Omicron updates; Martian encounters; alien hunters; why you should turn in early
| Wednesday, December 1, 2021 | |
| In today’s newsletter, omicron updates; Martian encounters; alien hunters, learning from spiders … and why you should turn in early. | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUSTIN C. HILL AND CATHERINE MILLER | | By Victoria Jaggard, SCIENCE executive editor
One of the strangest changes for me during the pandemic has been life without high heels. We don’t wear shoes in the house, so I’ve been padding around in bare feet or socks for almost two years now. That would amaze most folks I know, who are used to seeing me in four-inch platforms. I’ve hiked through jungles, climbed volcanic plateaus, and crossed the Washington, D.C., Mall multiple times in my favorite vertiginous footwear. I can only imagine this proclivity has given me an odd gait—and that may put me in the company of a mysterious ancient relative.
Scientists recently took a closer look at a set of tracks in Tanzania (pictured above) that are near some of the most famous known to paleontologists: 3.6-million-year-old footprints left behind by the early human relative Australopithacus afarensis. As Maya Wei-Haas reports, these prints represent the first clear evidence of our ancestors walking on two feet.
The scientists who found them in the 1970s also stumbled across five more prints by a biped that was crossing one foot over the other as it shambled through the mud. It won’t exactly make the Ministry of Silly Walks, but it is pretty darn odd for the time period. "The extreme version of this would be like model walking," says study leader Ellie McNutt of Ohio University.
For a long time scientists wrote off the unusual prints thinking they’d been created by a bear walking on its hind legs. But McNutt and her colleagues know their bears, and they raised an eyebrow. Combining video analysis of bears walking with advanced scans of the prints and measurements from other hominin trackways, they conclude that ursine interlopers are off the hook. Instead, they say, the prints may belong to a mysterious human relative that crossed paths with A. afarensis way back when.
Other scientists are intrigued if not entirely convinced. It’s hard enough to define a new species based on its fossil remains, let alone a few footprints. More study and analysis could yield further clues to cement their conclusions, and the team does plan to go back to the site to search for more prints—but they better act fast. These kinds of fossil trackways are at constant risk of erosion, and preserving them is notoriously tough.
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 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY MOHD RASFAN, AFP/GETTY IMAGES | | That COVID variant: Don’t panic over Omicron just yet. Yes, the COVID-19 variant is spreading and has 32 mutations on its spike protein. However, experts caution that there are many unknowns—and they say current vaccines and masks still offer protection, Sanjay Mishra writes for Nat Geo. (Pictured above, passengers in protective gear at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday.)
Effective HIV prevention, but … The medication known as preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is cheap and widely available for many—but it's not getting to a core group at high risk for the virus, Sarah Elizabeth Richards writes in a story that marks today’s World AIDS Day. The pill, taken daily, is 99 percent effective in preventing transmission of HIV. But women, who make up a fifth of those infected in the United States, aren’t being educated about the availability of HIV prevention drugs. Health officials estimate only one percent of high-risk women had a PrEP prescription in 2020.
Making it a habit: Setting goals for the new year? Want to eat healthier and work out regularly? The key is getting into a habit, not willpower, CNN reports. Katy Milkman outlines several science-backed steps to getting on track.
Why you should go to bed at 10: It’s known as the magic hour: the time between 10 and 11 p.m. That’s a healthier time for you to go to bed if you want to protect your heart, the European Society of Cardiology reports. The advice follows one of the few studies on sleep timing and cardiovascular disease.
Nourishing the world: That may be an odd way to think about volcanos, but Maya Wei-Haas proves her point in the December edition of National Geographic. One thing we didn’t realize: Volcanoes have created 80 percent of the rocks on our planet. Subscribers can read the article here.
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| What’s up with these aspen? The trees without leaves are dying, which is bad news for the world’s boreal forests, the greatest terrestrial carbon sink. These trees, photographed from a helicopter over northern Alberta, show the “Aspen Dieback” as a result of climate change. The forests are increasingly susceptible to many pests and other threats. We’ll be covering this story throughout the year to come. World leaders have just pledged to work together to save Earth’s forests.
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 | | ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW FAZEKAS | | | Martian encounter: Early risers Thursday can catch sight of the crescent moon meeting up with the red planet in the low eastern sky an hour before sunrise. Look above the celestial pair to find bright stars Vega, Arcturus, Regulus, and Spica spread across the dawn skies. After sunset Monday (illustrated above, at left), look toward the southwest for the waxing crescent moon pairing up with superbright Venus; on Tuesday it’ll be near the fainter Saturn in the fading twilight. You’ll see brilliant Jupiter off to the side of the stunning trio, which should make for a great photo opp too. Want more on Mars? Read about our historic obsession with the planet.— Andrew Fazekas | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY M. BUEHLER, T. SARACENO, I SU, ET AL.
A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS FROM MIT AND STUDIO SARACENO.
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Spider, not violin, strings: This web from a tropical tent-web spider was used by MIT scientists to experiment with “playing” the strands as if they were the vibrating strings of a musical instrument. Why do that? The scientists are looking to convey to humans the Spidey sense conferred by vibrations in the webs, Nat Geo reports. That’s among discoveries featured in Nat Geo’s December issue.
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 | | COURTESY OF SETI INSTITUTE | | Alien hunters: A formula for scientists looking for intelligent life beyond Earth has taken on a life of its own since being scribbled down before a meeting 60 years ago. The formula, known as the Drake Equation, is a common tattoo, a beer, and has been written on the side of U-Haul trucks. (Above, astrophysicist Frank Drake with his equation.) “If anything, the Drake Equation’s most enduring legacy is not a numerical solution, but a mirror,” his daughter, Nadia Drake, writes. “It asks us to think about Earth, and about humankind, from a cosmic perspective—to consider the fragility of our existence in this galactic sea.”
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This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Jen Tse, and Monica Williams. Have an idea or a link? We'd love to hear from you at david.beard@natgeo.com. | |
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