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These are the most-read science news stories of 2021.

The International Space Station spotted the origins of a bizarre type of upside-down lightning called a blue jet (illustrated) zipping up from a thundercloud into the stratosphere in 2019. The discovery ranked among  Science News ' most-read stories of 2021.

DTU SPACE, DANIEL SCHMELLING/MOUNT VISUAL

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By Science News Staff

December 23, 2021 at 9:00 am

Science News drew over 21 million visitors to our website this year. Here’s a rundown of the most-read news stories and long reads of 2021.

Top news stories

1. space station detectors found the source of weird ‘blue jet’ lightning.

Instruments on the International Space Station detected the origins of an odd type of lightning called a blue jet. The bizarre bolt is sparked by a “blue bang” — a flash of bright blue light that may be brought on by the turbulent mixing of oppositely charged regions within a thundercloud ( SN: 2/13/21, p. 14 ).

2. A newfound quasicrystal formed in the first atomic bomb test

The first atomic bomb test, in 1945, forged a peculiar, glassy material called trinitite — and within it, a rare form of matter called a quasicrystal . Quasicrystals’ atoms are arranged in an orderly structure like normal crystals, but the structure’s pattern doesn’t repeat ( SN: 6/19/21, p. 12 ).

3. An Indigenous people in the Philippines have the most Denisovan DNA

The Ayta Magbukon people in the Philippines set the record for the highest known level of Denisovan ancestry — about 5 percent of their DNA comes from the ancient hominids . The finding suggests that several Denisovan populations independently reached Southeast Asia and interbred with Homo sapiens groups that arrived thousands of years later ( SN: 9/11/21, p. 16 ).

4. Astronomers may have seen a star gulp down a black hole and explode

In a first, astronomers caught a glimpse of a rare double cosmic cannibalism : A star swallowed a black hole or neutron star, which then gobbled that star from within, resulting in an astonishing explosion ( SN: 10/9/21 & 10/23/21, p. 6 ).

5. Frog skin cells turned themselves into living machines

Skin stem cells plucked from frog embryos organized themselves into miniature living robots, dubbed “xenobots,” that can swim, move around debris and even self-heal . Xenobots may one day serve a useful purpose, but ethical questions need to be considered ( SN: 4/24/21, p. 8 ).

Favorite video

Acrobatic rabbits bewitched online readers in our most-viewed YouTube video posted this year. The video — accompanying the story “ A gene defect may make rabbits do handstands instead of hop ” ( SN: 4/24/21, p. 13 ) — shows a sauteur d’Alfort rabbit walking on its front paws (below). Such hop-less bunnies may have adopted the odd gait because of a mutation in a gene called RORB , scientists discovered.

Top feature stories

1. new drugs that block a brain chemical are game changers for some migraine sufferers.

A class of drugs that inhibits a neurotransmitter called calcitonin gene-related peptide is helping some patients who suffer from chronic, debilitating migraines ( SN: 3/27/21, p. 16 ).

2. Einstein’s theory of general relativity unveiled a dynamic and bizarre cosmos

Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity has served as the bedrock of our understanding of the cosmos. In the last 100 years, scientists have confirmed its most radical predictions, including black holes, gravitational waves and an expanding universe ( SN: 2/13/21, p. 16 ).

3. Chemists are reimagining recycling to keep plastics out of landfills

No matter people’s dedication to sorting and recycling plastics, most still end up in landfills because the materials are too difficult to transform into useful new products. Some chemists are trying to change that ( SN: 1/30/21, p. 20 ).

4. Psychology has struggled for a century to make sense of the mind

In the last 100 years, psychologists and other social scientists have dug into the muddy “science of us” and developed conflicting theories about human thought and behavior. From the messy, contentious research bloomed insights into what makes humans tick ( SN: 8/14/21, p. 18 ).

5. Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins

From the Taung Child to Lucy, the last century of paleoanthropology has sketched a rough timeline of how humans came to be. Scientists now agree that human evolution has its roots in Africa, but many mysteries in our history remain to be solved ( SN: 9/25/21, p. 20 ).

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Ideas and insights from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning

The Science Behind The Art Of Storytelling

 This is the first of two posts co-written by Lani and Vanessa Boris, Senior Manager, Video Solutions at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning.

Storytelling has the power to engage, influence, teach and inspire listeners. That’s why we argue for organizations to build a storytelling culture and place storytelling at the heart of their learning programs. There’s an art to telling a good story, and we all know a good story when we hear one. But there’s also a science behind the art of storytelling.

Here’s how it works, starting with the science of the non-story:

We’ve all listened to (and suffered through) long PowerPoint presentations made up of bullet points – bullet points that may be meaningful to the presenter, but lack the same punch for the audience. Even if the presenter is animated, when we hear information being ticked off like this, the language processing parts in our brain, known as Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, get to work, translating those bullet points into story form where we can find our own meaning. The problem with this, however, is that the story we come up with in our mind may not be the same one the speaker is intending to convey through data.

When a speaker delivers those same facts within a story, however, something else happens in the brain. In his essay “The Science of Storytelling: What Listening to a Story Does to Our Brains”, entrepreneur and storyteller Leo Widrich noted that there’s research to suggest that when we hear a story, “not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but any other area in our brain that we would use when experiencing the events of the story are, too.” For example, sensory details like  the client was as excited as if he had won the lottery  engage a listener’s sensory cortex. Action words like  drive this project home  engage the motor cortex, all leading to a more connected and richer experiencing of the message. In short, the more a speaker conveys  information in story form, the closer the listener’s experience and understanding will be to what the speaker actually intended.

Neuroscientists are still debating these findings, but we know from experience that when we’re listening to a good story — rich in detail, full of metaphor, expressive of character — we tend to imagine ourselves in the same situation. Just think about all those scary stories told around the campfire. Your heart rate increases, you get goosebumps, the hair on the back of your neck stands on end. The stories told in a business setting might not be quite as dramatic (or hair-raising), but nevertheless  can be more impactful than data alone.

Lisa Cron, in  Wired for Story , speaks to additional benefits of sharing stories in business settings, “Stories allow us to simulate intense experience without having to actually live through them. Stories allow us to experience the world before we actually have to experience it.” Leo Widrich, citing Princeton neuroscientist Uri Hasson, writes that “a story is the only way to activate parts in the brain so that a listener turns the story into their own idea and experience.” The potential value here for managers to use story to mentor and coach is clear. Through stories, we can utilize vicarious experience, mentally rehearsing how we might handle a situation before we have to face it. Internal data banks, so full of  what if’s  and  how to’s , are refreshed with new options, without our having to live through an experience and all the risk that might entail.

