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...

We like to think our shopping decisions come down to personal preference. But then a friend gives a quick nod of approval to a pair of sneakers, and suddenly the choice just feels right - almost without a second thought.



A new project led by Jia Jin at <a href="http://en.sbm.shisu.edu.cn/main.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Shanghai International Studies University</a> suggests that this social nudge reaches past surface influence and into coordinated brain activity. 



The researchers tracked more than 100 undergraduates for an entire semester and logged every change in their friendship network. 



In a separate experiment, the team scanned dozens of the student's brains while they watched a series of advertisements together.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-friends-shape-our-shopping-opinions">Friends shape our shopping opinions</h2>



The behavioral part of the study began with 175 students who rated everyday products on price, quality, and appeal. Agreement was strongest for practical gadgets but still showed up for status items such as branded shoes.



Over 16 weeks of campus life, the friendships ebbed and flowed, and the rating data shifted with them. Pairs who grew closer showed steadily shrinking opinion gaps, while pairs who drifted apart edged toward stranger‑level disagreement.



“Friends, compared to nonfriends, exhibit higher similarity in product evaluation,” explained Jin. By week 16, average distance within friend pairs had dropped by an extra eight percent - a subtle but reliable change that mirrored the strengthening ties.



In 2018, <a href="https://bri.ucla.edu/people/carolyn-parkinson/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Carolyn Parkinson</a> observed that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5790806" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neural responses</a> when viewing audiovisual movies are exceptionally similar among friends. The new project extends that insight from entertainment to the daily act of spending money.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shopping-ads-and-syncing-brains">Shopping ads and syncing brains</h2>



The imaging portion of the study placed 47 volunteers into a 3‑tesla scanner and recorded oxygen‑related signals with fMRI while each watched sixty short commercials beside a friend. 



The pair's brain activity revealed cortical areas lighting up in near unison, almost like two stereos tuned to the same station.



The alignment, or <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/integrative-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/neuro.07.017.2009/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neural synchrony</a>, emerged most strongly in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the precuneus. These brain regions are known for weighing value, recalling personal associations, and judging social meaning. 



When a shiny logo flashed, friends’ reward circuits rose and fell together, suggesting that the brand carried comparable weight for both people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-friendship-and-shopping-preferences">Friendship and shopping preferences </h2>



A follow‑up <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00445/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meta‑analysis</a> linked the shared activity to object perception, visual attention, memory consolidation, and reward processing, weaving a tidy bridge from perception to choice. 



Strangers placed in the same room and shown the identical ads displayed weaker, noisier patterns with no consistent overlap across those networks.



Notably, shopping-related brain synchrony shifted with self-reported closeness. Friends who rated their bond a perfect ten showed almost twice the inter-brain correlation seen in weaker pairs, hinting that emotional intimacy tunes friends’ shopping responses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-predicting-what-your-buddy-will-buy">Predicting what your buddy will buy</h2>



Jin’s group next trained a ridge regression model on each volunteer’s functional connectivity map, feeding the algorithm patterns from hundreds of brain regions rather than surface‑level behavior. 



The model learned to flag a yes‑or‑no intention to buy every product shown onscreen.



Accuracy reached 63 percent for predicting the participant’s own choice and 59 percent for forecasting a friend’s choice, both comfortably above the 50 percent chance line. 



Because the algorithm needed only the viewer’s brain data, the result serves as a proof of concept for inferring another person’s future action from a third‑party scan.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-taking-advantage-of-social-bonds">Taking advantage of social bonds</h2>



Marketers see a goldmine in this possibility - envisioning perfectly timed, personalized ads delivered in key social moments. 



Privacy advocates, on the other hand, see a Trojan horse, cautioning that neuromarketing could shift from tracking group behavior to probing individual minds.



For now, the researchers emphasize that the predictive edge applies only to close ties. The machine guessed the intentions of a randomly paired stranger no better than a coin toss, showing that the social bond is the secret sauce.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-neural-similarity-matters">Why neural similarity matters</h2>



Social scientists label this pull <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/homophily" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">homophily</a>, the tendency to gravitate toward people who see the world as we do. The current paper suggests the arrow points both ways, because new data show we also come to see the world more similarly after the friendship forms.



A hyperscanning <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51990-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> last year found the opposite trend during open‑ended conversation, in which friends diverged and strangers converged as the chat unfolded. 



The result hints that context decides whether shared history promotes alignment or encourages partners to seek novelty.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shopping-and-friends-the-feedback-loop">Shopping and friends: The feedback loop</h2>



Dartmouth <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36519530/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">researchers</a> have shown that synchronized activity in the posterior cingulate during live storytelling predicts how accurately friends recall the plot the next day. Overlapping signals may mark moments the group deems important.



Taken together, the data portray shopping and friendship as a feedback loop: similar minds become friends, and friendship shapes those minds to stay in sync, especially in shopping choices. This shaping explains how social norms form quickly within tight circles.



Shared brain patterns help explain viral fashion crazes, speculative bubbles, and information cascades on social media. 



A flashy post that resonates with one member of a tight‑knit group can ripple outward through synchronized attention and reward circuits, turning a niche trend into a crowd movement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-the-study-0">Broader implications of the study</h2>



Educators designing group projects might harness the same principle. Placing students with strong positive ties together could amplify engagement and recall, while carefully mixing near‑strangers might spark creative friction and prevent echo chambers.



Clinicians are exploring whether disrupted synchrony signals social difficulties in autism and schizophrenia. If so, friendship‑driven alignment could serve as a healthy benchmark, guiding therapies that aim to restore interpersonal attunement.



The present work leaves one puzzle unsolved: Does deeper neural similarity in shopping spark the friendship, or do friends shape that similarity? Only longitudinal scans that begin before two people meet can settle the debate.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/06/12/JNEUROSCI.0073-25.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Neuroscience</a>.



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Friends affect how our brain responds to shopping

We like to think our shopping decisions come down to...

Forests do more than provide timber and shelter wildlife. They regulate water, stabilize soil, and buffer communities from natural disasters. But when forests are cut, the disruption doesn’t stop at tree stumps. 



A recent study led by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) reveals the alarming and long-lasting consequences of clear-cutting on flood patterns.



A once-in-70-years flood now hits every nine years. These findings come from one of the longest-running <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smarter-forest-design-can-help-fight-climate-change/">forest</a> hydrology experiments in the world.



“This research challenges conventional thinking about forest management’s impact on flooding,” said senior author Dr. Younes Alila, a hydrologist in the UBC faculty of <a href="https://forestry.ubc.ca" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forestry</a>. 



“We hope the industry and policymakers will take note of the findings, which show that it matters not only how much forest you remove but also where, how and under what conditions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-landscape-factors-and-flood-risk">Landscape factors and flood risk</h2>



The researchers studied two neighboring watersheds in North Carolina. Both were clear-cut in the 1950s but responded very differently. One faced north, retained moisture, and received less sunlight. The other faced south and dried out faster.



"We found seemingly minor landscape factors - like the direction a slope faces - can make or break a watershed's response to treatment," said study first author Henry Pham, a doctoral student in the faculty of forestry.



In the north-facing watershed, floods became four to 18 times more frequent. Some flood volumes more than doubled. In contrast, the south-facing watershed showed almost no changes in flood behavior. 



The same treatment led to wildly different results, emphasizing how orientation and microclimate drive watershed resilience.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-outdated-flood-models">Outdated flood models </h2>



Conventional flood models estimate runoff by applying a simple formula: cut X percent of trees, expect Y percent more water. The research team challenged this outdated thinking. They used a probabilistic framework across 70 years of data from the <a href="https://research.fs.usda.gov/srs/forestsandranges/locations/coweeta" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory</a>.



