A new study from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> reveals what is going on inside of your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-brain-interactions-have-an-influence-on-diseases/">brain</a> when you get lost in a fictional fantasy. The experts discovered that the more immersed we become in the lives of our favorite characters of fiction, the more our brain activity reflects how much we identify with them.
&#8220;When they think about a favorite fictional character, it appears similar in one part of the brain as when they are thinking about themselves,&#8221; said study lead author Timothy Broom.
The research was focused on self-described fans of the HBO series &#8220;Game of Thrones.&#8221; The individuals were instructed to think about themselves, nine of their friends, and nine characters from the drama series. The participants also reported on which character they felt closest to and liked the most.
According to Broom, Game of Thrones was ideal for this study because it attracted a devoted fan base and the large cast presented a variety of characters that people could become attached to.
One of the key findings involved participants who scored highest on &#8220;trait identification.&#8221; These individuals agreed most strongly with statements like &#8220;I really get involved in the feelings of the characters in a novel.&#8221;
&#8220;People who are high in trait identification not only get absorbed into a story, they also are really absorbed into a particular character,&#8221; said Broom. &#8220;They report matching the thoughts of the character, they are thinking what the character is thinking, they are feeling what the character is feeling. They are inhabiting the role of that character.&#8221;
The researchers used an fMRI machine to measure activity in various parts of the brain through small changes in blood flow. As the participants&#8217; brains were scanned, they were evaluating themselves, their friends, and Game of Thrones characters. 
A part of the brain called the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) is known to show increased activity when people think about themselves and, to a lesser extent, when they think about close friends.
While in the fMRI, the individuals were shown a series of names &#8211; including themselves, friends, or characters &#8211; along with a trait, such as lonely, sad, trustworthy, or smart. The participants simply said &#8220;yes&#8221; or &#8220;no&#8221; to imply whether the trait fit the person.
As expected, the vMPFC was most active when people were evaluating themselves, less active when they evaluated friends, and least active when they evaluated characters from Game of Thrones.
However, among those who were high in trait identification, the vMPFC was more active when they thought about the fictional characters than it was for participants who identified less with the characters. This region of the brain was particularly active when the individuals evaluated the character they identified with the most.
Study co-author Dylan Wanger said the findings help explain how fiction can have such a big impact on some people.
&#8220;For some people, fiction is a chance to take on new identities, to see worlds though others&#8217; eyes and return from those experiences changed,&#8221; said Wagner.
&#8220;What previous studies have found is that when people experience stories as if they were one of the characters, a connection is made with that character, and the character becomes intwined with the self. In our study, we see evidence of that in their brains.&#8221;
The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/scan">Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience</a>.
&#8211;&#8212;
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What happens in your brain while you're lost in fiction

Gin lovers often fuss over tonic brands and garnish choices, yet the real flavor hero hides in the berries of one unassuming shrub. Climate scientists and distillers now warn that the taste of those berries is changing fast.



Juniper, the berry that defines every gin on the shelf, is reacting to wilder weather in ways that could nudge the spirit’s familiar piney snap toward unfamiliar territory. 



Assistant Professor Matthew Pauley and Professor Annie Hill at Heriot‑Watt University’s <a href="https://icbd.site.hw.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Centre for Brewing and Distilling</a> are <a href="https://jib.cibd.org.uk/index.php/jib/article/view/72" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tracking</a> the shift.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changing-junipers-are-shaking-gin">Changing junipers are shaking gin</h2>



Gin must lead with juniper by law, so even tiny tweaks in berry chemistry echo through every pour. 



Gin <a href="https://www.gourmetpro.co/blog/guide-to-uk-spirits-market" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sales</a> in Britain still top the spirits chart, although the category’s volume slipped 14 percent in 2023 as shoppers flirted with tequila and<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drunk-decisions-alcohol-affects-men-and-women-differently/"> no‑alcohol options</a>.



The flavor punch comes from a cocktail of volatile compounds such as α‑pinene and limonene that survive distillation and perfume the glass. 



Pauley’s team showed that a single wet growing season can shave those volatiles by roughly 12 percent, a figure big enough for trained <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cure-for-alcohol-addiction-was-discovered-by-accident/">tasters</a> to notice.



Craft producers often lean harder on juniper than industrial brands, leaving them more exposed to any drop in aromatic intensity. Many small British distilleries already test-drive each harvest in lab stills to adjust recipes before bottling. 



Long before gin, herbalists prized Juniperus <a href="https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=juco6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">communis</a> for its resinous oils, which scientists now know defend the plant against pests and drought. Those same oils give a London Dry its brisk bite.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changing-climate-and-volatile-chemistry">Changing climate and volatile chemistry</h2>



Rainfall, temperature swings, and late‑season sunshine all steer the berry’s oil profile. 



During the drenched 2017 harvest, berries required extended drying, which let water‑soluble aromas leach away while hydrophobic terpenes lingered. “The least water‑soluble compounds are most affected by post‑harvest drying,” cautioned Hill.



Drier 2018 conditions flipped the script, delivering fruit with brighter citrus notes and sharper pine. The research team measured the shift using <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11263504.2018.1435577" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gas chromatography</a>, a lab workhorse that teases apart dozens of aromatic molecules in a single run. 



Earlier ecological studies in Slovakia found essential‑oil yields in wild juniper ranged from 0.4 to 1.9 percent depending on yearly rainfall and soil chemistry, underscoring how environment shapes flavor.



Berries grown at higher altitudes tend to pack more α‑pinene, adding a cleaner, almost eucalyptus edge, while lowland fruit skews toward earthy myrcene. Such variability gives blenders room to play but also raises the risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-americans-now-link-alcohol-consumption-to-cancer/">inconsistency</a>. 



A wet June or a scorching August can therefore make the difference between the crisp gin you remember and a softer, vaguely sweeter edition that feels “off” even if you can’t quite say why.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-regional-signatures-across-europe">Regional signatures across Europe</h2>



Wine has <a href="https://www.vivino.com/wine-news/terroir-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-controversial?srsltid=AfmBOoov08N8ND9gMb0hboUBEs6-5hOlYPWFgdvOcJu0LXtU4Of7GZTI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">terroir</a>, and juniper is proving it can, too. Pauley’s group surveyed berries from Albania, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and Italy, finding each origin stamped its own chemical fingerprint on the fruit. 



Italian berries delivered extra limonene, lending bright zest that lightens classic London Dry builds. Balkan harvests leaned woodier and spicier, traits coveted for barrel‑rested gins.



Distillers historically blended multiple lots to hit their “house style,” but escalating climate volatility threatens that safety net as once‑reliable regions swing between soaked and parched. 



Supply chains complicate matters further: most British brands import dried juniper through a handful of brokers, meaning weather in Kosovo can secretly sway a bottle poured in Kansas City months later.



Monitoring programs like the industry’s annual “big sniff,” where distillers collectively nose the incoming crop, act as early warning systems, yet they rely on human sensory memory and can miss subtle chemical drifts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gin-production-and-juniper-berries">Gin production and juniper berries</h2>



Consistency sells in a crowded market of more than 80 British gin labels, each fighting for back‑bar real estate. Climate disorder thus morphs from agronomic curiosity into commercial headache.



Lower aroma intensity forces producers to add more berries per batch, driving up raw‑material costs while yields from major Balkan suppliers already tighten. Longer drying times raise energy bills and extend production schedules.



Premium gins may risk reformulation fatigue as loyal drinkers notice <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/even-small-amounts-of-alcohol-increase-cancer-risk/">flavor</a> wobbles. Budget brands, buffered by heavier coriander or citrus loads, might skate by, hinting that juniper‑light “new Western” styles could grow.



Regulators could weigh in if botanical content swings so wide that gin no longer tastes predominantly of juniper, challenging the legal definition set by European law.



Investors tracking spirits portfolios now list climatic resilience alongside brand equity, mindful that juniper grows mainly in semi‑wild stands, not easily replanted plantations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-distillers-adjust">How distillers adjust</h2>



Data logging of berry moisture and oil content at the point of purchase can flag risky lots before they enter the still. Simple refractometers and hand‑held spectrometers are already cheap enough for small producers.



“So long as we are vigilant of the changes, and curiously explore different areas for harvesting the dry, piney, signature botanical of choice, your gin and tonic is in safe hands,” Pauley assured. 



Sourcing managers may hedge by contracting farms at multiple latitudes, betting that a stormy Adriatic season might be balanced by a calmer Alpine one. 



Process tweaks help, too. Vacuum distillation captures lighter volatiles at lower temperatures, preserving fragile floral tones lost in traditional pot‑still runs. Cold‑stored berries retain more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-related-anxiety-may-be-reduced-with-citrus-based-oil-d-limonene/">limonene</a>, though refrigeration raises carbon footprints. 



Some innovators explore lab‑grown terpenes to top up lean harvests, yet purists counter that synthetic fixes erode the romance of botanicals hand‑picked on rocky hillsides.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gin-juniper-and-future-climate">Gin, juniper, and future climate</h2>



Most casual sippers will not taste a sudden “wrong” note, but subtle drift might explain why a favorite bottle feels muted in one season and lively in the next. 



Ordering gins by region at a bar can double as a geography lesson, revealing how Italian sunshine or Serbian rainfall sneaks into each pour.



If juniper shortages spike prices, expect more botanical‑forward alternatives and a surge of juniper‑lite pink gins that hide the gap behind berries and rhubarb.



The study is published in the <a href="https://jib.cibd.org.uk/index.php/jib/article/view/72" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of the Institute of Brewing</a>.



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Gin will soon lose its unique flavor due to changes in juniper berries

Gin lovers often fuss over tonic brands and garnish choices,...

Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends long‑chain chemicals from our bathrooms into rivers where they can cling to the bodies of small aquatic animals.



A research team led by Hans Sanderson of <a href="http://Aarhus University https://g.co/kgs/wGFv7P9">Aarhus University</a> tracked what those ingredients do once they leave the drain, focusing on a class called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166445X24003485?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaternium conditioners</a> that make hair feel smooth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoos-tame-frizz">How shampoos tame frizz</h2>



Hair carries a natural negative charge, and damaged strands hold even more. Manufacturers add <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166248108701168" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">positively charged polymers</a> so those long molecules wrap around each fiber and neutralize static, leaving a sleek finish.



The most common sub‑group, polyquaterniums, numbers more than 25,000 variations. Together they support a <a href="https://www.businessresearchinsights.com/market-reports/polyquaternium-market-107659" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">market valued</a> at about $0.12 billion in 2024 and projected to grow steadily over the next decade.



Each molecule is huge by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-ocean-animals-connect-countries-and-continents/">chemical</a> standards, so toxicology screens once assumed they were harmless to wildlife because they cannot slip through cell membranes. Sanderson’s team asked whether sticking on the outside of a creature could matter just as much.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-harms-tiny-aquatic-animals">Shampoo harms tiny aquatic animals </h2>



Freshwater ponds and lakes are full of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">daphnia</a>, tiny crustaceans <a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shampoo-animals.jpg">sometimes called water fleas</a>. They filter algae and bacteria, purify water, and form a primary food source for many small fish.



Because daphnia propel themselves with rhythmic strokes of their antennae, any extra drag can slow them down. 



The Aarhus experiments showed that a film of conditioner polymers glued to the animals’ shells, halving their swimming speed and hindering feeding.



“We have conducted the first study in the world to investigate this. The substances do not penetrate the animals’ cells, but rather stick to the surface of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-environment-day-2025-plastic-pollution-is-choking-our-planet/">animal</a>,” explained Sanderson. 



“This physically affects the animal, making it unable to move as well, and it impairs its ability to ingest food,” continued Sanderson.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shampoo-s-charge-makes-animals-vulnerable">Shampoo's charge makes animals vulnerable</h2>



The researchers ran complementary tests on two standard laboratory species, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2042/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daphnia magna</a> and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/483833-Ceriodaphnia-dubia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ceriodaphnia dubia</a>, using three <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyquaterniums</a> of different designs. 



The team found toxicity thresholds as low as 0.05 mg per liter for the most highly charged polymer, while the same molecule with a lower charge was 400‑fold less toxic.



The pattern was consistent regardless of molecular weight. That result shifts regulatory focus from size to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/charge-density" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">charge density</a>, a parameter rarely documented on shampoo labels.



Organic matter in natural water, such as dissolved humic acids, partially blunts the polymers’ stickiness. Yet even moderate concentrations still impaired reproduction and growth during 21‑day chronic tests with both daphnia species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-shampoo-chemicals-move-to-animals">How shampoo chemicals move to animals</h2>



Wastewater plants intentionally add the same <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01223" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cationic polymers</a> as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/flocculant" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flocculant</a> to clump particles together for easier removal. Ironically, what helps strip other pollutants out of sewage can persist in the resulting sludge or treated effluent.



If facilities discharge more than the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-impacting-marine-life-more-than-we-realized/">ecosystem</a> can buffer, sensitive invertebrates pay the price. Because daphnia sit near the base of the food web, their decline can ripple upward and reduce fish recruitment.



Laboratory work measured polymer levels that killed half a daphnia population within 48 hours at phone‑screen brightness‑level concentrations. Field monitoring remains limited, so nobody knows how often small streams approach those doses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-call-for-smarter-safety-tests">Call for smarter safety tests</h2>



European agencies already demand hazard labels for chemicals that penetrate cells, but large polymers still slip through many guidelines. 



The European Commission is reviewing <a href="https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/chemicals/chemicals-legislation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polymer assessment rules</a> under its CLP and <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/chemicals/reach-regulation_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">REACH regulations</a>, with updates expected this year.



The researchers argue that future protocols must mimic real‑world water containing organic carbon, rather than the ultra‑clean test media used today. 



They also recommend including movement and feeding endpoints, not just mortality, when assessing ecological risk.



Softening agents may never fully disappear from consumer goods. However, incremental tweaks, lower charge density, biodegradable side chains, or safer alternatives like amino‑based conditioners could cut harm dramatically. 



Manufacturers have incentives to act before formal limits arrive, because production lines adapt faster than legislation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reducing-shampoo-s-harm-to-animals">Reducing shampoo’s harm to animals</h2>



Reading an ingredient list will often reveal polyquaterniums by number, for example polyquaternium‑10 or ‑7. Lower single‑digit numbers usually carry higher charge density, although the label alone cannot quantify risk.



Choosing rinse‑off products certified for low aquatic toxicity is one stopgap, though Sanderson notes that even ecolabel formulations sometimes rely on the same chemistry. 



Reducing dosage helps too; a quarter‑sized blob of shampoo cleans most medium‑length hair, and conditioner is unnecessary every wash for many people.



Small behavior shifts add up because each bottle skipped prevents thousands of gallons of rinse water from picking up extra polymers over its retail life. 



Until wastewater infrastructure and regulations catch up, prevention at the source remains the surest shield for freshwater communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toward-a-balanced-bathroom-shelf">Toward a balanced bathroom shelf</h2>



The story of sticky hair conditioners underscores a broader lesson in polymer safety. Size alone cannot protect wildlife if surface charge lets molecules hijack essential behaviors like swimming and feeding. 



Daphnia, though invisible from a shower stall, signal the health of entire lakes and streams. When their numbers fall, algae blooms can surge, water clarity drops, and fish lose a key snack.



Scientists now have lab tools to screen thousands of conditioning agents quickly, ranking them by how strongly they glue onto living surfaces. 



Policy makers can use that knowledge to set practical discharge limits, while industry chemists re‑engineer formulas for performance without collateral damage.



Every shampoo rinse cycle connects personal routine to planetary processes, affecting animals too. Balancing clean hair with clean water and protecting animals is no longer guesswork; the data are in view, and the solutions are within reach.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166445X24003485" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aquatic Toxicology</a>.



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Chemicals in shampoos and soaps are infiltrating rivers and killing aquatic life

Shower water carries more than suds. Every shampoo rinse sends...

A year‑long investigation following almost 20,000 adults has uncovered a clear link between getting to sleep early at night and doing more physical activity the following day. 



The recent <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2420846122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>, reports that volunteers who habitually nodded off near 9 p.m. accumulated roughly 30 extra minutes of brisk movement each day compared with people who stayed awake until 1 a.m.



<a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@josh-leota" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Josh Leota</a> of <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@josh-leota" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monash University</a> led the project, working with colleagues across Australia, the United States, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.



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



Those <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sleep-during-naps-can-spark-insight-and-creativity/">early sleepers</a> also beat the sample average, clocking about 15 more minutes of moderate‑to‑vigorous physical activity <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.682233/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">(MVPA)</a> than peers who usually fell asleep around 11 p.m.



Public‑health agencies <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">advise</a> adults to rack up at least 150 minutes of moderate effort each week, or about 30 minutes a day, meaning the extra half hour observed in the early‑to‑bed group can single‑handedly meet the daily target.



Crucially, the data show it is not just what time you fall asleep most nights, but whether you shift that time earlier while still getting your usual amount of shut‑eye. This combination produced the highest next‑day MVPA totals in the sample.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-night-owls-under-pressure">Night owls under pressure</h2>



Your natural preference for early or late sleep, known as your <a href="https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/chronotypes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chronotype</a>, is not merely a quirk of habit. Research using accelerometers has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12267-5">linked</a> extreme evening chronotypes to more sedentary time and a higher ten‑year cardiovascular risk score in middle‑aged adults.



