scientificamerican--2020-12-30--We Need a Paris Agreement for Plastics

We Need a Paris Agreement for Plastics

My entry into the ocean plastics crisis began when our organization , SoulBuffalo , ran the first ever activist-to-industry ocean plastics summit in May of 2019 .
To imagine the summit , picture 165 senior leaders from Coca-Cola , Dow , Greenpeace , the American Chemistry Council , the World Bank , World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) and representatives of some of the world ’ s 15 million informal waste pickers all stuck on a boat together in the middle of the Atlantic Garbage Patch for four days .
These stakeholders have wildly different strategies , visions and objectives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together in the heart of the crisis to ignite new relationships and accelerate action .
We snorkeled together in a sea of plastics and hosted boundary-pushing conversations between leaders that don ’ t usually sit in the same room .
We saw up close the paradox of plastic , part wonder material , part environmental scourge .
Lightweight and strong , plastic preserves food like no other material .
Yet it breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics , which can now be found everywhere in the world—from the deepest oceans to our very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flowing into our natural environment at an unprecedented rate—a dump truck ’ s worth every minute into our oceans alone .
As I wrote in Scientific American in August , the pandemic has made it worse .
Enough masks are being made per year to cover the entire country of Switzerland .
Confronting this reality together in the Atlantic Garbage Patch built bridges between the plastic industry and environmental NGOs .
Five of the ideas workshopped during the summit are funded and up and running today ( including the Plastic Pickers Operational Working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powerful impact , but the crisis is far from resolved .
The need for a complete overhaul of our broken system for managing waste is clear .
The growing consensus is that the most effective way to do this is through a U.N .
Global Treaty on Plastics .
In 14 months at United Nations Environmental Assembly ’ s Fifth Session ( UNEA-5 ) , the U.N. will decide on whether to move a treaty forward .
The 70-plus-member Ocean Plastics Leadership Network , the activist-to-industry network dedicated to the plastics crisis that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ middle of the Atlantic , is committed to accelerating the work towards a “ Paris Agreement ” for plastics .
We are currently at work on a yearlong series of virtual dialogues during the 14-month groundwork period leading up to the UNEA5 decision in February 2022 on whether to develop a global plastics treaty .
Our role is to help map consensus amongst major stakeholders to accelerate a plastics treaty .
Traditionally , negotiations on global treaties are incredibly hard , and the vast number of stakeholders in the global plastics crisis only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Among the stakeholders for a new global agreement on plastic pollution are 193 U.N.-recognized governments ; thousands of companies dependent on plastic ; trade and advocacy groups ; activists and industry-facing nonprofits ; waste pickers in the developing world who are responsible for picking plastic out of landfills and off beaches ; and seven billion consumers who recycle on average 14 percent of the total amount of plastic they consume .
We ’ re under no illusion about the scope of this challenge .
We must create a safe forum for tough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and varied group in advance of the February 2022 decision to inform negotiators at the U.N. and help advance the treaty .
In the words of Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres , who was central to the realization of the Paris Agreement , we must employ “ relentless optimism , ” coupled with “ radical collaboration.
” Despite this complexity , we believe a meaningful global agreement can be reached and that we must make it happen faster than any treaty before .
There are good reasons for optimism .
In 1988 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreement titled MARPOL Annex V making it illegal for ships to dump plastic in the ocean anywhere in the world .
It is still in effect today , proving there ’ s precedent for global agreements to preserve our oceans .
All of the Caribbean nations , the Nordic countries and the Pacific Island states have called for a new global agreement .
Sixty-eight countries have publicly expressed interest in a plastics treaty , as have a broad coalition of African countries , and the European Union .
While the U.S. has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groundswell of worldwide support is encouraging .
In November , the U.K. ’ s environmental minister declared the time to start negotiating a plastics treaty is now .
`` We have a chance now to tackle plastic pollution in the way that the Paris agreement has done for climate change.
” said Lord Zac Goldsmith .
There is also hope across the environmental community that the recently elected Biden administration will be a meaningful force on the plastics treaty , as the Obama administration was for climate .
Major reports released in 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide a useful blueprint to ground discussions .
WWF , Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Boston Consulting Group laid out the business case for a global treaty , and 30 major companies have signed onto a `` Business Call for a U.N. Treaty On Plastic Pollution . ''
They urged others to join them in advocating for an international response that aligns businesses and governments and offers a clear approach to addressing the plastic crisis .
Environmental NGO groups also voiced their support for a plastics treaty in a report from the Center for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Agency and GAIA ( Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives ) .
The report has the backing of the Break Free from Plastic movement and Greenpeace .
Finally , just a few weeks ago , the Nordic Council of Ministers rolled out a 148-page report that provides a suggested framework and positioning for a future treaty .
These reports reveal that there is already alignment on some fundamental points .
First , they all call for harmonized reporting on plastics throughout their life cycle , making it possible to account for everything that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This requires a standardization of terms for all things plastic , so regions and stakeholders all speak the same language .
Second , all the reports recommend national action plans , where each country sets up its own plans to manage waste based on minimum requirements , much as nations do with greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris accord .
Finally , the reports agree that scientific panels should monitor progress globally , and a financial mechanism must support developing countries and distribute funds internationally .
While environmental organizations ( like OPLN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like OPLN member American Chemistry Council ) may agree on some of the basic structures of a global agreement there are still challenging issues to address .
Environmental groups call for mandatory plastic reduction goals and enforceable mechanisms in the treaty , as well as limits on new fossil fuel–derived virgin plastic production .
Meanwhile , many industry groups believe a treaty can be successful without mandatory reduction goals and heavily emphasize the expansion of advanced recycling or chemical recycling technologies .
Many environmental activist groups see the advanced recycling models as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on consumption .
A landmark report from the Pew Charitable Trusts , SYSTEMIQ and various academic partners , titled “ Breaking the Plastic Wave , ” points toward a way to help bridge this divide : we need to dramatically ramp up both upstream solutions such as reduction goals championed by environmental groups and downstream solutions championed by industry , including fixing our broken mechanical recycling system and investing in new technologies .
How long will bridging this divide take ?
The road to the Paris Agreement actually began in 1991 with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and continued with the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 , and the failed meetings in Copenhagen in 2009 .
The Paris Agreement was finally signed in 2016 , 25 years after the first framework was agreed upon .
The Montreal Protocol , which has been instrumental in repairing our ozone layer , was signed in 1987 , 14 years after CFCs were posited to pose a danger—speedy by U.N. standards .
A high seas treaty to conserve marine biological diversity in international waters has been under discussion for 12 years now .
However @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speed when the issue is plastic .
The Basel plastic amendments included plastic waste in a legally binding framework to make global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better regulated .
This was a major accomplishment , and the time between the first proposal and unanimous adoption by governments was just eight months , previously an unheard-of timeframe in which to negotiate an international agreement .
Reports such as “ Breaking the Plastic Wave ” tell us we ’ re running out of time .
We must rapidly accelerate both upstream and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solving this crisis .
If we delay dramatic action by just five years and maintain current government and industry commitments , an additional 80 million metric tons of plastic will end up in the ocean by 2040 ( or about half of all the plastic that has accumulated from the start of the plastics era up to now ) .
Preventing this disaster for ocean ecosystems and human health and well-being requires creating safe spaces for discussion between environmental and industry groups now .
The only way forward is to approach the obstacles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progress , and that all parties , regardless of their perspective and approach , should have a seat at the table .
If we are brave enough to have those conversations , we have reason to be relentlessly optimistic that an ambitious plastics treaty matching the scale and urgency of the problem can be realized in record time .

