12 Days of Christmas in science bites
By: Larissa Fedunik-Hofman
Tags: Astronomy, Christmas Music, Science Communication, Christmas, Science

A compilation of science stories of 2020 (very) loosely inspired by the carol.

🎶…and a partridge in a pear tree. Image by Xavier Romero-Frias; CCO.

The 12 Days of Christmas has been described as the holiday’s most annoying carol — bah, humbug!

The song may or may not be a coded, Catholic mnemonic that could be sung around Protestants without fear of persecution — an enticing, but disputed history.

In the spirit of Christmas, what about a new take on the tune? Here’s a compilation of several science stories of 2020 inspired (no matter how tenuously) by the carol.

12 drummers drumming: Rock chimps

Wild chimps might prefer a rock-themed Christmas compilation CD to your traditional carols. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have observed that groups of wild chimps enjoy chucking rocks at trees that have the most resonant timbre, suggesting that they’re trying to produce the most bass-heavy sounds. Are they communicating through rock? Or perhaps there are just no people around for them to hurl their stones at — unlike the case of this Swedish chimp, who enjoyed launching lumps of concrete at tourists.

11 pipers piping: That asteroid was lit

Our interstellar visitor in 2017, ‘Oumuamua, may have got its pipe or cigar-like shape by getting a bit too close to its host star. In April this year, an international group of astronomers suggested that it may well have been “lit”.

This Faroese stamp illustrates a traditional counting Christmas song. The gifts include eleven goats, twelve men, thirteen hides, fourteen rounds of cheese and fifteen deer. Image from Postverk Føroya by Óli Petersen; CCO.

10 lords a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing: Spider man scores

Those lords and ladies have nothing on peacock spiders, famous for their elaborate courtship dances. In case you missed it, 2020 heralded the discovery of seven species of peacock spider in Australia by an arachnology enthusiast who’s known as “Spider Man”.

8 maids a-milking: Our Milky Way was thirsty

Our galaxy had a tumultuous past, and it’s quite a challenge to ascertain how it formed. While some star clusters (dense groups of stars found in most massive galaxies) formed within the original Milky Way, others were acquired over time as the galaxy swallowed up small satellite galaxies. Drawing on recent research to map the age and metallicities of star clusters, astronomers have “reverse engineered” our galaxy and traced over 50% of the clusters to only five galaxies. One of them, which contained clusters on low energy orbits, was dubbed ‘Koala’ for its sluggish spirals of stars.

5 golden rings: Tree time capsules

The study of tree rings (dendrochronology) can give us info about past climate conditions, soil quality, solar activity and even volcanic eruptions. Using calendar-dated tree ring collections, scientists can build up a chronology through the ages. Dendrochronology studies carried out in the Amazon and published this year have also chronicled how native societies cultivated Brazil nuts. The tree rings even revealed when this was interrupted by European colonialism.

2 turtle doves. And a partridge…

Sadly, the population of turtle doves (the smallest species of pigeon, and its only migrant species) has plummeted in Europe, mainly due to farming practices decimating their food sources. It’s a similar story for partridges, which are no longer a regular sight around East Anglia. Luckily, conservation efforts could help feed the birds.

…in a pear tree

Why do apples get all the attention? The Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission doled out a measly $590,000 US for pear-related projects in 2016 (apples got $1.7 million). Pears are less popular with consumers because of the difficulty in ascertaining when they’re ripe, and it’s partly due to this lack of enthusiasm that research stagnated. But food tech companies in the US believe in the pear: they’re investing in smart packaging for sliced pears and working out how to grow the optimal fruit. It that doesn’t pique your interest in pears, maybe their potential as a hangover preventative might.