<p>Ice does not usually show up in conversations about electricity. A new study reports that ordinary frozen water generates electric charge when it bends, and the measured response is on the same order as benchmark electroceramics such as titanium dioxide and strontium titanate.</p>



<p>The research also links this behavior to how storms build up charge, offering a fresh way to think about why lightning starts inside clouds. It adds a surface twist at extremely low temperatures that could matter in special <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heat-meets-light-a-new-way-to-supercharge-solar-power/">environments</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ice-and-flexo-electricity">Ice and flexo-electricity</h2>



<p>Scientists call this effect flexo-electricity, the coupling between electric polarization and strain gradients in an insulator. A comprehensive <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-matsci-071312-121634" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a>&nbsp;explains why any solid can show some flexoelectric response when it is bent unevenly or shaped with strong curvature.</p>



<p>This is not the same as being piezoelectric, which requires a crystal structure that lacks inversion symmetry and creates charge directly under uniform compression or tension. Flexo-electricity does not need that symmetry break, so it can appear in materials that fail the piezoelectric test.</p>



<p>Dr. Xin Wen of the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (<a href="https://icn2.cat/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ICN2</a>), located on the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona campus, helped lead the experiments and modeling. The team combined precise bending tests with theory to tie the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/electric-vehicles-cant-help-the-planet-without-a-smarter-power-grid/">electrical</a> signal to the mechanical shape of the ice.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-testing-a-slab-of-ice">Testing a slab of ice</h2>



<p>The researchers shaped an ice slab, placed it between metal plates, then bent it in a controlled way while monitoring the voltage that appeared. The signal tracked how strongly the slab curved, which is exactly what flexo-electricity predicts.</p>



<p>"We discovered that ice generates electric charge in response to mechanical stress at all temperatures," said Dr. Wen.</p>



<p>The tests showed that ice keeps producing a strong <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invisible-electric-field-discovered-surrounding-earth-nasa-says-its-as-crucial-as-gravity/">electrical</a> signal across the whole range of temperatures where it stays solid, right up until it melts. That puts frozen water in the same league as some engineered materials, like certain oxides, that are commonly used in electronic sensors and capacitors.</p>



<p>At extremely low temperatures, the researchers also noticed a very thin surface layer of ice that could flip its electrical orientation when an outside electric field was applied. This layer acts like a ferroelectric, but only on the surface and not throughout the entire block of ice. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ice-interacting-with-its-environment">Ice interacting with its environment </h2>



<p>Surface structure can dramatically change how ice interacts with its surroundings. In thunderclouds, tiny ice crystals crash into soft hailstones known as graupel, and those collisions shift electric charge from one particle to another. </p>



<p><a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2007JD009720" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Studies</a> in the lab and in real storms have shown that these encounters separate charge in ways that depend on temperature, building up the electric fields that allow lightning to form.</p>



<p>Flexo-electricity offers an additional microphysical pathway for those particles to charge up during bouncy, irregular impacts that bend and twist their surfaces. The new measurements match the scale of charge transfers inferred for real collisions, which helps knit lab physics to storm electrification without requiring piezoelectricity.</p>



<p>A clear <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/lightning/how-lightning-is-created" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">overview</a> from NOAA outlines how separate charge regions form in a storm, build an electric field, and finally trigger a lightning discharge. The present work slides a mechanical bending effect into that picture, adding a way for collisions to do electrical work when particles deform unevenly.</p>



<p>This matters most in the mixed phase region of a storm where supercooled droplets coat graupel and ice crystals ricochet through updrafts. Nonuniform stresses there are normal, so a bending driven mechanism is a natural candidate.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ice-powers-new-electricity-tech">Ice powers new electricity tech</h2>



<p>Ice is cheap to make, it molds into shapes easily, and it is abundant in cold places. Flexoelectric transduction could let engineers build simple sensors or pressure to voltage converters in situ, using water and metal contacts without high temperature <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amount-of-copper-needed-to-power-tech-and-develop-the-world-is-astonishing-not-enough/">processing</a> or rare elements.</p>



<p>Devices would not be limited to extreme cold, since the flexoelectric response persists up to the melting point. Designs would focus on geometry, because stronger curvature and sharper gradients usually drive larger signals in flexoelectric systems.</p>



<p>The ferroelectric surface layer at about -171°F raises interesting options for switching behavior in deep cold. It could enable memory-like responses in polar regions or high altitude labs, where a modest electric field flips the surface polarization while the interior remains nonpolar.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-electricity-lessons-from-ice">Electricity lessons from ice</h2>



<p>Flexo-electricity turns uneven bending into electrical charge, even in a material long treated as electromechanically quiet under uniform pressure. </p>



<p>Ice now joins the small set of everyday materials proven to convert mechanical shape changes into measurable voltage. In storm physics, it emerges as a credible new factor working alongside well-known non-inductive charging processes. </p>



<p>Charge generated by bending fits naturally with the chaotic collisions of particles, linking lab findings to the electric dynamics of real clouds.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02995-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Nature Physics</em></a>.</p>



<p>-----</p>



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Ordinary ice generates electricity when bent or twisted

Ice does not usually show up in conversations about electricity. A new study reports that ordinary frozen water generates electric charge when it bends, and the measured response is on the same order as benchmark electroceramics such as titanium dioxide and strontium titanate. The research also links this behavior to how storms build up charge, offering a fresh way to think about why lightning starts inside clouds. It adds a surface twist at extremely low temperatures that could matter in special environments. Ice and flexo-electricity Scientists call...

