Strength training often brings to mind toned arms and powerful legs. But new research suggests that the benefits extend much further. Lifting weights may also reshape the trillions of microbes living in our gut, which influence everything from metabolism to immunity.



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/studies-learn-the-exact-amount-of-time-you-should-spend-training-to-build-muscle/">gut</a> microbiome is closely linked to both health and aging. Inside of it are microbes like Faecalibacterium, Akkermansia, and Roseburia hominis. These tiny organisms produce short-chain fatty acids that strengthen the gut lining and ease inflammation.



Endurance activities like running or cycling are known to boost these helpful microbes. But when it comes to resistance training, the picture has remained far less clear.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-conflicting-past-studies">Conflicting past studies</h2>



Until recently, research painted a mixed picture. Some trials found that weight training shifted microbial communities, while others reported almost no changes. 



Matthieu Clauss of the <a href="https://www.nih.no/english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Norwegian School of Sport Sciences</a> in Oslo noted that the existing research remains limited.



To settle this uncertainty, Sven Nahnsen and colleagues at the <a href="https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Tübingen</a> studied 150 sedentary adults. Participants engaged in an eight-week resistance program using advanced machines that adjusted loads in real time and tracked every lift.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-strength-and-gut-microbes">Tracking strength and gut microbes</h2>



This digital system created detailed performance records while ensuring progressive, individualized training. Stool samples collected before, during, and after the program allowed researchers to map microbial changes.



When researchers looked at the whole group, they saw no clear changes in microbial diversity. The story shifted, however, once strength gains came into focus. 



Participants who made the biggest improvements showed noticeable rises in Faecalibacterium and Roseburia hominis. In fact, these microbes were especially abundant in individuals who gained far more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strength-training-may-be-the-best-exercise-for-insomnia/">strength</a> than everyone else.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-differ-in-strong-lifters">Microbes differ in strong lifters</h2>



The study revealed clear differences between high and low responders. The strongest gains were linked with distinct changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/natures-sweet-remedy-honey-is-a-microbial-marvel/">microbial</a> composition.



High performers also showed enrichment of members of the Lachnospiraceae family, many of which are linked to anti-inflammatory effects.



Notably, an amplicon sequence variant classified as Roseburia hominis showed the most significant increase in high responders by week eight.



Other enriched microbes included Bacteroides massiliensis and certain Prevotellaceae. Meanwhile, taxa like Lachnoclostridium and Oscillospiraceae declined.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gut-shifts-depend-on-training-progress">Gut shifts depend on training progress</h2>



Why do only some people experience these changes? <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weight-training-shields-the-aging-brain-from-dementia/">Training</a> compliance was similar, and diet surveys showed no clear differences. 



This suggests factors beyond effort or food intake. One possibility is that microbial shifts themselves supported muscle gains by increasing production of short-chain fatty acids, which enhance energy metabolism and recovery.



Resistance training did not increase overall microbial richness (alpha diversity), unlike endurance training, but it did remodel microbial composition (beta diversity) in high responders. 



This points to a dose-response effect: only when strength improvements cross a certain threshold do microbiome shifts emerge.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lifting-and-running-converge">Lifting and running converge</h2>



Despite differences between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-running-can-help-you-move-think-and-feel-better/">running</a> and lifting, both exercise types seem to converge on similar microbial outcomes. 



Enriched short-chain fatty acid producers like Faecalibacterium and Roseburia suggest common pathways that support gut integrity, regulate glucose, and reduce systemic inflammation.



The changes occurred without dietary modification, meaning resistance training alone can act as a driver of gut remodeling. This highlights its role not only for musculoskeletal health but also for metabolic and immune regulation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exercise-benefits-are-clear">Exercise benefits are clear</h2>



Some mysteries remain. Stool metabolomics showed no significant changes, which may indicate that functional shifts were subtle, localized, or required longer adaptation. 



The study also lacked a non-exercising control group, leaving room for further confirmation.



Even so, outside experts remain hopeful. The results suggest that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-reduces-depression-and-anxiety-in-children-and-teens-with-mental-health-issues/">exercise</a> of any kind can benefit gut health. They also point to the possibility that resistance training sparks unique, health-related shifts in the microbiome.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strength-training-as-gut-medicine">Strength training as gut medicine</h2>



From a public health perspective, resistance training may offer far more than toned muscles. It could serve as a non-drug approach to improving gut health, especially for people facing chronic inflammation or the challenges of aging.



The changes happening inside the gut are striking. Beneficial microbes increase, the gut lining becomes stronger, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fasting-helps-the-body-fight-inflammation-and-chronic-diseases/">inflammation</a> settles down. These microbes also help regulate blood sugar and energy use, lowering the risk of long-term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and digestive problems.



What makes this especially interesting is that participants did not need to change their diets. The exercise itself appeared to reshape the gut community, suggesting that strength training works as its own form of medicine.



For many, this shifts how we think about working out. Exercise is not only about muscles or appearance - it is about keeping the body resilient from within. Regular resistance training might help people recover faster, age more gracefully, and carry less risk of disease throughout life.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.13.670057v1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bioRxiv</a>.



-----



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Strength training can boost healthy gut bacteria

Strength training often brings to mind toned arms and powerful legs. But new research suggests that the benefits extend much further. Lifting weights may also reshape the trillions of microbes living in our gut, which influence everything from metabolism to immunity. The gut microbiome is closely linked to both health and aging. Inside of it are microbes like Faecalibacterium, Akkermansia, and Roseburia hominis. These tiny organisms produce short-chain fatty acids that strengthen the gut lining and ease inflammation. Endurance activities like running or cycling are known to...

Earth just keeps getting hotter. July was the planet's hottest month on record, smashing old marks, U.S. weather officials said.
And it's almost a dead certain lock that this year will beat last year as the warmest year on record, they said.
July's average temperature was 61.86 degrees Fahrenheit, beating the previous global mark set in 1998 and 2010 by about one-seventh of a degree, according to figures released Thursday by the National <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dead-land-species-changed-ocean-chemistry-during-extinction-event/">Oceanic</a> and Atmospheric Administration. That's a large margin for weather records, with previous monthly heat records broken by a 20th of a degree or less.
"It just reaffirms what we already know: that the Earth is warming," said NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch. "The warming is accelerating and we're really seeing it this year."
NOAA records go back to 1880. Separate calculations by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA</a> and the Japanese weather agency also found July 2015 to be a record.
The first seven months of 2015 were the hottest January-to-July span on record, according to NOAA. The seven-month average temperature of 58.43 degrees is 1.53 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average and a sixth of a degree warmer than the old record set in 2010.
Given that the temperatures have already been so high already - especially the oceans, which are slow to cool - NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden said she is "99 percent certain" that 2015 will be the hottest on record for the globe. The oceans would have to cool dramatically to prevent it, and they are trending warmer, not cooler, she said.
Crouch, Blunden and other scientists outside of the government said these temperatures are caused by a combination of man-made climate change and a strong, near-record El Nino. An El Nino is a warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that alters weather worldwide for about a year.
The oceans drove the globe to record levels. Not only were the world's oceans the warmest they've been in July, but they were 1.35 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average.
The heat hit hard in much of Europe and the Middle East. It was the hottest July on record in Austria, where records go back to 1767. Parts of France had temperatures that were on average 7 degrees above normal and temperatures broke 100 in the Netherlands, which is a rarity. And an Iranian city had a heat index (the "feels like" temperature) of 165 degrees, which was still not quite record.
Nine of the 10 hottest months on record have happened since 2005, according to NOAA. Twenty-two of the 25 hottest months on record have occurred after the year 2000. The other three were in 1998 and 1997.
This shows that despite what climate change doubters say, there is no pause in warming since 1998, Blunden said.
It doesn't matter if a month or a year is No. 1 or No. 2 or No. 5 hottest on record, said University of Georgia climate scientist Marshall Shepherd.
"The records are getting attention but I worry the public will grow weary of reports of new records each month," Shepherd said in an email. "I am more concerned about how the Earth is starting to respond to the changes and the implications for my children."
---
Online:
NOAA on July records: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201507</a>
---
Seth Borenstein can be followed at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a>
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July Was The Hottest Month Ever Recorded On Earth

Earth just keeps getting hotter. July was the planet's hottest month...

1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming. Comprehensive analysis of ocean surface temperature data shows a cooling trend preceding the Industrial Revolution

Prior to the advent of human-caused global warming in the 19th century, the surface layer of Earth’s oceans had undergone 1,800 years of a steady cooling trend, according to a new study. During the latter half of this global ocean cooling period, the trend was most likely driven by large and frequent volcanic eruptions.1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming

An international team of researchers reported these findings in the August 17, 2015 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience. The study also indicates that the coolest temperatures occurred during the Little Ice Age—a period that spanned the 16th through 18th centuries and was known for cooler average temperatures over land.

The concurrence of cooling events on both land and sea suggests that a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-window-to-avoid-dangerous-global-warming-is-narrowing/">global</a> cooling phenomenon was erased by subsequent human-caused global warming.

“Today, the Earth is warming about 20 times faster than it cooled during the past 1,800 years,” said Michael Evans, second author of the study and an associate professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Geology and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC). “This study truly highlights the profound effects we are having on our climate today.”

Compared to the atmosphere, the oceans can absorb much more heat and trap it for longer periods of time. Thus the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=ocean&amp;cvid=62049be582284d8ab101b0a5aaaea521&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">ocean</a> can buffer short-term changes in global temperature. But when events such as volcanic eruptions cluster together in a relatively short period of time, the temperature changes can become prolonged.

“Volcanic eruptions have a short-term cooling effect on the atmosphere, but our results showed that when volcanic eruptions occurred more frequently, there was long-term ocean cooling,” said lead author Helen McGregor, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow at the University of Wollongong in Australia. “With this research, we now have new insight into the century-scale global sea-surface temperature variations that came before man-made greenhouse gas forcing.”