“This experimental evidence validates our longstanding call for better analysis methods,” said Dr. Alila. “When we apply proper probabilistic tools to long-term data, we find much stronger and more variable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-will-struggle-without-winter-snow/">impacts</a> than older models suggest.”



The study showed that forest removal doesn’t just raise flood averages - it changes how floods behave entirely. Rare events become frequent, and peak flood volumes rise unpredictably.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forest-removal-and-flood-patterns">Forest removal and flood patterns</h2>



The team examined how floods behaved over decades after forest removal. The research revealed that altered flood behavior in the north-facing watershed remained extreme for many years. 



This wasn’t a short-term shock but a deep, long-term shift in the watershed’s hydrologic response. Even 40 years after all the trees were cut, floods were still stronger and lasted longer than before. 



Scientists think this happened because cutting the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-provide-different-health-benefits-based-on-their-structure/">trees</a> permanently changed how the soil holds water, how water evaporates through plants, and how soaked the ground stays after rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-past-forest-loss-led-to-major-floods">Past forest loss led to major floods</h2>



Dr. Alila noted that the findings can be applied to current and future flood disasters. British Columbia has many similar landscapes, including areas affected by the 2021 Sumas Prairie floods. 



The team suggests that their models could be used to assess how clear-cutting contributed to these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-are-lagging-centuries-behind-in-climate-adaptation/">events</a> and to predict future risks.



The researchers concluded that the big Texas floods, which occurred between 2015 and 2023, were intensified by changes in the land and heavy rain caused by climate change. 



Cutting down forests long ago may have made the land weaker, which led to more damage when the floods developed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-forest-policy">Rethinking forest policy</h2>



The evidence is clear: where, how, and when we log matters. The old one-size-fits-all approach no longer holds. Forests are not simple reservoirs. They are complex systems shaped by slope, exposure, soil, and rainfall patterns.



“Our findings highlight how multiple landscape factors interact in complex ways. As climate conditions shift, understanding those dynamics is becoming increasingly important for forest and water management.”



By treating watersheds as living systems with unique personalities, policymakers can make smarter decisions. It’s no longer just about how many trees we cut - but about where and what happens next.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002216942501042X" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Hydrology</a>. 



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Forest removal can turn rare floods into regular disasters

Forests do more than provide timber and shelter wildlife. They...

Evolution often follows curious paths, especially when it comes to food. Over the past 100 million years, mammals have explored an incredible range of diets. 



Some mammals graze on grass, others hunt prey, and a few even sip tree sap or dive for krill. But one of the strangest dietary turns comes from species that eat and depend deeply on ants and termites.



This peculiar choice may seem limiting, even risky. Yet, it has driven major transformations in anatomy, behavior and even survival <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammals-ground-dwellers-survived-the-asteroid-impact-that-killed-the-dinosaurs/">strategies</a>. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dietary-changes-for-mammals">Dietary changes for mammals</h2>



According to new research, mammals evolved ant and termite-only diets at least 12 separate times over 66 million years.



This shift, called myrmecophagy, followed the dinosaur extinction. It allowed ants and termites to thrive and opened a new food niche for mammals.



“There’s not been an investigation into how this dramatic diet evolved across all known mammal species until now,” said Phillip Barden of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (<a href="https://www.njit.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NJIT</a>).



“This work gives us the first real roadmap, and what really stands out is just how powerful a selective force ants and termites have been over the last 50 million years - shaping environments and literally changing the face of entire species.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-mammals-adapted-to-eat-ants">How mammals adapted to eat ants</h2>



Over 200 mammal species consume ants or termites occasionally. But just 20, like pangolins and anteaters, rely on them completely. 



These true myrmecophages evolved long, sticky tongues and powerful claws. Many even lost their teeth.



To track this trend, the researchers collected diet records from 4,099 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-mammals-have-evolved-over-66-million-years/">species</a>. These came from nearly 100 years of scientific papers, field notes and conservation reports.



“Compiling dietary data for nearly every living mammal was daunting, but it really illuminates the sheer diversity of diets and ecologies in the mammalian world,” said Thomas Vida from the <a href="https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bonn</a>. 



Small ant-eaters need to eat huge numbers to survive. Numbats eat around 20,000 termites daily. Aardwolves can eat over 300,000 ants in one night.



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



Anteaters belong to the suborder Vermilingua, which literally means “worm tongue” - an apt name, since their tongues can extend up to two feet and flick in and out of their mouths up to 160 times per minute. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-anteater-day-a-tribute-to-natures-unique-foragers/">Modern-day anteaters</a> don’t have teeth, so they rely on their sticky tongues and powerful stomachs to digest the thousands of ants and termites they consume daily. 



Their long, tubular snouts house an excellent sense of smell, which is key to locating insect nests in the wild.



Despite their name, anteaters don’t just eat ants. They also snack on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/termites-play-an-unexpected-role-in-rainforest-revival/">termites</a>, and they’re careful not to destroy an entire colony - they’ll feed for just a minute or two before moving on, ensuring the nest can recover for future visits. 



Giant anteaters, like the one pictured in this article, can grow over 7 feet long from nose to tail. These solitary animals roam grasslands and rainforests across Central and South America. 



With their shaggy coats and slow, deliberate movements, they might seem awkward - but they’re incredibly strong, especially in their forelimbs, which they use to rip open tough termite mounds or defend themselves from predators.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-rise-of-ants-and-termites">The rise of ants and termites </h2>



The team grouped <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-fossil-big-discovery-student-uncovers-a-lost-mammal-species/">species</a> by diet. From ant-only eaters to generalists. Then they mapped these onto a mammal family tree and ran evolutionary models.



The experts found at least 12 independent shifts to strict myrmecophagy. These happened in marsupials, monotremes and placental mammals. But not evenly. Some groups showed more change than others.



The researchers also looked back 145 million years to study the rise of ant and termite colonies. During the Cretaceous, ants and termites were rare. By the Miocene, 23 million years ago, they made up over a third of insect populations.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/anteater_mammal-phylogeny_evolution_NIJT_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/anteater_mammal-phylogeny_evolution_NIJT_1s.webp" alt="A mammal phylogeny with colors depicting the diet of living species and their ancestors; silhouettes of myrmecophagous mammals surround the tree. An inset diagram in the upper right illustrates transitions between dietary states. Credit: Vida, Calamari, &amp; Barden/NJIT" class="wp-image-1978347"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A mammal phylogeny with colors depicting the diet of living species and their ancestors; silhouettes of myrmecophagous mammals surround the tree. An inset diagram in the upper right illustrates transitions between dietary states. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Vida, Calamari, &amp; Barden/NJIT</figcaption></figure>



“It’s not clear exactly why ants and termites both took off around the same time. Some work has implicated the rise of flowering plants, along with some of the planet’s warmest temperatures during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum about 55 million years ago,” said Barden. 



“What is clear is that their sheer biomass set off a cascade of evolutionary responses across plants and animals.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ant-eating-mammals-rarely-change-diets">Ant-eating mammals rarely change diets</h2>



Myrmecophagy arose more often from insect-eating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammals-tried-different-ways-to-move-before-walking-upright/">ancestors</a> than from carnivores. But surprisingly, carnivores like dogs and bears made the switch several times too.



“That was a surprise,” Barden said. “Making the leap from eating other vertebrates to consuming thousands of tiny insects daily is a major shift.”



Once a mammal becomes a myrmecophage, it rarely reverts. Only one genus, Macroscelides, the elephant shrews, ever switched back to a broader diet after specializing.



Eight of the twelve times mammals evolved to eat only ants or termites, just one species survived each time. 



