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...

Humpback whales travel thousands of kilometers each year, migrating between Antarctic feeding grounds and tropical breeding areas. This journey demands energy, timing, and favorable environmental conditions.



New research from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Queensland</a> has revealed that these whales now head south significantly earlier than before, by about three weeks.



This shift in humpback whale migration is not just a quirk of nature. It may be a response to deeper changes in the Southern Ocean.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-whales-are-now-migrating-earlier">Whales are now migrating earlier</h2>



Between 2003 and 2024, the southern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baby-humpback-whales-are-born-in-places-we-didnt-expect/">migration</a> peak shifted from early October to mid-September. 



“Acoustic and visual surveys show the peak of the southern migration in 2003 was in early October but by 2024, we observed it was in the middle of September,” noted Professor Rebecca Dunlop, lead author of the study.



This change was found across different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-helps-humans-have-20-minute-conversation-with-humpback-whale-named-twain/">whale</a> groups: adult males, mothers with calves, and mixed adult groups. 



Singing males, tracked through acoustic surveys, also showed a 22-day shift. These consistent patterns point to a population-wide response, not just isolated variation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-less-ice-and-krill">Less ice and krill </h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whales-blow-bubble-smoke-rings-near-humans-to-communicate/">Whales</a> feed mostly on Antarctic krill, which depend on sea ice for food and shelter. Since 2016, sea ice in regions like the Ross Sea has declined sharply. By 2024, ice levels had dropped by over six million square kilometers.



Whales do not eat much during their migration. They rely on the fat reserves built up during the summer. 



“Fewer available krill prior to the migration could be forcing the whales back to the feeding grounds earlier,” said Dunlop.



Environmental records confirm the link. An earlier return south was strongly correlated with low sea ice and specific chlorophyll-a levels (a marker of ocean productivity) during summer feeding periods.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-whales-migrate-with-growing-pressure">Whales migrate with growing pressure</h2>



The eastern Australian humpback whale population has rebounded from near extinction. It grew from just 300 individuals in the 1960s to around 40,000 today.



But this success comes with consequences. More whales mean more competition for krill. At the same time, krill fishing for fishmeal and supplements has intensified.



Earlier shifts in whale migration were not seen during past periods of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whales-transport-nutrients-across-entire-ocean-basins-in-their-urine/">population</a> growth. But now, under growing environmental pressure, the timing has started to change. This suggests that climate impacts, not crowding, may drive the shift.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-whales-show-similar-trends-globally">Whales show similar trends globally</h2>



This pattern is not isolated to Australia. Populations along the western coast of Australia, California, and even South America have also shown changes in timing. Some arrive earlier at breeding grounds, others leave feeding grounds sooner.



“The later years of this study coincide with a pronounced decline in sea ice coverage beyond usual annual fluctuations,” said Dunlop.



These declines were especially sharp after 2021. That is exactly when the migration pattern began to shift.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-greater-energy-cost">A greater energy cost</h2>



Humpback whales are resilient. They have bounced back before. But the current situation is different. Environmental changes are now faster and broader. While whales still migrate and reproduce, the energy cost may be increasing.



“I am concerned at some point we may see a decline in birth rates because females won't have the energy to support migrating north, giving birth and getting their calf back to the feeding grounds,” warned Dunlop.



Researchers are now investigating if whales also leave the feeding grounds earlier. If both legs of the journey shift, it may point to long-term changes in life cycle and reproductive success.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-whale-migration-and-ocean-changes">Whale migration and ocean changes</h2>



Whales respond to changes in food, ice, and temperature. Their migration is tied to the pulse of the ocean. Shifts in their patterns signal broader disruptions in marine ecosystems, affecting balance and biodiversity.



Monitoring whale timing can help track how quickly the Southern Ocean changes. The data may also provide insight into the health of connected species. But more studies on whale health and krill populations are needed to understand the full impact.



For now, whales continue their incredible journey. But their timing tells a different story - one that's shaped by a changing planet.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-07010-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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Humpback whales now migrate weeks early, signaling big ocean changes

Humpback whales travel thousands of kilometers each year, migrating between...

Tiny engineered processors can now live inside human cells. These cell circuits work by passing a phosphate tag from one protein to the next, turning signals into action in a matter of seconds.



Xiaoyu Yang of <a href="https://www.rice.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rice University</a> led the effort, working with assistant professor Caleb Bashor and colleagues. 



The team calls their invention a construction kit for synthetic sense‑and‑respond circuits that can sit quietly until disease markers appear and then release treatment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-phosphorylation-is-the-cell-s-fast-dial">Phosphorylation is the cell's fast dial</h2>



Cells already rely on phosphorylation to race messages from the surface to the nucleus. Each tag adds a tiny negative charge that flips a protein between on and off, often in less than a minute.



Early synthetic biologists copied <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-dna-reveals-37000-years-of-hidden-human-infections/">DNA</a> logic instead because transcription is easier to program. Projects such as the bacterial repressilator showed that gene‑based loops can hum for hours, yet their slow pace limits medical use.



The Rice group chose the faster route. They treated every kinase–phosphatase pair as a Lego‑style block, then wired blocks together to build entirely new pathways.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-building-cell-circuits-from-protein">Building cell circuits from protein</h2>



Yang and co‑workers designed substrate domains that do not exist in nature. They also built matching reader domains that bind only when a phosphate is present, ensuring clean input‑output links.



“Each module is independent, so we can tune one without breaking the rest,” explained Yang at the study launch. The modularity let the researchers stack up to four cycles without slowing the final response.



Previous attempts tried to graft synthetic parts onto native pathways, an approach that often misfired or drained cell energy. The new cell <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-use-the-same-ancient-midbrain-collicular-circuits-for-both-seeing-and-thinking/">circuits</a> run in parallel and leave natural signaling intact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cell-circuits-in-humans">Cell circuits in humans</h2>



Because phosphate tags move fast, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-in-five-packaged-foods-in-the-u-s-contains-synthetic-dyes/">synthetic</a> networks respond to inflammatory cytokines within minutes. That is orders of magnitude quicker than transcription‑based drug switches that need several hours to make RNA.



In lab tests a single picomolar burst of tumor necrosis factor‑α triggered a clear fluorescent readout. The circuit then amplified the weak pulse into a thousand‑fold rise in output protein, matching predictions from quantitative models.



Many cancer therapies struggle with on‑target side effects such as cytokine release syndrome, which affects up to 100 percent of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK592426/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CAR‑T</a> recipients in severe cases. A rapid shut‑off circuit could damp that storm before damage spreads to multiple organs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toward-smarter-therapies">Toward smarter therapies</h2>



Bashor’s group wired one synthetic cascade to a gene cassette that secretes <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3410706/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interleukin‑10</a> (IL‑10), a well‑known anti‑inflammatory mediator. 



When the engineered human T cells sensed an autoimmune flare signal in a dish, they released just enough IL‑10 to calm the response, then returned to standby.



“Programmable circuits let cells act only when and where they are needed,” noted Bashor after the first successful run. That precision opens doors to implantable therapies that do not rely on external pumps or repeated injections.



Other teams have used synthetic Notch receptors to shape <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27693353/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">T cell behavior</a>, but those tools rely on protease cleavage and downstream gene activation that can take hours. The phosphorylation kit adds a faster layer that could sit upstream of existing control schemes.



One of the biggest advantages of phosphorylation circuits is their tunability. By adjusting the expression of each component, the team can fine-tune how strongly and how quickly a cell reacts to a given input.