Another analysis of college students found that people who experience at least a two‑hour mismatch between work‑day and weekend sleep, known as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39321660/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social jetlag</a>, were less likely to hit either aerobic or strength‑training recommendations.



“Standard 9‑to‑5 routines can clash with the natural sleep preferences of evening types, leading to social jetlag, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-particular-sleep-stage-slow-wave-deep-is-most-important-for-preventing-dementia/">poorer sleep quality</a>, and increased daytime sleepiness, which can all reduce motivation and opportunity for physical activity the next day,” explained Dr. Leota.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-activity-gadgets-that-never-sleep">Activity gadgets that never sleep</h2>



The Monash team relied on a wrist‑worn wearable sensor called <a href="https://www.whoop.com/us/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WHOOP</a> that logs heart rate, motion, and skin temperature every few seconds.



To confirm their findings, they repeated the analyses with almost 6,000 volunteers whose Fitbits fed data into the <a href="https://allofus.nih.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. All of Us Research Program</a>. The patterns held firm across age, gender, and ethnicity.



Earlier <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4341978/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> has already shown that exercise and sleep travel a two‑way street: better sleep encourages movement, while regular movement deepens sleep quality.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-work-schedules-make-it-worse">Work schedules make it worse</h2>



Evening‑type workers who are forced into early starts also face higher odds of metabolic trouble. Nurses who self‑identified as night owls had a 72 percent greater risk of developing diabetes than their early‑bird colleagues, although a healthier lifestyle cut that figure dramatically.



Adding vigorous workouts late in the evening can backfire too. An <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/05/10/working-out-night-sleep-quality/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> of 15,000 fitness‑tracker users found that strenuous activity inside the four‑hour window before bedtime delayed sleep onset by up to 80 minutes and severely reduced total sleep.



The <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/behealthy/physical-activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a> notes that exceeding the weekly activity minimum of up to 300 minutes of moderate effort, delivers extra <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fitness-focused-medicine-physical-activity-reduces-chronic-disease-risk/">protection</a> against heart disease, depression, and several cancers. These benefits could be even easier to leverage if early sleep routines lead to increased daily activity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-sleep-tweaks-big-gains-in-activity">Small sleep tweaks, big gains in activity</h2>



Participants who advanced their bedtime by even 30 minutes, without shortening their total sleep, recorded noticeable lifts in activity the next morning.



“Our findings are consistent across different populations and show that if you can get to sleep earlier than usual whilst keeping your sleep duration the same, you may be more likely to increase your physical activity the following day,” said <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/elise-facer-childs">Dr. Elise Facer‑Childs</a>, senior author of the study. 



The pattern held regardless of age or fitness level, suggesting that a modest scheduling change is one lever almost anyone can pull.



If carving out time to exercise feels impossible, consider starting with the bedroom clock. An earlier lights‑out not only guards sleep duration but also builds momentum for next‑day <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-bursts-of-intense-exercise-can-slow-brain-aging/">activity</a>. 



This helps people reach or surpass the 150‑minute‑a‑week benchmark without adding another appointment to an already packed calendar.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-earlier-bedtimes-may-help-fight-obesity">How earlier bedtimes may help fight obesity</h2>



Mounting research connects <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3632337/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">obesity</a> with sleep habits, particularly the timing and quality of rest. People who sleep later are more likely to snack at night and less likely to engage in early‑morning activity, both of which can contribute to long‑term weight gain.



A 2020 <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7154640/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meta‑analysis</a> found that late bedtimes are linked to higher body mass index in both children and adults, even when total sleep time is adequate. Shifting sleep earlier may align eating patterns and activity schedules in a way that helps regulate metabolism and reduce excess fat storage.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2420846122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Early sleep times linked to enhanced activity during the day

A year‑long investigation following almost 20,000 adults has uncovered a...

Tropical greenery once blanketed the supercontinent of Pangea, recycling carbon and regulating climate. Then, 252 million years ago, those forests collapsed - and with them, Earth’s primary brake on rising CO2.



A new study led by researchers at the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> and <a href="https://en.cug.edu.cn/">China University of Geosciences </a>shows that the disappearance of lush low-latitude vegetation after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-was-the-cause-of-earths-largest-mass-extinction/">Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction</a>. 



This collapse triggered a climate feedback so powerful that “super-greenhouse” conditions persisted for roughly five million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forest-loss-fueled-heat">Forest loss fueled heat</h2>



Scientists have long linked the “Great Dying” - in which more than 90 percent of marine species and around 70 percent of land vertebrates vanished - to colossal eruptions in Siberia.



Those outbursts released enough carbon dioxide to roast the planet. However, geologic evidence indicates that temperatures remained punishingly high long after the lava stopped flowing.



The missing piece, say the authors, is what happened to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-forests-are-struggling-to-keep-pace-with-climate-change/">tropical forests</a> once temperatures and acid rain soared.



“Critically, this is the only high-temperature event in Earth’s history in which the tropical forest biosphere collapses, which drove our initial hypothesis,” explained Zhen Xu from the University of Leeds, who led the project.



“Now, after years of fieldwork, analysis, and simulations, we finally have the data which supports it.”



Using detailed fossil plant records from dozens of Chinese rock sections - among the most complete archives of the Permian–Triassic transition - Xu and colleagues reconstructed how photosynthetic productivity waxed and waned.



Their analysis dovetailed with climate-carbon cycle models, revealing that once the forests disappeared, natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-air-pollution-could-greatly-boost-carbon-sequestration-by-plants/">carbon sequestration</a> plunged. Without vegetation to absorb CO2, volcanic emissions lingered, intensifying heat and delaying Earth’s recovery.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-reveal-sudden-earth-shift">Fossils reveal sudden Earth shift</h2>



China’s rugged outcrops hold a near-continuous record of sediment laid down across the extinction interval. Three generations of Chinese geologists have cataloged that history. 



Since 2016, Xu’s team has added thousands of new plant fossils and geochemical samples from across Earth. They trekked to sites reachable only by boat or horseback.



The resulting dataset captures a sharp, continent-wide shift from luxuriant, fern-rich swamp forests to sparse, shrubby landscapes within a geologic eye-blink.



Those observations fed into computer models developed at Leeds. By tweaking the fraction of global photosynthesis lost, Professor Benjamin Mills and Xu tested whether reduced carbon uptake alone could account for the five-million-year thermal plateau. The numbers lined up.



“There is a warning here about the importance of Earth’s present-day tropical forests,” Mills said.



“If rapid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-may-trigger-rapid-release-of-soil-carbon/">warming</a> causes them to collapse in a similar manner, then we should not expect our climate to cool to pre-industrial levels even if we stop emitting CO2," he said. "Indeed, warming could continue to accelerate in this case even if we reach zero human emissions.”



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



Because plants build their tissues out of atmospheric carbon, verdant ecosystems act as vast reservoirs, locking CO2 away in wood and soils. Destroy that biomass - through heat, drought, fire, or acid rain - and the storage vanishes.



The researchers argue the Permian event marks a clear instance of a climate–biosphere <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-tipping-points-how-close-are-we-to-irreversible-change/">tipping point</a>. Falling forest cover triggered carbon feedbacks that locked the planet into a hotter state until vegetation slowly returned.



That idea dovetails with modern concerns. Today’s Amazon and Congo basins absorb billions of tons of CO2 annually, yet warming, deforestation, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-co2-emissions-from-forest-fires-have-surged-by-60-percent/">wildfires</a> are eroding their capacity. The ancient past shows how abruptly the system can flip.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-rocks-new-warnings">Old rocks, new warnings</h2>



The study also illustrates how paleontology is evolving. Analyzing ancient crises now demands chemical tracers, numerical simulations, and high-resolution global mapping - tools far removed from the dusty image of fossil hunting.



“Paleontology needs to embrace new techniques - from numerical modeling to interdisciplinary collaboration - to decode the past and safeguard the future,” said co-author Hongfu Yin, a professor at the China University of Geosciences, who began collecting these Permian fossils decades ago.



“Let’s make sure our work transcends academia: it is a responsibility to all life on Earth, today and beyond. Earth’s story is still being written, and we all have a role in shaping its next chapter,” added co-author Jianxin Yu, a professor at the same university.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-show-earth-s-tipping-point">Fossils show Earth’s tipping point</h2>



While humans are unlikely to unleash Siberian-scale lava floods, we are replicating the CO2 spike in real time. The Great Dying shows how ecosystem failure can prolong climatic damage far beyond the initial trigger.



In the Permian, recovery took millions of years; for modern civilization, even centuries of persistent warming would strain food supplies, economies, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-action-and-biodiversity-striking-the-right-balance/">biodiversity</a>.



“The causes of such extreme warming during this event have been long discussed, as the level of warming is far beyond any other event,” Xu notes.



Her team’s evidence suggests that the planet’s thermostat can jam, and forests are a key component of the mechanism. Preserve them, and they buffer shocks. Lose them, and the heat may keep climbing long after emissions fall.



The ancient fossils of China thus deliver a double message: Earth has crossed tipping points before, and those thresholds hinge on living landscapes. Protecting today’s tropical forests might be the surest way to avoid replaying a five-million-year fever.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60396-y">Nature Communications</a>.



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Forest fossils from Earth’s largest mass extinction carry a climate warning

Tropical greenery once blanketed the supercontinent of Pangea, recycling carbon...

Apple,Cider,Vinegar,On,A,Metal,Spoon,Above,A,Glass

Every year, tens of millions of people around the world wrestle with bad moods and various levels of depression. Prescription drugs help many sufferers, yet side effects, cost, and uneven results often leave patients and clinicians on the lookout for other solutions. 



Then one day, as with all urban myths, one person told another who told another about a home remedy that never seems to fail. If you want to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-depression-contagious-couples-may-share-it-through-kissing/">beat depression</a>, taking just one spoonful of vinegar every day will wash those blue away. 



When you stop and think about it for a minute, diet does seem like an obvious place to turn for cures to most any ailment. After all, the body and mind operate on what we feed them.



Could the same sour splash that wakes up a salad also nudge a weary mind toward optimism? 



Two small <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04706806" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">clinical trials suggests</a> that the idea of treating depression with a spoonful of vinegar is definitely worth more attention from medical professionals and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-vinegars-impact-on-depression">Studying vinegars impact on depression</h2>



Fermented vinegars have had a place in folk remedies for centuries, prized for their ability to tame <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drinking-this-amount-of-water-per-day-helps-control-blood-sugar-levels-in-people-with-diabetes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blood sugar spikes</a> and add zest without salt or fat. 



Scientific studies over the past decade have confirmed some metabolic perks, yet mental health has been missing from the conversation. 



That gap inspired a team of nutrition researchers to see whether swallowing some vinegar on a regular schedule could ease depression by influencing mood-related chemistry as well as subjective feelings.



Led by <a href="https://www.asu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arizona State University</a> dietitian Haley Barrong, the investigators recruited 28 overweight but otherwise healthy adults and randomly assigned them to one of two groups. 



Half drank two tablespoons of red wine vinegar diluted in water twice a day, while the rest swallowed a capsule containing only a trace of vinegar.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-team-learned">What the team learned</h2>



Over four weeks, all participants completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression questionnaire (<a href="https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/Mental_HealthV.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CES-D</a>) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (<a href="https://med.stanford.edu/fastlab/research/imapp/msrs/_jcr_content/main/accordion/accordion_content3/download_256324296/file.res/PHQ9%20id%20date%2008.03.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PHQ-9</a>).



Scores on the CES-D hardly budged, yet the PHQ-9 told another story. In the vinegar group, reported depressive symptoms fell by an average of 42 percent, compared with an 18 percent dip in the pill group. 



After reviewing the data, the authors wrote, “This data provides additional support that daily vinegar ingestion over four weeks can improve self-reported depression symptomology in generally healthy adults and that alterations in [<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vitamin-b-paradox-supplement-linked-to-heart-disease-risk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">vitamin B3</a>] metabolism may factor into this improvement.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vinegar-depression-and-blood">Vinegar, depression, and blood</h2>



The team also collected blood samples to watch biochemical pathways at work. The most striking change was an 86 percent surge in nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3 that feeds into the NAD⁺ salvage pathway responsible for cellular energy recycling. 



Higher nicotinamide aligns with lower inflammation, a relationship that has caught psychiatric interest before. 



Two metabolites - <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-less-of-this-amino-acid-isoleucine-boosts-lifespan-in-mice-an-average-of-33-percent/">isoleucine</a>, a branched-chain amino acid, and <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Isobutyric-acid" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">isobutyric acid</a> - shifted as well, hinting that vinegar tweaks broader metabolic networks tied to mood regulation.



“Depressive disorders are the most prevalent mental health conditions in the world,” write the researchers. 



“The commonly prescribed antidepressant medications can have serious side effects, and their efficacy varies widely. Thus, simple, effective adjunct therapies are needed.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-vinegar-might-lift-mood">How vinegar might lift mood</h2>



Several mechanisms could explain the modest improvements. Acetic acid, the defining ingredient in vinegar, activates AMP-activated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/studies-learn-the-exact-amount-of-time-you-should-spend-training-to-build-muscle/">protein kinase</a>, an energy sensor linked to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25308486/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NAD⁺ production</a>. 



More NAD⁺ means brain cells repair DNA damage more effectively and maintain healthy mitochondria. 



Another possibility involves the gut. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientifically-proven-tips-for-better-kombucha-brewing/">Acetic acid</a> can encourage growth of friendly bacteria that generate neurotransmitter precursors, forging a gut-brain feedback loop many neuroscientists now consider crucial to emotional balance.



Lab work in mice has already shown that boosting NAD⁺ protects neurons from stress hormones, while human studies connect higher dietary vitamin B3 with lower depression risk. 



The present human trial knits those ideas together: swallow vinegar, raise nicotinamide levels, and perhaps give the brain an energetic lift.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-depression-vinegar-and-health">Depression, vinegar, and health</h2>



None of this turns vinegar into a standalone treatment. The experiment lasted only a month, involved people with mild symptoms, and lost some statistical punch after adjusting for baseline scores. 



Still, swallowing a familiar pantry staple twice a day costs pennies and carries few risks for most adults. 



“Future research examining the effects of vinegar administration in clinically depressed or at-risk populations, and those on antidepressant medications, is warranted," the authors concluded.



“A focus on mechanisms and large patient samples will strengthen the science and provide the evidence to more firmly demonstrate vinegar's role in health promotion.” 



Until those larger trials wrap up, dietitians may simply remind clients that incorporating two tablespoons of red wine or apple cider vinegar into meals is safe for most, provided they dilute it and protect their teeth by rinsing with water.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-studies-on-depression-and-vinegar">Future studies on depression and vinegar</h2>



People interested in trying the routine might start by whisking vinegar into dressings or stirring it into a tall glass of water before lunch and dinner. 



Anyone with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/junk-food-diet-triggers-lasting-changes-in-the-brain/">acid reflux</a>, kidney issues, or current prescriptions should check with a clinician first. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-nature-heals-outdoor-activities-greatly-improve-mental-health/">Mental health</a> professionals could eventually blend such low-cost dietary tweaks with therapy and medication, tailoring care to each person’s biology and preferences.



The notion that mood can shift alongside something as ordinary as a mealtime condiment highlights how tightly body and mind intertwine.



Vinegar will never replace professional treatment, yet its potential to turn that frown upside down - especially for those reluctant to take pharmaceuticals - deserves the careful follow-up studies that this research team calls for. 



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/14/2305" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nutrients</a>.



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Study identifies a much easier and cheaper way to treat depression than with prescription drugs

Every year, tens of millions of people around the world...

Archaeologists in central France have uncovered two swords, buried for roughly 2,300 years, that still glint with inlaid glass and copper. The <a href="https://www.inrap.fr/la-necropole-celtique-des-ancises-creuzier-le-neuf-allier-19987" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">finds</a> sit among more than one hundred grave pits on a hill overlooking the small town of Creuzier‑le‑Neuf.



The site’s burial ground dates to the early fourth century B.C. and covers nearly 7,000 square feet, a scale rarely matched for <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/La_Tene_Culture/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">La Tène‑period France</a>. 



Benjamin Oury of the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (<a href="https://www.inrap.fr/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">INRAP</a>), who led the excavation, says every object pulled from the soil helps reconstruct Celtic life at a political crossroads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-celtic-swords-and-burial-sites">Celtic swords and burial sites</h2>



Soil acidity has stripped the skeletons away, yet iron‑oxide cocoons preserved many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/metal-detectors-find-a-2500-year-old-dagger-that-opens-a-new-window-on-history/">metal</a> offerings in place. 



Almost half of the graves still contained jewelry, weaponry, or costume fittings that slid free once conservators separated the rust from the soil matrix.



The enclosure itself is quadrangular, edged by a ditch wide enough to signal communal effort rather than family memory. 



Orientation north to south keeps the rows tidy, hinting at coordinated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/archaeologists-discover-141-ancient-gold-coins-some-from-a-little-known-roman-emperor/">funeral rites</a> rather than hurried internment.



Only one tomb held a cremation, and it came with a painted clay vase whose red spirals echo Mediterranean pottery fashions. 