The scientists are the first to combine 57 previously published marine surface temperature reconstructions that cover all of the world’s oceans, from near-polar to tropical regions. The team compiled the data within 200-year brackets to observe long-term trends, and then compared the findings to land-based reconstructions, which revealed similar cooling trends.

“No matter how we divided the data set, the cooling trend stands out as a robust signal,” McGregor said.

To investigate the cause of the cooling trend, the researchers turned to climate models. They examined how sea-surface temperatures reacted to various “forcing” factors, such as changes in solar output, Earth’s orbit, land use, volcanic activity and greenhouse gases. Only volcanic events resulted in a cooling trend that matched the team’s real-world observations.

Understanding how forcing factors changed ocean temperatures in the past can open a window into future climate change.

“Model simulations by others have shown us that the oceans can impart a substantial delay in the warming of the surface climate,” said Evans, who is also the lead of the Ocean2k working group of the Past Global Changes (PAGES) program. “With much of the heat from global warming entering our oceans, recent ocean surface warming may foreshadow additional future warming, in the same way ocean cooling appeared as a long-term response to large and frequent volcanic events in recent centuries.”

“We are still learning how the oceans mediate climate variations,” Evans added. “Further work combining both observations and simulations of ocean climate will refine our understanding of the ocean's role in climate change.”

---

<a href="http://www.umd.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Maryland</a>

1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming

1,800 Years Of Global Ocean Cooling Halted By Global Warming....

EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger. More than two weeks after the Gold King mine spill fouled waterways in several Western states, officials expressed concern Thursday over the long-term effects of contaminated river bottoms as the federal agency that triggered the accident downplayed the dangers.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers released more than 3 million gallons of contaminated water Aug. 5 while investigating an inactive mine site near Silverton, <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;cvid=fec366068ea545b38cdc7720af0ddf39&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a>. The spill prompted the shutdown of public drinking-water systems and left rivers in the regiadoon tinged a disturbing yellow-orange color that has since faded.EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger
The EPA said in recent days that poisons including lead and thallium have been detected in river sediment samples collected from the Animas River, which travels from Colorado into northern New Mexico, joining the San Juan River before emptying into Lake Powell along the Utah-Arizona border.
In Colorado, contaminants exceeding drinking-water standards were found in seven private wells out of more than 100 tested, according to the EPA. Details on what contaminants were found and at what concentrations were not disclosed. Officials said Thursday that they would continue to investigate the wells, but noted that it was not clear if the spill was to blame.
EPA officials have repeatedly said sediment contamination was returning to pre-spill levels and no longer threatens recreational river users on the upper Animas or water treatment plants.
But state health officials were more cautious as they attempted to nail down the potential for long-term damage to private drinking wells and aquatic life, from the heavy metals and other contaminants that dropped out of the passing plume.
Experts warn that sediments could be stirred up from river bottoms by storms or during the annual spring runoff, when snow at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains melts.
The sediment contains thallium, a naturally occurring metal that can cause hair loss and kidney or liver problems, as well as lead, which can delay mental development in children.
"We are concerned about this particular sediment load given how the various constituents in the sediment may continue to affect the stream," Colorado health officials said in a statement released by Jan Stapleman, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health and the Environment.
The officials added that there was "ongoing potential for those (private) wells to be affected as the sediment migrates into the groundwater table." It could take years to gather enough data to accurately gauge the extent of problems for fish and other aquatic life, they said.
In Utah, scientists from the state Department of Environmental Quality said tests to date suggested the water in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/men-marijuana-higher-sperm-counts/">San Juan</a> River presents little health risk to users. Agency officials said they were turning to a long-term monitoring strategy focusing on sediment and what, if any, steps can be taken to deal with it.
In the interim, Utah health officials warned river visitors not to drink the water and to minimize contact with dirt and sand.
In New Mexico, environmental regulators monitoring the sediment said the threat it posed was an "open question" that required long-term investigation.
After tumbling from the heights of Colorado's Rockies, the Animas slows as it enters New Mexico, allowing more sediment to drop out of the water column and onto the river bottom, said Bruce Yurdin, a water quality expert with the New Mexico Environment Department.
Contaminants can be taken up by insects living on the bottom, which are then consumed by fish and ultimately by people fishing on the popular waterway.
Yet it could be difficult to distinguish problems caused by the EPA's spill from the long history of contamination flowing from upstream mines, Yurdin said.
Thirty-eight private water wells have been sampled in New Mexico, according to the EPA. Results of those tests were not provided.
Arizona wildlife officials planned to test the tissue of fish from Lake Powell for potential contaminants.
Despite repeated requests from The Associated Press, the EPA has not released further information on the pre-spill contamination levels in the Animas and San Juan rivers, which would shed light on how much things have changed.
EPA spokeswoman Lisa McClain-Vanderpool said the agency planned to release more information on sediments soon.
Navajo President Russell Begaye visited Silverton over the weekend and poured water over sediment settling on the banks of the river. He watched as yellowish sediment flowed over the rocks and downstream.
"These are things I'm concerned about, is what happens when the rain comes," Begaye said in a video posted on his office's Facebook page.
Tribal spokesman Mihio Manus said the president was considering lifting an advisory Saturday against using the San Juan River for irrigation. The EPA planned to end water deliveries for agriculture to the reservation on Friday.
The Interior Department, which is conducting an independent review of the spill at the EPA's request, said Thursday that it expects to deliver a final report by late October.
The probe will be overseen by Interior's Bureau of Reclamation.
---
Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report.
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EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger

EPA Downplays Gold King Mine Spill Danger. More than two...

Tar Sands Battle

Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set To Open In Utah. On a remote <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/great-salt-lake-in-northern-utah/">Utah</a> ridge covered in sagebrush, pines and wild grasses, a Canadian company is about to embark on something never before done commercially in the United States: digging sticky, black, tar-soaked sand from the ground and extracting the petroleum.
The impending opening of the nation's first tar sands mine has become another front in the battle across the West between preservationists and the energy industry.
U.S. <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=oil&amp;cvid=a230c5a104fd45e99b37113784c7bfb8&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Oil</a> Sands has invested nearly $100 million over the last decade to acquire rights to about 50 square miles, obtain permits and develop what it says is a brand-new, non-toxic method of separating out the oil with the use of an orange-peel extract similar to what's in citrus-scented household soaps and detergents.Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set To Open In Utah
"We're dedicated to having the world's most environmentally responsible oil sands project ever built," CEO Cameron Todd said in a boast that has failed to reassure protesters.


[caption id="attachment_2383959" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142530/tar-sands-mine-utah_3big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383959" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142530/tar-sands-mine-utah_3big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, holds sticky, black, tar-soaked sand " width="150" height="150" /></a> Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, holds sticky, black, tar-soaked sand[/caption]
Across the rolling green hills of the Book Cliffs of eastern Utah, about 165 miles from Salt Lake City, the company plans this fall to begin digging the first in a series of pits, each the size of a football stadium, and start unsticking oil from the sand that crumbles in your hand like a brownie.
Tar sands, also called bitumen, are naturally occurring deposits of petroleum. Unlike the oil that flows out of wells, the hydrocarbons in tar sands must first be separated from the dirt by mixing the stuff with hot water and solvent. The oil is then sold to refineries for eventual use as fuel or an industrial ingredient.
Oil production from tar sands has been going on for years in Canada and Venezuela. The Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline that has been blocked by the Obama administration is supposed to carry tar sands oil.
While tar sands mining involves higher operating costs than traditional drilling, it can be highly profitable, especially when crude prices are high. But whether U.S. Oil Sands can make any money on this project remains to be seen.


[caption id="attachment_2383960" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142532/tar-sands-mine-utah-protestors_2big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383960" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142532/tar-sands-mine-utah-protestors_2big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Chipmunk mask-wearing protesters sit outside the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands operation, in the Book Cliffs, in eastern Utah. " width="150" height="150" /></a> Chipmunk mask-wearing protesters sit outside the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands operation, in the Book Cliffs, in eastern Utah.[/caption]
What looked like a shortage of oil when the company began raising money has now become a glut, in part because energy companies have learned to extract petroleum from formations long thought out of reach.
By the company's own estimate, it will make little to nothing at crude oil's current price of $48 per barrel, down from a peak of $147 in 2008. As of Tuesday, U.S. Oil Sands stock was trading at just 12 cents.
Protesters have tried to thwart the mine's construction for two summers in a row and have gotten arrested for chaining themselves to equipment. They argue that the project is an eyesore and that it could contaminate nearby springs and ruin habitat for deer, beaver and bears.
The mine sits on a cleared swath of land enclosed by barbed wire, with modular buildings, bulldozers, large metal posts and rails and a massive metal cylinder with a cone-shaped bottom where the tar sand mixing will be done.
Demonstrators who have been camping out all summer near the site gathered outside the front gate on a recent day to show their opposition. Some wore chipmunk masks. Other banged drums. Some held signs with messages such as "Dirty Energy Kills."


[caption id="attachment_2383958" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142528/tar-sands-mine-utah_4big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383958" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142528/tar-sands-mine-utah_4big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Construction takes place at the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands" width="150" height="150" /></a> Construction takes place at the U.S. Oil Sands commercial tar sands[/caption]
"It's heartbreaking to see what they've been doing out here," said Melanie Martin of the Tar Sands Resistance Movement. "It's impossible to reclaim and rehabilitate the land once they do what they are planning to do with it. The land is not going to come back for millennia."
Opponents also worry the mine will spur more projects in this pristine area that attracts hikers, campers and hunters. A 45-mile, $86 million highway as smooth as an autobahn has been built out to the mine. And the state has given approval for three other tar sands operations in the same corner of Utah.
Instead of relying on the usual industrial-strength hydrocarbon solvent, U.S. Oil Sands says it will employ the biodegradable citrus extract that is in grease-cutting household products.
Utah officials who recently approved the mine also imposed a key requirement environmentalists considered a victory: The company must monitor water and air quality.