This level of control is important in real-world settings where too much or too little activity can be harmful. A miscalibrated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/three-common-mental-health-disorders-share-a-single-brain-circuit/">circuit</a> could overstimulate the immune system or miss a critical disease cue, so every variable must be dialed in with care.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cell-circuits-and-the-future">Cell circuits and the future</h2>



The Rice researchers now aim to test their kit in three‑dimensional tumor models. They also plan to explore how many cycles can be chained before noise overwhelms the signal.



A key hurdle is delivery. Lentiviral vectors work in the lab, yet clinical translation will need safer cargo trucks such as non‑integrating DNA or <a href="https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Messenger-RNA-mRNA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mRNA</a>.



Regulators will likely ask how the circuits behave over months. Long‑term stability studies are therefore underway, including checks for unintended crosstalk with stress pathways.



Even with those caveats, the work shifts synthetic biology toward protein‑level control over mammalian physiology. It echoes early calls to treat living cells as programmable matter, but now at a speed that matches rapid disease dynamics.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm8485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Scientists create tiny processors that function as 'circuits' inside human cells

Tiny engineered processors can now live inside human cells. These...

A glacier on Mont Blanc holds something remarkable: a frozen archive stretching back more than 12,000 years. This discovery offers an unusually detailed record of Earth’s changing climate and atmosphere that is preserved in layers of ice.



The glacier, located on the Dôme du Goûter in the French Alps, contains the oldest known glacier ice in the region.



Scientists from the <a href="https://www.dri.edu/">Desert Research Institute</a> (DRI) in Nevada, in collaboration with researchers from France and Germany, studied a 40-meter-long ice core originally collected in 1999. 



The results of the analysis show that the glacier has remained intact since the end of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/disastrous-climate-changes-of-the-last-ice-age-could-happen-again/">last Ice Age</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extensive-record-of-aerosols">Extensive record of aerosols </h2>



The team applied <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radiocarbon-could-be-key-in-predicting-earths-future/">radiocarbon dating</a> to determine the age of the ice layers within the core. The analysis revealed a continuous archive of aerosols preserved through time. 



The aerosols included microscopic particles and droplets such as dust, soot, sea salt, volcanic sulfur, and human-made pollutants. These samples are essential for reconstructing both regional and global climate patterns.



"For the first time, we have a fairly complete Alpine record of atmospheric and precipitation chemistry going all the way back to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stone-age-hunter-gatherers-had-a-very-organized-domestic-life/">Mesolithic Period</a>," said Joe McConnell, Director of DRI’s Ice Core Lab. 



"And that’s a big deal, because you have two major climate states - glacial and interglacial - and to get a record of atmospheric precipitation chemistry across that huge climate change tells you the most extreme natural aerosol concentrations that you’d expect."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-europe-s-climate-history-in-an-ice-core">Europe’s climate history in an ice core</h2>



According to McConnell, the ice core also captures evidence from a time when humans transitioned from small, low-density hunter-gatherer groups to developing agriculture, domesticating animals, engaging in mining, and eventually clearing large areas of land.



"All of that is happening around this ice core site. It spans the full range of natural and anthropogenic change, and it’s right in the center of Europe - where much of Western civilization evolved," said McConnell. 



The location in the Alps is crucial. It gives researchers a close-up look at Europe’s climate history without relying on Arctic records, which are farther from pollution sources.



"Ice cores collected from glaciers and ice sheets can provide such information, but since these droplets and particles stay in the air only for a few days to maybe a week, records developed from glaciers close to the sources often are the most informative," explained study lead author Michel Legrand.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-long-awaited-analysis">A long-awaited analysis</h2>



Although the ice core was collected more than two decades ago, it remained frozen in France until recently. 



The ice was then transported to DRI’s lab in Reno, where advanced techniques like continuous flow analysis were used to melt and measure the chemistry of each layer.



"Determining what year or period of time a layer in the ice represents can be challenging, so here we used a unique combination of radiometric methods to establish the chronology in the ice," said study co-author Werner Aeschbach.



"We were relieved to find that even under the unusually warm climate of the 20th century, the cold temperatures at over 14,000 feet near Mont Blanc’s peak had preserved the glacier so that the ice record hadn’t yet been impacted by melting," said co-author Nathan Chellman.



The depth of the ice core told its own story. While the Dôme du Goûter ice contained ancient layers more than 12,000 years old, a nearby glacier less than 100 meters away held ice only about a century old. The difference likely comes from stronger wind patterns at the Dôme site.



"It's exciting to find the first ice core from the European Alps containing an intact record of climate that extends back through the current ten-thousand-year warm period and into the very different climate of the last ice age," noted study co-author Susanne Preunkert.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ice-core-reveals-climate-changes">Ice core reveals climate changes</h2>



By studying the chemistry preserved in the ice, researchers identified a shift of about 3 degrees Celsius between the last Ice Age and the present <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/holocene-vs-anthropocene-debate/">Holocene Epoch</a>. 



Pollen data showed that summer temperatures during the Ice Age were about 2 degrees cooler in western Europe and 3.5 degrees cooler in the Alps.



Phosphorous levels in the ice also gave insights into vegetation changes. Levels were low during the Ice Age, rose sharply during the early Holocene as forests spread, and then declined again with modern agriculture and industrial land-clearing.



Sea salt concentrations helped the team track wind patterns. Higher sea salt levels during the Ice Age suggest stronger westerly winds across western Europe. Since sea salt affects cloud formation and solar radiation, it plays a direct role in climate dynamics.



Dust aerosols told a more intense story. During the Ice Age, dust concentrations were eight times higher than in the Holocene. That’s a much bigger difference than current climate models predict, which usually suggest just a doubling. 



The discrepancy might be due to Saharan dust reaching Europe more frequently during colder, drier periods.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-to-come-from-the-ice">More to come from the ice</h2>



This study marks just the beginning. With a firm timeline now established, researchers plan to analyze the ice for signs of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-activities-are-weakening-earths-air-circulation/">human activity</a> across the centuries.



"Now we can start to interpret all these other records that we have of lead and arsenic and other things like that, in terms of human history," said McConnell.



Beyond the historical context, the ice core also helps scientists improve climate models. McConnell said that if you’re really going to go back and examine all possible climate states - past and future - you need a model that captures true climate variability.



"It’s a laudable goal, but to evaluate how good the models are, you’ve got to be able to compare them to observations, right? And that’s where the ice cores come in."



As the team continues their work, this ancient glacier may reveal even more about how natural forces and human activity have shaped Europe's past - and how they might shape its future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/6/pgaf186/8157585">PNAS Nexus</a>.



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Europe’s oldest ice core reveals 12,000 years of climate change

A glacier on Mont Blanc holds something remarkable: a frozen...

At first glance, the Orion Nebula Cluster, the Pleiades, and the Hyades appear to be separate star groups, scattered across different parts of the night sky. Their distinct locations and appearances make it easy to assume they have no connection to one another.



However, new research suggests that these well-known star clusters might be more than neighbors - they might be snapshots of the same system, seen at different stages in life.



This surprising connection comes from scientists at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS) in Iran and the <a href="https://www.uni-bonn.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bonn</a> in Germany. 



The study shows that the Orion Nebula Cluster, the Pleiades, and the Hyades likely formed from the same original star system. The findings are changing how we think about star formation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-star-clusters-at-different-life-stages">Star clusters at different life stages</h2>



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-stars-shape-planetary-systems-like-ours-with-ultraviolet-radiation/">Orion Nebula</a> Cluster (ONC) is the youngest of the trio - just 2.5 million years old. It’s also the most active, filled with thousands of young stars and surrounded by the gas cloud that birthed them. 



You can spot it in Orion’s Sword, although it looks like just one bright “star” to the naked eye.



Then there’s the Pleiades - visible as a tight knot of stars nearby in the sky. At 100 million years old, its stars are more spread out, having had time to drift away from each other.



