Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy.



This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-yellowstone-aspens-and-elk">Yellowstone, aspens, and elk</h2>



In the 1920s, people <a href="https://www.yellowstone.org/wolf-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminated wolves in Yellowstone</a>. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right thing to do.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-wolves-to-dogs-did-domestication-begin-without-human-help/">Without wolves</a>, elk herds grew very large. Elk love to eat aspen shoots - the tender young growth is highly palatable to them.



For roughly 70 years, elk browsed aspen sprouts down to stub height, and the trees couldn't grow. 



If you had walked through Yellowstone in the 1980s, you would have seen many tiny aspen shoots covering the ground, but almost no young trees gaining height. 



The forest's regeneration was stalled. Old trees died, and no new ones replaced them.



In 1995 and 1996, park managers reintroduced wolves into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption-study-sparks-new-debate-on-where-and-when-it-will-erupt/">Yellowstone Park ecosystem</a>. Scientists hoped and wondered whether this would change anything for the trees.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-aspen-matter-to-yellowstone">Why aspen matter to Yellowstone</h2>



Aspen groves provide habitat for many species. Birds nest in them. Beavers eat the bark and use the wood for dams. Butterflies and moths lay eggs on the leaves. 



Their canopy admits enough light for wildflowers and shrubs to grow beneath. When it rains, aspen groves hold water in the soil better than some other forest types.



In short, when aspen return, dozens of other species benefit. More trees support more insects, which in turn support more birds, enriching the ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-checking-the-trees-three-decades-later">Checking the trees three decades later</h2>



<a href="https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/users/luke-painter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luke Painter</a>, an ecologist at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon State University</a>, sought clear answers. His team returned to 87 aspen stands across Yellowstone that scientists had previously surveyed. 



They measured thousands of young trees, looked for bite marks, and counted how many stems were tall enough that elk could no longer reach the tips.



About a third of these stands now have many tall young aspens pushing toward the canopy. 



"About 26 of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all," Painter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-wolves-matter-to-yellowstone-aspens">Why wolves matter to Yellowstone aspens</h2>



Breaking it all down, the conclusions of this study are pretty simple. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wolves-move-pups-across-mountains-to-adapt-to-climate-pressure/">Wolves hunt elk</a>. When wolves came back, two things happened. First, elk numbers declined from unusually high levels. Second, elk changed their behavior. They spent less time in the same areas feeding.



With fewer elk and shorter feeding bouts, more aspen shoots survived long enough to exceed the browsing zone - about six to seven feet high. 



Once a sapling reaches that height, elk cannot easily reach the growing tip. The tree continues to grow.



"The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades," Painter explained.



Scientists call this a <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic cascade</a> - when adding or removing one species causes changes that ripple through the whole system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-places-recover-others-don-t">Some places recover, others don't</h2>



Unfortunately, not every aspen stand has recovered yet. Some valleys still have many short, heavily browsed shoots, because it's not only elk eating them anymore. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstones-iconic-bison-have-merged-into-a-single-herd/">Bison herds have grown</a>, and bison browse on aspen as well. They are strong enough to break young trees. 



"Increasing numbers of bison may be emerging as a new constraint to aspen in some areas," Painter confirmed.



Additionally, winter snow depth varies; droughts stress trees; bears and mountain lions also hunt elk; and hunting outside the park influences elk distribution. 



All of these factors interact, which is why some sites show strong recovery, others show moderate recovery, and a few have changed very little.



The key pattern is that places with many tall saplings experience little browsing, and aspen groves that remain popular eating grounds today stay short. 



This fact is the strongest indication that tree recovery is linked directly to wolf presence, not solely to weather or soil conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proof-in-the-measurements">Proof in the measurements</h2>



Painter's team did not rely on casual observation. They used the same methods as earlier researchers, measuring the same plots. 



They counted recruitment - when young trees surpass browsing height and begin progressing toward maturity. This measure is crucial. Sprouts are insufficient if they never grow; without recruitment, the forest cannot replace itself.



The results are robust. After being stalled for most of a century, Yellowstone's aspens are increasing in height. In recovering stands today, you will see saplings - six, eight, or ten feet tall - that were not present in the 1990s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-yellowstone-s-aspens">The future of Yellowstone's aspens</h2>



"This is a remarkable case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-viruses-found-in-yellowstones-hot-springs-may-be-near-the-root-of-all-life-on-earth/">ecological restoration</a>," Painter concluded. "Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity."



Trees grow slowly, so even with wolves restored, it will take decades for these young aspens to form a full-grown forest. 



Some areas might never fully recover if bison numbers continue to rise or if the climate becomes too hot and dry.



Thanks to the work of Painter and his team, scientists are now certain that restoring the Yellowstone predator has restarted aspen forest regeneration. Not everywhere and not perfectly, but enough to be measured, creating hope for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725004499?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Ecology and Management</a>.



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Yellowstone's aspen trees are growing again thanks to the reintroduction of wolves

Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy. This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns. Yellowstone, aspens, and elk In the 1920s, people eliminated wolves in Yellowstone. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right...

Some birds hold greater influence than others when a flock decides where to go next. New research shows that the most persuasive geese in the flock are bold, not aggressive, and that the birds most likely to fall in line are the curious explorers. Together, they steer collective journeys in ways that balance safety and discovery.



The study tackles a classic puzzle in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-tool-superanimal-can-accurately-analyze-animal-behavior/">animal behavior</a>: why certain individuals end up shaping group decisions over months and years. 



Simple rules of interaction can explain how groups move in sync. But they do not say much about why some animals consistently get others to go with them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-geese-personalities-in-flight">Geese personalities in flight</h2>



To find out, researchers watched a marked population of greylag geese over four years at the <a href="https://klf.univie.ac.at/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Konrad Lorenz Research Station</a> in Grünau im Almtal, Austria. The flock traces back to birds introduced by Nobel laureate Konrad Lorenz in the 1970s, which makes it unusually well-documented.



Field teams logged hundreds of collective departures. They noted who gave a departure call, who launched first, who followed, and the size of each departing party. In parallel, they measured personality with standardized tests.



Flight initiation distance - a measure of how close an approacher can get before a bird takes off - indexed boldness. A mirror test probed aggressiveness. Interaction with a novel object indexed exploration, or curiosity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stable-traits-shape-geese-social-life">Stable traits shape geese social life</h2>



The first finding is simple and important. Individual geese showed stable personality differences - boldness, aggressiveness, and exploration - that persisted across years. Those traits mapped onto daily social roles.



The flock typically moved in subgroups to forage or roost at different sites in the valley. Within those subgroups, bold individuals tended to initiate and be followed. Explorers tended to follow, especially when the leader was bold rather than aggressive.



In other words, a goose’s temperament predicted its influence in real decisions with real stakes. Bolder initiators were more likely to be heeded when they called and took flight. 



Followers with a taste for novelty were more likely to go with them, and less likely to trail aggressive or socially dominant birds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leadership-as-protection-not-domination"><a></a>Leadership as protection, not domination</h2>



One result surprised the team. Aggressiveness, though linked to higher social rank, did not predict leadership in group departures. The most influential initiators were bold but not aggressive. That points to a protective leadership style rather than a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/female-dominance-in-primates-is-more-common-than-we-thought/">dominant</a>, coercive one.



The ecology helps explain why. Each daily move pits risk against reward. Sticking to familiar feeding grounds offers safety but limits opportunity. Striking out raises the chance of finding better food, but it also raises exposure.



Bold leaders reduce uncertainty in the moment - helping a flock launch and cross risky gaps - while exploratory followers tilt the group toward innovation and help spread new routes through social learning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-followers-matter-in-geese-decisions">Followers matter in geese decisions</h2>



The study reframes influence as a two-way negotiation. Yes, some geese initiate more. But followers are not passive. 



They choose whom to follow - and whom to ignore - based on the benefits they receive. Leadership, in this view, is not merely a trait of the few. It is a relationship built from many selective acts of following.



“This research helps to explain why individuals with specific traits consistently wield more influence,” said lead author Sonia Kleindorfer. “More importantly, it draws attention to followers - often overlooked in our human fascination with securing resources."



"What if followers actively choose whom to follow based on the benefits they receive? This shifts focus to the cognitive abilities of followers and challenges traditional ideas about which traits matter most in leaders.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flocks-transform-signals-into-action">Flocks transform signals into action</h2>



The mechanics of a departure are simple on the surface: a call, a launch, and a stream of followers. Underneath is a flow of information. Bold birds lower the cost of action and explorers raise the value of new options.