[caption id="attachment_2383955" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142520/tar-sands-mine-utah_1big_ap.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2383955" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/08/21142520/tar-sands-mine-utah_1big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, looks at the sticky, black, tar-soaked sand " width="150" height="150" /></a> Doug Thornton with U.S. Oil Sands, looks at the sticky, black, tar-soaked sand[/caption]
And instead of leaving open pits, ponds of mining debris and barren land, U.S. Oil Sands says it will fill in the holes with the clean leftover sand and plant grass and other vegetation.
U.S. Oil Sands estimates there are 180 million barrels of oil close to the surface on the land it is leasing. It plans to begin turning out 2,000 barrels per day later this year - a puny share of the 9.3 million the U.S. produces daily - and take it by truck to refineries. It says the mine will create about 50 full-time jobs when opened.
"This is a breakthrough in technology," Todd said by telephone from Calgary. "If we're able to demonstrate to the investment world that this is possible, there are many, many places where this could be done."
Alex Beeker, an industry research analyst, said he doesn't expect the mine to set off an explosion of tar sands mining in the U.S., where the prospects are basically limited to Utah. "But if U.S. Oil Sands starts to do very well, you're going to see more operators try to mimic what they're doing," he said.
---
Associated Press Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey contributed to this report from New York.
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Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set To Open In Utah

Battle Looms Over The First US Tar Sands Mine Set...

Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine. Internal documents released late Friday show managers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were aware of the potential for a catastrophic "blowout" at an abandoned Gold King mine that could release "large volumes" of wastewater laced with toxic heavy metals.
<a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=EPA&amp;cvid=24c5289c519d466385a20f925b206a75&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">EPA</a> released the documents following weeks of prodding from The Associated Press and other media organizations. EPA and contract workers accidentally unleashed 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater on Aug. 5 as they inspected the idled Gold King Mine near Silverton, <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/cameron-peak-fire-is-now-the-largest-in-colorados-recorded-history/">Colorado.</a>
Among the documents is a June 2014 work order for a planned cleanup that noted that the old mine had not been accessible since 1995, when the entrance partially collapsed. The plan appears to have been produced by Environmental Restoration, a private contractor working for EPA.Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine
"This condition has likely caused impounding of water behind the collapse," the report says. "ln addition, other collapses within the workings may have occurred creating additional water impounding conditions. Conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause a release of large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine, which contain concentrated heavy metals."
A subsequent May 2015 action plan for the mine also notes the potential for a blowout.
There are at least three ongoing investigations into exactly how EPA triggered the disaster, which tainted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah with lead, arsenic and other contaminates. EPA says its water testing has shown contamination levels have since fallen back to pre-spill levels, though experts warn the heavy metals have likely sunk and mixed with bottom sediments that could someday be stirred back up.
The documents, which the agency released about 10:30 p.m. eastern time, do not include any account of what happened immediately before or after the spill. The wastewater flowed into a tributary of the Animas and San Juan rivers, turning them a sickly yellow.
Elected officials in affected states and elsewhere have been highly critical of the EPA's initial response. Among the unanswered questions is why it took the agency nearly a day to inform local officials in downstream communities that rely on the rivers for drinking water.
Much of the text in the documents released Friday was redacted by EPA officials. Among the items blacked out is the line in a 2013 safety plan for the Gold King job that specifies whether workers were required to have phones that could work at the remote site, which is more than 11,000 feet up a mountain.
EPA did not immediately respond Friday night to questions from the AP. In the wake of the spill, it has typically taken days to get any detailed response from the agency, if at all.
On its website, contractor Environmental Restoration posted a brief statement last week confirming its employees were present at the mine when the spill occurred. The company declined to provide more detail, saying that to do so would violate "contractual confidentiality obligations."
The EPA has not yet provided a copy of its contact with the firm. On the March 2015 cost estimate for the work released Friday, the agency blacked out all the dollar figures.
---
Follow Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker at <a href="http://twitter.com/mbieseck" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://Twitter.com/mbieseck</a>
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Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine

Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold...

Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine. Internal documents released late Friday show managers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were aware of the potential for a catastrophic "blowout" at an abandoned Gold King mine that could release "large volumes" of wastewater laced with toxic heavy metals.
EPA released the documents following weeks of prodding from The Associated Press and other media organizations. EPA and contract workers accidentally unleashed 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater on Aug. 5 as they inspected the idled Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado. Documents Show EPA Was Aware Of 'Blowout' Potential At Gold King Mine
Among the documents is a June 2014 work order for a planned cleanup that noted that the old mine had not been accessible since 1995, when the entrance partially collapsed. The plan appears to have been produced by Environmental Restoration, a private contractor working for EPA.
"This condition has likely caused impounding of water behind the collapse," the report says. "ln addition, other collapses within the workings may have occurred creating additional water impounding conditions. Conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause a release of large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine, which contain concentrated heavy metals."
A subsequent May 2015 action plan for the mine also notes the potential for a blowout.
There are at least three ongoing investigations into exactly how EPA triggered the disaster, which tainted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=utah&amp;cvid=67c87680f1774145b265efbb2728253d&amp;pglt=43&amp;FORM=ANNTA1&amp;PC=HCTS">Utah</a> with lead, arsenic and other contaminates. EPA says its water testing has shown contamination levels have since fallen back to pre-spill levels, though experts warn the heavy metals have likely sunk and mixed with bottom sediments that could someday be stirred back up.
The documents, which the agency released about 10:30 p.m. eastern time, do not include any account of what happened immediately before or after the spill. The wastewater flowed into a tributary of the Animas and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/men-marijuana-higher-sperm-counts/">San Juan</a> rivers, turning them a sickly yellow.
Elected officials in affected states and elsewhere have been highly critical of the EPA's initial response. Among the unanswered questions is why it took the agency nearly a day to inform local officials in downstream communities that rely on the rivers for drinking water.
Much of the text in the documents released Friday was redacted by EPA officials. Among the items blacked out is the line in a 2013 safety plan for the Gold King job that specifies whether workers were required to have phones that could work at the remote site, which is more than 11,000 feet up a mountain.
EPA did not immediately respond Friday night to questions from the AP. In the wake of the spill, it has typically taken days to get any detailed response from the agency, if at all.
On its website, contractor Environmental Restoration posted a brief statement last week confirming its employees were present at the mine when the spill occurred. The company declined to provide more detail, saying that to do so would violate "contractual confidentiality obligations."
The EPA has not yet provided a copy of its contact with the firm. On the March 2015 cost estimate for the work released Friday, the agency blacked out all the dollar figures.
---
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Farmers Markets And Food Coops Are Becoming More Popular. University of Iowa study finds local food movement rooted in relationships and values

More Americans than ever before are supporting their local farmers markets, and it's not just because they believe the food is fresher and tastes better.

According to a new University of Iowa study, people are shopping farmers markets and joining food coops at record numbers because they enjoy knowing who grows their food. These so-called "locavores" are also driven to eat locally grown produce and meat because their commitment to do so makes them feel a part of something greater than themselves - a community that shares their passion for a healthy lifestyle and a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-discovery-could-provide-sustainable-freshwater-to-volcanic-islands/">sustainable</a> environment. Farmers Markets And Food Coops Are Becoming More Popular

For these enthusiasts, supporting the local food movement is a sort of civic duty, an act to preserve their local economy against the threats of globalization and big-box stores.

"It's not just about the economical exchange; it's a relational and ideological exchange as well," said Ion Vasi, an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Department of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Sociology&amp;cvid=f66c94e4734a43f195c8f6ab20853621&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Sociology</a> and Tippie College of Business at the UI and corresponding author of the study.

Vasi said the local food market is what sociologists call a "moralized market," that is a market in which people combine economic activities with their social values. Among their findings, the UI researchers discovered local food markets were more likely to develop in areas where residents had a strong commitment to civic participation, health and the environment.

"It's about valuing the relationship with the farmers and people who produce the food and believing that how they produce the food aligns with your personal values," Vasi said.

Vasi shared the results of the study August 22 at the American Sociology Association Annual meeting in Chicago.

For his study, Vasi examined the development of local food markets by looking at the number of farmers markets, food coops, community-supported agriculture providers and local food restaurants in cities across the United States. Researchers also conducted 40 interviews with consumers and producers in different local food markets in Iowa and New York.

From a historical perspective, the recent growth of local food markets is rather surprising.

In 1971, Jane Pyle predicted farmers markets were "doomed by a changing society" in an article penned for The Geographical Review. At the time, there were about 340 farmers markets left in the United States and many were "populated by resellers, not farmers, and were on the verge of collapse," Pyle wrote.

Some 20 years later, the tide was beginning to turn.

According to the United State Department of Agriculture, national direct-to-consumer food sales increased three-fold between 1992 and 2007, growing twice as fast as total agricultural sales. The number of farmers markets listed in the USDA National Farmers Markets increased from 3,706 in 2004 to 8,268 in 2014. Plus, UI researchers found the number of Internet searches for farmers markets has almost tripled during that same 10-year period and the number of newspaper articles that mention farmers markets has almost quadrupled.

So, what's behind this need to know who grows your food and to believe in how it's produced?

It was the onslaught of big-box stores and globalization forces that reignited "buy local" campaigns across the country in the 1990s, said the UI researchers.

According to the study: "A growing number of communities have attempted to gain control of their own economies by encouraging civic engagement that supports investing in locally owned businesses instead of outside companies."

Sara Rynes, a professor of Management &amp; Organizations in the UI's Tippie College of Business, and co-author of the study, said the researchers also found that local food markets, whether farmers markets, food coops or otherwise, were more likely to be located in cities and counties with higher education levels, higher income levels and more institutions of higher education.

"Sociologists and political scientists have argued that higher income allows people to make consumption decisions based on values in addition to matters of price or value," Rynes said. "Education is likely to facilitate knowledge about such things as links between the way products are produced and their environmental and health impacts. And universities sometimes get involved in helping local farmers and individuals who are struggling to make a living, particularly through extension efforts."