This limited survival suggests that highly specialized creatures, while successful in their niche, may face a greater risk of extinction due to changing environments, food scarcity, or habitat disruption over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ant-eaters-survive-as-insects-spread">Ant-eaters survive as insects spread</h2>



“In some ways, specializing on ants and termites paints a species into a corner,” Barden said. But for now, these specialists thrive.



Ants and termites now outweigh all wild mammals combined. Climate change favors species with massive colonies. 



This shift may help ant- and termite-eating mammals, known as myrmecophages, survive and thrive. Their specialized diet could become a surprising advantage in a world increasingly ruled by social insects.



“If you can’t beat them, eat them,” Barden said. That idea, repeated across millions of years, has changed the face of mammals again and again.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/evolut/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/evolut/qpaf121/8155241?redirectedFrom=fulltext&amp;login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evolution</a>.



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Mammals have evolved to eat ants and termites 12 different times since the dinosaurs

Evolution often follows curious paths, especially when it comes to...

Tiny bits of organic matter bobbing at the ocean’s surface appear to help clouds freeze in some of the most pristine air on Earth.



New research shows that complex sugar molecules shed by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-microbes-can-tell-us-about-global-changes-in-the-ocean/">marine microbes</a> can trigger ice formation in cloud droplets across the vast Southern Ocean. This happens right in the temperature range that governs how long bright, cooling clouds survive and how much sunlight they bounce back to space.



The work draws on years of field campaigns, lab tests, and computer modeling led by scientists at the <a href="https://www.tropos.de/en/">Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research</a> (TROPOS) and its partners.



It helps explain why climate models have struggled to match observed cloud brightness over remote southern seas. In these regions, dust is scarce and human-made pollution is low.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clouds-need-help-to-freeze">Clouds need help to freeze</h2>



Clouds do not freeze on their own; they need ice-nucleating particles (INPs). These microscopic seeds coax liquid droplets into ice. The kind of particle that dominates changes with temperature.



In the cleaner air around Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, INP levels are tiny. Even small shifts can strongly affect cloud reflectivity, precipitation, and lifetime.



Getting the mix right in climate models is essential for predicting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-is-accelerating-beyond-control-as-co2-levels-rise/">global warming</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-sugar-spike-reveals-a-clue">A sugar spike reveals a clue</h2>



Scientists have long suspected marine biology as a source of INPs, but the actual substances remained mysterious. A turning point came during the 2017 Polarstern expedition PS106.



“During the Polarstern expedition PS106 in 2017, we observed increased glucose concentrations in Arctic samples and concluded this glucose could be an indicator of ice nuclei in seawater,” said senior author Sebastian Zeppenfeld from TROPOS.



“The monosaccharide glucose is a degradation product of polysaccharides. It was therefore obvious to us that polysaccharides could be the missing piece of the puzzle.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ocean-sugars-and-freezing-clouds">Ocean sugars and freezing clouds</h2>



To test the idea, researchers collected material from the ocean’s surface microlayer. This living film teems with bacteria, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/algae-revived-after-7000-years-beneath-the-baltic-sea/">algae</a>, diatoms, fungi, protists, viruses, and more. Researchers had largely overlooked marine fungi as possible ice starters.



Study co-author Susan Hartmann from TROPOS examined ice nucleation in the laboratory using the INDA (Ice Nucleation Droplet Array) droplet freezing test.



“We investigated the ice nucleation of marine polysaccharides derived from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-fungi-can-be-trained-to-degrade-plastic-faster/">marine fungi</a> and protist, as well as commercially available standard polysaccharides,” she said.



Those droplet-freezing experiments produced the first temperature‑resolved data showing how many ice nuclei these marine polysaccharides generate. 



The results fill a key gap: between roughly -15°C (5°F) and -20°C (-4°F), the ocean sugars could account for nearly all biologically driven ice formation in cloud droplets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cloud-models-get-missing-ice-link">Cloud models get missing ice link</h2>



Earlier work had shown that proteins tend to initiate freezing in relatively “warm” clouds (above about 28°F), while mineral dust dominates in very cold clouds (below -4°F).



But the Southern Hemisphere offers limited dust sources. Many mixed-phase clouds linger in the middle range - exactly where the new study shows marine polysaccharides are most potent.



Study lead author Roland Schrödner from TROPOS analyzed the data using the TM5 global atmospheric chemistry transport model.



“In our simulations, we were able to show that at -15 to -16 degrees Celsius (5 to 3°F), the polysaccharides over the gigantic areas of the oceans in the clean Southern Hemisphere are probably the most important ice nuclei," said Schrödner.



"They contribute more to ice formation than mineral <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dust-storms-are-a-surprising-source-of-deadly-air-pollution/">dust</a> emitted from the deserts, which is the main type of ice nuclei in climate models. This is a new and important finding for climate models.” 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-years-of-data-point-to-sugars">Years of data point to sugars</h2>



The study knits together aerosol microphysics, atmospheric chemistry, and global modeling groups at TROPOS.



Polysaccharide concentrations had been sampled during multiple expeditions: the Spanish Antarctic PI‑ICE mission, the German Arctic PASCAL/PS106 cruises, the tropical Atlantic MarParCloud campaign, and long‑term measurements on Spitsbergen.



Only by combining those datasets with lab freezing tests and model simulations could the team quantify the climatic punch of marine sugars.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-cloud-ice-research">Next steps for cloud ice research</h2>



If nations succeed in cutting man‑made emissions, natural aerosol particles will matter even more for cloud behavior. Clean‑air regions respond sharply to even small aerosol changes, making the Southern Hemisphere a prime natural laboratory.



Beginning July 2025, the HALO‑South aircraft mission - led by TROPOS - will probe clouds, aerosols, and radiation over the Southern Ocean near New Zealand. 



A coordinated ground campaign, goSouth‑2, will deploy advanced remote‑sensing gear near Invercargill from September 2025 to March 2027. The goal is to watch clouds evolve in this pristine environment.



Life at the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-draining-nutrients-from-the-oceans-surface/">ocean’s surface</a> shapes cloud brightness, revealing deep links between biology and the atmosphere.



The new evidence that marine polysaccharides help seed ice over huge swaths of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-storage-mystery-emerges-in-the-southern-ocean/">Southern Ocean</a> is a vivid reminder: what grows in the water below can change the sky above - and, through clouds, influence Earth’s climate itself.



The study was presented at the <a href="https://www.egu25.eu/">EGU General Assembly 2025</a> in Vienna, Austria. An abstract of the article can be found <a href="https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/EGU25-15357.html">here</a>.



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How tiny sugars in the Southern Ocean help clouds freeze

Tiny bits of organic matter bobbing at the ocean’s surface...

Rivers shape life on Earth. They deliver water, sediment, and nutrients from mountains to oceans, cutting paths that feed ecosystems and human communities alike. 



For over a century, scientists have tried to understand why some rivers form a single, meandering channel, while other rivers split into multiple, crisscrossing streams. New research finally offers an answer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-causes-a-river-to-split">What causes a river to split?</h2>



In a study by geographers at the <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara</a>, scientists analyzed 36 years of satellite data from 84 rivers around the world. The goal was to determine what causes a river to split into many channels rather than stick to one.



Study lead author Austin Chadwick conducted the investigation as a postdoctoral researcher at UCSB.



“We found that rivers will develop multiple channels if they erode their banks faster than they deposit sediment on their opposing banks. This causes a channel to widen and divide over time,” said Chadwick. 



The study settles a long-standing debate in Earth science and provides new insight for understanding <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flood-fatalities-experts-reveal-the-hidden-health-impacts/">flood</a> risks and how to restore waterways to their natural states.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-two-types-of-rivers">Studying two types of rivers</h2>



Rivers are typically sorted into two categories: single-threaded and multi-threaded. While both are common, most of the world’s largest rivers have multiple channels. 



