push the droplets apart,

making them useless for connecting the
Sound helps wire stretchy electronics LEDs, microchips and other components
Wearable devices could benefit from the new technique in electronic circuitry.
But hitting the microspheres with
BY JAMES R. RIORDON less than ideal (SN: 6/9/18, p. 18). high-frequency sound waves causes the
Zapping liquid metal droplets with ultra- Researchers began by drawing lines microscopic balls to shed even smaller,
sound offers a new way to make wiring on sheets of stretchy plastic with micro- nanoscopic balls of liquid metal. The
for stretchy, bendy electronics. scopic droplets of a metal alloy. The alloy, tiny spheres bridge the gaps between
The technique, described in the made of gallium and indium, is liquid at the larger ones, and that close contact
Nov. 11 Science, adds a new approach to temperatures above about 16° Celsius. allows electrons to tunnel through the
the toolboxes of researchers developing Though the liquid metal conducts elec- oxide layers so that the droplets can
circuitry for skin-based medical sensors, tricity, the droplets quickly oxidize. That carry electricity, the team found.
wearable electronics and other applica- process covers each droplet with a thin When the plastic that the drops are
tions where rigid circuit electronics are insulating layer. The layers carry static printed on is stretched or bent, the
larger balls of metal can deform, while
In a new approach the smaller ones act like rigid particles
to making stretchy that shift around to maintain contact.
wiring, exposing liquid The researchers demonstrated their
metal to ultrasound
creates nanoscopic balls conductors by connecting electronics
nestled among larger into a stretchy pattern of LEDs display-
microspheres (shown in ing the initials of the Dynamic Materials
this scanning electron
microscope image). Design Laboratory at the Korea Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology in
Daejeon, South Korea, where the work
was done. The team also built a sensor
with the conductors that can monitor
blood through a person’s skin.
Flexible electronics applications aren’t
new, says study coauthor Jiheong Kang, a
materials scientist at the Korea Advanced
BODY & BRAIN Hochberg, a neuroscientist and neuro- into text, which can be made audible by
critical care physician at Massachusetts computer programs that generate speech.
Brain implants General Hospital in Boston who was not In a test, Wandelt and colleagues accu-
‘read’ thoughts involved in either study.

Some people who need help communi-
rately predicted which of eight words a
person who was paralyzed below the neck
The devices could help people cating can use devices that require small was thinking. The man was bilingual, and
WONBEOM LEE/DEPT. OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/KAIST

who can’t speak communicate movements, such as eye gaze changes. But the researchers could detect both English
those tasks aren’t possible for everyone. So and Spanish words.
BY LAURA SANDERS the new studies targeted internal speech, Electrodes picked up nerve cell signals
SAN DIEGO — Scientists have devised ways which requires that a person only think. in his posterior parietal cortex, a brain area
to “read” words directly from brains. Brain “Our device predicts internal speech involved in speech and hand movements.
implants can translate internal speech into directly, allowing the patient to just focus A brain implant there might eventually be
external signals, allowing communication on saying a word inside their head and used to control devices that can perform
from people with paralysis or diseases that transform it into text,” says neuroscientist tasks usually done by a hand, Wandelt says.
steal their ability to talk or type. Sarah Wandelt of Caltech. Internal speech Another approach presented at the
New results from two studies, pre- “could be much simpler and more intui- meeting, led by neuroscientist Sean
sented November 14 at the annual meeting tive than requiring the patient to spell out Metzger of the University of California,
of the Society for Neuroscience, “provide words or mouth them.” San Francisco and his colleagues, relied on
additional evidence of the extraordinary Neural signals associated with words are spelling. The participant was a man called
potential” that brain implants have for detected by electrodes implanted in the Pancho who hadn’t been able to speak for
restoring lost communication, says Leigh brain. The signals can then be translated more than 15 years following a stroke. In

Institute. But the new approach has EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
advantages over other designs, he says,
such as those that rely on channels filled Sharks map a sprawling seagrass bed
with liquid metal that can leak if the cir- The submarine carbon reservoir is two-thirds the area of Florida
cuitry is damaged. Liquid metal in the
conductors that Kang and colleagues BY NIKK OGASA up close. The team also recruited seven
developed stays trapped in the tiny Scientists have teamed up with tiger tiger sharks to aid the efforts. Simi-
spheres that are embedded in the plastic sharks to discover the largest known lar to lions that stalk zebra and other
and remains in place even if the material expanse of seagrasses on Earth. prey through tall grasses on the African
is torn. A massive survey of the Bahamas savanna, the sharks patrol fields of wavy
Wires made of liquid metal have often Banks — a cluster of underwater plateaus seagrasses for grazing animals to eat.
been the go-to conductors for stretchy surrounding the Bahamas — has revealed “We wouldn’t have been able to map
electronics, says Carmel Majidi, a up to 92,000 square kilometers of sea- anywhere near the extent that we
mechanical engineer at Carnegie Mellon grasses, scientists report November 1 mapped without the help of tiger sharks,”
University in Pittsburgh who was not in Nature Communications. That area is Shipley says.
involved with the study. Using ultra- roughly equivalent to two-thirds the size The team captured the sharks with
sound introduces a “novel approach to of Florida. drum lines and hauled each one onto
achieving that conductivity,” Majidi says. The finding expands the estimated a boat, mounting a camera and track-
Other groups have managed that feat by global area covered by seagrasses by ing device onto the animal’s back before
heating circuits, exposing them to lasers, 41 percent, a potential boon for con- releasing it. Sharks were typically back in
squishing them or vibrating the circuits servation efforts that aim to protect the water in under 10 minutes. The team
to get droplets to connect to each other, carbon-trapping ecosystems, says marine operated like “a NASCAR pit crew,” Shipley
he says. biologist Oliver Shipley of the ocean con- says. After several hours in the water, the
Majidi isn’t convinced that the ultra- servation nonprofit Beneath The Waves equipment fell off the sharks.
sound approach is a game changer for in Herndon, Va. Researchers had previously suggested
flexible circuits. But, he says, it’s high Seagrasses can sequester carbon for tracking seagrass-grazing sea turtles
time the subject is appearing in a leading millennia at rates 35 times faster than and manatees to locate pastures. But
journal like Science. “I’m personally really tropical rainforests. The newly mapped sea tiger sharks were a smart choice because
excited to see the field overall, and this prairie may store 630 million metric tons they roam farther and deeper, says
particular type of material architecture, of carbon, equivalent to about a quarter of marine ecologist Marjolijn Christianen of
is now gaining this visibility.” s the carbon trapped by seagrasses world- Wageningen University & Research in the
wide, Shipley and colleagues estimate. Netherlands. “That’s an advantage.”
Mapping that much seagrass was a Shipley’s team plans to collaborate
this study, Pancho attempted to silently colossal task, Shipley says. Guided by with other animals, such as ocean sun-
think code words, such as “alpha” for A previous satellite observations, he and fish (SN Online: 5/1/15), to uncover more
and “echo” for E. By stringing these letters colleagues dove into the sparkling blue submarine meadows. With this approach,
into words, he produced sentences such as waters 2,542 times to survey the meadows Shipley says, “the world’s our oyster.” s
“I do not want that” and “You have got to
be kidding.” Each session would end when
Pancho attempted to squeeze his hand,
thereby creating a movement-related
brain signal that stopped the decoding.
With this system, Pancho produced
about seven words per minute. That’s
DIEGO CAMEJO FOR BENEATH THE WAVES, 2019
faster than the roughly five words per

minute his usual communication device
makes, but much slower than normal
speech, typically about 150 words per
minute. The techniques will need to get
faster and more accurate to be useful. It’s
also unclear whether the technologies Tiger sharks fitted with cameras
(one shown) helped scientists
will work for people with more profound map the world’s largest known
speech disorders. “These are still early seagrass ecosystem.
days,” Hochberg says. s
Watch a video of a shark mapping seagrass at bit.ly/SN_GrassShark www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 9
NEWS
LIFE & EVOLUTION marsupials are solitary,” says Jingyu

Qiu, a behavioral ecologist at CNRS in Many marsupials, such as the squirrel
Some marsupials Strasbourg, France.
glider (Petaurus norfolcensis), can live in a
variety of social groups, such as a mating
shed loner label Qiu and colleagues developed a data-
base of 120 field studies that illuminated
pair or a bigger group of males and
females, a new study claims.
Study stirs debate over marsupial social organization, taking into
mammalian social groups account how populations vary within a
species and delving into the evolutionary
BY JAKE BUEHLER history of marsupial social lives.
Marsupials may have richer social lives The team compiled data on 149 popula-
than previously thought. tions representing 62 marsupial species.
Generally considered loners, the Each population was then categorized
animals have a wide diversity of social as solitary, living in pairs or falling into
relationships that have gone unrecog- four kinds of group living: one male and
nized, a new analysis published in the multiple females (or vice versa), multiple
Oct. 26 Proceedings of the Royal Society B males and females, or single-sex groups.
suggests. Because marsupials split from While 19 species, or 31 percent of
other groups fairly early in mammalian those studied, appear to be strictly soli-
evolution, the findings could have impli- tary, about half of the species always live
cations for how scientists think about the in pairs or groups. The team also found
lifestyles of early mammals. lots of variation within species. More than
“These findings are helpful to move us 40 percent, or 27 of the 62 species, fell
away from a linear thinking that used to into multiple social group categories.
exist in some parts of evolutionary the- When the researchers looked at social
ory, that species develop from supposedly variation among Australian marsupials
simple into more complex forms,” says against the country’s climatic condi-
Dieter Lukas, an evolutionary ecologist at tions, they found that social variability was nonsolitary at times, Qiu says. That
the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary was more common in drier environments finding raises the possibility that this type
Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who with less predictable rainfall. It’s possible of social organization predates marsupi-
was not involved with the study. that being able to switch between solitary als’ split from placental mammals, which
Modern mammals run the gamut of and group living lets species better adapt would increase the odds that the earliest
social organization systems, ranging from their lifestyles to changing environmental mammals — long assumed to have been
transient interactions like aggregations of conditions, the team says. solitary — were social too.
jaguars in South American wetlands to the The study’s focus on social flexibility Robert Voss, a mammalogist at the
antlike subterranean societies of naked shows “there is nothing simple even about American Museum of Natural History in
mole-rats (SN: 11/6/21, p. 10). a supposedly solitary species,” Lukas says. New York City, questions the research’s
But marsupials — a subgroup of Qiu and colleagues also ran computer insights about a potentially social ancestral
m ammals that give birth to relatively analyses comparing the evolutionary marsupial. The uncertainty about the soli-
underdeveloped young often reared in relationships of the marsupials with how tary ancestor, Voss says, is largely due to
pouches — have traditionally been con- they form social relationships. This let the scientists’ benchmarks for what con-
sidered largely solitary. Some kangaroo the team predict the social organiza- stitutes social behavior — thresholds that
species were known to form transient tion of the earliest marsupials, which he views as too permissive. For example,
or permanent groups of dozens of indi- split from placental mammals about he disagrees with the team’s characteriza-
viduals. But among marsupials, long-term 160 million years ago. Because modern tion of opossums as sometimes living in
SYLVAIN CORDIER/STOCKBYTE/GETTY IMAGES
bonds between males and females were marsupials have been considered soli- pairs or sex-specific groups.
thought rare and there were no known tary, their ancestors have generally been “Anecdotal observations of [members
examples of group members cooperating assumed to be solitary as well. of the same species] occasionally denning
to raise young. Previous work on patterns Solitary was the most likely social cate- together is not compelling evidence for
of mammalian social evolution regarded gory of the ancestral marsupials, the team social behavior,” Voss says. “None of the
about 90 percent of examined marsupial found, with a 35 percent probability. But cited studies suggest that opossums are
species to be solitary. the probability that the ancestral species anything other than solitary.”
“If you look at other [studies] about sometimes lived in pairs or one of sev- Qiu’s team plans to gather data on a
some specific species, you will see [the eral types of groups makes up the other larger subset of mammals to get a clearer
researchers] tend to assume that the 65 percent. It is likely that the ancestor picture of how social traits have evolved.

