Science News Roundup: Hitchhiking in Earth's orbit, asteroid may be with us for 4,000 years; Penguins offer varied clues to Antarctic climate change and more

Scientists now use them as key indicators for understanding climate change near the South Pole – with certain western regions like the Antarctic Peninsula having undergone rapid warming, while East Antarctica remains cold and capped in ice. Science podcaster calls Spotify's support of Joe Rogan a 'slap in the face' The executive producer and host of Gimlet Media's Science Vs podcast said she would devote her fact-checking show exclusively to contradicting misinformation on other podcasts carried by parent company Spotify.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Hitchhiking in Earth's orbit, asteroid may be with us for 4,000 years

An asteroid that was discovered riding along in Earth's orbit is about three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) wide and might remain as a hitchhiker with our planet for at least 4,000 more years while posing no danger, scientists said on Tuesday. Using observations from telescopes in Chile, Arizona, and the Canary Islands, researchers provided the most comprehensive description yet of the asteroid, named 2020 XL5 and first detected two years ago. They confirmed it is one of only two of what are called Trojan asteroids traveling as a companion with Earth.

Penguins offer varied clues to Antarctic climate change

Peering through binoculars from an inflatable motorboat bobbing in frigid waters, polar ecology researchers Michael Wethington and Alex Borowicz scan a rocky outcrop on Antarctica's Andersson Island for splatterings of red-brown guano that might signal a colony of penguins nearby. The birds have become far more than an iconic symbol of the earth’s frozen south. Scientists now use them as key indicators for understanding climate change near the South Pole – with certain western regions like the Antarctic Peninsula having undergone rapid warming, while East Antarctica remains cold and capped in ice.

Science podcaster calls Spotify's support of Joe Rogan a 'slap in the face'

The executive producer and host of Gimlet Media's Science Vs podcast said she would devote her fact-checking show exclusively to contradicting misinformation on other podcasts carried by parent company Spotify. The announcement by Wendy Zukerman builds on protests by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and others against Spotify's Joe Rogan Experience Podcast. They say Spotify is not doing enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19 misinformation.

Placenta may have mechanism that protects fetus from COVID; vaccines safe with rheumatic diseases

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. The placenta may shed proteins to keep viruses out

Rollout of NASA's new moon rocket to launch pad delayed at least a month

The highly anticipated rollout of NASA's big new moon rocket to its launch pad in Florida for final tests before a first flight has been delayed by at least a month, until March at the earliest, the U.S. space agency said on Wednesday. NASA, which late last year had targeted liftoff this month for its uncrewed Artemis 1 mission around the moon and back, declined to set a revised launch date, but the delay would preclude a flight before April.

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