The result is a collective that can both protect itself and learn. Over time, that learning becomes tradition - routes, schedules, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/murrelets-rely-on-each-other-to-find-breeding-sites/">site preferences</a> that shape the flock’s culture.



By documenting these roles across four years and tying them to stable traits, the study moves beyond one-off observations. 



It shows that personality can structure the everyday choices that add up to a group’s way of life. It also shows that “dominance” and “leadership” are not synonyms. A bird that wins fights does not necessarily win followers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-geese-teach-other-species">What geese teach other species</h2>



The implications reach well beyond a single Austrian valley. Many social species face the same daily trade-off between the familiar and the new. In those systems, protective boldness may attract followers more reliably than brute force, and curiosity may be the glue that keeps groups open to change.



By spotlighting follower choice, the work also nudges theory toward the minds of many, not the charisma of a few. Influence depends on who wants to be influenced - and why. 



That shift has consequences for how researchers think about collective decision-making, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-availability-influences-social-learning-among-orangutans/">social learning</a>, and cultural evolution across species - including our own.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-goose-leadership-matters-now">Why goose leadership matters now</h2>



Understanding how individual differences scale up to group behavior can inform conservation, animal welfare, and even the design of autonomous swarms. 



It can help explain when groups adapt smoothly to changing conditions and when they stall. It can also help predict who will lead a move to safer ground in a warming, human-altered world.



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bold-personality-traits-improve-parenting-success-in-geese/">greylag geese</a> offer a clear lesson. Boldness can protect a flock of geese without aggression. Curiosity can carry new ideas across wings. And influence, far from being the property of the loudest bird, emerges from a conversation between those who initiate - and those who decide to follow.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2589004225014312" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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Geese guide the flock with boldness, not aggression

Some birds hold greater influence than others when a flock...

Most of us know music can make life feel lighter - it turns chores into something tolerable and workouts into something motivating. But what about when you hit play after an experience instead of during it? That’s where things get interesting.



A new study from scientists at <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UCLA</a> shows that music can shape how well we remember something - if it makes us feel the right way. This effect is not influenced by whether the song is happy, sad, or even familiar. It’s about how much emotion the music stirs in you.



“We found that whether music was negative or positive or whether it was familiar didn’t have as much of an influence on memory as the emotional response people felt while listening to it,” said study co-author Professor Stephanie Leal.



“There was an optimal level of emotional response that aided in remembering the details of an experience. Too much or too little emotional response had the opposite effect - worse memory for details, but better memory for the gist of an experience.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-memory-and-emotions">Music, memory, and emotions</h2>



The study involved volunteers who were shown pictures of everyday objects - things like oranges, laptops, and telephones. After viewing about 100 images, they listened to 10 minutes of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/classical-music-orchestrates-a-mood-lifting-dance-in-the-brain/">classical music</a>. 



When their emotional arousal had returned to normal, the volunteers were tested on what they remembered.



Some images were exactly the same. Some were slightly altered versions. Some were completely new. 



Participants had to say whether they had seen the object before and if it was identical or different. They also answered questions about how the music made them feel and whether it was familiar.



The music itself didn’t boost memory across the board. But it helped some people a lot - especially when it came to spotting that an image was similar but not exactly the same.



The key factor? <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/listening-to-music-can-change-how-we-recall-memories/">Emotional arousal</a>. The participants with the best recall weren’t the ones who felt the strongest emotions. They were the ones who felt just enough.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-music-shapes-memory">How music shapes memory</h2>



Memory isn’t just about capturing every detail. Most of the time, we’re remembering the big picture - what researchers call gist-based memory. It’s what helps us recall the idea of something without holding onto all the tiny facts. But sometimes, the details matter. That’s where detail-based memory comes in.



“We used a task designed to tap into the difference between gist- and detail-based memory,” said Leal. “Music helped with detail-based memory but only when the level of emotional arousal was just right for that person.”



This makes sense. If you’re overwhelmed, your brain might blur the details. If you’re bored, it might not care enough to store them. There’s a sweet spot in between where <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/memory-isnt-only-stored-in-our-brains-other-cells-can-remember-too/">memory</a> for detail gets sharper.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-in-learning-and-therapy">Music in learning and therapy</h2>



The researchers say this kind of emotional “tuning” could eventually help in real-world situations. 



For example, listening to moderately arousing music after studying might help you hold onto more precise information for a test. But music that’s too emotional might have the opposite effect.



“Music has the ability to influence a part of your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-does-the-human-brain-create-retrieve-memories-engram-cells-connections/">brain</a> called the hippocampus, which is essential for turning experiences into memories,” Leal said. “We think it should be possible to tap into that in a selective way to boost or impair memory depending on the therapeutic goals.”



It’s not just about learning. This could also help with memory loss in aging, or in people with early-stage <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-disruptions-could-signal-the-onset-of-alzheimers/">Alzheimer’s</a>. And for people with anxiety or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meditation-can-rapidly-reduce-ptsd-without-revisiting-trauma/">PTSD</a>, music might help them remember the general idea of a tough experience - without reliving every sharp edge of it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-different-effects-for-everyone">Different effects for everyone</h2>



The challenge is that what works emotionally varies a lot between people. What’s “moderately arousing” for one person might not hit the same for another. That’s why this line of research is moving toward personalized therapy.



“In my lab, we’re trying to detect changes in the brain and cognition early. Music is noninvasive, low cost, and easy to personalize, and by learning more about the mechanisms that connect it to memory, we can develop treatments and interventions to prevent the disease from progressing,” Leal said. 



“If the federal government reduces funding for Alzheimer’s research, the chances that we’ll be able to develop this line of research into inexpensive yet effective treatments are very low, as developing personalized treatments requires lots of participants in research to really capture individual needs.”



In other words, music isn’t just for playlists and background noise. If we can figure out how to fine-tune its emotional effects, it could become a powerful way to shape how we remember - and how we heal.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/45/31/e0158252025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JNeurosci</a>.



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Music boosts memory - but only with the right emotional spark

Most of us know music can make life feel lighter...

Planting more trees cools the planet and can help reduce fires, but the biggest climate returns per tree come from the tropics. That is the core message of new research, which shows that where we plant matters almost as much as how much we plant.



The study, led by the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Riverside</a> (UCR), found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-are-lagging-centuries-behind-in-climate-adaptation/">forests</a> help in two ways: they pull carbon dioxide from the air; and they change local physics at the surface and in the lower atmosphere. 



Those physical effects are not uniform. In warm, wet regions they cool, while in some cooler, higher-latitude places they can nudge temperatures up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trees-in-the-tropics-work-harder">Trees in the tropics work harder</h2>



“Our study found more cooling from planting in warm, wet regions, where trees grow year-round," said study first author and UCR graduate student James Gomez. "Tropical trees not only pull <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-in-forests-recovering-from-logging-release-much-more-carbon-dioxide/">carbon dioxide</a> from the air, they also cool while releasing water vapor.” 



“It’s not that planting elsewhere doesn’t help – it does - but the tropics offer the strongest returns per tree.”



Trees in the tropics can “sweat” day in and day out. Roots lift water, leaving open pores to take in CO2 for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/key-to-life-on-earth-photosynthesis-begins-on-the-quantum-level-with-a-single-photon/">photosynthesis</a>. Some of that water escapes as vapor, and the evaporation absorbs heat from the air and the leaves. The process is called evapotranspiration, and it represents nature’s air conditioning.



“It’s just like the way sweating cools your body,” Gomez said. “In the tropics, there is constantly water available for trees, and that increases transpiration.”



The study also points to a second cooling pathway. As forests moisten the air, cloud cover can increase. Water vapor itself can soak up some incoming sunlight before it reaches the ground. Both effects dim the surface. Less sun at the surface means less heating.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cooling-depends-on-location">Cooling depends on location</h2>



The team isolated these non-CO2 physical effects in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-temperature-increase-2023-blew-past-all-climate-models/">climate models</a>. Globally, the average cooling from the added trees was small, about 0.01°F. But the signal becomes meaningful in the tropics. There, the mean cooling reached about 0.1°F, with some hotspots - such as parts of central Africa - approaching 0.8°F.



When the researchers added in the expected carbon drawdown from new forests, the global cooling grew by roughly another 0.15°F. 



