Scientific collectors plundered the developing world

+ How prenatal vitamins fall short US Edition - Today's top story: Returning a 170-year-old preserved lizard to Jamaica is a step toward redressing colonial harms [View in browser]( US Edition | 5 June 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( The world’s great natural history museums hold specimens of plants and animals from all over the globe. Many were collected by Western scientists and hobbyists who roamed through the colonized world, bringing back whatever intrigued them. Today, some museums are rethinking this practice and returning important objects to their places of origin. In April 2024, the University of Glasgow repatriated what may be the only existing specimen of a Jamaican giant galliwasp – a 16-inch lizard, collected sometime in the mid-19th century and preserved in a jar – to Jamaica. Geographers Alex Moulton and Thera Edwards explain what this animal’s sojourn in Scotland says about “[uncomfortable connections between colonialism and natural history](” and why Jamaican scientists were thrilled over its return. Also in this week’s science news: - [How to understand the heat index]( - [Pregnancy as an engineering challenge]( - [Looking for extraterrestrial life when you don’t know what it looks like]( If there’s a subject you’d like our team of editors to investigate, please reply to this email. Jennifer Weeks Senior Environment + Cities Editor Zoologist Elizabeth Morrison receives the Jamaican giant galliwasp from Mike Rutherford, a curator at the University of Glasgow, on April 22, 2024. Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images [Returning a 170-year-old preserved lizard to Jamaica is a step toward redressing colonial harms]( Alex A. Moulton, Hunter College; Thera Edwards, The University of the West Indies Not all reparations involve money. Returning unique scientific resources is also a way of showing respect and righting past harms. Is your social media group a budding democracy or someone’s fiefdom? John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, plus emoticons [Why the future of democracy could depend on your group chats]( Nathan Schneider, University of Colorado Boulder Americans associate with each other more online than off these days. How people interact in digital communities could have a big impact on democracy. Icebergs that break off from Greenland’s glaciers carry enormous amounts of fresh water that can affect Atlantic currents. Hubert Neufeld via Unsplash [Is collapse of the Atlantic Ocean circulation really imminent? Icebergs’ history reveals some clues]( Yuxin Zhou, University of California, Santa Barbara; Jerry McManus, Columbia University If the ocean circulation, known as AMOC, shuts down, it would be a climate disaster, particularly for Europe and North America. New research shows why that might not happen as soon as some fear. [Why do astronomers look for signs of life on other planets based on what life is like on Earth?]( Cole Mathis, Arizona State University It’s hard to look for something you’ve never seen before – and that might not even exist. But you have to start somewhere. [Sargassum is choking the Caribbean’s white sand beaches, fueling an economic and public health crisis]( Farah Nibbs, University of Maryland, Baltimore County A leading driver of this seaweed invasion is pollution, carried down rivers and into the Atlantic Ocean from the continents. [Female giraffes drove the evolution of long giraffe necks in order to feed on the most nutritious leaves, new research suggests]( Douglas R. Cavener, Penn State Giraffe necks are a hot topic among biologists. A new study contradicts an older theory that says male giraffes need long necks to fight over mates. [Engineering cells to broadcast their behavior can help scientists study their inner workings]( Scott Coyle, University of Wisconsin-Madison Researchers can create ‘single-cell radios’ using bacterial proteins to transmit the invisible activities within cells. - [Eye exercises to improve sight – is there any science behind them? An ophthalmologist explains why you shouldn’t buy the hype]( Benjamin Botsford, UMass Chan Medical School Some of the ads promise that you can throw away your glasses. But what does the evidence say? - [Pregnancy is an engineering challenge − diagnosing and treating preterm birth requires understanding its mechanics]( Melissa Skala, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kristin Myers, Columbia University; Michelle L. Oyen, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis How and why preterm birth happens is still unclear, in part because research on pregnancy tends to focus on developmental biology. - [Heat index warnings can save lives on dangerously hot days − if people understand what they mean]( Micki Olson, University at Albany, State University of New York A risk expert explains how to read the heat index and interpret extreme heat warnings, and how to stay safe. - [Prenatal supplements fall woefully short in providing crucial nutrition during pregnancy – and most women don’t even know it]( - [Your favorite drink can cause breast cancer – but most women in the US aren’t aware of alcohol’s health risks]( - [AI is cracking a hard problem – giving computers a sense of smell]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? 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