July 10, 2024: Today we're covering frog saunas, the Supreme Court's latest attack on science and the roots of drug addiction. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | | Frogs allowed to shelter inside the channels of 10-hole masonry bricks placed in experimental greenhouse habitats were more likely to survive a fungal skin infection called chytrid disease than frogs in cooler enclosures. For decades, chytrid disease has caused the extinction of at least 90 amphibian species worldwide as well as steep declines in populations of hundreds of other species. In this new research, green and golden bell frogs ( Litoria aurea) in Australia were given access to what functioned as little "saunas" for the animals. The team wanted to see if the hotspots could help frogs survive chytrid infections. In the wild, the infections have seemed to be more deadly in cold, wet climates. The artificial spa treatment not only helped the frogs clear the deadly disease; it also gave them immunity to subsequent exposures to the fungal pathogen.
Why this matters: Chytrid disease, caused primarily by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus, kills some species of amphibians while leaving others as unscathed carriers. The infection penetrates the skin of frogs, eventually stopping their hearts. The sauna success is a ray of hope in a landscape that has looked extremely dire for frogs and their relatives. "This gives a precedent that we can try some very bold ideas if we want to do something against this fungus," says disease ecologist and evolutionary biologist Ana Longo. "It's changing the narrative that we can't do something against the spread of this pathogen."
What the experts say: Anthony Waddle, a conservation biologist and co-author of the new research, has worked extensively with green and golden bell frogs in the wild. "When it's cold, they're super easy to catch, you just pick them up," he says. "They don't have much of a response to it. But when you warm up a bell frog they become a different animal. They're like a bullet." –Meghan Bartels, Senior News Writer | | | Green and golden bell frogs inside a frog sauna thermal shelter. Anthony Waddle | | | The Supreme Court has handed down a number of decisions recently that demonstrate a contempt for science and evidence, if not downright ignorance. Public trust in this institution is at an all-time low, as many of the justices, including the ones mired in corruption scandals, have given opinions that flaunt evidence, history and even reality. Their actions in cases related to the environment and abortion, among others, are unjust, the editors of Scientific American write. What happened: Last month, the majority decision in the Chevron case ascribed power to courts to make regulatory calls that have been made by civil servant scientists, physicians and lawyers for the past 40 years. In an EPA case, one justice repeatedly confused the pollutant nitrogen oxide with nitrous oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas. A Clean Water Act case last year ruled that wetlands could only be protected if connected to another major body of water—an erroneous explanation that runs counter to how wetlands work. The court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade relied on theology, not the mountains of evidence showing that the ability to control reproduction leads to healthier women and children.
What the Editors say: Before taking office, justices must take an oath to "administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties." In rejecting facts to please their political party—and their patrons—the justices of the Court's majority have broken their oath, made to both the Constitution and the American people. –Megha Satyanaryana, Chief Opinion Editor | | | • Floods are destroying roads and buildings. The White House wants to raise them. | 4 min read | | | • New medications mean that a great deal of drug addiction today is no longer difficult to treat. But misguided policies continue to focus on treating the symptoms of drug use and addiction rather than their roots, writes journalist Zachary Siegel. The roots of substance use and exponentially rising rates of drug overdose deaths lay in the "economic cruelty that drives and keeps people locked in dangerous drug use," Siegel writes. Effective policies for reducing drug addiction should focus on fixing education, health care, housing and wealth gaps, the essay suggests. | 5 min read | | | • Inside the health crisis of a Texas Bitcoin town. | TIME | • Haunting the Human Genome Project: A question of consent. | Undark | | | "It is Wednesday my dudes" became a meme 10 years ago, I learned today, thanks to my colleagues at Scientific American. The meme feels appropriate for this very Wednesday. For more Wednesday-themed hilarity, check out this short video (it's an advertisement). And here's a non-Wednesday-themed ad from earlier this year that delights me with its silliness (close the window after 32 seconds to dodge the idiotic AI narration). I haven't seen Suits, the TV series that these two guys starred in. Write to us if think it's worth watching. I am counting the days until Slow Horses Season 4. | —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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