Scientists with the University of Glasgow
in Scotland collect a piece of meteorite that
suggests space rocks delivered water to Earth.
helped the scientists determine the mete-

orite’s trajectory and where it originated.
The meteorite is a type of rare,
carbon-rich rock called a carbonaceous
chondrite, the team says. It came from
an asteroid near the orbit of Jupiter and
started its journey toward Earth about
300,000 years ago, a relatively short time
for a trip through space, the researchers
calculate.
Chemical analyses also revealed that
the meteorite is about 11 percent water by
weight, with the water locked in hydrated
minerals. Some of the hydrogen in that
water is actually deuterium, a heavy form
ATOM & COSMOS of hydrogen. The ratio of hydrogen to
deuterium in the meteorite is similar to
A meteorite hints how Earth got water that of the Earth’s atmosphere. “It’s a good
Fragments of pristine space rock point to asteroids as the source indication that water [on Earth] was com-
ing from water-rich asteroids,” King says.
BY LISA GROSSMAN relatively uncontaminated with earthly Researchers also found amino acids
Late in the evening of February 28, 2021, stuff, says planetary scientist Ashley King and other organic material in the meteor-
a coal-dark space rock about the size of of London’s Natural History Museum. ite pieces. “These are the building blocks
a soccer ball fell through the sky over Other meteorites have been recov- for things like DNA,” King says. The pieces
northern England. The rock blazed in a ered after being tracked from space “don’t contain life, but they have the
dazzling, eight-second-long streak of to the ground, but never so quickly starting point for life locked up in them.”
light, split into fragments and sped toward (SN: 1/26/13, p. 5). “It’s as pristine as we’re Further studies can help determine how
Earth. The largest piece went splat in the going to get from a meteorite,” King says. those molecules formed in the asteroid
driveway of Rob and Cathryn Wilcock in “Other than it landing in the museum on that the meteorite came from, and how
the small, historic town of Winchcombe. my desk, or other than sending a space- similar organic material could have been
An analysis of those fragments now craft up there, we can’t really get them delivered to the early Earth.
shows that the meteorite came from the any quicker or more pristine.” “It’s always exciting to have access to
outer solar system and contains water After collecting about 530 grams of material that can provide a new win-
that is chemically similar to Earth’s, sci- meteorite from Winchcombe and other dow into an early time and place in our
entists report November 16 in Science sites, including a sheep field in Scotland, solar system,” says planetary scientist
Advances. King and colleagues threw a kitchen sink M eenakshi Wadhwa of Arizona State
FROM TOP: MIRA IHASZ, SPIRE GLOBAL, UNIV. OF GLASGOW; R. WILCOCK
How Earth got its water remains one of of lab techniques at the samples. The University in Tempe, who was not
science’s enduring myster- researchers polished the involved in the study.
ies. The results support the material, heated it and Wadhwa hopes future studies will
idea that asteroids brought bombarded it with elec- compare the samples of the Winchcombe
water to the young planet trons, X-rays and lasers to meteorite with samples of asteroids
(SN: 5/16/15, p. 18). figure out what elements Ryugu and Bennu, which were col-
The Wilcocks were not and minerals it contained. lected by spacecraft and sent to Earth
the only ones who found The team also analyzed (SN: 1/19/19, p. 20). Ryugu and Bennu
pieces of the rock that video of the fireball from are both closer to Earth than the main
fell that night. But they the U.K. Fireball Alliance, asteroid belt, where the Winchcombe
The first bits of the
were the first. Bits of the Winchcombe meteorite to a network of meteor- meteorite came from. Comparing and
W i n c h c o m b e m et e o r - be recovered were from a watching cameras around contrasting all three samples will build a
ite were collected within driveway in England. The the world, plus videos from more complete picture of the early solar
rock’s largest fragment was
12 hours after they hit the so brittle that it shattered on doorbell and dashboard system’s makeup, and how it evolved into
ground, meaning they are impact, making a small dent. cameras. The footage what we see today.

NEWS
HUMANS & SOCIETY Public assemblies would have fallen short

of the crowd capacity, Eberl suspects.
A Maya dynasty gained power slowly Pottery from non-elite dwellings at
Rulers took more than a century to attract a large following Tamarindito date to between 600 and 850,
when most residents arrived — hundreds
BY BRUCE BOWER focused on building a ceremonial center of years after the city’s founding. Even at
Commoners may have played an unappre- that consisted of a pyramid, a royal palace its peak, no more than several thousand
ciated part in the rise of an ancient Maya and a large plaza atop a 70-meter-high hill. people lived at the site, Eberl says.
royal dynasty. That ritual area was a small-scale project. That’s a surprisingly limited number.
Self-described “divine lords” at a Maya Roughly 23 to 31 laborers could have built Aerial laser mapping has revealed large,
site called Tamarindito in what’s now the structures in 25 years, the team says. interconnected Maya cities in other parts
G uatemala left glowing hieroglyphic But Foliated Scroll rulers’ ambitions, of northern Guatemala, says archaeolo-
tributes to themselves as heads of the as expressed at the ritual center, out- gist Francisco Estrada-Belli of Tulane
powerful Foliated Scroll dynasty. But new paced demographic reality. Despite a University in New Orleans. Mapping
findings indicate that these bigwigs spent sparse number of locals, estimated from at least 100 square kilometers around
generations waiting for their subjects to Tamarindito’s early residential dwellings, Tamarindito could reveal whether it was
show up, or perhaps hatching plans to the plaza initially fit about 1,650 people. built in relative isolation, he says. s
attract followers, say archaeologist and
epigrapher Markus Eberl of Vanderbilt
University in Nashville and colleagues.
Tamarindito’s kings founded their capi-
tal by about the year 400 as a hamlet of a
few dozen individuals, consisting of a royal
court and a couple of residential clus-
ters for non-elites, the scientists report
November 4 in Latin American Antiquity.
It took about 150 years for enough peo-
ple to trickle in to Tamarindito to enable
its rulers to expand their power, Eberl
says. At that point, Foliated Scroll rulers
founded a smaller, second capital and sev-
eral settlements in northern Guatemala.
Those rulers achieved peak power roughly
between the years 550 and 800.
Royal art and writing at Tamarindito
and other Classic Maya sites misleadingly HUMANS & SOCIETY
suggest that kings wielded absolute power,
Eberl contends. “Maya rulers had to legiti- This ancient Canaanite comb warded off lice
mize their authority and build power, likely
negotiating with and convincing non- Engraved into the side of a nearly 4,000-year-old ivory comb is a simple
elites” to become subjects, he says. wish: Get these lice out of my hair. The faint inscription, written in the early
Hieroglyphics proclaiming the divine language of the ancient Canaanites, represents the earliest known instance
power and mythological origins of of a complete sentence written using a phonetic alphabet, says archaeologist
Foliated Scroll rulers have been studied Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The writing system of
DAFNA GAZIT/ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY
since Tamarindito’s discovery in 1958. The the Canaanites later served as a basis for many modern alphabets.
emblem from which the dynasty gets its Researchers discovered the comb in 2016 among the ruins of Lachish,
name depicts the curly, leafy stalk of a an ancient city in modern-day Israel. A closer look at the etched symbols
water lily, representing a scroll. Over seven revealed the sentence, “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the
field seasons beginning in 2009, Eberl’s beard,” Garfinkel and colleagues report October 20 in the Jerusalem Journal of
group excavated much of the site and doc- Archaeology. The reference to a beard suggests the comb belonged to a man.
umented all surviving royal inscriptions. The plea is “so human,” Garfinkel says. Writings from the time tend to center
Illegal logging made it possible to iden- on royal accomplishments or religion. It also appears the comb fulfilled its
tify most of Tamarindito’s structures in purpose: Between the teeth, the team found a louse’s remains. — Freda Kreier
ground surveys. Early activity at the site

ADV E RTI SE M E NT
2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
2022 Year in Review

This was another tumultuous year. The pandemic dragged on.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unleashed a humanitarian crisis
and global disruptions. And unprecedented heat waves and
other natural disasters reminded us that the climate crisis is
not some far-off problem. But there were bright spots too. The
United States got serious about curbing greenhouse gas emis-
sions. After many delays, the James Webb Space Telescope
is up and running. And NASA also launched its Artemis I
mission, a major move toward returning humans to the moon.
Science News looks back at these and other events of 2022.
Seeing the universe in new light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The year pandemic fatigue took over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Feeling the weight of long COVID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
COVID-19 updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Viral surprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Russia’s war in Ukraine reshaped global science . . . . . . . . . . 26
A winning year for climate legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Dispatches from space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Let’s wait and see . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Biomedical advances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Awesome animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Record breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

SEEING THE
UNIVERSE
IN NEW LIGHT
BY LISA GROSSMAN objects that were previously hidden.
T
his year marked the end of a JWST spent its first several months
decades-long wait for astron- collecting “early-release” science data,
omers. The James Webb Space observations that test the different ways
Telescope is finally in action. the telescope can see. “It is a very, very
The telescope, which launched in new instrument,” says Lamiya Mowla, an
December 2021, released its first sci- astronomer at the University of Toronto.
ence data in July (SN: 8/13/22, p. 30) and “It will take some time before we can
immediately began surpassing astrono- characterize all the different observa-
mers’ expectations. tion modes of all four instruments that
“We’ve realized that James Webb is are on board.”
10 times more sensitive than we pre- That need for testing plus the excite-
dicted” for some kinds of observations, ment has led to some confusion for
says astronomer Sasha Hinkley of the astronomers in these heady early days.
University of Exeter in England. His Data from the telescope had been in
team released in September the tele- such high demand that the operators
scope’s first direct image of an exoplanet hadn’t yet calibrated all the detectors
(SN: 9/24/22, p. 6). He credits “the peo- before releasing data. The JWST team
ple who worked so hard to get this right, is providing calibration information so
to launch something the size of a tennis researchers can properly analyze the
court into space on a rocket and get this data. “We knew calibration issues were
sensitive machinery to work perfectly. going to happen,” Mowla says.
And I feel incredibly lucky to be the ben- The raw numbers that scientists have
eficiary of this.” pulled out of some of the initial images
The telescope, also known as JWST, may end up being revised slightly. But
was designed to see further back into the pictures themselves are real and
NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI/FLICKR (CC BY 2.0)
the history of the cosmos than ever reliable, even though it takes some
before (SN: 10/9/21 & 10/23/21, p. 26). artistry to translate the telescope’s
It’s bigger and more sensitive than infrared data into colorful visible light
its predecessor, the Hubble Space (SN: 3/17/18, p. 4). The Cosmic Cliffs are part of a star-
Telescope. And because it looks in The stunning photos that follow are forming region called the Carina Nebula,
much longer wavelengths of light, a few of the early greatest hits from the which is about 7,600 light-years from
Earth. Thanks to the James Webb Space
JWST can observe distant and veiled shiny new observatory. Telescope, astronomers are seeing many of
the nebula’s baby stars for the first time.