Finally, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hyades-star-cluster-may-contain-the-closest-black-holes-to-earth/">Hyades</a> is around 700 million years old. Its stars are far more scattered and fewer in number.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-snapshots-of-an-evolving-star-system">Snapshots of an evolving star system</h2>



Despite their different ages and distances, scientists believe these three clusters are linked. 



“Our highly precise stellar dynamics calculations have now shown that all three star clusters originated from the same predecessor,” said study co-author Dr. Pavel Kroupa.



“The Orion Nebula, Pleiades and Hyades are like three different photos of the same person. These three photos show this entity at different ages: as a baby, adolescent and elderly.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-star-clusters-follow-a-growth-pattern">Star clusters follow a growth pattern</h2>



This discovery isn’t just poetic - it’s pointing to something deeper about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fluffy-molecular-clouds-may-change-our-understanding-of-star-formation/">how stars form</a>. According to the researchers, open star clusters might follow a consistent pattern in their development, regardless of the specific molecular cloud that births them.



“It is a bit like if the same person was being born over and over again,” said Dr. Kroupa. “From this we can learn that open <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stunning-star-clusters-captured-in-the-extreme-outskirts-of-the-milky-way/">star</a> clusters seem to have a preferred mode of star formation.”



“It appears that there is a preferred physical environment in which stars form when they evolve within these clouds.”



To test this idea, Dr. Ghasem Safaei and his team at the <a href="https://iasbs.ac.ir/">IASBS</a> used powerful computer simulations.



The experts modeled how a dense, young cluster like Orion could naturally transform into the more spread-out Pleiades, and then into the elderly Hyades, over hundreds of millions of years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-millions-of-years-of-star-life">Millions of years of star life</h2>



The simulations were based on careful calculations of how the stars interact with each other and with their environment. Over time, a cluster loses stars and gas due to gravitational forces, both internal and external.



“This research shows that it is entirely plausible that star clusters such as the Orion Nebula Cluster follow a development path that transforms them into systems like Pleiades and later on Hyades,” said study co-author Professor Hosein Haghi.



The models ran for 800 million years and started with the latest real-world data - high star density, compact shapes, and a high number of double stars. 



“The results show that clusters such as the Orion Nebula Cluster can lose up to 85 percent of their stars but nevertheless retain a coherent structure similar to Hyades, after they have passed through an intermediate stage similar to Pleiades,” said Dr. Safaei.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-star-clusters-with-a-common-origin">Star clusters with a common origin</h2>



What makes this even more intriguing is the fact that all three clusters sit in roughly the same region of the night sky. For decades, astronomers have wondered if this is just a coincidence or something more.



The team believes this alignment supports the idea that they share a common origin. It could reflect how these clusters form and evolve in the same part of our galaxy, influenced by similar conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-stellar-story-in-motion">A stellar story in motion</h2>



Understanding these connections also helps astronomers grasp how internal and external forces shape a star cluster’s fate.



“This research gives us a deeper understanding of how star clusters form and develop and illustrates the delicate balance between internal dynamics and external forces such as the gravitational pull of the Milky Way,” said study co-author Professor Akram Hasani Zonoozi.



The research doesn’t just reveal how one star cluster ages. It shows how theory and observation can work hand-in-hand to reconstruct a cosmic story billions of years in the making. 



As researchers refine these models, they may unlock similar patterns in other parts of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cozmic-simulations-of-milky-way-use-strange-physics-laws-to-study-alternate-universes-cozmic/">Milky Way</a> - and perhaps even beyond.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/541/2/1753/8202867" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</a>.



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Trio of star clusters may be the same system at different ages

At first glance, the Orion Nebula Cluster, the Pleiades, and...

Stevia may soon offer more than just sweetness. In the lab, researchers found that when fermented with a bacterium from banana leaves, this natural plant extract targets pancreatic cancer cells - while leaving healthy kidney cells unharmed.



“Globally, the incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer continue to rise, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10%,” said study co-author Narandalai Danshiitsoodol from <a href="https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hiroshima University</a>.



“Pancreatic cancer is highly invasive and prone to metastasis, showing significant resistance to existing treatments, such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. As such, there is an urgent need to identify new and effective anticancer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cancer-cells-create-power-waves-to-fuel-invasion/">compounds</a>, particularly those derived from medicinal plants.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fermented-stevia-for-cancer-therapy">Fermented stevia for cancer therapy</h2>



The researchers used&nbsp;Lactobacillus plantarum&nbsp;SN13T, a bacterium from banana leaves. They fermented stevia leaves and compared the result to a regular extract. The fermented version (FSLE) worked better in every way.



“To enhance the pharmacological efficacy of natural plant extracts, microbial biotransformation has emerged as an effective strategy,” said Masanori Sugiyama. 



“In this study, we aimed to compare LAB-fermented and non-fermented extracts to identify key compounds that enhance bioactivity, ultimately contributing to the efficacy of herbal medicine in cancer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/walking-each-day-at-any-speed-lowers-the-risk-of-cancer/">prevention</a> and therapy.”



The researchers didn’t just mix things and hope. They optimized fermentation time, temperature, and oxygen levels. Stevia turned out to be most potent when fermented for 72 hours, without oxygen, at 37°C.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fermented-stevia-hits-cancer-cells-hard">Fermented stevia hits cancer cells hard</h2>



Fermented stevia killed pancreatic cancer (PANC-1) cells more efficiently than the non-fermented extract. At the same time, it barely touched healthy HEK-293 cells, even at high doses. That balance is rare and valuable.



At some concentrations, FSLE didn’t kill cancer cells immediately. Instead, it slowed their growth. The cancer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-scientist-discovers-that-common-non-cancer-drugs-when-combined-can-kill-cancer-cells/">cells</a> looked weak, lost shape, and stopped sticking together. Under the microscope, they looked scattered and unhealthy.



Healthy kidney cells stayed mostly unaffected. This points to selectivity - a key feature for safe treatments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strong-antioxidant-effects">Strong antioxidant effects</h2>



Cancer isn’t just about rogue cells. Oxidative stress plays a big role. Fermented stevia turned out to be a powerful antioxidant too.



In lab tests, it neutralized free radicals more effectively than non-fermented extract. It hit 94% scavenging power in the DPPH assay and 75% in ABTS. Even when healthy cells were exposed to hydrogen peroxide, FSLE helped them survive.



Fermentation likely created new compounds. The researchers suspect chlorogenic acid transformed into chlorogenic acid methyl ester (CAME), a more active form. Fermented stevia contained lots of it. The raw extract had none.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-powerful-compound-fights-cancer-cells">Powerful compound fights cancer cells</h2>



CAME packed more punch than chlorogenic acid. It stopped cancer cell growth and triggered their self-destruction.



Its IC50 - the dose that kills half the cancer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breakthrough-cancer-cells-have-a-molecular-switch-that-could-be-rewired-to-behave-normally/">cells</a> - was just 119.1 µg/mL. For regular chlorogenic acid, it was 189.6 µg/mL. That’s a big difference. CAME shut down cancer cells by blocking their cell cycle and making them commit apoptosis.



Flow cytometry showed CAME, produced by fermented stevia, locked the cells in the G0/G1 phase. That’s the stage before a cell starts duplicating. It also caused the cells to release cytochrome c and activate caspases, which break down dying cells from the inside.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-altered-gene-activity">Altered gene activity</h2>



At the gene level, things got interesting. CAME dialed up pro-apoptotic genes like Bax, Bad, Caspase-3, Caspase-9, and Cytochrome c. 



The compound also boosted E-cadherin, a gene linked to reduced cancer migration. Meanwhile, it shut down Bcl-2, a gene that normally stops cells from dying.