---

<a href="http://www.uiowa.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Iowa</a>

Farmers Markets And Food Coops Are Becoming More Popular

Farmers Markets And Food Coops Are Becoming More Popular. University...

University of Iowa study finds local food movement rooted in relationships and values

Farmers Markets And Food Coops Are Becoming More Popular. More Americans than ever before are supporting their local farmers markets, and it's not just because they believe the food is fresher and tastes better.

According to a new University of Iowa study, people are shopping farmers markets and joining food coops at record numbers because they enjoy knowing who grows their food. These so-called "locavores" are also driven to eat locally grown produce and meat because their commitment to do so makes them feel a part of something greater than themselves - a community that shares their passion for a healthy lifestyle and a sustainable environment. Farmers Markets And Food Coops Are Becoming More Popular

For these enthusiasts, supporting the local food movement is a sort of civic duty, an act to preserve their local economy against the threats of globalization and big-box stores.

"It's not just about the economical exchange; it's a relational and ideological exchange as well," said Ion Vasi, an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology and Tippie College of Business at the UI and corresponding author of the study.

Vasi said the local food market is what sociologists call a "moralized market," that is a market in which people combine economic activities with their social values. Among their findings, the UI researchers discovered local food markets were more likely to develop in areas where residents had a strong commitment to civic participation, health and the environment.

"It's about valuing the relationship with the farmers and people who produce the food and believing that how they produce the food aligns with your personal values," Vasi said.

Vasi shared the results of the study August 22 at the American Sociology Association Annual meeting in Chicago.

For his study, Vasi examined the development of local food markets by looking at the number of farmers markets, food coops, community-supported agriculture providers and local food restaurants in cities across the United States. Researchers also conducted 40 interviews with consumers and producers in different local food markets in Iowa and New York.

From a historical perspective, the recent growth of local food markets is rather surprising.

In 1971, Jane Pyle predicted farmers markets were "doomed by a changing society" in an article penned for The Geographical Review. At the time, there were about 340 farmers markets left in the United States and many were "populated by resellers, not farmers, and were on the verge of collapse," Pyle wrote.

Some 20 years later, the tide was beginning to turn.

According to the United State Department of Agriculture, national direct-to-consumer food sales increased three-fold between 1992 and 2007, growing twice as fast as total agricultural sales. The number of farmers markets listed in the USDA National Farmers Markets increased from 3,706 in 2004 to 8,268 in 2014. Plus, UI researchers found the number of Internet searches for farmers markets has almost tripled during that same 10-year period and the number of newspaper articles that mention farmers markets has almost quadrupled.

So, what's behind this need to know who grows your food and to believe in how it's produced?

It was the onslaught of big-box stores and globalization forces that reignited "buy local" campaigns across the country in the 1990s, said the UI researchers.

According to the study: "A growing number of communities have attempted to gain control of their own economies by encouraging civic engagement that supports investing in locally owned businesses instead of outside companies."

Sara Rynes, a professor of Management &amp; Organizations in the UI's Tippie College of Business, and co-author of the study, said the researchers also found that local food markets, whether farmers markets, food coops or otherwise, were more likely to be located in cities and counties with higher education levels, higher income levels and more institutions of higher education.

"Sociologists and political scientists have argued that higher income allows people to make consumption decisions based on values in addition to matters of price or value," Rynes said. "Education is likely to facilitate knowledge about such things as links between the way products are produced and their environmental and health impacts. And universities sometimes get involved in helping local farmers and individuals who are struggling to make a living, particularly through extension efforts."

---

<a href="http://www.uiowa.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Iowa</a>

University of Iowa study finds local food movement rooted in...

Obama Continues Push For More Clean Energy Choices. Pushing back against fossil fuel interests, President Barack Obama is pressing to give ordinary Americans more clean energy choices and more power to choose what kind of power they use.
The president, in a speech at a clean energy conference in Las Vegas on Monday night, planned to announce new executive actions and other efforts aimed at making it easier for homeowners and businesses to invest in green energy improvements that in the past may have been impractical or unaffordable. Obama Continues Push For More Clean Energy Choices
The moves are designed to build on the clean power plant rules that the president announced earlier in the month to cut carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by a third. They all feed into Obama's goal of cutting overall U.S. emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent over the next decade to combat climate change and encourage other countries to do likewise.
Monday's actions are focused on giving families and businesses more say in what types and how much power they rely on. That could mean rooftop solar panels, once largely the province of committed environmentalists, or other renewable energy innovations. A senior administration official, previewing the president's speech on condition of anonymity since the actions had not been publicly announced, said the steps could dramatically expand opportunities for Americans to have greater flexibility in the types of power they use.
Obama's speech, at an annual energy conference hosted by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, was aimed at countering fossil fuel and utility interests that have been working at the state level and elsewhere to undercut clean energy policies with arguments that the matter should be left to the free market.
The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank that denies manmade climate change, was among groups co-sponsoring a simultaneous "affordable energy summit" in Las Vegas as a counterpoint to Reid's gathering, maintaining that Obama's policies promote wind and solar power at the expense of conventional energy and "will inevitably cause skyrocketing electricity prices while providing little if any net environmental benefits," according to the summit's website.
Among the steps being announced by Obama:
-New guidance from the Federal Housing Administration that could dramatically expand the use of so-called PACE loans that allow homeowners to install energy improvements and pay back the costs over time. So far, use of Property-Assessed Clean Energy financing has been constrained by regulatory obstacles.
-Making $1 billion in additional loan guarantees available from the Department of Energy to encourage innovation in technologies that give Americans more flexibility in choosing renewable energy options.
Obama also was announcing the approval of a transmission line that will support a 485-megawatt solar plant planned for Riverside County in California. The Blythe Mesa plant is expected to produce enough renewable energy to power more than 145,000 homes.
While in Nevada, Obama also planned to attend an evening fundraiser benefiting the Nevada State Democratic Party.
---
Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/nbenac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/nbenac</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Obama Continues Push For More Clean Energy Choices

Obama Continues Push For More Clean Energy Choices. Pushing back...

Kids Released From <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/brutal-fire-season-continues-in-california/">California</a> Juvie System Given Nature Jobs. Harry Grammer, the CEO of a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that works with young adults, wanted to give kids recently out of the juvenile justice system real jobs and marketable skills.
Three years ago, a chance meeting gave Grammer what he wanted.
Explore.org, a philanthropic media branch of the Annenberg Foundation, has a network of more than 50 high-definition web cameras streaming live images of wildlife around the clock. The organization offered to fund a program that would hire his alums, regardless of their previous offenses, as camera operators earning hourly wage between $10 and $15 with benefits.Kids Released From California Juvie System Given Nature Jobs
Since then, New Earth has employed more than 30 camera operators, given them technical training and taught them film editing, production and multimedia skills. More than a million people watch the feeds online every month to get a glimpse of the most remote regions of the world, but few know that behind those cameras are young Los Angeles offenders, some of whom have never even been down the road to Disneyland.
But now they virtually step into the beehives in Bavaria, Germany, stand in the rough waters of Alaska where brown bears fish for salmon or watch pandas clumsily wrestling each other in China.
Brandon Monroe was stabbed 15 times when he was 15 years old. He said the attack and robbery in a dark Los Angeles-area alley turned him from a good person to "pure cold." Yet after years of crime and serious time in juvenile hall, at age 19 he's come in from the cold to spread warmth - in the form of penguins and brown bears, walruses and chipmunks.
From his desk in Culver City, Calif., and with simple shifts of a joystick, Monroe guides people to watch exotic animals around the world, remotely controlling cameras that capture the wonders of wildlife.
"Nature has no judgment," Grammer said. "I always tell my kids, when you go into nature, you don't see gang graffiti on the walls, you don't hear police sirens, you don't see people being violent with each other, you don't hear loud noises of hate, aggression, and racism."
Grammer's organization works with young men and women from 15 detention centers in Southern California during and after incarceration. Grammer, who once served time on residential burglary charges, founded the organization in 2004 to keep juvenile offenders off the streets and out of trouble.
For teens with a history of incarceration, finding employment - especially jobs that lead to successful careers - proves to be an unsurmountable challenge. Many fall into unemployment, poverty, and crime.
There's also a program called "Dog Bless You" with shots from domestic animal shelters, whose great Danes Monroe says he favors over all the exotic competition.
Many New Earth camera operators saw animals treated with cruelty in their neighborhoods, where pit-bull brawls and razor-bladed cockfights were considered entertainment.
Monroe said he never gave his own future, much less the welfare of animals, any thought before joining New Earth. He always had a roof over his head as a child, but said he never got the kind of support he needed. His mother was in-and-out-of-prison, leaving his father to raise five children after his own incarceration. Two of his younger siblings and all of his uncles are still in jail.
Committing petty crimes easily turned into a habit and Monroe became a frequent visitor to juvenile jail.
Eager for another chance but unsure of where to begin during his seventh and final jail visit, Monroe decided that if he didn't get better, he would "go all out."
The animals led him on a different path. He said he has grown more affectionate, more nurturing.
"It makes me see things I've never seen before," Monroe said.
"The animals give me a perspective on how to take care of people," he said. "I kind of compare animals to babies. Just watching the little baby is amazing."
-
Follow Linda S. Zhang on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/lindaszhang" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.twitter.com/lindaszhang</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Kids Released From California Juvie System Given Nature Jobs

Kids Released From California Juvie System Given Nature Jobs. Harry...

