OKLAHOMA EVOLUTION/CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS–APRIL 2023

1.  Pro-/anti- science education legislation in other states

2.  Pro-/anti- science education legislation at the national level

3.  Invasive yellow crazy ants create male ‘chimeras’ to reproduce

4.  Scientists advocate for integration of biogeography and behavioral ecology to rapidly respond to biodiversity loss

5.  ‘Flash droughts’ are growing increasingly common

6.  Why It’s Time for a Worldwide Lights-Out Program

7.  Genomes from 240 mammalian species reveal what makes the human genome unique

8.  April book reviews and videos

PRO-/ANTI-SCIENCE EDUCATION LEGISLATION IN OTHER STATES

New York City–“PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done”, a long-term strategic climate plan for New York City released on April 20, 2023, includes a recognition of the importance of climate education and a commitment to improving climate change education in the city’s public schools.
“Education plays a key role in building climate literacy and encouraging sustainable behaviors,” the plan observes, adding, “We will create new opportunities where climate education is part of the solution in helping the City meet our decarbonization, resilience, and just transition goals.”  More at NCSE.

Maine–A bill in the Maine legislature would ban public school teachers from practicing “indoctrination” — and contains a provision that could adversely affect science education. House Paper 1034, introduced in the Maine House of Representatives on April 11, 2023, by Katrina Smith (R-District 62) and seven of her colleagues, would, if enacted, require the state board of education to adopt rules to prevent public school teachers in the state from engaging in what it describes as “political, ideological[,] or religious advocacy.”
The rules would in particular require teachers to “provide students with materials supporting both sides of a controversial issue being addressed and to present both sides in a fair-minded, nonpartisan manner,” where a “controversial issue” is defined as “a point made in the most recent electoral party platform of any party that is qualified for the ballot at the state or federal level.” As Ars Technica (January 29, 2019) observed in discussing a spate of similar measures, “a large number of state party platforms specifically mention evolution and climate change.”  More at NCSE.

Kentucky–Kentucky’s Senate Bill 102 (PDF), which might, if enacted, have engendered adverse consequences for science education in the Bluegrass State, died in committee when the legislature adjourned sine die on March 30, 2023.
Section 5 of the bill defined “controversial subject matter” as “an issue that is a point made in the electoral platform of a political party as defined in and is contested by the electoral platform of another political party at the local, state, or federal level.” As Ars Technica (January 29, 2019) observed with regard to similar definitions offered in similar legislation, “a large number of state party platforms specifically mention evolution and climate change” — often disagreeing on the status of these scientific principles.  More at NCSE.

Connecticut–Three proposed bills on climate change education — one opposing it; two supporting it — died in the Connecticut legislature when a deadline for bills to be reported out of committee passed.
Proposed House Bill 5063, if enacted, would have revised “the climate change curriculum [sic: presumably “standards”] to add a requirement that students are exposed to the debate and research concerning the amount and effects of anthropomorphic [sic: presumably “anthropogenic”] carbon dioxide levels.” The bill was proposed by John E. Piscopo (R-District 76), a previous sponsor of similar legislation, as NCSE previously reported.
Proposed House Bill 5271, if enacted, would have required that “the climate change curriculum in the Next Generation Science Standards be taught as part of the state-wide science curriculum for public schools and that such teaching begin in elementary school.” Connecticut adopted the NGSS in 2013 and subsequently enacted a bill including the same requirement as House Bill 5271, as NCSE previously reported.
Proposed House Bill 6396, if enacted, would have prohibited local and regional boards of education from punishing or restricting educators with regard to “teaching about subjects in which ideological differences of opinion exist.” Climate change is cited as such a subject, and the sponsor, Christine Palm (D-District 36), previously sponsored a string of bills aimed at supporting climate change education in Connecticut.  More at NCSE.

PRO-/ANTI-SCIENCE EDUCATION LEGISLATION AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

U.S. Congress-“Two-hundred student activists from across a dozen states have collaborated to write a pair of House resolutions calling on U.S. lawmakers to take action on climate change — specifically, how it affects the nation’s youth and schooling,” Education Week (March 29, 2023) reported.
House Resolution 259, sponsored by Mike Thompson (D-California) and Kathy Castor (D-Florida), focuses on climate change’s impacts on the physical and mental health of youth. If adopted, the resolution would express the House’s support for “the expansion of funding for climate education, resilience, and adaptation projects that benefit the mental health and well-being of youth.”
House Resolution 262, sponsored by Barbara Lee (D-California) and fourteen of her colleagues, focuses on climate change education, observing, “youth must be educated about the causes, ongoing effects, and current and potential solutions for the changing climate.” If adopted, the resolution would express the House’s support for “the integration, funding, and implementation of interdisciplinary, solution-based climate education curriculum into K–12 schools.”  More at NCSE.

