February 13, 2024: Today we bring you news of Iceland's recent volcanic activity, COVID re-infections, and research on trivia masters, as well as a belated nod to Darwin Day. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | | Four years into the pandemic, many people worldwide have racked up multiple infections with COVID. Yet, the long-term consequences of repeat bouts with the virus remain unclear. It is well-established that both individuals and governments can implement strategies such as vaccination, testing and masking, to reduce the risks of infection. Early evidence combined with science derived from other viruses suggest that it's worth taking such measures to dodge reinfections with COVID, reports Scientific American's Meghan Bartels.
What the experts say: "However you slice it, whatever long-term health effect you look at, the risk [from reinfection] is not zero," says Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. "The truth is that, yes, we're sick and tired of the virus, we're sick and tired of the pandemic—but it's still here. It's still hurting people."
What we can do: Many media outlets reported today that new federal guidance will no longer direct people who test positive for the virus to stay home for five days, provided they are fever-free for a day and their symptoms are mild. We can still avoid re-infections though: mask in crowded indoor places, isolate if you test positive for COVID, and stay up to date with vaccines for COVID, flu and other respiratory illnesses. | | | For the past two months, fissures in the Earth's crust have been opening up on Iceland's southwesterly Reykjanes Peninsula, releasing flows and even effusive fountains of crimson lava. This renewed volcanic activity, in a region that had been quiet for 800 years, is expected to continue, destroying homes and wreaking havoc on pipes and other infrastructure, reports volcanologist and science writer Robin George Andrews. Scientists think that a new volcanic era of episodic "fissure eruptions" is under way in the region. Fissure eruptions are expected to soon turn Grindavík, a community of about 3,600 people, into a ghost town. Residents there have responded by building walls, themselves made of volcanic rock, to repel future lava flows. But in January, a small fissure emerged inside the town's defensive walls, Andrews reports.
What the experts say: "The whole crust is readjusting," says Rhian Meara, at Swansea University in Wales, who studies social history related to volcanology. "The literal structure of the earth has changed beneath the town [of Grindavík]."
The future: Volcanic activity is "not something that's really threatened us," says Elísabet Pálmadóttir, a natural hazards expert at the Icelandic Meteorological Office. "It's given us so much," including wondrous natural environments, endless geothermal power and a lava-centric culture. But now the picture is murkier. | | | A group of people observe molten lava and billowing smoke pouring out of a fissure during a recent volcanic eruption near Grindavik, western Iceland. Credit: Kristinn Magnusson / AFP via Getty Images | | | • If melting glaciers shut down the Atlantic Ocean's circulation pattern, what happens next? | 4 min read | | | • Here is how AI bots could sabotage elections set to be held in more than 50 countries in 2024. | 6 min read | | | • Inflicting "conversion therapy" on gay and transgender people is one of psychiatry's darkest chapters. New bills would mandate it. | 6 min read | | | • A new study concludes that a "doomerism" approach to spurring action to solve our global climate crisis actually can be effective if it falls on the right ears at the right time, write Madalina Vlasceanu and Jay J. Van Bavel, both of whom study psychology at New York University. The team completed one of the largest experiments ever conducted on climate change behavior. The research identified nuance in effective "gloom and doom" messaging, including "several messages that moved the needle on climate change beliefs and actions," they write. | 6 min read | | | Following dinner at the home of friends last year, my husband and I were invited to join the household in an evening ritual of watching the long-running TV quiz show Jeopardy! I hadn't viewed the show since my mother and I would watch Art Fleming host on a small color TV in our family room. I was in awe of the contestants then and still am. Who knows all that material and also can quickly respond with correct answers time and time again? This story by freelance science journalist Hannah Seo lays out an explanation. A study led by Jeopardy! champion Monica Thieu found that trivia aces are more likely to excel if they can recall a fact in a context—such couplings seem to augment the recollection of facts, as well as our ability to learn.
Along with Lincoln's birthday, yesterday was also Darwin Day, an opportunity to commemorate Charles Darwin's birthday, on February 12, 1809, and to celebrate his contributions to science. This piece by Dana Hunter features a selection of Darwin's skilled writing on geological topics, reminding us that Darwin was an avid geologist as well as one of the most influential and important biologists of all time. | —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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