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW | SEEING THE UNIVERSE IN NEW LIGHT
Deep space
JWST has captured the deepest views yet
of the universe (above). Galaxy cluster
SMACS 0723 (bluer galaxies) is 4.6 billion
light-years from Earth. It acts as a giant cos-
mic lens, letting JWST zoom in on thousands
JOSEPH DEPASQUALE/STSCI, NAOMI ROWE-GURNEY/NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

of even more distant galaxies that shone
TOP TWO: NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI; BOTTOM: NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI; IMAGE PROCESSING:
13 billion years ago (the redder, more
stretched galaxies). The far-off galaxies look
different in the mid-infrared light (above
left) captured by the telescope’s MIRI
instrument than they do in the near-infrared
light (above right) captured by NIRCam. The
first tracks dust; the second, starlight. Early
galaxies have stars but very little dust.
Rings around Neptune

JWST was built to see over vast cosmic
distances, but it also provides new glimpses
of our solar system. This pic of Neptune was
the first close look at its delicate-looking
rings in over 30 years (SN: 11/5/22, p. 5).

Under pressure
The rings in this astonishing image are
not an optical illusion. They’re made of
dust, and a new ring is added every eight
years when the two stars in the center of
the image come close to each other. One
of the stars is a Wolf-Rayet star, which is
in the final stages of its life and puffing
out dust. The cyclical dusty eruptions
allowed scientists to directly measure
for the first time how pressure from
starlight pushes dust around
(SN: 11/19/22, p. 6).
FROM TOP: NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI, JPL-CALTECH/NASA; NASA JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE/FLICKR (CC BY 2.0)
Galaxy hit-and-run galaxy (right in the above composite) has been pierced through
With JWST’s unprecedented sensitivity, astronomers plan to the middle by a smaller one that fled the scene (not in view).
compare the earliest galaxies with more modern galaxies to The Hubble Space Telescope previously snapped a visible light
figure out how galaxies grow and evolve. This galactic smashup, image of the scene (top half). But with its infrared eyes, JWST
whose main remnant is known as the Cartwheel galaxy, shows has revealed much more structure and complexity in the
a step in that epic process (SN Online: 8/3/22). The large central galaxy’s interior (bottom half).

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW | SEEING THE UNIVERSE IN NEW LIGHT
Exoplanet portrait
The gas giant HIP 65426b was the first
exoplanet to have its picture taken by
JWST (each inset at right shows the
planet in a different wavelength of light;
the star symbol shows the location of
the planet’s parent star). This image, re-
leased by astronomer Sasha Hinkley and
colleagues, doesn’t look like much com-
pared with some of the other spectacular
space vistas from JWST. But it will give
clues to what the planet’s atmosphere
is made of and shows the telescope’s
potential for doing more of this sort of
work on even smaller, rocky exoplanets
(SN: 9/24/22, p. 6).
EXOPLANET: NASA, ESA, CSA, AARYNN CARTER/UCSC, THE ERS 1386 TEAM, ALYSSA PAGAN/STSCI; PILLARS, SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI,
HUBBLE HERITAGE PROJECT/STSCI/AURA; IMAGE PROCESSING: JOSEPH DEPASQUALE, ANTON M. KOEKEMOER AND ALYSSA PAGAN/STSCI
Shake the dust off

Another classic Hubble image updated by JWST is the Pillars of Creation. When
Hubble viewed this star-forming region in visible light, it was shrouded by dust
(above left). JWST’s infrared vision reveals sparkling newborn stars (above right).

Making R
»»
oad Tr s!
ips M Ye ar
ore Inte
resting fo r 50
Second Edition
Second Edition
NEW OF HAWAI‘I
Fans of the Roadside Geology series never go on Rick Hazlett

CherylRick Hazlett
Gansecki
a trip without at least one of these books. Loaded Steve Lundblad
with photos, maps, and informative text, they have

withanswered
photos, maps, and informative text, they have
travelers’ geology questions since 1972.
answered travelers’ geology questions since 1972.
ROADSIDE GEOLOGY OF HAWAII

Second Edition
R�� H��, C�� G��, S�� L��
336 pages,econd Editi$26.00
6 x 9, paper on
R�� H��, C�� G��, S�� L��
336 pages, 6 x 9, paper $26.00
OF OHIO
MARK J. C AMP
OHIO
MARK J. C AMP
VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION

ABOUT THESE TITLES AND MANY, MANY MORE!
MOUNTAIN PRESS
P U B L I S H I N G COM PA N Y
P . O . BOX 2399
• MISSOULA, MONTANA 59806
800-234-5308 • WWW.MOUNTAIN- PRESS. COM
A DV E RT I S E M E N T
2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
The year pandemic didn’t warn people about the fact that pan-
demics can last long and that we still need
people to be willing to care about your-
fatigue took over selves, your neighbors, your community.”

Public health agencies around the
BY TINA HESMAN SAEY most of these deaths could be prevented,” world, including in Singapore and the
2
022 was the year many people the World Health Organization Director- United Kingdom, reinforced the idea that
decided the coronavirus pan- General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus we could “return to normal” by learning
demic had ended. said in a news briefing at the time. Then, to “live with COVID.” The U.S. Centers for
President Joe Biden said as of course, there are the millions who are Disease Control and Prevention’s guide-
much in an interview with 60 Minutes in still dealing with lingering symptoms long lines raised the threshold for case counts
September. “The pandemic is over,” he after an infection. that would trigger masking (SN Online:
said while strolling around the Detroit Those staggering numbers have 3/3/22). The agency also shortened sug-
Auto Show. “We still have a problem with stopped alarming people, maybe because gested isolation times for infected people
COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on those stats came on the heels of two to five days, even though most people still
it. But the pandemic is over.” years of mind-boggling death counts test positive for the virus and are poten-
His evidence? “No one’s wearing masks. (SN Online: 5/18/22). Indifference to the tially infectious to others for several days
Everybody seems to be in pretty good mounting death toll may reflect pandemic longer (SN Online: 8/19/22).
shape.” fatigue that settled deep within the public The shifting guidelines bred confusion
But the week Biden’s remarks aired, psyche, leaving many feeling over and and put the onus for deciding when to
about 360 people were still dying each day done with safety precautions. mask, test and stay home on individuals. In
KATTY HUERTAS
from COVID-19 in the United States. Glob- “We didn’t warn people about fatigue,” essence, the strategy shifted from public
ally, about 10,000 deaths were recorded says Theresa Chapple-McGruder, an health — protecting your community — to
every week. That’s “10,000 too many, when epidemiologist in the Chicago area. “We individual health — protecting yourself.

Doing your part can be exhausting, says Early in the pandemic,
Eric Kennedy, a sociologist specializing in the New York Metro-
politan Transportation
disaster management at York University Authority posted signs
in Toronto. “Public health is saying, ‘Hey, asking people to mask
you have to make the right choices every up on subways (left).
In early September,
single moment of your life.’ Of course, MTA changed its policy,
people are going to get tired with that.” shifting to a focus on
Doing the right thing — from getting vac- individual choice rather
than protecting each
cinated to wearing masks indoors — didn’t other (below).
always feel like it paid off on a personal
level. As good as the vaccines are at keep-
ing people from becoming severely ill or
dying of COVID-19, they were not as effec-
tive at protecting against infection. This
year, many people who tried hard to make
safe choices and had avoided COVID-19
got infected by wily omicron variants
(SN Online: 4/22/22). People sometimes
got reinfected — some more than once
(SN: 7/16/22 & 7/30/22, p. 8).
Those infections may have contributed
to a sense of futility. “Like, ‘I did my best.
And even with all of that work, I still got
it. So why should I try?’ ” says Kennedy,
head of a Canadian project monitoring
the sociological effects of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Getting vaccinated, masking and get- to a trickle. In October, even the CDC decide what to do,’ ” Blauer says, “but the
ting drugs or antibody treatments can began reporting cases and deaths weekly data is not in place to be able to inform
reduce the severity of infection and may instead of daily. Altogether, undercount- real-time decision making.”
cut the chances of infecting others. “We ing of the coronavirus’s reach became With COVID-19 fatigue so widespread,
should have been talking about this as a worse than ever. businesses, governments and other insti-
community health issue and not a per- “We’re being told, ‘it’s up to you now to tutions have to find ways to step up and
sonal health issue,” Chapple-McGruder do their part, Kennedy says. For instance,
says. “We also don’t talk about the fact Lagging on vaccines About 80 percent requiring better ventilation and filtration
that our uptake [of these tools] is nowhere of the U.S. population got the first COVID-19 in public buildings could clean up indoor
vaccine dose and close to 70 percent complet-
near what we need” to avoid the hundreds ed the primary series. The updated booster, air and reduce the chance of spreading
of daily deaths (see Page 23). made available in September, had only made many respiratory infections, along with
A lack of data about how widely the it into the arms of 12 percent of people age 5 COVID-19. That’s a behind-the-scenes
and older as of November 24. SOURCE: CDC
coronavirus is still circulating makes it intervention that individuals don’t have
difficult to say whether the pandemic is U.S. COVID-19 vaccines to waste mental energy worrying about,
ending. In the United States, the influx of administered he says.
100
home tests was “a blessing and a curse,” At least The bottom line: People may have
says Beth Blauer, data lead for the Johns one dose Complete stopped worrying about COVID-19, but
80 primary
Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource the virus isn’t done with us yet. “We have
Percent of population
series
Center. The tests gave an instant read- spent two-and-a-half years in a long,
out that told people whether they were 60 dark tunnel, and we are just beginning to
infected and should isolate. But because glimpse the light at the end of that tun-
FROM TOP: MTA; E. OTWELL
those results were rarely reported to pub- 40 nel. But it is still a long way off,” WHO’s
lic health officials, true numbers of cases Updated Tedros said. “The tunnel is still dark, with
became difficult to gauge, creating a 20 (bivalent) many obstacles that could trip us up if
booster
big data gap (SN Online: 5/27/22). we don’t take care.” If the virus makes a
The flow of COVID-19 data from many resurgence, will we see it coming and will
0
state and local agencies also slowed Dose we have the energy to combat it again? s

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
Feeling the weight of long COVID

BY LAURA SANDERS Symptoms could be due to persistent impossible to come by, she says.
T
his year, the world had to face the virus hiding out in the body, as well as the What’s perhaps most useful, Duggal
growing burden of long COVID. body’s responses to the intruder. Micro says, is to consider how many people
A tidal wave of people with lin- blood clots, antibodies that turn against are severely constrained by their illness.
gering symptoms — some mild, the body, inflammation and even distur- “These are the people [who] were living
some profoundly disabling — commanded bances of helpful bacteria are all being happy, healthy lives and now they’re not,”
attention. scrutinized for their roles in the disease. she says. About 1 to 5 percent of people
“We are in the middle of a mass disabling The lack of clarity is what makes finding who had COVID-19 may fall into this cat-
event,” physician Talya Fleming of the JFK treatments so hard. Doctors at long COVID egory, she estimates. That sounds like
Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison, clinics, which are few and far between, are a tiny number, she says, but “even if it’s
N.J., told Science News (SN: 11/5/22, scrambling to ease people’s symptoms, 1 percent, it’s 1 percent of all people
p. 22). A recent estimate suggests that often borrowing therapies from other dis- who have had COVID. And that’s just a
over 18 million people in the United States orders that cause similar problems, such really, really large number.” An estimated
have long COVID. Yet researchers know as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic 100 million people in the United States
little about the disease and how to treat fatigue syndrome (SN: 11/5/22, p. 25). have had COVID-19. That’s probably an
those who are suffering. The long list of unanswered questions undercount, Duggal says.
One key question is: Who is at risk? The has taken on new urgency given the In the first days of the pandemic, Duggal
search for risk factors has yielded few swell of people experiencing long COVID. and colleagues wanted to collect as much
clear answers. Women may be slightly Epidemiologist Priya Duggal of Johns biological data on people as they could,
more likely than men to get long COVID, Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public before COVID-19 tore through the world.
as are people who had more than five Health and colleagues suspect that But logistics and a lack of funding pre-
symptoms during their initial week of between 10 and 30 percent of people vented those baseline studies. “Had we
COVID-19 (SN: 10/8/22 & 10/22/22, p. 18). who get COVID-19 may go on to get had some of that in place, we could now
Part of what confounds simple answers long COVID. That fits with federal data be asking better questions and getting
is that long COVID can hit multiple body suggesting that about 30 percent of better answers,” she says. “I would hope
systems, leading to fatigue, smell loss, U.S. adults who have had COVID-19 that some of what this has taught us is
KATTY HUERTAS
memory trouble, blood clots and even have experienced long COVID. But sur- that the next time this happens — and let’s
sensations of internal tremors that feel veys, medical records and other data all hope it is no time soon — we have a bit
like earthquakes (SN: 9/24/22, p. 14). come with flaws, so exact numbers are more thought about what’s to come.” s

broader immune response, protecting
COVID-19 against more versions of the virus.
updates UPDATE: Just 12 percent of people in the