Iron mine orchids

<p class="ap-story-p">Millions of orchids are now growing in a hundred-acre wetland in the Adirondack Park that developed on waste from a vast open-pit iron mine, a transformation scientists say is most impressive because it happened naturally. Old iron mine now covered with millions of orchids</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"It's a testament to nature's ability to heal itself," said Grete Bader, a graduate student who recently wrote her master's thesis about the plant life at the former Benson Mines, about 35 miles from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada">Canadian</a> border. Old iron mine now covered with millions of orchids</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The wetland, which remains privately owned and off limits to the public, formed on part of thousands of acres of coarse sand left over when granite ore was crushed to extract iron from 1900 until 1978. That bare sand eventually gave way to moss, lichen, grasses, sedges and trees, including willows, poplars and tamaracks.</p>


[caption id="attachment_2405221" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2405221" src="http://cff1.greenatom.earth/uploads/2016/07/23103325/flower-pink-orchid_1big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="A grass pink orchid is seen where waste from a former iron mine" width="150" height="150" /> A grass pink orchid is seen where waste from a former iron mine[/caption]
<p class="ap-story-p">Orchids arrived as dust-like seeds from surrounding areas. The wetland is now home to six species of bog orchids, including millions of rose pogonias and grass pinks.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"I've been involved in orchid-rich habitats all over the country for 40 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said Donald Leopold, a professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Leopold first explored the site 30 years ago, but the staggering number of orchids wasn't quantified until recently when his graduate student, Bader, tallied them up in her thesis.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Several factors contribute to the thriving plant community at the site, Bader said, including a variety of fungi that colonize a plant's root system and enhance its ability to absorb nutrients.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"What's really cool to me as a plant ecologist is how this site went from bare mine tailings to a diverse wetland plant community over the past 60 years on its own, without any formal restoration initiative," Bader said during a recent visit to the site.</p>


[caption id="attachment_2405223" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2405223" src="http://cff1.greenatom.earth/uploads/2016/07/23103335/grete-bader-orchids_1big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="Grete Bader" width="150" height="150" /> Grete Bader[/caption]
<p class="ap-story-p">Bader and Leopold suggest that the site would be a worthy addition to the Adirondack Forest Preserve if the owner was interested in selling it to the state.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">But the landowner's lawyer says there are no plans to sell the land or allow public access. "Benson Mines wasn't even aware of the orchids until the researchers made them public," said attorney Bernard Melewski.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">He said the orchid site is a small part of about 2,000 acres of sand and crushed stone mining waste that the company hopes to ship to markets when a nearby railroad spur is renovated.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Even if the site remains untouched by development, the orchids may be a fleeting phenomenon as the natural forces that brought them here continue to reshape the landscape. Already, an aggressive non-native reed called phragmites is choking out other plants in large swaths of the wetland.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"The orchids here today require full sun," Bader said. "Between invasive plants and natural succession to a closed canopy tamarack-black spruce bog, we're going to see them decline."</p>
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Old iron mine now covered with millions of orchids

Millions of orchids are now growing in a hundred-acre wetland...

<p class="ap-story-p">A solar energy project has some environmentalists seeing red.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Solar energy ordinarily wins praise from groups that want to cut greenhouse gases, but a proposed solar project at a defunct Long Island nuclear power plant has stirred outrage because it requires demolishing 350 acres of woodlands. Solar energy project in Long Island is angering environmentalists</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"Choosing solar over forests anywhere in the world is just plain stupid," said Dick Amper, of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society. "Solar is very important to fight global warming and beyond, but I'm afraid we're making false choices when you destroy portions of nature and the environment to accomplish that end." Solar energy project in Long Island is angering environmentalists</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Similar projects are happening elsewhere.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">A court fight is brewing over a plan by<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/new-jersey-wild-animal-traveling-performances/"> New Jersey'</a>s Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park to cut down nearly 15,000 trees to make way for a solar farm. In Connecticut, state officials recently approved a plan to raze 134 acres of trees in the town of Sprague, near Norwich, for a solar energy project.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Alex Hobson, a spokeswoman for a Solar Energy industry group in Washington, D.C., declined to comment on the Long Island proposal, but said the industry "is committed to responsible use of the land on which we operate and we go to great lengths to protect biodiversity and ecologically fragile lands."</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Under the proposal, a company called LI Solar Generation, LLC, a joint venture between NextEra Energy Resources and National Grid, would construct the facility on the grounds of the defunct Shoreham nuclear power plant.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The plant was completed in 1984 for $6 billion but never opened because of community opposition over potential safety concerns. The solar project backers are hoping to plug into existing electric energy infrastructure on the Shoreham property, with plans for up to 72 megawatts of solar energy, providing power for more than 13,000 homes.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">A part of the plan mentions replanting trees elsewhere to offset the cutting of the forest but a spokesman for the company did not have details.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Walter Thomas, who teaches a course on solar energy at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, questioned why it was necessary to eliminate any trees at all.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"I would think Long Island would have giant rooftops and parking lots in shopping malls that could be used for large solar projects if that's what's needed," Thomas said. "There's so much acreage available for that stuff."</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Sid Bail, president of the Wading River Civic Association, who lives about a half mile from the Shoreham site along the Long Island Sound, isn't buying it. "I favor renewable energy, but in this case it's a very bad trade-off," he said.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The proposal submitted last month still requires extensive regulatory review.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"We are prepared to work closely with all public officials and the local community to come up with the best solution to have renewable solar energy at Shoreham, and preserve as much of the property as possible," Ross Groffman, executive director of NextEra Energy Resources and LI Solar Generation said in a statement.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Neal Lewis, executive director of the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, an environmental advocacy group on Long Island that supports the Shoreham project, said it is always preferable to build solar projects in open spaces that don't require the elimination of large numbers of trees. But he notes that "of all the potential options, there is nothing less impactful on the environment than putting in a solar farm."</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"That's the real world we live in and they have a right to develop it."</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">---</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Associated Press researcher Jennifer Farrar contributed to this report.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">---</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Follow Eltman on Twitter at @feltman41</p>
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Solar energy project in Long Island is angering environmentalists

