This week’s biggest stories
Eclectic - it’s a pleasing word, and for this week’s science, the only word that seems to fit. Climate science has been a major part of this week’s coverage, given that climate change deniers are poised to enter the White House. And since there’s now compelling evidence that Greenland and Antarctica’s continental ice sheets are highly sensitive to slight increases in ocean temperatures, (which raises the prospect of sea levels continuing to rise dramatically for many centuries) it’s really something we need to engage with urgently. But if rising sea levels seem too distant a threat, it’s worth considering the sombre news that in the most bleak assessment of primates to date, conservationists found that 60% of wild species are on course to die out, with three quarters already in steady decline. The report casts doubt on the future of hundreds of primate species, including gorillas, chimps, gibbons, marmosets, tarsiers, lemurs and lorises. As Celine Dion would definitely say if she were here: baby, this is serious. If you won’t listen to scientists, listen to Celine (but just that bit, then get on with some primate conservation).
Still, if the fate of our planet seems somewhat frightening, we can always look up to the skies and see something distracting. This week we’ve been gawping at images of Venus, taken by the Japanese Akatsuki probe, which reveal a 10,000km pressure wave in the planet’s atmosphere – one of the largest ever seen in the solar system. A new theory on a natural wonder has also been proposed: the secret of Namibia’s “fairy circles” may be explained at last. And if that’s not enough of a boost, why not take the test in our piece on synaesthesia to find out if you can hear with your eyes? All this exciting research makes us take issue with an Icelandic study which suggests that natural selection is making “education genes” rarer - and says that while the effect corresponds to a small drop in IQ per decade, over centuries the impact could be profound. Ok, yes, we’re a bit worried.
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Friday fascinator
Science is falling victim to “crisis of narcissism”, says academic Bruno Lemaitre. Speaking last week at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Lemaitre described the cut-throat atmosphere of world-class laboratories and international conferences as closer to House of Cards than The Big Bang Theory.
Lemaitre is not suggesting his profession is unique in having experienced a rise in individualism – politics, film or fashion are probably worse and the trend is global, he says, but it has some worrying implications that are specific to science ...
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Straight from the lab – top picks from our experts on the blog network
What lies beneath: discovering surprising jewels in the North Sea | Notes & Theories
Nudibranchs, literally meaning ‘naked gill’ have evolved from shelled molluscs. They have lost the spiral shape, of course, and are without any trace of a shell, unlike some of their relatives (the sea hares, or Aplysiomorpha, for example), which retain an internal remnant of it. The group as a whole demonstrates a stunning variety of body shapes, patterns and colours. Residing within the Opisthobranchia group – which includes other slug-like species such as the sap-sucking sacoglossans and our more familiar terrestrial slugs and snails – the nudibranchs understandably punch above their weight in their allure for divers and biologists.
Palaeontologists solve an ancient tentacled mystery | Lost Worlds Revisited
We all tend associate certain qualities with people’s names, usually on the basis of people we have known. Helen, for example, is a very sensible name. I associate it with practical, dependable people I have known. You can rely on a Helen. A quick look at the ONS data for girls’ names in England and Wales tells me that it reached a high point of number 8 in the list of baby names in both 1964 and 1974. It’s also the technical term for a hyolith appendage: a hyolithid has a pair of helens. I think this is utterly brilliant. The original paper from 1975 says “We term these … structures helens because the word has no functional connotations, and they were first described under the generic name Helenia by Walcott”. Really? Or did they know a Helen?
The voice of science must be loud and clear in Brexit negotiations | Occam’s corner
Closing ourselves off from the uniquely sophisticated ecosystem of multilateral collaboration and scientific exchange that has been built over decades by the EU – with Britain at the forefront of that process – will exact a high price. Even the pro-leave Scientists for Britain campaigned on the basis that the UK would retain unfettered access to EU research structures. This claim may have been based on a disastrous – and possibly disingenuous – reading of how the EU works, but it is a testament to the fact that all points of the political spectrum recognise the high value of its research network.
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Alex Bellos’s Monday puzzle
This week Alex served up a peaty poser for a dry January! Did you solve it, or will you be trying to drown your sorrows?
Visit Alex Bellos’s Adventures in Numberland blog for more marvellous maths
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Science Weekly podcast
What is the psychology behind climate change denial? Can it be overcome? And what communication tips can scientists take from political campaigns? That’s all in this week’s special Science Weekly podcast.
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Eye on science – this week’s top video
SpaceX lands its first rocket since a previous attempt in September 2016 exploded before takeoff. The Falcon 9 rocket took approximately nine minutes to return to earth after launch, landing on a barge in the Pacific south of Vandenberg, California to the obvious delight of SpaceX employees. Exciting times!