There are additional scientific elements at play. Scientists are discovering that chemicals like cortisol, dopamine and oxytocin are released in the brain when we’re told a story. Why does that matter? If we are trying to make a point stick, cortisol assists with our formulating memories. Dopamine, which helps regulate our emotional responses, keeps us engaged. When it comes to creating deeper connections with others, oxytocin is associated with empathy, an important element in building, deepening or maintaining good relationships.

Perhaps most importantly, storytelling is central to meaning-making and sense-making. It is through story that our minds form and examine our own truths and beliefs, as well as discern how they correlate with the truths and beliefs of others. Through story listening, we gain new perspectives and a better understanding of the world around us. We challenge and expand our own understanding by exploring how others see and understand the world through their lens.

By sharing and listening to each other’s stories, we all get a little bit closer to what’s true.

Ultimately, storytelling is about the exchange of ideas, about growth – and that’s learning. That’s why we believe that it’s important that we embed storytelling in our organizational cultures and in our learning programs. Storytelling is essential. If you’re trying to engage, influence, teach, or inspire others, you should be telling or listening to a story, and encouraging others to tell a story with you. You’ll have plenty of science to back you up.

Lani Peterson, Psy.D. is a psychologist, professional storyteller and executive coach who specializes in the use of story as a powerful medium for personal growth, connection and change. Drawing on her broad experience with individuals, teams and organizations in the profit and nonprofit worlds, Lani brings a unique combination of personal stories, knowledge of the theory behind stories, and deep experience helping people use stories to transform their understanding of themselves and others. Lani’s professional training includes a doctorate in psychology from William James University, a master’s in counseling psychology from Lesley University, and bachelor’s degree in literature from Smith College.  She is a member of the National Speakers Association, the National Storytelling Network, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Healing Story Alliance, which she recently chaired for five years.

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The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2021

Thrilling discoveries, hurdles in the fight against Covid and advancements in space exploration defined the past year

Associate Editor, Science

Covid-19 dominated science coverage again in 2021, and deservedly so. The disease garnered two entries on this list of our picks for the most important science stories of the year. But other key discoveries and achievements marked the year in science too, and they deserve more attention. NASA and private companies notched firsts in space. Scientists discovered more about the existence of early humans. And researchers documented how climate change has impacted everything from coral reefs to birds. Covid-19 will continue to garner even more attention next year as scientists work to deal with new variants and develop medical advances to battle the virus. But before you let stories about those topics dominate your reading in 2022, it’s worth it to take a look back at the biggest discoveries and accomplishments of this past year. To that end, here are our picks for the most important science stories of 2021.

The Covid Vaccine Rollout Encounters Hurdles

Last year the biggest science story of the year was that scientists developed two mRNA Covid vaccines in record time. This year the biggest Covid story is that the rollout of those vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, and one other by Johnson and Johnson, haven’t made their way into a large proportion of the United States population and a significant portion of the world. As of this writing on December 21 , roughly 73 percent of the U.S. population has received one dose, and roughly 61 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated. An incomplete rollout allowed for a deadly summer surge, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant . Experts pointed out that vaccination rates lagged due to widespread disinformation and misinformation campaigns . It didn’t help that some popular public figures —like Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers , musician Nick Minaj , podcast host Joe Rogan and rapper Ice Cube —chose not to get vaccinated. Luckily, by November, U.S. health officials had approved the Pfizer vaccine for children as young as five, providing another barrier against the deadly disease’s spread, and Covid rates declined. But while the wall against the disease in the U.S. is growing, it is not finished. As cases surge as the Omicron variant spreads around the country, building that wall and reinforcing it with booster shots is critically important. In much of the rest of the world, the wall is severely lacking where populations haven’t been given decent access to the vaccine. Only 8 percent of individuals in low-income countries have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and a WHO Africa report from this fall said that on that continent, less than 10 percent of countries would hit the goal of vaccinating at least 40 percent of their citizens by the end of the year. Globally, less than 60 percent of the population has been vaccinated. The holes in vaccination coverage will allow the virus to continue to kill a large number of individuals, and allow an environment where possibly other dangerous variants can emerge.

Perseverance Notches Firsts on Mars

NASA took a huge step forward in exploring the Red Planet after the rover Perseverance landed safely on Mars in February. Scientists outfitted the vehicle with an ultralight helicopter that successfully flew in the thin Martian atmosphere , a toaster-sized device called MOXIE that successfully converted carbon dioxide to oxygen , and sampling elements that successfully collected rocks from the planet’s floor. All of the achievements will lend themselves to a better understanding of Mars, and how to investigate it in the future. The flight success will give scientists clues on how to build larger helicopters, the oxygen creation will help scientists come up with grander plans for conversion devices, and the rocks will make their way back to Earth for analysis when they are picked up on a future mission. In addition to the rover’s triumphs, other countries notched major firsts too. The United Arab Emirates Hope space probe successfully entered orbit around the planet and is studying the Martian atmosphere and weather. China’s Zhurong rover landed on Mars in May and is exploring the planet’s geology and looking for signs of water. With these ongoing missions, scientists around the world are learning more and more about what the planet is like and how we might better explore it, maybe one day in person.

Is “Dragon Man” a New Species of Human?

The backstory of the skull that scientists used to suggest there was a new species of later Pleistocene human—to join Homo sapiens and Neanderthals—garnered a lot of ink. After the fossil was discovered at a construction site in China nearly 90 years ago, a family hid it until a farmer gave it to a university museum in 2018. Since then, scientists in China pored over the skull—analyzing its features, conducting uranium series dating, and using X-ray fluorescence to compare it to other fossils—before declaring it a new species of archaic human. They dubbed the discovery Homo longi , or “Dragon Man.” The skull had a large cranium capable of holding a big brain, a thick brow and almost square eye sockets—details scientists used to differentiate it from other Homo species. Some scientists questioned whether the find warranted designation as a new species. “It’s exciting because it is a really interesting cranium, and it does have some things to say about human evolution and what’s going on in Asia. But it’s also disappointing that it’s 90 years out from discovery, and it is just an isolated cranium, and you’re not quite sure exactly how old it is or where it fits,” Michael Petraglia of the Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Initiative told Smithsonian magazine back in June. Other scientists supported the new species designation, and so the debate continues, and likely will until more fossils are discovered that help to fill in the holes of human history.

Climate Change Wreaks Havoc on Coral Reefs

Increasing natural disasters—forest fires, droughts and heat waves—may be the most noticeable events spurred by climate change; a warming Earth has helped drive a five-fold uptick in such weather-related events over the last 50 years according the a 2021 report by the World Meteorological Organization . But one of the biggest impacts wrought by climate change over the past decade has occurred underwater. Warming temps cause coral reefs to discard the symbiotic algae that help them survive, and they bleach and die. This year a major report from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network announced that the oceans lost about 14 percent of their reefs in the decade after 2009, mostly because of climate change. In November, new research showed that less than 2 percent of the coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef—the world’s largest such feature—escaped bleaching since 1998. That news came just two months after a different study stated that half of coral reefs have been lost since the 1950s , in part due to climate change. The reef declines impact fisheries, local economies based on tourism and coastal developments—which lose the offshore buffer zone from storms the living structures provide. Scientists say if temperatures continue to rise, coral reefs are in serious danger. But not all hope is lost—if humans reduce carbon emissions rapidly now, more reefs will have a better chance of surviving .