A solar energy project has some environmentalists seeing red. Solar...

<p class="ap-story-p">More than 1,000 people joined Hollywood stars for a climate rally, including Shailene Woodley, Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover in <a href="https://www.bing.com/travelguide?q=Philadelphia&amp;l2sid=020d4bbf-2971-4236-b87d-c3ec1d7f851c&amp;form=PLACAB">Philadelphia</a> last night on the eve of the Democratic National Convention and vowed to keep fighting for climate and environmental justice issues, even though their preferred presidential candidate would not be driving the party's agenda.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Sarandon, who like the other stars in attendance campaigned on behalf of Sen. Bernie Sanders, said the rally's turnout was proof that theirs was a movement and not a cult of personality as some critics alleged.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"Our commitment hasn't ended. This is not just about one election. ... We want real progressive politics and we want to say thank you to Bernie for igniting this spark," she said. "Now we're awake and we have to stay awake."Hollywood stars hold a climate rally</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Many in the crowd, which one speaker described as a group of "climate justice activists, fracktivists and climate revolutionaries," wore Sanders shirts, buttons or lanyards. Some carried signs like, "Bernie would end fracking," and the now defunct "Bernie for President."Hollywood stars hold a climate rally</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">There was little mention of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton with only one speaker making unfavorable comparisons between Sanders and Clinton while proudly noting that "we took over the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/democracy-better-health-nations/">Democratic</a> party." Another drew shouts and applause when he said a happy goodbye to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is resigning.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">There was also little talk of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, although one speaker did refer to him as a fascist.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The event was organized by NextGen Climate, a San Francisco-based environmental advocacy organization. The event included musical acts and a screening of the documentary "How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change" by writer/director Josh Fox. Fox is best known for "Gasland," which included memorable images of Pennsylvania homeowners setting tap water aflame.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Woodley urged the crowd to let go of anger and ego that could lead to violence.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"If you show up with love and solidarity to those around you, that sparks great change," she said.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Glover had a similar message, noting there was a long fight ahead.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"This is a permanent revolution," he said. "This is not about this election. That's too small. That's not enough for us."</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The convention officially starts Monday, with Clinton expected to accept the party's nomination on Thursday.</p>
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Hollywood stars hold a climate rally

More than 1,000 people joined Hollywood stars for a climate...

Drought hits the Northeastern US. At Lavoie's Farm in New Hampshire, beans and corn haven't broken through the ground yet and fields of strawberries are stunted.

The drought that has taken hold in the Northeast is especially felt at John Lavoie's farm in Hollis, presenting him with some tough choices. Irrigation ponds are drying up, forcing him to choose between tomatoes and berries or apple and peach trees.

Lavoie decided to hold off watering the fruit trees so he could quench the tomato and berry plants before they succumb to the heat.

"We need some rain pretty quick," Lavoie said. "There is just some corn that won't make it. A lot of things we would like to give water to, we can't."

The dry blast in New Hampshire is being felt throughout the Northeast, from Maine to Pennsylvania, driven by a second year of below-average rainfall. Though not as dire as the West Coast drought of five-years running, the dry, hot weather has stressed farms and gardens, prompted water restrictions and bans in many towns and threatened to bring more wildfires than usual.

<img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2405263" src="http://cff1.greenatom.earth/uploads/2016/07/25091337/drought-farm-northeastern-us_2big_ap-150x150.jpg" alt="drought-farm-northeastern-us_2big_ap" width="150" height="150" />In the hardest hit areas of western <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-2080-new-york-arkansas/">New York</a>, Massachusetts and southern parts of New Hampshire and Maine, it's been dryer than in a decade or more. And national weather experts predict the drought will persist at least through the end of October.

