OKLAHOMA EVOLUTION/CLIMATE NEWS–JULY 2020

1.  Proscience education legislation in other states

2.  Bizarre caecilians may be the only amphibians with venomous bites

3.  Green Power Beats Fossil Fuels for First Time in Europe

4.  How Ultra-Black Fish Disappear in the Deepest Seas

5.  June 2020: third-hottest June on record

6.  An immune system quirk may help anglerfish fuse with mates during sex

7. NABT reaffirms the importance of teaching about climate change

8.  July videos

PROSCIENCE EDUCATION LEGISLATION IN OTHER STATES
California–Assembly Bill 1922 died in committee on June 19, 2020, the last day for Assembly bills to pass in the current legislative session. If enacted, the bill would have amended California’s adopted course of study for science to include “coursework including material on the causes and effects of climate change” from grades 1 to 12. Additionally, at least one of the two courses required for graduation from high school would have had to include such material.  More at NCSE.

BIZARRE CAECILIANS MAY BE THE ONLY AMPHIBIANS WITH VENOMOUS BITES

Caecilians are amphibians like salamanders and frogs, but they’re often mistaken for snakes because of their long, legless bodies. Now, scientists think that the similarities between the two are more than skin deep.
New microscope and chemical analyses suggest that, like snakes, caecilians have glands near their teeth that secrete toxins. The discovery raises the possibility that caecilians may be the first amphibians found capable of delivering a venomous bite.
Pedro Mailho-Fontana, an evolutionary biologist with the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, has been studying caecilians for several years, and in particular, the glands in their skin. He has helped show that the animals have separate glands for secreting mucus on their heads and poison on their tails.  More at Science News and New York Times.  Original paper in iScience.

GREEN POWER BEATS FOSSIL FUELS FOR FIRST TIME IN EUROPE
Renewable power for the first time contributed a bigger share in the European generation mix than fossil fuels as the fallout from the pandemic cut energy demand.
About 40% of the electricity in the first half in the 27 EU countries came from renewable sources, compared with 34% from plants burning fossil fuels, according to environmental group Ember in London. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector fell 23%.  More at Bloomberg and Slashdot.  Original report at Ember.

HOW ULTRA-BLACK FISH DISAPPEAR IN THE DEEPEST SEAS

In the depths of the ocean, it might take more than a little light to illuminate some of the planet’s darkest fish.
Some deep-sea fish have ultrablack skin capable of soaking up almost all light that hits it, making the fish nearly invisible. That camouflage is the result of a layer of densely packed pigment-containing structures just below the skin’s surface, researchers report online July 16 in Current Biology. The skin may hide the fish from predators, or prey, and might inspire new designs for ultrablack materials used in telescopes or fabric.
Although little light reaches the deep sea, bioluminescent organisms can brighten the inky darkness. For creatures trying to swim undetected, living in these depths is “like trying to play hide and seek on a football field,” says Karen Osborn, a marine biologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. “There’s nowhere to hide.”  More at Science News, New York Times, Ars Technica, and Wired.  Original paper at Current Biology.

JUNE 2020:  THIRD HOTTEST JUNE ON RECORD
After five consecutive months to start the year that were either the warmest or second warmest on record, June 2020 finally broke the streak by becoming only the [drumroll] third-warmest June on record. 2020’s heat has been relentless. The blazing first half of 2020 has made it incredibly likely that 2020 will finish the year as one of the five warmest years on record. There’s even around a 35% chance 2020 will dethrone 2016 as the warmest on record.  For more information on global temperatures and precipitation in June 2020, check out the June 2020 global climate summary by the National Centers for Environmental Information.  More at NOAA.
AN IMMUNE SYSTEM QUIRK MAY HELP ANGLERFISH FUSE WITH MATES DURING SEX
For deep-sea anglerfishes, sex resembles an organ transplant. It’s hard to find a partner in the dark depths, so a tiny male anglerfish fuses its tissues to a more massive female during mating, allowing the two to share not only sperm but even blood and skin. The creatures are the only animals known to mate in this parasitic way. 
How males and females fuse and avoid being rejected by each other’s immune systems — like a mismatched organ transplant — has been a mystery. Now, a study finds that anglerfish might not have to evade the immune system in the first place. Some species lack key genes involved in the body’s immune response, which may make fusion without deadly consequences possible, researchers report online July 30 in Science.  More at Science News, Slashdot, Smithsonian, and Wired.  Original paper at Science.

NABT REAFFIRMS THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
The National Association of Biology Teachers recently released a revised version of its position statement on teaching about climate change.
Describing the teaching of global climate change as “necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the natural world,” the statement emphasizes that the “facts and implications of climate change as presented in science classes are not scientifically controversial,” but are supported by “[t]he overwhelming preponderance of peer-reviewed studies and the vast majority of climate scientists.”
The statement recommends that educators “teach global climate change in an effective, detailed, and scientifically- and pedagogically-honest manner and work to encourage the development of and support for standards, curricula, textbooks, and other instructional frameworks that prominently include global climate change and reflect current consensus understanding of its mechanisms.”  More at NCSE.  Position paper at NABT (pdf).

JULY VIDEOS
Bill Nye the Science Guy returns for ‘wear a mask!’ PSA on coronavirus
Darwin and Demon VirusesWhats up with humans The cemetery