<div id="titlewrap"></div>
Obama Continues Push For More Clean Energy Choices. Pushing back against fossil fuel interests, President Barack Obama is pressing to give ordinary Americans more clean energy choices and more power to choose what kind of power they use.
The president, in a speech at a clean energy conference in Las Vegas on Monday night, planned to announce new executive actions and other efforts aimed at making it easier for homeowners and businesses to invest in green energy improvements that in the past may have been impractical or unaffordable.
The moves are designed to build on the clean power plant rules that the president announced earlier in the month to cut carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by a third. They all feed into Obama's goal of cutting overall U.S. emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent over the next decade to combat climate change and encourage other countries to do likewise.
Monday's actions are focused on giving families and businesses more say in what types and how much power they rely on. That could mean rooftop solar panels, once largely the province of committed environmentalists, or other renewable energy innovations. A senior administration official, previewing the president's speech on condition of anonymity since the actions had not been publicly announced, said the steps could dramatically expand opportunities for Americans to have greater flexibility in the types of power they use.
Obama's speech, at an annual energy conference hosted by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, was aimed at countering fossil fuel and utility interests that have been working at the state level and elsewhere to undercut clean energy policies with arguments that the matter should be left to the free market.
The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank that denies manmade climate change, was among groups co-sponsoring a simultaneous "affordable energy summit" in Las Vegas as a counterpoint to Reid's gathering, maintaining that Obama's policies promote wind and solar power at the expense of conventional energy and "will inevitably cause skyrocketing electricity prices while providing little if any net environmental benefits," according to the summit's website.
Among the steps being announced by Obama:
-New guidance from the Federal Housing Administration that could dramatically expand the use of so-called PACE loans that allow homeowners to install energy improvements and pay back the costs over time. So far, use of Property-Assessed Clean <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earth-could-be-powered-entirely-by-renewable-energy/">Energy</a> financing has been constrained by regulatory obstacles.
-Making $1 billion in additional loan guarantees available from the Department of Energy to encourage innovation in technologies that give Americans more flexibility in choosing renewable energy options.
Obama also was announcing the approval of a transmission line that will support a 485-megawatt solar plant planned for Riverside County in California. The Blythe Mesa plant is expected to produce enough renewable energy to power more than 145,000 homes. Obama Continues Push For More Clean Energy Choices
While in Nevada, Obama also planned to attend an evening fundraiser benefiting the Nevada State Democratic Party.
---
Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/nbenac" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://twitter.com/nbenac</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Kids Released From California Juvie System Given Nature Jobs. Harry Grammer, the CEO of a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that works with young adults, wanted to give kids recently out of the juvenile justice system real jobs and marketable skills.
Three years ago, a chance meeting gave Grammer what he wanted.
Explore.org, a philanthropic media branch of the Annenberg Foundation, has a network of more than 50 high-definition web cameras streaming live images of wildlife around the clock. The organization offered to fund a program that would hire his alums, regardless of their previous offenses, as camera operators earning hourly wage between $10 and $15 with benefits. Kids Released From <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=california&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=71fb5893ad784344a18f5f321ec476fe&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfP8PQRg5BXbDJExOD1TP9bxleAZDQHFYlDFBvI61XnJMjTprP4Br1arWcJwW%212aPYQnnd9wOiZnsmxvQqwYmsuO&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">California</a> Juvie System Given Nature Jobs
Since then, New Earth has employed more than 30 camera operators, given them technical training and taught them film editing, production and multimedia skills. More than a million people watch the feeds online every month to get a glimpse of the most remote regions of the world, but few know that behind those cameras are young <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-quality-los-angeles-asthma/">Los Angeles</a> offenders, some of whom have never even been down the road to Disneyland.
But now they virtually step into the beehives in Bavaria, Germany, stand in the rough waters of Alaska where brown bears fish for salmon or watch pandas clumsily wrestling each other in China.
Brandon Monroe was stabbed 15 times when he was 15 years old. He said the attack and robbery in a dark Los Angeles-area alley turned him from a good person to "pure cold." Yet after years of crime and serious time in juvenile hall, at age 19 he's come in from the cold to spread warmth - in the form of penguins and brown bears, walruses and chipmunks.
From his desk in Culver City, Calif., and with simple shifts of a joystick, Monroe guides people to watch exotic animals around the world, remotely controlling cameras that capture the wonders of wildlife.
"Nature has no judgment," Grammer said. "I always tell my kids, when you go into nature, you don't see gang graffiti on the walls, you don't hear police sirens, you don't see people being violent with each other, you don't hear loud noises of hate, aggression, and racism."
Grammer's organization works with young men and women from 15 detention centers in Southern California during and after incarceration. Grammer, who once served time on residential burglary charges, founded the organization in 2004 to keep juvenile offenders off the streets and out of trouble.
For teens with a history of incarceration, finding employment - especially jobs that lead to successful careers - proves to be an unsurmountable challenge. Many fall into unemployment, poverty, and crime.
There's also a program called "Dog Bless You" with shots from domestic animal shelters, whose great Danes Monroe says he favors over all the exotic competition.
Many New Earth camera operators saw animals treated with cruelty in their neighborhoods, where pit-bull brawls and razor-bladed cockfights were considered entertainment.
Monroe said he never gave his own future, much less the welfare of animals, any thought before joining New Earth. He always had a roof over his head as a child, but said he never got the kind of support he needed. His mother was in-and-out-of-prison, leaving his father to raise five children after his own incarceration. Two of his younger siblings and all of his uncles are still in jail.
Committing petty crimes easily turned into a habit and Monroe became a frequent visitor to juvenile jail.
Eager for another chance but unsure of where to begin during his seventh and final jail visit, Monroe decided that if he didn't get better, he would "go all out."
The animals led him on a different path. He said he has grown more affectionate, more nurturing.
"It makes me see things I've never seen before," Monroe said.
"The animals give me a perspective on how to take care of people," he said. "I kind of compare animals to babies. Just watching the little baby is amazing."
-
Follow Linda S. Zhang on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/lindaszhang" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.twitter.com/lindaszhang</a>
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

<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=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-waters-beneath-ancient-craters">Hidden waters beneath ancient craters</h2>



Scientists have made a startling discovery that challenges everything we thought we knew about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saturn-moon-mimas-has-remarkably-young-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn's moon Mimas</a>. Beneath the heavily cratered surface that earned it the nickname "Death Star" lies a global ocean that formed just 5 to 15 million years ago—a remarkably young age by cosmic standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cassini-data-reveals-orbital-secrets">Cassini data reveals orbital secrets</h2>



The discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Observatoire de Paris</a>, emerged from careful analysis of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>'s Cassini spacecraft data. By studying subtle irregularities in Mimas's orbit around Saturn, researchers detected the gravitational signature of liquid water hidden 20 to 30 kilometers beneath the moon's icy shell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unlikely-ocean-world">An unlikely ocean world</h2>



At only 400 kilometers in diameter, Mimas seemed like the least likely candidate to harbor a subsurface ocean. Unlike other ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus, which show clear surface signs of internal activity, Mimas displays no obvious hints of the liquid water beneath its ancient, crater-scarred exterior.



"Mimas is a small moon, and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath," explained Dr. Nick Cooper from <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Queen Mary University of London</a>, a study co-author.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-astrobiology">Implications for astrobiology</h2>



The ocean's recent formation makes Mimas a prime target for studying how oceans develop and potentially support life. This discovery adds another member to the exclusive club of ocean worlds in our solar system, each offering unique insights into the conditions necessary for habitability.



The research, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a> journal, demonstrates how advanced orbital analysis can reveal hidden features of celestial bodies, opening new possibilities for understanding ocean formation throughout the cosmos.



—–



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Scientists discover unexpected young ocean on Saturn's cratered moon Mimas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ 'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that...

<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=K0DuSr87SHY
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">57 million-year ice age mystery solved by Australian scientists.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-earth-became-a-frozen-wasteland">When Earth became a frozen wasteland</h2>



Imagine Earth as a giant snowball, frozen solid from the North Pole to the equator. This wasn't the plot of a science fiction movie – it was our planet's reality 700 million years ago during an extreme ice age that has puzzled scientists for decades.



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



Australian researchers from the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Sydney</a> have finally cracked one of geology's greatest mysteries: what caused the Sturtian glaciation and why it persisted for an unprecedented 57 million years. This period occurred long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, when no complex plants or multicellular animals existed.



Dr. Adriana Dutkiewicz, the study's lead author, describes a world completely unlike today's climate. "Imagine the Earth almost completely frozen over," she explained. "The planet was blanketed in ice from poles to equator, and temperatures plunged."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-combination-of-climate-factors">The combination of climate factors</h2>



The research team discovered that this massive freeze resulted from a "double whammy" of geological events. First, plate tectonic activity reduced volcanic carbon dioxide emissions to historically low levels. Volcanic activity typically releases CO2 into the atmosphere, creating a greenhouse effect that keeps Earth warm.



Simultaneously, weathering of volcanic rocks in what is now Canada actively absorbed atmospheric CO2, further reducing greenhouse gas concentrations. When atmospheric carbon dioxide levels dropped below 200 parts per million – less than half of today's levels – glaciation engulfed the entire planet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-climate-implications">Modern climate implications</h2>



Published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/geology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geology</a>, this research provides crucial insights into Earth's climate system. While geological climate changes occur over millions of years, the study emphasizes that human-induced climate change is happening at a pace ten times faster than previously observed natural changes, highlighting the urgent need to understand our planet's delicate climate balance.



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What caused the planet's longest ice age

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0DuSr87SHY 57 million-year ice age mystery solved by Australian scientists....

<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=WXXGGiynIjs
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Greenland is not sinking. In fact, it is the opposite.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-contrasting-climate-response">A contrasting climate response</h2>



Most coastal towns are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sinking-land-will-intensify-the-effects-of-rising-sea-levels/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">preparing for higher sea levels</a>, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-no-longer-has-to-worry-about-rising-sea-levels/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Greenland presents</a> a different scenario during climate change. The ground there is rising at a remarkable rate. Over the past decade, some areas have lifted about 20 centimeters, which translates to roughly 2 meters per century. This rate significantly exceeds current projections for sea level rise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-geological-rebound-process-through-climate-change">Geological rebound process through climate change</h2>



The mechanism behind this phenomenon is straightforward. As the ice sheet melts, the immense weight is removed from the bedrock, causing the land to rebound upward. This process resembles the way compressed material springs back when pressure is released.