A notable exception is the <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/the-mississippi-river-in-the-united-states/">Mississippi River</a> in the U.S., which has been heavily studied and remains single-threaded.



Historically, single-threaded rivers got more attention from field researchers because they are easier to study. Lab researchers, on the other hand, often focused on multi-threaded rivers since they were easier to recreate in tank experiments.



The idea for this study started in a lab tank at the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. While observing multi-threaded rivers, Chadwick noticed something strange. The river channels kept widening and splitting, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/erosion/">erosion</a> outpaced deposition.



“I was banging my head on the wall because I kept measuring more erosion than deposition. And that was not what we’re taught in school,” said Chadwick. 



“That led me to read some old books from the Army Corps and other sources about examples where there’s more bank erosion than deposition.”



This curiosity led to a broader question: was the odd river behavior just a fluke in the lab - or did it happen in nature too?



“You generate a hypothesis in a laboratory setting and then you’re able to test it in nature,” said co-author Evan Greenberg, a former doctoral student at UCSB.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-rivers-choose-their-path">How rivers choose their path</h2>



To test their hypothesis, the team turned to satellite imagery, specifically Landsat data available through Google Earth Engine. 



They studied erosion and deposition patterns across dozens of rivers using a technique called particle image velocimetry.



Originally designed to track particles in lab fluids, they adapted it to track <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-transforming-arctic-rivers-in-unexpected-ways/">riverbanks</a> in satellite photos. 



The results were clear. Single-threaded rivers show a balance between erosion and deposition. This balance allows them to stay narrow and meander across the landscape.



Multi-threaded systems behave differently. In these rivers, erosion wins out. Banks erode faster than sediment can build up on the opposite side. The result? The channel keeps widening until it eventually splits.



“It is not like multi-threaded rivers are gaining water on average. They are still conveying the same amount of water through time, but they are doing that by constantly shuffling the size of the individual threads,” explained senior author Vamsi Ganti, an associate professor of geography at UCSB.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-insights-into-why-rivers-split">New insights into why rivers split</h2>



The key difference isn’t how much water flows - it’s how that flow reshapes the banks and moves sediment.



Most of the sediment in multi-threaded rivers ends up on the riverbed, not the banks. This eventually forms the islands and bars that separate each thread.



There were a few exceptions. For example, Brazil’s São Francisco didn’t follow the pattern, but the team traced that back to external changes. The river has been shrinking due to upstream <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dams-release-twice-as-much-carbon-as-they-store/">dams</a> and irrigation, pulling it out of its usual behavior.



“The question of what causes a river to be single-threaded or multi-threaded is pretty much as old as the field of geomorphology,” said Ganti.



Now, thanks to this work, there’s a clearer explanation: it comes down to the balance between erosion and deposition. 



Environmental conditions - like slope, flow, sediment type, and bank strength - still matter. But they influence the river by tipping that balance one way or the other.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rivers-cut-off-from-their-floodplains">Rivers cut off from their floodplains</h2>



In the 20th century, many rivers were confined to narrow channels to make space for cities and agriculture. While that reduced flooding risks in some areas, it came with a cost.



Cutting rivers off from their floodplains disrupts ecosystems. It also raises the riverbed, making floods worse when they happen.



“Consider Hurricane Katrina,” Chadwick said. “When the levee broke, there was widespread flooding in part because the floodplain had been cut off from the Mississippi for so long that it had sunk relative to the river, allowing the floodwaters to pond there.”



Today, there’s a push to reconnect waterways with their floodplains. But to do that effectively, planners need to know how much space is required - and how long restoration will take.



This study offers a solution. The team developed a formula that calculates corridor width and recovery time for a channel returning to its natural state. 



It accounts for how quickly a river can abandon an old channel and whether it tends to be single- or multi-threaded.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-restoration-projects">Rethinking restoration projects</h2>



The researchers found that single-threaded rivers need about ten times more space and time to re-establish themselves than multi-threaded ones, assuming equal stream power. That changes the equation for restoration - and may make some projects more feasible.



Photos from the 1930s show the Los Angeles River once had multiple channels before it was confined to concrete. 



Many rivers we now think of as single-threaded may have originally been multi-threaded. That could mean restoration won’t require as much effort - or money - as previously believed.



“A project currently considered prohibitively large or expensive may actually be affordable if a river was misclassified,” Chadwick explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-following-the-flow-into-the-future">Following the flow into the future</h2>



Ganti’s team is now studying how river behaviors change over time - whether these speed up, slow down, or change how many threads they have. These trends could reflect the effects of climate change and human development.



Chadwick, now continuing his research at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, is still exploring why erosion dominates and what drives the variety among multi-threaded systems.



Meanwhile, Greenberg is using satellite data at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to study how sediment moves through rivers. He’s also examining how dams influence river shapes over decades.



Rivers do more than flow. They feed farms, shape cities, and carry goods across continents. But they also flood, shift, and surprise us. 



This new research brings us closer to understanding how these forces shape our world - and how we can better live alongside them.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads6567" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Why rivers split: A century-old mystery has finally been solved

Rivers shape life on Earth. They deliver water, sediment, and...

A new study shows how everyday waste - like ropes and plastic bags - is silently killing baby birds, not just in the oceans, but on land too.



Researchers spent four years tracking white storks in southern Portugal. What they found was brutal: plastic-filled nests, chicks caught in rope, and many young birds that didn’t survive.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bird-nests-built-with-trash">Bird nests built with trash</h2>



The research was led by scientists at the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a>, along with teams from the University of Montpellier and the University of Lisbon. 



The team focused on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/white-storks-and-humans-have-a-long-intertwined-history/">white storks</a> - large, land-dwelling birds that often build their nests near people. And those nests? They were filled with trash.



The researchers inspected 568 nests from 32 colonies in Portugal’s Alentejo and Algarve regions. Of those nests, 91 percent contained human-made debris - mostly plastic. 



Soft plastic like shopping bags was found in 65 percent of nests. But the bigger danger was rope. Nearly half the nests had it, and it was the top cause of fatal entanglement.



In one especially detailed year of the study, scientists visited 93 nests weekly. They found that 12 percent of the chicks became tangled in debris - many fatally.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chicks-caught-in-cords">Chicks caught in cords</h2>



Most of the ropes came from agriculture - specifically, baler twine made of polypropylene. 



This tough plastic rope is used to bind hay bales, but it doesn’t break down easily. Once it ends up in the environment, birds collect it for their nests. The consequences are often deadly.



In 63 percent of cases, entanglements were caused by ropes. Some nests contained as many as 22 separate ropes. Baler wrap, another plastic material used in farming, showed up in 13 percent of nests and entangled six nestlings.



White stork chicks in nests with more rope were more likely to get stuck. And once entangled, their chances of survival dropped dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-plastic-nest-problem">The plastic nest problem</h2>



“This is a serious issue,” said Professor Aldina Franco of the University of East Anglia. “These chicks get entangled in synthetic ropes when they are very young and the ropes slowly strangle their limbs as they grow - mostly legs and feet - leading to necrosis and amputations, they suffer a horrible death.”



It’s not just happening in Portugal. According to Franco, birds across Europe are weaving plastic waste into their nests. 



In Ukraine, soldiers have reported nests containing drone wiring. In the UK, small birds like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/goldfinches-are-moving-to-new-homes-in-unusual-places/">goldfinches</a> and wrens are building nests with colored plastic threads.