Work at other <a href="https://www.history.com/articles/iron-age" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Second Iron Age</a> cemeteries shows such decorated urns riding trade routes that reached the Rhône Valley and beyond.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-metalwork-that-defies-time">Metalwork that defies time</h2>



Eighteen fibulas, some iron and others copper‑alloy, surfaced in fragile bundles but stabilized cleanly in <a href="https://www.viennalab.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vienna’s CREAM laboratory</a>. 



One brooch carries a silver‑leafed gem while another shows <a href="https://www.numisantica.com/en/ancient-beads-jewellery/ancient-beads/iron-age-celtic-glass-stratified-eye-bead/a-19705-10000099" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ocelli</a>, or eye‑shaped bosses that Celtic artisans favored during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C..



Bracelets came up in pairs for several burials, their terminals socketed so neatly that the clasp disappears when closed. 



A matched set bears concentric rings so deeply punched that fresh hammer marks still catch light under magnification.



Copper spheres sit atop some clasps like berries on a stem, a motif echoed on harness fittings found in Champagne burials two hundred miles away. 



Shared decorative grammar points to workshops trading not only goods but patterns across tribal frontiers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-celtic-swords-two-stories">Two Celtic swords, two stories</h2>



“The longer sword has all the characteristics of a functional weapon,” said <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vincent-Georges" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vincent Georges</a>, archaeologist at INRAP. One Celtic sword stretches long enough to ride at a horseman’s waist, its sheath edged by cabochons of glass paste. 



Textile fragments clung to the back plate of the scabbard, probably the deceased’s cloak, and X‑ray stripes show the belt rings had never been pried away. 



Even oxidation respected the original geometry, letting conservators measure the blade within two millimeters of its working length.



The second weapon is shorter, leaf‑shaped, and clearly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mystery-of-pirunkirkko-the-cave-that-whispers-secrets-of-the-past/">ceremonial</a>, its copper hilt tipped with small bronze balls called antennae. 



Georges added that the piece is “more or less contemporary with the Celtic incursions in northern Italy and the sacking of Rome in 387 B.C.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-the-swastika-s-earlier-meaning">Tracing the swastika’s earlier meaning</h2>



Two gems on the ceremonial sheath carry neat engravings of the <a href="https://landiscenter.lafayette.edu/2017/02/06/swastika-the-symbol-of-good-fortune-or-that-of-the-nazi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">swastika</a>, a cross with right‑angled arms that ancient cultures read as luck or cosmic motion. 



<a href="https://www.lboissoneault.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Historian Lorraine Boissoneault</a> documents the emblem on artifacts from India to the Mississippi Valley long before its Nazi appropriation.



Classical collections show the motif spreading across the Mediterranean by the sixth century B.C., then drifting north with Celtic migration. 



Its presence here, tucked beside a crescent and full circle inlaid on the blade itself, suggests celestial or solar connotations rather than any martial boast.



The <a href="https://arkeonews.net/exceptional-iron-age-artifacts-discovered-at-celtic-necropolis-in-central-france/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creuzier‑le‑Neuf sword</a> adds the earliest Western European example carved into gemstone, a technique more at home in <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bulletinfront/0054307.0015.104/--hellenistic-archives-from-tel-kedesh-israel-and-seleucia?rgn=main;view=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hellenistic seal rings</a>. Such hybrid artistry underscores how porous cultural borders were, even during localized feuds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-on-the-frontier-of-celtic-power">On the frontier of Celtic power</h2>



Creuzier‑le‑Neuf lay where the Arverni, Aedui, and Bituriges territories overlapped, a liminal patch that prospered on exchange and occasional tension. 



Trade beads from Mediterranean workshops enter local rivers just as Arverni bronze flows south into alpine passes.



History remembers the wider Celtic world for routing Roman troops at the Battle of Allia on July 18, 387 B.C., a clash that left Rome paying gold for its freedom. 



The ornamental Celtic sword’s dating to that generation hints that prestige weapons doubled as status badges while real steel rode to war.



All three tribes maintained fortified oppida within a day’s march, yet they buried their dead together here, suggesting overlapping kin networks or shared sacred ground. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bronze-age-people-abandoned-meat-for-millet-3500-years-ago/">Isotope work</a> planned for the sheath alloys may reveal whether ores came from <a href="https://www.mindat.org/loc-332900.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Massif Central mines</a> or more distant sources tied to intertribal alliances.



Yet no slash notches scar the blade edges, confirming Georges’ view that the shorter sword lived mainly as insignia of rank. Function bowed to symbolism, and symbolism borrowed from everywhere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-artifacts-tell-us">What the artifacts tell us</h2>



Without bones to speak for them, the objects narrate diet, trade, and hierarchy. Cabochons likely held imported glass, bracelets mimic <a href="https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/la-tene/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">La Tène type‑A catalogs</a>, and the swords compress the story of shifting alliances into metal and stone.



Oury calls the site “a classroom for understanding how identity was displayed in death,” and future residue studies on corrosion layers may pinpoint burial textiles or pigments. 



Conservation continues, but plans for a regional museum display are already under discussion.



Each cleaned item reminds visitors that symbols travel farther than armies. A sign once bent toward thunder gods now rests on a sword that never drew blood, carried by someone who wanted to be remembered, and was.



Photo: <a href="https://www.inrap.fr/sites/inrap.fr/files/thumbnails/image/f250211_inrapmocreuzier_143.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flore Giraud</a>, Inrap.



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Archaeologists find 2,300-year-old swords adorned with gems and ancient symbols

Archaeologists in central France have uncovered two swords, buried for...

Cell biology is a world of constant motion and hidden structures. Much of what we know about cells comes from decades of research using microscopes, stains, and models. Yet, even in this well-charted territory, surprises still emerge - enter the "hemifusome."



This previously unknown organelle may help explain how cells sort, recycle, and discard their internal cargo. This function is vital to life and is often disrupted in instances of genetic disease.



The discovery of this organelle, which was made by scientists at the <a href="https://www.virginia.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Virginia</a> and the National Institutes of Health (<a href="https://www.nih.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NIH</a>), offers a new lens through which to study the inner workings of the cell. 



It also presents a possible turning point for understanding diseases where cellular housekeeping breaks down. Using cutting-edge imaging tools, researchers have caught this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cambrian-explosion-fossils-push-back-the-rise-of-complex-life/">organelle</a> in action and outlined its potential impact on health and medicine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-introducing-the-hemifusome">Introducing the hemifusome</h2>



The hemifusome is not a static component but a temporary structure that appears and disappears depending on the cell’s needs. 



It consists of two vesicles joined together by a partial membrane connection called a hemifusion diaphragm.



In this configuration, the vesicles do not fully merge but maintain a shared boundary that allows them to interact without blending entirely.



"This is like discovering a new recycling center inside the cell," said researcher Seham Ebrahim, Ph.D., of UVA's Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics. 



"We think the hemifusome helps manage how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/third-state-of-existence-beyond-life-and-death-confirmed-by-scientists/">cells</a> package and process material, and when this goes wrong, it may contribute to diseases that affect many systems in the body."



These hemifused vesicles appear in two configurations. In the direct form, a smaller vesicle is attached to the outer side of a larger one, whereas in the flipped version, the smaller vesicle is embedded on the inner, or luminal, side. 



In both cases, a dense particle called a proteolipid nanodroplet anchors the structure at the junction, possibly guiding its formation and stability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-hemifusome-appears">How the hemifusome appears</h2>



To study hemifusomes, researchers turned to cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). This imaging method freezes cells rapidly, preserving them close to their natural state. 



Unlike traditional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/watching-electrons-move-1-quintillionth-of-second-attoseconds-attomicroscopy/">electron microscopy</a>, which can distort or destroy delicate structures, cryo-ET allows scientists to see cellular architecture as it truly exists.



By scanning the outer edges of four mammalian cell types, COS-7, HeLa, RAT-1, and NIH/3T3, the team identified hundreds of hemifusomes. These organelles made up nearly 10 percent of all membrane-bound vesicles in those regions. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/hemifused-vesicles_cryo-electron-tomography_Nature-Communications_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/hemifused-vesicles_cryo-electron-tomography_Nature-Communications_1s.webp" alt="Cryo-electron tomography observation of hemifused vesicles at the leading edge of cultured cells. Credit: Nature Communications (2025)" class="wp-image-1976051"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cryo-electron tomography observation of hemifused vesicles at the leading edge of cultured cells. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Nature Communications (2025)</figcaption></figure>



Their consistency across <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-millions-of-fungal-species-still-remain-unknown/">cell</a> types suggests they are not rare anomalies but common cellular components.



"You can think of vesicles like little delivery trucks inside the cell," said Ebrahim, of UVA's Center for Membrane and Cell Physiology. "The hemifusome is like a loading dock where they connect and transfer cargo. It's a step in the process we didn't know existed."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-makes-the-hemifusome-unique">What makes the hemifusome unique</h2>



Hemifusomes stand out not just for their shape, but for what’s inside them. The larger vesicle usually contains granular material, similar to what is seen in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mitochondria-cells-batteries-leaking-causes-inflammation-diseases/">endosomes</a> and ribosome-associated vesicles.



But the smaller vesicle shows a smooth, translucent interior. This likely reflects a protein-free or dilute aqueous solution, setting it apart from other vesicles in the cell.



The hemifusion diaphragm itself is unusually large, about 160 nanometers in diameter, far bigger than the 10 nanometer diaphragms seen in standard vesicle fusion <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gold-eating-fungus-discovery-could-revolutionize-the-search-for-metals-and-minerals-on-earth-asteroids-and-other-planets/">events</a>. These extended diaphragms appear stable, not fleeting, suggesting they may be designed to last. 



In some cases, the diaphragm grows large enough to engulf the entire smaller vesicle into the larger one’s bilayer, creating a lens-like shape known in simulations as dead-end hemifusion. Seeing this in actual cells challenges the idea that such formations are purely theoretical.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anchors-and-architects-of-the-organelle">Anchors and architects of the organelle</h2>



One consistent feature at the heart of hemifusomes is the dense proteolipid nanodroplet, or PND. About 42 nanometers in diameter, these droplets are lodged at the rim of the hemifusion site. 



Their content, lipids and proteins, suggests they may help build or stabilize the hemifused structure.



These PNDs have never been observed in such a role before. Some appear free in the cytoplasm, others are embedded in membranes. Researchers propose that PNDs may serve as scaffolds for assembling new vesicles. 



As the PND integrates into a membrane, it may kickstart the formation of the smaller vesicle seen in hemifusomes.



This process, described as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/vasculogenesis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">de novo vesiculogenesis</a>, stands apart from classical vesicle fusion. The presence of a unique, translucent vesicle and the absence of known docking steps indicate the hemifusome may follow its own assembly path.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-hemifusomes-related-to-endosomes">Are hemifusomes related to endosomes?</h2>



Given their location and size, hemifusomes resemble some endosomal structures. To investigate this further, the researchers traced the journey of gold nanoparticles, common markers used to map endocytic activity. 



The particles entered known endosomes and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tricking-cells-into-thinking-they-ate-less-food-can-slow-aging-process/">lysosomes</a> but never appeared inside hemifusomes. This absence suggests that hemifusomes do not belong to the classical endocytic pathway.



Instead, they may represent a separate system operating independently of the cargo sorting carried out by proteins like ESCRT. This distinction may have wide implications for how we understand vesicle traffic inside cells.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multivesicular-bodies-and-disease">Multivesicular bodies and disease</h2>



Some hemifusomes evolve into more complex structures. The study observed compound hemifusomes that contained multiple vesicles, all partially fused. 



These could be early versions of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/multivesicular-body" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multivesicular bodies</a> (MVBs), which cells use to break down and recycle internal material.



In the canonical model, ESCRT proteins form inward buds that eventually pinch off inside a larger vesicle. But in hemifusomes, vesicles grow inward through hemifusion and expand with the help of PNDs. 



This alternative route might explain how MVBs form in ways not covered by traditional theories.



One such condition affected by these pathways is Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. It is a genetic disorder marked by defects in pigmentation, lung function, vision, and bleeding. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/damaged-mitochondria-recycled/">Cellular recycling</a> issues are central to the disease.



Understanding the hemifusome may help explain these disruptions and lead to future treatments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-model-for-vesicle-formation">A new model for vesicle formation</h2>



The study proposes a full model where PNDs trigger the formation of translucent vesicles that partially fuse with larger ones, forming hemifusomes. 



These structures may then bud inward, transforming into flipped hemifusomes. Over time, they could scission off as free vesicles inside MVBs.



In contrast to the ESCRT system, which requires tight protein coordination, this mechanism relies on structural and biophysical cues. 



It also sidesteps the need for large lipid donations from other organelles, solving a long-standing puzzle in vesicle formation research.



"This is just the beginning," Ebrahim said. "Now that we know hemifusomes exist, we can start asking how they behave in healthy cells and what happens when things go wrong. That could lead us to new strategies for treating complex genetic diseases."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-comes-next">What comes next</h2>



The implications of this discovery stretch far beyond cell biology. By offering a new pathway for how cells build and manage internal compartments, the hemifusome challenges decades of assumptions. 



It also invites new thinking about disease, especially conditions where cells fail to manage their waste.



Future research will focus on identifying what proteins guide hemifusome formation and how PNDs are created. 



Scientists also want to know if these structures exist in other parts of the cell, not just at the periphery. Advanced imaging tools and genetic models will be key to answering these questions.



In a field where many believed the major organelles were already mapped, the hemifusome serves as a reminder. The cell still holds secrets. And some of them could lead to cures.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59887-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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New structure found inside human cells could radically change health and medicine

Cell biology is a world of constant motion and hidden...

Many people still believe that building muscle means living at the gym and constantly training. Fresh evidence shows that it's not quite that time-consuming.



The evidence comes from an eight‑week trial led by exercise scientist <a href="https://www.lehman.edu/academics/health-human-services-nursing/exercise-sciences-recreation/bradley-schoenfeld/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brad Schoenfeld</a> of <a href="https://www.lehman.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lehman College</a>, whose team asked healthy lifters to finish one demanding set of nine classic moves twice a week.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-muscle-training-minutes">Muscle training minutes</h2>



A muscle grows when stress outweighs its usual workload, a chain that starts with mechanical tension and metabolic stress, then ends with more contractile proteins. Short sessions that reach high effort check all those boxes, even if the calendar space is small.



Public health agencies already <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tell</a> adults to hit two days of resistance work, yet fewer than one in four Americans manage the target. Shaving sessions to thirty minutes lowers the barrier without watering down the stimulus.



A 2022 <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30153194/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meta‑analysis</a> on trained men and women reported that just three weekly thirteen‑minute bouts raised strength almost as much as forty‑minute routines when total effort matched. In other words, quality can beat quantity if each rep counts.



Schoenfeld’s experiment now confirms the principle over a longer eight‑week window and in a mixed‑sex sample. That widens the practical appeal beyond seasoned bodybuilders.



Cells respond to energy shortages created by <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10801605/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intense contractions</a> by releasing adenosine monophosphate–activated protein kinase, a switch that boosts glucose uptake and supports muscle repair. Hitting that threshold does not require marathon workouts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-study-measured">What the study measured</h2>



Forty‑two volunteers rotated through a lat pull‑down, seated row, shoulder press, chest press, triceps push‑down, supinated curl, Smith‑machine squat, leg press, and leg extension. Each visit lasted thirty minutes including brief warm‑ups and one‑minute rest periods.



Researchers used ultrasound to gauge thickness in the biceps, triceps, and quadriceps before and after the program. Strength, jump height, and endurance were also tested to see whether <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-fuels-neuron-growth-through-muscle-signals/">muscles</a> not only grew but performed better.



Half the group lifted until they could not complete another strict repetition, a strategy known as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weight-training-shields-the-aging-brain-from-dementia/">training</a> to failure. The other half stopped two reps short, counting repetitions in reserve as a safety buffer for joints and nerves.



“In our study, the workouts were sufficiently hard to challenge the participants’ muscles beyond their present capacity,” said Schoenfeld. 



Both muscle training strategies enlarged muscle fibers to a similar degree, supporting earlier <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30558493/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> showing that frequency and intensity make only small differences once weekly volume matches. 



A follow‑up analysis found that participants improved their ability to guess how many reps they had left, a skill that lets lifters train hard while avoiding form breakdown. That insight could help gym‑goers monitor effort without fancy devices.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-muscle-training-to-failure-vs-holding-back">Muscle training to failure vs holding back</h2>



Going to failure did provide a slight boost in vertical jump power, hinting that maximum effort might recruit more fast‑twitch fibers. 



A 2021 systematic <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33497853/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> echoed that idea but found little extra benefit for arm or leg size when sets finished one or two reps shy.



“By shortening the recovery time, it drives up metabolic stress,” noted <a href="https://publichealth.buffalo.edu/exercise-and-nutrition-sciences/faculty-and-staff/faculty-directory/lpryor.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luke Pryor</a>, clinical associate professor of exercise and nutrition sciences at the <a href="https://www.buffalo.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University at Buffalo</a>. 



Metabolic by‑products like lactate and hydrogen ions may act as growth signals when they accumulate quickly.



Another <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8884877/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> from 2023 concluded that training frequency between one and three times per week yields comparable hypertrophy if the total number of quality sets is constant. 



