October 18, 2024: Interpreting tree health from fall colors, nasal vaccines are coming, and when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's an illusion. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Why does the moon seem to loom so large when it's near the horizon? The answer will almost certainly surprise you. Grant Faint/Getty Images | | | • Millions of older Americans with dementia live alone. | 5 min read | | | • The Small Business Administration, which provides billions for disaster recovery, has run out of money to help businesses and their owners that were hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. | 4 min read | | | Vaccines delivered through the nose are showing promising results in clinical trials. Two have generated multiple immune system responses against the COVID-causing virus, and a COVID nasal vaccine could be ready for the U.S. as soon as 2027. Clinical trials are also underway for nasal vaccines against flu and RSV, with near future plans for other diseases like human metapneumovirus. Why this matters: Vaccines taken up the nose can provide faster, stronger protection against respiratory viruses than a shot in the arm, since they activate mucosal immunity–mucosa lines our nasal passages down to our gut, and many viruses first enter the body there. The vaccine trains "first responder" immune cells in our mucus tissue to attack the virus, so immunity develops quickly.
What the experts say: Spray vaccines could boost vaccine access worldwide. Nasal vaccines don't require cold storage to be transported, and could be administered by anyone, not just medical professionals. "We saw with COVID there was no vaccine equity," says Fiona Smaill, an infectious disease researcher at McMaster University in Ontario. Many people in low-income countries never received a shot, even nearly four years after the vaccines became available. | | | Larisa Fedotova/Getty Images | | | The vibrant golds, reds and browns of trees in autumn are more than a feast for the eyes. At the end of the growing season when available daylight starts to diminish and temperatures drop, trees stop producing the pigment chlorophyll, which reflects green light. The drop in chlorophyll unmasks other pigments in the leaf–yellow carotenoids, and red and purple anthocyanins. The timing and intensity of the transformation can indicate tree health and environmental conditions. For example, serious drought in the summer stresses some trees enough that they can't support leaves into the fall, so they drop green foliage.
Why this matters: Climate change will bring warmer average temperatures into autumn, and this may lead to less vibrant foliage. Different trees have different thresholds where coolness triggers them to change leaf colors, and those changes could happen at more spread out times throughout the fall.
What the experts say: It's not simple, and scientists still have a lot to learn about how extreme temperature and precipitation events can pile up during a year to impact fall foliage, says Yingying Xie, a plant ecologist at Northern Kentucky University. Any changes to forest ecosystems can affect how trees lose their green. | | | • Researchers reported in the medical journal JAMA that trouble with memory or focusing is the most common long COVID symptom in kids aged six to 11. Long COVID may be contributing to record low standardized test scores in kids, plus reported problems with emotional regulation, attention deficits and developmental problems, writes Blake Murdoch, a researcher at the University of Alberta's Health Law Institute. We must protect our kids from COVID by vaccinating them early, keeping them home when they're sick, and demanding high-quality air ventilation systems be installed in schools, he says. | 5 min read | | | • If you're a regular reader of Today in Science the first question of today's science quiz should be a slam dunk for you. Also, don't miss today's Spellements puzzle, and if you spot any science words that are missing from the puzzle, email them to games@sciam.com. This week, Martin and Steve both spotted pion (a subatomic particle). Well done! | | | MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK | | | • Why Disasters Like Hurricanes Milton and Helene Unleash So Much Misinformation | 6 min read | • Fifty years later, Ursula K. Le Guin's Novel about Utopian Anarchists Is as Relevant as Ever | 2 min read | • A 'Once-in-a-Lifetime' Nova Explosion Is Running Late | 6 min read | | | • The Ashaninka Indigenous people of the western Amazon basin, particularly the Apiwtxa community, have successfully built a sustainable, self-sufficient way of life. Through shamanic wisdom, cultural empowerment, and collaborative planning, they have regenerated their forest, enhanced food security, and established strong governance systems, all while resisting external threats, such as from logging, ranching and industrial agriculture. Their actions have earned international recognition like the United Nations Equator Prize. This is a great weekend read with striking photography. | 22 min read | | | The Ashaninka believe that all creatures, as well as features of the landscape such as the Amônia River, are sentient and connected to one another by reciprocal relationships. André Dib | | | In many places in the U.S. fall leaf colors are peaking or will be in the next week or so. This will be a great weekend to get outside and watch the show! Scientists rely on outward signals like leaf color to tell what is happening in the climate now, but trees can also tell them what has happened in the past. Fire, geologic upheaval, yearly rainfall and temperature, and even cosmic radiation are all recorded in the growth rings of trees, and those rings are some of the most powerful pieces of evidence of how the climate has changed in the last several thousand years (yes, some trees are thousands of years old). Fall is a wonderful time to appreciate trees.
| I'd love to see your fall foliage pics! Send your best ones to: newsletters@sciam.com. Thanks for reading Today in Science. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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