India–Material on evolution was removed from grade 9 and 10 textbooks by India’s National Council of Education Research and Training, as the government “pursues a Hindu supremacist agenda,” according to a report from Al Jazeera (April 13, 2023).
Chapters on evolution were previously included in these textbooks. “Now, millions of school students will not know who Darwin was or what his theory says — unless they opt for biology in Class 11 and Class 12.”
Krishna Kumar, who previously headed NCERT, told Al Jazeera, “No one knows the full extent of deletions from the textbooks. Can you imagine a student passing 10th standard without knowing who Darwin was?”  More at NCSE.

INVASIVE YELLOW CRAZY ANTS CREATE MALE ‘CHIMERAS’ TO REPRODUCE

Yellow crazy ants break the rules of reproduction.
Every male ant contains separate populations of cells from two distinct genetic lineages, making them “chimeras,” researchers report in the April 7 Science. Yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes) are the first known species that requires chimerism to create fertile males.
It’s “an elegant response to the kinds of unusual mating systems we’ve observed in other ants,” says evolutionary geneticist Waring “Buck” Trible of Harvard University, who was not involved in the study. “We might consider this as the next evolutionary step” in ants.  More at Science News, phys.org, and Nature.  Original paper in Science.

SCIENTISTS ADVOCATE FOR INTEGRATION OF BIOGEOGRAPHY AND BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY TO RAPIDLY RESPOND TO BIODIVERSITY LOSS

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Oklahoma has published a perspective article in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences advocating for convergent research that integrates the fields of biogeography and behavioral ecology to more rapidly respond to challenges associated with climate change and biodiversity loss.
While news about climate change fills headlines, the crisis of biodiversity loss has gotten less attention. In their article, the authors contend that “identifying solutions that prevent large-scale extinction requires addressing critical questions about biodiversity dynamics that – despite widespread interest – have been challenging to answer thus far.”  More at EurekaAlert!, Science Daily, AZOCleanTech, and The Week.  Original paper in PNAS.

‘FLASH DROUGHTS’ ARE GROWING INCREASINGLY COMMON

Fast-forming droughts are occurring more often and with greater speed in many parts of the world due to climate change, a new study finds. These “flash droughts” are replacing more typical, slower ones and are harder to predict and prepare for, which could make their management more difficult.
Most major droughts have tended to occur over seasonal or yearly time scales, resulting from variability in large-scale climate patterns such as El Niñ . But in roughly the last six decades, there has been a transition toward more droughts that form over just a few weeks with little warning in most of the world, researchers report in the April 14 Science.  More at Science News, Nature World News, Journal Record, and phys.org.  Original paper at Science.

WHY IT’S TIME FOR A WORLDWIDE LIGHTS-OUT PROGRAM

A new Smithsonian exhibition delves into the issue of light pollution, with easy solutions offering an immediate change.

Gazing upward into the night sky, the Greeks recognized a human figure in the stars. They dubbed him Orion, and the hunter’s story has persisted for thousands of years. The Egyptians regarded the same group of stars as the place where the soul of a god—Osiris—found eternal rest. The Arabs interpreted the starry figure as a giant. In India, the constellation was seen as a king who’d been shot by an arrow. To America’s Ojibwe people, the celestial figure is Biboonkeonini the Wintermaker, who, they know by tracking movements of the stars, becomes most prominent during the coldest season of the year.
“The night sky belongs to everybody—this is humanity’s common heritage,” says Stephen Loring, an archaeologist with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. “Everybody all around the world has some kind of story about the night sky.”  Article at Smithsonian.

GENOMES FROM 240 MAMMALIAN SPECIES REVEAL WHAT MAKES THE HUMAN GENOME UNIQUE

Over the past 100 million years, mammals have adapted to nearly every environment on Earth. Scientists with the Zoonomia Project have been cataloging the diversity in mammalian genomes by comparing DNA sequences from 240 species that exist today, from the aardvark and the African savanna elephant to the yellow-spotted rock hyrax and the zebu.

This week, in several papers in a special issue of Science, the Zoonomia team has demonstrated how comparative genomics can not only shed light on how certain species achieve extraordinary feats, but also help scientists better understand the parts of our genome that are functional and how they might influence health and disease.  More at phy.org here and here, Nature, Science News, and New York Times.  Start with the introduction to the special issue at Science.

APRIL BOOK REVIEWS AND VIDEOS

[Review] Explorers of Deep Time: Paleontologists and the History of Life

[Review] How to Confront Climate Denial: Literacy, Social Studies, and Climate Change

Inside our Fossil Collection – Tenontosaurus

Charles Darwin Gilbert White and Science