The Space Tourism Race Heats Up

This year the famous billionaires behind the space tourism race completed successful missions that boosted more than just their egos. They put a host of civilians in space. Early in July, billionaire Richard Branson and his employees flew just above the boundary of space—a suborbital flight—in Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed trip. (But Virgin Galactic did delay commercial missions until at least late next year.) Just over a week after Branson’s mission, the world’s richest person, Jeff Bezos, completed Blue Origin’s first crewed suborbital flight with the youngest and oldest travelers to reach space. In October, his company Blue Origin repeated the feat when it took Star Trek actor William Shatner up. A month before that, a crew of four became the first all-civilian crew to circle the Earth from space in Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon capsule Resilience. More ambitious firsts for civilians are in the works. In 2022, SpaceX plans to send a retired astronaut and three paying passengers to the International Space Station. And beyond that, Bezos announced Blue Origin hopes to deploy a private space station fit for ten—called “Orbital Reef”—sometime between 2025 and 2030.

WHO Approves First Vaccine Against Malaria

In October, the World Health Organization approved the first vaccine against malaria. The approval was not only a first for that disease, but also for any parasitic disease. The moment was 30 years in the making, as Mosquirix—the brand name of the drug— cost more than $750 million since 1987 to develop and test. Malaria kills nearly a half million individuals a year, including 260,000 children under the age of five. Most of these victims live in sub-Saharan Africa. The new vaccine fights the deadliest of five malaria pathogens and the most prevalent in Africa, and is administered to children under five in a series of four injections. The vaccine is not a silver bullet; it prevents only about 30 percent of severe malaria cases. But one modeling study showed that still could prevent 5.4 million cases and 23,000 deaths in children under five each year. Experts say the vaccine is a valuable tool that should be used in conjunction with existing methods—such as drug combination treatments and insecticide-treated bed nets—to combat the deadly disease.

Discoveries Move Key Dates Back for Humans in the Americas

Two very different papers in two of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals documented key moments of human habitation in the Americas. In September, a study in Science dated footprints found at White Sands National Park to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago. Researchers estimated the age of the dried tracks known as “ghost prints” using radiocarbon dating of dried ditchgrass seeds found above and below the impressions. Previously, many archaeologists placed the start of human life in the Americas at around 13,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age, based on tools found in New Mexico. The new paper, whose results have been debated , suggests humans actually lived on the continent at the height of the Ice Age. A month after that surprising find, a study in Nature published evidence showing that Vikings lived on North America earlier than previously thought. Researchers examined cut wood left by the explorers at a site in Newfoundland and found evidence in the samples of a cosmic ray event that happened in 993 C.E. The scientists then counted the rings out from that mark and discovered the wood had been cut in 1021 C.E. The find means that the Norse explorers completed the first known crossing of the Atlantic from Europe to the Americas.

Humans Are Affecting the Evolution of Animals

New research published this year shows that humans have both directly and indirectly affected how animals evolve. In probably the starkest example of humans impacting animal evolution, a Science study found a sharp increase in tuskless African elephants after years of poaching. During the Mozambican Civil War from 1977 to 1992, poachers killed so many of the giant mammals with tusks that those females without the long ivory teeth were more likely to pass on their genes. Before the war, 20 percent were tuskless. Now, roughly half of the female elephants are tuskless. Males who have the genetic make-up for tusklessness die , likely before they are born. And killing animals isn’t the only way humans are impacting evolution. A large study in Trends in Ecology and Evolution found that animals are changing shape to deal with rising temps. For example, over various time periods bats grew bigger wings and rabbits sprouted longer ears—both likely to dissipate more heat into the surrounding air. More evidence along those lines was published later in the year in Science Advances . A 40-year-study of birds in a remote, intact patch of Amazon rainforest showed 77 species weighed less on average, and many had longer wings, than they used to. Scientists said the changes likely occurred due to rising temperatures and changes in rainfall.

Antiviral Pills That Fight Covid Show Promising Results

Almost a year after scientists released tests showing the success of mRNA vaccines in fighting Covid, Merck released promising interim test results from a Phase III trial of an antiviral pill. On October 1, the pharmaceutical giant presented data that suggested molnupiravir could cut hospitalizations in half. Ten days later, the company submitted results to the FDA in hopes of gaining emergency use. In mid-November, the U.K. jumped ahead of the U.S. and granted approval for the treatment. By late November, advisers to the FDA recommended emergency authorization of the pill, though it was shown by this time to reduce death or disease by 30—not 50—percent. The drug should be taken —four pills a day for five days—starting within five days of the appearance of symptoms. It works by disrupting SARS-CoV-2’s ability to replicate effectively inside a human cell.

Molnupiravir isn’t the only viral drug with positive results. In November, Pfizer announced its antiviral pill, Paxlovid, was effective against severe Covid. By December, the pharmaceutical giant shared final results that it reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 88 percent in a key group. News about both pills was welcome , as they are expected to work against all versions of the virus, including Omicron. Though the drugs aren’t as big of a breakthrough as the vaccines, a doctor writing for the New Yorker called them “the most important pharmacologic advance of the pandemic.” Many wealthy countries have already agreed to contracts for molnupiravir, and the Gates Foundation pledged $120 million to help get the pill to poor countries. If approved and distributed fast enough, the oral antivirals can be prescribed in places, like Africa, where vaccines have been lacking. The pills represent another crucial tool, in addition to masks and vaccines, in the fight against Covid.

The James Webb Space Telescope May Finally Launch

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Point of View: Tell me a story

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Many authors start with the figures when writing a scientific paper, but it is easier to tell a good story if you start with the Introduction and the Results, and leave the figures to later.

Think back to when you were a little girl or boy, going on a long drive or getting ready for bed. From time to time, you probably asked a parent to tell you a story or read you a storybook. I know I did and so did my children. Well, we’re big boys and girls now, but we still love stories. Scientists can take advantage of this basic human desire by incorporating elements of storytelling when they prepare articles for submission to scientific journals: articles that tell a story will be better understood by and have a greater impact on readers.

Of course, scientific story telling is not easy. Aside from the fact that few scientists are trained in writing, there are two major problems. First, we have to tell the truth, a restriction story-tellers do not face. Second, we have to deal with restrictive formats, such as length limits, figure limits, and mandated order of sections. Nonetheless, it can be done and done well.