“We show that the impact of plastic in the nests can be underestimated, because the negative effects of the ropes and other human-produced materials tend to happen in the early life of the chicks, at an average age of two weeks, and the deaths can go unnoticed," said Professor Franco. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-storks-signal-wider-threat">Storks signal wider threat</h2>



White storks are what scientists call an “indicator species” - meaning they can signal a wider environmental problem. If this many of them are getting trapped in plastic, other birds likely are too.



“This study suggests that the threat posed by human-derived materials to terrestrial birds may be far more severe than previously recognized,” said lead author Ursula Heinze of the University of East Anglia.



“Our findings offer new insights into the extent of nestling deaths caused by entanglement, and highlights the urgent need to remove and replace hazardous materials such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hotspots-of-microplastic-pollution-found-in-the-north-sea/">polypropylene</a> baler twine from both agricultural use and the environment, given its harmful impacts on nestlings.”



While past research has looked at the presence of plastic in nests, this study went a step further. It tracked chicks from hatching to fledging, allowing scientists to see exactly when the entanglements occurred.



“Our main goal has been to identify the nesting materials that may pose significant risks to terrestrial bird species and pinpoint their origins, in order to develop effective strategies to mitigate these risks to wildlife,” noted Professor Franco.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mistaking-trash-for-twigs">Mistaking trash for twigs</h2>



Why do birds use plastic in the first place? According to Dr. Inês Catry from the University of Lisbon, white storks are known to incorporate discarded human-made materials into their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tangled-twigs-the-secrets-of-sturdy-bird-nests/">nests</a>, frequently nest near or within human settlements and often forage on organic waste at landfill sites.



“The reasons for using these materials in nest-building are not fully understood but may relate to their availability and the scarcity of natural ones, while some might also be mistaken for food, being inadvertently incorporated in the nests," said Dr. Catry.



“This study highlights that plastic pollution in terrestrial environments needs to be addressed and solutions to replace or safely discard of hazardous materials are urgently needed.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-land-birds-face-plastic-threat">Land birds face plastic threat</h2>



The study’s message is clear: plastic pollution isn’t just a marine problem. It’s affecting life on land in painful, visible ways. And even common farming tools like baler twine are part of the problem.



If these findings are ignored, more birds will suffer. However, if people and industries take responsibility - by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/surprise-study-some-scientists-call-for-halting-ocean-plastic-cleanup-efforts/">cleaning up</a>, switching materials, and being more aware - there’s a chance to stop these deaths before they happen. 



The full study was published in the journal Ecological Indicators.



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Birds are building nests with plastic, and the consequences are deadly

A new study shows how everyday waste - like ropes...

A fast belt of westerly winds that helps shape summer weather across South America, southern Africa, Australia, and Oceania is now sliding toward the South Pole and blowing harder.



New research shows that about half of this shift in the Southern Hemisphere’s eddy‑driven jet (EDJ) comes straight from global warming, while the other half traces to a cluster of interacting climate drivers.



By sorting those influences and testing models against real‑world data, scientists have sharpened near‑term forecasts for the next decade. 



The work was led by Julia Mindlin and colleagues at the <a href="https://www.physes.uni-leipzig.de/en/institute-for-meteorology">Institute for Meteorology at Leipzig University</a>, within the university’s <a href="https://www.physes.uni-leipzig.de/en/institute-for-meteorology/research/arbeitsgruppe-klimakausalitaet">Climate Causality working group</a>, headed by Professor Marlene Kretschmer.



“The aim of our research is to better understand climate risks and reduce the uncertainties of regional predictions and projections when it comes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-weather-is-pushing-nature-toward-a-breaking-point/">extreme weather</a> and climate events,” Kretschmer said.



The researchers focused on the summertime EDJ, which steers storms and controls heat and rainfall across the Southern Hemisphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-decades-of-wind-shifts">Tracking decades of wind shifts</h2>



Prompted by recent changes seen in Southern Hemisphere wind patterns, the researchers began by examining historical climate observations back to 1950.



They confirmed two clear trends: summer EDJ wind speeds have increased, and the jet’s core latitude has crept steadily poleward.



To untangle why, they turned to a statistical framework known as causal inference, which helps isolate the influence of individual drivers - even when those drivers co‑vary in the climate system.



They then linked the causal results to a “storyline” approach - a way of tracing climate changes as chains of cause and effect. Storylines help explain why different climate models can yield different futures and give researchers a structured way to explore uncertainty.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forces-behind-the-jet-stream-shift">Forces behind the jet stream shift</h2>



Combining the two approaches produced a clean attribution. Roughly 50 percent of the observed poleward shift in the Southern Hemisphere summer jet is directly attributable to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-volcanic-past-reveals-the-shocking-reality-of-global-warming/">global warming</a>.



The remaining half reflects the combined push of several other climate‑related changes: warming of the upper tropical atmosphere, strengthening winds in the stratosphere, and warming in the tropical Pacific.



Some of these influences are themselves partly driven by human‑caused climate change; others are harder to pin down. The same mix of factors also explains the measured acceleration of the jet, with global warming contributing to the rise in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-method-developed-to-measure-the-wind/">wind speeds</a>.



“The findings show how complex the jet stream’s reaction to climate change is, especially in terms of how rapidly the winds are strengthening,” Mindlin said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forecasting-the-next-decade">Forecasting the next decade</h2>



Because climate models often disagree - especially over short horizons - the team next asked which models best mirrored the real atmosphere.



The researchers compared simulations to observed EDJ behavior to see which captured core features such as latitude, variability, and sensitivity to the identified drivers.



By giving more weight to models that get those pieces right, they narrowed the plausible range of jet changes expected over the coming ten years. That tighter range is critical for planners in agriculture, water management, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-are-changing-the-quality-of-our-air/">wildfire</a> preparedness, energy, and infrastructure.



“In the past, research primarily focused on long-term climate developments. Recently, however, short-term developments have taken center stage, as they are increasingly relevant for decision-makers. The methods we suggest can be used to improve climate predictions for the next ten years,” Mindlin said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-a-shifting-jet-stream-means">What a shifting jet stream means</h2>



When the EDJ edges poleward, the storm tracks it helps steer often shift with it. Regions on the jet’s equatorward side can see fewer frontal systems, bringing a tendency toward drier summers and greater <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-now-the-driving-force-behind-droughts/">drought</a> risk.



Farther south, where the jet now spends more time, stronger winds can intensify <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-soil-moisture-can-predict-severe-storms/">storms</a>, enhance ocean mixing, and reshape sea ice and marine ecosystems. 



These downstream changes matter for crop yields in southern Australia and reservoir inflows in Chile and Argentina. They also affect fire weather in South Africa and coastal infrastructure exposed to more frequent wind-driven extremes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-causal-tools-reveal-the-truth">Causal tools reveal the truth</h2>



Many large‑scale climate drivers occur together: greenhouse warming, tropical Pacific sea surface shifts, and stratospheric circulation changes often overlap in time. Traditional correlations blur their separate roles.



Causal inference lets researchers ask counterfactual questions - what would the jet have done without the tropical Pacific warming, for instance? - and assign shares of responsibility.



Coupling those answers to storylines makes the science more usable, because decision‑makers can follow the chain from driver to local impact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-matching-models-to-history">Matching models to history</h2>



No single climate model is perfect, but each gets some features right. By comparing existing models to observed EDJ behavior, Mindlin’s team effectively filtered out poor performers and leaned on those that reproduce the jet’s history.



These findings will help water agencies, grid operators, and insurers work with narrower, more actionable climate windows for the coming decade.



The team is extending this framework to related wind belts over the Pacific and the coupled Atlantic‑Indian sector. The researchers want to see how shifts in these jet streams link to regional heatwaves and multi‑year droughts - events that strain societies and ecosystems. 



