The Top Science News

Plus: This week's One Question—"How Was Abortion Understood Historically?" [View in browser]( | [Become a member]( August 16, 2022   Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here](. Good Morning! Here’s the top science news—plus this week’s One Question and related Nautilus stories [READ NAUTILUS](   DID YOU READ THIS? The Top Science News This Week   [Her Discovery Changed the World. How Does She Think We Should Use It?]( Jennifer Doudna, CRISPR’s co-discoverer, says the gene-editing tool can alter food genomes, will soon be put to service in mitigating climate change, and could very well transform healthcare. [The New York Times→](   [Scientists Have Unearthed What Could Be the World’s Oldest Ice Core]( An ice core possibly dating as far back as 5 million years could help climate scientists make sense of why the pace of Earth’s ice-age cycles slowed down, and hint at what’s to come for us in our era of global warming. [Nature→](   [Morphological, Cellular, and Molecular Basis of Brain Infection in COVID-19 Patients]( SARS-CoV-2 can damage our neurons and, to an even greater extent, our astrocytes, the star-shaped non-neuronal cells that, among other things, reshape our brain’s synaptic connections. [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences→]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [SUBSCRIBE TODAY](   [Socks That Protect Oceans]( These socks are restoring essential ocean habitats. [Conscious Step](has partnered with Oceana to provide you with comfortable apparel that supports ocean health. [Get Your Feet Wet](   ONE QUESTION How Was Abortion Understood Historically? INTERVIEW BY BRANDON KEIM One question for [Claudia Ford](, an herbalist and midwife turned environmental historian at SUNY Potsdam whose Ph.D. dissertation examines the use of plants for reproductive health by women in 18th and 19th century America.   This idea of a fetus as a person is only as recent as this incredible book that came out in the 1960s,[When a Child Is Born](, which was the first time that somebody made high-quality pictures of live fetuses in utero. When that book came out, it really changed things. Until we could actually visualize that, we understood pregnancy and periods and cycles, but not to the extent of naming a fetus as a person. Going back time, there was no moral restriction against abortion, [even in the Catholic church](. For many millennia the fetus was not considered an entity until quickening, which is when the mother can feel the fetus move. In the first baby, that’s usually around 16 weeks, and it can be a little earlier in subsequent babies because you know what to feel. But until such time as that movement started to happen, it was not a thing. Even if a woman realized she wasn’t having her menses, and she might know she was pregnant, still there was no association with a fetus. So terminating a pregnancy was seen more as part of the menstrual cycle, not part of pregnancy. Pregnancy is something that led to labor and childbirth; terminating a pregnancy was part of your menstrual cycle. At that time, somebody with a uterus is bleeding every month unless something else is going on. And that “unless something else is going on” was pretty big because we didn’t have as much knowledge. If you had a late period, the first thing people would think would not necessarily be pregnancy. They might know that, but they would be thinking “OK, how do I bring on this period?” Not, “How do I not have a baby?” I know that is semantics. But Dobbs is all about semantics, right? And that’s a really important thing. I think somebody else has said that abortion is not an alternative to having a baby; let’s separate those things. Historically the termination of pregnancy was seen as part of the menstrual cycle. Some women were having periods that were too little; some, too much; some were too painful, too frequently, not frequently enough. There was always a desire: What can I do? Are there some plants that can help me to regulate these cycles so that I can feel healthy? And sometimes that absolutely included, “I’m late. I want my period to come. How can I bring it on?” There was knowledge that if the period didn’t come, it would lead to a pregnancy. But in those first three months, it wasn’t thought of as, “I’m pregnant, I’m going to stop this.” It was thought of as more, “I haven’t had my period. Do I want my period? Or do I want to see where this is going to go?” I know it sounds like it’s splitting hairs, but it’s a very different perspective.   Related Nautilus Stories   [EVOLUTION]( [The Evolutionary Mystery of Menopause]( BY DAVID P. BARASH “Know thyself” is a terrific idea. [Continue reading →](   [ZOOLOGY]( [Overthrowing the Patriarchy Through Ecstatic Sex]( BY BRIAN GALLAGHER Lucy Cooke was in the Serengeti, making a BBC documentary about animal communication, when the lion expert in the Jeep with her played the sound of a roar from another lion’s territory. [Continue reading →](   [GENETICS]( [Does Having Kids Make Mothers Age Faster?]( BY JORDANA CEPELEWICZ There’s an old wives’ tale that having a child ages a woman. And why wouldn’t it? [Continue reading →](   [HEALTH]( [Why Egg Freezing Is an Impossible Choice]( BY ABBY RABINOWITZ Last fall, I went to an egg freezing cocktail hour. [Continue reading →](   [GENETICS]( [Carriers: A Webcomic on Health, Luck, and Life]( BY LAUREN R. WEINSTEIN At four months pregnant, I went to visit my OBGYN, Dr. Brennan. He had some very bad news. [Continue reading →](   Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher   BECOME A SUBSCRIBER [Join Vermont Green Football Club’s Mission to Protect Our Oceans]( The eco-conscious athletes of Vermont Green Football Club are on a quest to make the planet a better place for everyone. Support their mission by shopping the [Nautilus and Jungles Jungles collection]( of limited edition apparel. This partnership supports the 30x 30 initiative—a global effort to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030. Nautilus’ proceeds from the collection will go to NautilusThink to fund charities and organizations focused on 30×30. [Shop the collection today]( show your support for people and our planet. [Shop the Collection](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2022 NautilusNext, All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the newsletter from nautil.us. 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