This gene activity supports what the microscope and assays showed. The cells didn’t just die randomly. CAME pushed them into a specific self-destruct mode, the mitochondrial pathway.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stevia-more-than-just-a-sweetener">Stevia: More than just a sweetener</h2>



Fermentation changed the story. It gave stevia extract a new weapon - a compound that targets <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/light-activated-molecules-kill-cancer-cells-with-precision/">cancer</a> while keeping healthy cells safe. That transformation seems to happen through specific enzymes from the SN13T strain.



“This microbial transformation was likely due to specific enzymes in the bacteria strain used,” Danshiitsoodol said. 



“Our data demonstrate that CAME exhibits stronger toxicity to cells and pro-apoptotic effects - which encourage cell death - on PANC-1 cells compared to chlorogenic acid alone.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-upcoming-cancer-research-with-stevia">Upcoming cancer research with stevia </h2>



The team plans to move beyond the lab dish. Mouse studies come next. That will show whether fermented stevia works in living systems with real immune responses and complex metabolism.



“The present study has substantially enhanced our understanding of the mechanism of action of the Lactobacillus plantarum SN13T strain in the fermentation of herbal extracts, while also offering a valuable research perspective on the potential application of probiotics as natural anti-tumor agents,” said Danshiitsoodol.



This research suggests that with the right microbes, even a simple leaf can evolve into a targeted therapy. Not bad for a sugar substitute.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/26/9/4186" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Journal of Molecular Sciences</a>. 



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Not all artificial sweeteners are bad for you, and this one might also fight cancer

Stevia may soon offer more than just sweetness. In the...

Astronomers thought the young star MP Mus had no planet in sight. But a closer look revealed a giant planet hidden in the surrounding gas and dust - one they had completely missed.



A team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a>, along with colleagues from Germany, Chile, and France, revisited MP Mus using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission.



The findings point to a gas giant planet - anywhere from three to ten times the size of Jupiter - lurking inside the disc. This is the first time Gaia has helped identify a planet still embedded in its protoplanetary disc.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planets-hidden-inside-their-discs">Planets hidden inside their discs</h2>



Studying young planets like this gives us important clues about how our own Solar System might have formed. When stars are young, they’re surrounded by discs of gas, dust, and ice. 



Over time, gravity pulls these particles together to form larger bodies like asteroids and planets. As planets take shape, they start to clear paths in the disc - like grooves in a vinyl record.



But spotting those young planets is tough. Gas and dust interfere with most observations. So far, scientists have only made three solid detections of young planets still sitting inside their discs. This discovery adds a fourth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-signs-of-a-hidden-planet">Signs of a hidden planet</h2>



The study was led by Dr Álvaro Ribas from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy. He has spent years studying protoplanetary discs.



“We first observed this star at the time when we learned that most discs have rings and gaps, and I was hoping to find features around MP Mus that could hint at the presence of a planet or planets,” said Dr. Ribas.



In 2023, his team used ALMA to observe MP Mus, also known as PDS 66. What he saw was underwhelming. The star looked alone. Its disc showed no gaps, no ridges - just a flat, lifeless expanse.



“Our earlier observations showed a boring, flat disc,” said Dr. Ribas. “But this seemed odd to us, since the disc is between seven and ten million years old. In a disc of that age, we would expect to see some evidence of planet formation.”



So the team tried again. They used ALMA to look at the star at a longer wavelength - 3mm - which allowed them to see deeper into the disc. This time, the picture changed.



The experts spotted a cavity near the star, plus two distant gaps. These features had been invisible in the first set of images. It was the first hint that a planet might be shaping the disc from the inside.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-star-that-wobbles">A star that wobbles</h2>



At the same time, another researcher was noticing something strange. Miguel Vioque, a scientist at the European Southern Observatory, was analyzing Gaia data when he noticed MP Mus wasn’t sitting still.



“My first reaction was that I must have made a mistake in my calculations, because MP Mus was known to have a featureless disc,” said Vioque. 



“I was revising my calculations when I saw Álvaro give a talk presenting preliminary results of a newly-discovered inner cavity in the disc, which meant the wobbling I was detecting was real and had a good chance of being caused by a forming planet.”



A wobbling star is a classic clue. When a planet orbits a star, its gravity pulls slightly on the star, causing a small but measurable motion. Combine that motion with the new disc structures seen by ALMA, and things start to add up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-indirect-observations-of-new-planets">Indirect observations of new planets</h2>



The team used computer models to pull the clues together. What they found fits the pattern of a gas giant orbiting between one and three times the distance between Earth and the Sun.



“Our modeling work showed that if you put a giant planet inside the new-found cavity, you can also explain the Gaia signal,” said Dr. Ribas. “And using the longer ALMA wavelengths allowed us to see structures we couldn’t see before.”



This marks the first time a planet has been indirectly discovered inside a protoplanetary disc by combining data from both ALMA and Gaia. It opens the door to new possibilities. If other discs hide their planets just as well, these tools together might help reveal them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revealing-more-hidden-planets">Revealing more hidden planets</h2>



“We think this might be one of the reasons why it’s hard to detect young planets in protoplanetary discs, because in this case, we needed the ALMA and Gaia data together,” said Dr. Ribas. 



“The longer ALMA wavelength is incredibly useful, but to observe at this wavelength requires more time on the telescope.”



Dr. Ribas noted that upgrades to ALMA and the upcoming next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will allow scientists to peer deeper into these dusty discs and possibly uncover many more hidden planets.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02576-w">Nature Astronomy</a>.



Image Credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/A. Ribas et al.



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Massive hidden planet found orbiting young star

Astronomers thought the young star MP Mus had no planet...

Ocean warming is altering the mating routines of angelsharks, according to a new study. Instead of showing up to breed, females are heading for cooler waters - leaving the males behind.



This mismatch in behavior, scientists say, could spell trouble for the future of the species. 



A team of researchers from <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lancaster University</a> and the Angel Shark Project: Canary Islands uncovered this shift using acoustic trackers.



The study was focused on the Canary Islands, where sea temperatures have been rising steadily - particularly around La Graciosa Marine Reserve, off the coast of Lanzarote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-angelsharks-in-a-warming-ocean">Angelsharks in a warming ocean</h2>



In 2022, the ocean around the reserve experienced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-heat-is-pushing-parts-of-earth-beyond-human-survival/">extreme heat</a>. Sea surface temperatures climbed above 23.8°C and stayed over 22.5°C for almost three times longer than in previous years. That temperature threshold, it turns out, is critical. 



“The males were much more resilient to temperature rises and stuck to their regular patterns of arrival and departure, seemingly prioritizing mating despite these temperature extremes,” said Dr. David Jacoby, a zoologist at Lancaster University and lead investigator on the study.



But while the males arrived in November as usual, the females were largely absent. This disrupted their usual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whale-shark-mating-behaviors-observed-for-the-first-time-in-the-wild/">mating</a> season, which typically begins in late autumn when the waters are cooler.



Unlike males, females have higher energy demands due to their reproductive biology. Staying cool is more than a preference - it’s a matter of survival.



“With angelsharks we observed important sex differences in behavior, with the females being disproportionately influenced by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-temperatures-are-rising-faster-than-expected-and-likely-to-accelerate/">sea temperature rises</a>,” noted Dr. Jacoby.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heatwaves-beneath-the-surface">Heatwaves beneath the surface</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mapping-marine-heatwaves-to-understand-their-impacts/">Marine heatwaves</a> may not be as visible as wildfires on land, but they can be just as disruptive. 



"These more frequent and extreme heatwaves are potentially the wildfires of the ocean and are having untold effects on marine species,” Dr. Jacoby explained.