That means busy professionals can cluster their lifts into two focused sessions and still progress.



Athletes chasing power for sprinting or jumping might sprinkle a third day of explosive work. Recreational lifters, however, can choose the schedule that fits job and family demands without fearing slower results.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-muscle-training-for-time-pressed-people">Muscle training for time‑pressed people</h2>



Select compound patterns such as squats, deadlifts, pushups, rows, and pullups, because they rally multiple joints and force the body to use more weight. Keep rests shorter than two minutes to maintain the thirty‑minute ceiling.



“I repeat this often: It doesn’t have to be the most to have a benefit,” said <a href="https://sohostrengthlab.com/bios/albert-matheny/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS</a>, co‑founder of <a href="https://sohostrengthlab.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SoHo Strength Lab</a>. Starting light lets newcomers learn form while still nudging muscles in the right direction.



<a href="https://frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.789403/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evidence</a> from 2022 shows that even two thirteen‑minute workouts can raise lean mass if they reach a hard effort, an encouraging benchmark for people who dread long sessions. Once technique improves, individuals can add a warm‑up set or increase load to keep progress steady.



Strength work does more than shape arms. It preserves bone density, raises insulin sensitivity, and helps older adults stay independent. 



The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/adding-adults/what-counts.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CDC</a> lists reduced anxiety, better sleep, and a lower risk of chronic disease among the bonuses of regular resistance training. Those benefits kick in long before a mirror shows new definition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-questions-that-remain">Questions that remain</h2>



The present study used mostly machine <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/resistance-exercise-may-be-the-secret-to-relieving-depression/">exercises</a>, which guide motion and reduce stabilizer demand. Future trials will need to confirm whether free‑weight circuits of equal length give the same payoff.



The sample averaged twenty‑seven years old and had at least a year of lifting experience. Researchers will test the protocol in beginners and older adults, groups who often struggle to meet activity guidelines.



Scientists also want to track hormones like testosterone and growth hormone during such brief workouts, along with markers of satellite cell activation. Those data could explain why some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-grapes-every-day-can-transform-your-muscles/">muscles</a> adapt faster than others.



For now, the simplest plan stands: warm up, pick nine movements that cover the whole body, perform eight to ten deliberate reps, and close the gym bag after thirty minutes. Consistency beats elaborate programming when the clock is tight.



The study is published in <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/abstract/9900/without_fail__muscular_adaptations_in_single_set.782.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Medicine &amp; Science in Sports &amp; Exercise</a>.



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Study learns the exact amount of time you should train to build muscle

Many people still believe that building muscle means living at...

From bright planets to a mythological bird soaring among the stars, July 2025 has an exciting show lined up in the night sky.&nbsp;



NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching/whats-up/">JPL</a>) has shared its skywatching highlights - revealing what to be on the lookout for this month, from sunset to sunrise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planets-in-motion">Planets in motion</h2>



Venus reigns in the morning sky all month, shining brightly in the east during the hours before sunrise. Look for it near the Pleiades star cluster and two brilliant stars - Aldebaran and Capella.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-lost-most-of-its-water-but-where-did-it-go/">Mars</a> is visible in the western sky shortly after sunset, glowing about 20 degrees above the horizon before it sets a couple of hours later. On July 28, it forms a striking pair with the crescent Moon.



Jupiter begins to climb into the morning sky after mid-month. Initially low on the eastern horizon, it rises higher each day, heading toward a dramatic August conjunction with Venus.



Mercury is visible only briefly - watch for it in the west during the first week of July, beginning about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset. It stays close to the horizon and sets quickly, so timing and a clear view are key.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-energy-imbalance-discovered-on-saturn/">Saturn</a> makes its entrance around midnight and climbs high in the southern sky by dawn - offering a glimpse of the planet for early risers.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/SQu8utmfOQk?si=IG-nb7ithbJF3vQD
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">What are some skywatching highlights in July 2025? Look for Mars in the evening, Venus and Jupiter in the morning, and find the eagle constellation, Aquila, soaring overhead.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-first-successful-mars-mission">The first successful Mars mission</h2>



July 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of NASA’s Mariner 4 mission, which performed the first successful Mars flyby in 1965. 



The spacecraft sent back the first close-up images of the Martian surface and revealed that the planet’s atmosphere was thin, cold, and not as Earth-like as once imagined.&nbsp;



Before Mariner 4, many scientists and the public still held out hope that Mars might resemble a second Earth - perhaps even supporting vegetation or signs of life.&nbsp;



However, the grainy black-and-white images, showing a cratered, barren landscape, were a sobering reality check that reshaped our understanding of the Red Planet.



Despite dashing earlier hopes, Mariner 4 paved the way for decades of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-collapse-why-did-mars-become-a-desert/">Mars</a> exploration. It was the first time humans had seen another planet up close. The mission proved that long-distance robotic exploration was not only possible, but essential.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spotting-aquila-in-the-july-sky">Spotting Aquila in the July sky</h2>



July is also the ideal time to view Aquila, the Eagle constellation, in the eastern sky during the first half of the night. Its brightest star, Altair, is easy to spot and forms part of the Summer Triangle, along with Vega and Deneb.



Aquila represents the eagle of Zeus in Greek mythology - a powerful messenger and symbol of divine strength. 



Altair marks the eagle’s heart, with its wings stretching wide across the night sky. To find it, look for the triangle-shaped pattern and note that Altair sits at the southern point.



While Aquila’s other stars aren’t as bright, they’re easier to trace under dark skies. The second half of July is especially good for observing this constellation, as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-did-earth-get-its-moon-a-new-theory-has-emerged/">Moon</a> rises later and leaves the early night sky darker.



For those in the Northern Hemisphere, Aquila is a summer favorite. Once you’ve located Altair, try to follow the eagle’s full wingspan across the sky. It appears to fly northward with its wings outstretched.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-dates-for-july-skywatching-nbsp">Key dates for July skywatching&nbsp;</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>July 1–7: Mercury is bright and easy to spot in the west after sunset - if you catch it in time. It vanishes within an hour of sundown.</li>



<li>July 21–22: Look east before sunrise to see Venus and Jupiter joined by a crescent Moon, along with several bright stars.</li>



<li>July 28: In the evening sky, the Moon passes close to Mars, offering a beautiful pairing.</li>
</ul>



Whether you’re watching Mars fade into the west or spotting Venus and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jupiters-past-how-the-young-gas-giant-shaped-our-solar-system/">Jupiter</a> at dawn, July will be a rewarding month to keep an eye on the sky.&nbsp;



NASA’s monthly “What’s Up” guide helps us stay connected to the ever-changing night sky. To explore more about NASA’s space missions and skywatching tools, visit <a href="https://science.nasa.gov">science.nasa.gov</a>.



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July 2025 skywatching: Bright planets and a summer constellation 

From bright planets to a mythological bird soaring among the...

Farming in ways that support nature can pay off - not just for the environment, but for crops too. That’s the takeaway from a new study that tested how different methods of agroecological farming perform on real working farms in England. 



The study showed that adding simple nature-friendly features like wildflower margins and organic matter improved biodiversity and led to stronger crop performance.



But there’s a catch: to make these methods financially viable on a large scale, many farmers may need more government support.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-real-farms-real-results">Real farms, real results</h2>



The research team, based at the <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/">UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a> and Rothamsted Research, ran a four-year study across 17 commercial farms in southern England. This was the first time anyone tested both the ecological and financial impacts of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sustainable-farming-is-good-for-farmers-well-being/">agroecological</a> practices at this scale in the UK.



The researchers didn’t just run lab trials. The researchers partnered directly with farmers to design and carry out real-world experiments, testing three types of farming systems side by side.



The first was a business-as-usual approach, using standard intensive methods without any nature-friendly additions. 



The second, called the enhanced ecological system, introduced wildflower field margins to support pollinators and other beneficial insects, along with overwinter cover crops to protect and enrich the soil. 



The third was the maximized ecological system, which built on the enhanced version by adding wildflower strips within the fields - essentially creating insect “runways” - and using farmyard <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/beer-byproducts-and-manure-used-to-increase-crop-yields/">manure</a> to improve soil health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-bugs-better-soil-higher-yields">More bugs, better soil, higher yields</h2>



The results were clear. The farms that adopted enhanced or maximized ecological methods saw an increase in beneficial species. 



Earthworms, bees, hoverflies, ladybirds, spiders, and lacewings were all more abundant. These helped reduce crop pests like aphids and snails.



That’s not all. The flowering crops - like oilseed rape - produced more seeds thanks to better pollination. The soils held more carbon. And overall, the yields went up.



Even with a little land taken out of production to make room for habitats, the gains in crop health and pollination made a difference. The enhanced ecological system was just as profitable as conventional farming - but only because of current government subsidies.



The maximized system delivered even stronger environmental and yield benefits. But it was more expensive to implement. 



Without more support, most farms would not find it financially competitive. Some farms, especially mixed ones that already have manure on hand, might fare better. But others would struggle without extra help.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-profit-meets-sustainability">Profit meets sustainability</h2>



Dr. Ben Woodcock, one of the study’s lead scientists from the UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology, elaborated on the research.



“Without the introduction of new financial incentives, many farmers will be deterred from adopting agroecological farming practices and systems. This could leave them locked into high input, intensive farming systems and more exposed to the impacts of pesticide resistance, declining soil health and climate change."



According to Dr. Woodcock, while farmers run businesses that need to be profitable, there is an increasing awareness that more sustainable systems can help "future-proof" their farms in terms of soil health, less reliance on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-attack-bees-in-multiple-ways-throughout-the-body/">pesticides</a> and climate change.



“Agroecological methods are good for biodiversity, food security, and, in the long-term, provide more secure farm incomes but habitats can take several years to establish, so agri-environment subsidies are essential to helping farmers transition to these more sustainable systems.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-support-for-greener-farming">Support for greener farming</h2>



The researchers believe that showcasing these successful results could help convince more farmers to make the switch. It’s about breaking the cycle of intensive practices that keep farms dependent on chemical inputs and vulnerable to environmental changes.



Professor Jonathan Storkey, an ecologist at Rothamsted Research, said the study confirmed that managing land on farms for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farming-for-wildlife-how-traditional-practices-can-protect-nature/">wildlife</a> is not in direct conflict with food security but can support sustainable production by increasing yields and reducing pest pressure. 



"These ‘ecosystem services’ could potentially substitute for chemical fertilizers and pesticides which negatively impact the environment," said Professor Storkey. 



“However, our analysis has shown that realizing these benefits will require additional support for farm businesses that currently operate on very narrow profit margins. As input costs increase, however, these agroecological approaches may become more attractive.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-training-makes-a-difference">Training makes a difference</h2>



The quality of nature-friendly measures also depends on how well they’re implemented, and training helps.



Earlier research from the UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology showed that when farmers receive proper guidance on creating and managing wildlife habitats, those habitats do a much better job of supporting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-pollinators-boost-the-nutritional-value-of-crops/">pollinators</a> and pest-controlling insects.



Field margins and wildflower strips may seem like simple changes, but getting them right requires different thinking than managing crops. The better these habitats are planned and maintained, the more they deliver.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-growing-green-nationwide">Growing green, nationwide</h2>



Nature-friendly farming isn’t just about doing good for the environment - it can also help farms thrive. But making the switch isn’t free, and for many farmers, the numbers have to work. 



That’s where targeted subsidies and support come in. The research shows what’s possible. Now, the question is how to make it doable for more farms across the country.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.70079">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.



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Eco-friendly farms can succeed - but they need support

Farming in ways that support nature can pay off -...

Music can make a sleepy train ride feel romantic or turn a routine workout into an emotional burst of energy. 



Scientists have long wondered how a string of notes pushes the brain from one emotional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-doesnt-just-hear-music-it-becomes-the-rhythm/">feeling</a> to the next, and why the experience changes when the previous feeling was different. <a href="https://psychology.columbia.edu/content/matthew-sachs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matthew Sachs</a> of Columbia University and colleagues set out to <a href="https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2025/06/19/ENEURO.0184-24.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">answer</a> that puzzle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-wordless-path-to-emotion">A wordless path to emotion</h2>



Music reliably raises specific <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32898679/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emotions</a> across cultures, making it a useful tool for lab work. Because melodies lack words, researchers can study pure feeling without the baggage of stories or language.



In recent <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1910704117" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">surveys</a>, listeners reported at least thirteen distinct emotional colors from songs, ranging from awe to tenderness. Those varied reactions let scientists choreograph controlled “emotional journeys” by arranging passages that lean happy, tense, calm, or sad.



The brain also treats music as a social signal, recruiting regions tied to empathy and perspective‑taking. That overlap makes findings with music relevant to understanding everyday interactions. 



Music’s precise timing helps investigators lock brain activity to exact seconds in a tune. Such temporal precision is important when studying transitions, which can unfold in a blink.



Finally, unlike pictures or movies, songs can be replayed in multiple orders without breaking logic. That flexibility allowed the team to test how a given passage feels when it follows joy versus when it follows anxiety.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-changes-emotion-fast">Music changes emotion fast</h2>



Sachs’s group asked professional composers to craft two fifteen‑minute pieces split into thirty‑two “emotion events,” each one lasting about 30‑70 seconds. The passages covered calm, joy, sadness, anxiety, and a mixed nostalgic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/live-music-connects-people-emotionally-and-physically/">feeling</a>.



Two versions of each piece shuffled the same events so that a joyful segment might follow calm in one version but chase sadness in the other. 



This context swap let the researchers isolate the effect of prior mood. Thirty‑nine volunteers lay in an <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/25034-functional-mri-fmri" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fMRI scanner</a>, a technique that tracks blood flow as a stand‑in for neural activity. The scanner’s pulses were timed to the beat so listeners heard smooth audio through special headphones.



After scanning, the volunteers replayed short clips of music online and rated how strongly each clip made them feel the target emotion. Those ratings confirmed that the music hit its emotional marks at the intended moments.



To align brains that never look identical, the team used a <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/slp3/A.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hidden Markov model</a>, a statistical tool that spots stable patterns and the moments they shift. The model does not assume equal event lengths, matching how real feelings vary.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-music-mapped-onto-brain-activity">Music mapped onto brain activity</h2>



Activity patterns in auditory cortex and the adjoining superior temporal gyrus stayed steady within an event but flipped sharply at composer‑defined boundaries. Those flips still appeared after factoring out pitch, volume, and harmony, meaning the brain was tracking emotion rather than mere <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-and-repeated-sounds-reorganize-your-brain-networks-in-real-time/">acoustics</a>.



The same temporal‑parietal strip has been linked to social meaning in speech and laughter. Current <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627317305937" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">findings</a> add music‑evoked emotion dynamics to its résumé. 



Elsewhere, frontal regions associated with self‑reflection lit up when feelings changed. That response supports prior work showing prefrontal roles in labeling and regulating emotion.



Importantly, <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2768874/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subcortical reward hubs</a> showed general arousal but did not map fine‑grained transitions. Those areas may mark intensity rather than shifts in category. 



Together the data sketch a layered system: auditory regions sense change, temporal‑parietal regions label the new state, and frontal areas integrate the experience. That hierarchy resembles proposed models for narrative comprehension.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-past-emotions-change-how-you-hear-music">Past emotions change how you hear music</h2>



When a happy passage followed another positive passage, listeners’ brains switched to the new state about six seconds sooner than when the same passage followed a tense one. The volunteers also pressed the “happy” button nine seconds earlier in the same‑valence condition.



Context even changed the spatial pattern of activity during an event. Pairs of participants who heard a clip in the same order showed more similar neural signatures than pairs who heard it in opposite orders.



Such carry‑over echoes psychological <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31628982/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">findings</a> that earlier feelings bias how we perceive later stimuli. The study quantifies that bias down to single‑second resolution. 



Researchers call the stickiness of mood <a href="https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/0269-8803.23.1.7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">valence</a> persistence, and extreme persistence can tip into emotional rigidity. Depression is often marked by this rigidity, trapping individuals in negative states.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treating-emotion-with-playlists">Treating emotion with playlists</h2>



“We know that people who suffer from mood disorders or depression often demonstrate emotional rigidity, where they basically get stuck in an emotional state" said Sachs. 



"Maybe we could take someone with depression, for instance, and use the approach we developed to identify neural markers for the emotional rigidity that keeps them in a very negative state.”



His comment matches growing interest in music‑based interventions. Unlike medications, playlists can be tailored rapidly and have few side effects. 



If clinicians can spot delayed transition signatures in vulnerable patients, they might train quicker shifts through neurofeedback. Past <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19646532/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> shows that people can learn to nudge targeted brain regions with real‑time feedback.



Therapists already use mood‑tracking apps; adding objective brain markers could improve accuracy. Personalized “emotion workouts” might teach flexible switching, similar to cognitive training for attention.



 Beyond clinics, the findings could improve soundtracks in virtual reality or adaptive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/video-games-can-rewind-the-clock-on-cognitive-performance/">games</a>. Systems might adjust musical cues to help users linger in, or exit from, certain feelings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-science-hasn-t-tested-yet">What science hasn’t tested yet</h2>



The study focused on adults in a scanner; children, musicians, or people with disorders may show different timelines. Future projects could compare those groups directly.&nbsp;



Only five emotion labels were used. Real life holds many blended states such as awe or envy that might map differently. Subcortical areas did not show clear transition patterns here, but that may reflect scanner noise or event length.&nbsp;



Higher‑resolution recordings could reveal subtler dynamics. Music is just one trigger; spoken stories, movement, or smell might drive other networks. 