I think that the key is to prepare your paper in the sequence that a storyteller would. The three most important parts of a paper are the figures, the Results and the Introduction, probably in that order. It is therefore no surprise that authors often begin by preparing the figures, then move on to Results, and save the Introduction for near the end. In this article I will explain why I think it is better to reverse this sequence.

Maybe the histogram could go under the micrograph

Starting with the text is not as strange as it might seem. Take operas for example: even though they are all about the music, the libretto is usually written before the score. That said, I do understand why it has become common practice to prepare figures before writing the text. It is easier and more fun to make figures than to think or write. After a day of cropping micrographs, adjusting font sizes, and arranging the panels in perfect rectangles, you feel like you’ve gotten something done. But all this is a displacement activity (definition: an unnecessary activity that you do because you are trying to delay doing a more difficult or unpleasant activity).

This is not to say that you should ignore your data at this stage: you absolutely need to know what you have and don’t have before you write. A simple expedient is to collect rough versions of panels with minimal editing on a digital bulletin board – PowerPoint slides work well. Then write the text and revise it a few times before arranging and polishing the figures. In my lab, and despite my pleas, people often bring me excellent figures along with fragments of text or no text at all. As we go through draft after draft, panels are often added, removed or altered – and always rearranged. It makes me feel bad to think about the wasted time and effort.

Don’t think I’m trying to overturn long-held dogma. The 'figure first' strategy is a product of Photoshop and Illustrator. Back in the day, when micrographs were generated with an enlarger and graphs with Letraset, it was necessary to have a definitive plan before starting to print and draw. I have no nostalgia for those cumbersome methods – but they did help make sure that thought preceded action.

Our aim was to test…

So if not with the figures, where should you start? With the plot. You likely began your study with a question in mind. What does gene w do? How does cell x develop? Can method y help us understand disease z? At some point, you feel that you have gained enough insight to begin writing a paper – but more often than not, the data don’t provide an answer to the precise question you began with. If you try to fit the answer to the question, you risk ending up with a compendium of results that is less cohesive than it could be. Instead, start with the answer, figure out what the question should have been, and build on that. This seems counterintuitive, but it works. It is the first step in crafting a story.

The key is to prepare your paper in the sequence that a storyteller would

Once you have the question and answer in mind, write a rough draft of the Introduction, treating it as what is now called an elevator-pitch – a succinct statement meant to convince the listener/reader of your product’s value. What was the gap in knowledge you wanted to fill? What is the question to which you will provide an answer? Why is it important? What was your strategy? What did you find out? What conclusions did you draw? Why did they matter?

Next we asked…

Using the introduction as a guide, move on to the results. Think hard about the best order in which to present them, feeling free to take advantage of what is, to my knowledge, the only fiction that is fully allowable in a scientific paper: you don’t need to present experiments in the sequence in which they were done or explain why they were actually done. Put another way, a scientific paper is not an autobiography; the story you tell should be about the science, not about you. The order of presentation can be, and often should be, quite different from the order of execution.

To organize the results, begin with a detailed outline in which you take account of the data you have. Your PowerPoint repository will be valuable here. As the outline takes shape, you will likely find some holes that you need to fill. If you’re lucky, you’ll also find some datasets that seemed worrisomely incomplete but don’t matter now, because they are not essential to the story you are going to tell. Revise the outline to take account of these realizations.

Next, write a draft of the Results section. Then read it over and reconsider whether you’ve made it easy for the reader to understand how the results lead to the conclusions you want to draw. If they don’t, you can rearrange sections, consider changing the plot, or even come to grips with the possibility that you’re not as close to finished as you had hoped to be.

The whole truth

In presenting your results, you have to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. What you don’t have to do is tell the whole truth. In other words, you can select the results you present, as well as the order in which you present them, to shape your narrative. There is one crucial caveat: if you have results that call your conclusions into question, you need to present them, and explain why your (possibly modified) conclusions are still justified. My point is that you don’t need to describe everything you did. Think about whether each group of results makes the story more compelling or serves as a distraction. If it is the latter, be ruthless in omitting it. On occasion, you may have spent so much time on a set of experiments that you just can’t bear to cut it out completely. Try to resist temptation, but if you can’t, make it short.

Even when describing the most relevant results, work on being concise. This is difficult, as noted long ago by Blaise Pascal in an aphorism generally credited to Mark Twain: “I would have written a shorter letter but I didn’t have the time.” Just as it takes effort to omit distracting results, it takes effort to edit out needless detail. A few weeks ago, I tried to read an article in my field that seemed like a lightly edited lab notebook. I bet it was full of useful information, but I’ll never know. There was no story there so I quickly put it aside.

Our main conclusions are…

Next comes the Discussion, which provides an opportunity for you to highlight what you want the reader to remember – the key results and principal conclusions. This is conventionally done by summarizing the results in a paragraph, following with sections devoted to major points, and finishing with a brief concluding paragraph. This format works well if you keep the story in mind as you write.

Think about whether each group of results makes the story more compelling or serves as a distraction. If it is the latter, be ruthless in omitting it.

To that end, remember that just as you don’t have to include marginally relevant data in the Results section, you don’t have to rehash all of the results in the Discussion. Instead, plan a small number of subsections (between two and five) within the Discussion, in each of which you state a conclusion, summarize the results that support it, and relate it to previous work in the field. By citing key papers, you acknowledge your debt to your predecessors and avoid being accused of claiming more novelty than is justifiable. This is not the place, though, for a literature review. For example, if you have implicated a gene in a process, you need to be clear on whether this has been done before – but you don’t have to talk about unrelated roles of the gene or its mechanisms of action in other contexts.

These sections can also serve other purposes. You should consider uncertainties and note critical questions that remain unanswered. Acknowledging weaknesses in your argument is not only honest but can be helpful: it is harder for a reviewer to be harshly critical if you have already been self-critical. You can also point out the broader implications of your work and speculate on what the future might hold. Be sparing, though, in claiming that experiments to test your speculations are in progress, as the reviewer or editor might be temped to ask you to resubmit once you’ve done these experiments. And as elsewhere, keep it concise and make sure it furthers the plot.

The end is near

At this point you have a full draft of the main sections. Once you are fairly satisfied, you’re ready to turn it into a complete manuscript by polishing the figures, writing Figure Legends, Methods and Abstract, and completing the reference list.

Finally, it is time to get feedback from your colleagues. In my lab, we have a practice called 'paper bashing' in which we devote a long lab meeting to going over a paper line by line. Here’s the main lesson I have learned from this painful but invaluable process: almost every time a lab member or other reader points out a problem with a word, sentence, section or conclusion, they are right, and something needs to be done. On the other hand, the particular improvements they suggest are often not the best ones. You have thought about the work more deeply than they have, and are more familiar with the results and the literature, so you are probably better than they are at coming up with useful solutions. In short, use the criticism to highlight points that need attention, but don’t be afraid to use your own judgment in deciding what to do.