"The Northeast is a little bit of a mixed bag, but the bottom line is that the conditions have deteriorated over the past several weeks to a couple of months," said Rich Tinker, a drought specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

If there were a drought epicenter, it probably would be Massachusetts. More than 74 percent of the state, according to the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=united+states&amp;FORM=EDGENA&amp;PC=HCTS&amp;refig=adb76a30e2504c9ef94f0fed7fe4b9fd">United States</a> Drought Monitor, is experiencing some degree of drought and almost the entire state is dry.

Many Massachusetts farmers are hurting, said Katie Campbell-Nelson, a vegetable production specialist with the UMass Extension. Yields and quality are down, and irrigation costs are up.

"Some farmers are abandoning crops because it's not worth the financial risk of harvesting them," Campbell-Nelson said.

The dry conditions have raised the risk of wildfires in Massachusetts, said Dave Celino, chief forest fire warden for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. Typically, the state records about 1,600 wildland fires a year. But this year, it's already seen more than 1,000.

Meanwhile, some wells are going dry in Connecticut. And the blueberry crop in Maine will be slightly smaller this year than the past two, said Nancy McBrady, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine.

In New Hampshire, the Lavoies, like their farming neighbors, are spending twice as much and committing 90 percent of their labor to watering. They've instituted drip agriculture and other conservation measures to ensure every drop of water goes farther and lasts longer. It's a smart move, especially since it may be months before they see any relief.

---

Associated Press writers Mark Pratt in Boston, Patrick Whittle in Maine and Susan Haigh in Connecticut contributed to this report.

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Drought hits the Northeastern US

Drought hits the Northeastern US. At Lavoie's Farm in New...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Two tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean have see-sawed in strength today, July 26, 2016. Tropical Storm Georgette and Hurricane Frank see-saw in strength</div>
Infrared satellite imagery from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA'</a>s Aqua satellite showed colder cloud top temperatures in Frank today as it became a hurricane and warming temperatures in Georgette as it weakened from a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/future-hurricanes-wetter-and-windier/">hurricane</a> to a tropical storm. The infrared data, taken July 26 at 0959 UTC (5:59 a.m. EDT) showed a much smaller Tropical Storm Georgette in comparison to the now hurricane, Frank.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 26, 2016, the center of Tropical Storm Georgette was located near latitude 18.4 North, longitude 128.6 West. Georgette is moving toward the northwest near 3 mph (6 kph). A motion toward the northwest with some increase in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 70 mph (110 kph) with higher gusts.

The National Hurricane Center noted that additional weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Georgette could degenerate to a remnant low pressure area by Thursday, July 28. Tropical Storm Georgette and Hurricane Frank see-saw in strength
<p align="center">###</p>
For updates on Georgette, visit the NHC website: <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.<wbr />nhc.<wbr />noaa.<wbr />gov</a>.

</div>

Tropical Storm Georgette and Hurricane Frank see-saw in strength

Two tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean have see-sawed...

<p class="ap-story-p">Feds: Airliners are contributing greatly to climate change. The government has found that jet engine exhaust is adding to climate change and endangering human health, and needs to be regulated. Feds: Airliners are contributing greatly to climate change</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it will use its authority under the Clean Air Act to impose limits on aircraft emissions.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Jet engines spew significant amounts of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, into the upper atmosphere, where they trap heat from the sun. But proposed rules such as imposing fuel-efficiency standards have faced stiff opposition from aircraft makers and commercial airlines.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Aircraft emissions were not addressed as part of the landmark global climate agreement agreed to in <a href="https://www.bing.com/travelguide?q=Paris&amp;l2sid=85584d24-2116-5b98-89f9-5714db931ac6&amp;form=PLACAB">Paris</a> in December.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"Addressing pollution from aircraft is an important element of U.S. efforts to address climate change," said Janet McCabe, EPA's acting assistant administrator for air and radiation. She said aircraft are the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. transportation sector, and that is expected to increase. Cars and trucks already are regulated.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The EPA's findings do not apply to small piston-engine planes or to military aircraft.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">A U.N. panel in February recommended new emissions standards for international flights that require an average 4 percent reduction in fuel consumption during the cruising phase of flight. The new regulations from the International Civil Aviation Organization require that new aircraft designs meet the standards beginning in 2020, and that designs already in production comply by 2023.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Environmental groups have criticized the new international standards as too weak to actually slow global warming. Planes burn the most fuel during takeoffs and landings, while cruising at high altitudes is the most fuel-efficient period.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Environmentalists say aviation accounts for about 5 percent of global greenhouse emissions, though the U.N. and EPA cite studies concluding it's actually less than 2 percent.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">The EPA finding announced Monday is expected to result in similar limits on domestic carriers, which critics say is long overdue.</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">"People should not have to choose between mobility and a healthy climate," said Marcie Keever, legal director for the environmental group Friends of the Earth. "The EPA's nine-year delay on regulating aircraft emissions failed the American people. Now it's time for the Obama administration to issue a strong rule, to hold the aviation industry accountable."</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">---</p>
<p class="ap-story-p">Follow Associated Press environmental writer at<a href="http://twitter.com/mbieseck">http://Twitter.com/mbieseck</a></p>
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Feds: Airliners are contributing greatly to climate change

Feds: Airliners are contributing greatly to climate change. The government...