Combining modalities could pinpoint common versus unique pathways. Finally, the team manipulated valence but not arousal. Experiments that cross calm‑excited levels might tease apart the role of energy versus positivity.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2025/06/19/ENEURO.0184-24.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eNeuro</a>.



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Music rewires the brain to quickly navigate emotion

Music can make a sleepy train ride feel romantic or...

For nearly a century, brominated vegetable oil - better known as BVO - helped keep that sharp, zesty taste of citrus-flavored sodas evenly distributed from the first sip to the last. 



Most shoppers never noticed the name on ingredient lists, and few paused to wonder why a cooking oil had been blended with <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Bromine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bromine</a>, a heavy chemical element more often associated with pool disinfectants than with beverages.



Over the past year, though, BVO has moved from obscurity into the spotlight. New toxicology studies forced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (<a href="https://www.fda.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FDA</a>) to take a hard second look at an additive it once allowed at up to 15 parts per million. 



The agency’s verdict set off a countdown: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soda-taxes-actually-work-improving-both-health-and-mindset/">all sodas</a> sold after August 2, 2025, must be BVO-free, shutting the door on a substance that first slipped into fizz back in the 1930s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-citrus-sodas-and-bvo">Citrus sodas and BVO</h2>



Public worries about <a href="https://cris.msu.edu/news/trending/trending-brominated-vegetable-oil-bvo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brominated vegetable oil</a> started decades ago, when researchers spotted bromine accumulating in human tissue samples taken in the United Kingdom during the 1970s. Animal studies soon linked high BVO intakes with heart and behavioral problems. 



Even so, the FDA kept the ingredient on a short leash rather than banning it outright, capping concentrations and labeling it “interim” while scientists gathered more data. The arrangement limped along for half a century.



Fresh evidence tipped the scale. A 90-day study funded by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health (<a href="https://www.nih.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NIH</a>) tracked rats fed diets ranging from zero to high levels of BVO. 



Bromine not only flooded their bloodstreams but also settled in the heart, liver, and body fat. Thyroid cells enlarged, thyroid-stimulating hormone climbed, and T4 hormone dipped, hinting at metabolic trouble ahead.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-brominated-oils-raised-alarms">Why brominated oils raised alarms</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-seafood-helps-children-develop-better-social-behaviors/">Thyroid shifts</a> matter because that small gland choreographs energy levels, growth, and mood. When bromine crowds out iodine - its chemical cousin - hormone production stumbles. 



Researchers worry that even subtle, long-term interference could nudge people toward weight gain, sluggishness, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unhealthy-diet-leaves-brain-feeling-foggy-frazzled-sad/">brain fog</a>. 



Because bromine accumulates rather than being flushed straight through, the risk grows the longer someone drinks BVO-laced sodas.



Most major brands ditched BVO years ago. PepsiCo pulled it from Gatorade in 2013 and from Mountain Dew soon after. Coca-Cola quietly reformulated Fanta and Powerade. 



Yet store-brand and regional citrus sodas sometimes clung to the old recipe. In mid-2024, Keurig Dr. Pepper still listed BVO in Sun Drop, though the company pledged to roll out a new formula before year’s end.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fda-ruling-s-impact-on-bvo-sodas">FDA ruling's impact on BVO sodas</h2>



<a href="https://foodsafety.gwu.edu/jim-jones">James Jones</a>, deputy commissioner for human foods, summed up the agency’s thinking: “The proposed action is an example of how the agency monitors emerging evidence and, as needed, conducts scientific research to investigate safety-related questions, and takes regulatory action when the science does not support the continued safe use of additives in foods.” 



The final rule arrived on July 3, 2024, and became effective a month later, with a one-year grace period to drain warehouses and reset production lines.



Between now and August 2, 2025, shoppers can still run into cans made before the deadline. 



The safest approach is old-fashioned label reading - look for “brominated vegetable oil” or “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0300483X76900512" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brominated soybean oil</a>.” After that date, any product that still lists the additive will be pulled from shelves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-beverage-makers-responded">How beverage makers responded</h2>



For companies, swapping out BVO meant finding other ways to keep citrus oils suspended. Many turned to ingredients already common in European and Japanese drinks, where BVO has been banned for years. 



<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278691597803055" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sucrose acetate isobutyrate</a> and glycerol ester of wood rosin (<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7009419/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GEWR</a>) emerged as the go-to solutions; both create a dense phase that marries well with fruit oils without relying on bromine. 



Because the substitutes have long safety records abroad, the transition proved smoother than earlier label rewrites involving artificial dyes.



Retailers responded in parallel. National grocery chains began flagging private-label SKUs that needed reformulation, giving suppliers early notice. 



Craft <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ultra-processed-foods-like-soda-and-snacks-are-the-new-silent-killer/">soda makers</a>, eager to stand out in a crowded aisle, advertised “BVO-free” right on the front of the bottle, turning regulatory compliance into a selling point.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-science-says-about-bvo">What science says about BVO</h2>



Several studies over the years had very similar results. Bromine lodged in organs after only three months, a blip compared with human drinking habits that can stretch across decades. 



The thyroid, sensitive to iodine balance, responded quickly. Researchers did not observe tumors or acute poisoning, but the hormonal disruptions alone convinced regulators that routine consumption no longer passed the sniff test.



Back in the 1950s, the FDA first labeled BVO “<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/generally-recognized-safe-gras" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">generally recognized as safe</a>,” largely because citrus sodas were already popular. 



By 1970, the agency had reversed its stance, restricting use to citrus drinks and setting the 15-parts-per-million ceiling. Subsequent studies, including one published on May 16, 2022, in Food and Chemical Toxicology, kept adding red flags. 



Taken together, the evidence portrays a slow-burn risk rather than an immediate hazard - yet that is exactly the kind of threat public health agencies try to prevent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changes-in-the-u-s-food-code">Changes in the U.S. food code</h2>



The BVO saga hints at future shake-ups in the U.S. food code. The FDA is reassessing a roster of additives, with an eye toward automatic bans on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-in-five-packaged-foods-in-the-u-s-contains-synthetic-dyes/">colorants that cause cancer</a> in animals. 



Speeding up that process would spare consumers from the long twilight period BVO endured. 



For beverage developers, the lesson is clear: lean on ingredients with global acceptance, and keep an eye on toxicology journals as closely as on flavor-trend reports.



By August 2025, American citrus sodas will taste the same to most palates, but the chemistry behind that flavor will have changed. 



With no more swimming pool disinfectants like bromine in your beverages, the drink industry inches toward simpler, more transparent labels - something shoppers have been thirsting for as much as the fizz itself.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278691522003350" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Food and Chemical Toxicity</a>.



Read the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/brominated-vegetable-oil-bvo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The U.S. FDA ruling on BVO</a>.



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FDA ban on highly toxic soda ingredient finally goes into effect this month

For nearly a century, brominated vegetable oil - better known...

In the wild, social lives shape survival. For female chimpanzees, bonds with others aren't just emotional glue. They are critical for keeping babies alive. 



A new study of wild eastern chimpanzees in Gombe National Park finds that social integration predicts whether a newborn survives, even when no close kin is around.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chimpanzees-with-strong-social-bonds">Chimpanzees with strong social bonds</h2>



Female <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/laughter-lifts-bonobo-moods-offering-clues-to-human-emotion/">chimps</a> are often the ones who leave their birth group. That means most do not live near their mothers or sisters. Still, those who manage to build friendships with other females raise more babies to weaning age.



“In species where females live in groups with their sisters and mothers, it’s less surprising that female sociality is beneficial,” said <a href="https://scholars.duke.edu/person/joseph.feldblum" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joseph Feldblum</a>, lead author and research professor at Duke. 



“But female chimps don’t usually have that. They are also less gregarious than males, so the fact that forming strong social connections still matters is striking.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-babies-of-social-chimpanzees">Babies of social chimpanzees </h2>



The team analyzed 37 years of detailed records from 37 mothers and 110 offspring. Using a composite sociality index (CSI), they tracked how much time females spent associating or grooming others before giving birth.



Their best model showed that higher CSI scores, especially with other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baby-talk-may-explain-what-sets-humans-apart-from-apes/">females</a>, greatly increased infant survival to age one and even to age five. The effect held even after excluding mothers who died shortly after giving birth.



A female with a CSI score twice the average had a 95 percent chance of her baby surviving the first year. For those below average, this dropped to 75 percent. 



Among females without any close kin, the trend was stronger. A single unit rise in sociality increased survival odds by over 17 times.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kinship-and-male-alliances">Kinship and male alliances </h2>



The researchers ran extra tests to see if the benefit was just from living with relatives. It was not. They also checked if relationships with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-rumbles-to-rituals-scientists-map-the-cultures-of-the-animal-kingdom/">males</a> helped. That also came up short.



“That tells us it’s not just about being born into a supportive family,” said Feldblum. “These are primarily social relationships with non kin.”



Even when female kin were present, they had no direct effect on offspring survival. Instead, they raised the chance that a mother had strong friendships. But it was those friendships, not the family ties, that made the difference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-ties-remain-stable-over-time">Social ties remain stable over time</h2>



The benefits of bonding were not a one time fluke. Females who were social before birth stayed social after birth too. Their social worlds remained steady. 



“Our results don’t prove causation, but they point to the value of being surrounded by others who support you, or at least tolerate you,” said Feldblum.



This was not the case for bonds with males. Social connections between male and female chimpanzees were less stable and showed no link to baby survival.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-bonds-and-chimpanzee-babies">Social bonds and chimpanzee babies </h2>



How do these friendships help? The exact mechanism remains uncertain. Social bonds might protect chimpanzee mothers from aggression. They could mean better access to food. Friendships might even prevent infanticide.



Earlier studies in this same group of chimps estimated that infanticide by other females may cause 3.5 percent to 19 percent of deaths in the first year. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-curiosity-starts-young-and-helps-us-survive/">Social</a> mothers may face less of that risk.



More research is needed, but one thing is clear. Socially connected females stay in better shape, which could boost prenatal health. Unlike rank or dominance, which did not correlate with survival during this study window, sociality kept its value.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-chimps-mirror-humans">Social chimps mirror humans</h2>



Though females often move away from family, they form lasting ties with unrelated females. The Gombe chimps mirror women in human patrilocal societies, who build networks after moving for marriage.



“We humans are remarkably collaborative and cooperative. We cooperate at scales that are pretty much unique in the animal kingdom,” said Feldblum. 



“Human females who don’t have access to kin, for example because they moved to a new city or village, are still able to form strong bonds that can benefit them.”



This study adds to the growing body of evidence that friendship matters. In baboons, dolphins, and horses, social bonds also improve reproductive success. In chimps too, strong bonds give babies a better chance at life.



Studying these dynamics in our closest relatives helps us understand our own nature. Like chimps, human survival does not just depend on strength or status. It depends on others. 



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225011241" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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Babies of social chimpanzee mothers are more likely to survive

In the wild, social lives shape survival. For female chimpanzees,...

Gorillas, often thought of as ground dwellers, spend much more time in the trees than previously assumed. This finding from the Max Planck Institute challenges long-standing ideas about the anatomy and evolution of gorillas.



Western and Bwindi mountain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gorillas-are-digging-for-a-surprising-food-in-the-jungle-soil/">gorillas</a>, studied across Gabon and Uganda, were observed over many years. Even the largest males, weighing up to 170 kg, showed substantial tree use. 



Adult females in Loango spent 34% of their time in trees, while Bwindi females clocked 21%. That is a huge jump from the 7% figure for Virunga gorillas.



Study lead author Dr. Martha M. Robbins is a zoologist in the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution at the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/">Max Planck Institute</a> for Evolutionary Anthropology.



“Adult females spent 20% to 30% of their time in the trees, while silverbacks spent 18% to 20% of their time being arboreal, which is much more than 2 to 7% found previously in the Virunga mountain gorillas,” said Dr. Robbins.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-different-gorillas-different-tree-habits">Different gorillas, different tree habits</h2>



The Virunga population shaped our early understanding of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-gorillas-get-sick-from-being-too-social/">gorilla</a> habits. These highland gorillas live in fruit-scarce zones and rarely climb. But the new study included data from five groups in Bwindi and one in Loango, totaling nearly 5,200 observation days.



The findings are clear: tree use varies widely between populations. Even juveniles and subadults in Bwindi and Loango spent 32% to 43% of their time in trees - double the rate seen in Virunga’s younger gorillas.



The researchers also found that body size plays a role but does not prevent tree climbing. 



“This demonstrates that the large body size of gorillas is not necessarily a limiting factor to tree climbing and that gorillas can be just as arboreal as some chimpanzee populations,” said co-author Rhianna Drummond-Clarke.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climbing-is-not-just-about-fruit">Climbing is not just about fruit</h2>



The researchers expected fruit to be the main driver behind climbing. While gorillas did climb more while eating fruit, the full story is more complex. In Loango, adult females were more arboreal when eating leaves than fruit. In Bwindi, the reverse was true.



Even silverbacks, the heaviest individuals, climbed trees to eat fruit. At Bwindi, silverbacks were arboreal 82% of the time they ate fruit. But fruit formed just 14% of their diet, meaning most of their tree time involved eating leaves.



At Loango, gorillas often ate fallen fruit from the ground. This shows fruit-eating can be a terrestrial act too. Meanwhile, western gorillas also ate lots of tree leaves, about 30% of their diet, driving folivorous tree use, similar to some monkeys.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feeding-is-the-main-reason-to-climb">Feeding is the main reason to climb</h2>



What were the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/male-infertility-humans-linked-same-genes-gorilla-small-penises/">gorillas</a> doing in trees? Mostly feeding. Adult female gorillas were far more likely to climb while feeding than when resting or traveling.



Even when eating nonfruit, Loango females climbed more than Bwindi ones. This likely reflects differences in diet and foraging strategy. The energy payoff from fruit seems to outweigh the climbing cost, especially for massive silverbacks.



Also, Loango females were heavier climbers than their Bwindi peers when not eating fruit. This surprising reversal shows that even leaf-seeking gorillas may spend considerable time off the ground.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-this-means-for-ape-evolution">What this means for ape evolution</h2>



These results have big implications. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-endangered-primate-species-identified-in-new-report/">Gorillas</a> have long been labeled as terrestrial because of their bulk and plant-heavy diets. But that view no longer holds. The study shows gorilla arboreality spans all life stages, from infants to adults.



That shift affects how we interpret the fossil record. Gorilla-like bones have been taken to suggest ground-based life. But frequent tree climbing changes the picture. 



“We demonstrate that large body size and a largely folivorous diet in apes are also consistent with frequent arboreality,” noted the study authors.



Studies of limb proportions and bone strength now suggest a range, from more tree-based western gorillas to more ground-based Virunga ones. 



This means our models of ancient human relatives may need adjustment. Gorilla-like features may not imply they lived solely on the ground.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gorillas-are-tree-climbers-not-just-walkers">Gorillas are tree climbers, not just walkers</h2>



Gorillas are not just forest-floor giants. They climb often and for various reasons. From feeding on leaves to exploring the canopy, these behaviors offer key insights into how apes, including humans, evolved.



Future research may look into how such large animals navigate trees. They might distribute their weight across branches or use special movement strategies, similar to orangutans or chimpanzees. 



This research opens new doors in our understanding of ape mobility and evolutionary history.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00590-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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Gorillas spend much more time in trees than we previously thought

Gorillas, often thought of as ground dwellers, spend much more...

When humans burst into laughter together, moods lift almost automatically. New research shows that a similar boost happens in our closest cousins.



An international team led by <a href="https://bloomington.iu.edu/">Indiana University</a> scientists has discovered that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bonobos-group-cohesion-common-enemy-effect-do-not-kill-inside-their-species/">bonobos</a> become more upbeat after hearing the giggles of their companions. This finding pushes the evolutionary history of positive emotions back millions of years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-laughter-changed-ape-choices">Laughter changed ape choices</h2>



To explore laughter’s influence, the researchers designed a cognitive-bias test often used in animal psychology to gauge optimism or pessimism.



First, they trained bonobos at the <a href="https://www.apeinitiative.org/">Ape Initiative</a> in Des Moines, Iowa, to recognize two kinds of boxes: black ones that always contained a delicious snack and white ones that were always empty.



Once the apes consistently chose black and ignored white, the experimenters introduced a third, ambiguous gray box. They then played one of two sounds: recorded bonobo laughter or a neutral control noise.



“We know that other apes, like chimpanzees, have contagious laughter during play," said lead author Sasha Winkler, a primatologist at <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a>. "We were wondering if that behavior could be explained by positive emotions produced from the sound itself.” 



If the bonobos felt a surge of good feeling after hearing laughter, the team expected them to treat the uncertain gray box as if it were the rewarding black one.



