CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--Our reporters are here this week, blogging from the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which publishes Science. You can follow all of the action on our blog, Findings. Here are some of the highlights so far:
There's good news and bad news for the world's fish. Yesterday, researchers reported that many commercial fish stocks will likely shift their distributions dramatically as species respond to changes in ocean climate over the next 4 decades. Dozens of species that are unable to adapt will likely go extinct. But there is good news, and marine ecologists say it's important to share it. Today, researchers pointed to some success stories with haddock and coral reefs. If people understand that there is hope, the scientists said, they may be more motivated to help.
Speaking of hope, outgoing AAAS president James McCarthy says he is optimistic about the future. An expert on climate change, McCarthy noted during his presidential address that the world is in bad shape and that things are going to get much worse. But with a science-friendly president in the White House and a spate of new ideas to combat climate change, he says things could turn out better than some have feared.
And if you want your children to turn out better, you might consider gesturing to them. A study presented here yesterday suggests that parents of relatively high socioeconomic status tend to point and wave around their children more than do parents of lower socioeconomic status. And that translates into children with better vocabularies.
Science reporters will be blogging from the AAAS meeting through Monday. For news, interviews, and fun facts from the meeting, check out Findings. It's almost as good as being here.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