United States ages 5 and older, or more
than 37 million people, had gotten the
BY AIMEE CUNNINGHAM updated bivalent booster by November 24.
T
he third year of the COVID-19 In a survey conducted in September, half
pandemic in the United States of U.S. adults had heard little or nothing
introduced vaccines for very about the new booster, underscoring the
young children and an updated need for more public outreach. Presi-
booster, plus wider availability of an anti- dent Joe Biden, who had COVID-19 in July,
viral drug and at-home antigen tests. received his updated vaccine on October 25
Here’s what we’ve learned since these and announced new measures to get
achievements first made a splash. more boosters into arms. A study of U.S.
adults reported in November found that
Shots for the littlest kids the updated booster provided added pro-
Mary Bassett, New York state’s commissioner
On June 18, the COVID-19 vaccine was tection against symptomatic COVID-19 in of health, got an updated COVID-19 booster
recommended for children under 5, the those who had already gotten at least two soon after it became available in September.
last group in the United States waiting doses of the original vaccine.
for the shots (SN Online: 6/17/22). The A study published in April reported
thumbs-up was supported by immunity At-home COVID-19 tests that Paxlovid reduced the risk of severe
and safety data and the clear-and-present Early in 2022, the use of at-home COVID-19 by 89 percent compared with
health risks of COVID-19 for young kids. COVID-19 tests soared in response to a placebo (SN Online: 5/11/22).
the winter omicron surge (SN Online:
UPDATE: Many young children in the 1/11/22). From January to September, UPDATE: In July, the FDA authorized phar-
United States are still unvaccinated. Only the Biden administration mailed roughly macists to prescribe Paxlovid to get the
10 percent of those 6 months through 600 million free tests to people’s homes. drug more quickly to more people, since
4 years old, or 1.7 million children, it needs to be taken early in an infection.
had received at least one dose as of UPDATE: At-home antigen tests are quick A study conducted during the omicron
November 16. A survey from the Kaiser and easy, though the guidance on how surge suggested that the drug is ben-
Family Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine to interpret the results has changed. eficial for those 65 and older but is not
Monitor conducted in mid-July explored With data that repeat testing improved helpful to those 40 to 64.
some reasons for the lackluster response, the chances of detecting a SARS-CoV-2 Paxlovid also made news this year
including concerns that the vaccine hasn’t infection, the U.S. Food and Drug when reports popped up of COVID-19
been tested enough. Administration recommended in August symptoms returning after treatment with
There are also barriers to getting the that people with and without symptoms the drug ended (SN Online: 8/12/22). It’s
vaccine, with 44 percent of Black parents who were exposed to the virus and tested not clear how common so-called Pax-
worried about taking time off from work negative take additional tests over the lovid rebound. Some research has found
to vaccinate young kids or take care of next several days. the incidence is similar among Paxlovid-
them if they have side effects. Among A drawback to at-home tests is that the treated and placebo-treated patients,
Hispanic parents surveyed, 45 percent are results have not been systematically tal- while other researchers have reported
concerned they won’t have the option to lied, leading to an undercount of cases. that rebound occurs more often with
vaccinate at a place they trust. Estimates vary on how many cases have Paxlovid than with no treatment.
been missed. One research group cal- There’s also early evidence that
A new booster culated that in New York City between Paxlovid may reduce the risk of develop-
ENRIQUE SHORE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
An updated COVID-19 vaccine became April 23 and May 8, around 1.5 million ing long COVID. A preliminary study of
available as a booster in the United States adults had COVID-19, nearly 30 times as U.S. veterans reported in November that
in early September for those 12 and older, many as the official case count of 51,218. treatment with Paxlovid within five days
and for those 5 to 12 years old in mid- of a positive COVID-19 test was associ-
October (SN: 10/8/22 & 10/22/22, p. 7). A new drug ated with a 26 percent reduction in risk of
The vaccine, which targets two omicron The antiviral Paxlovid — authorized at long COVID compared with a group that
subvariants as well as the original version the end of 2021 — became one of a few did not receive antiviral treatment after
of SARS-CoV-2, was designed to spur a COVID-19 treatment options in pill form. an infection. s

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
Monkeypox (illustrated) caught public health

officials off guard as it spread around the
world in 2022.
vaccines are not used in the United

States, but are common in some coun-
tries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan,
the last two places that are still working
to eliminate polio.
Unexplained hepatitis hit children

Between October 2021 and July 8, the
last time the World Health Organization
released an update, more than
1,000 children globally had developed
severe hepatitis, an inflammation of the
liver. Experts still aren’t sure why. They
Viral surprises
also don’t know whether it’s a new out-
break, or if doctors are just paying more
attention in the wake of the pandemic.
Many cases were linked to an adeno-
BY ERIN GARCIA DE JESÚS Ebola surged in Uganda virus, which typically causes colds
T
his year delivered many fright- Two small Ebola virus outbreaks were (SN Online: 5/19/22). But having a previ-
ening reminders that the reported in Congo this year. But more ous case of COVID-19 could also factor
coronavirus isn’t the only viral worrisome was an outbreak in Uganda in. Another hypothesis is that kids with a
threat out there. that began in September. Current Ebola certain genetic susceptibility are getting
vaccines and treatments don’t offer pro- hepatitis after a double infection, perhaps
Monkeypox went global tection against the strain causing that with an adenovirus plus a second virus
The monkeypox virus, a relative of the country’s outbreak. But clinical trials called AAV2.
virus that causes smallpox, had never for three vaccine candidates were set to
before spread widely among people out- begin in late 2022. Bird flu wreaked havoc
side of Central and West Africa. But in May, As of November 22, Uganda had 141 con- Birds around the world also faced a deadly
monkeypox burst onto the global scene firmed cases and 55 deaths, including at viral foe this year: the H5N1 influenza
(SN: 6/18/22, p. 6). As of November 28, least seven health care workers. virus. In the United States alone, 3,700 wild
there have been more than 81,100 cases birds have tested positive for the virus.
across 110 countries and 55 deaths. Poliovirus found in sewage More than 50 million farmed poultry died,
The disease, which can cause a rash A version of the poliovirus was detected either from infection, or because they
with painful, pus-filled lesions, mainly in sewage in New York, Israel, the United were culled to control the virus’ spread.
spreads through close contact. Although Kingdom and some other places where In Europe, the 2021–2022 season was the
anyone can be infected, outside of West polio had been eliminated, suggesting the largest known epidemic of highly patho-
and Central Africa the current outbreak virus — which can cause paralysis — was genic avian influenza, with more than
is primarily affecting men who have sex circulating there. In March, Israeli offi- 2,600 outbreaks across 37 countries in
with men. Waning immunity worldwide to cials confirmed a case of paralytic polio farmed or captive birds.
smallpox — which was eradicated in 1980, in an unvaccinated 3-year-old; an unvac- Researchers are concerned that H5N1
ending vaccination programs — likely cinated man in New York was paralyzed poses a long-term threat to poultry, wild
JOAO PAULO BURINI/MOMENT/GETTY IMAGES
helped monkeypox spread. by polio in June. birds and potentially other animals; the
In the United States and Europe, cases These cases were linked to vaccine- virus was linked this year to a seal die-off
started going down in August as people derived polioviruses (SN Online: 9/14/22). in Maine.
at high risk changed their behavior or One type of polio vaccine relies on live People can also be susceptible, with two
received vaccines. Preliminary data from but weakened virus to teach the body confirmed cases since December 2021.
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to mount immune defenses against the Although bird flu doesn’t easily spread
and Prevention suggest that vaccination disease. In rare cases, that weakened, or among people, experts worry that as the
is protective. Yet vaccines are still not attenuated, virus can spread, mutate and epidemic continues the virus will pick up
available in African countries where regain the ability to cause paralysis in peo- mutations that allow it to transmit from
monkeypox has historically circulated. ple who are not vaccinated. Attenuated person to person. s

ADV E RTI SE M E NT
Imagine Better
dow.com/imaginebetter
2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
support Ukrainian researchers. The orga-
Russia’s war in Ukraine nization donated an additional $2 million

in October for rebuilding efforts, a move
reshaped global science that Gamota calls “fantastic.”
Slowdowns for physics and space

BY CASSIE MARTIN Gamota was born in Ukraine and moved to While science in Ukraine has struggled
R
ussia’s invasion of Ukraine in late the United States as a child. He maintains as the war drags on, Russian science
February horrified the world. close ties with his country of birth. When has become more and more isolated.
Images of civilians fleeing their Ukraine became an independent country Sanctions from Western countries have
homes, broken bodies strewn in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, he directly and indirectly targeted Russia’s
across city streets, smoldering apart- helped advise Ukraine as it built its scien- scientific enterprise.
ment complexes and mass graves have tific infrastructure. In June, the White House Office of
permeated the news and social media “When Russia attacked Ukraine, all hell S c i e n c e a n d Te c h n o l o g y P o l i c y
platforms ever since. This war has killed broke loose. This situation really has not announced that the United States will
tens of thousands of people and displaced stabilized,” Gamota says. “wind down” collaborations with Russia,
14 million more. Research funding in Ukraine has following an earlier ban on exports of
Wars aren’t fought in a vacuum. The declined by 50 percent, he says. Scien- U.S. technology there. The policy applies
ripple effects of the war in Ukraine, from tific bodies across the globe have stepped to national labs, as well as projects that
skyrocketing energy and food costs to up to offer aid through grants, job oppor- receive federal funding and involve
environmental damage and the threat tunities and resettlement programs. But Russian government–affiliated univer-
of nuclear disaster (SN: 7/2/22, p. 6; monetary support, whether it’s from sities and research institutions. Many
SN Online: 3/7/22), have been felt around Ukraine’s government or independent research organizations in the West have
the globe — especially amid two other cri- organizations, still takes too long to reach also cut ties with collaborators in Russia.
ses, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic scientists’ pockets, Gamota says. “Some These steps have particularly affected
and climate change. are not getting anything.” some large-scale collaborations in space
“A convergence of all these crises at the The National Academy of Sciences of and physics research.
same time is very, very dangerous for the Ukraine is already looking ahead to how There have been mission delays and
world,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to rebuild. In September, the organiza- the temporary shutdown of at least one
director-general of the World Health tion met with its counterparts in Europe space telescope (SN: 3/26/22, p. 6). The
Organization, said in May. and the United States. Latvia, Poland and International Space Station, which is run
We often look to science for solutions other places described how they restruc- jointly by NASA and the Russian space
to the world’s problems. But this tec- tured after the end of the Soviet Union, agency Roscosmos, however, continues
tonic shift in the geopolitical landscape Gamota says. “It was an exercise that I to operate normally for now.
has upended global science collaboration, think is important to have. But probably In the world of high-energy physics
leaving many researchers scrambling to what the Ukrainians were looking for is research, the CERN particle physics lab
find solid footing. While the outcome how can the world help us right now.” near Geneva announced that it will not
of this change — like the outcome of the In March, the Breakthrough Prize be renewing its international coopera-
war itself — is uncertain, here are some Foundation donated $1 million to directly tion agreements with Russia and Belarus,
examples of how the conflict has affected
scientists and their research.
Science in a war zone