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



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.dtu.dk/english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Technical University of Denmark</a> are documenting this uplift using the GNET network, consisting of 61 GPS stations positioned around Greenland's coast. These sensors can detect movement with millimeter precision, providing detailed measurements of the ongoing changes.



The data reveal that current uplift rates exceed the gradual rebound occurring since the last ice age ended approximately 12,000 years ago. This acceleration corresponds directly with increased ice sheet melting rates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coastal-transformation">Coastal Transformation</h2>



This uplift is actively reshaping Greenland's coastline. New islands and rocky formations, called "skerries," are emerging as previously submerged land surfaces rise above the water level. This represents a notable contrast to global concerns about rising seas.



The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, demonstrates the varied regional impacts of climate change. While many locations face rising water levels, Greenland's bedrock is literally rising above the surrounding seas.



The full study was recently published in <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL104851" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.



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Greenland's ground rises while coasts worldwide face higher seas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXXGGiynIjs Greenland is not sinking. In fact, it is the...

<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=DSM3EVeGHJU
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Companies like MindStudio help companies train their employees to implement the latest AI Agent building platform.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-agent-training-transforms-the-workplace-fear-factor-into-a-competitive-advantage">AI agent training transforms the workplace 'fear factor' into a competitive advantage</h2>



Organizations that offer comprehensive artificial intelligence training to their workers find remarkable value that extends well beyond basic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mind-wandering-might-be-more-productive-than-you-think/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">productivity improvements</a>. Emerging research demonstrates that carefully crafted AI training programs <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-does-not-replace-human-creativity-but-enhances-it/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">enhance</a> corporate performance, lower operational costs, and dramatically improve employee psychological well-being by turning workplace uncertainty into professional empowerment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-addressing-the-widespread-ai-anxiety-crisis-among-us">Addressing the widespread 'AI anxiety' crisis among us</h2>



A staggering 53% of employees expressed concern that the use of AI tools to automate work tasks could make them appear disposable to their employers, according to <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft</a>'s 2024 workplace survey. Such pervasive worry about being substituted by machines has caused what researchers have termed "AI technostress" – a psychological state that can result in occupational burnout and poorer mental well-being.



Data published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/palcomms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humanities and Social Sciences Communications</a> showed that belief in AI learning ability was a moderator in the link between technology adoption and work pressure, and higher confidence significantly lowered negative psychological responses. Workers provided ample training to become competent with AI software have significantly lower stress.



Companies like <a href="https://www.mindstudio.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MindStudio</a> have platforms for building what are known as "AI Agents". In essence, AI Agents are simply tools that employees can build for themselves or their teams quickly and inexpensively. MindStudio will even train entire companies, from the CEO on down, at no cost. By letting MindStudio empower employees, companies avoid hiring more IT staff, buying more software, and implementing solutions to problems that do not exist.



MindStudio even has partners locally for companies, like <a href="http://www.dominnus.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dominnus</a> with offices in the Carolinas, California, and Denver, to help build AI Agents and support employees as they become resident AI experts for their organization. The training provided by MindStudio is applicable across other AI Agent building platforms as well.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-productivity-through-focused-learning">Revolutionary productivity through focused learning</h2>



Organizations that implement large-scale AI training programs achieve dramatic outcomes. Employees performed tasks significantly better when they utilized AI support compared to when they didn't, according to <a href="https://www.nngroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nielsen Norman Group</a> research findings. Their study documented productivity increases of 66% for a variety of professional tasks.



Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis research finds workers record 33% higher productivity in time working with generative AI tools. The benefit is equivalent to 5.4% of work time savings for AI users – around 2.2 hours per week for full-time workers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-psychological-well-being-benefits-through-ai-competence">Psychological well-being benefits through AI competence</h2>



The emotional transformation when employees are provided with proper technology training is a fundamental transformation from fear to professional confidence. A survey of 600 employees across industries, carried out by ScienceDirect, proved that AI capabilities strengthen work environment commitment and improve job satisfaction.



A <a href="https://www.lut.fi/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LUT University</a> study discovered that AI adoption has no direct effect on workers' well-being but does so indirectly through working conditions like task optimization and safety protocols. Strategically deployed AI that involves correct training can actually increase workplace mental well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-replacement-anxiety-to-partnership-confidence">From 'replacement anxiety' to 'partnership confidence'</h2>



Although 35% of those interviewed in recent McKinsey studies were concerned about workforce displacement, firms with large-scale training initiatives witness such fears dissipate quickly. The World Economic Forum found that two out of three respondents believe AI competencies will enhance their career prospects and job marketability.



This shift from fear to trust has measurable implications for job satisfaction. Applied Sciences research indicates AI can create tailored wellness programs based on individual employee requirements.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-financial-benefits-of-increased-retention">Financial benefits of increased retention</h2>



The mental health advantages of AI learning have a direct impact on organizational bottom lines in the form of a positive feedback cycle with high retention of employees. Recent ROI research validates that artificial intelligence learning has a beneficial impact on employee turnover and satisfaction levels.



PriceWaterhouseCoopers' research documents 20% to 30% improvements in productivity, market speed, and revenue in organizations that attempt systematic AI adoption through comprehensive training.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-environmental-advantages-of-ai-enabled-teams">Environmental advantages of AI-enabled teams</h2>



AI training has unforeseen environmental benefits as it makes the work environment more efficient. According to a study in Scientific Reports, the carbon footprint in writing and illustrating work is significantly lower when AI performs it compared to humans. AI software produces 130 to 1,500 times less CO2 equivalent per page of text created than human authors.



In addition, AI-driven remote work functionality significantly reduces environmental impact. Research by Cornell University and Microsoft indicates that remote workers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 54% by not commuting daily to offices. Hybrid workers working remotely two to four days a week can reduce their carbon footprint by 11% to 29%.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cumulative-organizational-advantages">Cumulative organizational advantages</h2>



The compounding gains of better mental well-being, reduced turnover, increased productivity, and environmental benefits flow to enterprises from the pairing. McKinsey analysis estimates the long-term AI potential at $4.4 trillion in incremental productivity growth opportunity from business use cases.



As of now, 75% of knowledge workers globally utilize generative AI, mirroring widespread adoption patterns. Organizations that provide organized training and assistance see the most favorable results in productivity, worker satisfaction, and ecological sustainability.



The research overwhelmingly indicates that companies that invest in proper AI education, like that offered through <a href="https://www.mindstudio.ai" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MindStudio</a>, establish win-win scenarios where employees are both more empowered and less stressed, and companies enjoy the gains of increased productivity, reduced turnover, and improved mental health outcomes throughout their workforce.



For more on MindStudio's free AI training for companies, visit the website's of MindStudio and Dominnus from the links below.



The research was published across a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including <a href="https://www.nature.com/palcomms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humanities and Social Sciences Communications</a>, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence</a>, and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci">Applied Sciences</a>.



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MindStudio.AI: <a href="https://www.mindstudio.ai" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.mindstudio.ai</a>



Dominnus: <a href="https://www.dominnus.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.dominnus.com</a>

AI agent training boosts mental health and profits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSM3EVeGHJU Companies like MindStudio help companies train their employees to...

<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=0HDXqTGEmi4
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Scientists give plants superpowers against bacterial disease</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-natural-solution-to-disease-through-crop-modification">A natural solution to disease through crop modification.</h2>



The agricultural industry stands at a crossroads between productivity and environmental responsibility, and crop modification often carries a negative connotation. While chemical pesticides have long been the go-to solution for crop protection, their harmful effects on ecosystems and human health have prompted scientists to seek alternatives. The recent breakthrough by <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Southampton</a> researchers offers a promising path forward through the precise manipulation of plant-associated microbial communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-science-behind-microbial-partnerships">The science behind microbial partnerships</h2>



Plants naturally harbor diverse ecosystems of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms that function as biological allies. These microscopic partners contribute to disease resistance, nutrient absorption, and stress tolerance. However, until now, scientists lacked the tools to deliberately reshape these communities to enhance crop protection.



The Southampton team's approach centered on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/engineered-plant-microbiomes-the-future-of-crop-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modifying lignin biosynthesis genes in rice plants</a>. This strategic intervention altered the plant's metabolic output, creating conditions that favored beneficial bacterial populations while suppressing harmful ones. The result was a living defense system embedded within the plant itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-global-food-security">Implications for global food security</h2>



The successful demonstration against Xanthomonas oryzae, the pathogen responsible for bacterial blight in rice, represents more than a laboratory achievement. Rice feeds nearly half the world's population, and bacterial blight causes devastating crop losses annually. Traditional control methods rely heavily on pesticides that contaminate soil and water systems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-beyond-disease-resistance">Looking Beyond Disease Resistance</h2>



While disease protection represents the immediate application, the research framework opens doors to broader agricultural improvements. Future developments could engineer microbiomes to enhance nutrient uptake, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers. This dual benefit addresses both crop productivity and environmental sustainability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-path-forward">The path forward</h2>



As this technology advances from laboratory to field applications, it promises to reshape sustainable agriculture. The ability to program plants with their own biological defense systems could herald a new era where crops protect themselves naturally, reducing chemical inputs while maintaining yields necessary for global food security.



The study is published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44335-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Revolutionizing agriculture through microbiome engineering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDXqTGEmi4 Scientists give plants superpowers against bacterial disease A natural...