<div>Ensuring the efficacy of restoration efforts after Deepwater Horizon. To improve and ensure the efficacy of restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico following Deepwater Horizon - the largest oil spill in U.S. history - a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends a set of best practices for monitoring and evaluating ecological restoration activities.</div>
The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustee Council, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council), and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) are the largest restoration programs working toward the Gulf's recovery after the 2010 offshore oil spill that led to a 20 percent reduction in commercial <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-impacts-on-tropical-fisheries-may-ripple-across-the-globe/">fisheries</a> and damaged about 1,100 miles of coastal salt marsh wetlands. These programs administer a majority of the $16 billion available in restoration funds, supporting projects that range from coastal and offshore habitat restoration to recovery of certain species, water quality improvement, and land acquisition. Ensuring the efficacy of restoration efforts after Deepwater Horizon

The report finds that the majority of past U.S. restoration efforts have not been adequately monitored to assess or improve restoration efficacy. To date, monitoring activities have been dramatically underfunded, and very few programs monitor environmental and social results. To ensure that progress of the efforts can be evaluated, the committee that conducted the study and wrote the report recommended that all restoration activities funded by these programs define specific, measurable objectives and adopt a rigorous statistical monitoring effort and a well-designed data management plan.

"Integrating a monitoring plan as part of the broader restoration program is important to assure the funders and public that restoration funds are being spent effectively," said committee chair Frank Davis, director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at University of California, Santa Barbara. "Given the similarities in the strategic goals of Gulf restoration programs, the objectives and monitoring approaches need to be considered holistically to maximize compatibility of efforts and the lasting value of the data and information being collected." The report also provides more specific restoration monitoring guidelines for six habitats and species groups in the Gulf:

Monitoring is essential to ensure projects are implemented and functioning as designed, to assess whether goals are met, to improve the design of future restoration efforts, and to identify critical uncertainties that might prevent the success of a project, the committee said. The report suggests funding agencies work together to ensure that monitoring data are as consistent and comparable as possible across the Gulf, and also that data are publicly available by establishing clear policies for data archiving and sharing.

The report also provides more specific restoration monitoring guidelines for six habitats and species groups in the Gulf: oyster reefs, tidal wetlands, seagrasses, birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals. For example, when corrals are constructed to protect sea turtle eggs, their monitoring might entail measuring the amount of beach protected after construction, the location of the corrals relative to the high tide line, and the density of vegetation in the corrals to ensure the project's success.

The study was sponsored by the Academies' Gulf Research Program, which was established at the request of the U.S. government as part of legal settlements in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit <a href="http://national-academies.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://national-academies.<wbr />org</a>. A committee roster follows.
<p align="center">###</p>
<strong>Contacts:</strong>

Riya V. Anandwala, Media Relations Officer
Rebecca Ray, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail <a href="mailto:news@nas.edu">news@nas.edu</a>
<a href="http://national-academies.org/newsroom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">national-academies.org/newsroom</a>
Follow us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/thenasem" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@theNASEM</a>

Copies of Effective Monitoring to Evaluate Ecological Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico are available at <a href="http://www.nap.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.<wbr />nap.<wbr />edu</a> or by calling 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).

<strong>THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE</strong>

Division on Earth and Life Studies Ocean Studies Board

<strong>Committee on Effective Approaches for Monitoring and Assessing the Gulf of Mexico Restoration Activities</strong>

Frank W. Davis (chair)
Director
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis; and
Professor
Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
University of California
Santa Barbara

David M. Burdick
Research Associate Professor
Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
University of New Hampshire
Durham

Loren Coen
Research Professor
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Florida Atlantic University
Fort Pierce

Peter Doering
Senior Administrator
Applied Sciences Bureau South Florida Water Management District
West Palm Beach

Frances Gulland
Senior Scientist
Marine Mammal Center
Sausalito, Calif.

Kenneth L. Heck Jr.
Senior Marine Scientist
Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory
Dauphin Island, Ala.

Matthew K. Howard Research Scientist Texas A&amp;M University College Station

Michael S. Kearney
Professor
Department of Environmental Sciences and Technology
University of Maryland
College Park

Paul Montagna
Endowed Chair for Ecosystems and Modeling
Harte Research Institute
Corpus Christi, Texas

Pamela Plotkin
Director for Sea Grant Texas
Texas A&amp;M University
College Station

Kenneth A. Rose
Professor
Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge

Eric P. Smith
Professor and Department Head
Department of Statistics
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg

Heather M. Tallis
Lead Scientist
The Nature Conservancy
Santa Cruz, Calif.

Ronald Thom
Staff Scientist
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Sequim, Wash.

Mark S. Woodrey
Research Ecologist
Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Mississippi State University
Moss Point

<strong>STAFF</strong>

Claudia Mengelt
Study Director

Stephanie Johnson
Senior Program Officer

Heather Coleman
Post-Doctoral Fellow

Payton Kulina
Senior Research Assistant

Ensuring the efficacy of restoration efforts after Deepwater Horizon

Ensuring the efficacy of restoration efforts after Deepwater Horizon. To...

