Scientific American - USA (2020-10)

October 2020, ScientificAmerican.com 23

For more details, visit

http://www.ScientificAmerican.com/

oct2020/advances

IN THE NEWS

Quick

Hits

By Scott Hershberger

BOTSWANA

At least 350 elephants have dropped dead in the

Okavango Panhandle since March, and live elephants

have acted disoriented or seemed partially paralyzed.

With poaching and anthrax ruled out as potential

causes, investigators suspect an unknown disease.

I TA LY

A massive bloom of pink algae, triggered

by low snowfall and high spring and

summer temperatures, could accelerate

the melting of the Presena glacier by

causing the ice to absorb more sunlight.

L IBYA

A seven-million-year-old crocodile skull suggests the pre-

historic animals may have traveled from Africa to the Americas.

Computerized tomography of the fossil, found in Libya, revealed

a slight bump in the middle of the snout—a feature of modern

American crocodiles but not their African counterparts.

MEXICO

In now flooded caves,

researchers discovered

the oldest known ochre

mines in the Americas.

Around 12,000 years ago

inhabi tants of the Yucatán

Peninsula extracted the

red pigment, possibly

for use as an antiseptic

and sunscreen or for

symbolic purposes such

as body painting.

POLYNESIA

Through a genetic analysis

of modern-day Polynesians

and Indigenous people from

South America’s Pacific coast,

scientists concluded the two

groups came into contact

between a.d. 1150 and 1230.

Where the transoceanic

encounter occurred remains

unknown, but the team

suspects eastern Polynesia.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The successful launch of a Mars orbiter called Hope

marked the first interplanetary mission conducted

by an Arab nation. Carrying instruments to study the

Red Planet’s daily and seasonal weather, the spacecraft

is set to enter Martian orbit in February 2021.

© 2020 Scientific American

October 2020, Scientifi cAmerican.com 23

For more details, visit

http://www.ScientificAmerican.com/

oct2020/advances

IN THE NEWS

Quick

Hits

By Scott Hershberger

BOTSWANA

At least 350 elephants have dropped dead in the

Okavango Panhandle since March, and live elephants

have acted disoriented or seemed partially paralyzed.

With poaching and anthrax ruled out as potential

causes, investigators suspect an unknown disease.

I TA LY

A massive bloom of pink algae, triggered

by low snowfall and high spring and

summer temperatures, could accelerate

the melting of the Presena glacier by

causing the ice to absorb more sunlight.

L IBYA

A seven-million-year-old crocodile skull suggests the pre-

historic animals may have traveled from Africa to the Americas.

Computerized tomography of the fossil, found in Libya, revealed

a slight bump in the middle of the snout—a feature of modern

American crocodiles but not their African counterparts.

MEXICO

In now fl ooded caves,

researchers discovered

the oldest known ochre

mines in the Americas.

Around 12,000 years ago

inhabi tants of the Yucatán

Peninsula extracted the

red pigment, possibly

for use as an antiseptic

and sunscreen or for

symbolic purposes such

as body painting.

POLYNESIA

Through a genetic analysis

of modern-day Polynesians

and Indigenous people from

South America’s Pacifi c coast,

scientists concluded the two

groups came into contact

between A.D. 1150 and 1230.

Where the transoceanic

encounter occurred remains

unknown, but the team

suspects eastern Polynesia.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The successful launch of a Mars orbiter called Hope

marked the fi rst interplanetary mission conducted

by an Arab nation. Carrying instruments to study the

Red Planet’s daily and seasonal weather, the spacecraft

is set to enter Martian orbit in February 2021.

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