January 2021 Highlights in Science (That Aren't About COVID)

Scientists do some awesome things. What new things did we learn in January 2021? That don’t have to do with COVID?

Robins Don’t Like Dice: Scientists know that robins knock junk out of their nest and protect eggs. Scientists wanted to know exactly what makes a robin think it’s an egg and what makes a robin think it’s junk. They 3D-printed various objects and watched how the robins handled them. They found that when objects were too long and skinny, robins threw them out. Objects that were less than half the width of an egg were almost always thrown out. On the other hand, when scientists made the objects more angular, robins didn’t care! There were some pretty interesting multi-faceted shapes that were accepted by the robins. Only when they got very, very pointy, like an 8-sided die, did the robins start to complain.

Disappearing Sharks: Shark and ray populations have decreased over 70% since 1970! More than 3/4 of oceanic shark and ray species are at risk of extinction. Even though shark fishing has declined, because there aren’t enough sharks to keep the industry going, sharks are accidentally caught along with other fish that are fished commercially. If the fishing industry does not get more careful very quickly, these species may not recover.

Turn Out the (Space) Light: Space is brighter than scientists once thought. In 2006, scientists sent a probe out into the universe. It passed our old friend Pluto in 2015 and is still going. It sends photos back to Earth so scientists can get a better view of what’s out there. Scientists have a pretty good idea of what’s out there, but they keep wanting to learn more. At some really, really far point out in space, the probe sent back a photo that was brighter than scientists expected, based on their understanding of the other space things in the neighborhood. It was twice as bright. This could mean there are space things out there scientists didn’t know or it could end up telling them a little bit about the mysterious dark matter. (This is actually from December but I thought it was too cool not to share.)

Say No To Drugs, Except These: In the past decade, scientists have been doing more and more research on hallucinogenic drugs, including many of those drugs we learned were irredeemably bad, such as psilocybin (shrooms), LSD, and MDMA. These drugs have the potential to provide treatment for mental health disorders such as PTSD, major depressive disorder, and anorexia nervosa. In a study published in November 2020, more than 70% of patients who received psilocybin treatment for depression showed a huge improvement in symptoms.

If you see any interesting science articles in February, send them my way! Share them below or email me at robinsatty@stemsmartconsulting.com.