As causal‑storyline methods mature, they could become standard practice for translating global climate signals into the local risk information that communities need.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500697122">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Why the Southern jet stream is shifting - and what it means

A fast belt of westerly winds that helps shape summer...

As wild chimpanzees grow older, they tend to back away from complex tool-use activities. When they do engage, they become less efficient - paralleling many of the changes seen in aging humans.



This is the central finding of a new study based on an extraordinary 17-year record of wild chimpanzee behavior in Guinea’s Bossou Forest.



Researchers discovered that aging chimpanzees were not only less likely to participate in nut-cracking sessions using stone tools, but those who did often worked more slowly and less effectively than in their youth.



Some individuals appeared to struggle considerably with the task, while others retained strong abilities into their later years. The data suggest that, just like humans, chimpanzees vary widely in how age impacts their technical skills.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aging-chimpanzees-slow-down">Aging chimpanzees slow down</h2>



Scientists know much less about how growing older affects wild animals than they do about human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lemurs-reveal-surprising-new-clues-about-healthy-aging/">aging</a>, which is well studied. This is especially true when it comes to physically and cognitively demanding behaviors.



Elliot Howard-Spink, a postdoctoral researcher at the <a href="https://www.ab.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior</a>, is the study's lead author.



“<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-pass-tool-use-skills-across-generations/">Tool use</a> is uncommon among animals, possibly because it requires a suite of physical and cognitive abilities, such as planning, fine motor coordination, understanding causal relationships, and identifying physical properties of objects,” he said.



“Given many of these faculties can be impacted by aging, wild animals’ tool-use behaviors could be vulnerable to decline with old age.”



The team analyzed behavior records from Bossou, where chimpanzees use stones to crack oil palm nuts. The technique involves selecting appropriate hammer and anvil stones and executing coordinated, targeted strikes.



Over the 17-year study period, the researchers focused on five adult chimpanzees - four females and one male - who aged from around 40 to 60 years old during the observation window.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-less-interest-lower-efficiency"><a></a>Less interest, lower efficiency</h2>



What they saw was a steady decline in nut-cracking activity among the older individuals. Unlike younger adults, older chimpanzees showed a major decline in their attendance at the outdoor laboratory over successive field seasons.



This reduction suggested a gradual disengagement from the demanding <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-foraging-behavior-changing-climate-warming-waters/">foraging behavior</a>. Even when older chimpanzees did show up, some spent noticeably less time interacting with the tools and nuts - further evidence of an age-related withdrawal.



The team also documented changes in performance. Some older chimpanzees took longer to select appropriate tools, switched stones more frequently, or required more attempts to open each nut.



The inefficiencies accumulated: it took more time and more strikes for the older apes to get the job done. But the degree of decline was not universal.



The scientists found stark differences in the magnitude of changes across individuals. Some chimpanzees maintained relatively steady skill levels into old age, while others showed marked decline.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-one-elder-stands-out">One elder stands out</h2>



Susana Carvalho, a group leader at the <a href="https://www.cibio.up.pt/en/about/">Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources</a> (CIBIO) in Portugal recalled a particularly vivid example from a chimpanzee named Yo. 



“We first spotted an elderly female (Yo) seemingly experiencing difficulties during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/just-one-handful-of-pecan-nuts-each-day-can-lower-cholesterol-heart-health/">nut</a> cracking whilst observing chimpanzees in 2012,” she said. “Yo, formerly a keen and efficient tool-user, was taking a very long time to crack each nut, and was changing the stone tools she was using frequently.” 



The long-term data later confirmed those early observations. This deep behavioral record from Bossou is unique because it covers nearly two decades. 



The data was gathered in a consistent field setup known as the “outdoor laboratory.” The researchers placed nuts and tools in a clearing and filmed the chimpanzees who came to use them.



“This research was only possible through the unique video archive produced by decades of continuous observation,” said Tetsuro Matsuzawa, the founding director of the Bossou Archive.



“The Bossou Archive offers a baseline to inform conservation strategies across wild chimpanzee populations, including accounting for behavioral changes over lifetimes.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chimpanzees-mirror-aging-humans">Chimpanzees mirror aging humans</h2>



The study also demonstrates the cultural dimension of tool use among chimpanzees.



“Just as with human technical skills, chimpanzee tool use is culturally learned through social learning and individual practice,” noted study co-author Katarina Almeida-Warren, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-and-bees-are-capable-of-complex-social-learning/">University of Oxford</a>.



“By studying the same chimpanzees over two decades, we’ve been able to see how chimpanzees’ cultural skills change with old age.”



While the research did not pinpoint the biological mechanisms behind the decline, it opens new avenues for exploring how age affects cognition and behavior in our closest living relatives.



“As ours was an observational study, we can’t yet identify the specific reasons why aging affects nut cracking,” said co-senior author Dora Biro, a primatologist at the <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/">University of Rochester</a>.



“But our results raise important questions about how aging influences apes’ cognition and behavior in natural settings.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aging-changes-chimpanzee-culture">Aging changes chimpanzee culture</h2>



With its detailed focus on individual animals over many years, the Bossou study provides a rare look at aging outside of captivity or the human species.



It also raises questions about how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/adults-learn-skills-faster-than-children-but-theres-a-catch/">skill learning</a>, use, and decline might shape not only individual lives but group dynamics and traditions in wild chimpanzee communities.



“Until now, there has been no systematic study of how old age influences the technological behaviors of wild animals,” said Howard-Spink. That’s beginning to change - and the results suggest that even in the forest, age can bring challenges similar to those in humans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/105411">eLife</a>.



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What aging chimpanzees can teach us about ourselves

As wild chimpanzees grow older, they tend to back away...

Obesity is rare among Hadza hunter‑gatherers in Tanzania, Tsimane forager‑farmers in Bolivia, or Tuvan herder‑farmers in Siberia. Yet it’s common across rich, industrialized nations.



For decades, the explanation has been <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercising-in-midlife-can-reverse-years-of-inactivity/">inactivity</a>: people in wealthy countries sit too much and therefore burn too few calories. However, a new study argues that this explanation is wrong - or at least badly incomplete.



Researchers analyzed objective metabolic data from 4,213 men and women spread across 34 countries and cultural groups, running the gamut from small‑scale subsistence societies to office‑dwelling professionals in Europe and North America.



The result: people in highly developed nations burn about the same total number of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spicy-foods-can-slow-down-eating-and-cut-calorie-intake/">calories</a> per day, once you adjust for body size, as people in far more physically demanding settings.



That finding forces a rethink. If most of us burn similar daily energy regardless of lifestyle, then widespread obesity in wealthy nations must come primarily from what we eat, not how little we move.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-obesity-s-root-cause">Rethinking obesity’s root cause</h2>



“There’s still a lively debate in public health about the role of diet and activity in the development of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-is-obesity-difficult-to-reverse-it-starts-in-the-brain/">obesity</a>," said senior author Herman Pontzer, a professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health at <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a>.



Untangling the two matters: prevention and treatment strategies hinge on knowing which lever - calories in or calories out - has moved the most.



To tackle the question, Pontzer and more than 80 collaborators pooled gold‑standard measurements collected with “doubly labeled water,” a tracer technique in which volunteers drink water marked with rare, harmless isotopes.



By tracking how those isotopes leave the body in urine or breath, scientists can calculate how much carbon dioxide a person produces - and from that, determine days‑long averages of total energy expenditure. 



The dataset also included basal energy expenditure (calories burned just staying alive) and the extra calories used in physical activity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calorie-burn-stays-steady">Calorie burn stays steady</h2>



After statistically adjusting for body size - people in affluent countries tend to be taller and heavier, and bigger bodies naturally burn more - the expected pattern vanished.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-hunter-gatherer-ancestors-did-much-more-gathering-than-hunting/">Hunter‑gatherers</a> who walk miles each day, herder‑farmers who haul and dig, and office workers who sit long hours all landed in roughly the same range for total daily energy burn.



