Today in Science: The first measles death in a decade

A free daily newsletter for all things science, discovery and awe February 28, 2025: The space station is too clean, a paint that obscures 3D structures, and the first measles death in a decade.  —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS Carlotoffolo/Getty Images • Teleparallel gravity, a theory devised by Albert Einstein, describes an alternative version of general relativity that might explain dark matter, dark energy and the Hubble tension. | 5 min read • A crucial ocean current, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, has weakened due to global warming, but won't collapse as predicted, a new study says. | 3 min read • A government watchdog group issued an unprecedented warning that U.S. disaster response by FEMA is impaired because of staffing shortages. | 2 min read • Wind and solar generation outperformed coal throughout 2024. But carbon emissions from electricity still climbed. Here's why. | 4 min read More News TOP STORIES Planet Earth viewed from the cupola of the International Space Station. NASA/SpaceEnhanced/Alamy Stock Photo Clean Room The International Space Station is seriously lacking in microbes, researchers have found – and that dearth might impact astronaut health. Crewmembers swabbed hundreds of surfaces in the ISS, which researchers on Earth used to create a 3D map of the bacteria, viruses and other microscopic organisms that dwell there. Most of the bacteria were species that shed from our skin, like Staphylococcus. The space habitat was missing many types of microbes we'd normally encounter in the environment. Why this matters: Habitats lacking microbes might impact astronaut health in the long term, especially if we want to live and reproduce entirely in space in the future. Research has linked a lack of exposure to microbial diversity in children to some types of immune dysfunction, like asthma and allergies. A lack of microbial diversity is common in indoor environments on Earth, too, from homes to office buildings to hospitals – but the ISS was on the extreme end of the spectrum, closest to a COVID-19 isolation dormitory. What the experts say: Future space habitats might trade chemical sterilization methods for probiotic cleaners that introduce benign bacteria to outcompete the harmful ones. Either way, we can't just ditch our old microbial friends. "To take care of us humans, we have to take care of our human microbes. And that's going to be a very interesting challenge" in space travel, says Martin Blaser, a microbiologist at Rutgers University, who was not involved in the new study. —Allison Parshall, associate news editor A simulation of Van­ta­black on half of a cicada. Tyler Thrasher; From The Universe in 100 Colors, by Tyler Thrasher and Terry Mudge (Sasquatch Books, 2024) Blackest Black Van­ta­black is a paint containing tiny carbon nano­tubes that absorbs 99.6 percent of the visible light that touches it. The paint removes details of shape and shadow, rendering 3D objects into indistinct blobs. Invented by a materials scientist, Vantablack is included in the photobook The Universe in 100 Colors. The authors survey colors across scientific disciplines, many that people never see, like the black color of the brain's dopamine precursors, a lack of which can lead to Parkinson's disease, or the peachy color of the early universe. EXPERT PERSPECTIVES • This week, a child in Texas died of the measles, the first measles death in the U.S. in 10 years. Meanwhile, more than 130 other kids have been sickened with the disease. "We shouldn't be fighting diseases we once eliminated. We shouldn't be burying children who could live long and fulfilling lives, and we shouldn't be watching as others suffer," writes Megha Satyanarayana , chief opinion editor at Scientific American. "When it comes to public health, our choices do not stop with us. And our leaders simply do not recognize that."  | 5 min read More Opinion PLAY NOW Regular readers of this newsletter should ace the first question of this week's science quiz. Also, don't miss today's Spellements. If you spot any science words missing from the puzzle, email them to games@sciam.com. This week, Walter spotted annatto, a food coloring and spice that comes from the achiote tree. Cool! More Games MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK • Which Knot Is Stronger? Humans Aren't Great Judges | 2 min read • Why the News Feels Overwhelming—And How to Cope | 8 min read • 'Stand Up for Science' Rallies Will Protest Trump Attacks on Research | 7 min read In the mid 1500s, Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro was among the first to put forward an early version of germ theory—that contagions spread in one of three ways, either by direct contact, on surfaces, or through the air. His ideas were largely overlooked at the time in favor of "miasma theory," which posited that contagious diseases were caused by bad air (a concept that persisted well into the 1800s). It's a striking reminder of how long erroneous ideas can stick around.   Thanks for reading Today in Science this week. Enjoy your weekend and send feedback to: newsletters@sciam.com.  —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters here. 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