Between 2018 and 2023, the team tracked over 100 angelsharks. Until 2022, male and female sightings in the reserve peaked around the same time each year. 



But then the pattern was broken. Female presence dropped off dramatically, and researchers believe 22.5°C is close to the upper temperature limit for their comfort.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-refuge-for-the-angelshark">A refuge for the angelshark</h2>



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/fuerteventura-and-lanzarote-of-the-canary-islands/">Canary Islands</a> are a major refuge for the angelshark, and one of the few places where both adults and juveniles are regularly seen. 



The region supports a growing dive industry that relies on this rare predator as a flagship species. However, as ocean temperatures creep upward, the window for successful mating narrows.



“That fact that environmental extremes are driving differing male and female arrival times at coastal mating sites is of particular concern for this critically endangered species,” said Dr. Lucy Mead of ZSL’s Institute of Zoology and Lancaster University.



"Angelsharks - as with most other sharks - are ectothermic, which means their body temperature directly depends on surrounding water temperatures.'



"It seems that male angelsharks prioritize mating even when conditions are unfavorable, while females prioritize staying within their preferred temperature range."



According to Dr. Mead, the Canary Islands are already at the warmer end of tolerable temperatures for angelsharks, and with significant warming projected here, our concern is that key areas may become inhospitable for females. 



"These findings have important implications for how we conserve this highly threatened species in a warming world," said Dr. Mead.



“Climate change impacts in the ocean tend to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but just as heatwaves and wildfires are becoming more frequent on land, so are extreme events in the oceans.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-long-term-monitoring-matters">Why long-term monitoring matters</h2>



The long-term tracking efforts behind this study show how vital it is to monitor temperature and shark movement together. 



“These findings are a reminder of how climate extremes are already reshaping the behavior of threatened marine species,” said Eva Meyers, co-lead of the Angel Shark Project and researcher at the <a href="https://leibniz-lib.de/en/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change</a>.



“This study highlights exactly why long-term monitoring of critical habitats in the Canary Islands must be a key pillar of any effective marine biodiversity recovery plan. The Canary Islands are one of the main strongholds for this species - safeguarding these waters is more urgent than ever.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-bigger-picture-for-ocean-life">The bigger picture for ocean life</h2>



Beyond angelsharks, the findings point to a broader concern - how warming oceans are unsettling the ecological balance of coastal ecosystems.



Dr. David Jiménez Alvarado is co-lead of the Angel Shark Project and postdoctoral researcher at the EcoAQUA Institute at the <a href="https://www.ulpgc.es" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria</a>.



“It’s important to understand how changes in the ocean’s physicochemical conditions can affect the species that inhabit coastal ecosystems," said Dr. Alvarado.



"These environmental shifts may alter the habitat use and behavior of key predatory species that play a crucial role in maintaining trophic balance."



“Since many of these species are already globally threatened, studying how climate-related stressors impact their ecological function is essential for developing effective conservation and management strategies.”



The message from the angelsharks is simple: if the ocean keeps heating up, they may stop showing up. And if that happens, it’s not just bad news for the sharks - it’s a warning sign for all of us.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70331" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Change Biology</a>.



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Angelsharks are skipping the mating season due to ocean warming

Ocean warming is altering the mating routines of angelsharks, according...

Human egg cells wait in the ovaries from before birth until they are finally called upon, sometimes 40 years later, to kick start new life. 



New research shows that one reason the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-plastic-particles-found-in-human-egg-and-sperm-fluids/">egg cells</a> last so long is that they run their internal “housekeeping” on a near standby setting, spending as little energy as possible while still keeping themselves tidy.



The work comes from Dr. Elvan Böke and colleagues at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona (<a href="https://www.crg.eu/">CRG</a>), who examined more than 100 freshly donated oocytes. 



The findings build on earlier <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04979-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a> that oocytes even delete an entire piece of their mitochondrial engine, complex I, to avoid making damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-eggs-stay-intact-for-decades">Human eggs stay intact for decades</h2>



Women are born with one to two million immature oocytes, yet only a few hundred will ever mature and ovulate. 



Keeping those cells intact for decades is a tall order because everyday metabolism creates molecular debris that can harm <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-life-begins-egg-sperm-and-a-covert-team-of-proteins/">DNA</a>, membranes, and proteins.



The cell’s main waste bins, the lysosome, and its protein shredding partner, the proteasome, normally burn through fuel as they dismantle old parts. 



Every round of degradation consumes energy and risks generating ROS, which can nick chromosomes and shorten the egg’s lifespan.



Earlier work tracked ROS levels during mouse and human oogenesis and saw that eggs hold mitochondrial activity to a minimum, trading speed for safety. The new study takes that idea further by measuring actual lysosomal and proteasomal throughput in live human eggs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eggs-use-less-energy-to-avoid-damage">Eggs use less energy to avoid damage</h2>



Böke’s team stained live oocytes with fluorescent probes and compared the signal to neighboring cumulus cells that nourish the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sperm-have-a-heat-activated-switch-that-may-be-key-to-fertility/">egg</a>. 



Signals from active lysosomes, proteasomes, and mitochondria were roughly half as bright inside the oocyte, confirming an across the board power down.



“By looking at more than a hundred freshly donated eggs, the largest dataset of its kind, we found a surprisingly minimalist strategy that helps the cells stay pristine for many years,” said Dr. Böke. 



The group also watched mature eggs push lysosomes to the cell edge and eject them into the fluid around the egg, dumping worn parts before ovulation.



“It’s a type of spring cleaning we didn’t know human eggs were capable of,” said Dr. Gabriele Zaffagnini, first author on the study. Few lysosomes remain afterward, and those cluster near the egg’s center, away from mitochondria that migrate toward the rim.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-eggs-ejecting-waste">Human eggs ejecting waste </h2>



Live cell imaging caught mitochondria and proteasomes forming a loose ring under the membrane in the hours before ovulation. At the same time, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-body-prevents-multiple-sperm-from-fertilizing-an-egg/">egg</a> jettisons lysosomes, shrinking its waste handling capacity even further.



The researchers did not measure ROS directly but argue that trimming both degradation and respiration likely keeps ROS formation close to zero. That idea fits with biochemical assays showing human oocytes lack detectable complex I activity, a key ROS producer.



Mouse eggs, by contrast, ramp up lysosomal work late in maturation and rely on different compartments called <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38382525/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ELVA</a>s to sequester protein aggregates. 



The species difference may reflect the weeks long growth of mouse oocytes versus the months long growth in humans, which gives human eggs more time to adopt a slow burn strategy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-findings-mean-for-ivf">What the findings mean for IVF</h2>



Around <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10905501/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2.6 million</a> in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles are attempted worldwide each year, leading to more than half a million births. Yet failure to achieve pregnancy after embryo transfer remains common, and poor egg quality is a major factor.



Most laboratory studies have relied on eggs matured artificially in a dish, a process linked to uneven metabolism and lower success rates. 



The new data, built on freshly donated eggs, suggest that the best human oocytes succeed precisely because they stay metabolically quiet until fertilization.



Clinics often recommend antioxidant cocktails or metabolic boosters in hopes of “revving up” tired eggs. Evidence that such supplements actually improve live birth rates is mixed, and some reviews note only modest changes in oocyte numbers or embryo quality.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-keeping-eggs-quiet-may-work-better">Keeping eggs quiet may work better</h2>



Böke and colleagues propose doing the opposite, preserving the egg’s low power state rather than pushing it. If future trials confirm this idea, IVF protocols might shift toward gentler culture media and timed exposure to avoid waking cellular powerhouses too soon.



A drug that blocks unnecessary proteasome activity or an additive that buffers ROS without raising respiration could, in theory, keep eggs closer to their natural resting mode. 