<div>Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite showed a transition within Tropical Storm Frank over three days, and now Hurricane Frank has become the Eastern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pacific-salmon-water-temperatures/">Pacific's</a> fifth hurricane.</div>
<div>

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Frank on three days, July 24, 25 and 26 and gathered infrared temperature data on the storm using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument. During that three day period, Frank weakened on July 25 and infrared data showed cloud top temperatures warmed and thunderstorm activity decreased. Warming cloud tops means that the top of the clouds are not as high in the troposphere as they were before (the higher you go in the troposphere, the colder it is). Warming cloud tops indicate weaker uplift of air in the storm, making it weaker

Data showed that the area of coldest cloud top temperatures, in excess of minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius) and strongest thunderstorms diminished on July 25 and expanded again on July 26 as Frank moved over warm waters. Forecaster Pasch of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted this morning, July 26 that "deep convection associated with Frank has recently increased."

In addition to looking at temperatures, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA'</a>s RapidScat looked at Frank's winds. The RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has been analyzing the winds around Tropical Storm Frank. RapidScat is a scatterometer that can measure wind speeds over open ocean surfaces. The ISS passed over the eastern side of Tropical Storm Frank and RapidScat saw strongest winds near 27 meters per second (60.4 mph/97.2 kph) were occurring in the storm's northeastern quadrant. RapidScat found that tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 26, 2016 the eye of Hurricane Frank was located near latitude 21.2 degrees north and longitude 116.6 degrees west. Frank is moving toward the west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph) and the NHC said this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 mph (120 kph) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected today.

NHC said that weakening is expected to begin on Wednesday as Frank moves into waters cooler than the 26.6 degree Celsius (80 degree Fahrenheit) threshold needed to maintain a tropical cyclone.
<p align="center"></p>

</div>
<div></div>

Hurricane Frank becomes the fifth hurricane of the season

Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite showed a transition within...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">Tropical Storm Mirinae seen approaching China. Tropical Storm Mirinae seen approaching China. Tropical Depression 05W strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Tropical Storm Mirinae as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> Aqua satellite passed over the South China Sea and captured a visible image of the storm.</div>
On Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 06:05 a.m. UTC (2:05 a.m. EDT) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> Aqua satellite looked at the storm in visible light. The image showed a somewhat elongated storm. The strongest thunderstorms around the center appear slightly elongated from southwest to northeast, as a result of moderate vertical wind shear. Tropical Storm Mirinae seen approaching China

In the image, bands of thunderstorms wrap around the storm from the south to west to northwest. Thunderstorms in the northwestern quadrant of the storm had already spread over Hainan Island.

By 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT) Mirinae's maximum sustained winds were near 35 knots (40 mph/62 kph). It was centered near 18.7 north latitude and 111.5 east longitude, about 231 nautical miles southeast of Haikou, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mongolia-air-pollution/">China</a>. Mirinae was moving to the west-northwest at 12 knots (13.8 mph/22.2 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast calls for Mirinae to cross Hainan Island, move into the Gulf of Tonkin where it will slightly re-strengthen and make a final landfall in northeastern Vietnam, north of Hanoi on July 27. After landfall, Mirinae is expected to turn to the northwest and move into southern China where it will dissipate.

</div>
<div></div>

Tropical Storm Mirinae seen approaching China

Tropical Storm Mirinae seen approaching China. Tropical Storm Mirinae seen...

<div>Cornell researchers have advice for vineyard managers in cool and humid climates like the Northeast: cover up.Planting cover crops under grapevines saves the environment</div>
<div>

Maintaining bare soil beneath vines has long been accepted management practice used to stifle competition and preserve water and nutrients for grapevines. Exposing soil beneath trellises has been achieved by using extensive herbicide treatments, a practice that is expensive and potentially damaging to the surrounding vineyard ecosystem and locations downstream, due to runoff. What's more, excessive vine growth can result as a function of the lack of competition for water and nutrients, requiring costly canopy management practices in the vineyard to maintain fruit quality.

Planting cover crops under grapevines instead can remediate these problems, according to researchers at Cornell's  State Agricultural Experiment Station in <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/the-rhone-river-flowing-into-lake-geneva/">Geneva</a>, NY. A series of studies led by Justine Vanden Heuvel, associate professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science, provides vineyard managers with an environmentally sustainable alternative to herbicide treatments in cool and humid climates, while tamping down the cost associated with unnecessary herbicide use.

Researchers grew buckwheat, annual ryegrass, white clover and an assortment of local plants known as native vegetation over a period of three or four years, in a one-meter wide strip to see how the grape vines fared as an alternative to maintaining bare ground through either herbicide or cultivation.

Their findings showed that growing cover crops beneath grape vines reduced nitrogen leaching through the soil compared to the herbicide plots. Dissolved organic carbon (a proxy for soil breakdown) was lower in the cover crop plots, and the neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid -- which has garnered attention for its harmful impacts on honey bees and other pollinators -- was found in fewer leachate samples and at lower concentrations in the cover crop plots compared to the herbicide treatments.

Not only does a reduction in herbicide benefit the environment, it also has economic ramifications for vineyards as well. Vanden Heuevel said the cost of seeding and maintaining most cover crops is estimated to be less than using herbicides, saving vineyards money while protecting the environment from excessive herbicide applications.

