‘A triumph of scientific self-correction’: how researchers debunked race science

Hello Nature readers,
Today we explore how researchers debunked ‘race science’, learn that the pressure put on your bones by exercise might slow ageing and watch a snake do a forward roll to escape danger.

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Reed snakes cartwheel to safety

In times of trouble, dwarf reed snakes (Pseudorabdion longiceps) can use a cartwheel-like motion to quickly get away. Researchers found that the animals can control the movement by keeping their heads at roughly the same level and pointing in the same direction. This rolling enables the snakes to move around four times faster than they can by slithering. It’s unusual for a snake to move in such a conspicuous way, experts say. But “it’s nice to be surprised by weird snake behaviour occasionally”, says herpetologist Frank Burbrink.

Bones might hold an anti-ageing secret

The mechanical strain placed on the skeleton during physical activity might prompt bones to release proteins that slow ageing, a study in mice suggests. Researchers found that gently squeezing the legs of mice to simulate the movement of exercise triggered force-sensing cells called osteocytes to secrete molecules that rejuvenate immune cells and reprogram cells in other organs to a younger state. Mice that went through this faux exercise regime lived around three months longer on average than did mice that didn’t.

A key ocean ‘freshwater engine’ has changed

Since 2016, a layer of water in the Antarctic that has a major influence on Earth’s oceans has changed, with unknown consequences for the world’s climate. With less melting sea ice to feed it each year, the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) has rapidly become saltier and denser, and sits slightly deeper in the ocean — which might change the way surface water circulates into deeper layers. “The Antarctic region is the freshwater engine of oceans around the globe,” says fluid dynamicist and study co-author Bishakhdatta Gayen.

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Weird symptoms could help spot epidemics

Dangerous diseases can present with new symptoms as they evolve, thwarting the systems that have been put in place to detect epidemics. “Unless clinicians recognize that unusual symptoms warrant investigation, even the most advanced tracking systems cannot keep up,” argue infectious-diseases specialist Serge Tonen-Wolyec and virologist Laurent Bélec. They outline a ‘symptom preparedness’ approach that, for example, helps clinicians to act on the intuition that they are dealing with something unusual.

How to get a metascience unit right

Metascientist Jen Gold, co-founder of the UK government’s metascience unit, shares her advice on how to build such a unit — which studies how research is funded, performed and evaluated — so it can add value to national funding bodies. Working in small teams is essential, because it forces efficient time management, she says. The data infrastructure to share the unit’s results with external researchers is another must. “The barriers to improving science funding are often organizational,” Gold writes. The success of other governmental metascience units will “depend on getting those factors right”.

‘A triumph of scientific self-correction’

In his new book The Ends of Race, humanities scholar Geoffrey Galt Harpham chronicles how people attempted to use science to justify racism in the nineteenth century — and the scientific pushback. “Ultimately, the discrediting of the concept of biological race emerged as a triumph of scientific self-correction,” writes journalist David Silverberg in his review.

Quote of the day

Physician Ellen Ellis reflects on spending 378 days in a 158-square-metre habitat alongside three others, growing crops, navigating communication delays and conducting suited outings on a simulated Martian surface. (Reuters | 7 min read)

On Friday, Leif Penguinson was hopping around the rock formations in Wadi Rum, Jordan. Did you find the penguin? When you’re ready, here’s the answer.

Thanks for reading,
Flora Graham, chief editor, Nature Briefing
With contributions by Jacob Smith

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