2 SCIENCE NEWS | February 27, 2021What do naked mole-rats and ancient sea worms have in
common? Quite a bit, which is why they’re sharing real
estate on Page 8 of this issue.
One of my favorite parts of editing Science News is read-
ing page proofs, one of the last steps in the long magazine
production process. Even though I know what’s going into the magazine and
have read the articles before, it’s still like opening up a surprise gift to see the
pages come together. It’s the work of dozens of people, a process that starts
when writers pitch ideas for news and feature articles. News stories get pub-
lished first on the Science News website, and there are many more than we can
fit in a magazine. So it’s up to managing editor Erin Wayman to choose the ones
that will go into print. She looks for the most important or intriguing science
of the previous two weeks, and aims for reporting across the fields of science,
from artificial intelligence to zoology.
Articles that make the cut often either help answer a question that scientists
have worked to solve for a long time, or alert us to something that’s surprising
and counterintuitive.
For Page 8, Wayman picked a report on how naked mole-rats use distinctive
dialects to communicate with mole-rats within their social group. “It may seem
surprising, but they’re highly social animals, so they would need a way to com-
municate,” she says. I was surprised and charmed by the notion of these mostly
blind critters chirping away in their burrows.
Wayman then paired the chatty naked mole-rats with a story of fossils that
suggest giant worms may have dug tunnels in the seafloor millions of years ago,
springing forth from them to nab unsuspecting prey. While present-day
hairless rodents and ancient predatory worms may not seem to have much in
common, Wayman says she sees a pattern. “You’re looking at behavior today
and in the past, which gives insights into animal behavior.”
And for more connections between present and past, Page 9 features a story
suggesting that hominids may have developed a specialized thumb muscle
quite early on, one that helps give humans today our firm grip and uniquely
adaptable hands. “It’s amazing that the manual dexterity that we rely on has
been around for almost 2 million years, even before we were human,” Wayman
says. Perhaps we have that muscle to blame for humankind’s newly acquired
talent for texting.
Whether it’s clueing our readers into gossipy naked mammals or ancient
thumb muscles, we put a great deal of care into choosing articles that not only
tell you something interesting or fun about the world, but also something
that’s relevant to life today. That includes our continuing in-depth coverage
of the coronavirus pandemic: Page 7 has a fascinating article explaining how a
common antidepressant may help fend off serious illness from COVID -19.
I hope you enjoy reading the magazine as much as we love creating it for
you. And if you need more great science journalism while awaiting the next
issue, we’ve got plenty more for you at w w w.sciencenews.org.
— Nancy Shute, Editor in ChiefEDITOR’S NOTEWhen a naked mole-rat
meets a sneaky sea worm
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCESociety for Science & the Public is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization founded in 1921. The Society seeks to
promote the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement: to inform, edu-
cate, inspire. Learn more at societyforscience.org. Copyright © 2021 by Society for Science & the Public. Title registered
as trademark U.S. and Canadian Patent Offices. Republication of any portion of Science News without written permission of
the publisher is prohibited. For permission to photocopy articles, contact [email protected]. Sponsor content
and advertising appearing in this publication do not constitute endorsement of its content by Science News or the Society.PUBLISHER Maya Ajmera
EDITOR IN CHIEF Nancy Shute
EDITORIAL
EDITOR, SPECIAL PROJECTS Elizabeth Quill
NEWS DIRECTOR Macon Morehouse
DIGITAL DIRECTOR Kate Travis
FEATURES EDITOR Cori Vanchieri
MANAGING EDITOR, MAGAZINE Erin Wayman
DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR Emily DeMarco
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Ashley Yeager
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Cassie Martin
ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR Helen Thompson
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Mike Denison
ASTRONOMY Lisa Grossman
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Bruce Bower
BIOMEDICAL Aimee Cunningham
EARTH AND CLIMATE Carolyn Gramling
LIFE SCIENCES Susan Milius
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, SENIOR WRITER Tina Hesman Saey
NEUROSCIENCE Laura Sanders
PHYSICS Emily Conover
SOCIAL SCIENCES Sujata Gupta
STAFF WRITERS Erin Garcia de Jesus, Jonathan Lambert,
Maria Temming
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Aina Abell
CONTRIBUTING CORRESPONDENTS
Laura Beil, Tom Siegfried, Alexandra Witze
DESIGN
CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER Stephen Egts
DESIGN DIRECTOR Erin Otwell
ART DIRECTOR Tracee Tibbitts
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Chang Won Chang
SCIENCE NEWS FOR STUDENTS
EDITOR Janet Raloff
MANAGING EDITOR Sarah Zielinski
STAFF WRITER Bethany Brookshire
WEB PRODUCER Lillian Steenblik Hwang
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE
PRESIDENT AND CEO Maya Ajmera
CHIEF OF STAFF Rachel Goldman Alper
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Kathlene Collins
CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER Michele Glidden
CHIEF, EVENTS AND OPERATIONS Cait Goldberg
CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Gayle Kansagor
CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Bruce B. Makous
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER James C. Moore
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Dan Reznikov
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIR Mary Sue Coleman
VICE CHAIR Martin Chalfie TREASURER Hayley Bay Barna
SECRETARY Paul J. Maddon AT LARGE Christine Burton
MEMBERS Craig R. Barrett, Adam Bly, Tessa M. Hill,
Tom Leighton, Alan Leshner, W.E. Moerner, Dianne K. Newman,
Thomas F. Rosenbaum, Gideon Yu, Feng Zhang,
Maya Ajmera, ex officio
ADVERTISING AND SUBSCRIBER SERVICES
ADVERTISING Daryl Anderson
SCIENCE NEWS IN HIGH SCHOOLS Anna Rhymes
PERMISSIONS Maxine Baydush
Science News
1719 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 785-
Subscriber services:
E-mail [email protected]
Phone (800) 552-4412 in the U.S. or
(937) 610-0240 outside of the U.S.
Web http://www.sciencenews.org/join
For renewals, http://www.sciencenews.org/renew
MailScience News, PO Box 292255, Kettering, OH
45429-
Editorial/Letters: [email protected]
Science News in High Schools: [email protected]
Advertising/Sponsor content: [email protected]
Science News (ISSN 0036-8423) is published 22 times per
year, bi-weekly except the first week only in May and October
and the first and last weeks only in July by the Society for
Science & the Public, 1719 N Street, NW, Washington, DC
20036.
Subscribe to Science News: Subscriptions include 22 issues
of Science News and full access to http://www.sciencenews.org and
cost $50 for one year (international rate of $68 includes
extra shipping charge).
Subscribe http://www.sciencenews.org/subscription
Single copies are $3.99 (plus $1.01 shipping and handling).
Preferred periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and
an additional mailing office.
Postmaster: Send address changes to Science News,
PO Box 292255, Kettering, OH 45429-0255. Two to six
weeks’ notice is required. Old and new addresses, including
zip codes, must be provided.ednote.indd 2ednote.indd 2 2/10/21 10:50 AM2/10/21 10:50 AM