"With the ample precipitation that the Northeast receives in most years, there is little reason to be using herbicides in mature winegrape vineyards," said Vanden Heuvel. "This work has shown that cover crops can reduce vineyard expenses while improving environmental sustainability compared to herbicides."

Some of the cover crops also proved a useful tool for reducing vine growth in newer vineyards. Excessive vine growth, known as vigor, can shade the fruit from the sunlight it needs to produce desirable flavors and aromas. While cover crops had little impact on mature vineyards, the researchers found reduced vine growth and yield in younger vineyards, likely as a result of shallower root systems competing with the cover crops. Both those qualities can prove advantageous: less dense vines increases sun exposure on the fruit, improving quality of the grape, and many winemakers prefer lower yields. Deploying cover crops in a vigorous vineyard could potentially provide a level of control that helps growers achieve a balanced vine, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katrina_vanden_Heuvel">Vanden Heuvel.</a>

The studies were published in the journals <em>HortTechnology</em>, the <em>American Journal of Enology and Viticulture</em> and the forthcoming issue of <em>HortScience</em>.
<p align="center">###</p>
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.

</div>

Planting cover crops under grapevines saves the environment

Cornell researchers have advice for vineyard managers in cool and...

<div>
<div class="img-wrapper">One final look at Tropical Storm Darby. Tropical Storm Darby weakened to a remnant low pressure system in the Central Pacific Ocean today, July 26. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA">NASA's</a> Aqua satellite and RapidScat instrument provided a "last look" at Darby when it was still a tropical storm the previous day.</div>
The RapidScat instrument flies aboard the International Space Station and measures winds over an ocean surface. RapidScat provided a look at the winds around Tropical Storm Darby on July 25 as the storm was weakening. RapidScat found strongest wind speeds near 30 meters per second (67 mph/108 kph) north of the center and much weaker around the rest of the elongated storm.One final look at Tropical Storm Darby

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Darby at 12:29 UTC (8:29 a.m. EDT) and gathered infrared temperature data on the storm using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument. Data showed that the coldest cloud top temperatures, in excess of minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius) and strongest thunderstorms were north of the center, where RapidScat found the strongest winds.

By 0300 UTC on July 26 (11 p.m. EDT, July 25) NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center deemed Darby a post-tropical storm. It was centered about 265 nautical miles west-northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii near 22.6 degrees north latitude and 161.8 degrees west longitude. Darby was moving to the west-northwest at 8 knots (9.2 mph/14.8 kph) and had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots (28.7 mph/46.3 kph).

By 1332 UTC (9:32 a.m. EDT/3:32 a.m. HST) on July 26 the CPHC said the remnants of Darby were located around 250 miles to the west-northwest of Lihue and are expected to dissipate over the next day or two.
<p align="center"></p>

</div>
<div></div>

One final look at Tropical Storm Darby

One final look at Tropical Storm Darby. Tropical Storm Darby...

<div>Although the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=amazon+jungle&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=fc30e3a3e019413eaef4d7d121840abe&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNhS3t*LItEfHefM2goi1CZgCYekUTdnZDDoZhqXh**qaUoWJMMhFwSdmr*Us22D%21z*L2UkpQTm3A9lUEJKPwdC&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Amazon Jungle</a> may appear to be perpetually green, a University of Illinois researcher believes there are actually seasonal differences of photosynthesis, with more occurring during the dry season and less during the wet season. Understanding how a rainforest that occupies 2.7 million square miles of South America functions is crucial to the future health of the entire planet.</div>
<div>

"With the potential negative effects of climate change, one key question we are trying to answer in the study of tropical ecology is how a tropical forest responds during a long-term drought," says Kaiyu Guan, an environmental scientist at the University of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/oil-drilling-la-earthquake-risk/">Illinois</a>. "If we don't know their daily performance or their seasonal performance, what confidence can we have to predict the forests' future 20 years, 30 years, or longer?" Also Study: Rainforests are greener during the dry season.

Analyzing data from several sources, including individual leaves, camera data from towers above the leaf canopy, and decadal long satellite images, Guan and his colleagues measured the photosynthesis rate over the landscape. Photosynthesis--the process green plants use to convert energy from the sun that plants use to grow--from tropical forests, plays a huge role in determining global atmospheric CO2 concentration, which is closely linked the global temperature and rate of climate change.

"Bringing all of the data together, we find that the dry season in the Amazon has increased photosynthesis," says Guan. "There may be less photosynthesis in the wet season because of the cloud cover which limits the amount of light the plants can use."

Guan explains that understanding the seasonality of photosynthesis can help scientists assess whether or not the Amazon is under stress and how it handles and recovers from stress.

"During the dry season, you would think that the plants would be water stressed and photosynthesis would decrease, but looking at multiple sources of data over the years we find that the plants are not stressed because there is ground water carried over from the previous year," he says.

It does not appear to be just the quantity of leaves driving the higher photosynthesis during the dry season. Guan and his collaborators believe it is actually leaf quality which changes over leaf age that is at work.

