Correspondence
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Correspondence Don’t single out Forests are currently the ignored are now uncovered sailed west anyway and found Chinese names safest, most cost-effective way systematically. “hitherto unknown” lands that to avoid dangerous increases Science could be the same. have dominated the planet for the I agree with Cristina Muñoz- in global warming, through Today, we study in minute detail past century. Pinedo that researchers and their retention, management the dynamics of discovery, John Ellis King’s College London, scholars should have unique and restoration (B. W. Griscom careers, teams and institutions, UK. identifiers such as those provided et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA sometimes exposing issues that [email protected] by ORCID, but I object to the 114, 11645–11650; 2017). The we didn’t know existed (see singling out of Chinese scientists land sink for carbon (which S. Fortunato et al. Science 359, for not complying with the is made up mainly of intact eaao0185; 2018). That, to me, Three women with system (Nature 565, 161; 2019). forests) captures at least 30% of is grounds for optimism: such a claim to astatine When different cultures seek to global emissions generated by intense scrutiny should markedly do business, all parties need to human activity (C. Le Quéré improve the quality of science. In this International Year of make compromises. et al. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 10, Dashun Wang Northwestern the Periodic Table, we suggest Although “millions of Chinese 405–448; 2018). And there is University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. that three unsung women — people share the same 100 last almost universal agreement [email protected] Yvette Cauchois, Berta Karlik names”, millions do not — there that increased carbon dioxide and Traude Bernert — should are more than 5,000 surnames in in the atmosphere will boost the also be celebrated (see B. Van China. The 100 most common rates of carbon uptake on land Supercollider critics: Tiggelen and A. Lykknes Nature Chinese surnames are used by (G. Schurgers et al. Geophys. Res. learn from history 565, 559–561; 2019). They all roughly 80% of the country’s Lett. 45, 4329–4336; 2018). contributed to the discovery of population (see go.nature. Simple tree-planting Hugely expensive new the halogen astatine (At), one com/2sjqufi; in Chinese), a programmes might not accelerators are being proposed of the rarest elements in Earth’s situation that would hold for simulate the climate-mitigation to look for unknown entities such crust. any country with a large enough capabilities attributed to as particles of dark matter and Astatine (atomic number 85) population. There are probably established forests. Until the companions of the Higgs boson is radioactive. Cauchois and many scholars with the last warming effects of some trees (see Nature 565, 398; 2019). Horia Hulubei first detected the names García or Hernández, say, are quantified and explained, Opponents of these plans could isotope astatine-218 in a sample in Muñoz-Pinedo’s Spain and in forests must be managed to learn from history. of radon-222 in 1939 in Paris the Spanish-speaking nations of optimize their capacity to act Critics argue, for example, that (M. Thoennessen Int. J. Mod. Central and South America. as sinks. such ‘big science’ projects drain Phys. E 25, 1630004; 2016). In my view, Nature and James E. M. Watson* University money away from other research, Karlik and Bernert subsequently other journals should follow of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia. a view that led to the cancellation reported 218At (in 1942), then an initiative by the Journal of [email protected] of the US Superconducting 216At and 215At (in 1943), in Biological Chemistry and the *On behalf of 4 correspondents (see Super Collider in 1993. To my natural samples at the Institute Journal of Neuroscience (see go.nature.com/2tccpdy for full list). knowledge, that cancellation for Radium Research in Vienna go.nature.com/2xhiIj5), among brought no funding benefit to (B. Karlik Monatsh. Chemie others, to list authors in the script other sciences. And because 77, 348–351; 1947). And Dale of their own language — whether Science looks worse Europe has already committed Corson, Kenneth MacKenzie and Arabic, Urdu, Kanji or other — as as it gets better to the ITER fusion project for Emilio Segrè synthesized and well as in the Roman alphabet energy production in France, and chemically characterized 211At, and in ORCID or similar. If you It is easy to assume that science to the LISA gravitational-wave which doesn’t occur naturally, in can accommodate accented is more flawed than in the past, experiment in space; successors to 1940 in Berkeley, California. letters in European names, given widespread coverage of the the Large Hadron Collider would Misperceptions about you should extend comparable reproducibility crisis, perverse not be competing for funding allegiances during the Second courtesy to other international incentives and P-value hacking, with those projects. World War could have influenced scholars. alongside a proliferation of Others are sceptical about the those adjudicating discovery Zhongmin Wang Memorial corrective measures (see, for existence of new particles, given assignments (see B. F. Thornton Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, example, C. K. Gunsalus et al. that nothing has materialized and S. C. Burdette Bull. Hist. New York City, USA. Nature 566, 173–175; 2019). But since the discovery of the Higgs Chem. 35, 86–96; 2010), [email protected] it could be that we are now seeing boson in 2012. That puts me and Cauchois and Hulubei’s more problems simply because in mind of Spain’s reaction to experiments were largely we are more alert to them. Christopher Columbus, when forgotten. With the acceptance Forests are still key Consider related lessons he requested funding to explore of synthetic elements into the to climate action from medicine. When a new a westerly route to Asia in the periodic table, element 85 was treatment method is invented fifteenth century. His proposal credited to the Berkeley group. We disagree with those who for a particular disease, there was initially rejected by a royal Brett Thornton Stockholm caution against relying on forests is typically an increase in the commission, which pronounced University, Stockholm, Sweden. as a solution to global warming number of people who might that “so many centuries after the Shawn Burdette Worcester until the warming effects of trees benefit from that treatment, Creation, it is unlikely that anyone Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, themselves are better understood because conditions that were could find hitherto unknown Massachusetts, USA. (see Nature 565, 280–282; 2019). previously undetectable or lands of any value”. Columbus [email protected] ©2019 Spri nger Nature Li mited. All ri ghts reserved. 21 MARCH 2019 | VOL 567 | NATURE | 311 .