The carbon part of the story is powerful, but the paper kept it “offline” as a first estimate. A follow-up study will simulate both the physical and carbon-cycle effects together, interactively, for tighter numbers.



“Though the non-CO2 effects are small, it is good news that they are not warming, which prior studies have indicated is likely,” Gomez said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tree-planting-can-backfire">Tree planting can backfire</h2>



Trees are darker than many open landscapes. In snowy or bright regions, more trees can absorb more sunlight. That can offset some of the cooling from evapotranspiration - especially where water limits tree “sweating” for part of the year.



In parts of Canada and the northeastern U.S., the models suggest new trees could slightly reduce net cooling and even raise local fire risk by drying fine fuels and trapping more heat at the surface.



“This is not an invitation to get rid of the trees growing there! They provide multiple benefits for ecosystems and diversity, reducing CO2 and cooling the surrounding areas,” Gomez said.



“What we need is a Goldilocks zone of trees in each region. Just the right amount to have the strongest and most positive climate effects.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trees-reduce-fires-in-tropics">Trees reduce fires in tropics</h2>



The analysis considered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfire-seasons-are-now-overlapping-worldwide/">wildfires</a> too. In many tropical savannas, adding trees can reduce burned area. That is because mature trees often resist fire better than grasses, and closed canopies can keep fuels cooler and wetter.



“In tropical savannas, and in other places around the world, trees are much more fire-resistant than grasses,” Gomez said.



In contrast, in some higher-latitude regions, the added absorption of sunlight and longer dry seasons can tilt conditions toward more frequent or more intense fires. The net effect depends on local fuel, moisture, and management.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-realistic-planting-map">A realistic planting map </h2>



The study did not take into consideration forests everywhere. It used a practical reforestation blueprint: plant where trees once grew, while avoiding displacing people and minimizing impacts on cropland. That approach keeps climate benefits aligned with social and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sweet-potato-dna-finally-decoded-to-boost-food-security/">food security</a> realities.



To build confidence in the results, the team drew on 12 widely used climate models rather than relying on a single tool.



That ensemble approach smooths out quirks of any one model and better reflects the range of plausible outcomes considered in international policy analysis.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smarter-trees-for-a-cooler-planet">Smarter trees for a cooler planet</h2>



Trees are vital for meeting climate goals. But they are not a magic fix, and they are not all equal in their local effects. The best strategy should be targeted. Protect existing tropical forests first, then replant in tropical and warm, wet places where trees will thrive and “sweat” most. 



Finally, restore in temperate regions with care, tuned to local albedo, water limits, and fire regimes. Everywhere, pair trees with deep emissions cuts.



The message is not to plant less outside the tropics. It is to plant smarter everywhere - and fastest where each tree does the most. In that spirit, the study offers both optimism and a map. 



The planet can be cooled by growing forests, especially in the tropics. And with a “Goldilocks” mindset - neither too few nor too many trees for local conditions - we can stack climate wins with biodiversity and fire resilience, region by region.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-025-01127-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">npj Climate and Atmospheric Science</a>.



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Trees in the tropics cool Earth more than anywhere else

Planting more trees cools the planet and can help reduce...

The sun is ramping up right now. We're in one of its most active periods, something that happens roughly every 11 years. That means more solar storms, more polar lights, and more disruptions to satellites and electrical systems here on Earth.



But even at its wildest, our sun is relatively quiet compared to others like it. In fact, its strongest radiation outbursts are 10 to 100 times weaker than those from similar stars. That surprising calmness may be a key reason life on Earth exists at all.



Scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (<a href="https://www.hzdr.de/db/Cms?pOid=74004&amp;pNid=0&amp;pLang=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HZDR</a>) in Germany believe they may have found an explanation for the sun's stability. And it might come down to something closer to home: the planets in our solar system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planets-shape-the-sun-s-activity">Planets shape the sun’s activity</h2>



Over the past decade, researchers at HZDR have developed a model that ties nearly all of the sun’s activity cycles to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-gravity-pulls-earth-closer-to-the-sun-warming-our-climate-scientists-say/">gravitational pull</a> of the planets. Venus, Earth, and Jupiter line up every 11 years and create a combined tidal force on the sun.



This isn’t a simple push and pull. It’s more like a steady nudge, one that keeps the sun’s magnetic engine ticking in a predictable rhythm. When combined with the sun's own motion through space, this mechanism produces overlapping cycles that match what we see in solar behavior.



"All the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/suns-next-solar-cycle-26-has-already-begun/">solar cycles</a> identified are a logical consequence of our model; its explanatory power and internal consistency are really astounding. Each time we have refined our model we have discovered additional correlations with the periods observed," said Frank Stefani, one of the lead researchers at HZDR.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cycle-that-limits-solar-activity">Cycle that limits solar activity</h2>



In their most recent study, the team focused on a specific cycle known as the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, or QBO. This is a smaller pattern - about two years long - that shows up in various features of solar activity.



The model doesn’t just predict the QBO. It gives it an exact period and shows that the QBO actually limits the sun's overall activity. 



While the main 11-year cycle swings between high and low <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/solar-dynamo-sun-magnetic-field-origin-generated-near-surface/">magnetic fields</a>, QBO adds a shorter pattern on top. That causes the sun to spend less time at peak magnetic strength, which means fewer extreme solar events overall.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bursts-of-solar-radiation">Bursts of solar radiation</h2>



Previous solar data put the QBO somewhere between 1.5 and 1.8 years. Some earlier studies hinted at a connection between QBO and bursts of high-energy solar particles that hit Earth’s surface. These are called Ground Level Enhancement (<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-solar-outburst-detected-simultaneously-at-earth-the-moon-and-mars/">GLE</a>) events, and they can cause sudden spikes in cosmic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noaa-severe-solar-storm-expected-to-reach-earth-tomorrow-october-10-2024/">radiation</a>.



"A study conducted in 2018 shows that radiation events measured close to the ground occurred more in the positive phase of an oscillation with a period of 1.73 years. Contrary to the usual assumption that these solar particle eruptions are random phenomena, this observation indicates a fundamental, cyclical process," Stefani noted.



When the team reanalyzed the timeline of these events, they found the strongest correlation at 1.724 years. That number lined up almost perfectly with the 1.723-year cycle predicted by their model.



"This value is remarkably close to the value of 1.723 years which occurs in our model as a completely natural activity cycle," said Stefani. "We assume that it is QBO."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-sun-stays-relatively-calm">Why the sun stays relatively calm</h2>



The QBO’s influence may explain why our sun doesn’t produce the kinds of violent eruptions seen from similar stars. 



In the team's model, the QBO creates a "bimodal" pattern in the sun’s magnetic field. That is, instead of peaking once and staying high, the magnetic strength sees two peaks with a dip in between. That dip lowers the sun’s average field strength over time.



"This effect is so important because the sun is most active during the highest field strengths. This is when the most intense events occur, with huge <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-geomagnetic-storm-reveals-earths-technological-vulnerabilities/">geomagnetic storms</a> like the Carrington event of 1859 when polar lights could even be seen in Rome and Havana, and high voltages damaged telegraph lines," said Stefani.



"If the sun's magnetic field remains at lower field strengths for a significantly longer period of time, however, this reduces the likelihood of very violent events," he added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-sun-s-built-in-stability">The sun’s built-in stability</h2>



The study suggests that the relatively calm nature of our sun may not be an accident. It could be the result of a finely balanced set of gravitational nudges from its surrounding planets - especially from Earth, Venus, and Jupiter.



According to the researchers, this built-in stability might be part of why Earth has been such a good home for life.



While solar physicists are still piecing together the full story, the research from Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf offers a new way to think about the sun - not just as a fiery ball of gas, but as part of a much more synchronized system than we ever imagined.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11207-025-02521-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solar Physics</a>.



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Why our sun is unusually calm - and what that means for Earth

The sun is ramping up right now. We're in one...

Fifty-six million years ago, Earth warmed fast and ecosystems reshuffled. During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), global temperatures rose by roughly five degrees Celsius and stayed elevated for well over 100,000 years.



In a new study, experts have reconstructed how flowers and their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/national-honey-bee-day-2025-why-pollinators-matter/">pollinators</a> responded, showing a swift move toward animal pollination in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin. The study infers pollination modes directly from the fossil record of pollen.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-warming-changed-the-land">Ancient warming changed the land</h2>



The pace of the global warming event is a big part of the story.&nbsp;On land in the northern Rockies, the climate turned warmer and seasonally drier. Paleosols from the basin document transient drying that altered floodplains and soils.