It is, after all, your story to tell.

Author details

Joshua R Sanes is in the Center for Brain Science and the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States

For correspondence

Competing interests.

Publication history

• Received: July 30, 2019
• Accepted: July 30, 2019
• Version of Record published: August 6, 2019 (version 1)

© 2019, Sanes

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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Plastic junk? Researchers find tiny particles in men's testicles

Researchers have detected microplastics in human testicles. Volodymyr Zakharov/Getty Images hide caption

Researchers have detected microplastics in human testicles.

Whether it's our bloodstream, brain, or lungs, microscopic fragments of plastic seem to turn up every time scientists scour a new corner of the human body.

The male reproductive organs are no exception.

New research published this month finds microplastics can build up in the testicles of humans and dogs — raising more questions about the potential health impacts of these particles.

Animal studies have shown exposure to microplastics can impact sperm quality and male fertility, but scientists are still in the early stages of translating this work to human health.

"Microplastics are everywhere," says Dr. John Yu , a toxicologist in the College of Nursing at the University of New Mexico and lead author of the study. "The quantification of those microplastics in humans is the first step to understanding its potential adverse effects."

For the first time, researchers find microplastics deep in the lungs of living people

When he set out to do the study, Yu didn't expect microplastics would have penetrated the male reproductive system so extensively, given the tight blood-tissue barrier around those organs. To his surprise, the research team unearthed a wide range and heavy concentration of microplastics in the testicles of about two dozen men and close to 50 dogs.

The results may also be relevant to a well-documented global decline in sperm count and other problems related to male fertility. This trend has been linked to a host of environmental and lifestyle factors, including certain endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in plastics.

The growing numbers of studies like this one are "compelling and should be a wake up call for policymakers," says Tracey Woodruff , director of the Environmental Research and Translation for Health Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

How much and what kind of plastics were in the testicles?

This is the largest study to measure how much of these microplastics that permeate the water, food and even air end up in the most intimate recesses of male reproductive anatomy.

It follows a smaller analysis, published last year by a team in China, that detected microplastics in about half a dozen human testicles and in semen.

For the current study, researchers at the University of New Mexico collected the testicles from autopsies of people ranging in age from 16 to 88 and from nearly 50 dogs after they were neutered at local veterinary clinics.

Dogs can function as "sentinel" animals for disease and harmful chemical exposure because they're so embedded in the human environment, plus canine spermatogenesis is more similar to the human process of producing sperm than lab rats, says Yu.

Researchers find a massive number of plastic particles in bottled water

Instead of trying to count each microplastic particle, the researchers were able to quantify the total amount of plastic by dissolving all the biological tissue and separating out the solids.

About 75% of what remained was plastic.

Polyethylene , or PE, made up a large portion of that. It's the most widely used plastic in the world, showing up in packaging, bags and any number of products.

Matthew Campen , who has examined these tiny particles up close, describes them as "shard-like, stabby bits" because of the way they've become "old and brittle and fragmented."

"What they do in the body, we don't know," says Campen, a professor at the UNM College of Pharmacy and one of the authors of the study, "Obviously, little tiny particles can disrupt the way cells behave."

Polyvinyl chloride — what's in PVC piping — emerged as another prominent culprit and was the second most common in the dog testicles. Vinyl chloride is classified as a carcinogen and long-term exposure, for example in drinking water, can increase the risk of cancer.

What's more, Yu and his team found a correlation between lower sperm count in the dog testicles and the presence of PVC (the analysis couldn't be done on the human samples because of how they had been stored).

There was also an association between greater levels of PVC and decreased weight of the testicles. The same was seen with Polyethylene terephthalate , or PET, another common source of plastic, which recent research suggests may be harmful.

Woodruff says weight is a somewhat "crude" marker for the effects on testicular health, although it's frequently used by regulatory agencies to evaluate the impacts of chemicals.

Implications?

The research comes with many caveats and cannot prove microplastics directly cause problems with male fertility. Nonetheless, Yu says the results are "concerning" and lay the foundation for more targeted studies on the "relationship between microplastic exposure and its potential impact on sperm."

An emerging body of evidence suggests microplastics can have toxic effects on reproductive health .

In a 2022 review of the evidence for the state of California, Woodruff and her colleagues concluded that microplastics were "suspected" to harm sperm quality and testicular health, but she says that may soon tip over from "suspected" to "likely" because more high-quality studies are being published.

"In the history of looking at chemical or environmental health issues, at the beginning you see these indicators of health harms and then those that have some type of evidence behind them just tend to grow," says Woodruff, "I anticipate we're just going to see more health harms from these microplastics."

In the University of New Mexico study, the concentration of microplastics in human testicles was on average three times higher than in dogs.

Campen says there are still many unknowns, like what specific concentration would pose a threat to health, or how that might vary depending on the kind of microplastic or where they accumulate in the body.

"We're just at the tip of the iceberg," says Campen, who has used this same technique to quantify the levels of microplastics in other tissues and organs.

The amount in the testicles is considerably higher than what was discovered in placenta, and second to what they observed in the brain, says Yu.

Exactly how the microplastics are making their way into the testicles requires further study. Campen suspects they could be "hitchhiking" through the gut via tiny fat particles that get metabolized and then fan out across the body.

It's plausible the build-up of microplastics in the testicles could affect reproductive health in any number of ways. Yu says microplastics could physically disrupt spermatogenesis, mess with the barrier between the testicles, or be a vehicle for harmful chemicals.

They could lead to inflammation and cause oxidative stress, which down the road might affect fertility, says Dr. Sarah Krzastek , a urologist at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"It's probably one more piece of the puzzle of things that are contributing to declines in male fertility over the years as these environmental exposures keep accumulating," she says, "We don't know the clinical ramifications of that yet."

Richard Lea , a reproductive biologist at the University of Nottingham, calls the findings "alarming."

"Having something unnatural like that in the testes is not particularly good news for good reproductive health," says Lea.

In his lab, Lea has found that exposure to phthalates , which are chemicals that can leach from plastics, can reduce the ability of sperm to swim and increase the fragmentation of DNA in the sperm head. This is one likely contributor to the decline in sperm quality in household dogs over the last several decades, a trend that mirrors what's seen in humans.

Of course, the testicles are just one part of the male reproductive system.

Lea says there's now research showing these chemical contaminants can affect the hormonal control of reproduction, at different levels in the body, including in the brain.

How to study a substance that is ubiquitous

Dr. Shanna Swan , a reproductive epidemiologist who has documented the global decline in sperm count, says she's concerned about the accumulation of microplastics. But it's not yet clear finding them in the testicles rather than other parts of the body is more worrisome from the standpoint of reproductive health.