<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=kVywlgRJXsc
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Some children read facial expressions when making food choices.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-other-people-s-reactions-influence-children-s-eating-habits">Other people's reactions influence children's eating habits</h2>



Many children are finicky eaters, but research explains how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-have-learned-why-so-many-kids-dislike-vegetables/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">watching others eat and social modeling</a> influence the eating habits of children.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Study Methodology Demonstrates Social Learning Impact</h2>



Researchers at <a href="https://www.aston.ac.uk/hls/school-of-psychology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aston University School of Psychology</a> have published findings in Frontiers in Psychology that illuminate the neurobiological foundations of food preference development through observational learning. The investigation employed controlled video stimuli featuring adults consuming raw broccoli while displaying systematically varied facial expressions to measure participant responses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Asymmetrical Response Patterns Identified</h2>



The research, conducted with 204 female participants, revealed a pronounced asymmetry in social modeling effects. Negative facial expressions during vegetable consumption significantly diminished observer food preference ratings, while positive expressions failed to produce corresponding increases in vegetable appeal. This finding challenges conventional assumptions about the bidirectional nature of social influence in dietary behavior formation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Evolutionary Psychology Framework Applied</h2>



Dr. Katie Edwards and her research team propose that these results reflect adaptive mechanisms developed through evolutionary processes. The heightened sensitivity to disgust expressions likely functions as a protective system, enabling individuals to identify potentially harmful foods through social cues without direct risk exposure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Clinical and Educational Implications</h2>



These findings carry substantial implications for pediatric nutrition interventions and family meal dynamics. The research suggests that parental expressions of distaste during vegetable consumption may inadvertently reinforce children's existing food aversions through unconscious social transmission pathways.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Future Research Directions</h2>



The study establishes a foundation for expanded investigation into real-time social modeling effects and cross-demographic applicability. Researchers emphasize the necessity for longitudinal studies examining actual consumption behaviors rather than preference ratings alone, particularly within family contexts where social learning occurs most frequently.



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Social modeling affects our food choices

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVywlgRJXsc Some children read facial expressions when making food choices....

<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=JynHpMaNO8A
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chaotic cancer protein finally controlled after decades of mystery</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cancer-causing-protein-bound-and-blocked">Cancer-causing protein bound and blocked</h2>



In a discovery that can one day revolutionize cancer treatment, researchers at the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Riverside</a> have successfully developed a means of controlling MYC, a notoriously slippery protein that causes approximately <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chaotic-protein-that-fuels-75-of-cancers-can-be-controlled/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">75% of all cancers in humans</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-makes-myc-different">What makes MYC different</h2>



MYC presents a unique challenge when studying cancer. Normally, this protein plays a vital role in healthy cells. It carefully controls transcription - the process that converts genetic information from DNA and RNA into proteins.



However, cancer changes everything. In cancer cells, MYC becomes a destructive force. It operates in overdrive mode with no regulation whatsoever.



Professor Min Xue, who led the research team, explains it simply: "MYC is less like food for cancer cells and more like a steroid. It drives cancer's aggressive growth." This superactive behavior makes MYC involved in three out of every four cancer cases.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-myc-is-hard-to-target">Why MYC is hard to target</h2>



Despite its clear role in cancer, targeting MYC has been one of medicine's biggest challenges. The main problem lies in MYC's unusual structure - or rather, its complete lack of structure.



Professor Xue describes the protein as "basically a glob of randomness." This means conventional drug discovery methods don't work. These traditional approaches rely on sharply defined protein structures. MYC simply doesn't have one.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A New Approach to Fighting MYC</h2>



The UCR research team developed a clever solution. They designed a special peptide molecule that could selectively bind to MYC. More importantly, this peptide could block MYC's destructive activity.



The key was fine-tuning two specific features: the peptide's stiffness and its shape. Through careful adjustments, researchers achieved something remarkable. They reached "sub-micro-molar affinity" - meaning their peptide binds as strongly as antibodies do.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breakthrough-results">Breakthrough results</h2>



This accomplishment represents a major leap beyond previous attempts. The researchers enhanced their peptide's binding strength by two orders of magnitude. This dramatic improvement brings the work significantly closer to practical drug development goals.



The research opens new possibilities for treating the vast majority of cancers where MYC plays a destructive role.



The researchers are presently optimizing peptide-delivery systems based on lipid nanoparticles that deliver the peptide effectively into cancer cells. The<a href="https://www.nih.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> National Institutes of Health</a> and the <a href="https://www.defense.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Department of Defense</a> funded the study, which appeared in the Journal of the <a href="https://www.acs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Chemical Society</a>. This research offers renewed hope against cancer, and it can potentially open a door to more effective cancer therapies for most cancer patients worldwide.



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The protein that fuels 3 out of 4 cancers has been controlled

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JynHpMaNO8A Chaotic cancer protein finally controlled after decades of mystery...

<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=Veg4HmmRVZY
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Our bodies hits two 'aging cliffs' at these ages.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientists-map-exact-ages-when-your-body-rapidly-ages">Scientists Map Exact Ages When Your Body Rapidly Ages</h2>



Scientists have <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-bodies-begin-breaking-down-two-very-precise-ages/#google_vignette">discovered that aging</a> isn't the gradual, steady process many assume it to be. Instead, researchers from Stanford Medicine have found that our bodies undergo dramatic molecular changes at two specific ages: 44 and 60. This research, published in Nature Aging, reveals that aging happens in sudden bursts rather than smooth transitions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-waves-of-rapid-aging">Two waves of rapid aging</h2>



The Stanford study tracked over 135,000 different molecules and microbes in 108 participants aged 25 to 75 over several years. Results showed that 81% of all molecules studied exhibited non-linear changes, meaning they shifted dramatically at certain ages rather than changing gradually over time.



Michael Snyder, chair of genetics at Stanford School of Medicine and the study's senior author, noted significant findings. "We're not just changing gradually over time; there are some really dramatic changes. It turns out the mid-40s is a time of dramatic change, as is the early 60s. And that's true no matter what class of molecules you look at."



The first wave of changes occurs around age 44, affecting molecules related to alcohol metabolism, caffeine processing, lipid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/age-related-changes-in-metabolism-dont-match-our-expectations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">metabolism</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heart-disease-remains-the-leading-cause-of-death-worldwide/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cardiovascular disease</a>, and skin and muscle function. The second wave hits around age 60, involving changes in carbohydrate metabolism, immune regulation, kidney function, and again cardiovascular and muscle health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-during-these-aging-bursts">What happens during these aging bursts</h2>



During the mid-40s transformation, researchers observed significant changes in how the body processes alcohol and fats. This period often coincides with increased stress levels in many people's lives, potentially contributing to lifestyle factors that accelerate these molecular shifts.



"It's possible some of these changes could be tied to lifestyle or behavioral factors that cluster at these age groups, rather than being driven by biological factors," Snyder explained. For instance, alcohol metabolism dysfunction might result from increased consumption during the typically stressful mid-40s period.



The changes at age 60 are perhaps less surprising, as this is when many age-related diseases begin to manifest more prominently. The molecular shifts affect immune function and kidney health, both critical for maintaining overall wellness as we enter our senior years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-latest-research-confirms-aging-patterns">Latest research confirms aging patterns</h2>



Recent 2025 studies have validated these findings. Research examining tissue samples from 76 people found similar aging patterns, noting an "inflection point" between ages 45 and 55.



Scientists discovered that blood vessels, particularly the aorta, age fastest among all body tissues. This vascular aging may drive aging in other body parts, highlighting cardiovascular health's central role in the aging process.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cellular-changes-and-microbiome-shifts">Cellular changes and microbiome shifts</h2>



The Stanford research revealed that these aging bursts affect our microbiome – the trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi living in and on our bodies. These microbial communities undergo substantial shifts during both aging periods, potentially affecting everything from digestion to immune function.



Additionally, researchers found that protein production and gene expression begin to fall out of sync as we age. This breakdown in cellular communication becomes especially pronounced during the two aging waves, contributing to the accumulation of damaged proteins associated with diseases such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/alzheimers-may-not-be-brain-disorder-important-data-was-fabricated/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alzheimer's</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-health-implications-and-longevity-considerations">Health implications and longevity considerations</h2>



Understanding these aging patterns has important implications for healthcare strategies. Research suggests that people should pay particular attention to their health during their 40s and 60s, when these dramatic molecular changes occur.



Snyder emphasized the importance of proactive health measures. "I'm a big believer that we should try to adjust our lifestyles while we're still healthy," he noted. This might include increasing exercise to protect heart health and maintain muscle mass, or reducing alcohol consumption in the 40s as the body's ability to metabolize it declines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-approaches-to-anti-aging-treatment">New approaches to anti-aging treatment</h2>



Aging research has seen notable advances in 2025. Harvard Medical School scientists developed chemical cocktails that reverse cellular aging without genetic modification. These six combinations restored aged cells to youthfulness in under a week, offering safer alternatives to gene therapy.



Researchers identified new biomarkers like "InflammAge," a saliva-based test measuring chronic inflammation associated with aging. This non-invasive approach could change how we monitor aging and intervention.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-directions-in-aging-research">Future directions in aging research</h2>



Emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, cellular reprogramming, and senolytic therapies, are opening new possibilities for extending healthspan. Companies develop treatments targeting aging's fundamental mechanisms rather than just managing age-related diseases.



The Stanford findings provide a roadmap for implementing preventive measures. Rather than waiting for symptoms, people can prepare for and potentially mitigate these predictable aging waves.



As aging understanding evolves, one thing becomes clear: aging isn't inevitable decline, but specific biological events we may learn to prevent or reverse. The key is recognizing when these transitions occur and taking proactive health steps during vulnerable periods.



The study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nataging" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Aging</a>.



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Scientists discover we age in bursts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veg4HmmRVZY Our bodies hits two 'aging cliffs' at these ages....

<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=PqlF0XKzHY4
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The hidden science behind tickling.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientists-discover-the-brain-s-tickling-command-center">Scientists discover the brain's 'tickling command center'</h2>



Researchers have finally solved one of humanity's most enduring mysteries: why we can't <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/after-centuries-of-debate-we-still-dont-know-how-tickling-works/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tickle</a> ourselves and what makes some people incredibly ticklish while others barely react? Recent scientific discoveries are revolutionizing our understanding of this peculiar human behavior.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breakthrough-discovery-in-the-brain">Breakthrough discovery in the brain</h2>



In 2023, Dr. Michael Brecht's team at <a href="https://www.hu-berlin.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Humboldt University</a>-<a href="https://www.hu-berlin.de/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Berlin</a> made a major discovery published in the <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)01991-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">journal Neuron</a>. They identified the brain's actual "tickling command center" – specific neurons in a region called the periaqueductal gray that control both tickling responses and play behavior.