Earlier palynological work in the same region already showed large, rapid floral turnover across the PETM. 



The researchers documented significant shifts in plant communities during the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) and the period that followed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evidence-of-plant-pollination-changes">Evidence of plant pollination changes</h2>



The team approached the question using palynology, the study of spores and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-are-disappearing-and-its-bad-news-for-plants/">pollen</a> preserved in sediments. 



The researchers examined pollen preserved as clumps, the pollination mode of nearest living relatives (<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279614773_Nearest-Living-Relative_Method" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NLRs</a>), and the morphological variety of pollen types across the interval.



Pollen clumps matter because sticky, aggregated grains tend to reflect animal transport rather than wind. When clumps become more common in the same kind of sediments, it flags a shift toward animal pollination, not a quirk of preservation.



Nearest living relatives add a second line of evidence. If a fossil pollen type’s closest modern relatives are pollinated by insects or vertebrates, it strongly hints that the fossil plant was too.



A third line looks at angiosperm pollen disparity, the spread of shapes, apertures, and surface textures. Higher disparity often tracks animal pollination, where more specialized interactions are common.



“These suggest animal pollination became more common and wind pollination less common during the PETM,” wrote Vera A. Korasidis of the <a href="https://www.unimelb.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Melbourne</a>. The synthesis points the same direction.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animals-supported-plant-range-shifts">Animals supported plant range shifts</h2>



During the hot, dry interval, plant immigrants included subtropical lineages that still thrive in today’s warmer climates, such as palms and relatives of silk-cotton trees. 



As temperatures rose and rainfall patterns changed, species ranges expanded or contracted, reshaping the region’s flora.



Fossil <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-bees-arrive-late-flowers-may-vanish/">insect</a> data from the early Eocene are scarce in North America, but amber and leaf damage records confirm that major pollinator groups like bees, beetles, and flies were already diverse. 



These insects likely played a role in moving pollen during the PETM, mirroring the shift in floral composition. Their rise aligns with evidence of increased insect herbivory on fossil leaves, suggesting larger and more complex insect communities in warming landscapes.



Small mammals also mattered. Early primates and marsupials arriving in the Bighorn Basin may have supplemented insect pollination by interacting with flowers and dispersing seeds. 



Their presence adds another layer to how animal activity supported plant range shifts and helped new plant communities establish in hotter, drier conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-consequences-of-plant-pollination-changes">Consequences of plant pollination changes</h2>



The rise of animal pollination during the PETM meant that food webs adjusted in ways beyond just flowers and insects. Animal-pollinated plants often produce more nectar, fruits, and fleshy seeds, creating fresh resources for vertebrates. 



This would have strengthened links between plants, pollinators, and fruit-eating animals, tying community survival more tightly to pollinator presence.



At the same time, the decline of wind-pollinated trees would have reshaped forests. Canopies became more open, floodplains dried, and the local vegetation mosaic shifted. 



These landscape changes set the stage for new combinations of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rising-dangers-threaten-the-survival-of-bees-and-pollinators/">species</a> to co-exist, with cascading effects on the mammals and insects that relied on them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-the-study">Broader implications of the study</h2>



Ancient ecosystems changed dramatically, yet many interactions endured. That speed gap matters when thinking about pollinators. 



Reviews of the PETM emphasize that while climate and carbon cycles shifted strongly, only a few groups suffered major extinctions, and rate of change is a key reason.



The pollen evidence from the Bighorn Basin reminds us that interactions can reorganize quickly when climates flip to hotter and drier. It also shows that plants and pollinators can track each other across the map when given time and space.



The practical takeaway is simple. If today’s changes outrun the ability of species to move and adapt, the partnerships that make seeds, fruits, and ecosystems may not keep up.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/evidence-for-increased-animal-pollination-during-the-paleoceneeocene-thermal-maximum/149BE1218DC87646479C23976B0A1E62" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paleobiology</a>.



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Flowers turned to animals for pollination during ancient warming

Fifty-six million years ago, Earth warmed fast and ecosystems reshuffled....

New observations of comet 12P/Pons Brooks have pinned down a <a href="https://sci.esa.int/web/herschel/-/49378-the-deuterium-to-hydrogen-ratio-in-the-solar-system" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">D/H ratio</a> in its water that matches Earth’s oceans within acceptable uncertainties. This unexpected discovery tightens the link between cometary ice and the water at our taps.



For the first time, researchers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02614-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mapped</a> ordinary water and deuterium bearing water in a comet’s coma using ALMA, giving spatial detail that nailed the source and sharpened the measurement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-led-the-study">Who led the study</h2>



<a href="https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/martin.cordiner" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Martin Cordiner</a> of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center led the international team that combined <a href="https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/home/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ALMA</a> and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (<a href="https://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IRTF</a>).



“Our new results provide the strongest evidence yet that at least some Halley type comets carried water with the same isotopic signature as that found on Earth, supporting the idea that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/comet-3i-atlas-shows-unusual-dust-patterns-as-it-zips-through-our-solar-system/">comets</a> could have helped make our planet habitable,” said Cordiner.



“By mapping both H2O and HDO in the comet’s coma, we can tell if these gases are coming from the frozen ices within the solid body of the nucleus, rather than forming from chemistry or other processes in the gas coma,” said <a href="https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/stefanie.n.milam" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stefanie Milam</a> from NASA's <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Goddard</a> and co-author of the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-isotopes-explain-earth-s-water">Isotopes explain Earth’s water</h2>



Water is H2O, but the hydrogen can be the heavy isotope deuterium, so scientists track the D/H ratio to compare water across the solar system and test shared origins or separate histories. 



Different comets have shown different D/H values in the past, which complicated the idea that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-a-comet-explodes-cosmic-airbursts-are-more-common-than-we-thought/">comets</a> filled Earth’s oceans.



A warm inner solar system comet, <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/103p-hartley-hartley-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">103P/Hartley 2</a>, carried water with a D/H close to Earth’s, measured with the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/herschel-space-observatory/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Herschel</a> telescope in 2011 and often cited as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10519" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence</a> for icy deliveries from small bodies.



Other targets pulled in the opposite direction. Rosetta sampled <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1261952" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko</a> and found a much higher D/H, pointing to diverse water reservoirs among comets.



Meteorites have long weighed in too. Many <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1223474" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbonaceous chondrites</a> (a rare type of primitive stony meteorite characterized by their high carbon content and other volatile elements) show ocean-like water, which led many researchers to favor asteroids over comets as the main source of Earth’s water supply.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-comet-12p-reveals">What comet 12P reveals</h2>



12P/Pons Brooks belongs to <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Halley-type comets</a>, objects with orbits between 20 and 200 years that sweep through the inner solar system only now and then. 



Its orbital period is about 71 years according to NASA Jet Propulsion Lab’s (<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JPL</a>’s) Small-Body Database (<a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SBD</a>) database, so it gives us rare chances to study an icy body that likely formed far from the Sun.



Many members of this class are thought to originate in the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-015-0161-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oort cloud</a>, a distant reservoir of small icy bodies nudged inward over time, which means their ice can preserve early solar system conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-measuring-comet-12p-water">Measuring comet 12P water</h2>



ALMA’s <a href="https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/about-alma/how-alma-works/technologies/interferometry/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interferometry</a> links many antennas to create high resolution images at millimeter wavelengths, letting scientists map where molecules arise within the coma rather than just tallying totals along a line of sight.



The group paired ALMA’s maps with near infrared measurements from the NASA IRTF, using its <a href="https://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/~ishell/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iSHELL</a> spectrograph to track water and companion gases that inform composition and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whats-up-in-the-night-sky-during-the-month-of-april-2025/">context</a>. 



That one-two approach narrowed uncertainties enough to report a D/H with a precision that separates it from many past comet results.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-like-water-in-12p-is-important">Earth-like water in 12P is important</h2>



If some Halley-type comets carry ocean-like water, then the roster of plausible couriers expands beyond certain asteroids and a few Jupiter family comets. 



A mixed delivery, timed during heavy bombardment in early Earth history, remains a coherent picture that many geochemists and dynamicists can test with new targets.