Ukraine’s infrastructure has sustained
massive damage since the invasion began.
Hospitals, universities and research insti-
tutions have not been spared.
Some scientists have sought refuge
R. GONZALEZ SUAREZ/CERN
in other countries while roughly half

remain in Ukraine, with male researchers
between the ages of 18 and 60 expected to
serve in the military, says George Gamota,
a U.S.-based physicist who advises the Researchers watch from a control room as the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN lab was
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. restarted this year. In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, CERN said it would cut ties with Russia.

which is aiding Russia’s invasion, when scientific information and undermining
the contracts expire in 2024. the resilience of Arctic (including nota-
When that happens, the roughly bly Indigenous) communities,” Nikolay
8 percent of CERN staff affiliated with Korchunov, Russia’s ambassador-at-large
Russian institutions, equaling about 1,000 for Arctic affairs, wrote in an e-mail to
researchers, will be unable to use CERN Science News.
facilities. And Russia will stop contribut- Korchunov chairs the Arctic Council,
ing resources to experiments. an eight-member intergovernmen-
These measures strongly condemn the tal body that acts as a steward for the
invasion “while leaving the door ajar for region, forging agreements on oil spill
continued scientific collaboration should cleanup, commerce, wildlife conserva-
conditions allow in the future,” CERN The war in Ukraine has made it difficult to tion, climate change research and more.
study climate change in the Russian Arctic,
Director-General Fabiola Gianotti wrote where thawing permafrost can create craters In March, the council’s other seven
in a memo to staff about the decision. (one shown) and release greenhouse gases. member nations — Canada, Denmark,
Until 2024, Russian and Belarusian sci- Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and
entists can continue working on current United States. Due to intergovernmen- the United States — announced they
collaborations, such as ATLAS — one of the tal contracts, Russia is still part of the would pause collaboration with Russia.
detectors that spotted the Higgs boson in project. But for now, “everything is put Work among the so-called “Arctic 7”
2012 and is part of ongoing searches for on ice,” Griffith says. continues. But the freeze-out has derailed
theoretical particles, including dark mat- Russia’s planned biodiversity- and
ter (SN: 7/2/22, p. 18). But new efforts are A chilling effect on Arctic research pollution-monitoring projects, Korchunov
prohibited. Northern Russia is home to about two- says. “A cold scientific environment only
Science outside of Ukraine and Russia thirds of Earth’s frozen soil, or permafrost. increases uncertainty and risks of an inef-
has not escaped the geopolitical mael- Collectively, the world’s permafrost con- fective response to the warming Arctic.”
strom’s economic fallout. Rising energy tains almost twice as much carbon as is But some cooperation in the Arctic has
costs — spurred by Russia cutting off in the atmosphere. With temperatures in continued, for now. Vladimir Romanovsky
exports of natural gas — are causing the Arctic rising almost four times as fast is a geophysicist at the University of Alaska
European research labs to reassess their as the global average, the region’s perma- Fairbanks who studies permafrost tem-
energy use, the journal Nature reported in frost is thawing. By the end of this century, perature and relies on data provided by
October. CERN is a major consumer, using the defrosted soil could exhale hundreds scientists in Russia. This year, his team got
the equivalent of about a third of Geneva’s of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and results, but whether his Russian collabo-
annual average energy consumption. methane, according to some estimates. rators will be able to take measurements
The lab ended the run of its largest To better understand how climate change in 2023 is unclear, Romanovsky says. “It is
accelerator on November 28, two weeks is reshaping the Arctic and vice versa, changing so quick, so fast that we don’t
ahead of schedule, to decrease its load on researchers need detailed measurements know what the situation will be by then.”
the electrical grid and prepare for surg- of permafrost carbon, temperature, micro- Most of the researchers in Russia that
ing prices and potential winter shortages. bial communities and more. Romanovsky knows are struggling with
CERN officials announced that the number But the deteriorating relationship funding. At the moment, there is enough
of particle collisions in 2023 will decrease, between the West and Russia is “throw- money to keep his collaborators employed
tightening competition among research- ing a major wrench into bringing the data but not enough to do fieldwork.
ers for accelerator time, Nature reported. together so that we can get the clearest Cutting off Russian scientists from
The war also has put pressure on an picture of the Arctic as a whole,” says Ted communication and data sharing is a
already faltering global supply chain, Schuur, an ecologist at Northern Arizona “big, big problem,” Romanovsky says.
PADI PRINTS/TROY TV STOCK/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
which has led to shortages and shipping University in Flagstaff and the principal They now are almost completely excluded
delays. The delays have created snags in investigator of the Permafrost Carbon from international meetings and col-
the construction of ITER, the world’s larg- Network. Now that much of the Arctic’s laborations, he notes. In the long term,
est nuclear fusion experiment that’s slated permafrost is inaccessible, Schuur and Romanovsky thinks that Russian science
to open in 2025, in France. “We have been colleagues are looking for sites in North could lose many young researchers, like
through thick and thin with this project, America and Europe that could serve as what happened in the 1990s when the
and we will manage,” says ITER spokes- a proxy for Russian permafrost, he says. Soviet Union collapsed. “They just went
person Sabina Griffith. ITER had been Terminated collaborations, “while to go somewhere else,” he says, leaving
expecting a ring magnet and other equip- intended to ‘punish’ Russia, are realistically to find work in other fields to continue to
ment from Russia, one of seven partners affecting the global Arctic community support their families. He and many oth-
along with the European Union and the by limiting the researchers’ access to ers hope it won’t happen again. s

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
recycle wind turbine blades, solar pan-
A winning year for els, energy storage equipment and other

clean energy products, and funds grants to
climate legislation retool factories to make electric vehicles.
Less air pollution

BY NIKK OGASA Methane — a greenhouse gas that can
T
he world needed bold climate trap more than 25 times as much heat as
action this year, and we got it. CO2 — is another target. The legislation
California and other states devotes $850 million to the monitoring
announced plans to phase out and mitigation of methane emissions
gas-powered cars after 2035. The United from fossil fuel operations. It also estab-
States ratified an international treaty to lishes a fine for operations that annually
slash production of the climate-warming release amounts of methane that exceed
hydrofluorocarbons used in cooling and 25,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent.
refrigeration. The European Union is And CO2 is legally defined as an “air
finalizing its plan to cut greenhouse gas On August 16, President Joe Biden signed pollutant,” cementing the Environmental
emissions by 55 percent relative to 1990s into law the Inflation Reduction Act. Protection Agency’s authority to regulate
levels by 2030. The list of legislative vic- its production under the Clean Air Act.
tories goes on. But the biggest win came instance, small businesses can qualify for But there’s more to the climate prob-
August 16, when President Joe Biden credits that support up to 30 percent of lem than decarbonizing today’s pollutive
signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act. the cost of transitioning to solar power. energy industry, Mauzerall says. “Going
The historic legislation marks the first The act also aims to help consumers, forward, we need to pay more attention
major move by the United States, which with $9 billion for rebates that help peo- to reducing emissions from the agricul-
has emitted more carbon dioxide than any ple ditch gas and buy appliances powered tural sector,” she says. About 11 percent of
other country, toward neutralizing green- by electricity, such as electric induction U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and about a
house gas emissions. It gets the ball rolling cooktops and heat pump water heaters. third of global emissions come from agri-
by investing $369 billion into accelerat- Households can also get up to $7,500 in culture (SN: 5/7/22 & 5/21/22, p. 22).
ing the adoption of wind, solar and other tax credits for electric vehicle purchases.
renewable energy sources and decar- “It’s huge,” Denise Mauzerall, an atmo- Climate justice
bonizing the economy. By the end of the spheric scientist at Princeton University, Billions of dollars are slated to go toward
decade, the act will help cut U.S. green- says of the law’s potential to advance climate justice, a movement that confronts
house gas emissions by around 40 percent clean energy. But if the United States is the disproportionate impacts of climate
of the levels in 2005, when U.S. emissions to take full advantage of the increased change on marginalized communities.
nearly peaked, scientists project, bring- clean energy capacity, it will be crucial Funding includes $2.8 billion in grants for
ing the nation within reach of fulfilling its to also construct sufficient infrastructure community-based projects, such as those
pledge to halve emissions by 2030. to deliver that energy, she notes. The bill that increase energy efficiency in afford-
The legislation is no panacea for the offers only some support to build overhead able housing developments or monitor air
climate emergency, but researchers and power lines and other ways to transmit quality in marginalized communities.
activists are optimistic that it will be the energy. “Without transmission,” she says, “But there are some troubling provi-
helping hand that clean energy needs to “we will really slow ourselves down.” sions,” Garcia says. The law authorizes
flourish. “There would be no way to really new offshore oil and gas leases and pro-
mitigate the climate crisis without the More clean energy jobs and goods vides fossil fuel companies with carbon
investments in this bill,” says Raul Garcia, A major goal is to build up a clean energy capture and sequestration tax credits.
a legislative director at Earthjustice, a non- economy by promoting high-quality jobs These could prolong the life of pollutive
profit environmental law organization. in industries such as solar and wind. To oil and gas operations, which are often
MANDEL NGAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Here’s a look at some of the law’s major maximize tax credits, companies must pay located near marginalized communities.
provisions and a few of its limitations. workers a “prevailing wage” and employ It will be crucial to follow these invest-
apprentices to work a minimum number ments with laws that enforce both climate
Cheaper clean energy of hours on clean energy projects. justice and the clean energy transition,
The law aims to ease and incentivize the The legislation also invests in the Garcia says. “We need rules and regula-
transition away from fossil fuels by cre- domestic manufacturing of clean energy tions that hold industries’ feet to the fire,
ating tax credits that reduce the cost for goods. Tax credits of up to 30 percent to make sure that those investments are
companies to adopt clean energy. For are available to companies that build or going where they need to.” s

“Opal’s spectacular play-of-color can display all the colors of the rainbow.” ®
—Gemological Institute of America Staueler Price

ImpossibLY
ON
A. $59
Add Some Wow to Your Vows

Put a rainbow on her finger with the opal that’s taking the jewelry industry by storm.