My entry into the ocean plastics crisis began when our organization, SoulBuffalo, ran the first ever activist-to-industry ocean plastics summit in May of 2019. To imagine the summit, picture 165 senior leaders from Coca-Cola, Dow, Greenpeace, the American Chemistry Council, the World Bank, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and representatives of some of the world’s 15 million informal waste pickers all stuck on a boat together in the middle of the Atlantic Garbage Patch for four days.
These stakeholders have wildly different strategies, visions and objectives. Our mission was to bring them together in the heart of the crisis to ignite new relationships and accelerate action. We snorkeled together in a sea of plastics and hosted boundary-pushing conversations between leaders that don’t usually sit in the same room.
We saw up close the paradox of plastic, part wonder material, part environmental scourge. Lightweight and strong, plastic preserves food like no other material. Yet it breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics, which can now be found everywhere in the world—from the deepest oceans to our very own bodies.
Every day plastic is flowing into our natural environment at an unprecedented rate—a dump truck’s worth every minute into our oceans alone. As I wrote in Scientific American in August, the pandemic has made it worse. Enough masks are being made per year to cover the entire country of Switzerland.
Confronting this reality together in the Atlantic Garbage Patch built bridges between the plastic industry and environmental NGOs. Five of the ideas workshopped during the summit are funded and up and running today (including the Plastic Pickers Operational Working Group). The summit made a powerful impact, but the crisis is far from resolved. The need for a complete overhaul of our broken system for managing waste is clear. The growing consensus is that the most effective way to do this is through a U.N. Global Treaty on Plastics. In 14 months at United Nations Environmental Assembly’s Fifth Session (UNEA-5), the U.N. will decide on whether to move a treaty forward.
The 70-plus-member Ocean Plastics Leadership Network, the activist-to-industry network dedicated to the plastics crisis that was born on that ship in the middle of the Atlantic, is committed to accelerating the work towards a “Paris Agreement” for plastics.
We are currently at work on a yearlong series of virtual dialogues during the 14-month groundwork period leading up to the UNEA5 decision in February 2022 on whether to develop a global plastics treaty. Our role is to help map consensus amongst major stakeholders to accelerate a plastics treaty.
Traditionally, negotiations on global treaties are incredibly hard, and the vast number of stakeholders in the global plastics crisis only adds to the complexity of the task.
Among the stakeholders for a new global agreement on plastic pollution are 193 U.N.-recognized governments; thousands of companies dependent on plastic; trade and advocacy groups; activists and industry-facing nonprofits; waste pickers in the developing world who are responsible for picking plastic out of landfills and off beaches; and seven billion consumers who recycle on average 14 percent of the total amount of plastic they consume.
We’re under no illusion about the scope of this challenge. We must create a safe forum for tough conversations to take place among this vast and varied group in advance of the February 2022 decision to inform negotiators at the U.N. and help advance the treaty. In the words of Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres, who was central to the realization of the Paris Agreement, we must employ “relentless optimism,” coupled with “radical collaboration.”
Despite this complexity, we believe a meaningful global agreement can be reached and that we must make it happen faster than any treaty before. There are good reasons for optimism. In 1988, the International Maritime Organization ratified a global agreement titled MARPOL Annex V making it illegal for ships to dump plastic in the ocean anywhere in the world. It is still in effect today, proving there’s precedent for global agreements to preserve our oceans.
All of the Caribbean nations, the Nordic countries and the Pacific Island states have called for a new global agreement. Sixty-eight countries have publicly expressed interest in a plastics treaty, as have a broad coalition of African countries, and the European Union. While the U.S. has been notably silent on the topic, the groundswell of worldwide support is encouraging.
In November, the U.K.’s environmental minister declared the time to start negotiating a plastics treaty is now. "We have a chance now to tackle plastic pollution in the way that the Paris agreement has done for climate change.” said Lord Zac Goldsmith. There is also hope across the environmental community that the recently elected Biden administration will be a meaningful force on the plastics treaty, as the Obama administration was for climate.
Major reports released in 2020 from industry, NGOs and government also provide a useful blueprint to ground discussions. WWF, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Boston Consulting Group laid out the business case for a global treaty, and 30 major companies have signed onto a "Business Call for a U.N. Treaty On Plastic Pollution." They urged others to join them in advocating for an international response that aligns businesses and governments and offers a clear approach to addressing the plastic crisis.
Environmental NGO groups also voiced their support for a plastics treaty in a report from the Center for International Environmental Law, the Environment Investigation Agency and GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives). The report has the backing of the Break Free from Plastic movement and Greenpeace. Finally, just a few weeks ago, the Nordic Council of Ministers rolled out a 148-page report that provides a suggested framework and positioning for a future treaty.
These reports reveal that there is already alignment on some fundamental points. First, they all call for harmonized reporting on plastics throughout their life cycle, making it possible to account for everything that is being made and how it is handled. This requires a standardization of terms for all things plastic, so regions and stakeholders all speak the same language.
Second, all the reports recommend national action plans, where each country sets up its own plans to manage waste based on minimum requirements, much as nations do with greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris accord. Finally, the reports agree that scientific panels should monitor progress globally, and a financial mechanism must support developing countries and distribute funds internationally.
BRIDGING THE ACTIVIST-INDUSTRY DIVIDE
While environmental organizations (like OPLN member Greenpeace) and industry groups (like OPLN member American Chemistry Council) may agree on some of the basic structures of a global agreement there are still challenging issues to address.
Environmental groups call for mandatory plastic reduction goals and enforceable mechanisms in the treaty, as well as limits on new fossil fuel–derived virgin plastic production.
Meanwhile, many industry groups believe a treaty can be successful without mandatory reduction goals and heavily emphasize the expansion of advanced recycling or chemical recycling technologies. Many environmental activist groups see the advanced recycling models as a license to continue with the status quo on consumption.
A landmark report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, SYSTEMIQ and various academic partners, titled “Breaking the Plastic Wave,” points toward a way to help bridge this divide: we need to dramatically ramp up both upstream solutions such as reduction goals championed by environmental groups and downstream solutions championed by industry, including fixing our broken mechanical recycling system and investing in new technologies.
SPEEDING UP GLOBAL TREATIES
How long will bridging this divide take? The road to the Paris Agreement actually began in 1991 with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, and continued with the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and the failed meetings in Copenhagen in 2009. The Paris Agreement was finally signed in 2016, 25 years after the first framework was agreed upon.
The Montreal Protocol, which has been instrumental in repairing our ozone layer, was signed in 1987, 14 years after CFCs were posited to pose a danger—speedy by U.N. standards. A high seas treaty to conserve marine biological diversity in international waters has been under discussion for 12 years now.
However, there is a precedent for greater speed when the issue is plastic. The Basel plastic amendments included plastic waste in a legally binding framework to make global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better regulated. This was a major accomplishment, and the time between the first proposal and unanimous adoption by governments was just eight months, previously an unheard-of timeframe in which to negotiate an international agreement.
Reports such as “Breaking the Plastic Wave” tell us we’re running out of time. We must rapidly accelerate both upstream and downstream solutions to have any chance of solving this crisis. If we delay dramatic action by just five years and maintain current government and industry commitments, an additional 80 million metric tons of plastic will end up in the ocean by 2040 (or about half of all the plastic that has accumulated from the start of the plastics era up to now).
Preventing this disaster for ocean ecosystems and human health and well-being requires creating safe spaces for discussion between environmental and industry groups now. The only way forward is to approach the obstacles head-on in the belief that tension equals progress, and that all parties, regardless of their perspective and approach, should have a seat at the table.
If we are brave enough to have those conversations, we have reason to be relentlessly optimistic that an ambitious plastics treaty matching the scale and urgency of the problem can be realized in record time.