Comets also carry carbon based molecules. <a href="https://www.mps.mpg.de/en/rosetta/rosina" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ROSINA</a> (Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis) mass spectrometer <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27386550/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">identified</a> the amino acid glycine and phosphorus at 67P, a reminder that icy bodies can ship both water and life’s raw materials together to rocky worlds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-comets-show-different-water">Why comets show different water</h2>



Different formation zones, thermal histories, and processing by sunlight and cosmic rays can tweak isotope ratios in ices. 



That leads to the mix of D/H values seen so far, including the high number at 67P and Earth-like water at Hartley 2 and now 12P.



Sampling a broader set of Oort cloud and Halley-type objects will show whether 12P sits at one end of a spectrum or marks a common <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/interstellar-comet-31-atlas-stuns-astronomers-with-size-and-speed/">pattern</a> for this family.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comet-12p-and-future-space-missions">Comet 12p and future space missions</h2>



Future campaigns can repeat the ALMA plus IRTF playbook on other periodic comets as they approach the Sun. 



Missions on the horizon, such as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-023-01035-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Comet Interceptor</a>, aim to visit a dynamically pristine object and could take isotope studies off Earth entirely with in situ measurements.



Each target with a precise D/H moves the debate from broad strokes to fine lines, where models of solar system dynamics and geochemistry either hold water or spring leaks.



12P passed perihelion in April 2024, which brought its activity within reach of powerful facilities that did not exist during many earlier apparitions. 



Timing, instrumentation, and careful cross calibration combined to give the field a clean measurement that others can challenge or confirm with comparable methods.



Precision like this offers a stepping stone toward a full inventory of small-body water sources across different dynamical classes and origins. This is a leap forward, even by today’s technological standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-still-need-to-learn">What we still need to learn</h2>



Isotope ratios in other molecules, such as nitrogen and oxygen species, will further test shared heritage between cometary ices and Earth’s reservoirs. 



Linking those chemical fingerprints with dynamical simulations of how material moved around the young solar system will sharpen which bodies delivered what, and when.



A handful of well measured comets can anchor those models, but the goal is a population view that explains the widespread seen so far without special pleading.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02614-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Astronomy</a>.



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Comet 12P/Pons Brooks is made of water that is almost identical to Earth's water

New observations of comet 12P/Pons Brooks have pinned down a...

In the bearded dragon, sex isn’t determined by chromosomes alone. These lizards can hatch male or female depending not just on their DNA, but also on the temperature of their nest. 



This rare phenomenon has made the bearded dragon a focus for scientists exploring how sex is determined in vertebrates.



Now, two separate studies have built nearly complete reference genomes of the central <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/australian-dragons-reveal-new-clues-about-the-mysteries-of-sleep/">bearded dragon</a>, Pogona vitticeps.



The research provides the clearest look yet at what makes a male a male - and why sometimes, a genetically male dragon hatches as a female.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-bearded-dragon-s-genetic-switch">The bearded dragon's genetic switch</h2>



The new research comes from scientists at the <a href="https://www.canberra.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Canberra</a> in Australia and <a href="http://www.zju.edu.cn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Zhejiang University</a> in China. Both groups independently sequenced the bearded dragon genome, using different technologies and approaches.



The teams landed on the same key insight: a likely master sex-determining gene hiding in the dragon’s Z chromosome.



Unlike humans, where sex is determined entirely by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animal-chromosomes-have-conserved-specific-elements-for-600-million-years/">chromosomes</a>, bearded dragons follow a ZZ/ZW system. Males are ZZ and females are ZW. 



But high temperatures during egg incubation can flip the switch - turning a genetic male (ZZ) into a fully functional female. That rare flexibility in vertebrates has made these lizards essential for studying how environment and DNA interact.



With the help of advanced sequencing tools, both teams zoomed in on one region of the genome they believe controls this entire process.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-genomes-one-big-answer">Two genomes, one big answer</h2>



The first study used a combination of DNBSEQ short-reads and long-reads from the new CycloneSEQ nanopore sequencer. It’s the first time this technology has been used to sequence an animal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/turtles-have-genomes-unlike-any-other-animal/">genome</a>.



The second project, focused on a female lizard, used a mix of PacBio HiFi, ONT ultralong reads, and Hi-C sequencing.



By analyzing different animals (one male, one female) and utilizing different technology, the teams created genomes that complement each other. 



Together, the genomes help fill in gaps and confirm shared findings - like the identification of roughly 124 million base pairs of previously missing sequence, including genes and regulatory elements.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bearded-dragon-sex-gene">Bearded dragon sex gene</h2>



Thanks to these advanced methods, the scientists were able to assemble nearly the full genome - 1.75 billion base pairs in each case - down to the telomeres. 



The researchers also mapped the Z and W chromosomes in detail, including a key “pseudo-autosomal region” (PAR) where the sex chromosomes pair and recombine.



Most importantly, both teams pinpointed the same region of the genome as the likely home of the sex-determining gene. Within that region, one gene stood out: Amh, or Anti-Müllerian hormone. 



The hormone - along with its receptor Amhr2 and another gene, Bmpr1a - were identified as strong candidates for controlling sex.



Expression analysis showed that Amh is far more active in developing males, suggesting it could be the master regulator. The twist? Bearded dragons also have autosomal (non-sex chromosome) versions of these genes, meaning they might act together in a network, not just through the sex chromosomes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-milestone-for-reptile-genetics">A milestone for reptile genetics</h2>



Until now, no reptile had a clearly identified master sex-determining gene like mammals (Sry) or birds (Dmrt1). This discovery may be the closest we’ve come in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reptiles-survived-hellish-conditions-during-earths-worst-climate-crisis/">reptiles</a>.



Arthur Georges, senior author on the second paper, explained that the new genome assemblies will fuel rapid progress in many research areas. They open the door to studies on cranial and brain development, behavior, and how genes interact with one another as well as with the environment. 



Georges added that the bearded dragon now offers a strong squamate model for comparison with more traditional model species, including mice, humans, and birds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sex-determination-in-bearded-dragons">Sex determination in bearded dragons</h2>



Qiye Li, senior author on the first paper, explained why the bearded dragon was the first animal genome sequenced using the new technology.



“We decided to start working on the bearded dragon genome last year as the first animal genome for this new sequencer because it was the Year of the Dragon in China," said Li.



"The two reference genomes, derived from opposite sex and generated by different technologies, are indeed complementary to each other."



"I am excited that both genomes pinpoint the key role of AMH signaling in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snakes-depend-on-their-sex-chromosomes-for-survival/">sex determination</a> in this species. But how did the sex chromosomes arise? We anticipate that additional high‑quality genomes from related species will further elucidate the evolutionary origin of the ZW system and complete the story."



A webinar with the two lead authors will take place on August 26 at 10:00 AM UTC, offering a chance for researchers and the public alike to ask questions and learn more about what’s next for this fascinating species.



The research was published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/doi/10.1093/gigascience/giaf085/8237437">GigaScience</a>.



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How heat can rewrite the destiny of a bearded dragon

In the bearded dragon, sex isn’t determined by chromosomes alone....

We all know the feeling. You meet someone new, trade a few words, and it feels like you’ve known them forever. With others, no matter how much time you spend together, the connection never comes. But why?



Researchers say the answer might be hidden in the brain. A new study shows that people whose brains respond in similar ways to the world are more likely to become <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-friendships-improve-your-health-as-you-age/">friends</a> later. Long before two strangers grab coffee or share stories, their brains may already be in sync.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-people-prefer-like-minded-company">People prefer like-minded company</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-changes-what-we-thought-about-friendship-between-plants-fungus-networks/">Humans</a> have always preferred like-minded company. Scientists call this tendency homophily - the pull toward people who look, act, or think like us. It explains why friends often share hobbies, values, or humor. 



But a deeper question has nagged researchers for years. Do friendships create this similarity, or do people seek out those who already see the world the same way?



Carolyn Parkinson at the <a href="https://www.ucla.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Los Angeles</a> wanted to find out. She and her colleagues designed an experiment that started before friendships had a chance to form.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-brain-predicts-future-friendships">The brain predicts future friendships </h2>



The team recruited 41 graduate students. Just before classes began, and before anyone had a chance to build connections, each student entered a brain scanner. 



Inside, they watched 14 short movie clips. The clips covered many styles and topics - documentaries, comedies, debates, food, sports, science.