That is exactly what happened. “Think of it like the rose-colored glasses effect,” Winkler said. “The bonobos were much more likely to approach the gray boxes after hearing laughter, treating them like the rewarded boxes, and indicating a more optimistic expectation of finding a treat.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-optimism-to-our-ancestors">Tracing optimism to our ancestors</h2>



This study is the first experimental proof that great-ape laughter can shift mood and cognition the way human laughter does.



“The tendency to behave more optimistically after hearing laughter suggests that the sound alone induced a positive emotional state in bonobos,” said senior author Erica Cartmill, the director of Indiana University’s Cognitive Science Program.



“This is the first study of which we're aware to measure a positive affect shift in nonhuman primates from a brief experimental intervention.”



Great apes -&nbsp; bonobos, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-wild-chimpanzees-can-teach-us-about-parenting/">chimpanzees</a>, gorillas, orangutans - all emit play calls that acoustically resemble human chuckles. Earlier work tied those sounds to a common evolutionary origin. The new findings add a cognitive twist.



“Our results suggest that laughter in other apes shares not only phylogenetic and behavioral similarities with human laughter but also perhaps some of the same cognitive-emotional underpinnings,” Winkler noted.



“This emotional contagion appears to have been present in the primate lineage long before the evolution of language.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-laughter-empathy-and-apes">Laughter, empathy, and apes</h2>



Emotional contagion is often described as a foundational element of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/little-benjamina-the-oldest-evidence-of-social-empathy-in-humans/">empathy</a> - the capacity to share another’s feelings. As Winkler put it, “studies like ours can help to untangle the evolutionary building blocks of empathy, communication, and cooperation in humans.”



By revealing that a simple vocal cue can brighten outlooks in bonobos, the research suggests that the mechanisms linking social sound to positive mood were already in place in a common ancestor millions of years ago.



Cartmill added that the work answers a long-standing bias in emotion research. “Our emotions influence many aspects of cognition, including memory, attention, and decision-making, but research has historically focused on negative emotions with clear behavioral correlates, like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-pathway-discovered-that-suppresses-fear/">fear</a> and aggression.”



“We wanted to better understand the relationship between positive affect and cognition in our closest living relatives.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kanzi-and-the-future-of-empathy">Kanzi and the future of empathy</h2>



The experiments involved four bonobos, including the celebrated language-using ape Kanzi, who recently passed away.



“I feel incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Kanzi while he was still alive,” Winkler said. 



“We hope this brings greater public awareness of the remarkable similarities between us and bonobos, who are an endangered species. We have so much to learn from these incredible animals.”



Future studies will test whether laughter exerts similar cognitive effects in chimpanzees and other primates. They will also explore how social context - for example, hearing laughs from friends versus strangers - modulates optimism.



For now, the discovery that bonobo giggles brighten expectations highlights a shared emotional heritage and hints that a simple laugh has been boosting group spirits since long before humans walked the Earth.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-02594-8">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.



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Laughter lifts bonobo moods, offering clues to human emotion

When humans burst into laughter together, moods lift almost automatically....

Rodents don’t usually evolve overnight. Like most species, they change slowly through tiny shifts passed down over thousands or millions of years. But when the world changes fast, like it has in cities over the past century, some animals keep up. 



In fact, some animals even adapt to urbanization in real time. A team of researchers recently spotted signs of that kind of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-species-are-driving-rapid-evolution/">rapid evolution</a>. The clues were found in hundreds of skills sitting quietly in drawers at the Field Museum in Chicago.



The skulls weren’t newly collected specimens - they spanned more than a century. And hidden in their measurements were subtle changes that told a bigger story.



By comparing the skulls of eastern chipmunks and eastern meadow voles collected over the past 125 years, scientists at the Field Museum uncovered signs of these animals adjusting to an increasingly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ants-can-effectively-adapt-to-urban-environments/">urban environment</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-time-machine-in-a-museum">A time machine in a museum</h2>



“Museum collections allow you to time travel,” said Stephanie Smith, a mammalogist and XCT laboratory manager at the Field Museum. 



"Instead of being limited to studying specimens collected over the course of one project, or one person’s lifetime, natural history collections allow you to look at things over a more evolutionarily relevant time scale.”



The Field Museum’s mammal collection includes over 245,000 specimens from around the world, but its home city is especially well represented. These Chicago-area animals offer a rare chance to study changes across both time and space - right in the scientists’ backyard.



“We’ve got things that are over 100 years old, and they're in just as good of shape as things that were collected literally this year,” said Smith. “We thought, this is a great resource to exploit.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comparing-rodents-in-the-city-of-chicago">Comparing rodents in the city of Chicago</h2>



The team focused on two rodent species that still call Chicago home. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-mammals-play-a-vital-role-in-maintaining-forest-health/">Chipmunks</a>, which live above ground and eat a wide range of food, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-behavior-of-voles-linked-to-oxytocin-levels/">voles</a>, which live underground and mostly stick to plants. The contrast between them was part of the point.



“We chose these two species because they have different biology, and we thought they might be responding differently to the stresses of urbanization,” said Anderson Feijó, assistant curator of mammals at the Field Museum.



Two interns with the Field Museum Women in Science program - Alyssa Stringer and Luna Bian - played a central role in the work. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rodent-skulls-and-city-adaptations">Rodent skulls and city adaptations</h2>



The researchers measured the skulls of 132 chipmunks and 193 voles. The skulls hold clues about diet, body size, and even sensory abilities.



“From the skulls, we can tell a little bit about how animals are changing in a lot of different, evolutionary relevant ways - how they're dealing with their environment and how they're taking in information,” said Smith.



Stringer and Bian measured basic features of each rodent skull, like overall length and the length of the tooth rows. 



The researchers also used 3D scanning to digitally map 82 chipmunk and 54 vole skulls. This allowed them to compare tiny differences in shape across specimens using a method called geometric morphometrics.



The results revealed small but telling shifts. Chipmunks showed an increase in skull size, but their tooth rows got shorter. 



Voles developed smaller bony structures in their skulls that are tied to hearing. The changes weren’t random - but they also weren’t clearly linked to temperature or climate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rodents-respond-to-a-louder-bigger-city">Rodents respond to a louder, bigger city</h2>



To dig deeper, the team used satellite data to track how the city grew over time. They looked at building coverage starting in the 1940s and matched those trends to the locations where specimens were collected. 



Older specimens came from areas known to be wild back then - or from downtown areas that were already developed.



“We tried very hard to come up with a way to quantify the spread of urbanization,” said Feijó. “We took advantage of satellite images showing the amount of area covered by buildings, dating back to 1940.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changes-driven-by-urbanization">Changes driven by urbanization </h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urbanization-is-a-threat-to-78-of-the-worlds-bird-species/">Urbanization</a>, not climate, seemed to drive the rodent skull changes. And the way each species adapted may reflect how it lives.



“Over the last century, chipmunks in Chicago have been getting bigger, but their teeth are getting smaller,” said Feijó. “We believe this is probably associated with the kind of food they're eating."



"They're probably eating more human-related food, which makes them bigger, but not necessarily healthier. Meanwhile, their teeth are smaller - we think it's because they're eating less hard food, like the nuts and seeds they would normally eat.”



As for the voles? The parts of their skulls that hold the inner ear - the auditory bullae - have shrunk. “We think this may relate to the city being loud - having these bones be smaller might help dampen excess environmental noise,” said Smith.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-warning-not-a-win">A warning, not a win</h2>



It might be tempting to see this as a success story - rodents adjusting to city life. But the scientists see it differently. 



The adaptations may help, but they’re not necessarily positive. Smaller teeth and smaller ear bones are symptoms of change, not signs of health.



“These findings clearly show that interfering with the environment has a detectable effect on wildlife,” said Feijó.



“Change is probably happening under your nose, and you don't see it happening unless you use resources like museum collections,” said Smith.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icb/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/icb/icaf081/8158706?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Integrative and Comparative Biology</a>.



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Chicago’s rodents are evolving with the city

Rodents don’t usually evolve overnight. Like most species, they change...

A single fertilized egg somehow manages to build skin, brain, and blood cells within a matter of days. But how do those first cells know which body parts to build? How do some cells know to create kidneys while other cells immediately start creating skin? 



Solving that puzzle has kept developmental biologists busy for more than a century, yet many lineage maps still look like unfinished sketches. 



Now an Australian team reports a tracking tool called LoxCode that labels every cell in a mouse embryo with a unique DNA tag and follows its descendants as tissues form. 



“This creates a trackable barcode, allowing us to peer inside this fundamental process with unprecedented detail,” said <a href="https://findaresearcher.wehi.edu.au/weber.ts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Tom Weber</a> of the <a href="https://www.wehi.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Walter and Eliza Hall Institute</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-loxcode-tracks-each-cell-from-the-start">LoxCode tracks each cell from the start</h2>



LoxCode relies on the Cre recombinase enzyme to shuffle short DNA cassettes, generating more than 30 billion possible <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-023-00624-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">barcodes</a> in a single step. 



Each label is copied faithfully as the embryo grows, so scientists can reconstruct family trees later by simple sequencing.



In pilot tests, the team injected the barcode cassette on day 5.5 of pregnancy, when the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/epiblast" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">epiblast</a> is still arranging its first germ layers. A week later they recovered fetuses and read the tags in bulk tissue and at single‑cell resolution.



“That tells us fate bias appears far earlier than textbooks suggest,” explained <a href="https://www.wehi.edu.au/researcher/shalin-naik/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Prof. Shalin Naik</a>, a laboratory head at WEHI. Some clones reached every corner of the embryo, while others stuck to ectoderm, blood, or limb buds.&nbsp;



By feeding the barcode data into an agent‑based model, the researchers predicted hidden asymmetries, like left‑versus‑right kidney precursors, and then confirmed them experimentally. 



Such computational cross‑checks strengthen confidence that the tags truly record biology, not sequencing noise.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-loxcode-writes-billions-of-labels">How LoxCode writes billions of labels</h2>



Earlier <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaf7907" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lineage tracing</a> systems depended on viruses or CRISPR cuts, which can damage cells or miss subtle branches. One <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04994-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CRISPR</a> recorder captured only a few hundred unique edits across a whole zebrafish, limiting resolution.



LoxCode gets around previous limitations by using 13 short pieces of DNA, arranged so that an enzyme called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/cre-recombinase" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cre recombinase</a> can shuffle them in many different ways. Once the pieces reach a smaller, stable size, the shuffling stops, locking the DNA tag in place for each cell.



Since each DNA piece is very short, these tags are easy to read using standard genetic sequencing tools. That makes the method affordable, even for labs without large budgets.



The team also created a special breed of mouse, called strain 037677, which is available from <a href="https://www.jax.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Jackson Laboratory</a>. Researchers can use it by pairing it with another mouse that activates the barcoding process in specific tissues.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revealing-hidden-bias-in-the-embryo">Revealing hidden bias in the embryo</h2>



<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4699068/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pluripotent cells</a> were long assumed to wait for external signals before picking a destiny. Yet the new data show many clones already lean toward one germ layer while the fetus is still the size of a poppy seed.



For instance, epiblast cells sitting near the forming early streak produced mostly blood and mesenchyme cells, matching earlier dye‑label <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4103" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> but adding single‑cell resolution.



Conversely, anterior clones favored neural tissues, hinting that position cues translate into lineage bias before gastrulation starts.



Unexpected asymmetries emerged too. The left limb bud often traced back to different founders than the right, suggesting randomness, not mirror symmetry, seeds the first skeletal blueprint.



Such insights could clarify why some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cellular-cleanup-helps-preserve-eggs-and-fertility/">congenital disorders</a> strike only one side of the body. LoxCode also gives stem‑cell engineers reference maps for guiding organoids toward balanced growth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-brain-growth-to-stroke-repair">From brain growth to stroke repair</h2>



Because barcoding works in live mice, investigators are already adapting it to study immune development, gut regeneration, and tumor relapse. 



A neuroscientist at the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Queensland</a> is tracing how newborn neurons integrate into adult circuits after a stroke, using LoxCode to mark progenitors at the injury edge.



Cancer biologists plan to follow how therapy‑resistant clones emerge over months of drug exposure. By back‑tracking each surviving cell to its earliest barcode, they hope to spot vulnerabilities before relapse.



Drug developers could one day screen compounds that push harmful lineages back toward healthy fates. That approach pairs naturally with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rna-breakthrough-sheds-light-on-the-beginning-of-life/">single‑cell RNA</a> profiles, revealing not just where a clone goes but how its gene programs shift along the journey.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-this-means-for-medicine">What this means for medicine</h2>



Developmental disorders often arise from mis‑timed cell decisions that happen weeks before clinical symptoms. 



With a cellular ancestry chart in hand, researchers can pinpoint the first wrong turn and design precise interventions.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vitamin-c-promotes-skin-renewal-and-anti-aging-at-the-genetic-level-dna-demethylation/">Gene therapies</a> that swap faulty DNA in founder cells might correct an entire lineage instead of treating tissues piecemeal. 



Similarly, transplant doctors could verify that lab‑grown grafts contain the right mixture of cell types before surgery.



Ethical questions will follow, especially if human embryos are ever tagged at comparable depth. For now, the focus stays on mice, where LoxCode already promises to rewrite textbooks on early embryonic patterning.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867425004611" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cell</a>.



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How do your cells know which parts of your body to build? Brilliant new tech is helping us find out

A single fertilized egg somehow manages to build skin, brain,...

Bird feeding is a cherished pastime across many cultures. Whether it’s scattering breadcrumbs near a city pond or hanging feeders outside suburban windows, millions of people engage in acts of casual care for wild birds. 



Recent research from the <a href="https://www.uark.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Arkansas</a> reveals that what we feed birds can deeply affect how they handle disease.



The study revealed that canaries on high-protein diets developed stronger immune profiles and milder symptoms when infected with Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), a pathogen common in wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hundreds-of-bird-species-could-vanish-in-the-next-century/">songbirds</a>.



“Our results are exciting because of the importance of human supplemented food in wildlife disease systems, especially wild birds, which are commonly provided with supplemental food via bird feeders,” said Erin Sauer, lead author of the study.



This research is the first to link diet with molecular-level immune differences in wildlife. It focuses on how food type - not just quantity - shapes disease outcomes in birds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protein-fed-birds-recover-faster">Protein-fed birds recover faster</h2>



The researchers divided canaries into two groups. One group received a high-protein diet made mostly of egg whites, while the other received a high-fat diet with more yolk and oil. Birds were then exposed to the MG pathogen or given a harmless placebo.



Before infection, protein-fed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-evolution-timeline-pushed-back-20-million-years-by-baminornis-zhenghensis-discovery/">birds</a> already showed increased expression of immune-related genes. After infection, lipid-fed birds had to ramp up their immune systems, while protein-fed birds maintained steady, high-level expression. This shows their immune systems were already ready.



Protein-fed birds recovered faster. Their eye inflammation - a symptom of MG - was lower and cleared quicker. Lipid-fed birds took longer to recover, with more prolonged symptoms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-immune-gene-activity-before-infection">Immune gene activity before infection</h2>



The team used RNA sequencing to analyze gene activity. Before infection, protein-fed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-are-struggling-to-keep-pace-with-a-warming-climate/">birds</a> had 267 genes upregulated related to immune defense. 



Lipid-fed birds had 248 different genes upregulated, many tied to basic cellular functions like ribosome activity, not immunity.



After infection, the contrast grew. Lipid-fed birds showed over 1,000 genes with significant changes. Protein-fed birds had only 66 such genes. 



This means lipid-fed birds had to drastically adjust their systems during infection. Protein-fed birds needed little change - they were already prepared.



Surprisingly, immune genes like JCHAIN (linked to antibody production) were seven times more active in protein-fed birds before infection. Lipid-fed birds only caught up after infection, suggesting delayed immune readiness.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-metabolic-clues-and-broader-implications">Metabolic clues and broader implications</h2>



Diet also influenced energy-related genes. Lipid-fed birds showed signs of stress in genes tied to mitochondrial function and insulin regulation. 



One gene, LEPR (leptin receptor), responded in opposite ways between the two groups. This points to broader metabolic differences that could influence disease tolerance.



These molecular effects mirror patterns seen in wild house finches that have evolved tolerance to MG. This suggests that simple dietary changes can mimic the effects of natural selection.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-backyard-bird-lovers-can-do">What backyard bird lovers can do</h2>



So what can people feeding backyard <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-may-be-using-quantum-physics-for-migration/">birds</a> take from this study?



Sauer suggests giving birds high-protein and nutrient-dense options. These include suet with seeds, mealworms, peanuts, and sunflower seeds. These foods support birds’ immune systems and overall condition.



Avoid feeding mostly cracked corn, millet, or bread. These offer limited nutritional value. Still, birds may need more fat during winter or migration, so balance matters. Birds will often choose what they need most.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protein-can-boost-birds-survival">Protein can boost birds' survival</h2>



This study shows that everyday actions, like feeding birds, can directly impact their survival and overall health. While feeding may seem harmless or routine, the type of food offered plays a critical role. 



Poor-quality food can weaken birds' immune systems, making them less able to fight infections and recover from illness.



As human activity continues to reshape natural landscapes and spread disease more widely, our role in supporting wildlife becomes even more important. 



The research reminds us that meaningful change often begins with small, consistent habits. Offering nutrient-rich, protein-balanced food helps birds stay strong, boost immunity, and recover faster when sick or stressed.