"Leaf amount can only explain about 5 percent of all the photosynthesis variations, so what's really going on? It's the leaf quality. Putting it in a different way, when you are a baby, you aren't very productive. When you become more mature, you're more productive. Then, when you're older, your productivity goes down again. It's true for humans and it's also true for plants. Leaves in tropical forests that are 3 or 4 months old are more productive. As you get to the end of the dry season, the leaves are aging and their productivity decreases again. So the combination of the leaf amount and the leaf quality together can satisfactorily explain the pattern," Guan says.

Guan cautions that if the forest experiences several droughts, the carryover of water is depleted--the tropical forest responds to the climate.

"The rainforest also absorbs the majority of carbon," Guan says. "It's the engine that drives the carbon cycle for the whole world, which makes it important when we discuss climate changes. Global warming is dependent upon the atmospheric CO2 concentration, so we need to care about carbon.

"Most of the climate models are showing a drying down trend in tropical forests, with a longer dry season. That's a cause for concern for the future of the Amazon," Guan says. "If we neglect it, it can have consequences around the globe. We need to recognize the importance of this rainforest pattern in which our entire global ecosystem functions. The healthiness of these systems is highly relevant for human beings."

In addition to being an assistant professor in ecohydrology and geoinformatics in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at U of I, Guan has a joint appointment as a Blue Waters professor affiliated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).

Using the same satellite technology, Guan is currently looking at agricultural systems in tropical and temperate regions like the U.S. Corn Belt. "We'd like to build a satellite-based system to monitor the entire United States food productivity in order to predict the crop yield."
<p align="center">###</p>
The above report is based on four recent articles that appear in <em>Science</em>, <em>Nature</em>, <em>Nature Geoscience</em>, and <em>Global Change Biology</em> with Guan as lead author or co-author along with researchers from institutions in the United States from Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, and California, as well as from Brazil, Australia, and Japan.

</div>

Study: Rainforests are greener during the dry season

Although the Amazon Jungle may appear to be perpetually green,...

<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>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>—–</p>



<p>Like what you saw and read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.</p>



<p>—–</p>



<p>Check us out on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/author/eralls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eric Ralls</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth.com</a>.</p>



<p>—–</p>

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>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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%.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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>.</p>



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



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

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>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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"><em>Nature Communications</em></a>.</p>



<p>-----</p>



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<p>-----</p>

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>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>-----</p>



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<p>-----</p>



<p></p>

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>



<p>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>.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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>.<br>This research offers renewed hope against cancer, and it can potentially open a door to more effective cancer therapies for most cancer patients worldwide.</p>



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<p>-----</p>

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>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>-----</p>



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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>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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."</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified <em>Eospermatopteris</em>, 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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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."</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>The full study was published in the journal <em>Current Biology</em>.</p>



<p>-----</p>



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<p>-----</p>

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>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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."</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>"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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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>.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>-----</p>



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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>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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 <em>Neuron</em></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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>"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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



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



<p>Dr. Konstantina Kilteni's 2025 research, published in <em><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt0350" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a></em>, 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.</p>



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



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>-----</p>



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<p>-----</p>

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>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>That solace came through H.G. Wells' <em>The Time Machine</em>. 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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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."</p>



<p>"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.</p>



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



<p>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."</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



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



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



<p>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 <em>This American Life</em></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 <em>Today Show</em></a>. The widespread interest reflects both his compelling personal story and rigorous scientific approach.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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."</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p></p>



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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>



<p>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?</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



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



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



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



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



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



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



<p><strong>Sources:</strong> <em>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.</em></p>



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



<p><strong>1. Is acid rain completely gone?</strong> 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.</p>



<p><strong>2. How long did solving take?</strong> 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.</p>



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



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



<p><strong>5. Could acid rain return?</strong> 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.</p>



<p><strong>6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"?</strong> 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></p>



<p>-----</p>



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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...

<p>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. </p>



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



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



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



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



<p>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. </p>



<p>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).</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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>.</p>

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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<p>Today’s <strong>Video of the Day</strong> 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.</p>



<p>"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.</p>



<p>"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."</p>



<p><em>Video/ Image Credit: ESA</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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<p>Today's <strong>Video of the Day</strong> 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.</p>



<p>"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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p><em>Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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



<p>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.</p>

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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<p>Today’s <strong>Video of the Day</strong> 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;</p>



<p>"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.</p>



<p>"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."</p>



<p>"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."</p>



<p><em>Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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<p>Today's <strong>Video of the Day</strong> 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;</p>



<p>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;</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p><em>Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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



<p>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.</p>

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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<p>Today’s <strong>Video of the Day</strong> from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.</p>



<p>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;</p>



<p>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;</p>



<p>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. </p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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. </p>



<p><em>Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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



<p>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.</p>

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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<p>Today’s <strong>Video of the Day</strong> 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.</p>



<p>“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. </p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>“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;</p>



<p>“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.”</p>



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



<p>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.</p>



<p><em>Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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



<p>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.</p>

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



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



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



<p><em>Video Credit: ACS Reactions</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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



<p>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.</p>

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



<p><em>Video/ Image Credit: ESA</em></p>



<p><em>-</em><em>--</em></p>



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



<p>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.</p>

Santiago, Chile in South America

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