The researchers tracked activity across 214 brain regions. Each student’s brain left a unique signature of how they paid attention, reacted, and interpreted what they saw. These “neural fingerprints” became the key to predicting future friendships.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-friendships-in-the-brain">Mapping friendships in the brain</h2>



Two months later, all 288 students in the program completed surveys asking who they spent free time with. They repeated the surveys six months after that. These results created a living map of friendships - who became close, who drifted apart, and who stayed distant.



When the researchers compared this map to the brain data, patterns emerged. Students who became <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oxytocin-has-a-hidden-influence-on-who-we-call-friends/">friends</a> eight months later had already shown more similar brain responses back at the start. 



The strongest overlap appeared in the orbitofrontal cortex, a region linked to how we assign value and meaning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-first-impressions-aren-t-enough">First impressions aren’t enough</h2>



Interestingly, at the two-month mark, there was no big difference between the brains of friends and non-friends. That means early friendships may form out of convenience - living nearby, attending the same events, or sitting together in class. 



But as time passes, people sort themselves out. Those with deeper neural similarities grow closer. Others drift away.



The study also revealed that people who became closer showed stronger alignment across 42 brain regions. 



Many of these areas help us understand stories, focus attention, and imagine other people’s perspectives. It seems that lasting friendships may rely on how similarly two minds interpret the world.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-similar-ways-of-thinking">Similar ways of thinking</h2>



These findings go beyond shared taste in movies or music. Even after accounting for whether students enjoyed the clips, the brain similarities held. That suggests something more fundamental at work.



“Sociodemographic factors, at least in terms of what we were able to measure here, just seem to explain part of the picture,” Carolyn Parkinson explained.



In other words, friendships aren’t just about being the same age or studying the same subject. They may be built on hidden compatibilities in thought.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-thinking-lines-up">When thinking lines up</h2>



The brain regions that mattered most belong to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/friends-affect-how-our-brain-responds-to-shopping/">networks</a> that knit together memories, beliefs, and emotions into a picture of what’s happening. 



When two people’s brains line up in these areas, conversations flow more easily. Communication feels natural rather than forced.



“People whose thinking processes are more similar find it easier to get on. When they say something, they just know what the other is thinking because it is how they think themselves,” noted Robin Dunbar at the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oxford</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-friendship-is-deeper-than-background">Friendship is deeper than background</h2>



The team checked whether similarities in gender, nationality, or academic background explained the brain overlap. These factors played a role, but they didn’t erase the effect. 



Even after adjusting for such variables, people who grew closer showed distinct neural alignment. This means that the roots of friendship run deeper than surface similarities. 



You might connect with someone from a different culture, age, or background if your minds process experiences in the same way. That connection could outlast friendships built only on proximity or circumstance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-friendships-born-or-shaped">Are friendships born or shaped?</h2>



For some scientists, these results confirm an old intuition. Dunbar, who wasn’t part of the study, sees the findings as expected. 



“That like attracts like, rather than people thrown together by accidents draw closer in their traits. In other words, close friends are born, not made,” noted Dunbar.



But the story isn’t entirely one-sided. Life still shapes friendships. Initial bonds may form by chance. Over time, those built on deeper alignment endure, while others fade. 



Both circumstance and compatibility matter, but this research shows that compatibility often wins out.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-compass-in-our-brains">Hidden compass in our brains</h2>



What does this mean for everyday life? It suggests that our brains act like quiet compasses, pointing us toward the people who will eventually become close friends. 



We may not be aware of it, but the ease we feel with some people could reflect deep similarities in how our minds process the world.



Friendship, then, is more than shared interests or happy accidents. It is also about shared rhythms of thought, hidden long before we realize it.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02266-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Human Behaviour</a>.



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Secrets of lasting friendships are hiding in the brain

We all know the feeling. You meet someone new, trade...

Erythrocyte,Interaction,With,Plastic,Microparticles,In,Blood.,3d,Illustration,Showing

Scientists can pull plastic particles out of seawater with relative ease, but finding and tracking them in human body tissue is far more complex. 



A new expert <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44222-025-00335-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> lays out how labs can detect plastic particles in blood, lungs, placentas, and other tissues - and why measurement choices will shape what health risks they reveal.



The authors dissect a fast-moving literature to show where current methods succeed, where they fail, and what must improve. 



They highlight the importance of sample preparation, standardized reporting, and clear metrics so that studies can be compared and results trusted.



At the center is a simple but daunting question: How do you measure plastic inside living systems without distorting the evidence?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-particles-in-human-tissue">Plastic particles in human tissue</h2>



“Every biological sample represents a different matrix,” said <a href="https://www.umass.edu/stockbridge/about/directory/baoshan-xing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Baoshan Xing</a>, professor of Environmental and Soil Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts (<a href="https://www.umass.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UMass</a>) and lead study author.



That simple point drives the lab playbook. Fatty tissues, protein-rich organs, shells, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/prehistoric-humans-used-ancient-plant-fiber-technology-to-make-tools-39000-years-ago/">plant fibers</a> need tailored digestion steps, from alkaline solutions to enzymes. These steps allow researchers separate plastics without melting or morphing them.



Researchers use the term microplastics for solid plastic particles roughly one micrometer to five millimeters in size. It's a range now common in U.S. government and research guidance. 



Nanoplastics typically refer to particles smaller than one micrometer, often defined by colloidal behavior in the one to 1,000 nanometer range.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-finding-plastics-in-the-lab">Finding plastics in the lab</h2>



After digestion, labs isolate particles and verify their identity. The main tools are Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, and thermal methods like pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). 



Each comes with trade-offs in size limits, throughput, and polymer specificity, especially in complex tissues. Scientists use salty solutions to float or sink plastics, making it easier to recover heavier particles.



Quality control matters as much as the chemistry, including strict contamination blanks, clean air handling, and reporting of detection limits to prevent false positives or inflated counts.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/micro-nano-plastics_human-body-concentrations_illustration_credit-Nature_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/micro-nano-plastics_human-body-concentrations_illustration_credit-Nature_1s.webp" alt="Detection, concentration and distribution of MNPs in the human body. Credit: Nature Reviews Bioengineering" class="wp-image-1982042"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Detection, concentration and distribution of MNPs in the human body. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Nature Reviews Bioengineering</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-early-health-signals-show">What early health signals show</h2>



Researchers have measured <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-inhale-the-equivalent-of-a-credit-card-in-microplastics-each-week/">microplastics</a> in human blood, showing that polymer fragments can circulate systemically. They detected measurable mass concentrations using pyrolysis GC/MS.



Follow-up work has begun to profile sizes, shapes, and polymer types in blood from healthy volunteers to probe possible links with physiology.



Scientists have found plastic particles in human placentas on both the mother’s and baby’s sides. This raises concerns about exposure before birth, which cannot be answered without better, standardized tests.



Human lung tissue examined after surgery has contained identifiable microplastics. Micro-FTIR revealed polymer types and reported concentrations per gram of tissue under stringent blank controls.



Vascular studies have reported microplastics and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-could-help-remove-nanoplastics-from-the-environment/">nanoplastics</a> in carotid artery plaques and associated those findings with higher risks of heart attack, stroke, or death over follow-up periods in clinical cohorts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-methods-alter-outcomes">Methods alter outcomes</h2>



Dose matters, but researchers can count it in several ways. The number of particles per gram, mass per gram, or surface area per gram do not tell the same story in a tissue where sizes, shapes, and polymers vary widely.



Interpretation hinges on the metric. Fibers may be many but light, while spheres may be few but heavy. Different shapes behave differently, so researchers must choose measurement methods that fit the health question.



“There are no accepted protocols yet,” said Xing. Without standard methods, it’s hard to compare plastic levels across studies or turn them into health guidelines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-helps-track-plastics">AI helps track plastics</h2>



High-throughput imaging and spectral data generate mountains of information, which is where <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-machine-learning-can-help-us-protect-chimpanzees/">machine learning</a> (ML) can help.



Researchers are pairing Raman datasets with classification models to speed up polymer identification and reduce analyst bias.



Thermal analysis coupled with FTIR is also being automated with ML to tease apart polymer signals in complex biological matrices, improving throughput while keeping false identifications in check.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastics-research-needs-standards">Plastics research needs standards</h2>



Reference materials, interlaboratory comparisons, and matrix specific digestion and detection protocols will make results more trustworthy and comparable across labs. 



Agencies are already coordinating methods of research, from definitions to practical measurement guidance, to support that standardization push.



“This is a headache,” said Xing. The upside is that a clear, shared toolkit would let scientists quantify risks with the same confidence we expect in other areas of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-in-human-brains-may-affect-mental-health/">environmental health</a>.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44222-025-00335-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Reviews Bioengineering</a>.



