Should We Change COVID Vaccine Doses to Reach More People? What the Data Say

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January 14, 2021

Dear Reader, The results are in: 2020 was one of the hottest years in recorded history. According to NASA, it tied with 2016, while NOAA placed it in the number-two spot. Also in climate news, scientists worry that, as temperatures rise, ecosystems may begin to release more carbon than they take in. Next up, a painting of pigs discovered in a cave in Indonesia sets a new record for the earliest figurative art—at least 45,500 years old. And lastly, vaccination rates have fallen short of what is needed to turn the tide of the pandemic. Today's lead story explains what the data suggest about tweaking vaccine doses.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Medicine Should We Change COVID Vaccine Doses to Reach More People? What the Data Say Scientists are debating whether to delay, skip or halve doses. But untested tweaks could shake public confidence By Tanya Lewis

Climate NASA Says 2020 Tied for Hottest Year on Record Meanwhile NOAA put the year just behind 2016 in the charts, but it was remarkably hot by either agency's measure By Andrea Thompson

Behavior & Society How Science Explains Trump's Grip on White Males Research on risk perception can help us understand the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol By Catherine Buni,Soraya Chemaly,Undark

Arts & Culture The World's Oldest Animal Paintings Are on This Cave Wall Depictions of pigs found in Indonesia date back at least 45,500 years By Rachel Nuwer

EARTH Warming May Push Ecosystems to Release Carbon, Instead of Absorbing It Nearly half of terrestrial ecosystems could reach this tipping point in just a few decades By Chelsea Harvey,E&E News

EARTH Earth's Biodiversity Bursts Do Not Follow Expected Pattern Life's great radiations do not always line up with mass extinctions, a new study shows By Riley Black

Conservation Scientific Collaboration in a Divided World An initiative in Arctic bird conservation shows the value of cooperation across geographical and political boundaries By Rebecca McGuire

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