Such interventions would need careful testing because too little housekeeping can be as harmful as too much.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-testing-older-eggs">Next steps: Testing older eggs</h2>



The team plans to analyze eggs from women over 35 and from failed IVF cycles to see whether the low power program slips with age or disease. If metabolic quietude erodes over time, restoring it could become a targeted therapy for age related infertility.



Basic questions also remain about how human eggs sense when to dump lysosomes or rearrange mitochondria. Answers may reveal new checkpoints that embryos use to gauge human egg quality before development begins.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-025-00493-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The EMBO Journal</a>.



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Human egg cells survive decades by running on low energy mode

Human egg cells wait in the ovaries from before birth...

There’s a curious mystery involving a meteor, a massive landslide, and an ancient lake - all buried in the layers of rock and sediment across the Grand Canyon. It’s a story pieced together over decades through science, family ties, and unexpected discoveries.



In a new study from researchers at the <a href="https://www.unm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of New Mexico</a>, scientists connect the Meteor Crater impact in Arizona to a rockslide in the Grand Canyon that may have dammed the Colorado River around 56,000 years ago. 



This dam likely created a temporary lake, and clues from caves high above the current river level seem to support that idea.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-decades-of-cave-research">Decades of cave research </h2>



The idea took root in the 1960s, when Thor Karlstrom explored Stanton’s Cave in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-discovery-at-the-grand-canyon-is-rewriting-geology-textbooks-tonto-group/">Grand Canyon</a> with a cross-disciplinary team of geologists and archaeologists. 



The experts found evidence of now-extinct species like the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/california-condors-are-threatened-by-organic-contaminants/">California condor</a> and Harrington’s mountain goat, along with split twig figurines made 3,000 to 4,000 years ago by ancestors of today’s tribal communities in the region.



They also uncovered driftwood buried in sediment. Initial testing suggested the wood was older than 35,000 years - pushing the limit of radiocarbon dating at the time. 



By 1984, the date was refined to 43,500 years. But recent tests using more advanced methods in labs from New Zealand and Australia now put the driftwood at 56,000 years old.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mysterious-age-of-the-cave-deposits">Mysterious age of the cave deposits </h2>



Today, Thor’s son, Karl Karlstrom, a geologist at the University of New Mexico, is carrying that early work forward.



“It would have required a ten-times bigger flood level than any flood that has happened in the past several thousand years," said Karlstrom.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-canyon_Nankoweap-landslide_visualization_credit-Karl-Karlstrom_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-canyon_Nankoweap-landslide_visualization_credit-Karl-Karlstrom_1s.webp" alt="Conceptualization of Nankoweap landslide that brought down large boulders of Kaibab Limestone from the cliffs at left and created a geologically short-lived paleolake in Grand Canyon. Credit: Karl Karlstrom" class="wp-image-1978711"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Conceptualization of Nankoweap landslide that brought down large boulders of Kaibab Limestone from the cliffs at left and created a geologically short-lived paleolake in Grand Canyon. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Karl Karlstrom</figcaption></figure>



"Or maybe they are very old deposits left as the river carved down, or maybe they floated in from a paleolake caused by a downstream lava dam or landslide dam? We needed to know the age of the cave deposits."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-canyon-wood-matches-meteor-age">Canyon wood matches meteor age</h2>



Chris Bastien, another co-author of the study, had been working on wood samples from Stanton’s Cave stored at the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Arizona</a>’s Tree Ring Lab. 



At the same time, David Kring, a scientist working on the chronology of Meteor Crater, had refined its estimated age to a window between 53,000 and 63,000 years using multiple methods.



Then came the break. Jonathan Palmer, a visiting collaborator from Australia, stopped at both Meteor Crater and the Tree Ring Lab during a U.S. road trip. 



Palmer noticed something remarkable - the ages of the crater and the driftwood lined up almost perfectly. That connection kicked off the collaboration that led to the new paper.



“From numerous research trips, Karl and I knew of other high-accessible caves that had both driftwood and sediment that could be dated,” said Laurie Crossey.



The team sent a second driftwood sample to labs in Australia and New Zealand, and sediment samples to Tammy Rittenour at <a href="https://www.usu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Utah State University</a>. Using two separate dating methods, the results came back with nearly identical ages: around 55,600 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meteor-s-impact-on-the-grand-canyon">Meteor's impact on the Grand Canyon</h2>



Back in the 1980s, Richard Hereford of the U.S. Geological Survey proposed that a rockslide near Nankoweap Canyon, about 22 miles downstream of Stanton’s Cave, may have blocked the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-is-the-colorado-river-water-going/">Colorado River</a>. 



That dam could have created a lake that floated wood into the cave. Now, with fresh dating evidence, that idea has resurfaced.



Further support came from Grand Canyon caver Jason Ballensky, who had seen beaver tracks in Vasey’s Paradise caves - deep inside areas far above and away from today’s riverbanks. The only plausible explanation: a massive ancient lake.



The researchers mapped how deep and wide that paleolake might have been. Some caves with driftwood and sediment were found at 940 meters elevation - high enough that the water would have backed up above Lees Ferry, where river trips typically begin. The lake theory started to look more than plausible.



The team also revisited the landslide site. There, reddish, chaotic rocks - consistent with landslide debris - were found beneath rounded river cobbles. 



That layering suggests a dam formed, held back water, and was eventually overtopped and eroded away. Based on what’s known from modern dam erosion, the whole cycle could have lasted less than 1,000 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-evidence-is-adding-up">The evidence is adding up</h2>



Was the <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/barringer-crater/">Meteor Crater</a> blast enough to trigger the rockslide that dammed the river? Kring has studied the physics of meteorite impacts and estimates that this one would have caused a magnitude 5.4 earthquake - possibly even a 6.0 depending on the model. 



Even 100 miles away in the Grand Canyon, the seismic energy would have hit as a magnitude 3.5 shock. That’s enough to dislodge unstable cliffs and trigger rockfalls.



“The team put together these arguments without claiming we have final proof; there are other possibilities, such as a random rockfall or local earthquake within a thousand years of the Meteor Crater impact that could have happened independently,” said Karlstrom. 



“Nevertheless, the meteorite impact, the massive landslide, the lake deposits, and the driftwood high above river level are all rare and unusual occurrences." 



"The mean of dates from them converge into a narrow window of time at 55,600 ± 1,300 years ago which gives credence to the hypothesis that they were causally related.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meteor-strike-in-the-grand-canyon">Meteor strike in the Grand Canyon </h2>



There’s still room for debate. The idea that a meteor could have triggered a landslide that created a temporary lake sounds dramatic - but the evidence is adding up.



The picture that’s emerging - a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meteor-showers-help-scientists-discover-where-comets-came-from/">meteor</a> striking Arizona, shaking the Grand Canyon, causing a landslide that blocks the river and forms a lake - isn’t just a wild theory anymore. It’s a serious hypothesis backed by decades of data and careful fieldwork.



And while the story isn’t finished, it’s a strong reminder of how even the most unexpected clues - like a piece of driftwood tucked in a cave - can lead to discoveries about Earth’s past that no one saw coming.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G53571.1/659552/Grand-Canyon-landslide-dam-and-paleolake-triggered">Geology</a>.



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Explosive meteor strike may have dammed the Grand Canyon and created a lake

There’s a curious mystery involving a meteor, a massive landslide,...

A dusty leg bone, pulled from the ground in 1963 and stored away in a museum drawer for decades, may now be helping scientists rethink the early days of dinosaurs.



Originally found in what’s now Zambia, this 225-million-year-old fossil was largely ignored for years. 



