Ancient DNA Yields New Clues to Dead Sea Scrolls

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June 02, 2020

Dear Reader, Following the police killing of George Floyd, protests against police brutality toward Black people have been taking place in cities around the world. Police violence is one of many racial injustice issues that black communities have to contend with in America. The enormous health inequities that affect nonwhite individuals in the U.S. are no secret. Right now, African Americans are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. Also, an analysis of federal flood insurance payments shows that flooding in the U.S. disproportionately harms black neighborhoods. One of our stories featured below explains how the impacts of floods can exacerbate existing racial and social inequality. Also included in today's news roundup, a look into the way music synchronizes the brains of performers and their audience. And our top story today: a molecular biologist and a Bible scholar have developed a new technique using DNA sequencing to discover secrets about the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Evolution Ancient DNA Yields New Clues to Dead Sea Scrolls A sensitive genetic fingerprinting technique could help scholars learn more from thousands of fragile parchment fragments By Josie Glausiusz

Environment Flooding Disproportionately Harms Black Neighborhoods The impacts of floods can exacerbate existing racial and social inequality By Thomas Frank,E&E News

Biology Should Ecologists Treat Male and Female Animals like 'Different Species'? Creatures from albatross to loggerhead turtles will use different habitats, depending on their sex—a factor that is often not accounted for in conservation plans By Tara Santora

Neuroscience Music Synchronizes the Brains of Performers and Their Audience The more people enjoy music, the more similar their brain activity is to that of the musician By Robert Martone

Public Health How to Use Masks during the Coronavirus Pandemic What kinds of face coverings work for protection against COVID-19? How do you use them safely? A series of simple steps outlines the answers By Katie Peek

Policy & Ethics The Inflated Promise of Genomic Medicine COVID-19 has laid bare the need to reconsider the hope and money we invest in genetics research.

Space Decoding the Universe An insider's look at the history and sociology of modern cosmology By P. J. E. Peebles

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Space & Physics For $19.99 per year, your subscription includes six bi-monthly digital issues and every digital Space & Physics issue ever published!

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FROM THE ARCHIVE How the Trust Trap Perpetuates Inequality Corruption, distrust and inequality reinforce one another in a destructive loop By Bo Rothstein | November 2018

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The problem is that once trust is lost, it is very difficult to get it back. Societies can thus get trapped in a feedback loop of corruption, distrust and inequality. Corruption drives inequality and distrust, whereas distrust drives even deeper inequality. Voters may realize they would benefit from policies that reduce inequality, but their distrust of one another and of their institutions prevents the political system from acting in the way they would prefer." Bo Rothstein, August Röhss Chair in Political Science at the University of Gothenburg

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