For example in her work, she's looked at how prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals like phthalates can affect male reproductive function and "lead to lifetime of reproductive damage."

Swan says a limitation running through many of the recent studies on microplastics is that the samples may be inadvertently exposed to microplastics in the environment and that leads to skewed impressions of what was actually present in the person.

She notes there were similar quality control issues nearly a quarter century ago when scientists first started measuring phthalates in human tissues.

"I think there have to be a lot of caveats saying this is really the beginning," says Swan, a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, "It's suggestive, it's important, and it's preliminary."

The University of New Mexico researchers developed a quality control process to protect the samples from being accidentally exposed to microplastics as much as possible. Campen says there's so much plastic in the human body, the amount that might contaminate the samples is "trivial."

More broadly, though, he acknowledges the field faces some huge challenges moving forward — especially as they try to draw a stronger link between these tiny particles and a decline in reproductive health or disease.

"A lot of the problem is they're so ubiquitous. There are no proper controls anymore. Right? Everybody's exposed," he says.

• men's reproductive health
• plastic pollution
• microplastics
• reproductive health
• endocrine disrupters

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• Published: 11 September 2023

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Nature Reviews Cancer volume  23 ,  page 799 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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An often undervalued skill in science, storytelling is a powerful tool for communicating research to diverse audiences. As scientists, we ought to focus on crafting the narrative of our work: it can effectively convey knowledge to the research community, disseminate findings to lay audiences and help us clarify our own thinking about projects.

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AI Is Making Economists Rethink the Story of Automation

• Walter Frick

Economists have traditionally believed that new technology lifts all boats. But in the case of AI, some are asking: Will some employees get left behind?

Will artificial intelligence take our jobs? As AI raises new fears about a jobless future, it’s helpful to consider how economists’ understanding of technology and labor has evolved. For decades, economists were relatively optimistic, and pointed out that previous waves of technology had not led to mass unemployment. But as income inequality rose in much of the world, they began to revise their theories. Newer models of technology’s affects on the labor market account for the fact that it absolutely can displace workers and lower wages. In the long run, technology does tend to raise living standards. But how soon and how broadly? That depends on two factors: Whether technologies create new jobs for people to do and whether workers have a voice in technology’s deployment.

Is artificial intelligence about to put vast numbers of people out of a job? Most economists would argue the answer is no: If technology permanently puts people out of work then why, after centuries of new technologies, are there still so many jobs left ? New technologies, they claim, make the economy more productive and allow people to enter new fields — like the shift from agriculture to manufacturing. For that reason, economists have historically shared a general view that whatever upheaval might be caused by technological change, it is “somewhere between benign and benevolent.”

• Walter Frick is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review , where he was formerly a senior editor and deputy editor of HBR.org. He is the founder of Nonrival , a newsletter where readers make crowdsourced predictions about economics and business. He has been an executive editor at Quartz as well as a Knight Visiting Fellow at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism and an Assembly Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. He has also written for The Atlantic , MIT Technology Review , The Boston Globe , and the BBC, among other publications.

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New research could help predict the next solar flare

When will we be able to see the northern lights again this study could help predict the exact phenomena that caused the bewitching phenomena in the first place..

Newly published research could help predict when there will be "powerful solar storms."

According to Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, an international team of researchers found that the sun’s magnetic field starts around 20,000 miles below its surface. Previously, the magnetic field was thought to have originated 130,000 miles below its surface.

According to NASA , the sun's magnetic field is created by a magnetic dynamo that is inside of it. This study aimed to prove that the dynamo actually begins near the sun's surface. Researchers hope that a better understanding of the sun's dynamo could help predict future solar flares.

“This work proposes a new hypothesis for how the sun’s magnetic field is generated that better matches solar observations, and, we hope, could be used to make better predictions of solar activity," said the study's co-author Daniel Lecoanet, an assistant professor of engineering sciences and applied mathematics, researcher at the McCormick School of Engineering and a member of the  Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics .

It's an age-old question that astronomer Galileo Galilei tried to answer, but hundreds of years later, researchers say they found the answer and published the findings in the journal , Nature .

“Understanding the origin of the sun’s magnetic field has been an open question since Galileo and is important for predicting future solar activity, like flares that could hit the Earth,” Lecoanet said.

What is a solar flare?

A solar flare is an explosion of radiation that is produced by the sun and can result in solar storms

Recently, the same powerful solar storm that created the bewildering Northern Lights seen across North America , affected farmers' equipment at the height of planting season. Machines and tools that rely on GPS, like tractors, glitched and struggled with navigational issues.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also warned that it could disrupt communications.

Pretty and damaging

While solar flares can cause phenomena such as the aurora borealis that captured attention at the beginning of May, they can cause a lot of damage, too. This is why it's important for researchers to be able to predict when they will hit.

"Although this month’s strong solar storms released beautiful, extended views of the Northern Lights, similar storms can cause intense destruction," said the school in a statement.

According to the university, solar flares can damage the following:

• Earth-orbiting satellites
• Electricity grids
• Radio communications.

How was it calculated?

For their study, researchers ran complex calculations on a NASA supercomputer to discover where the magnetic field is generated.

To figure out where these flares originated, researchers developed "state-of-the-art numerical simulations to model the sun’s magnetic field," states the school.

This new model now takes torsional oscillations into account. It correlates with magnetic activity and is a phenomenon in the sun "in which the solar rotation is periodically sped up or slowed down in certain zones of latitude while elsewhere the rotation remains essentially steady," states a different study .

The sun is super active

The sun is at its solar maximum, meaning it is reaching the height of its 11-year cycle and is at the highest rate of solar activity.

Folks can expect to see more solar flares and solar activity, including solar storms.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta , USA TODAY

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on  LinkedIn  or follow her on  X, formerly Twitter ,  Instagram  and  TikTok : @juliamariegz

Echidnapus identified from an 'Age of Monotremes'

Published in the Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, evidence of an 'Age of Monotremes' has been unearthed by a team of Australian scientists at the Australian Museum (AM), Museums Victoria and Australian Opal Centre.

The findings were led by two renowned mammalogists, Honorary Associate of the Australian Museum, Professor Tim Flannery; and Professor Kris Helgen, Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI).

Found in the Lightning Ridge opal fields, NSW, the opalised jaws date back to the Cenomanian Age of the Cretaceous Period, between 102 million to 96.6 million years ago.

Professor Flannery said the research reveals that 100 million years ago, Australia was home to a diversity of monotremes, of which the platypus and the echidna are the only surviving descendants.

"Today, Australia is known as a land of marsupials, but discovering these new fossils is the first indication that Australia was previously home to a diversity of monotremes. It's like discovering a whole new civilisation," Professor Flannery said.

Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute, Professor Kris Helgen, said the three new species demonstrate combinations of features not previously seen before in other living or fossil monotremes. One of the most striking of the new monotremes, Opalios splendens , retains characteristics of the earliest known monotremes, but also some that foreshadow adaptations in the living monotremes, the echidnas and platypus.

" Opalios splendens sits on a place in the evolutionary tree prior to the evolution of the common ancestor of the monotremes we have today. Its overall anatomy is probably quite like the platypus, but with features of the jaw and snout a bit more like an echidna -- you might call it an 'echidnapus'," Professor Helgen said.

"The story of how our egg-laying mammals evolved is 'toothy to toothless' on the oldest monotreme, Teinolophos trusleri, which dates back to Victoria 130 million years ago. What we see at Lightning Ridge is that by 100 million years ago, some of the monotremes still have five molars but some of them are down to three," Professor Helgen said.

Professor Flannery highlighted that today, echidnas have no teeth, and platypuses too are essentially toothless.

"Adult platypus have no teeth, though juveniles have rudimentary molars. Just when and why adult platypus lost their teeth after nearly 100 million years is a mystery we think we have solved. It may have been competition with the Australian water rat, which arrived in Australia within the last 2 million years, which caused platypus to seek out softer, slipperier food best processed with the leathery pads that adults use today," Professor Flannery said.

"What is so unusual about this uniquely Australian story is that in one snapshot we see six different egg-laying mammals living together in Lightning Ridge over 100 million years ago. All of them are holding potential evolutionary destinies that can go off in different directions, and all of them are deep distant ancestors and relatives of the current living monotremes."

Dr Matthew McCurry, Curator of Palaeontology, Australian Museum, said the discovery of three new genera of monotremes helps to piece together their remarkable evolutionary story.

"There are six species of monotremes, including the three newly described here, within the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales making it the most diverse monotreme assemblage on record. Four species are known from a single specimen, suggesting that diversity remains underrepresented. This discovery adds more than 20 per cent to the previously known diversity of monotremes," Dr McCurry said.

"We have very few monotreme fossils, and so finding new fossils can tell us more about where they lived, what they looked like and how changes in the environment influenced their evolution. Every significant monotreme fossil currently known fits into this evolutionary story, from Teinolophos , the tiny shrew-like creature in Antarctica 130 million years ago to the present day," Dr McCurry said.

Co-authors from Museums Victoria Research Institute, Dr Thomas Rich, Senior Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology, and Honorary Associate Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich AO said these curious, unique and ancient Australian animals still have the power to interest the scientific world.

"The platypus and echidna are iconic Australian species. The discovery of these several new species in one small area suggest that the family tree of the egg laying monotremes is far more complicated than the living platypus and echidna alone suggest," Dr Thomas Rich said.

"As the fieldwork continues in the Mesozoic of Australia, we continue to increase our understanding of how life changed over time. This, to me, is what makes science so exciting," Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich AO said.

The fossils were found by Elizabeth Smith and her daughter Clytie of the Australian Opal Centre in Lightning Ridge, who have spent decades working and searching over the opal fields.

"Opal fossils are rare, but opalised monotreme fossils are infinitely more rare, as there's one monotreme fragment to a million other pieces. We don't know when, or exactly where, they'll turn up," Elizabeth Smith said.

"These specimens are a revelation. They show the world that long before Australia became the land of pouched mammals, marsupials, this was a land of furry egg-layers -- monotremes. It seems that 100 million years ago, there were more monotremes at Lightning Ridge than anywhere else on earth, past or present," Elizabeth said.

• Evolutionary Biology
• New Species
• Frogs and Reptiles
• Mating and Breeding
• Arabian horse
• Tasmanian Devil
• Black widow spider

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Materials provided by Taylor & Francis Group . Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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• Artist's impression of several monotremes

Journal Reference :

• Timothy F. Flannery, Matthew R. McCurry, Thomas H. Rich, Patricia Vickers-Rich, Elizabeth T. Smith, Kristofer M. Helgen. A diverse assemblage of monotremes (Monotremata) from the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales, Australia . Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology , 2024; 1 DOI: 10.1080/03115518.2024.2348753

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Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe for Pregnant Women?

New research suggests a link between prenatal fluoride levels and behavioral issues in children. Experts are divided on the study’s significance.

By Alice Callahan and Christina Caron

A small study published Monday suggested that higher levels of fluoride consumed during the third trimester of pregnancy were associated with a greater risk of behavioral problems in the mothers’ children at 3 years old. The authors of the study, which was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency and published in the journal JAMA Network Open, believe it is the first to examine links between prenatal fluoride exposure and child development among families living in the United States, where fluoride is often added to community water supplies to prevent dental cavities.

The study’s authors and some outside researchers said that the findings should prompt policymakers to evaluate the safety of fluoride consumption during pregnancy.

“I think it’s a warning sign,” said Dr. Beate Ritz, an environmental epidemiologist at the U.C.L.A. Fielding School of Public Health.

But other experts cautioned that the study had several important limitations that made it difficult to assess the potential effects of fluoride consumption during pregnancy.

“There is nothing about this study that alarms me or would make me recommend that pregnant women stop drinking tap water,” said Dr. Patricia Braun, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Background

Fluoride strengthens tooth enamel, and research suggests that drinking water with added fluoride can reduce cavities by up to 25 percent . Many communities in the United States have added fluoride to their water for this reason since the 1940s, a practice widely celebrated as a major public health achievement . In 2020, 63 percent of people in the United States lived in areas with at least 0.7 milligrams per liter of fluoride in the water — considered optimal for cavity prevention — though some areas have levels that are higher , in part because of naturally high fluoride in the groundwater.

In the last few years, several studies from Mexico and Canada have suggested that fluoride exposure during pregnancy is linked to slightly lower scores on intelligence tests and other measures of cognitive function in children.

But recent studies from Spain and Denmark have found no such link.

There is a “contentious debate” about water fluoridation, acknowledged Ashley Malin, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Florida and the lead author of the new study. The issue is currently the subject of a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Food and Water Watch and other groups against the Environmental Protection Agency. The nonprofit claims that water fluoridation poses a risk to children’s health.

The Research

The study looked at a group of 229 predominantly low-income Hispanic pregnant women in Los Angeles who were already being followed in other research. Most of the women lived in areas with fluoridated water. The researchers measured the fluoride levels in their urine in a single test during the third trimester. Then, when their children were 3 years old, the mothers filled out the Preschool Child Behavior Checklist , a measure used to detect emotional, behavioral and social problems.

Overall, 14 percent of the children had a total score in the “borderline clinical” or “clinical” range, meaning that a doctor may want to watch or evaluate them, or provide additional support, Dr. Malin said. And on average, higher fluoride levels in the mothers’ urine were correlated with a greater risk of behavioral problems in the children. The researchers found that women with urine fluoride levels at the 75th percentile were 83 percent more likely to have children with borderline or clinically significant behavioral problems than women with levels at the 25th percentile.