L ong ago, we made a vow: We would not produce a five-opal
anniversary ring until two very specific conditions were met.
First, the opals had to be of superior quality, with the joyous
“The play of color in opals is so gorgeous
they sometimes don’t even seem real and
iridescence to delight all who saw the precious stone’s colors dance
in the light. Second, the price had to be right, so that we could yet they are.” —from the Couture Show
provide the value Stauer clients expect from us. So when The New
York Times style section called Ethiopian opal the “undisputed under $60. I think it’s safe to say we more than met our price
winner” of the Gem Show, we decided to pounce. The result is the promise. We exceeded it... by well over 16,000%!
astoundingly beautiful Five-Star Opal Anniversary Ring. Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Slip this rainbow on her
finger. If she’s not absolutely delighted, simply send it back within
30 days for a complete refund of the item price. See if your jewelry
Huge Savings store can match that!
Take 85% OFF instantly! The Five-Star Opal Ring is one of Stauer’s fastest sellers. Supplies
when you use your offer code are limited. We can’t seem to keep this ring in stock. Don’t miss this
rare opportunity. Order the Five-Star Opal Anniversary Ring today
and catch this radiant rainbow before it’s gone!
All five of these exotic beauties possess the radiant rainbow of color
we’ve been looking for. Arranged in a sterling silver setting finished Jewelry Speciﬁcations:
in lustrous gold, this ring is a beautiful tribute to your lasting love. • Ethiopian Opals in gold-ﬁnished .925 sterling silver settings
• Ring: whole sizes 5–10. Earrings: post backs
So how about our price promise? We met that too. We want
you to know there is absolutely no reason to overpay for luxury Five-Star Opal Anniversary Collection
gemstones. The big name jewelers have been A. Ring (1 ½ ctw) $399 $59* + S&P Save $340!
B. 1 ctw Opal B. Earrings (1 ctw) $199 $79* + S&P Save $120!
deceiving the public long enough, charging
Stud Earrings Ring & Earrings Set $598 $99* + S&P Save $499!
as much as $16,000 for an Ethiopian opal
*Special price only for customers using the offer code.
ring. We won’t trump up the price to make
you think it’s luxurious. This ring is just
as luxurious (if not more) than the big 1-800-333-2045
designer name rings, AND it’s yours for Your Insider Offer Code: OAR326-04
Stvuer, 545p5 Southcross Drive W., Ste 555, Dept. BAR326-p4, Burnsville, MN 55337 www.stauer.com
Stauer® | AFFORD THE EXTRAORDINARY

®
ADV E RTI SE M E NT
2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
moving beneath the surface (SN: 12/3/22,
Dispatches from space p. 12). The solar panels that power the
lander are now covered in dust after
BY LISA GROSSMAN four years on Mars, a death knell for the
W
hile the stunning images mission.
from the James Webb
Space Telescope captured Chemistry of life
space fans’ attention this All five bases in DNA and RNA have been
year, other telescopes and spacecraft found in rocks that fell to Earth. Three
were busy on Earth and around the solar of the nucleobases, which combine with
system. Here are some of the coolest sugars and phosphates to make up the
space highlights that had nothing to do genetic material of all known life, had pre-
with JWST. viously been found in meteorites. But the
last two — cytosine and thymine — were
Back to the moon reported from space rocks only this year
After several aborted attempts, NASA (SN: 6/4/22, p. 7). The find supports the
launched the Artemis I mission on idea that life’s precursors could have come
November 16. That was a big step toward to Earth from space, researchers say.
the goal of landing people on the moon
In September, NASA’s DART spacecraft shifted
as early as 2025 (SN: 12/3/22, p. 14). No the course of asteroid Dimorphos, shown here Sagittarius A* snapshot
human has set foot there since 1972. seconds before DART smashed into it. The supermassive black hole at the
Artemis I included a new rocket, the Space center of the Milky Way became the sec-
Launch System, which had previously suf- news came in October that the land- ond black hole to get its close-up. After
fered a series of hydrogen fuel leaks, and er’s seismometer had also detected the releasing a picture of the behemoth at
the new Orion spacecraft. No astronauts rumblings of the two biggest meteorite the heart of galaxy M87 in 2019, astrono-
were aboard the test flight, but Orion car- impacts ever observed on Mars. Those mers used data from the Event Horizon
ried a manikin in the commander’s seat impacts created gaping craters and sent Telescope, a network of radio telescopes
and two manikin torsos to test radiation seismic waves rippling along the top of around the world, to assemble an image
protection and life-support systems, plus a the planet’s crust. of Sagittarius A* (SN: 6/4/22, p. 6). The
cargo hold full of small satellites that went The details of how those waves and image, released in May, shows a faint
off on their own missions. others moved through the Red Planet fuzzy shadow nestled in the glowing ring
gave researchers new intel on the struc- of the accretion disk. That may not sound
Push comes to shove ture of Mars’ crust, which is hard to study impressive on its own, but the result pro-
NASA’s DART spacecraft successfully any other way. The data also suggest that vides new details about the turbulence
nudged an asteroid into a new orbit some Marsquakes are caused by magma roiling near our black hole’s edge. s
this year. On September 26, the Double
Asteroid Redirection Test slammed into
asteroid Dimorphos, about 11 million kilo-
meters from Earth at the time of impact.
In October, NASA announced that the
impact shortened Dimorphos’ roughly
12-hour orbit around its sibling asteroid,
Didymos, by 32 minutes (SN: 11/5/22,
p. 14). Dimorphos posed no threat to
Earth, but the test will help inform future
missions to divert any asteroids on a
FROM TOP: NASA; EHT COLLABORATION
potentially dangerous collision course

with our home planet, researchers say.
Massive Marsquakes The Event Horizon

The InSight Mars lander is going out on Telescope revealed this
a high note. After scientists reported in first-ever image of the
supermassive black hole at
May that InSight had recorded the largest the center of the Milky Way.
known Marsquake, roughly a magnitude 5,

Let’s wait
and see
BY ELIZABETH QUILL
T
hese reported discoveries from
2022 could be game changers, if
only we were sure of the find-
ings. News reports this year left The youngster (left) being groomed by an adult female silvered leaf monkey may be a rare hybrid.
us wondering …
that the species walked upright, scientists deforestation for oil palm plantations
Is new physics around the corner? reported (SN: 9/24/22, p. 7). That conclu- that’s fragmenting the habitat the mon-
A measurement of the mass of an ele- sion cements the species’ status as the keys share along the Kinabatangan River.
mentary particle called the W boson earliest known hominid, those scientists
has physicists holding their breath. Data argue. Other proposed early hominids Did humans arrive early in Europe?
from the Collider Detector at Fermilab, are much younger, dating from about Humans may have migrated to Europe
or CDF, suggest the particle is heftier 5 million to 6 million years ago. But some as early as 56,800 years ago, scientists
than expected (SN: 5/7/22 & 5/21/22, scientists say the 7-million-year-old reported based on discoveries at a rock-
p. 12). If so, the finding would be just the bones don’t clearly point to a two-legged shelter in southern France. Those finds
kind of crack that researchers have been gait and belonged instead to an ancient would put Homo sapiens on the continent
looking for in the standard model of par- ape. With all the uncertainty, these find- about 10,000 years earlier than previously
ticle physics. That theory successfully ings may yet be walked back. thought and long before Neandertals died
describes the basic constituents of our out (SN: 3/12/22, p. 9). The disappearance
world but doesn’t explain how gravity Do tetraneutrons exist? of the Neandertals, the work suggests, may
fits in. Whether the discovery dissolves Scientists have been on the hunt for six have been a more complex and drawn-
with further measurements or points the decades. Now for the first time they may out process than had been realized. The
way to a new and better understanding of have spotted an elusive quartet: a clus- researchers suggest that H. sapiens not
matter remains to be seen. ter of four neutrons called a tetraneutron only traded off occupation of the site with
(SN Online: 6/22/22). These clumps seem Neandertals, but also took survival tips.
Was Old MacDonald a gopher? to last for a fleeting instant, less than a Still, the evidence rests on a single human
Root-munching southeastern pocket billionth of a trillionth of a second in an tooth and tools that other researchers say
gophers (Geomys pinetis) tend their tun- experiment reported this year. Studying could have been made by Neandertals.
nels like farmer tend their fields, scientists the clusters could be a boon to research-
claimed (SN Online: 7/14/22). The gophers, ers who want to know how neutrons Has a ‘photon ring’ been detected?
which live in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, behave within atomic nuclei. But dis- Remember that stunning first picture of a
spread their feces in the tunnels, churn the agreements among various theoretical black hole, unveiled in 2019 by the Event
soil and nibble existing roots. All of that calculations leave some experts uncon- Horizon Telescope team? It showed the
encourages new roots to grow, and so vinced that tetraneutrons even exist. shadow of galaxy M87’s black hole on its
secures future lunch. But some researchers swirling ring of hot matter. Well, astro-
say the gophers’ inadvertent environmen- Is a mystery monkey a hybrid? physicists announced this year that they
tal changes don’t count as agriculture. For An odd-looking primate spotted some six had teased out a ring within a ring in
now, it’s an open question whether any years ago in Borneo might be a rare hybrid. M87, identifying the thin circle of light
mammals but people cultivate crops. But researchers won’t be sure until they created by the orbiting photons that are
can collect animal droppings for genetic flung around the black hole before they
Do limb bones reveal our roots? analysis (SN: 6/18/22, p. 11). Photographs fly toward Earth (SN: 9/24/22, p. 8). This
There’s no doubt that fossils of a part of a suggest that the primate’s mother is a “photon ring” would offer a new way to
leg and two forearms unearthed in 2001 in silvered leaf monkey (Trachypithecus test what we think we know about grav-
Chad are a window into the past. But what cristatus), its father a proboscis monkey ity, but some researchers are critical of
they can tell us about our own evolution (Nasalis larvatus). If true, it’s a concern- the methods used to identify the ring. A
KEN S.H. CHING
has been hotly debated. The bones, which ing coupling. Mating across genera clear detection of the photon ring might
date to around 7 million years ago, belong suggests the two species are under have to wait for space telescopes to join
to Sahelanthropus tchadensis and confirm extreme pressure, probably from the the black hole–imaging effort. s

2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
Biomedical
advances
BY MEGHAN ROSEN
C
OVID-19 may continue to
dominate headlines, but this
year’s biomedical advances
weren’t all about “the Rona.” In July, a surgical team at NYU Langone Health transplanted a pig heart into a brain-dead patient,
2022 saw fruitful and seemingly fantas- part of a larger effort to evaluate the potential of using animal organs for transplantation.
tical research that could one day mean
good news for patients. pumps a mix of real and artificial blood A complete human genome, finally
through the animals (SN: 9/10/22, p. 12). Researchers announced back in 2003 that
Next-level organ transplants they had read all the genetic info packed
Organ transplants have started mirror- Epstein-Barr’s link to MS into strands of human DNA — the first
ing science fiction. In January, an ailing Scientists dropped an Epstein-Barr sequence of the human genome. But that
57-year-old man received a heart from a bombshell early this year when they sug- genome was not quite complete; some
genetically engineered pig and survived gested that the virus is the main cause of tangled-up lengths of DNA remained dif-
for two months with the transplanted the neurodegenerative disease multiple ficult to decipher. This year, a team tied
organ (SN: 3/12/22, p. 26). Other surger- sclerosis. Infection with the virus greatly up the loose ends. In March, the research-
ies plugged pig hearts into the bodies upped the odds of later developing MS, ers reported a new and improved human
of brain-dead patients, a step that pre- an analysis of millions of U.S. military genome — this time, complete from end to
pares researchers for future clinical trials recruits found. The link between the virus end (SN: 4/23/22, p. 6).
(SN Online: 7/12/22). And a high-tech and MS, which scientists had suspected
system hooked up to pigs’ bodies an hour but never outlined so clearly, might guide AI predicts protein structures
after death helped keep organs function- the way to potential MS treatments — or Artificial intelligence has taken structural
ing. The technology, which might one day even, one day, vaccines to prevent the biology to warp speed. A deep-learning
preserve human organs slated for surgery, disease (SN: 8/13/22, p. 14). program called AlphaFold has now
Awesome animals Spring-to-safety spiders