scientificamerican--2020-12-30--Exotic Animal Cafes Featuring Otters, Lizards and Owls Raise Alarms

Coffee shops where patrons can cuddle with a cat or pet a dog have sprung up in cities around the world in recent years .
But some venues have gone beyond typical domesticated pets : during a visit to Japan , Sharne McMillan heard about otter cafés .
She happened to be researching a rare Eurasian otter population for her Ph.D. at the University of Hong Kong , and her interest was piqued , so she investigated further .
She found that babies of a different species than she studied , Asian small-clawed otters , could be bottle-fed or walked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adult otters might be available to play with or feed .
Many humans see otters as furry , squeaky , cartoon-cute creatures that love to play—something like aquatic kittens .
But they are also wild animals .
McMillan was concerned because the small-clawed otter is designated as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature ’ s ( IUCN ’ s ) Red List , which tracks the extinction risk of thousands of species .
“ It has a declining population in the wild , and the latest emerging threat to that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she says , adding that otter cafés might bolster the animals ’ appeal as exotic pets .
And the issue is not limited to otters .
In follow-up research covering a broader swath of Asia and published this fall in Conservation Letters , she and her co-authors found these cafés keep a broad range of exotic animals , from iguanas to owls to raccoons .
The businesses “ influence the accessibility and exposure of these exotic species to the visitors ” and thus could fuel the overall exotic pet trade , McMillan says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ researchers did online keyword searches , using English and local languages , in 10 regions in Asia .
Of the 406 shops they turned up , 27 percent advertised having exotic animals encompassing 252 species of mammals , reptiles and birds .
The IUCN classifies 234 of these as threatened—including potential threat from the wildlife trade—or as declining in wild populations .
McMillan says the study likely underestimates the number of such cafes because they may not all have an online presence or appear in search results .
Exotic animal cafés are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2011 in Japan , according to McMillan ’ s research , so she thinks they likely have not yet played a substantial role in driving the pet trade .
But by providing in-person animal interactions , as well as social media accounts and Web sites that reach a wider audience , she says these cafés could be contributing to the perception of exotic species as acceptable and safe pets—without providing the context of their imperiled status .
Some of the shops even offer animals for sale .
McMillan ’ s research shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rapidly , notably in Japan , where more than 60 opened between 2011 and 2018 .
( Japan ’ s Ministry of the Environment did not respond to requests for comment . )
Elsewhere , those in search of an unusual coffee break can also hang with water lizards in Vietnam , prairie dogs in Thailand and African grey parrots in South Korea .
The IUCN already considers all of these animals to be under threat from the pet trade .
Brett Scheffers , a conservation biologist at the University of Florida , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , agrees these cafés could normalize exotic animals as pets and help raise demand .
“ There ’ s lots of misconceptions that these animals are domesticated , ” he says .
“ Fundamentally , they are not.
” Exotic animals often need special diets , housing and medical care that owners may not be willing or able to provide , according to a 2017 study in Animals .
And even in more conventional environments such as accredited zoos , much remains unknown about the effects of visitor interactions on animals , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ examined the types of animal-visitor interactions offered globally .
It is also unclear where cafés are obtaining their animals .
Some claim to get them from legitimate captive breeders , McMillan says .
But research by the nonprofit conservation group TRAFFIC found that , at least in the case of otters , they are part of the illegal wildlife trade .
TRAFFIC ’ s investigation traced their origins and found incidents of wild otters being smuggled into Japan—but no evidence of legitimate , regulated breeding operations ( as required by CITES , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
Animal sourcing is a very “ blurry area , ” McMillan says .
“ We need to be thinking about that .
Where are these animals coming from ?
How are they being impacted ?
And how does it link into the broader exotic pet trade issue ?
” Scheffers ’ s own research has found that almost a fifth of terrestrial vertebrate species are traded , both legally and illegally .
It is difficult to determine the sources of many of the animals involved , he notes , because there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even in the legal exotic and wild animal trade .
Every species in trade should automatically be regulated “ because of how quickly populations become depleted when demand increases , ” he says .
There is also the possibility that café animals could escape—or be dumped or abandoned—and establish invasive populations , both McMillan and Scheffers say .
A 2019 study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment found the exotic pet trade is a significant contributor to nonnative species invasions .
At least three of the species McMillan found in cafés are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her search found had closed—raising questions about the fate of those animals .
There is also the risk of diseases being transmitted to native animal populations—and , in some cases , to humans .
The wildlife trade contributed to the spread of the H5N1 virus , monkeypox and other diseases , according to a 2007 study in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases .
Some of the cafés ’ Web sites say they offer education to patrons , as well as safe and comfortable homes for animals , McMillan says .
But more research @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the pet trade and captive animal welfare to see if those claims hold up , she says .
She adds that any regulations and management should be implemented on a regional basis because the trade in wildlife and popular exotic animals varies greatly by area , as evinced by the different species kept in cafés in different regions .
Local economic and cultural contexts should also be considered in future investigations to make it more likely that rules will be followed .
McMillan hopes her research fuels these discussions and helps potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make informed decisions .
“ In a lot of people ’ s minds , it ’ s just an innocent visit , ” she says .
“ But there is the potential that you are having an impact on wild populations .
”