The main problems reported by the mothers were emotional reactivity, which is the tendency to overreact; somatic complaints, such as headaches and stomachaches; anxiety; and symptoms linked to autism (though those symptoms alone would not be enough for an autism diagnosis).

The researchers did not find an association with other behavioral symptoms like aggression or issues with concentration.

The findings are important and add to evidence suggesting prenatal fluoride consumption may affect the developing brain, said Joseph Braun, a professor of epidemiology and the director of the Center for Children’s Environmental Health at Brown University, who was not involved in the research. That said, the increases in behavioral scores were relatively small — about two points on a scale from 28 to 100 for overall behavioral problems. It’s hard to say whether such a difference might be noticeable in an individual child, he said.

But given how widespread water fluoridation is, he added, even minor behavioral changes in individual children could have a meaningful impact on the overall population.

The Limitations

The study was relatively small and didn’t include a diverse group of women. It didn’t account for many factors that can affect child development, including genetics , maternal nutrition, home environment and community support, several experts not involved in the study said.

The data would also have been stronger if the researchers had measured fluoride in urine samples from several points of time during pregnancy and collected information on tap water, bottled water and tea consumption to better understand how each contributed to the women’s fluoride levels, experts said. Black and green teas can contain high levels of fluoride.

The Preschool Child Behavior Checklist that was used to evaluate the 3-year-olds is considered a reliable measure of child behavior. But it did not take into account the fact that symptoms can change in frequency and intensity during early childhood, said Catherine Lord, an expert on autism and related disorders at the University of California, Los Angeles medical school.

Dr. Lord, who was not involved in the fluoride research, added that the checklist is not considered a reliable way to diagnose autism.

It would also be helpful to follow the children to see if the problematic behaviors persisted beyond age 3, said Melissa Melough, an assistant professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Delaware, who was not involved in the research.

What’s Next

While the experts agreed that more robust research was needed to untangle the potential effects of prenatal fluoride exposure, they had differing opinions about the study’s bottom line.

Dr. Malin said that, based on her findings and the evidence from previous studies, it might be a good idea for women to limit fluoride intake during pregnancy, a view that was echoed by Dr. Ritz and others.

“For me, the takeaway is: Protect pregnancy,” said Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz, an environmental epidemiologist at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health who has studied prenatal exposures for more than two decades.

But the American Dental Association said in a statement that the organization stands by its recommendation to “brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and drink optimally fluoridated water.”

And Dr. Nathaniel DeNicola, an OB-GYN and environmental health expert in Orange County, Calif., said he wouldn’t advise his pregnant patients to avoid fluoridated water based on the study, because “it’s not conclusive.”

Dr. Melough said she didn’t think women should be alarmed by the findings. But, she added, while it’s clear that fluoride helps to reduce cavities, it’s possible that adding it to the water “could have some unintended consequences,” and policymakers should continually evaluate the practice as new science emerges.

You can find out what the fluoride levels are in your local water by contacting your water utility or checking the C.D.C.’s My Water’s Fluoride website . If you want to reduce your fluoride consumption, experts said, limit how much black or green tea you drink. You can also purchase certain water filters that remove some fluoride. There’s no reason to stop brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste — just don’t swallow it.

Alice Callahan is a Times reporter covering nutrition and health. She has a Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of California, Davis. More about Alice Callahan

Christina Caron is a Times reporter covering mental health. More about Christina Caron

Carolyn Hax: Family clown hopes to pivot by offering sincere support

Moved by an aunt’s terminal cancer, this letter writer wants to learn to be supportive beyond just offering comic relief.

Adapted from an online discussion.

Hi, Carolyn: Sadly, my aunt is approaching the end of a multiyear terminal battle with cancer. It’s going to be really tough for everyone, especially my mom, her other sisters and her kids. I’m entirely on the sidelines and don’t know how to be more supportive. Nobody brings up her condition in depth or how they’re feeling, though I do ask. Can I change this now? I am visiting her soon.

With my mom and aunts, I’m mainly a source of comic relief and lighthearted distraction. I want to be somebody they can talk to about their feelings.

With my aunt’s adult children, about my age, I also want to be supportive, but I’ve kept them at arm’s length for the past 15 years for my well-being, given some of their repeated behaviors.

— Family Clown

Family Clown: Seems like a good time to “right size” your goals here.

About Carolyn Hax

(Someday I will write an answer entirely in office speak. Let’s put a pin in that and circle back.)

You feel an ache to get closer to your family, and that sounds like an emotional transformation for you. That’s a good thing — one that commonly accompanies a hard goodbye. Death is destabilizing and churns up a lot of other stuff with it, a lot of outdated certainties and givens.

But it also can create chaotic emotional cravings. A.k.a., mess. So it might be easier on you if you narrow your focus. Look at the list of people you want to connect with more deeply, then choose the best one as a start. To me it’s obvious, your mom, but your aunt makes sense, too. The cousins probably come off the list entirely for now, at least under your current pressure; undoing 15 years of having good reasons not to interact with them is a project for clearer-thinking times.

So let’s say you start with your mother. Instead of asking how she’s doing — which you say has been unproductive — try something more expository. “You know I keep things light, kind of my role, but I see what you’re going through now, and I want to be more helpful. Is there something specific I can do for you? If you want to lean on me, I’m here.”

If she’s receptive, then you can float ideas about more concrete assistance. If she’s not receptive, then don’t give up, long term — but also don’t press in the short term. That would verge on asking her to help you feel better about this, which is the exact opposite of supporting her. Just be present and attentive to needs.

I’m sorry about your aunt.

Readers’ thoughts:

· Don’t overlook helping with the very practical. Driving your aunt to appointments is an obvious one. There are probably a lot of neglected tasks that, if your aunt wants and will accept the help, will lighten the load for the caregivers who are there.

Also, just being there and being quiet. My sister got visitors at all hours of the day from people who were concerned about her being alone. By just knowing I was there, people would leave her alone and she could get some sleep. Another day, she just wanted to get out for a while. (She couldn’t drive.) Sometimes just show up and follow their lead.

· As the comic relief in my family, I just want to give family clowns the credit they deserve. Don’t underestimate that contribution. People need a break during heavy times, and being able to make sad people laugh is an incredible gift many folks can’t pull off. So, sure, offer to help, but keep the comedy medicine coming.

More from Carolyn Hax

From the archive:

Grandma skips a generation and calls her grandchild ‘my baby’

Abusive dad hurts stepmom; kid who backed him faces truth

Is dating a 48-year-old never-married man a waste of time?

At 22, one partner since age 16 and a difficult itch to discuss

My girlfriend gets along with her family. Red flag, right?

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