Philoponella prominens males perform a
death-defying stunt to keep from being
BY DEBORAH BALTHAZAR northwestern California, can jump and eaten by a mate after sex. The orb weaver
F
rom spiders that catapult their glide among the tops of towering red- uses hydraulic pressure within its leg
way to safety to sea sponges that wood trees. By extending its front and joints to launch nearly 90 centimeters per
sneeze themselves clean, here are hind legs like a skydiver, the wandering second to safety (SN Online: 4/25/22).
FROM TOP: JOE CARROTTA FOR NYU LANGONE HEALTH; SHICHANG ZHANG
the creature features that most salamander (Aneides vagrans) can control
impressed us in 2022. and adjust its speed and direction while in
the air (SN: 6/18/22, p. 12).
Fishing fox
Pics or it didn’t happen. In the first Crafty cockatoos
recorded instance of a fox fishing, a team In an interspecies battle for the ages,
from Spain filmed a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) people in Sydney have had to up their
catching 10 carp over a couple hours defenses to stop cockatoos from rifling
(SN: 11/5/22, p. 4). This makes foxes only through outdoor trash bins (SN: 10/8/22 &
the second type of canid — wolves can do 10/22/22, p. 10). The birds have learned to
it too — that are known to fish for a feast. push bricks off the bin covers using brute
force, while sneakers jammed through a
Skydiving salamander bin’s handles are a better deterrent. But After mating, a male Philoponella prominens
orb weaver spider (reddish brown) uses its
Flying squirrels, yes, but a skydiving sala- these trash thieves may eventually find a front legs to catapult backward and escape
mander? This bold amphibian, native to way around that blockade too. becoming lunch for the female (dark brown).

predicted the 3-D shapes of more than
200 million proteins (SN: 9/24/22, p. 16).
Though the shapes are not lab-verified
Record
structures, the massive dataset could help
researchers studying health and disease
in all sorts of organisms, from humans to
breakers
honeybees. Now, looking up a protein’s BY ERIN WAYMAN
N
predicted structure is almost as easy as ew scientific records are set
typing it into Google, according to the every year, and 2022 was no
cofounder of the AI company that cre- exception. A bacterial behe-
ated AlphaFold. moth, a shockingly speedy
supercomputer and a close-by black hole
Growing synthetic embryos are among the most notable superlatives
Two reports this year revealed how to of the year.
fabricate the early stages of mammalian
life. With a bit of laboratory wizardry, sci- Biggest single-celled bacterium
entists mingled mouse stem cells, which Bacteria normally dwell in the microscopic
self-assembled to spawn what appears world. Not Thiomargarita magnifica. This human skeleton (shown
to be a kind of fledgling embryo — no egg Averaging about a centimeter long, this from the waist down) from
or sperm required. As they grow, these newfound bacterium is visible to the the island of Borneo bears
evidence that the lower left
stem cell–derived synthetic embryos can naked eye (SN: 7/16/22 & 7/30/22, p. 17). leg was amputated roughly
form proto hearts, brains and guts. But T. magnifica, which lives in the mangrove 31,000 years ago.
the similarity to natural mouse embryos forests of the Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles,
fades quickly. The synthetic and natural is about 50 times larger than other spe- The discovery pushes surgery’s origin back
versions match up for only about eight cies of big bacteria and about 5,000 times by some 20,000 years.
days of development. Still, studying sim- larger than typical bacteria. Why this spe-
ilar clusters of human stem cells might cies evolved into such a giant is unknown. Largest fish colony
one day offer a way to probe the develop- Deep off the coast of Antarctica, icefish
ment of human embryos without relying Fastest supercomputer congregate in a breeding colony as big
on the real thing. s A supercomputer named Frontier as Orlando, Fla. Some 60 million nests
crunched numbers with mind-blowing of Jonah’s icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah)
speed this year: 1.1 quintillion operations stretch across at least 240 square kilo-
Joyriding goldfish per second (SN Online: 6/1/22). That meters of seafloor (SN: 2/12/22, p. 12).
Teach a fish to drive a motorized fish makes the machine, run by Oak Ridge Previously, nest-building species of fish
tank and it will drive wherever it wants. National Laboratory in Tennessee, the were known to gather in only the hun-
Goldfish taught to drive showed they first exascale computer — a computer that dreds. An abundant food supply and
could navigate outside their natural envi- can perform at least 1018 operations per access to a zone of unusually warm water
ronment and reach a target (SN: 2/12/22, second. The next fastest computer tops may explain the exceptionally large group.
p. 4). Maybe one day these cruising fish out at 442 quadrillion (that’s 1015) opera-
will boldly go where no fish has gone tions per second. Exascale computing Closest black hole
before. is expected to lead to breakthroughs in By sifting through data released by the
everything from climate science to health Gaia spacecraft, astrophysicists dis-
Snotty, sneezy sea sponges to particle physics. covered a black hole that’s just over
These creatures take self-care to the next 1,560 light-years from Earth (SN Online:
level. Sponges are filter feeders, sucking Earliest surgery 11/4/22). Dubbed Gaia BH1, it’s about
up water through their pores to get nutri- The first known surgical operation was a twice as close as the previously nearest
ents. But when unwanted junk comes in, leg amputation (SN: 10/8/22 & 10/22/22, known black hole. But that record may
T.R. MALONEY ET AL/NATURE 2022
an Aplysina archeri tube sponge traps p. 5). That’s the conclusion researchers not stand. About 100 million black holes
the particles in mucus, then expels it in came to after investigating the skeleton are predicted to exist in the Milky Way.
one slow-motion sneeze (SN: 9/10/22, of a person who lived on the Indonesian Since most are invisible, they’re hard to
p. 4). The Caribbean sponges are con- island of Borneo about 31,000 years ago. find. But when Gaia, which is precisely
stantly oozing mucus like a child with a Healed bone where the lower left leg had mapping a billion stars, releases its next
runny nose. Looks like someone could use been removed suggests the individual sur- batch of data in a few years, even closer
a tissue. s vived for several years after the procedure. black holes may turn up. s

REVIEWS & PREVIEWS
BOOKSHELF The Last Days of

the Dinosaurs
Our favorite books of 2022 Riley Black
Books about the pandemic. Books about the ancient past. Books about outer space. The basic story of the
These were a few of Science News staff’s favorite reads. If your favorite didn’t make downfall of nonbird
this year’s cut, let us know what we missed at feedback@sciencenews.org. dinosaurs is familiar:
They were killed off by
Vagina Obscura The Milky Way an asteroid that slammed into Earth
Rachel E. Gross Moiya McTier 66 million years ago. Using the most
For centuries, scientists This absorbing “auto- up-to-date science, Black fleshes out
(mostly males) have biography,” written from this tale, painting a vivid portrait of life
ignored female biology, the perspective of the before and after this apocalypse (SN:
and women’s health has Milky Way (a very sassy 4/23/22, p. 28). St. Martin’s Press, $28.99
suffered. But researchers Milky Way), draws on
are finally paying attention, as Gross mythology and astronomy to persuade The Rise and Reign of
explains in this fascinating tour of readers that our home galaxy deserves the Mammals
what little is known about female respect and admiration (SN: 9/10/22, Steve Brusatte
anatomy (SN: 4/9/22, p. 29). p. 28). Grand Central Publishing, $27 The perfect follow-up to
W.W. Norton & Co., $30 Black’s book (above) on
A Portrait of the Scientist how the Age of Dinosaurs
The Song of the Cell as a Young Woman ended is this sweeping
Siddhartha Mukherjee Lindy Elkins-Tanton history of how the Age of Mammals
Patient stories and In this moving memoir, began. Brusatte traces the origins of the
conversations with sci- Elkins-Tanton recounts evolutionary innovations that have made
entific luminaries enliven her journey to becoming mammals so successful (SN: 6/18/22,
this tale of cell biology’s a planetary scientist p. 28). Mariner Books, $29.99
past, present and future, and leader of a NASA asteroid mission.
and how advances in the field have Her struggles with childhood trauma Origin
reshaped medicine (SN: 11/5/22, p. 28). and sexism in her career lay bare the Jennifer Raff
Scribner, $32.50 barriers that many women in the sci- Exactly how and when
ences still face (SN: 8/13/22, p. 26). humans first came to the
Breathless William Morrow, $29.99 Americas is still unsettled
David Quammen science. But Raff gathers
In this portrait of the An Immense World archaeological and genetic
coronavirus and the Ed Yong evidence to piece together a convincing
scientists who study it, So much of the world scenario. She also points out past mis-
Quammen investigates is beyond the grasp of treatment of Indigenous communities by
some of the most pressing human perception, but geneticists and calls on researchers to do
questions about the pandemic, including this safari through animal better and foster more collaborations
whether or not the coronavirus could senses helps readers (SN: 2/12/22, p. 29). Twelve, $30
have accidentally escaped from a lab (SN: imagine what we’re missing (SN: 7/16/22
9/24/22, p. 28). Simon & Schuster, $29.99 & 7/30/22, p. 36). Random House, $30 Pests
Bethany Brookshire
Virology How Far the Light So-called pests are a
Joseph Osmundson Reaches human invention, argues
This wide-ranging Sabrina Imbler Brookshire, a former staff
collection of essays is By drawing parallels writer for Science News
a meditation on society’s between their own life for Students (now Science
complicated relationship and the stories of bobbit News Explores). In coming face-to-face
with viruses. In pondering worms, octopuses, sperm with rats, feral cats, pythons and even
SARS-CoV-2, HIV and more, Osmundson whales and other deep-sea dwellers, elephants, Brookshire teases out the
calls for more equitable access to medi- Imbler muses on such weighty themes various social factors that cause people
cal care (SN: 7/16/22 & 7/30/22, p. 37). as adaptation, survival and sexuality. to deem certain animals a nuisance
W.W. Norton & Co., $16.95 Little, Brown & Co., $27 (SN: 12/3/22, p. 26). Ecco, $28.99

ADV E RTI SE M E NT
SOCIETY UPDATE
TOP
MOMENTS Our First Hybrid Competition
Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair
2022 was the Society’s first hybrid competition, with
Society for Science, which students competing in Atlanta and virtually around the
publishes Science News, had world. The competition featured 1,750 young scientists
Launched a New Magazine representing 49 states and 63 countries, regions and
a successful year expanding The Society launched Science News territories. Robert Sansone of Fort Pierce, Fla., won the
Explores, a new print magazine for $75,000 George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award.
scientific literacy, STEM children ages 9 and up and their
education and scientific families, teachers and community.
The Society also changed the name
research. Here are some of Science News for Students online,
which is written at a middle school
of the highlights. level, to Science News Explores.
Back in Person
After two years in a virtual setting,
the Regeneron Science Talent Search
was once again held in person in
Washington, D.C. — with COVID-19
safety precautions in place. Christine
New Sponsor Ye of Sammamish, Wash., won the
The Society named Thermo Fisher Scientific as $250,000 top award.
the new title sponsor of our middle school STEM
competition, which will be called the Thermo
Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. Highlighting Alumni
Thermo Fisher’s sponsorship begins in 2023, In celebration of its
making it only the third title sponsor in the centennial, the Society
competition’s 25-year history. launched a website
showcasing its extraordinary
competition alumni. The
Science News Centennial Concludes highlighted alumni were
In 2022, Science News ended its year-long selected based on their
celebration of the magazine’s centennial, accomplishments and
culminating in an excellent tour of the lasting contributions
magazine’s storied history, including its to the world.
coverage of the Scopes trial, the first
spacewalk and Dolly the Sheep.
End of an Era
The 2022 Broadcom
MASTERS, which was
the last competition
held with Broadcom
Foundation as the title
Same Program, New Name sponsor, took place in
The Society changed the name person after two years
of Science News in High Schools of virtual competitions.
to Science News Learning as the Thomas Aldous of
program expanded its audience to Pittsburgh won the
include middle school students and $25,000 Samueli
teachers. Foundation Prize.
Happy reading season from the MIT Press
mitpress.mit.edu
ADV E RTI SE M E NT
SCIENCE VISUALIZED
2022 climate disasters
Heat wave Drought
Wildfire Extreme
rainfall
North Africa
JUNE–AUGUST
Deadly heat
seared the region.
United States In Tunis, Tunisia,
APRIL the temperature
Extreme dryness hit 48° Celsius,
and high winds breaking a 40-
fueled an early Atlantic Ocean year record. The
wildfire season SEPTEMBER extreme heat and
across the South- Hurricane Ian’s dryness sparked
west, kicking off extreme rainfall wildfires that
the most active made it a 1-in- destroyed homes
U.S. wildfire season 1,000–years storm and crops.
in 10 years. Since in some parts of
2000, the South- Florida. Climate
west has been in its change made the
longest prolonged storm 10 percent
drought since at rainier, scientists
least A.D. 800. United States estimate.
MAY–SEPTEMBER
A series of deadly heat waves
smashed thousands of temperature
records from Sacramento, Calif.
(47° Celsius, or 117° Fahrenheit)
to North Platte, Neb. (42° C).
Nigeria
JUNE–OCTOBER
Extreme rainfall
A year of climate disasters led to widespread
flooding across
It was another shattering year. Climate change amped up Nigeria, claiming
weather extremes around the globe, smashing temperature hundreds of lives
and displacing over
records, sinking river levels to historic lows and raising rain- a million people.
fall to devastating highs. Droughts set the stage for wildfires
and worsened food insecurity. Researchers found themselves
pondering the limits of humans’ ability to tolerate extreme
IULIIA KONOVALIUK/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS,
heat (SN: 8/27/22, p. 6).