Coffee shops where patrons can cuddle with a cat or pet a dog have sprung up in cities around the world in recent years. But some venues have gone beyond typical domesticated pets: during a visit to Japan, Sharne McMillan heard about otter cafés. She happened to be researching a rare Eurasian otter population for her Ph.D. at the University of Hong Kong, and her interest was piqued, so she investigated further. She found that babies of a different species than she studied, Asian small-clawed otters, could be bottle-fed or walked on leashes at some cafés, while adult otters might be available to play with or feed.
Many humans see otters as furry, squeaky, cartoon-cute creatures that love to play—something like aquatic kittens. But they are also wild animals. McMillan was concerned because the small-clawed otter is designated as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List, which tracks the extinction risk of thousands of species. “It has a declining population in the wild, and the latest emerging threat to that species is the pet trade,” she says, adding that otter cafés might bolster the animals’ appeal as exotic pets. And the issue is not limited to otters. In follow-up research covering a broader swath of Asia and published this fall in Conservation Letters, she and her co-authors found these cafés keep a broad range of exotic animals, from iguanas to owls to raccoons. The businesses “influence the accessibility and exposure of these exotic species to the visitors” and thus could fuel the overall exotic pet trade, McMillan says.
To find these cafés, the researchers did online keyword searches, using English and local languages, in 10 regions in Asia. Of the 406 shops they turned up, 27 percent advertised having exotic animals encompassing 252 species of mammals, reptiles and birds. The IUCN classifies 234 of these as threatened—including potential threat from the wildlife trade—or as declining in wild populations. McMillan says the study likely underestimates the number of such cafes because they may not all have an online presence or appear in search results.
Exotic animal cafés are a relatively recent phenomenon. The first appeared in 2011 in Japan, according to McMillan’s research, so she thinks they likely have not yet played a substantial role in driving the pet trade. But by providing in-person animal interactions, as well as social media accounts and Web sites that reach a wider audience, she says these cafés could be contributing to the perception of exotic species as acceptable and safe pets—without providing the context of their imperiled status. Some of the shops even offer animals for sale. McMillan’s research shows the number of these cafés has grown rapidly, notably in Japan, where more than 60 opened between 2011 and 2018. (Japan’s Ministry of the Environment did not respond to requests for comment.) Elsewhere, those in search of an unusual coffee break can also hang with water lizards in Vietnam, prairie dogs in Thailand and African grey parrots in South Korea. The IUCN already considers all of these animals to be under threat from the pet trade.
Person holds a tree frog in a pet café in China. Credit: Alamy
Brett Scheffers, a conservation biologist at the University of Florida, who was not involved with the study, agrees these cafés could normalize exotic animals as pets and help raise demand. “There’s lots of misconceptions that these animals are domesticated,” he says. “Fundamentally, they are not.”
Exotic animals often need special diets, housing and medical care that owners may not be willing or able to provide, according to a 2017 study in Animals. And even in more conventional environments such as accredited zoos, much remains unknown about the effects of visitor interactions on animals, according to a 2019 review in Animals that examined the types of animal-visitor interactions offered globally.
It is also unclear where cafés are obtaining their animals. Some claim to get them from legitimate captive breeders, McMillan says. But research by the nonprofit conservation group TRAFFIC found that, at least in the case of otters, they are part of the illegal wildlife trade. TRAFFIC’s investigation traced their origins and found incidents of wild otters being smuggled into Japan—but no evidence of legitimate, regulated breeding operations (as required by CITES, the body that regulates the international wildlife trade). Animal sourcing is a very “blurry area,” McMillan says. “We need to be thinking about that. Where are these animals coming from? How are they being impacted? And how does it link into the broader exotic pet trade issue?”
Scheffers’s own research has found that almost a fifth of terrestrial vertebrate species are traded, both legally and illegally. It is difficult to determine the sources of many of the animals involved, he notes, because there are “enormous information gaps,” even in the legal exotic and wild animal trade. Every species in trade should automatically be regulated “because of how quickly populations become depleted when demand increases,” he says.
There is also the possibility that café animals could escape—or be dumped or abandoned—and establish invasive populations, both McMillan and Scheffers say. A 2019 study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment found the exotic pet trade is a significant contributor to nonnative species invasions. At least three of the species McMillan found in cafés are highly invasive—and 45 of the 406 cafés her search found had closed—raising questions about the fate of those animals.
There is also the risk of diseases being transmitted to native animal populations—and, in some cases, to humans. The wildlife trade contributed to the spread of the H5N1 virus, monkeypox and other diseases, according to a 2007 study in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases.
Some of the cafés’ Web sites say they offer education to patrons, as well as safe and comfortable homes for animals, McMillan says. But more research is needed on local wildlife trade regulations, the pet trade and captive animal welfare to see if those claims hold up, she says.
She adds that any regulations and management should be implemented on a regional basis because the trade in wildlife and popular exotic animals varies greatly by area, as evinced by the different species kept in cafés in different regions. Local economic and cultural contexts should also be considered in future investigations to make it more likely that rules will be followed.
McMillan hopes her research fuels these discussions and helps potential café visitors, including international tourists, make informed decisions. “In a lot of people’s minds, it’s just an innocent visit,” she says. “But there is the potential that you are having an impact on wild populations.”


scientificamerican--2020-12-30--A Breakdown of Beavers

A Breakdown of Beavers

Steve Mirsky was the winner of a Twist contest in 1962 , for which he received three crayons and three @ @ @ @ @ It remains his most prestigious award .

Steve Mirsky was the winner of a Twist contest in 1962, for which he received three crayons and three pieces of construction paper. It remains his most prestigious award. Follow Steve Mirsky on Twitter Credit: Nick Higgins


scientificamerican--2020-12-30--The Immune Havoc of COVID-19

The Immune Havoc of COVID-19

We may well remember the 21st century in two halves : the time before SARS-CoV-2 and the time after .
@ @ @ @ @ the potential for a deadly global pandemic , public health systems worldwide were completely outmatched @ @ @ @ @ were admitted to a hospital in Wuhan , China , on December 16 , 2019 @ @ @ @ @ died .
Many Americans assumed that even if China failed to contain the virus on @ @ @ @ @ span of an ocean would protect them .
This complacent view ignored the fact that @ @ @ @ @ ( for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus ) and MERS-CoV ( for Middle East respiratory @ @ @ @ @ continents ; MERS-CoV has yet to be eradicated .
And so SARS-CoV-2 arrived on American @ @ @ @ @ The public health response was chaotic and varied from region to region .
Some cities @ @ @ @ @ orders and mask-wearing mandates .
Others simply hoped for the best .
At the timing @ @ @ @ @ had died globally .

