image: The sixth most popular release in 2020 is also the first from China and described a newly unearthed prehistoric mammal whose ear bones helped scientists understand how they evolved.
The most-visited news release on EurekAlert! in 2020 racked up just under 1 million hits - the most in the site's near 25-year history.
The University of California, Riverside release is one of three about brain health on the 2020 Trending list in a year when COVID-19 dominated headlines across the globe. It described a mouse study that showed soybean oil induced negative changes to genes affecting neurological conditions like autism and Alzheimer's disease. The news release registered an unprecedented 987,050 visits, surpassing the previous record set in 2017 for yearly total views of a single release by almost 10%.
EurekAlert! is an editorially independent, nonprofit news release distribution platform operated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as a free resource to journalists and the public. News releases hosted on EurekAlert! are produced and submitted by research institutions and journal publishers and must meet eligibility guidelines for acceptance.
In the fourth most-visited release, Swiss and Italian scientists proved a link between low gut microbial diversity and Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University found a new enzyme mutation that impacts how proteins cluster in the brain and cause Alzheimer's disease in the ninth most popular release.
Three COVID-19-related news releases appear on the list, starting with the second trending release. It described a research review that pointed to a relationship between cardio exercise and protection against COVID-19 respiratory symptoms. Potential coronavirus mitigation strategies also featured in the third and seventh news releases, in the form of an anti-parasitic drug and vitamin supplements, respectively. Overall, approximately 13% of news releases accepted by EurekAlert! in 2020 were COVID-related.
Half of the 2020 Trending releases originated outside the United States and, for the first time, a news release from China, by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, made the top 10. It describes the bones of a small prehistoric rodent, unearthed in northeast China, that clarified the evolution of mammalian ear bone structure. Another paleontology release detailed a specimen of the carnivorous Allosaurus, discovered in Utah, that became the oldest known of its species in North America.
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VIDEO: The fifth most-visited release in 2020 included a video showing a wolf pup playing fetch with a handler. The study showed this behavior in wolf pups who had not had previous exposure to it.
Credit: Christina Hansen Wheat