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Easier method helps detect and measure the amount of plastic particles in human bodies

Scientists can pull plastic particles out of seawater with relative...

Cast,Of,Fossilized,Early,Ancient,Man,Skull.,Australopithecus,Afarensis,Is

The story of human evolution is not a simple ladder from early forms to more advanced ones. For decades, fossils shaped a picture of steady, linear progress - one form giving rise to another in a neat sequence.



But science often rewrites its narratives when new evidence appears. Now, remarkable finds in Ethiopia are challenging long-held assumptions and painting a richer, more intricate picture of our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/big-males-small-females-a-window-into-prehistoric-power-struggles/">origins</a>.



Recent fossil discoveries in Ethiopia suggest that our evolutionary past was far more complex than a simple linear progression. 



Research led by UNLV anthropologist <a href="https://www.unlv.edu/people/brian-villmoare" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brian Villmoare</a>, in collaboration with the <a href="https://shesc.asu.edu/research/projects/ledi-geraru-research-project-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ledi-Geraru Research Project</a>, has revealed that Australopithecus and early and unidentified Homo species coexisted between 2.6 and 2.8 million years ago in the same part of Africa.



These findings challenge the traditional “march from ape to human” model and instead support the idea of a branching tree with multiple lineages.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-australopithecus-the-basics">Understanding Australopithecus - the basics</h2>



Australopithecus walked the African landscape around 3 million years ago, bridging the gap between our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/big-males-small-females-a-window-into-prehistoric-power-struggles/">ape-like ancestors</a> and modern humans. 



They stood upright, though shorter and smaller-brained than us, and their mix of traits - long arms for climbing, but pelvis and legs built for walking - shows how they lived in both trees and open grasslands. 



Fossils of species like Australopithecus afarensis, best known from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lucy-could-barely-run-what-does-that-say-about-our-ancestors/">famous skeleton "Lucy,"</a> reveal that these early hominins were already experimenting with bipedalism while still relying on arboreal agility.



What makes Australopithecus so fascinating is the story their bones tell about adaptation. They didn’t use tools the way later hominins did, but they set the stage for it by freeing their hands once walking became the norm. 



Their teeth and jaws suggest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-humans-had-surprising-diets-3-5-million-years-ago/">a varied diet</a>, probably fruits, roots, and tougher plants, helping them survive in shifting environments. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-australopithecus-lived-with-others">Australopithecus lived with others</h2>



At the <a href="https://shesc.asu.edu/research/projects/ledi-geraru-research-project-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ledi-Geraru site</a>, scientists found 13 teeth. Some belonged to early Homo, while others came from a previously unknown Australopithecus species.



The latter is different from the famous Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, known as “Lucy,” that disappeared from the fossil record around 2.95 million years ago. 



The research showed no evidence of Lucy’s kind aged any younger than 2.95 million years.



“This new research shows that the image many of us have in our minds of an ape to a Neanderthal to a modern human is not correct - evolution doesn’t work like that,” said <a href="https://www.asu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ASU</a> paleoecologist Kaye Reed. 



“Here we have two hominin species that are together. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-ancestor-paranthropus-robustus-walked-upright-2-million-years-ago/">Human evolution</a> is not linear - it's a bushy tree, there are life forms that go extinct.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-site-shows-oldest-homo-and-tools">Site shows oldest Homo and tools</h2>



Ledi-Geraru is already well known in paleoanthropology. It has produced the oldest known Homo jaw fossil, dated to 2.8 million years ago, and the earliest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-tools-ever-made-on-earth-hominins-3-million-years-ago-cradle-of-humankind/">Oldowan stone tools</a>. 



The site’s sediments, which are rich in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/prehistoric-homo-sapiens-stone-tools-preserved-volcanic-ash-grotta-di-castelcivita/">volcanic ash</a>, allow precise dating.



Crystals in the ash, called feldspars, are key for determining the ages of fossils, as they can be dated from volcanic eruptions above and below the fossil layers. 



This geological context also provides clues about the environment in which these species lived.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-australopithecus-territory-had-rivers">Australopithecus territory had rivers</h2>



Two to three million years ago, the Ledi-Geraru area was a dynamic landscape of rivers, vegetation, and shallow lakes that expanded and shrank over time. 



This is a stark contrast to today’s faulted badlands. 



Geological evidence indicates that the region preserved an interpretable record for the period from 2.3 to 2.95 million years ago - a crucial time in terms of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-humans-ate-tough-plants-and-changed-the-world-forever/">human evolution</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/new-hominin-species_fossil-teeth_LGRP_credit-Nature_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/new-hominin-species_fossil-teeth_LGRP_credit-Nature_1s.webp" alt="New hominin species fossil teeth from the LGRP. Credit: Nature" class="wp-image-1982136"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New hominin species fossil teeth from the LGRP. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Nature</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multiple-lineages-multiple-niches">Multiple lineages, multiple niches</h2>



The study concluded that before 2.5 million years ago, eastern Africa may have had as many as four hominin lineages: early Homo, Australopithecus garhi, the newly discovered Ledi-Geraru Australopithecus, and potentially others in nearby regions.



“We used to think of human evolution as fairly linear, with a steady march from an ape-like ancestor to modern Homo sapiens," Villmoare said. 



Instead, humans branched out multiple times into different niches.



"Our pattern of evolution is not particularly unusual, and what has happened to humans has happened to every other tree of life.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tooth-enamel-holds-hidden-answers">Tooth enamel holds hidden answers</h2>



Detailed analysis of the teeth showed differences from known Australopithecus and Homo specimens. 



These distinctions suggest the Ledi-Geraru Australopithecus was neither a late-surviving A. afarensis nor A. garhi, but rather a previously unknown species. 



However, the team has not yet named it, as more fossils are needed for a full classification.



Researchers are now studying the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tooth-enamel-analysis-suggests-early-eurasians-were-multiple-species-paranthropus-robustus/">tooth enamel</a> to understand diet and possible interactions between early Homo and this Australopithecus species. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-study-is-needed">More study is needed</h2>



Key questions remain: Did they compete for food or share resources? How often did they encounter each other? Who were their ancestors?



“Whenever you have an exciting discovery, if you’re a paleontologist, you always know that you need more information,” Reed explained. “You need more fossils.”



“That’s why it’s an important field to train people in - and for people to go out and find their own sites and explore places where we haven’t yet found fossils.”



More finds could reveal not just how these species lived but also why some survived while others vanished.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09390-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



Image Credit: Kaye Reed, <a href="https://www.asu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arizona State University</a>.



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New early Homo species discovered that challenges "ape-to-human" evolution theory

The story of human evolution is not a simple ladder...

Your herb garden may be packing more plant power than you think. Common plants like basil, thyme, and lavender don’t just add flavor - they’re part of a botanical family that’s quietly storing enormous genetic surprises. 



One of their lesser-known cousins just revealed a hidden capacity that could have major implications for health, farming, and science.



In a new study, researchers at <a href="https://msu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Michigan State University</a> discovered that a Mediterranean shrub called ground oak has a genome almost as large as a human's - about three billion base pairs. 



The shrub also carries four full sets of chromosomes, plus an unusually large gene cluster tied to the production of potent natural chemicals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plants-with-hidden-powers">Plants with hidden powers</h2>



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-in-the-mint-family-may-help-produce-new-medicines/">mint family</a> of plants has long intrigued scientists for its powerful natural properties. Certain species have shown potential as anti-cancer, anti-viral, or pest-repellent agents. But harnessing those chemicals in useful quantities has always been a challenge. 



The new genetic insight could bring researchers closer to doing just that - by replicating the plant’s chemical-making machinery in the lab.



“What if we could spray our veggies with a natural product that makes a hungry deer or insect say, ‘No thank you,’” said MSU researcher Björn Hamberger, pointing to possible agricultural uses.



“These plants also have exciting antimicrobial properties, which could help with the trouble we see nowadays concerning <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-fueling-antibiotic-resistance-in-our-soils/">antibiotic resistance</a>."



“This project was like many others where we walked in thinking we knew just what to do,” Hamberger said. “We’ve learned again that plants always have something more up their sleeves.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ground-oak-links-to-healing">Ground oak links to healing</h2>



Humans have relied on mint family plants for thousands of years - not just for taste and scent, but also for healing and wellness. 