We may well remember the 21st century in two halves: the time before SARS-CoV-2 and the time after. Despite decades of warnings about the potential for a deadly global pandemic, public health systems worldwide were completely outmatched. The first COVID-19 patients were admitted to a hospital in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and several of them died. Many Americans assumed that even if China failed to contain the virus on its own soil, the span of an ocean would protect them. This complacent view ignored the fact that previous coronavirus outbreaks—caused by SARS-CoV (for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) and MERS-CoV (for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus)—reached several continents; MERS-CoV has yet to be eradicated. And so SARS-CoV-2 arrived on American shores by early 2020. The public health response was chaotic and varied from region to region. Some city and state governments invoked stay-at-home orders and mask-wearing mandates. Others simply hoped for the best. Similar scenarios unfolded around the world. By early 2022, 5.8 million had died globally.
Despite the disorganization at the national level, medical professionals and research scientists launched an all-out effort to counter the new threat even before it arrived in the U.S. Two years later this global collaboration has generated unprecedented insight into the coronavirus and its impact on the human body. We are beginning to understand why SARS-CoV-2 results in wildly different degrees of illness. Some people exhibit no symptoms; others develop a cough or a fever. Most gravely, some fraction of patients suffer a life-threatening pneumonia and a condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Researchers now know that the virus, like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, can provoke the immune system to misfire—and the resulting inflammation may lead to ARDS and an array of perilous symptoms. Readily available clinical tests show clear evidence of high levels of immune proteins—interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor α and C-reactive protein—in the blood of seriously ill patients. A few months into the course of the pandemic, the welcome but limited success of broad immune-suppressing drugs, such as the corticosteroids prednisone and dexamethasone, confirmed suspicions that in the sickest patients the immune system had gone into hyperinflammatory overdrive. These same anti-inflammatory treatments were widely used for severe infections with the preceding coronavirus outbreaks.
Laboratories the world over adapted their research to target the fight against COVID. In San Francisco, Enable Biosciences is designing a new antibody-detection test. Credit: Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images
We now know that in a certain fraction of COVID patients, an unbridled immune response causes damage throughout the body, producing blood clots, heart damage and even organ failure. The most severe cases require hospitalization in intensive care units. The standard retinue of steroids are not enough for treating severe COVID: these patients will require more targeted treatments. We also badly need rapid tests that can examine tissue samples for biological indicators, or biomarkers, that predict the course of the disease—for example, the likelihood that a patient diagnosed with mild COVID will go on to develop a severe case.
Immunological Misfires
Developing biomarkers and drug treatments requires a deep understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with cells throughout the body and how the immune system then responds to the virus’s arrival. In the spring of 2020 our laboratory, in collaboration with many others, began to examine the dysregulated immune reactions that underlie severe COVID cases. We knew when we started that the immune system choreographs an intricate chain of events in response to invading pathogens. We also knew that if any of the steps in the immune response are mistimed, it can lead to exaggerated levels of inflammation that damage the body’s own tissues.
The immune system has in its arsenal a fast, emergency response and a slower but longer-lasting defense against viruses, bacteria, fungi and other pathogens. The “innate” immune system acts as a first responder. Some receptors on and inside these immune cells sense invaders, activating an elaborate signaling cascade using proteins called cytokines. The cytokines warn nearby cells to put up defenses, initiate the death of an infected cell or heighten the alarm to bring in other types of cytokines. Innate immune cells also summon certain white blood cells to build more durable immunity to the pathogen. Within a week or two these members of what is called the “adaptive” immune system become active by increasing levels of highly targeted antibodies and T cells that eventually disable or kill an invader.
In most COVID patients, the innate immune system performs as it evolved to, disarming and killing SARS-CoV-2. In a small percentage of cases, however, the body’s counterattack does not proceed as planned. When this carefully timed cascade of signals goes awry, innate immune cells react by making too many cytokines. The overproduction of diverse signaling molecules in COVID resembles “cytokine storms” that turn up in other medical conditions and were thought to be a factor in severe COVID. Research suggests that, in most cases, the inflammation differs from that of a cytokine storm, even though it still poses a threat to patients. It can bring about ARDS, resulting in lasting damage to the lungs or other tissues. It can also lead to the buildup of fibrin, a protein that causes clotting. If this were not enough, it can induce fluid leakage from blood vessels, triggering respiratory failure.
Viruses harness the human cell’s machinery to reproduce themselves. One innate immune system strategy undermines the virus’s ability to multiply, but it appears to falter against SARS-CoV-2. In 2020 researchers devoted attention to a class of cytokines known as interferons, a first line of defense that can block the various steps of viral replication in a cell. Rapid production of type I interferon (IFN-I) by the immune system may enable a virus to be brought under control and check any progression beyond mild disease. But some studies have suggested that in older adults or patients exposed to large amounts of a virus, the immune system may lag in its response, allowing the virus to continue reproducing. Further, when interferons finally do arrive on the scene, they may overreact, spurring the manufacture of high levels of diverse cytokines, which can lead to inflammation and severe illness. Measuring the interferon response may furnish vital knowledge about whether a COVID case will progress to a life-threatening illness, and it may provide clues about how to treat the infection.
The science is still evolving, however, and there are many ways the immune response could run askew. For example, the virus may hamper a person’s ability to make interferons. Alternatively, a given patient might produce less IFN-I because of genetic factors. It is even possible for a person’s immune response to be so erratic that their body makes antibodies against IFN-I. We and others have investigated the presence of these “autoantibodies” as a possible cause of long-term COVID symptoms. Detection of autoantibodies could serve as a useful biomarker to predict whether a patient’s condition will worsen. It was hypothesized that some patients might also benefit from an infusion of lab-made interferon, and clinical trials of such treatments were underway by late 2020.
Credit: Jen Christiansen
An inflammatory eruption
Cytokine storms made headlines in severe cases of the previous coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV), so when SARS-CoV-2 emerged it was natural for scientists to suspect that a similar mechanism was at play. Early in the pandemic, physicians did detect elevated cytokines in patients, but the amount of these proteins and the subsequent inflammatory state they evoked differed from that of a classic cytokine storm.
Whipping around inside these patients were high levels of cytokine proteins that, depending on the cell receiving them, could lead to a range of outcomes, some of them detrimental. Some cytokines, such as IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-12, amplify inflammation and tissue damage. Diane Marie Del Valle of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and her colleagues reported significantly elevated levels of some of these cytokines in the blood of nearly 1,500 patients from the New York City area. Findings from this group indicated that abnormally high levels of IL-6 and TNF-α could serve as reliable predictors of disease severity and death.
We saw the same changes in the patients we were tracking at the time. Moreover, our lab and others began to recognize some unusual outliers among patients’ cytokine profiles compared with a typical cytokine storm. We observed high levels of IL-5 and IL-17, cytokines not classically associated with antiviral immune activity. Instead these cytokines initiate a seemingly misguided response—one better suited for infections by parasites and fungi. We have yet to understand whether this response causes damage to tissue or just diverts resources the body needs to fight the virus.
In some COVID patients we also found elevated levels of chemokines, a subclass of cytokines that guide immune cells to where they are needed. High concentrations of the chemokines CCL2, CCL7, CXCL9 and IL-8 generated at infection sites served as a rallying trumpet. Not only were cytokines and other immune messengers causing local damage, chemokines were also calling in cells from throughout the body to join the fray.
To identify the source of tissue damage, a number of research groups decided to look at cells in the blood and lungs. In the field of immunology, we commonly use flow cytometry, a technique that allows us to tag subsets of cells in the blood with fluorescent antibodies. Using these markers, our group was able to detect a sizable shift in the populations of immune cells circulating in patients, as compared with healthy donors. Two innate immune cell types—monocytes and neutrophils—were particularly abundant.
To take one example: In healthy donors, monocytes make up between 10 and 20 percent of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, a category of commonly studied white blood cells. But in COVID patients, we often found that the proportion of monocytes exceeded the normal range by threefold or more.
As an integral component of the innate immune system, monocytes normally patrol the blood and arrive first on the scene to eliminate or sequester pathogens. When they sense a microbial threat, the cells can respond by differentiating into macrophages and dendritic cells—specific types of white blood cells. Macrophages consume pathogens and cellular debris. Dendritic cells identify and flag a pathogen for other immune cells to respond to.
To ensure that the immune system does not overreact, levels of monocytes are usually tightly regulated, but this control is lost in severe COVID cases. In the worst disease outcomes, monocytes and macrophages infiltrated the lungs. When Mingfeng Liao and others at the National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease in Shenzhen, China, peered into the lungs of people with severe COVID (by sampling cells in fluid from the lower respiratory tract using a technique called bronchial alveolar lavage, or BAL), they found an abundance of monocytes and macrophages. In agreement with some other findings, both cell types expressed cytokines at levels similar to those found in severe inflammation. Assuming cytokines, largely produced by monocytes and macrophages, are responsible for enhancing all of this damage, interventions that block their inflammatory activity might prevent severe infection.