However, new research suggests the fossil holds key information about an ancient group of reptiles known as silesaurs. The study may shift long-held assumptions about the size and role of the first dinosaurs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossil-challenges-dinosaur-size">Fossil challenges dinosaur size</h2>



Researchers have been re-examining the femur - first uncovered by British scientists more than 60 years ago - and what they’ve learned is surprising.



“Some fragmentary fossils from the silesaurids and a group of early dinosaurs called the herrerasaurids suggest that these animals could grow much bigger than more complete remains suggest,” said Jack Lovegrove, a Ph.D. student who led the research. 



“As more large animals are found close to the origin of dinosaurs, it raises the possibility that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-did-dinosaurs-come-from-missing-fossils-hold-the-secret/">first</a> dinosaur was bigger than we predicted.”



This idea runs counter to the long-standing belief that early dinosaurs started out small and gradually evolved into giants. If Lovegrove’s team is right, dinosaurs may have actually shrunk in size over time.



“If this is the case, then some groups of dinosaurs would have actually gotten smaller across the late <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soil-erosion-and-fire-contributed-to-triassic-mass-extinction/">Triassic</a>,” Lovegrove said. “Finding more silesaur fossils could help us to figure out how they are related to early dinosaurs and confirm the existence of these size trends.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-of-dinosaur-relatives">Fossils of dinosaur relatives</h2>



Silesaurs are an extinct group of dinosaur-like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reptile-ancestors-appeared-40-million-years-earlier-than-we-thought/">reptiles</a> that lived roughly between 240 and 200 million years ago. For a long time, scientists couldn’t quite figure out where they belonged on the reptile family tree. Were they dinosaurs? Close relatives? Something else entirely?



In 2010, silesaurs were officially recognized as their own group. The most famous example is Silesaurus, a two-meter-long animal with a beak-like jaw that may have helped it eat insects or plants.



Originally considered dinosaur cousins, silesaurs are now thought by some experts to actually be early dinosaurs. One clue is the toothless tip of their lower jaw, which links them to ornithischians - a major group of dinosaurs that would later include species like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/triceratops-dinosaurs-seem-to-have-developed-complex-social-structures/">Triceratops</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-complete-stegosaur-skull-ever-found-forces-rewrite-of-plated-dinosaur-history/">Stegosaurus</a>.



But even now, placing silesaurs neatly into the dinosaur family tree is tricky. Most of the fossils found are incomplete, which makes identification difficult. That’s why researchers are taking a fresh look not just in the field, but in museum collections.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-fossil-comes-back-into-focus">Old fossil comes back into focus</h2>



The femur at the center of this study had been sitting in the Natural History Museum in London for over 50 years before its importance was recognized.



“This fossil was discovered on an expedition to what are now Zambia and Tanzania in the early 1960s,” Lovegrove explains. “The researchers were mainly interested in studying mammal-like reptiles such as the dicynodonts and cynodonts but also found a variety of other fossils.”



“As the fossil wasn’t what they were focusing on, it hadn’t been studied until one of my co-authors, Brandon, came across it. This shows how important museum collections are at preserving specimens whose importance can be appreciated by future generations.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-silesaurs-one-species-or-many">Silesaurs: One species or many?</h2>



The rocks in Zambia where this bone was found are packed with silesaur fossils. Only one species from the region has been formally named - Lutungutali sitwesis - but researchers have found many leg bones that don’t seem to match that species. 



Most are about 15 centimeters long. One, however, is more than double that size. This raises two possibilities. Either the large bones belonged to Lutungutali at a more mature stage of life, or multiple species were living side by side.



The team can’t say for sure yet, but the new study shows clear differences in growth patterns between the Natural History Museum bone and others from the area. That might suggest that more than one type of silesaur lived in the same ecosystem.



“It’s historically been assumed that there was just one silesaurid per area in the past,” said Lovegrove. “As a result, fossils from different species might have been lumped together.”



“This could explain the uncertainty we find when we try to understand how silesaurids relate to other animals. New datasets will be important to untangle these evolutionary relationships and work out what’s really going on.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bigger-than-we-thought">Bigger than we thought</h2>



There’s another piece to this puzzle: size. If silesaurs like the one in the study were as large as the leg bone suggests, they may not have been minor players in their environment. They might have been in charge.



“The size of the bone we’ve studied, as well as others from this formation, suggest that silesaurids might have been the largest herbivores in some parts of the world at this point in the Triassic,” noted Lovegrove. 



“The biggest silesaurids were probably taller and longer than the dicynodonts, even if they were lighter. It suggests they probably had a much greater impact on the ecosystem than we’ve realized, especially as they are the most common archosaur found in this region.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rewriting-the-story-of-dinosaurs">Rewriting the story of dinosaurs</h2>



The early evolution of dinosaurs is still full of questions, but fossils like this Zambian femur are helping scientists get closer to the answers. 



Silesaurs may have been bigger, more diverse, and more influential than anyone thought. And if they turn out to be early dinosaurs themselves, we may need to rewrite the story of how dinosaurs came to be.



For now, one thing is clear: sometimes the most important discoveries are already sitting on a shelf - waiting for someone to take a second look.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250762" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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Fossil suggests early dinosaurs were larger than we thought

A dusty leg bone, pulled from the ground in 1963...

3d,Rendering.,Sci-fi,Scene.,The,Colony,Of,The,Future,On

Building a long term base on the Moon has always stumbled over one stubborn shortage, water. A study recently published describes a device that heats lunar soil to pull water out of the dirt and, in the same chamber, uses that water to turn exhaled carbon dioxide into oxygen and materials for fuel.



“We never fully imagined the ‘magic’ that the lunar soil possessed,” said <a href="https://sse.cuhk.edu.cn/en/faculty/wanglu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lu Wang</a> of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 



The researchers say the one step approach could slash the mass of supplies future crews must haul from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/moons-entire-surface-is-covered-with-water-and-hydroxyl-not-just-the-poles/">Earth</a>. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shipping-water-is-unsustainable">Shipping water is unsustainable</h2>



Rocketing water into space is painfully expensive. NASA once pegged the cost at about $83,000 for every gallon that leaves Earth’s gravity well.



Each astronaut drinks roughly four gallons per day, and that figure does not include hygiene, food preparation, or plant cultivation. Over a six month mission, one crew member would need a barge’s worth of liquid.



Launch prices are falling, yet even the cheapest commercial rides still charge thousands of dollars per pound. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-the-sun-might-be-making-water-on-the-moon/">Water</a> quickly becomes the heaviest line item on any manifest.



Those eye watering figures push agencies toward in situ resource utilization (<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/isru" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ISRU</a>), the practice of making essentials from local materials instead of paying to haul them across a quarter million miles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lunar-soil-holds-hidden-water">Lunar soil holds hidden water</h2>



The Chang’e 5 mission returned dusty gray samples from <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021AGUFM.P52A..07Q/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oceanus Procellarum in 2020</a>. Analyses of those grains revealed at least 170 parts per million of molecular water locked inside common lunar minerals.



Much of that moisture forms when solar wind protons smack into oxygen atoms on the surface, creating tiny hydroxyl and water molecules that cling to glass and silicate crystals.



Because this process happens everywhere sunlight hits, mid latitude regions can be moist as well as the famously icy poles. 



The catch is concentration: miners would still need to heat several tons of regolith for every household bucket they hope to fill.



The payoff is big enough to justify the effort. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-is-the-moons-water-a-nasa-mission-will-soon-find-out/">Water</a> secures life support, radiation shielding, and, once split into hydrogen and oxygen, a potent propellant.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sunlight-powers-lunar-water-and-fuel-creation">Sunlight powers lunar water and fuel creation</h2>



The new prototype relies on photothermal catalysis, a method that focuses sunlight onto a black ceramic reactor until interior walls glow. Temperatures soar above 1,800°F, hot enough to vaporize bound water molecules.