Even simple choices at backyard feeders, such as selecting better ingredients, can strengthen birds’ natural defenses. These actions become a powerful way to support bird populations. 



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17793" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Molecular Ecology</a>.



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Protein helps birds prepare to fight off infection

Bird feeding is a cherished pastime across many cultures. Whether...

Giant,Male,Cuttlefish,With,Stripe,Tentacles

When we imagine the ancient oceans, we often picture massive reptiles and shelled ammonites dominating the waters. For decades, paleontologists believed these creatures ruled the Mesozoic Era without much competition. 



However, a new study from Hokkaido University&nbsp;challenges that idea by revealing the unexpected dominance of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-squid-power-their-amazing-camouflage-abilities/">ancient</a> squids.



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



Squids are remarkable marine invertebrates belonging to the class <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopus-and-squid-senses-linked-to-human-brain-evolution/">Cephalopoda</a>, which they share with octopuses and cuttlefish. Their biology showcases some of nature’s most fascinating adaptations. 



Squids possess a mantle cavity for jet propulsion, using rapid water expulsion to move with precision and speed. Their large, complex eyes rival those of vertebrates, providing excellent vision crucial for detecting predators and prey in the dimly lit depths. 



Internally, they have a beak-like jaw and a radula for processing food, typically fish and crustaceans. One of their most iconic features is their ability to release ink, a defense mechanism that creates a smokescreen, enabling a quick escape.



Behaviorally, squids exhibit <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-unlock-the-light-bending-secrets-of-squid-skin/">sophisticated camouflage</a> through chromatophores - pigment-filled cells controlled by the nervous system - that allow them to change color almost instantly. Some species also display bioluminescence via symbiotic bacteria or light-producing organs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-squids-with-fossil-rocks">Studying squids with fossil rocks</h2>



The research shows that squids were already dominant ocean predators 100 million years ago. This changes what scientists believed about life in ancient seas.



The team used a new technique to scan <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/living-baby-colossal-squid-captured-on-video-for-the-first-time-ever/">fossil</a> rocks. They fully digitized the rocks in 3D without breaking them open. This helped them find over 1,000 fossilized beaks of ancient cephalopods. 



Out of these, 263 were from squids. About 40 of those belonged to species that scientists had never seen before.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-squids-rarely-leave-fossils">Squids rarely leave fossils</h2>



Squids have soft bodies that decay quickly after death. Unlike animals with bones or shells, they leave behind very little for scientists to find. 



This makes it hard to trace their history through fossils. However, squids have tough beaks, which they use like jaws to catch and eat prey. These beaks are strong enough to survive over millions of years in rock.



Cephalopods, the group that includes squids, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-could-dominate-earth-if-humans-vanish/">octopuses</a>, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cuttlefish-have-passed-marshmallow-test-designed-for-kids-proving-cephalopods-intelligence/">cuttlefish</a>, have existed for about 500 million years. But it’s been difficult for scientists to figure out exactly when squids first appeared and how they changed over time.



Because full squid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-deep-sea-squid-discovered-that-broods-giant-eggs/">fossils</a> are rare, researchers have had limited evidence to work with. This study changes that. 



By finding hundreds of ancient squid beaks in 100-million-year-old rocks, scientists now have solid proof that squids were already present and had formed many different species. It fills in a major gap in our understanding of their ancient history.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-squids-dominated-the-ocean">Ancient squids dominated the ocean</h2>



The researchers found more squid fossils than those of ammonites and bony fish. That came as a surprise. Ammonites had shells and were thought to be the most successful swimmers of the Mesozoic era.



“In both number and size, these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/squid-mating-tactics-are-determined-by-birth-date/">ancient</a> squids clearly prevailed the seas,” said Dr. Shin Ikegami of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Hokkaido University, the study’s first author. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/squids_dominated-oceans_100-million-years-ago_grinding-tomography_Ikegami_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/squids_dominated-oceans_100-million-years-ago_grinding-tomography_Ikegami_1s.webp" alt="The digital fossil-mining method utilizes grinding tomography to create digitized rocks and reveal hidden fossils within them. Credit: Ikegami et al., Science" class="wp-image-1975747"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The digital fossil-mining method utilizes grinding tomography to create digitized rocks and reveal hidden fossils within them. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Ikegami et al., Science</figcaption></figure>



“Their body sizes were as large as fish and even bigger than the ammonites we found alongside them. This shows us that squids were thriving as the most abundant swimmers in the ancient ocean.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-squids-in-ancient-oceans">Modern squids in ancient oceans</h2>



The study found that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopsida" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Myopsida</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oegopsida" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oegopsida</a> squids existed 100 million years ago. These two groups are still present today. Myopsida live near the shore. Oegopsida live in the open ocean.



Earlier theories suggested ancient squids evolved rapidly after the extinction of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-did-dinosaurs-come-from-missing-fossils-hold-the-secret/">dinosaurs</a>. That extinction happened 65 million years ago. But this study shows squids had already diversified long before that event.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-early-apex-hunters">Early apex hunters</h2>



Associate Professor Yasuhiro Iba of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at <a href="https://www.global.hokudai.ac.jp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hokkaido University</a> led the study.



“These findings change everything we thought we knew about marine ecosystems in the past,” said Iba. “Squids were probably the pioneers of fast and intelligent swimmers that dominate the modern ocean.”



The new fossil data shows that squids had already taken important roles in the ocean. They were not just survivors. 



They were already key predators in their ecosystems. Their numbers, size, and early diversity support that conclusion.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-ocean-evolution">Rethinking ocean evolution</h2>



Squids are among the most active, adaptable, and intelligent invertebrates living in today’s oceans. They use complex behaviors, advanced movement, and sharp sensory skills to survive in both coastal and deep-sea environments. 



Because of their importance in modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fishing-removes-key-nutrients-from-marine-ecosystems/">marine ecosystems</a>, understanding their origins can help scientists piece together the long history of ocean life.



By studying when ancient squids first appeared and how they spread into different habitats, researchers can trace the development of major evolutionary traits. These include fast swimming, hunting techniques, and even early signs of intelligence. 



Such insights also offer a clearer picture of how ancient marine ecosystems functioned and how they changed over time.



This new study provides strong evidence that many squid species were already established and thriving 100 million years ago - long before the mass extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs. 



Their presence was not small or recent. Instead, they played a major role in shaping ocean life far earlier than we previously believed.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu6248" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Squids dominated ancient oceans 100 million years ago

When we imagine the ancient oceans, we often picture massive...

Earth’s oceans keep long, detailed logs of climate change, and some of the best pages come from fusulines - shells smaller than a grain of sand. 



A recent study shows that these tiny record‑keepers flourished when the planet cooled yet nearly vanished, twice, when volcanic heat spiked global temperatures.



The work was led by Professor Shuzhong Shen of <a href="https://www.nju.edu.cn/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nanjing University</a>. The research team stitched together 299 rock sections and 1,391 fossil <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-finally-confirm-species-identity-of-the-dragon-man-fossil-skull-denisovan/">species</a> to build an unusually sharp picture of past marine life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fusulines-recorded-carbon-changes">Fusulines recorded carbon changes</h2>



The stars of the study are <a href="https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discovering-geology/fossils-and-geological-time/foraminifera/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">foraminifera</a>, single‑celled protists that build carbonate shells. One order, Fusulinida, blanketed the seafloor from 344 million to 252 million years ago and behaved like “carbonate rock factories,” pumping out vast reefs as they grew.



Shen’s data reveal two bursts of diversification, one during late <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/carboniferous" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Carboniferous</a> cooling and another as the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Permian-Period" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Permian</a> began. 



The first wave produced small, simple shells; the second favored larger forms with honeycomb‑like walls that likely hosted photosynthetic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossil-discovery-pushes-back-reptile-evolution-by-40-million-years/">partners</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fusulines-declined-in-warm-spikes">Fusulines declined in warm spikes</h2>



When the climate <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba6853" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cooled</a>, glaciers locked up water, sea levels dropped, and new shallow habitats opened. Fusuline species counts tripled during that 40‑million‑year chill, echoing a pattern seen in later planktonic cousins during the Cenozoic cooling trend.



Warm pulses told a different story. The Kasimovian warming about 304 million years ago wiped out roughly 45 percent of fusuline species in less than one million years, and the curve plunged again as temperatures climbed between 294 million and 284 million years ago.



The end‑Permian supervolcano sealed their fate. During that episode, 59.5 percent of remaining species disappeared in a window shorter than the span between human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-modern-fossils-will-be-the-most-surprising-to-future-explorers/">generations</a> today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-from-volcanoes-drove-extinctions">Carbon from volcanoes drove extinctions</h2>



Shen’s timeline lines up each extinction spike with a pulse of basalt from giant volcanic provinces such as Emeishan and Siberia. 



Those eruptions injected <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo3031" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon dioxide</a> fast enough to heat surface oceans by 5 to 10 °F, acidify seawater, and strip it of oxygen, a triple hit <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/benthic-organisms" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">benthic organisms</a> could not dodge.



Carbon‑isotope <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/111/9/3316" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> show the oceans turned more acidic whenever the 87Sr/86Sr ratio dipped, a fingerprint of fresh volcanic rock weathering. 



At the same time, modeled oxygen levels dropped below the threshold needed to support large seafloor life - matching modern observations where foraminiferal diversity declines sharply in low-oxygen zones



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orbital-cycles-mattered-less">Orbital cycles mattered less</h2>



Beyond the headline crashes, Shen’s team spotted weak but persistent <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Milankovitch cycles</a>, grand wobbles in Earth’s orbit that last around two million and one million years. 



During the minima of those cycles, gentler seasons may have favored glacier growth and nutrient runoff, nudging speciation upward.



The cycles explain no more than ten percent of the diversity curve, yet their fingerprint is clear enough to remind us that even slow orbital nudges modulate life. 



Still, the sharpest rises and falls match rapid volcanic events, confirming that climate severity, not orbital pacing, set the main tempo.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-rise-threatens-ocean-life-again">Carbon rise threatens ocean life again</h2>



“Mitigating climate change and protecting ecosystems is an urgent task of our time,” emphasized Professor Shen. The study’s most sobering line compares rates of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossil-euarthropod-youti-yuanshi-lived-520-million-years-ago-insect-evolution/">ancient</a> warming with today’s rates.&nbsp;



Current <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12060277/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human‑driven warming</a> runs at least ten times faster than the pace that eliminated fusulines, and modern reef‑building calcifiers already show stress in warmer, more acidic seas. 



If past is prologue, sustained greenhouse gas emissions could push today’s carbonate shell builders, corals, coccolithophores, large benthic foraminifera, toward the same cliff.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-linked-extinction-cycles">Carbon-linked extinction cycles</h2>



To reach sub‑45,000‑year resolution, the team fed every first‑ and last‑appearance datum into a constrained‑optimization algorithm called <a href="https://www.nhm.uio.no/english/research/resources/past/help/conop.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CONOP</a>. 



Supercomputers iterated millions of possible stratigraphic orders until the tightest fit emerged, turning scattered field data into a single high‑definition timeline.



Rarefaction tests showed that sampling gaps do not skew the pattern; three different resample sizes reproduced the same peaks and troughs. 



By filtering out trends longer than ten million years, the researchers isolated the shorter cycles that hint at orbital pacing.



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



The experts then ran multivariate regressions against seven environmental proxies, from carbon isotopes to sea‑level curves. 



The best model, which combines carbon dioxide, seawater strontium, oxygen availability, and carbon isotopes, explains 81 percent of the diversity swings, leaving little doubt that physical climate set the rules of life and death for fusulines.



Fusulines vanished, but their story still speaks. They show that rapid warming can silence even dominant, resilient lineages, and they underline how cooling phases can seed explosive innovation.



Marine ecosystems today sit at a similar junction, with greenhouse gases climbing and volcanic analogs replaced by smokestacks and exhaust pipes. 



The fossil record offers no comfort that life can adapt at the speed we are forcing, but it does offer a clear warning.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adv2549" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Tiny ocean creatures have always gone extinct during Earth's past climate warming periods

Earth’s oceans keep long, detailed logs of climate change, and...

We know the oceans are changing. But how have they changed over the last half-billion years? Until now, we had no clear measure of how the total mass of ocean life - not just its variety - has evolved over deep time. 



In a first-of-its-kind effort, scientists from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> measured how the biomass of marine organisms - the actual amount of living material in the ocean - has changed over the last 540 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-long-term-changes-in-ocean-life">Long-term changes in ocean life</h2>



The study shows a long-term trend of rising <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-causes-biomass-loss-beyond-directly-affected-areas/">biomass</a>, with noticeable crashes during major extinction events. This pattern closely tracks with known increases in marine biodiversity, suggesting a deep link between how much life the ocean holds and how varied that life is.



Study lead author Pulkit Singh is a postdoctoral scholar in Earth and Planetary Sciences in the <a href="https://sustainability.stanford.edu/">Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability</a>.



“Understanding the amount of biomass is important because it represents key traits about an ecosystem that are not captured by the number of species or even the number of niches that they fill,” said Singh.



“But as we move into the past, our measurements of biomass are very limited, so that was the big gap in biological history we wanted to fill with our study.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ocean-life-changes-across-history">Ocean life changes across history</h2>



Getting to this result took years of meticulous work. Singh and his team dug into data from over 7,700 marine limestone samples spanning hundreds of millions of years. 



The samples came from more than 100 published studies and Singh’s own data collection. Each rock was cut and polished into slices thin enough for light to pass through, then examined under a microscope. 



Using a method called petrographic point-counting, the researchers calculated what percentage of each sample was made up of skeletal remains - <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossilized-shells-can-help-predict-the-impacts-of-climate-change/">shells</a> from animals, certain algae, and single-celled protists.



It’s not just busywork. The amount of shell material in these rocks tells scientists how much living material existed at different points in Earth’s history. 



More shells in the ocean generally mean more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/all-living-things-emit-a-subtle-glow-that-ceases-at-death/">living things</a>. And more life usually means more energy flowing through ecosystems - a strong signal of planetary health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-challenge-of-measuring-biomass">The challenge of measuring biomass </h2>



Tracking <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-biodiversity-crisis-is-actually-worse-than-we-thought/">biodiversity</a> through deep time has been part of science since the 19th century. But measuring biomass - the total amount of living material - is a much rarer effort. 



Measuring biomass demands massive amounts of data and offers no guarantee of a clear pattern.



“The first quantitative effort to document and graph biodiversity across geological time was made in 1860, but until Pulkit’s paper, there’s never been a corresponding biomass-across-time paper,” noted senior study author Professor Jonathan Payne. 



“I’m impressed by his intellectual courage to go and take a chance on a project like this.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biomass-over-millions-of-years">Biomass over millions of years</h2>



The earliest rocks examined, from the Cambrian period about 540 million years ago, showed low shell content - under 10 percent on average. 



By the Ordovician, starting around 485 million years ago, shell percentages rose. This increase lines up with the Cambrian Explosion, a period when life rapidly diversified.



Early on, sponges were major players. Later, they were overtaken by echinoderms (ancestors of starfish) and arthropods like trilobites. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-gradual-increase-in-biomass">A gradual increase in biomass </h2>



Over the next 230 million years, shell content stayed mostly above 20 percent, aside from big dips during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-life-became-strangely-uniform-after-earths-worst-mass-extinction/">mass extinctions</a>.



One of the sharpest declines came during the Permian-Triassic extinction about 250 million years ago - the “Great Dying.” Shell material dropped to just 3 percent. 



Life rebounded after that, although smaller setbacks followed during the end-Triassic and the well-known Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction 66 million years ago.



In our current era - the Cenozoic - shell volume climbed above 40 percent, boosted by creatures like mollusks and corals. “The overall pattern that we were able to capture is that it’s a gradual increase,” Singh said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-consistent-biological-patterns">Consistent biological patterns </h2>



The team knew they had to rule out alternative explanations. Maybe shell-boring predators were less common in the past. Maybe certain environments were overrepresented in the data. 



To check, the researchers sorted samples by depth, latitude, and geological setting. The trend held steady.



“The more tests we did and the more we divided our dataset, we realized that these big biological patterns we were seeing stayed over time,” Singh said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-did-ocean-life-keep-growing">Why did ocean life keep growing?</h2>



The answer may come down to diversity. As life evolved to fill more ecological roles, it got better at using available energy. Organisms became more specialized, more interconnected. 



That allowed ecosystems to recycle nutrients more efficiently - from sunlight-eating phytoplankton to decomposers returning nutrients to the cycle.



“The overall idea is that there is more food available in ecosystems and because of that, the ecosystems can support more life, there’s more energy available, and that leads to greater abundance expressed in biomass,” Singh said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humans-are-rapidly-changing-ocean-life">Humans are rapidly changing ocean life</h2>



The study paints a long view of life’s upward climb, but it ends before the modern age. Today’s oceans face threats from overfishing, pollution, acidification, and climate change. 



Researchers agree - we’re already in the middle of a human-caused sixth mass extinction. And if biodiversity keeps falling, we may see long-term drops in biomass too - with effects that could last millions of years.



“From our study’s perspective, modern times are quite complicated given the extent of human activity that’s rapidly altering conditions planetwide, including in the oceans,” said Payne. 