Our Lab’s Makeover On March 1, 2020, New York City confirmed its first case of COVID in what would eventually become one of the most devastating series of community-acquired infections in any city in the U.S. Just 80 miles away, we waited in New Haven, Conn., for Yale University to confirm an impending shutdown, which happened on March 18. In many ways, our initial experiences mirrored those of all Americans placed under state lockdowns. Undergraduates were instantly sent home. Postdocs and graduate students were prohibited from working in shuttered laboratories. As coronavirus spread across the globe, university departments full of trained scientists were sidelined—though not for long. Our lives were about to change dramatically. In the same breath, scientists at all levels in academia laugh about and lament the gossamer-thin line separating our research lives from our personal lives. The arrival of a global pandemic erased that boundary for those of us who chose to shift our research to address SARS-CoV-2. The sudden influx of patients and the urgency of the pandemic eliminated the luxury of planning experiments or leisurely reading papers. We rapidly shifted from investigating the immune response in cancer, herpes and influenza infection to uncovering its role in COVID-19. Of course, home lives were upended as well. As a lab that specializes in the immune responses against viral infections, we were ready to contribute our insights—or at the very least our knowledge of the immune system and our skills in working with sophisticated lab equipment. In a flurry of activity, our facility began collaborations with doctors, nurses and administrators across multiple schools and departments at the university and the Yale New Haven Hospital. As soon as the first patients started to roll in, we had a chance to contribute to helping understand how SARS-CoV-2 makes people sick. Our newly formed team, called IMPACT (Implementing Medical and Public Health Action against Coronavirus CT), performed numerous PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests daily to supplement our area’s capacity for testing suspected cases of COVID. Compared with reports of two-week turnarounds from commercial testing facilities, we were blazingly fast, with samples arriving in the early afternoon and results available less than 12 hours later. Although we did not realize it at the time, this pace was to become the new norm for research in the lab and represented only our first steps in a pivot toward SARS-CoV-2 research. Academic research typically proceeds at a slower, more considered pace, but doing science in the time of COVID required us to be just as careful in a fraction of the time. Our efforts to pitch in with PCR testing blossomed into a comprehensive study of the immune cell changes occurring in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. We received batches of patients’ blood daily, and within hours we translated these crimson tubes into hard data. From each patient, we took a sample roughly every four days, and over the course of months we assembled these daily snapshots into a comprehensive record of the immune system’s fight against SARS-CoV-2. Most important, we were learning in real time what turned a bad infection into a lethal one. At the same time, all across the world, other labs were racing to perform similar experiments. As you can expect, these parallel efforts can generate comparable data and—more often than you would like—conflicting numbers. But when dealing with patients, it is extremely important to validate a discovery from one lab with the work of another and another on top of that. People are unique and so, too, are their medical treatments, their underlying conditions and other factors outside of our ability to accurately track, such as how much virus they were exposed to. It is a testament to the robustness of our scientific enterprise that researchers around the globe came to similar conclusions. The pandemic has also changed the way we disseminate our findings. Instead of waiting for months to publish our work in peer-reviewed journals, scientists quickly shared their findings through preprint servers such as BioRxiv and MedRxiv. This enabled rapid exchange of information and ideas in real time and changed academic publication practices overnight. COVID has brought about a fundamental transformation in the way that basic research is conducted. —A.I. and P.W.
If cytokines are in fact major drivers of severe COVID, it would be logical to try to reduce their presence in patients. There are drugs that do this: tocilizumab, for example, is a therapeutic that blocks the receptor where IL-6, a major cytokine, docks. Unfortunately, results of clinical trials with tocilizumab have been mixed when it comes to evidence of improving disease outcomes. A growing number of scientists and clinicians have therefore looked beyond just cytokine storms for a more complete explanation for the damaging hyperinflammatory responses in COVID.
An additional contributor to COVID immune pathology may be a peptide, or small protein, called bradykinin. By reanalyzing lung-fluid data from patients’ BAL samples, Michael R. Garvin of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and his colleagues formulated a hypothesis that bradykinin may, like cytokines, induce an inflammatory response. These “bradykinin storms” can, in fact, be exacerbated by inflammatory cytokines. In excess, bradykinin may lead to massive dilation of blood vessels and many of the surprising symptoms seen in COVID patients, such as cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest. Researchers also began to find massive increases in the production of hyaluronic acid in very ill patients. Aggregates of this molecule can hold remarkable amounts of water. Postmortem analyses of heavily saturated lungs have shown that the combination of these conditions, along with the leakage of fluid from blood vessels, has proved fatal for some patients.
The involvement of bradykinin in COVID requires further confirmation. Direct measurement of the peptide remains extremely difficult. But some success from an exploratory study with icatibant, an inhibitor of a bradykinin receptor, lends weight to the hypothesis that lower levels of the peptide may alleviate severe illness.
Rogue Microbe Traps
Bradykinin also turns up in another inflammatory pathway found in patients’ blood. Neutrophils, which ingest pathogens, can activate bradykinin production. Various labs, including our own, have found neutrophils to be plentiful in some patients’ blood. High circulating levels of a cytokine called IL-8 in people with COVID can attract neutrophils to sites of infection, including the lungs, and assist in increasing the numbers of these cells as well. Crucially, the presence of elevated neutrophils on the first day of hospitalization reliably predicts later admission to the ICU.
Recent papers suggest why neutrophils may be a culprit in COVID pathology. These cells extrude neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which consist of webs of DNA, antimicrobial proteins and enzymes that sequester and kill pathogens. Unfortunately, NETs can also damage tissue.
Looking at lung autopsy specimens, Moritz Leppkes of Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany and his colleagues discovered striking blockages of small blood vessels by aggregated NETs. They also observed NETs in the blood vessels of kidney and liver samples. In addition to physical obstructions, NETs can degrade proteins that inhibit blood coagulation, contributing to the high levels of clotting in severe cases. Acknowledging a possible role for these aggregates, McGill University announced a pilot study of a cystic fibrosis drug that clips apart the DNA in NETs.
These varied studies have made it apparent that SARS-CoV-2 turns the immune system against itself. Innate immune defenses—cytokines, monocytes, neutrophils and others—spin out of control. The adaptive immune system also goes off-kilter. One of the most apparent differences between some COVID patients and healthy individuals is the stark loss of T cells, key components of long-term adaptive immunity.
Researchers have observed that T cells from patients with moderate disease behave differently than those from severely ill patients. Normally T cell populations that target a specific invader, or antigen, grow more abundant as a protective measure, but this was not the case in the sickest patients.
There are two types of T cells: those that directly eliminate virus-infected cells and those that coordinate a response to an invader after receiving signals from cytokines. Loss of both types has been observed in hospitalized COVID patients, but it also occurs in other respiratory infections. Diminished cell levels persist, however, for an exceptionally long time—up to weeks in some COVID patients. From research with other respiratory viruses, we know T cells can travel from the blood into infected tissues. Patients with these viruses show elevated levels of chemokines, such as CXCL9 and CXCL10, which direct T cells to infected sites. While we found plenty of chemokines in the blood of COVID patients, we did not find a similar abundance of T cells.
A number of studies have investigated the lungs of people with severe COVID, where the virus has taken up residence. With a genetic sequencing method called single-cell RNA-seq, researchers identified several subsets of immune cells, including a sizable cluster of T cells. But this finding did not provide a full explanation. Neither these lung experiments nor autopsy studies looking at multiple organs could account for the low T cell numbers overall in the blood. It was likely these missing cells simply died, and indeed many research groups have found evidence to support this conclusion.
How then are T cells disappearing? COVID patients had an expanded number of T cells bearing receptors that indicated that the cells were susceptible to an early demise. Another possibility is that the bone marrow might not make enough of the precursor cells that give rise to T cells, which could diminish the pool of mature cells. Studies of aging and of other diseases have established firm evidence that cytokines modulate the bone marrow’s production of T cells. A similar connection has yet to be definitively proved in COVID, despite the presence of the same inflammatory cytokines. Finally, it is possible that the virus itself is directly killing T cells. Testing these competing hypotheses may lead to therapies that can enhance T cell numbers.
Many of the severe immunological manifestations seen in COVID—drastically elevated cytokines, inflammatory cells that infiltrate the lungs, NETs and diminished numbers of white blood cells—appear in other serious viral respiratory infections. SARS-CoV-2 presents its own special challenges. What stands out is its unprecedented spread during the presymptomatic phases and among people who never show symptoms.
SARS-CoV, the virus responsible for the 2003 epidemic, has a relatively late viral peak of 10 days after the onset of symptoms. MERS-CoV’s viral load peaks seven to 10 days after symptoms set in. But SARS-CoV-2’s viral load tops out earlier, possibly even before symptoms begin. The early peak translates to extremely high viral levels before symptoms appear (which for most people happens four or five days after exposure). These numbers mean an infected person can spread significant amounts of virus before feeling even the smallest tickle in the throat.
The wide array of organ systems involved in COVID symptoms also seems unique among respiratory viruses. SARS-CoV-2 can cause loss of smell, brain fog, gastrointestinal problems, blood clots, cardiovascular problems and even “COVID toes.” The virus can also infect neurons in the brain. Among those who recover, tissue damage can linger for months.
These observations may not be entirely surprising. Three cell types that make up blood vessels—endothelial cells, pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells—wind through every tissue. All of them are studded with the ACE2 receptor, the portal through which SARS-CoV-2 enters cells. They practically lay out the welcome mat for SARS-CoV-2. Making matters worse, cytokine and bradykinin storms can damage tissue made up of these cells.
Even though the earlier coronavirus SARS-CoV uses the same receptor and can cause cytokine storms and ARDS, there are few reports of the sort of serious extrapulmonary injuries caused by COVID. The viruses are an 80 percent genetic match; it is reasonable to suspect that the other 20 percent of their genomes accounts for the differences between them. But a simpler explanation might be that SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 50,000 times as many people as its eponymous predecessor and has done so before the eyes of the world’s scientific community.
The past two years of discovery and innovation stand as testament to the dedication of scientists and medical professionals. The research and medical communities have never been more united in their efforts—and never before has the transition from lab bench to patient bedside proceeded as rapidly. Long after COVID, this legacy will remain, and these innovations will persist to counter future pandemics.


