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The ruins of the Hittite capital, Hattusa, which could have been abandoned following a long drought.Credit: Ali Balikci/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Climate change doomed the Hittite empire
Three years of severe drought could have contributed to the mysterious collapse of the ancient Anatolian empire of the Hittites 3,000 years ago. Tree rings from ancient juniper timber revealed that there was little rainfall in the area from 1198 to 1196 bc, which could have forced the Hittites to abandon their capital, perhaps dooming the civilization. Some researchers agree with this assessment, but others think it misses the fact that 1190 bc was the beginning of a 200-year mega-drought that extended from Spain to India.
CRISPR-baby scientist’s ‘publicity stunt’
Biophysicist He Jiankui, who had spent three years in prison for using CRISPR to edit the genes of three children in 2018, refused to answer questions about the work at a bioethics event. Instead, he briefly described plans to develop a gene-editing drug for people living with hereditary diseases such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Researchers called He’s attendance “a publicity stunt” and “very disappointing”. His presentation and failure to engage with scientists shows he has not considered the social and ethical implications of his research, which suggests that he is not ready to work on genome editing, said sociologist Joy Zhang, one of the event organizers.
Highly cited genetics studies full of errors
Researchers have revealed dozens of highly cited cancer-genetics papers with apparent mistakes in their nucleotide-targeting reagents. Around 4% of more than 7,800 nucleotide sequences reported across 376 papers in two high-impact journals contained errors. The reagents are used to study gene function or genetic sequence in a disease. Errors could affect reproducibility, even if they don’t affect a study’s conclusions. It remains unclear whether the errors were accidental or indicate misconduct.
Reference: bioRxiv paper (not peer-reviewed)
Eight successes against tropical diseases
Eight countries eliminated a neglected tropical disease last year, bringing the number of nations that have done so since the late 1990s to almost 50.
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo eliminated the parasitic guinea worm disease.
• Togo, Malawi, Saudi Arabia and Vanuatu got rid of the bacterial infection trachoma.
• Rwanda, Uganda and Equatorial Guinea eliminated a type of sleeping sickness.
More than one billion people, mostly living in impoverished communities, are affected by neglected tropical diseases. Despite this, the conditions are largely overlooked by global health agendas.
Reference: World Health Organization report
US coastal areas underestimate rising seas
More than half of 54 US coastal communities are underestimating how much climate change might increase sea levels. A first-of-its-kind analysis looked at nearly 400 projections in the communities’ sea-level-rise assessments. Many didn’t consider worst-case scenarios — which are unlikely but could be particularly damaging to infrastructure and put people at risk. Sea levels have risen 20 centimetres in the past century. Future increases will be strongly dependent on climate actions, which makes them hard to predict.
Reference: Earth’s Future paper
Features & opinion
NASA’s breakthrough ‘class of ’78’
In 1978, NASA selected a fresh crop of crewmembers for its pioneering Space Shuttle: “a new type of astronaut for a new type of spaceship”, writes reviewer and Nature reporter Alexandra Witze. A book by Meredith Bagby offers a readable overview of this barrier-breaking time, which saw women, people of colour and scientists join the US space programme’s most rarefied ranks for the first time.
Can peer review be fixed?
In the face of skyrocketing numbers of papers and pandemic burnout among researchers, journal editors are struggling to find willing peer reviewers. Surveys indicate that most scientists consider peer review to be their academic duty and don’t seek payment, but many chafe at working for free for journals — Nature among them — that benefit. Individuals have found their own ways forward: perhaps by reviewing only for non-profit journals, or by spending their energy on preprints. But the path for science as a whole is uncertain. “I think the notion that we have to review every paper might be a bit utopic,” says reproducibility researcher Olavo Amaral. “I think the system itself might be untenable.”
Image of the week
Credit: PT Hirschfield/Ocean Art 2022/Underwater Photography
A weedy seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) carries bright pink eggs under its tail. These unusual-looking fish are related to seahorses. The males carry and care for the eggs before they hatch, usually for about a month. This snapshot, taken off the southeast coast of Australia, won the Compact Behaviour category at the 2022 Ocean Art underwater-photography competition.
See more of the month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team. (PT Hirschfield/Ocean Art 2022/Underwater Photography)