Pontzer interprets this through his “constrained total energy expenditure” model. When physical activity rises, the body trims energy elsewhere (for example, dampening some growth or immune processes) to keep total burn within a narrow band.



The practical takeaway is that ramping up movement does not necessarily translate into a large increase in total calories burned over the long haul.



"There is no effect of economic development on size-adjusted physical activity expenditure,” noted Pontzer. In other words, rich‑country living hasn’t slashed our activity calories the way many assumed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-food-drives-obesity-now">Food drives obesity now</h2>



When the team compared energy intake estimates, a pattern emerged. “Our analyses suggest that increased energy intake has been roughly 10 times more important than declining total energy expenditure in driving the modern obesity crisis,” the authors wrote. 



More simply put, overeating swamps any small changes in how much we burn.



Diet quality also mattered. In a subset of the sample where dietary data were available, higher intake of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/direct-link-confirmed-between-ultra-processed-foods-upf-serious-health-problems/">ultra‑processed foods</a> correlated strongly with higher body fat percentages.



The study defined these products as “industrial formulations of five or more ingredients.” Think packaged snacks, sugary cereals, instant noodles, processed meats, and ready‑to‑eat meals - items engineered for shelf life and low cost.



“This study confirms what I’ve been saying, which is that diet is the key culprit in our current [obesity] epidemic. This is a well-done study,” said Barry Popkin, a nutrition researcher at the <a href="https://www.unc.edu/">University of North Carolina</a>.



“It’s clear from this important new research and other studies that changes to our food, not our activity, are the dominant drivers of obesity,” added Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiometabolic expert at <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/">Tufts University</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exercise-still-improves-health">Exercise still improves health</h2>



“We know that exercise is essential for health. This study doesn’t change that,” Pontzer said. Regular movement improves heart health, mood, blood sugar control, and longevity - even if it doesn’t melt off pounds as easily as hoped.



Still, when the goal is lowering obesity rates, Pontzer argues that nutrition must take center stage. Public guidance, food policy, and healthcare counseling need to tackle obesity by focusing on dietary choices - what’s on the plate, how much is consumed, and how often.



"To address obesity, public health efforts need to focus on diet,” especially on the products “that seem to be really potent causes of obesity," concluded Pontzer.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2420902122">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Obesity is linked more to food than fitness

Obesity is rare among Hadza hunter‑gatherers in Tanzania, Tsimane forager‑farmers...

Across Earth's long timeline, extinction often seems like a silent erasure. Yet behind many disappearances lies a chain of ecological tension. Researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil explored predator-prey dynamics.



The results of two new studies suggest predator-prey relationships shaped extinction patterns in ancient species. Supported by FAPESP, the work focuses on predators like saber-toothed cats and their herbivore prey in North America.



The scientists used fossil records, body size data, and climate history from the last 20 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-predators-left-without-their-prey">Predators left without their prey </h2>



Saber-toothed tigers, known for long canines, likely hunted large animals. A popular theory links their extinction to the loss of megafauna during the late Pleistocene, caused by climate change and human actions.



“One of the hypotheses that’s received the most attention in the literature was that the end of saber-toothed tigers," said study author and <a href="https://unicamp.br">UNICAMP</a> researcher João Nascimento.



"It could be linked to the extinction of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/superfamily-of-bacterial-predator-proteins-is-changing-scientific-theory/">megafauna</a> at the end of the Pleistocene, which occurred between 50,000 and 11,000 years ago."



"These large animals became extinct due to climate change and human actions, and as a result, the predators were left without their main prey."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extinction-started-before-humans">Extinction started before humans</h2>



Nascimento noted that the research offers a new timeline. “We found that the process began millions of years earlier,” he said.



Saber-toothed cats went through repeated extinctions over time, often during periods of reduced prey diversity. This long-term view changes how we understand their fate.



The second study, published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/evolut/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/evolut/qpaf091/8124702?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evolution</a>, takes a reverse approach. It looks at how predator expansion drove herbivore decline. Antilocaprids, once a diverse group in North America, now have just one species left: the American antelope.



This group includes two extinct subfamilies. Merycodontinae vanished about six million years ago, likely outcompeted by proboscideans, ancestors of modern elephants. These massive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/largest-predator-prey-feast-ever-seen-in-the-ocean-enormous-quickly-altered-food-chain/">animals</a> dominated forest habitats, squeezing out smaller herbivores.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-predators-vanished-after-prey">Predators vanished after prey</h2>



The Antilocaprinae subfamily started fading when felids grew more diverse. The American cheetah (Miracinonyx), built for speed, emerged during this time. It likely drove antelopes to become faster.



Predator-driven speed might be why the American antelope is so fast today. The study gives new weight to that idea. More predators meant more evolutionary pressure on prey <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-otter-day-2025-on-the-front-lines-of-a-habitat-crisis/">species</a>. Fewer herbivores meant fewer niches to support diverse predators.



In a previous study, the researchers had suggested that large herbivores in the Iberian Peninsula caused predator decline 15 million years ago. These new papers expand that perspective to much broader regions.



“The great contribution of this set of studies is precisely to present the idea that the interaction between predators and prey can have an effect on large evolutionary patterns," said Professor Mathias Pires, who supervised the work.



"This had been debated for decades, but there was no really robust set of results to support this hypothesis."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-reveal-extinction-clues">Fossils reveal extinction clues</h2>



These discoveries rest on detailed fossil records. The team analyzed size, diet, and coexistence patterns of animals across millions of years. 



For example, saber-toothed cats appeared around 14 million years ago in Eurasia and 12 million years ago in North America. Eight species once coexisted, but numbers shrank over time.



Six million years ago, the saber-toothed cat population began a steady decline. This drop happened during a shift toward a more arid climate. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grasslands-crucial-role-global-agriculture-environment-ecosystems/">Grasslands</a> expanded while forests shrank, affecting food chains.



Leaf-eating prey lost their food sources, reducing available prey for predators. 



“Our study did not find a direct relationship between this event and the reduction in saber-toothed cats, but these changes in the environment had an indirect impact on the extinctions of different saber-toothed species by reducing the availability of prey,” Pires said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-predators-and-prey-need-balance">Predators and prey need balance</h2>



Forest-dependent Merycodontinae went extinct as their habitats disappeared. Grass-eating Antilocaprinae lasted longer but declined with increasing predator pressure. This chain reaction mirrors how nature balances itself.



“We’re showing how an increase in predators can reduce the availability of prey, which in turn reduces the abundance of predators, and how this can manifest on an evolutionary scale," Pires said. 



"It’s a warning about how we may be altering the future with the extinctions we’re causing now.”



The studies not only map the past but also warn how predator loss and extinction trends today may echo through millennia, reshaping life far beyond our own time.



The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jeb/voaf043/8115575?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Evolutionary Biology</a>. 



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Lessons from the past: Predators are doomed when their prey vanishes

Across Earth's long timeline, extinction often seems like a silent...

For decades, scientists have puzzled over Uranus. Unlike its fellow giant planets, it seemed unusually quiet in terms of heat.



When NASA’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-pulls-another-life-saving-maneuver-for-voyager-from-15-billion-miles-away/">Voyager 2</a> spacecraft flew past the icy world in 1986, its instruments detected almost no internal warmth. That didn’t make sense. Planets the size of Uranus should still be radiating heat from their formation - so where was it?



