Chinyere Opia 0:00Welcome to Nature Africa Highlights.
Chinyere Opia 0:08In this episode of our podcast, we'll review stories on our website and Did You Know. I am Chinyere Opia.
Friendships play a critical role at every stage of life. Several studies have shown that having strong social connections can lead to a longer and healthier life in humans. Even among animals, researchers have observed that strong social bonds in adult baboons can help mitigate early life adversities.
According to an article by Gilbert Nakweya, a new analysis of 35 years observations in Kenya has shown that early-life adversity and adult social relationships have independent effects on the survival outcomes of wild female baboons.
The team analysed data about early life circumstances, social bonding, and mortality among 199 wild adult female baboons and observed that animals who have a poor early life are not doomed to short lives, but may require intervention to promote social relationships, especially if they are orphaned.
The article gives more insight on this study.
Chinyere Opia 1:22In an article by Di Caelers, parents, coaches and medical professionals are being advised to stop ‘cocooning’ athletes who suffer mild concussions. Researchers are suggesting easy walking in the first 48 hours, followed by approved aerobic activity between days two to 10, can reduce recovery time by as much as five days.
Jon Patricios, from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa who co-authored these new recommendations in the International Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport 2023, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, highlighted the positive impact of exercise on the recovery process for athletes, especially those who play high-impact sports such as rugby, American football, soccer and ice hockey.
This new advice directly contradicts prevailing guidance that patients should rest completely for one to two days.
But some researchers like Chris Nowinski, a neuroscientist and chief executive of the Concussion Legacy Foundation in Middletown, Delaware have criticized the authors’ work. The foundation which supports athletes and veterans affected by concussion and CTE argue that the author’s refusal to acknowledge a causal relationship between contact-sports participation and CTE is a danger to the public.” CTE is the acronym for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
The article has more on this new advice.
Chinyere Opia 2:53
A paper in Scientific Reports has shown that southern right whales weigh 23% less than three decades ago.
Engela Duvenage who wrote about this study for Nature Africa links this to a drop in the availability of their main source of food, Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean. According to the researchers, this is the first study to confirm that climate-related changes in the Southern Ocean are having a noticeable physical impact on the condition of capital feeders. Capital feeders are animals that only feed during specific periods in their life cycle around Antarctica.
The article has more on this study.
Chinyere Opia 3:32In an article by Morgan Morris, telescope data has revealed rare sighting of giant radio wave rings.
A team of South African, US and Australian scientists, with the help of machine learning discovered an unexplained astronomical object. A team of researchers led by Michelle Lochner, who holds a joint position at the University of the Western Cape and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, combed through data generated in the MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey, a programme of observations of 115 galaxy clusters, run on South Africa’s MeerKAT Radio Telescope between June 2018 and June 2019. The team was excited to discover the ‘seventh sighting’ of a newly discovered class of radio sources known as odd radio circles. They named their finding SAURON which is short for a Steep And Uneven Ring Of Nonthermal radiation.
The article has more insights on this story.https://www.nature.com/articles/d44148-023-00159-3
Chinyere Opia 4:31If you're interested in these stories and other science-based articles, check out our Nature Africa website at nature.com/natafrica. Next on the show is Did You Know.
Chinyere Opia 4:49Did you know that ants can lift objects 50 times their own body weight? Now, let’s put that in perspective. That's like you lifting a car over your head! Talk about tiny superheroes!
Did you know there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches of planet Earth combined? And yes, this is one of those astronomy clichés that never goes away, and you can see why when you learn about how numerous stars are. It is estimated that our universe contains at least 70 septillion stars, that is 7 followed by 23 zeros. Astronomers estimate there are roughly 10,000 stars for each grain of sand on Earth. That’s a lot of stars, isn't it?
Did you know that honey never spoils? Modern archeologists, excavating ancient Egyptian tombs, have often found pots of honey, thousands of years old, and yet still preserved and perfectly edible. Through thousands of years, Archaeologists discovered the food remains unspoiled. This is a testament to the eternal shelf-life of honey. It turns out, honey's low water content and high acidity create an inhospitable environment for bacteria and other microorganisms. So, next time you enjoy some honey, remember, it can last forever!
Did you know that trees communicate with each other? Scientists have discovered that trees release chemical signals through their roots to warn nearby trees about potential dangers, such as insect attacks. They even share nutrients with younger or weaker trees to help them survive. Trees are linked to neighboring trees by an underground network of fungi that resembles the neural networks in the brain.This action is like a forest-wide support system which is important to the health of the whole forest.
Now you know!
Chinyere Opia 6:43And that’s our show for today. To learn more about the work of many African researchers, visit our website at nature.com/natafrica.I am Chinyere Opia. Thank you for listening.