April 4, 2025—Today we’re covering native bees, rogue planets, “torpedo bats” and Mexican wolf conservation.
—Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor
TODAY'S NEWS
A Martinapis luteicornis bee found in the desert in Cochise County, Arizona. Amanda Robinson//USGS Bee Lab via Flickr
About 4,000 species of native bees live in the U.S.—and they’re both cooler and ecologically more important than honeybees. | 5 min read
Mathematicians have solved a decades-old puzzle called the Kakeya conjecture, which involves rotating an infinitely narrow needle such that it takes up as little space as possible (check out illustrative gifs near top of story). | 3 min read
An injectable pacemaker, smaller than a grain of rice, runs on light and then dissolves. | 3 min read
How many rogue planets, ejected from their star early in their history and adrift in space, are in the Milky Way? | 5 min read
Losing USAID’s public health programs imperils the world. The U.S. agency’s global health efforts have saved the lives of millions of children. | 12 min listen
Kidneys are the key to Sherpas’ evolutionary edge at high altitudes. These organs help Sherpas adapt to inhaling less oxygen with each breath as the air pressure drops, according to new research covered by freelance journalist Sasha Warren. Acidic and alkaline ions remained balanced in Sherpas’ blood following a nine-day journey to 14,000 feet in Nepal, whereas lowlanders’ blood after the same trek became more alkaline during the ascent. The study participants stayed in low-altitude areas for months prior to the research, so the difference is likely due to permanent differences in the climbers’ kidneys, the researchers conclude.
Why this is important: At high altitudes, lower-pressure air carries fewer oxygen molecules, which can lead to hypoxia, a dangerous lack of oxygen that causes altitude sickness. Hypoxia also occurs during heart failure and other medical events. Breathing faster brings more oxygen to our lungs, but it can lead to other problems. Even small changes in blood acidity can damage proteins and enzymes crucial to cellular function.
What the experts say: A next step is to figure out why Sherpas have such strong kidneys. “We think there are genetic changes that drive differences in kidney function,” says study co-author and physiologist Trevor Day. He hopes to isolate those genes in future work.
WATCH THIS
The critically endangered Mexican wolf was mounting a comeback, thanks to a conservation program that dropped fostered wolf pups into wild dens. But severe funding cuts to the agencies that have been responsible for this work are putting the Mexican wolf—and countless other endangered species—at greater risk. And while the Mexican wolf recovery project may seem like an effort to save one isolated species, the reestablishment of ecosystem architects such as this wolf can have huge long-term effects on the health of our ecosystems. Watch the full video here.
Dark matter is the hidden mass of the universe. But what if it’s more mysterious than we thought? Join theoretical physicist Kathryn Zurek and science journalist Clara Moskowitz to learn about the latest research and compelling findings. This event is for Scientific American subscribers, so sign into your account to sign up. Or subscribe and get access!
Put your scientific knowledge to the test with this week's science quiz. And here is today's Spellements. Send any science words missing from the puzzle to games@sciam.com. This week, Yvonne found stook, which is a group of sheaves of grain standing on-end in a field. Obscure, yes! A great find? Also, yes!
EXPERT PERSPECTIVES
Today’s social media and tech giants are the tobacco companies of our current era, writes David Robert Grimes, author of Good Thinking: Why Flawed Logic Puts Us All at Risk and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World. Facebook, X, Google and others profit by spreading viral misinformation that induces fear, anger, division and disgust. Then corporate leaders deny the resulting social harm, Grimes argues. He calls for regulation to solve the problem. | 5 min read
A marine biologist discovered an octopus with a brood of babies living in the bottom of a bottle on the seafloor off the Florida Keys. | Vox
ProPublica wanted to talk to people working in the federal government. So it bought an LED billboard truck. | NiemanLab
The work of the eclectic American futurist Alvin Toffler has had a strong influence on China’s digital transformation since the 1980s. | The New York Review
I’ve been to two Major League Baseball games this season, including last night when the New York Yankees hit three home runs and eked out a 9-7 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Commentators are pointing to the roll-out of the “torpedo bat,” adopted by a handful of players on the Yankees, Orioles, Cubs, Reds, Twins, Pirates and so on. It's designed to bring more of the bat’s wood closer to the player’s grip. Torpedo bats likely make it easier for pros to make “solid contact, a more direct hit” of the ball, according to an acoustics researcher interviewed by freelance journalist Stephanie Pappas. It’s still unclear whether this contact translates into harder- or weaker-hit balls. I’ll stick with wiffle ball.
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—Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor
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