April 16, 2024: A virus's role in punctuated equilibrium, parents strained by discrimination against kids, and how to follow the Houdini rule. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | | The sudden emergence of myelin in evolutionary history has been a mystery, but new research may have partially solved the question. Myelin is the multilayered sheath on nerve fibers that enables lightning-quick transmission of neural impulses in humans and other vertebrates. But no trace of myelin is found in the ancestral line that preceded the arrival of vertebrates, animals with backbones that arose 500 million years ago. The new finding indicates that a virus infected our vertebrate ancestor, thereby slipping the genetic instructions for making myelin into its DNA. The evolutionary phenomenon represents an example of punctuated equilibrium, the typical speedy speciation pattern of significant evolutionary change, reports neuroscientist R. Douglas Fields.
Why it matters: Myelin is arguably the most significant advance in nervous systems in the animal kingdom. The boost it provides in speeding information transmission in the body is largely responsible for the leap in cognitive ability in dogs, dolphins and people, for example, compared with say slugs, worms and starfish.
What the experts say: "The mystery of myelin may require further sleuthing," writes Fields. A remaining issue: there is little evidence of MBP, a protein essential to forming the myelin sheath, in the ancestors of vertebrates. | | | White myelin sheaths around rat nerve fibers. NIH/Image Point FR/BSIP SA/Alamy Stock Photo | | | The large number of U.S. state laws currently codifying discrimination against LGBTQ kids is taking a toll on the mental health of parents as well as their children, reports freelance science writer Marla Broadfoot. Many parents are filled with fear, grief and anxiety, and the strain makes it harder for them to shield their children from an often hostile world. And the added family stress can increase the burden on children. One of the first large-scale, national studies of parents and caregivers of trans and nonbinary children is under way, asking parents about their mental health, their child's gender identity development and helpful support systems.
Key guidance: A grassroots movement is creating safe spaces for parents, including online support communities and networks to help parents find LGBTQ-friendly places to raise children, Broadfoot reports. And parents are envisioning and crafting more positive narratives for their families, focused on strength, growth and hope.
What the experts say: "I've come to believe that we cannot help LGBTQ youth without taking stock of the amount of vigilance and worry that is eating up the nervous systems of their parents," says psychologist Lisa Diamond. | | |
Cancer, and wolf? A 1632 list of causes of death has gone viral for its strange terminology, such as "cancer, and wolf," "king's evil" and "teeth." In this TikTok for Scientific American, Carin Leong is your historical translator, breaking down what those terms mean in today's medical language. | | | • Our galaxy's biggest black hole just got a new close-up. What's next could be even wilder. | 9 min read | | | • In our current historical moment that's saturated with misinformation and disinformation, follow the "Houdini rule," writes Naomi Oreskes, a professor of the history of science and a Scientific American columnist. The rule refers to a classic anecdote: a 1920s-era committee that included some eminent scientists and world-renowned magician Harry Houdini looked into the psychic claims of a Boston medium popularly known as "Margery." The committee leaned toward validating Margery "until Houdini identified her techniques as the tricks they were," Oreskes writes. It was a magician—not a scientist—who cracked the deception. So in questions of whom to trust about a scientific matter, writes Oreskes, "ask yourself this: Who has the necessary expertise to assess this situation? Put simply: Who is the Houdini in this case?"| 4 min read | | | A first for me: I paid attention last night to the WNBA Draft. How thrilling to see Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and so many of the star players of NCAA's March Madness start their journey to the pros. In past seasons, WNBA players primarily traveled to regular season games on commercial flights (economy-plus), not charter flights as is the case in men's pro basketball. I am hopeful that viewership numbers for this year's women's tournament and what promises to be an exciting, upcoming WNBA season could bring more equity overall to women's basketball. So can basketball players really get non-random "hot hands" (streaks where they successfully make many consecutive shots)? This story says, yes, though the data are somewhat biased: the analysis included only NBA players.
| —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | Time-lapse video of April 8 solar eclipse, by Robert Vincent, from Rutland, Vt. | | | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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