scientificamerican--2020-12-31--2020 Has Been a Huge Year for Understanding the Process of Science

The heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic are legion : nurses , doctors and others who care for the sick ; epidemiologists and public health experts who track the disease and offer clear lifesaving guidance ; and everyone who masks up and avoids crowds and protects their own health and the health of their communities .
And around the world many scientists are working practically nonstop to understand the virus , how it spreads and what it does to the body .
We learned more about the immune system in 2020 than in any year in history .
Akiko Iwasaki heads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effort to save people from COVID-19 .
She and grad student Patrick Wong explain how the immune system reacts to the new virus and how that knowledge might lead to new treatments .
They describe how their team took on the urgent challenge and how the process of science changed in 2020 .
Understanding the process of science can protect people against misinformation—or at least we hope so .
One of the outrageous myths about the pandemic is that the death toll is exaggerated .
It 's not .
More than a quarter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have died of COVID-19 as of November .
Journalist Christie Aschwanden details how we know the disease has become the third leading cause of death in the U.S. One of the most intriguing stages in the process of science is noticing when something is ... weird .
Astronomers using new tools to see parts of space that had been shrouded by dust have observed that galaxy clusters formed much faster than anyone expected and that they seem to be too big for our universe .
Grad student Arianna S. Long recounts the excitement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early universe and how any unusual discovery is first assumed to be a software bug before it is accepted .
Turn here .
We 're in a great age of dinosaur discoveries .
Starting here , fossil experts Matthew A .
Brown and Adam D. Marsh show how much has been learned about Dilophosaurus , our cover Dino Star , since it appeared in the film Jurassic Park in 1993 .
They point out that paleontology is more tedious and less glamorous than how it 's depicted in movies , but understanding the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 183-million-year-old dinosaur is the next best thing to bringing it back to life .
Some data are harder to gather than others .
To understand the water cycle that sustains billions of people , mountain hydrologist Walter Immerzeel and his colleagues camp at 5,300 meters elevation ( about 17,400 feet ) and go higher to set up monitoring stations that have been twisted by winds and knocked over by avalanches .
As he reports here , climate change is disrupting ice melt , monsoons and river flows , and the consequences could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well-functioning cellular civilizations , according to psychologist and evolutionary biologist Athena Aktipis .
Multicellularity has a lot of advantages , and it has led to exquisite cooperation .
But when some cells cheat , they can threaten the entire organism .
Thinking of cancer cells as cheaters has led to new approaches to treatment .
When things get tumultuous on our planet , it 's a nice escape to look at another one .
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been photographing the Red Planet for 15 years now , and senior editor Clara @ @ @ @ @ @ @ views .
They reveal that Mars has dust devils , landslides and asteroid impacts just like Earth does .
All of us at Scientific American wish you a Happy New Year .
We hope your 2021 is healthy and full of pleasant discoveries .
And may science keep showing us more ways to save lives .

The heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic are legion: nurses, doctors and others who care for the sick; epidemiologists and public health experts who track the disease and offer clear lifesaving guidance; and everyone who masks up and avoids crowds and protects their own health and the health of their communities. And around the world many scientists are working practically nonstop to understand the virus, how it spreads and what it does to the body.
We learned more about the immune system in 2020 than in any year in history. Akiko Iwasaki heads one of the labs leading the global effort to save people from COVID-19. She and grad student Patrick Wong explain how the immune system reacts to the new virus and how that knowledge might lead to new treatments. They describe how their team took on the urgent challenge and how the process of science changed in 2020.
Understanding the process of science can protect people against misinformation—or at least we hope so. One of the outrageous myths about the pandemic is that the death toll is exaggerated. It's not. More than a quarter of a million people in the U.S. have died of COVID-19 as of November. Journalist Christie Aschwanden details how we know the disease has become the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
One of the most intriguing stages in the process of science is noticing when something is ... weird. Astronomers using new tools to see parts of space that had been shrouded by dust have observed that galaxy clusters formed much faster than anyone expected and that they seem to be too big for our universe. Grad student Arianna S. Long recounts the excitement of rethinking the time line of the early universe and how any unusual discovery is first assumed to be a software bug before it is accepted. Turn here.
We're in a great age of dinosaur discoveries. Starting here, fossil experts Matthew A. Brown and Adam D. Marsh show how much has been learned about Dilophosaurus, our cover Dino Star, since it appeared in the film Jurassic Park in 1993. They point out that paleontology is more tedious and less glamorous than how it's depicted in movies, but understanding the bodies and habitats and behaviors of a 183-million-year-old dinosaur is the next best thing to bringing it back to life.
Some data are harder to gather than others. To understand the water cycle that sustains billions of people, mountain hydrologist Walter Immerzeel and his colleagues camp at 5,300 meters elevation (about 17,400 feet) and go higher to set up monitoring stations that have been twisted by winds and knocked over by avalanches. As he reports here, climate change is disrupting ice melt, monsoons and river flows, and the consequences could be catastrophic.
Evolutionarily, we are all well-functioning cellular civilizations, according to psychologist and evolutionary biologist Athena Aktipis. Multicellularity has a lot of advantages, and it has led to exquisite cooperation. But when some cells cheat, they can threaten the entire organism. Thinking of cancer cells as cheaters has led to new approaches to treatment.
When things get tumultuous on our planet, it's a nice escape to look at another one. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been photographing the Red Planet for 15 years now, and senior editor Clara Moskowitz shares some of the most gorgeous views. They reveal that Mars has dust devils, landslides and asteroid impacts just like Earth does.
All of us at Scientific American wish you a Happy New Year. We hope your 2021 is healthy and full of pleasant discoveries. And may science keep showing us more ways to save lives.