At Michigan State University, Hamberger and his team focus on the special molecules created by these plants, known as specialized metabolites. The molecules help plants survive harsh environments and resist disease, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urgent-need-to-protect-earths-forests-from-non-native-pests/">pests</a>, or other threats.



Unlike basic molecules that all plants need to live (like sugars and amino acids), these specialized metabolites are more like bonus features. Some might <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aloe-vera-waste-shows-promise-as-natural-insect-repellent-anti-aging-properties/">repel bugs</a>. Others might fight off bacteria. And many of them, scientists are learning, could be used to improve human health or agriculture.



“Plants don’t have the luxury of running away from pests or pathogens, so they turn to chemistry to get the job done,” said Hamberger.



In previous work, the Hamberger Lab sequenced the genome of American beautyberry, a plant known for its mosquito-repelling properties. That work helped uncover how different mint family members evolved their chemical arsenals. 



The research also earned MSU graduate students Abigail Bryson and Nicholas Schlecht the university’s Neogen Land Grant Prize - awarded to research that promises real-world scientific and economic impact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-ground-oak">Why ground oak?</h2>



To push further into the mint family’s chemical secrets, Bryson set her sights on ground oak, a small mounded <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-shrub-holds-the-record-for-europes-oldest-tree/">shrub</a> with pinkish-purple flowers and oak-shaped leaves. Native to the Mediterranean, the plant hasn’t been widely studied.



“We thought: let’s sequence ground oak, find out how the plants achieve their useful chemical products, and get a blueprint to build plant-derived therapeutics in the lab,” said Hamberger.



“This was all good, until Abby found out ground oak had an unexpectedly massive surprise in store for us."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-one-of-the-largest-plant-genomes">One of the largest plant genomes</h2>



The commonly studied Arabidopsis plant has about 135 million DNA base pairs. Ground oak has nearly 3 billion - more than 20 times as much.



“When you assemble a genome, it's like you have parts of sentences of a book, and you are trying to figure out what the story says, line by line, chapter by chapter,” said Bryson, lead author of the study and now a postdoctoral researcher at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.



“Something about genomes that is difficult to picture is the size of the data we are working with. If the genome was the size of an actual book, the thickness of that book would be hundreds of feet, and the human and ground oak genomes would be around the size of world’s fifth tallest building,” she added.



To handle the challenge, Bryson collaborated with plant genome expert Robin Buell and got additional support from MSU's Department of Plant Biology and the Max T. Rogers Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ground-oak-holds-extra-genes">Ground oak holds extra genes</h2>



The surprises didn’t stop at size. Ground oak turned out to be tetraploid - meaning it carries four complete sets of chromosomes. Humans, by comparison, have two.



“Imagine if you have to sort through and solve four puzzles dumped into the same box - that’s what Abby achieved,” said Hamberger.



The team also found a large gene cluster - a tight grouping of related genes - linked to the production of the plant’s specialized metabolites. That’s significant because gene clusters like this can streamline how traits evolve and are passed on.



In an earlier study of American beautyberry, the Hamberger Lab found a similar but smaller gene cluster. The discovery suggests this kind of genomic arrangement might be common across mint family plants - and may help explain how these species evolved such a wide range of powerful compounds.



Why cluster or duplicate genes at all? According to Hamberger, it's about efficiency. “If one set of genetic information is already performing an important duty, its duplicate is free to evolve newer functions,” he said.



“Once materials are packed together tightly, it’s easier to move them onto the next generation."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-future-powered-by-plants">A future powered by plants</h2>



With these discoveries, the team at MSU is a step closer to producing useful plant-based chemicals in the lab at scale. That could mean more sustainable pest control, new antimicrobial treatments, or even fresh strategies to tackle diseases that resist current medicine.



So, the next time you smell mint or brush past rosemary in the garden, think about what’s really packed inside. It’s not just aroma or flavor - it might be the future of medicine or farming, encoded in a genome as tall as a skyscraper.



The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2590346225001555" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plant Communications</a>.



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Ground oak’s genetic secrets may inspire new medicines and pesticides

Your herb garden may be packing more plant power than...

Imagine taking a single puff from an inhaler once a week and gaining protection from viral infections that make winters unbearable. Scientists believe such an approach could also guard against future pandemics. 



The idea comes from new animal studies on an mRNA treatment designed to boost our natural defenses against viruses.



“You can think about this as a universal antiviral,” said Dusan Bogunovic at <a href="https://www.columbia.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Columbia University</a> in New York. The treatment aims to activate the body’s built-in antiviral shield before <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/previously-overlooked-viruses-may-secretly-shape-bacterial-populations/">viruses</a> have the chance to spread.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-body-fights-viruses">How the body fights viruses</h2>



Our immune system already holds powerful tools against <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-virus-spread-too-quickly-for-bats-alone-to-be-responsible/">infection</a>. When cells detect viruses, they release interferon, a molecule that activates about 1000 genes. 



These genes lead to the production of antiviral proteins. Some block viruses from entering cells, while others stop new viral particles from spreading.



“Our innate immune system is extremely powerful,” said Bogunovic. However, respiratory viruses reproduce so quickly that they often outpace these defenses. A head start could keep infections mild while the rest of the immune system catches up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-activating-protective-genes">Activating protective genes</h2>



In earlier research, many scientists believed that interferon itself could serve as a powerful, broad antiviral treatment. Interferon is a natural signaling molecule that helps cells activate hundreds of protective genes, which then produce antiviral proteins to fight <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-makes-a-virus-capable-of-causing-a-pandemic/">infections</a>. 



The idea was that by giving patients interferon directly, doctors could strengthen the body’s immune defenses and block a wide range of viruses. 



However, this approach faced a serious obstacle: interferon often caused harmful side effects when used as a drug. These side effects limited its practical use and prevented it from becoming the universal antiviral once hoped for.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-overcoming-the-interferon-challenges">Overcoming the interferon challenges</h2>



To overcome this, Dusan Bogunovic and his colleagues explored a different path. Instead of relying on interferon itself, they focused on the proteins that interferon activates. 



Out of the many possibilities, they selected ten promising proteins that are naturally produced when the body detects a viral attack.



The team then delivered instructions for making these proteins into cells using mRNA technology. This method has a unique advantage: rather than struggling to push large, pre-made proteins into cells, the mRNA allows cells to produce the proteins internally, right where they are needed most.



Laboratory tests showed strong results. Human cells infected with flu and Zika <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/preparing-for-the-next-pandemic-lessons-about-viral-transmission/">viruses</a> displayed enhanced antiviral defenses after receiving this mRNA treatment. These findings gave researchers hope that such a strategy could also prove effective in living animals and, eventually, in humans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inhaler-that-targets-many-viruses">Inhaler that targets many viruses</h2>



The team then delivered the mRNA mixture directly to the lungs of golden hamsters. The results were striking. Treated hamsters resisted SARS-CoV-2 infection, showing much lower viral levels than untreated ones.



“I was like, ‘wow, this actually might be a universal antiviral,'” said Bogunovic. Current antiviral drugs usually target specific viruses. A treatment effective against many viruses would be a major breakthrough, comparable to antibiotics revolutionizing medicine by tackling a broad range of bacteria.



This method may also allow tailoring protein combinations for particular viruses. “Some combinations of interferon-triggered proteins might be especially effective against specific viruses,” said Bogunovic. 



Such flexibility could create both broad and targeted therapies depending on the need. Delivering enough mRNA to the right cells remains a technical challenge. 



“This is certainly exciting and could lead to very promising advances, but we are several steps down the line away from talking about a deployable, versatile countermeasure,” noted Aris Katzourakis at the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oxford</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-of-the-mrna-inhaler">Potential of the mRNA inhaler</h2>



Despite hurdles, the research shows how mRNA technology can extend beyond vaccines. 



Bogunovic is optimistic that viruses may not easily evolve resistance, as multiple proteins target different parts of the viral lifecycle. This strategy has already proved successful in HIV treatments.



“The research highlights the potential of mRNA technology beyond vaccines. The current trajectory in the US with mRNA vaccines will certainly and tragically slow down progress on both of these fronts,” said Katzourakis.



If these advances continue, one weekly puff might one day shield us from the viruses that have long shaped human health.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adx5758" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Translational Medicine</a>.



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One puff inhaler could block many dangerous viruses

Imagine taking a single puff from an inhaler once a...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex
</div></figure>







Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

How does salt makes things taste better?

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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