When researchers used cutting-edge optogenetic technology to shut down these neurons in laboratory rats, something remarkable happened. The animals completely lost their ability to be tickled or engage in playful behavior.



"We found that global blockade of the rat periaqueductal gray with either muscimol or lidocaine interfered with ticklishness and play," the research team reported in their study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-types-of-tickling-revealed">Two types of tickling revealed</h2>



What we call "tickling" is two completely different phenomena, according to the latest research. Light tickling – that feathery sensation that makes you want to scratch – is essentially your body's sophisticated bug detection system. This alerts you to potential insects or parasites on your skin.



Deep tickling – the kind that makes you laugh uncontrollably – involves complex brain circuits and is fundamentally social. You literally cannot tickle yourself with this type of stimulation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-self-tickling-is-impossible">Why self-tickling is impossible</h2>



Your cerebellum acts like a prediction machine, recent findings show. When you move your own hand to touch yourself, your brain generates precise predictions about what you will feel and then cancels out the tickling sensation through neural inhibition.



When someone else tickles you, your brain can't predict their movements, so the full tickling response activates. It's like your brain's way of distinguishing between self and others.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-individual-differences-explained">Individual differences explained</h2>



Individual differences in ticklishness depend on genetics, psychology, and even trust. Dr. Xinzhong Dong at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Johns Hopkins University</a> notes that people with denser nerve endings tend to be more sensitive.



Psychological factors matter just as much. You respond more strongly when tickled by people you trust, and anxiety completely shuts down tickling responses. This explains why the same physical stimulus can produce completely different reactions depending on who's doing the tickling.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-controlling-your-ticklishness">Controlling your ticklishness</h2>



Science offers answers for controlling your ticklishness. You can reduce tickling sensitivity through systematic desensitization – gradual exposure in controlled settings.



Dr. Konstantina Kilteni's 2025 research, published in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt0350" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>, reveals another technique: place your hand on the tickler's hand. This allows your brain to partially predict the sensations, reducing the tickling response by up to 90 percent.



"Your brain is essentially learning to override its own reflexes," Kilteni explained in her review of tickling research.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolutionary-purpose-discovered">Evolutionary purpose discovered</h2>



From an evolutionary perspective, tickling serves vital functions according to <a href="https://www.umd.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Maryland</a> researcher Dr. Robert Provine's extensive studies. It trains our defense reflexes for vulnerable body areas and facilitates social bonding between family members.



Tickling-induced laughter is actually one of the first forms of communication between infants and caregivers. "Tickle involves a neurological self/nonself discrimination, providing the most primitive social scenario," Provine noted in his research.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clinical-applications-emerge">Clinical applications emerge</h2>



Research shows people with autism spectrum disorder perceive touches as more ticklish than people without the condition. Investigating this difference could provide insight into brain differences and help advance autism research.



People with schizophrenia tend to experience self-touches similarly to external tickles, allowing them to essentially tickle themselves. This suggests altered sensory prediction mechanisms in the condition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animal-research-reveals-universal-nature">Animal research reveals universal nature</h2>



Scientists have discovered that many species beyond humans are ticklish. Rats emit ultrasonic "laughs" when tickled, while chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans all respond to tickling stimulation.



This widespread occurrence across species suggests that tickling serves fundamental biological and social functions that evolved long before humans developed complex language and culture.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions</h2>



Dr. Kilteni argues that tickling research deserves more scientific attention. "It is a complex interplay of motor, social, neurological, developmental, and evolutionary aspects," she stated in her recent review.



New haptic technologies and advanced research methodologies now permit scientists to investigate tickle sensation with unprecedented precision. Standardized experimental methods using mechanical tickling devices ensure consistent results across studies.



Recent findings published in Science Advances show that tickling research is opening new doors in neuroscience, potentially leading to a better understanding of social behavior, sensory processing, and neurological conditions.



-----



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Scientists solve the mystery of tickling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqlF0XKzHY4 The hidden science behind tickling. Scientists discover the brain's...

<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=elr4948_uOU
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr. Ronald Mallett from the University of Connecticut reveals secret mission to create working time travel device.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-could-an-equation-truly-bend-time-a-physicist-s-decades-long-quest-to-rewrite-reality">Could an equation truly bend time? A physicist's decades-long quest to rewrite reality</h2>



Imagine the impossible: stepping back through time in a time machine, not in fantasy, but through a scientific endeavor driven by profound personal loss. For <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astrophysicist-says-hes-cracked-the-equation-for-time-travel/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Ronald Mallett</a>, a distinguished astrophysicist and professor emeritus at the <a href="https://uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut</a>, this deeply human longing has fueled a lifelong mission. He claims to have discovered the equation that could unlock temporal displacement, pushing boundaries once deemed purely science fiction.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-profound-grief-that-forged-a-vision">A profound grief that forged a vision</h2>



Mallett's extraordinary pursuit began with devastating tragedy in 1955. At merely 10 years old, he endured his father Boyd's sudden death—a television repairman whose passion for science had ignited a similar spark in his young son. Boyd Mallett, only 33, succumbed to a heart attack, leaving behind a grief-stricken child searching for solace.



That solace came through H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. Within its pages, Mallett found a captivating concept: "Time is only a kind of Space." These words transformed from a literary phrase into a guiding principle, becoming the driving force behind his unwavering commitment to unraveling time's fundamental mysteries.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-humble-beginnings-to-academic-heights">From humble beginnings to academic heights</h2>



Mallett's journey was far from straightforward. After serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War era, he utilized the GI Bill for higher education, earning his Ph.D. in physics from Pennsylvania State University in 1973 at the age of 28.



In 1975, he made history as the first African American professor in the University of Connecticut's physics department, achieving full professorship in 1987 before retiring in 2024 as professor emeritus.



Throughout these successful academic years, Mallett harbored his radical ambition as a closely guarded secret. "I kept my time travel goal a secret," he confessed. "I worried people would think I was nuts." His public research centered on black holes, serving as a "cover story" while he quietly developed his revolutionary time travel theory.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-breakthrough-moment">The breakthrough moment</h2>



His pivotal insight arrived while hospitalized for a heart condition—a profound irony given his father's heart attack started this journey. The breakthrough was elegantly simple yet revolutionary: "If gravity can bend time, and light can create gravity, then light can bend time."



"It turns out that black holes can create a gravitational field that could lead to the creation of time loops that could allow us to go back in time," he explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-blueprint-for-a-temporal-vortex">The blueprint for a temporal vortex</h2>



Mallett's vision for a functioning time machine replicates spacetime-warping phenomena around black holes. He offers a compelling analogy: "Picture a cup of coffee. Stir it with a spoon, and the coffee swirls. A spinning black hole does the same to spacetime."



In Einstein's general relativity, the universe is a dynamic fabric woven from space and time. Massive objects like black holes warp this fabric—an effect we perceive as gravity. Mallett theorizes that an intense, continuous, circulating beam of light from a ring of powerful lasers could replicate this gravitational torsion, effectively twisting time into a loop.



This "time loop" would theoretically allow information—or perhaps matter—to travel backward in time. He detailed this mathematical concept in his 2006 autobiography, Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-published-research-and-recognition">Published research and recognition</h2>



His work, published in respected journals including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/physics-letters-a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Physics Letters A</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/10701" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Foundations of Physics</a>, suggests circulating laser light could generate gravitational fields potent enough to create closed timelike curves, enabling time travel for data.



Mallett's research has gained worldwide media attention, featured on <a href="https://www.thisamericanlife.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Public Radio's This American Life</a>, the <a href="https://www.history.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">History Channel</a>, and <a href="https://www.today.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBC's Today Show</a>. The widespread interest reflects both his compelling personal story and rigorous scientific approach.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-galactic-hurdles-and-persistent-skepticism">The galactic hurdles and persistent skepticism</h2>



While Mallett's equations captivate imagination, the path to reality faces immense obstacles. The energy requirement is staggering—Mallett acknowledges needing "galactic amounts of energy," far beyond current technological capabilities.



There's also a poignant limitation: even if realized, his machine could only send information back to when it was first activated, meaning it couldn't transport him to 1955 to prevent his father's death.



The scientific community remains skeptical. Physicists Ken Olum and Allen Everett argue that Mallett's proposed laser ring would need to be larger than the observable universe to achieve the necessary spacetime distortion. They invoke Stephen Hawking's chronology protection conjecture, suggesting physics may prevent macroscopic time travel.



Astrophysicist Paul Sutter has voiced doubts about Mallett's underlying mathematics, while science writer Brian Clegg finds the concept intriguing enough to warrant experimental investigation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-legacy-that-transcends-time">A legacy that transcends time</h2>



Now approaching 80, Dr. Mallett remains steadfast. "I believe my work will show time travel is possible," he asserts. "Future generations will build on it in ways we can't yet imagine."



His equations, though yet to physically bend time, have bent our collective imagination. Ongoing public interest, evidenced by his continued media appearances and Spike Lee's film adaptation of his memoir, underscores his ideas' profound impact.



More than a scientific pursuit, Mallett's story testifies to human resilience, intellectual courage, and hope's enduring power. Whether his theoretical time machine ever materializes, his legacy is immeasurable—inspiring countless individuals to challenge conventional limits and perceive time not as an unyielding barrier, but as a boundless frontier awaiting exploration.







-----



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-----

Retired professor claims he solved time travel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elr4948_uOU Dr. Ronald Mallett from the University of Connecticut reveals...

<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...

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.



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" 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.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" 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.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&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.

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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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.

Designing crops that can beat the heat

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

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