scientificamerican--2020-12-31--Ancient Peruvian Farmers Harnessed El Niño Floodwaters

Peru 's northern coast has one of the world 's driest deserts , except for when El Niño drowns it with massive flooding .
Rainwater from the nearby Andean foothills gushes down parched ravines , often tearing up modern agricultural fields in the sediment-rich plains of the desert 's few rivers .
Ari Caramanica , an archaeologist at the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima , had long been intrigued by what looked like lengthy , straight , ancient “ structures ” crisscrossing parts of this desert , which is called the Pampa de Mocan .
Caramanica first noticed these strange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and her colleagues say farmers built them in pre-Hispanic times as a sophisticated , flexible-use canal system—which usually used river water but harnessed the wild El Niño floodwaters when they came—to survive and prosper in a challenging environment .
El Niño events occur in irregular six- to 20-year cycles , and they are difficult to predict .
But Caramanica and her team 's new research suggests farmers working between a.d. 1 and 1476 were prepared .
The scientists examined the Pampa de Mocan archaeological record to chart how these farmers benefited from El @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA .
By studying clues such as discarded agricultural tools , plant remains and field locations , the team determined that farmers selectively used the canals to direct El Niño floodwaters to fields farther from the rivers , beyond the reach of their typical river-water irrigation .
Some of these fields were enclosed by low mounds that allowed water to collect .
The ancient farmer-engineers also built small rock piles to slow the water 's movement and to collect fertile silt .
Caramanica says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ structures were used for more common river-water agriculture .
But her team found they had multiple roles—some even acting as fields themselves when El Niño damage cut them off from rivers .
“ They were being constantly patched together to take advantage of whenever and wherever water appeared , ” she says .
In contrast , Caramanica says modern agriculture in the area is dominated by large landholders or companies that repeatedly plant one crop and use fields year-round , not adapting as flexibly as smaller operations could .
“ It 's about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says Jason Nesbitt , an archaeologist at Tulane University , who was not involved in the study but wrote an accompanying commentary .
Today many view El Niño events as extraordinary , he says , whereas the ancient residents of the Pampa de Mocan viewed them as an expected phenomenon—and that kind of mindset could help today 's farmers deal with extreme weather .
When officials draw up agricultural or disaster-management policies , he adds , “ maybe it 'd be good to have archaeologists and anthropologists at some levels of decision-making about @ @ @ @

Peru's northern coast has one of the world's driest deserts, except for when El Niño drowns it with massive flooding. Rainwater from the nearby Andean foothills gushes down parched ravines, often tearing up modern agricultural fields in the sediment-rich plains of the desert's few rivers. Ari Caramanica, an archaeologist at the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, had long been intrigued by what looked like lengthy, straight, ancient “structures” crisscrossing parts of this desert, which is called the Pampa de Mocan. Caramanica first noticed these strange lines in 1940s photographs. Now she and her colleagues say farmers built them in pre-Hispanic times as a sophisticated, flexible-use canal system—which usually used river water but harnessed the wild El Niño floodwaters when they came—to survive and prosper in a challenging environment.
El Niño events occur in irregular six- to 20-year cycles, and they are difficult to predict. But Caramanica and her team's new research suggests farmers working between a.d. 1 and 1476 were prepared. The scientists examined the Pampa de Mocan archaeological record to chart how these farmers benefited from El Niño floods; their research is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
By studying clues such as discarded agricultural tools, plant remains and field locations, the team determined that farmers selectively used the canals to direct El Niño floodwaters to fields farther from the rivers, beyond the reach of their typical river-water irrigation. Some of these fields were enclosed by low mounds that allowed water to collect. The ancient farmer-engineers also built small rock piles to slow the water's movement and to collect fertile silt.
Caramanica says she had initially assumed that the photographed structures were used for more common river-water agriculture. But her team found they had multiple roles—some even acting as fields themselves when El Niño damage cut them off from rivers. “They were being constantly patched together to take advantage of whenever and wherever water appeared,” she says.
In contrast, Caramanica says modern agriculture in the area is dominated by large landholders or companies that repeatedly plant one crop and use fields year-round, not adapting as flexibly as smaller operations could.
“It's about the perception of the environment,” says Jason Nesbitt, an archaeologist at Tulane University, who was not involved in the study but wrote an accompanying commentary. Today many view El Niño events as extraordinary, he says, whereas the ancient residents of the Pampa de Mocan viewed them as an expected phenomenon—and that kind of mindset could help today's farmers deal with extreme weather. When officials draw up agricultural or disaster-management policies, he adds, “maybe it'd be good to have archaeologists and anthropologists at some levels of decision-making about these things.”


scientificamerican--2020-12-31--A Cosmic Video Miniseries to Ponder Gravity, the Universe and Everything

How did the big bang shape the structure of the universe ?
What would happen to reality if we tweaked the fundamental forces ?
Why is gravity just so strange ?
In our new three-part video miniseries , Scientific American contributors Jared Kaplan and Emily V. Driscoll ponder these weighty existential issues with you through the lens of beautifully rendered explanatory animations created by artist Lottie Kingslake .
Think of it as your cosmic therapy session for our on-edge times .
Part I : What if the laws of physics were different ?
In the video Did the Universe Have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
we examine what our universe—and more specifically , our lives—might look like with some tweaks to the physics responsible for the world as we know it .
Part II : How did the universe get its texture ?
In this video , How the Big Bang Governs the Texture of Our Universe , we explore the concept of cosmic inhomogeneities—using zebras as an analogy for clumps of matter scattered throughout the universe .
Part III : Why is gravity different ?
In our video Why Is Gravity Different ?
we explore why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it remains difficult to understand how Einstein ’ s general theory of relativity ( which covers gravity ) fits together with quantum mechanics .

How did the big bang shape the structure of the universe? What would happen to reality if we tweaked the fundamental forces? Why is gravity just so strange?
In our new three-part video miniseries, Scientific American contributors Jared Kaplan and Emily V. Driscoll ponder these weighty existential issues with you through the lens of beautifully rendered explanatory animations created by artist Lottie Kingslake.
Think of it as your cosmic therapy session for our on-edge times.
Part I: What if the laws of physics were different?
In the video Did the Universe Have to Be the Way That It Is? we examine what our universe—and more specifically, our lives—might look like with some tweaks to the physics responsible for the world as we know it.
Part II: How did the universe get its texture?
In this video, How the Big Bang Governs the Texture of Our Universe, we explore the concept of cosmic inhomogeneities—using zebras as an analogy for clumps of matter scattered throughout the universe.
Part III: Why is gravity different?
In our video Why Is Gravity Different? we explore why this force is so perplexing and why it remains difficult to understand how Einstein’s general theory of relativity (which covers gravity) fits together with quantum mechanics.