Now, new research suggests the heat is there - just harder to detect. This new evidence helps resolve an old mystery and opens the door to better understanding not just Uranus, but how planets form, evolve, and interact with their environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-uranus-is-still-losing-ancient-heat">Uranus is still losing ancient heat</h2>



The study comes from researchers at the <a href="https://www.uh.edu/">University of Houston</a>, working with planetary scientists across the globe. 



It draws on decades of spacecraft data and advanced computer modeling. Together, the evidence paints a clearer picture: Uranus does release more energy than it gets from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/widest-high-resolution-photo-of-the-sun-ever-captured-solar-orbiter/">Sun</a>.



“This means it’s still slowly losing leftover heat from its early history, a key piece of the puzzle that helps us understand its origins and how it has changed over time,” said first author Xinyue Wang.



The findings also line up with those from a separate team led by Professor Patrick Irwin at the University of Oxford.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-as-hot-as-its-neighbors">Not as hot as its neighbors</h2>



While Uranus does emit heat, it gives off far less than the other giant planets in our solar system. Jupiter, Saturn, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/auroras-captured-on-neptune-for-the-first-time-thanks-to-the-webb-telescope/">Neptune</a> all emit more than twice the energy they absorb from sunlight. Uranus emits only about 12.5 percent more.



The reason isn’t clear, but researchers believe Uranus may have a different internal structure or evolutionary history than its neighbors.



In other words, Uranus might be built differently on the inside - or it may have followed a unique evolutionary path over billions of years that shaped how it stores and releases heat.



The study also found that Uranus’s heat output varies with its seasons - and those seasons are extreme. Each one lasts around 20 years, due to the planet’s tilted spin and off-center orbit.



As Uranus makes its long journey around the Sun, its energy levels rise and fall.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planning-future-uranus-missions">Planning future Uranus missions</h2>



Scientists aren’t just curious about Uranus for curiosity’s sake. Understanding how the planet works could directly affect the planning of future space missions.



Liming Li, also a co-author of the study, believes the findings come at the right time. NASA is gearing up for a major mission to Uranus - one that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine ranked as a top priority for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/civilian-spacewalk-is-a-giant-leap-in-space-exploration/">space exploration</a> through 2032.



“This study could improve planning for NASA’s flagship mission to orbit and probe Uranus,” Li said.



“From a scientific perspective, this study helps us better understand Uranus and other giant planets. For future space exploration, I think it strengthens the case for a mission to Uranus,” Wang added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-earth">Lessons for Earth</h2>



The research also holds lessons for Earth. The methods used - combining space data with physical models - don’t apply only to Uranus. They could be used to study heat flow on other planets, even ones outside our solar system.



“By uncovering how Uranus stores and loses heat, we gain valuable insights into the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems, and climate systems,” Li said. 



“These findings help broaden our perspective on Earth’s atmospheric system and the challenges of climate change.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-research-in-space">The future of research in space</h2>



This study isn't just about Uranus - it's a preview of where space science is headed. As tools for modeling, data collection, and observation improve, scientists are gaining new ways to study planets across the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astronomers-announce-evidence-suggesting-that-our-solar-system-has-nine-planets-again/">solar system</a> and beyond. 



The methods used to analyze Uranus’s heat could help decode the atmospheres of other ice giants, exoplanets, and even newly discovered worlds in distant systems.



NASA’s upcoming Uranus mission is just one example of how this research will shape future exploration. By combining long-term data with modern computational models, scientists are building a deeper understanding of how planets form, change, and interact with their environments.



These advances don’t just push planetary science forward - they also strengthen our ability to study climate systems, design new technologies, and prepare for the challenges of Earth’s future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL115660#https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL115660">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.



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Hidden heat on Uranus changes what we know about ice giants

For decades, scientists have puzzled over Uranus. Unlike its fellow...

As humans and robots interact more, eye contact plays a powerful role. It's more than a gesture - it shapes how we connect and communicate. And as we age, science may offer new ways to keep those social instincts sharp.



A new study reveals something surprising: not just eye contact, but how and when we make it shapes communication. This discovery matters for humans, robots, and the spaces where both interact.



The research was led by Dr. Nathan Caruana, a cognitive neuroscientist in the HAVIC Lab at <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flinders University</a>. 



Dr. Caruana's team observed how people communicated during tasks with a virtual partner. The goal was to uncover patterns in gaze that signaled help or intent.



The researchers asked 137 participants to perform a block-building task with a virtual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/srt-h-robot-performs-surgery-without-a-human-controlling-its-hands-for-the-first-time-ever/">partner</a>. Throughout the task, the experts watched eye movements closely. They studied not just where people looked, but why, when, and in what order.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-look-that-asks-for-help">A look that asks for help</h2>



One pattern stood out. People responded best when the virtual partner looked at an object, then at them, and back to the object. This sequence made it clear a request for help was happening. Timing turned a look into a message.



“We found that it’s not just how often someone looks at you, or if they look at you last in a sequence of eye movements, but the context of their eye movements that makes that behavior appear communicative and relevant,” noted Dr. Caruana.



This context makes the difference between a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gaze-and-intention-the-unspoken-language-of-survival/">glance</a> and a cue. People recognized it, even when it came from a robot. This suggests our brains are wired to notice such social signals, regardless of the source.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-robots-speak-with-their-eyes">Robots speak with their eyes</h2>



The study also confirms something striking: humans react to robot eye movements the same way they react to humans. 



“And what’s fascinating is that people responded the same way whether the gaze behavior is observed from a human or a robot,” said Dr. Caruana.



That means robots can use our own social tools, like eye contact, to connect better. If they use familiar gaze patterns, we feel like they understand us.



“Our findings have helped decode one of our most instinctive behaviors and how it can be used to build better connections whether you're talking to a teammate, a robot, or someone who communicates differently,” noted Dr. Caruana.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-boosting-connection-as-we-age">Boosting connection as we age</h2>



Alongside this social discovery, another team has been working to reverse aging itself. A team led by Lucas Schoenfeldt and Alejandro Ocampo published a breakthrough in EMBO Molecular Medicine in 2025.



The researchers showed that a pair of small molecules can rejuvenate aged human cells and extend lifespan in C. elegans by over 42 percent.



These molecules, Repsox and TCP, target core aging factors: DNA damage, epigenetic drift, and oxidative stress. Treated human fibroblasts showed lower DNA damage and better stress resistance. In worms, the treatment improved motor <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-robot-interaction-are-we-prepared-for-the-ethical-challenges/">function</a> and reproduction.



By reducing age-linked senescence, the cocktail supports clearer cell signaling. That is crucial in tissues like the brain, where clean communication matters. If cells can “see” each other better, maybe so can we.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-robots-and-human-bonds">Robots and human bonds</h2>



What happens when insights from social neuroscience meet aging research? The answer might be better human-machine interaction that does not decline with age. 



Dr. Caruana’s work helps us build machines that feel more human. Schoenfeldt’s research may help us remain mentally sharp enough to notice it.



The shared goal: help people feel seen, understood, and connected, whether by a teammate or a digital agent.



“These subtle signals are the building blocks of social connection,” said Dr. Caruana. “By understanding them better, we can create technologies and training that help people connect more clearly and confidently.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-robots-and-eye-contact-may-aid-aging">Robots and eye contact may aid aging</h2>



The HAVIC Lab continues to study gaze in varied settings. The chemical reprogramming team is exploring other cell types and doses. The findings might ultimately lead to safe, non-genetic therapies to restore healthy aging.



Both efforts show that the future of communication, human or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dancing-robots-the-future-of-human-robot-interactions/">robotic</a>, starts with seeing each other better. And sometimes, it only takes a look.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250277" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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Robots gain human trust with the right kind of eye contact

As humans and robots interact more, eye contact plays a...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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

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







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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[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

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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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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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