The extreme events from 2022 pinpointed on this map
are just a sample of this year’s climate disasters. Each was
exacerbated by human-caused climate change or is in line Brazil
with projections of regional impacts as described in the most MAY–JUNE
ADAPTED BY E. OTWELL
recent assessment by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Heavy rains in eastern Brazil caused
widespread landslides and flooding,
Panel on Climate Change. And as more carbon accumulates displacing at least 70,000 people.
in the atmosphere and global temperatures continue to rise, Climate change is projected to
the world will probably weather more such climate extremes increase the likelihood and intensity
of rainfall in the region.
(SN: 9/11/21, p. 8). — Carolyn Gramling

Europe Pakistan China China
JUNE–AUGUST JUNE–AUGUST JUNE–AUGUST JUNE–AUGUST
Raging wildfires, water shortages Monsoon rains Large parts of the country While much of the country
and crop losses swept Europe as caused flash floods sweltered under its longest suffered under prolonged
the continent was gripped by a and landslides. and hottest heat wave since drought, parts of southern
severe heat wave and its worst Swaths of the national records began in 1961. China saw the heaviest rain in
drought in 500 years. Drought Indus River Roads buckled, crops withered, 60 years, causing floods and
conditions were made at least 20 overflowed their livestock died and power short- landslides that forced nearly
times as likely by climate change. banks. Nearly ages forced rolling blackouts. 200,000 people to relocate.
1,700 people
died. Hardest-hit
southern Pakistan
saw outbreaks
of waterborne
diarrhea and
cholera.
Japan
JUNE–AUGUST
Japan endured its worst heat
wave since it began keeping
records in 1875. Tokyo baked
under a record nine-day streak
of temperatures topping
35° Celsius. Hundreds died
and thousands more went to
the hospital for heat stroke
and exhaustion.
Horn of Africa
SPRING AND FALL
A dearth of rain
during the year’s
usual rainy sea-
sons contributed
to the region’s
worst drought
in decades. The
severe drought has
led to acute food
insecurity for over
50 million people.
South Africa
APRIL
Two days of heavy
rains caused
catastrophic floods South Asia Australia
and landslides Indian Ocean MARCH–MAY JANUARY
along the country’s JANUARY–FEBRUARY India saw its hottest March in A prolonged heat wave broke
east coast. Climate Back-to-back tropical storms at 122 years, and in April the heat temperature records. Perth
change has doubled the start of the year battered swept across India and north- weathered a six-day streak
the likelihood of Madagascar, Mozambique ern Pakistan. Climate change of temperatures topping
such extreme rain- and Malawi with heavy rain. made a heat wave this early in 40° Celsius, while Onslow hit
fall in the region, Climate change increased the the year at least 30 times as nearly 51° C, tying a Southern
scientists report. storms’ rainfall, scientists say. likely, scientists say. Hemisphere record.

FEEDBACK
Top news stories Top feature stories

Online A special brew may have calmed Tardigrades could teach us how to
favorites 1 Inca children headed for sacrifice

The mummified remains of two Inca
children ritually sacrificed more than
1 handle the rigors of space travel
Tardigrades can withstand punishing
levels of radiation, the freezing cold and
of 2022 500 years ago contain chemical clues to

their final days and weeks. On the journey
the vacuum of outer space. Researchers
are learning the death-defying tricks of
Science News drew over 13 million to the Peruvian mountain where they these hardy microscopic animals to better
visitors to our website this year. were sacrificed, the children may have prepare astronauts for long-term voyages
Here’s a recap of the most-read chewed coca leaves and drunk a beverage (SN: 7/16/22 & 7/30/22, p. 30).
news stories and long reads of 2022. with antidepressant-like ingredients to
soothe their nerves (SN: 6/4/22, p. 10). Muons spill secrets about
A ‘mystery monkey’ in Borneo 2 Earth’s hidden structures

Just like doctors use X-rays to see
2
SOCIAL MEDIA
Science News joins TikTok may be a rare hybrid. That has inside the human body, scientists are us-
TikTok became one more way we scientists worried ing muons, a type of subatomic particle, to
tell stories, as we premiered our An unusual monkey first spotted six years peer inside Egyptian pyramids, volcanoes
first TikTok video — a tribute to the ago appears to be a cross between a female and other hard to penetrate structures
“bambootula” tarantula. Find out silvered leaf monkey (Trachypithecus (SN: 4/23/22, p. 22).
what makes this spider so peculiar cristatus) and a male proboscis monkey
and discover other amazing science (Nasalis larvatus). The possible cross-genera Multiple sclerosis has a common
tidbits @sciencenewsofficial pairing has scientists worried because such
matings are usually a sign that species are
facing ecological pressures (see Page 31).
3 viral culprit, opening doors to
new approaches
Evidence is mounting that Epstein-Barr
virus somehow instigates multiple sclero-
What experts told me to do sis. Understanding the link between the
3 after my positive COVID-19

at-home test
After Science News intern Anna Gibbs came
virus and MS may lead to better treat-
ments for the neurological disorder.
Vaccines against the virus may even pre-
down with COVID-19, she turned to health vent MS altogether (see Page 32).
experts to figure out how to report her
case to public health officials and how long The discovery of the
she needed to isolate (SN Online: 4/22/22).
All of the bases in DNA and

4 Kuiper Belt revamped
our view of the solar system
In 1992, two astronomers discovered
4 RNA have now been found in

meteorites
Here’s more evidence that life’s precursors
a doughnut-shaped region far beyond
Neptune, dubbed the Kuiper Belt, that’s
home to a swarm of frozen objects left
could have come from space. All five of the over from the solar system’s formation.
nucleobases that store information in DNA By studying these far-off objects over
and RNA have been discovered in meteor- the last 30 years, scientists have gained
ites. This year, scientists reported detecting new insights into how planets form
cytosine and thymine in fallen space rocks, (SN: 8/27/22, p. 22).
completing the list (see Page 30).
Clovis hunters’ reputation as
Join the conversation
E-MAIL feedback@sciencenews.org
MAIL Attn: Feedback
1719 N St., NW 5
Humans may not be able to handle
as much heat as scientists thought
For years, it was thought the human
5 mammoth killers takes a hit
Ancient Americans may have
been big-game scavengers rather than
Washington, DC 20036 body can tolerate heat up to a “wet bulb” big-game hunters. Some recent analyses
temperature — a measure combining hu- suggest that Clovis stone points were
Connect with us midity and air temperature — of 35° Celsius more likely tools for butchering large
(95° Fahrenheit). But experiments hint carcasses than weapons for taking down
that the threshold may be several degrees mammoths and other large animals
lower (SN: 8/27/22, p. 6). (SN: 1/15/22, p. 22).
40 SCIENCE NEWS | Decemeber 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

SHARE THE LOVE
(OF SCIENCE)
Give the young science fans in your life a full
year of amazing discoveries with a subscription
to Science News Explores — the new magazine for
families from the trusted team at Science News.
The perfect gift

for your explorer.
snexplores.org/magazine
secrets of ancient egypt – new discoveries
Dr. Zahi Hawass, the world’s most celebrated

archaeologist and former Minister of State for
Antiquities in Egypt, brings the mysteries of the
pharaohs to the United States on his first-ever grand
lecture tour.
Grand lecture Tour

may & june 2023
Join the real-life Indiana Jones for an epic journey May 2 Phoenix, AZ June 5 Atlanta, GA
of exploration and discovery. Don’t miss out on this May 4 Los Angeles, CA June 7 Philadelphia, PA
unforgettable evening as Dr. Hawass reveals the May 5 San Diego, CA June 9 New York, NY
most closely guarded secrets of ancient Egypt and May 8 San Francisco, CA June 13 Washington, DC
presents his groundbreaking new discoveries and May 11 Seattle, WA June 16 Miami, FL
latest research live on stage. As the man behind all May 13 Portland, OR June 17 Orlando, FL
major discoveries in Egypt over the last few decades May 17 Denver, CO June 22 Houston, TX
and director of several ongoing archaeological May 20 Kansas City, KS June 24 Dallas, TX
projects, Dr. Hawass may yet surprise you with May 22 Minneapolis, MN June 27 San Antonio, TX
unexpected revelations that will make news across May 24 Chicago, IL June 30 Boston, MA
the world. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A and May 26 Detroit, MI
book signing. May 27 Columbus, OH
May 31 St. Louis, MO
Register now at
www.zahilectures.com contact@zahilectures.com 646-757-1717
LOST GOLDEN CITY – PYRAMIDS – MUMMIES – KING TUT – CLEOPATRA – & MORE!

Science News - December 17, 2022 USA

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Science News - December 17, 2022 USA

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Science News - December 17, 2022 USA

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Surprisingly Social Marsupials | Our Favorite Books of the Year

The program starts at ages 15–17

Apply by January 25, 2023

Note: Applicants must be 15-17 as of

2022 Year in Review

PLUS: Read about other news from space,

population passes 8 billion

34 REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

COVER The James Webb

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 1

This was a year of both

triumphs and challenges EDITOR , SPECIAL PROJECTS Elizabeth Quill

SCIENCE But I take consolation in the fact

JOURNALISM We’ve covered the Scopes trial, the

2 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

14101 Southcross Drive W., Ste 155, Dept. CAC215-01,

Stauer… Afford the Extraordinary.®

Excerpt from the

4 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 5

Baby treated in utero for rare disorder

especially if treatment starts soon after

6 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

hemorrhaging ice Stream, a titanic conveyor belt of solid ice

streams in Greenland and Antarctica,

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 7

MATH & TECHNOLOGY charges that push the droplets apart,

‘read’ thoughts involved in either study.

WONBEOM LEE/DEPT. OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING/KAIST

8 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

faster than the roughly five words per

LIFE & EVOLUTION marsupials are solitary,” says Jingyu

10 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

helped the scientists determine the mete-

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 11

HUMANS & SOCIETY Public assemblies would have fallen short

12 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

2022 Year in Review

Seeing the universe in new light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

14 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 15

JOSEPH DEPASQUALE/STSCI, NAOMI ROWE-GURNEY/NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Rings around Neptune

16 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 17

Shake the dust off

18 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

Fans of the Roadside Geology series never go on Rick Hazlett

with photos, maps, and informative text, they have

ROADSIDE GEOLOGY OF HAWAII

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION

fatigue took over selves, your neighbors, your community.”

20 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 21

Feeling the weight of long COVID

22 SCIENCE NEWS | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022

COVID-19 against more versions of the virus.

updates UPDATE: Just 12 percent of people in the

www.sciencenews.org | December 17, 2022 & December 31, 2022 23

Monkeypox (illustrated) caught public health