December 1, 2023: Long COVID is on the decline, the greatest natural history hoaxes of all time and how to live your best life according to science. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Studies suggest the rates of long COVID may be dropping. One team recently reported that people infected during the pandemic's Omicron wave were 88 percent less likely to develop long COVID, compared with those infected with the original strain. And this summer, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that the proportion of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 who went on to develop long COVID dropped from 18.9 percent in June 2022 to 11 percent in January 2023.
Why this is happening: Scientists suspect the downturn is a result of vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID), milder variants of that pathogen and improved treatments. A study published just last week found that three or more doses of a COVID vaccine reduced the risk of long COVID by 73 percent, compared with 21 percent after just one dose.
What the experts say: SARS-CoV-2 will continue to mutate. Even if future variants are more virulent, if you are vaccinated, says Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at the Yale School of Medicine, you might be able to withstand a more dangerous variant. "That is my hope," she says. "Currently there is nothing to go against that hope. But we can't be too comfortable. We can't assume that the future variants will be very mild." | | | Natural history is replete with hoaxes. Forged fossils, planted remains of a supposed "giant," phony footprints of Big Foot. Such "discoveries" fooled scientists and the public, each scam achieving a varying degree of success. An exhibit on view through February 11, 2024, at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Conn., catalogs many of these epic science pranks dating back to one of the earliest on record: In 1725 a geologist and librarian at the University of Würzburg in Germany commissioned carved fossils and had them planted to be discovered by another professor's research students.
How they happened: Historical hoaxes were carried out before the modern technologies of carbon dating and DNA testing, so scientific verification was impossible for most claims. Some hoaxers sought fame or academic recognition, others sought profit or revenge, and a few sought only amusement.
What the experts say: "Untangling the motivations of the hoaxers is fascinating," writes Daniel Ksepka, curator of the Bruce who assembled the exhibit. "But the other side of the equation is equally compelling: the willingness of the audience to believe." A hoax fails if it is punctured by skepticism, he says. The most successful hoaxers give their targets exactly what these individuals most desire, which is often proof that one's beliefs are correct. | | | Widely known as "America's greatest hoax," this 10-foot-tall gypsum stone sculpture commissioned by George Hull was said to be an actual giant petrified in the biblical flood. Credit: Cardiff Giant, circa 1868, Henry Salle & Fred Mohrmann, Farmers' Museum; Daniel T. Ksepka (photograph) | | | • The COP28 climate summit in Dubai has begun. Here's your guide for what to watch for. | 11 min read | | | • Stuffy noses are the hallmark of cold and flu season (yay), but some medications and at-home remedies actually work. | 5 min read | | | • Amid restrictions on optical satellite images, researchers have developed a radar technique to gauge building damage in Gaza. | 10 min read | | | • Settling a human colony on Mars is one of humanity's favorite daydreams. But the reality will be harsher than we imagine, costly and in some ways unethical, write Kirsi Lehto, Oskari Sivula and Mikko M. Puumala, researchers at the University of Turku, Finland. "One can of course tell fanciful stories about how settling Mars helps us avoid societal stagnation and provide new spiritual insights and fruitful political and philosophical ideas, but it sounds a lot like wishful thinking or an act of faith," they say. | 5 min read | | | ICYMI (Our most-read stories of the week) | | | • Climate Adaptation Can Backfire If We Aren't Careful | 11 min listen | | | • COP 28 Is a Crunch Point for Countries on the Front Lines of Climate Change| 4 min read | | | • Commercial Airliner Is First to Cross Atlantic with Biofuel Power | 3 min read | | | A tiresome time of year is about to begin. Everywhere you look, diet commercials on TV and friends sharing their strict resolutions and self-improvement goals and self-care routines all combine to ring in the New Year like a blow to the head. Considering that most resolutions are abandoned by the end of January, either this tradition is all for show, or something's not working. Luckily, I have just the antidote. Science! Decades of research and evidence inform us how to feel happy, healthy and authentic. Skip the hype, and check out this special collector's edition (edited by yours truly) on the science of living your best life. I can't wait to hear what you think of it. Find it on newsstands (unlimited subscribers can download it at the link). | Send me your refreshing New Year's traditions and any other feedback to: newsletters@sciam.com. See you on Monday! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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