Instead of running two separate units, the team lets that same heat drive carbon dioxide reduction. Released hydrogen teams with CO₂ to make carbon monoxide, while leftover oxygen is freed for breathing or combustion.



Tests used dust from Chang’e 5 alongside synthetic stand ins, all packed around a quartz window that admitted concentrated light. Reaction rates improved with every watt of illumination, confirming that the Sun can supply the energy instead of an electric heater.



Because no pumps or moving parts touch the soil, the rig stays compact. A lander the size of a refrigerator could, in principle, process hundreds of pounds of dirt each <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-are-searching-for-viable-sources-of-water-on-the-moon/">lunar</a> dawn.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ilmenite-boosts-water-and-fuel-output">Ilmenite boosts water and fuel output</h2>



Much of the action centers on <a href="https://www.mindat.org/min-2013.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ilmenite</a>, a titanium iron oxide that stains the lunar maria charcoal black. Besides hiding hydrogen, the mineral contains iron atoms that help shuttle electrons during CO₂ conversion.



Lab experiments suggest one ton of ilmenite rich regolith can yield about 112 to 168 pounds of drinkable water. That is enough to cover the daily needs of fifty people.



The same batch of lunar soil leaves behind metallic iron, a useful feedstock for future construction or radiation shields. Engineers could smelt structural beams and refill lunar water and life support tanks from the same scoop.



Survey data show ilmenite deposits clustering in basaltic plains, so prospectors will need detailed maps and perhaps bulldozers before picking reactor sites.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-remain-but-progress-is-real">Challenges remain, but progress is real</h2>



Moon days bake hardware at 260°F, and nights plunge to 280°F, a swing that can crack seals and warp lenses. Radiation showers electronics with charged particles that slowly erode semiconductors.



Dust grains cling to everything, abrading joints and clogging filters. Even soil composition varies from crater to crater, forcing reactors to adapt on the fly.



The authors emphasized in their study that addressing the technical challenges and high costs tied to development, deployment, and operation is essential for achieving sustainable lunar water use and enabling long-term space exploration.



Yet momentum is building. China aims to field a robotic base near the south pole by 2035, while NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Artemis</a> program plans multi week crewed visits and a permanent orbital station. A compact, sun powered unit that turns dirt into air and fuel could be the missing piece that lets those ambitions stick.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(25)00187-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joule</a>.



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New device turns moon dirt into water and oxygen for lunar bases

Building a long term base on the Moon has always...

Scientists have discovered two new species of wart sea slugs in North Sulawesi, Indonesia: Phyllidia ovata and Phyllidia fontjei. These marine invertebrates belong to the family Phyllidiidae and are known for their vivid colors and chemical defenses.



The sea slugs live on Indo-Pacific coral reefs and feed on sponges. They store sponge toxins in their own tissues as protection from predators. Though over 350 sea slug species are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-slugs-use-sunlight-to-survive-just-like-plants/">found</a> in North Sulawesi, nearly 100 remain unnamed.



The research was conducted by an international team of scientists from Germany, Indonesia, and Wales.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-slug-species-was-misclassified">Sea slug species was misclassified</h2>



Phyllidia ovata gets its name from its oval shape and pattern. This species has been photographed over the last two decades across Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia. However, it was previously misidentified as Phyllidia picta or Phyllidia coelestis. 



The sea slug has a clean white body with a central black patch surrounded by bright tubercles tipped in yellow. It can grow up to 50 mm (2 inches). 



The sea slug's unique appearance, including the ventral anus and black foot line, separates it from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-slugs-flash-bright-colors-to-scare-off-predators/">similar</a> species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tribute-to-an-indonesian-scientist">A tribute to an Indonesian scientist </h2>



Phyllidia fontjei is named in honor of Dr. Fontje Kaligis, an Indonesian scientist who contributed significantly to global sea slug research. 



Measuring just 16 mm (0,6 inches), this species is notably small. It has a white body, a bright orange patch at the center, and a black band - making it visually distinct. 



Researchers discovered Phyllidia fontjei resting on a sponge at a depth of 25.3 meters (83 feet), near Bunaken Island in North Sulawesi.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-slugs-with-unique-traits">Sea slugs with unique traits</h2>



What sets&nbsp;P. fontjei&nbsp;apart from related species is its lack of prominent dorsal tubercles. Instead, its back displays three smooth ridges and tiny granules. 



Internally, it reveals unique anatomical traits. Scientists observed a well-developed glandular oral tube, a structure now recognized as key in feeding. This oral tube was previously referred to as a pharyngeal bulb.



The slug also features a complex reproductive system. These internal features, captured in detailed histological slides, helped confirm&nbsp;P. fontjei&nbsp;as a new and separate sea slug species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-distinct-anatomical-differences">Distinct anatomical differences </h2>



Scientists used advanced microscopy to compare&nbsp;P. fontjei&nbsp;with&nbsp;P. ocellata&nbsp;and the Mediterranean species&nbsp;P. flava. 



They found minor structural differences in digestive and reproductive anatomy, despite size and distribution variations.&nbsp;P. fontjei&nbsp;matures at a small size, while&nbsp;P. ovata&nbsp;and&nbsp;P. flava&nbsp;grow much larger.



The study introduced the term “glandular oral tube” to describe a part of the digestive tract previously called the “pharyngeal bulb.” This gland structure, which is used during feeding, may be specific to each species. 



Images from histological slides show glandular folds, muscle bundles, and the reproductive organs in striking clarity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limited-sightings-of-the-sea-slugs">Limited sightings of the sea slugs</h2>



Phyllidia ovata&nbsp;ranges from Japan to Australia, with most sightings in Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. 



In contrast,&nbsp;Phyllidia fontjei&nbsp;has a smaller known range and is limited to Indonesia, Malaysia, and parts of the Andaman Sea.



Both species remain extremely rare, even in areas where other&nbsp;Phyllidia&nbsp;sea slugs are commonly found.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sea-slug_Phyllidia-ovata_credit-Heike-Wagele_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sea-slug_Phyllidia-ovata_credit-Heike-Wagele_1s.webp" alt="Phyllidia ovata. Credit: Heike Wägele" class="wp-image-1978676"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Phyllidia ovata. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Heike Wägele</figcaption></figure>



Limited sightings suggest that these newly described species may have highly specific <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-is-tracking-endangered-animal-habitats-from-space/">habitat preferences</a> or low population densities.



Despite their <a href="https://www.mcsuk.org/news/sea-slugs-a-rainbow-of-life-in-our-seas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vibrant appearance</a>, they often go unnoticed in the diverse reef ecosystems they inhabit. Their rarity underlines the need for continued exploration and documentation of marine invertebrate life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-citizen-science-played-a-key-role">Citizen science played a key role</h2>



The discoveries would not have been possible without contributions from amateur divers and photographers. Platforms like iNaturalist, NudiPixel, Facebook, and the <a href="http://www.seaslugforum.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sea Slug Forum</a> helped scientists locate images of these nudibranchs.



“We all use these platforms in many different fields of taxonomy as they provide useful records when the species are distinctive, and have done so for more than two decades,” said Dr. Nathalie Yonow of <a href="https://www.swansea.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Swansea University</a>.



This discovery highlights the value of open collaboration and long-term data collection. It also reminds us that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/inspired-by-sea-slugs-microneedles-could-transform-health-monitoring/">ocean</a> still holds many surprises, even in regions that are frequently explored.



The full study appears in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/153046/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ZooKeys</a>.



Image Credit: Heike Wägele.



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Two rare sea slugs discovered using diver photos

Scientists have discovered two new species of wart sea slugs...

<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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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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

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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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



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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



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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



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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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