“But our findings show that overall biomass is linked to biodiversity and that losses in biodiversity may suppress productivity for geologically meaningful intervals, adding one more argument of why conserving biodiversity is essential for the health of humans and our planet.”



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982225007353">Current Biology</a>.



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Fossils reveal 500 million years of changes in ocean life

We know the oceans are changing. But how have they...

For 50 years, scientists believed that fish schools saved energy by swimming in diamond formations. This view, rooted in models by Weihs and Lighthill from the 1970s, shaped decades of research and robotic design. 



However, new research from <a href="https://www.princeton.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Princeton</a> and <a href="https://www.harvard.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harvard</a> scientists turns that theory on its head. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-fish-species-are-the-big-catch-of-the-future/">Fish</a> don't move in neat, flat diamonds. Instead, they prefer dynamic, three-dimensional ladders.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-look-at-fish-schooling-patterns">A new look at fish schooling patterns</h2>



The researchers tracked six giant danios swimming continuously for ten hours in a recirculating flow tank. They used synchronized side and bottom cameras, along with deep learning software, to collect detailed 3D data on fish positions. 



This advanced setup allowed the team to record over 260,000 frames where at least four fish were clearly visible and trackable from both views.



The findings challenged long-held assumptions about fish schooling patterns. Only 0.1% of the frames showed fish in the classical diamond formation, long thought to be the most energy efficient. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-mostly-swim-in-ladders">Fish mostly swim in ladders</h2>



Instead, the fish predominantly adopted a new three-dimensional arrangement termed the ladder formation. In this pattern, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-fish-provide-climate-resilient-nutrition-for-a-warming-world/">fish</a> were staggered vertically, with some swimming slightly above or below others, rather than maintaining a flat side-by-side structure.



The ladder pattern appeared in 79% of fish pairings, making it by far the most common. Additionally, only 25.2% of all fish pairs swam in the same horizontal plane. This indicates that vertical positioning is a key feature of natural fish school behavior, something that earlier two-dimensional studies overlooked. 



The study reveals that fish prefer dynamic 3D arrangements that likely reduce drag without requiring precise alignment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-fish-ladder-works">Why the fish ladder works</h2>



“When swimming, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-alternative-seafood-can-help-save-our-oceans/">fish</a> on average generate a jet going backward, like the jet engine of a plane,” said Hungtang Ko, lead author of the study. Staying out of that jet reduces drag.



The ladder formation allows this. A fish swims slightly above or below the one in front, avoiding the jet while still staying close. This creates energy savings similar to the diamond model but with less need for perfect timing or alignment.



The diamond model assumes fish must synchronize tail beats and stay level. But in real schools, coordination varies. Fish rarely beat tails in exact anti-phase, a condition the diamond pattern needs to be effective.



Even in controlled experiments, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-are-quietly-battling-climate-change-on-the-seabed/">fish</a> constantly rearranged positions. The average pattern changed every 48 seconds for individuals and 32 seconds for the whole school.



Ko’s team observed that fish ladder formations shift based on flow rate. As speed increased from 1.6 to 5.6 body-lengths per second, the fish ladder stretched longer. This adaptation resembled behavior in other biological collectives, like fire ant rafts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-fish-in-three-dimensions">Tracking fish in three dimensions</h2>



Older studies limited fish to shallow tanks or still water, forcing unnatural formations. This experiment used deeper tanks and steady flow, removing boundary effects. 



The researchers trained AI to detect nose and tail positions in 3D space using SLEAP.ai and a custom MATLAB pipeline.



According to the heatmaps, fish were most likely to swim either above and behind, or below and ahead, of a partner - never directly inline.



This ladder structure formed naturally, not by training or conditioning. It shows how real-world conditions reshape what we think of as “efficient.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-this-matters-beyond-biology">Why this matters beyond biology</h2>



The Nagpal lab is designing robot fish swarms inspired by these new insights. By mimicking ladder formations, underwater robots might conserve energy, move more smoothly, and navigate better in tasks like reef monitoring.



“The collaboration is a two-way street,” said Ko. “We can use computer vision to discover how and why animal groups do things together. And then we can ask, what kind of real-world robotic system could this biological insight be applied to?”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-schools-conserve-energy">Fish schools conserve energy </h2>



This study shows that energy savings don’t come from holding a perfect formation. Instead, savings come from many temporary, varied arrangements. 



Even fish that constantly shift positions still gain benefits by staying out of each other's wake.



The study also raises new questions. Can robot fish switch positions while still conserving energy? Do vertical ladders work better in turbulent water? Future experiments, especially using robotic models, may find answers.



For now, one thing is certain. Nature prefers complexity over perfection. Fish don't swim in flat diamonds. They climb invisible ladders, one body length at a time.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-06150-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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Fish swim in schools by stacking like ladder rungs

For 50 years, scientists believed that fish schools saved energy...

Climate, geology, and biology together gave rise to one of Earth’s most dramatic turning points: the Cambrian explosion. About 530 million years ago, most of the basic body plans of organisms that have survived until now emerged.



Yet a new study argues that key elements of this revolutionary event actually took shape earlier - perhaps ten-plus million years before the formal start of the Cambrian Period.



The research relies not on bones or shells, but on trace fossils - the tracks, burrows, and other imprints left by organisms as they crawled through ancient sediments.



Co-authors Olmo Miguez Salas of the <a href="https://web.ub.edu/web/ub/">University of Barcelona</a> and Zekun Wang of London’s <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum</a> analyzed these subtle signatures. 



The goal was to reconstruct early animal anatomy and behavior during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition, roughly 545 million years ago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossil-traces-reveal-ancient-life">Fossil traces reveal ancient life</h2>



Traditional fossil studies skew toward creatures with hard parts, because bones and shells preserve most readily in rock. Trace fossils capture a different story: the activities of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-first-animals-were-very-picky-about-where-they-lived/">soft-bodied animals</a> that rarely leave skeletal remains.



“The trace fossil record provides valuable information about evolutionary periods when soft-bodied fauna were dominant,” Miguez Salas said.



“Fossil traces reflect the behavior of the organism that generates them, which is determined by habitat and responses to environmental stimuli. Therefore, they are an indicator of the palaeoecological conditions in which the organisms that generated them lived.”



That focus is especially useful for the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, a time when soft-bodied organisms still outnumbered shelly ones and ecological dynamics were in rapid flux.



Early burrowers and crawlers disturbed microbial mats on the seafloor. This paved the way for new feeding strategies, novel body plans, and ultimately the hard-part explosion more familiar to paleontologists.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-show-how-life-moved">Fossils show how life moved</h2>



By quantifying the widths, lengths, and winding patterns of fossil trackways such as Archaeonassa, Gordia, Helminthopsis, and Parapsammichnites, the team derived scaling laws that link track size to the animals’ own proportions. 



The results show that organisms with streamlined, elongated profiles were already active 545 million years ago.



“These organisms probably possessed coelomic hydrostatic bodies, with an anteroposterior axis, muscles, and possibly segmentation,” Miguez Salas said.



“Furthermore, these organisms could move in a specific direction (directional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/not-all-kangaroo-ancestors-hopped-as-a-means-of-locomotion/">locomotion</a>) and probably possessed sensory capabilities to move and feed on heterogeneous substrates in a habitat dominated by microbial mats.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-traits-predate-cambrian-explosion">Traits predate Cambrian explosion</h2>



Such abilities - directional crawling, muscular movement, possible segmentation - echo the hallmarks of bilaterian animals that dominate the modern biosphere. 



If those traits existed well before 530 million years ago, then the lineage-splitting events that scientists historically assign to the Cambrian must have roots in the late <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/591-million-years-ago-complex-life-emerged-on-earth-magnetic-field-ediacaran-period/">Ediacaran</a>.



“Therefore, the so-called Cambrian explosion and its evolutionary implications may have occurred much earlier than estimated,” Miguez Salas added.



Instead of a sudden burst, the data point toward a protracted interval of experimentation. Ecological engineering by active burrowers created niches that later organisms exploited.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-math-reveals-ancient-mobility">Math reveals ancient mobility</h2>



Until now, suggestions of pre-Cambrian complexity leaned heavily on qualitative observations - isolated sites showing possible bilateral tracks or ambiguous body impressions. What sets the new paper apart is its mathematical approach.



The authors modeled modern track size to body length, then applied that scaling framework to ancient trace fossils. The outcome is a statistically grounded estimate of early animal width, length, and locomotion speed.



“This new discovery opens the door to quantitatively study future Ediacara trace fossils and to corroborate that the explosion did not happen in the Cambrian, but many millions of years earlier,” Miguez Salas said.



The same scaling rules could probe other critical transitions, such as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-worms-sparked-explosive-evolutionary-period-of-life-on-earth/">Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event</a>, offering a consistent yardstick for comparing evolutionary shifts across geologic time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-shift-life-s-timeline">Fossils shift life’s timeline</h2>



If complex bilaterians were shaping seafloor habitats 545 million years ago, paleontologists must rethink long-held assumptions. Environmental and genetic triggers like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rewrite-the-textbooks-life-on-earth-did-not-arise-due-to-increased-oxygen-levels/">oxygen</a> rise, ocean shifts, or gene changes may need rethinking for the Cambrian proper. 



Those factors may have been in motion earlier, with the visible “explosion” marking only the point when hard parts made diversity easier to preserve.



The study also underscores how behaviors - burrowing, mat-grazing, sediment mixing - can serve as evolutionary catalysts. Mobile animals turning over sediment could have unleashed nutrients, altered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-laid-the-foundation-for-early-life-on-earth/">microbial communities</a>, and spurred arms races that drove further innovation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-fossils-may-still-reveal">What fossils may still reveal</h2>



Future expeditions into late Ediacaran strata may uncover additional trace fossil assemblages to test the new timeline. 



High-resolution 3D scans, geochemical proxies, and refined radiometric dating can link track-making horizons to precise ages and environmental conditions.



Meanwhile, the mathematical framework introduced by Miguez Salas and Wang equips researchers worldwide to translate faint surface scribbles into vivid portraits of Earth’s earliest movers and shakers.



In shifting the Cambrian explosion’s fuse back several million years, the fossil record reminds us that life’s history often blurs textbook boundaries. Evolution, like geology itself, tends to roll out gradually - until we gather the evidence to see its subtler steps.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G53332.1/655874/Quantitative-decoding-of-Ediacaran-locomotory">Geology</a>.



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Cambrian explosion: Fossils push back the rise of complex life

Climate, geology, and biology together gave rise to one of...

We used to think leopard seals had broad diets, but new research suggests that many individuals are picky eaters - with big consequences.



While the species as a whole eats many prey types, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/harbor-seals-rely-on-visual-cues-to-navigate-cloudy-waters/">individual</a> seals often specialize. This pattern has ecosystem-wide effects, especially in the predator-rich waters off Cape Shirreff.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leopard-seals-prefer-specific-diets">Leopard seals prefer specific diets</h2>



The research team analyzed stable isotope values (δ15N and δ13C) from 46 whiskers of 34 seals. This long-term data covered a decade. 



The results showed that 59% of the seals were dietary specialists, 28% were intermediates, and only 13% were true generalists.



Specialists fall into two categories. High trophic level specialists likely hunt fur <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seal-pregnancies-reveal-clues-for-treating-birth-complications/">seal</a> pups and large fish. Medium to low trophic level specialists target krill, penguins, and cephalopods. 



The research suggests that individual differences in diet shape local food webs more than previously assumed.



“Even though leopard seals as a species eat a wide variety of prey, most individuals actually focus on just a few types of food,” said study co-author Dr. Emily Sperou from <a href="https://www.baylor.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Baylor University</a>. 



“This means that a few highly specialized seals can have a much bigger effect on certain prey populations than we previously thought.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-seal-diets-don-t-change">Some seal diets don’t change</h2>



The study revealed two long-term foraging styles. Some individuals, like seal 397, maintained high trophic level specialization for up to ten years. 



Others, like seal 12, changed diets significantly across five years, from specialist to generalist.



This variability suggests behavioral flexibility. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/elephant-seals-provide-a-window-into-the-oceans-twilight-zone/">Seals</a> might shift strategies depending on prey availability or competition. Such changes could buffer the species against ecosystem shifts.



“A few specialists can help shape entire ecosystems,” said study co-author Dr. Patrick Charapata. 



“Understanding these patterns in leopard seals and other top predators can help us better predict and manage changes to prey populations and the greater ecosystem these species live in.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leopard-seal-diets-and-prey-populations">Leopard seal diets and prey populations </h2>



Larger female leopard seals were found to consistently feed at higher trophic levels compared to males. This means they targeted prey that are themselves predators or occupy higher positions in the food web. 



Interestingly, all the individuals identified as high-level dietary specialists in the study were female. Their greater body size likely plays a key role in this pattern. 



Bigger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weddell-seals-have-a-surprising-survival-strategy/">seals</a> are physically capable of capturing and consuming larger, more energy-dense prey, such as Antarctic fur seal pups. This access to richer food sources gives them an energetic advantage and increases their impact on prey populations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-individuals-with-a-large-impact">Individuals with a large impact</h2>



The data also showed that females had broader isotopic ranges in their whisker samples. This suggests they influence a wider range of the ecosystem through their feeding habits. They do not just eat more; they affect more parts of the food web.



A few large females were found to be responsible for most of the observed predation on fur seal pups. One individual, identified as seal 397, stood out in particular. She had the highest number of recorded pup captures in the study. 



Her method involved ambush style attacks, showing strategic hunting behavior that likely made her even more effective. This highlights how a small number of powerful individuals can have an outsized effect on an ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diets-change-with-prey-numbers">Diets change with prey numbers</h2>



The data revealed a sharp drop in δ15N values between 2015 and 2017. This trend aligns with a known decline in Antarctic fur seals and some penguin species. Researchers believe the drop reflects a reduction in nitrogen-rich prey.



From 2017 to 2023, the number of leopard seals at Cape Shirreff fell by 76 percent. The few that remained, like seal 397, regained access to higher trophic prey. As competition dropped, δ15N values began rising again.



The study reshapes how we think about predator roles. Individual specialization can reshape ecosystems. Just a few high-impact predators may shift prey dynamics dramatically.



For instance, a pod of five orcas once consumed 8,500 sea otters annually. Leopard seals may be exerting similar pressure on fur seal colonies.



Current conservation strategies often assume that all individuals in a species behave alike. But this study warns against such assumptions. Ignoring individual-level behavior might cause poor management decisions, especially under climate stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leopard-seals-and-prey-dynamics">Leopard seals and prey dynamics</h2>



The study relied on stable isotope data but did not include direct prey identification. Future research could pair isotopic signatures with tracking and observational data.



While this study was focused on Cape Shirreff, genetic data indicate that these findings may apply to leopard seals across the Southern Ocean.



The research shows how a few individual predators can shape the fates of entire species. Leopard seals remind us that even in the coldest oceans, personal dietary choices matter.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71593" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ecology and Evolution</a>.



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Leopard seal diets are reshaping Antarctic ecosystems

We used to think leopard seals had broad diets, but...

Once thought unique to humans, grief may exist in other species too. New research from Osaka University shows that Japanese macaques react to dying and dead group members with surprising emotion.



Published in the journal Primates, the study reveals responses beyond mothers mourning infants. It focuses instead on how macaques behave around dying or deceased adult <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/assamese-macaques-show-how-aging-affects-our-social-networks/">companions</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-macaques-stay-near-dying-friends-nbsp">Macaques stay near dying friends&nbsp;</h2>



Japanese macaques live in complex societies and form long-term grooming partnerships. Researchers tracked grooming and proximity over several years to explore whether social <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-tolerance-helps-monkeys-pass-along-new-skills/">closeness</a> influenced their behavior during death-related events.



“It’s incredibly rare to document these kinds of behaviors in wild animals,” said lead author Masayuki Nakamichi from <a href="https://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Osaka University</a>. 



Macaques with strong grooming histories often stayed close to the deceased. Others kept their distance, especially when they had no prior bond.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-visible-decay-alters-behavior">Visible decay alters behavior</h2>



Maggots played a central role in group reactions. In three of the four documented deaths, the bodies showed infestation. This strongly affected how others responded.



Monkeys typically avoided touching or approaching maggot-covered individuals. Some jumped away after sniffing the wound. Others looked and then left quickly.



Yet in one exceptional case, the group’s alpha female, Pet, groomed a dying male named Rikinio even as flies swarmed around him. She picked maggots from his back and ate them.



“The fact that some individuals remained near deceased <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sulawesi-macaques-face-unknown-threats-from-plastic-waste/">companions</a> they had close relationships with suggests that these macaques have emotional capacities that resemble human compassion,” said study co-author Kazunori Yamada.



This behavior suggests macaques can form deep attachments and remain emotionally affected by death.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-macaques-react-to-different-deaths">Macaques react to different deaths</h2>



Case 1 featured Rikinio, a high-ranking male wounded by a rival. Most macaques avoided him once his wound became infested. Pet alone groomed him and consumed maggots during the process.



Case 2 followed another male, K75, who declined from old age. Though his body showed no visible wounds, flies and rain had changed his appearance. Familiar group members hesitated to come near, possibly recalling his earlier condition.



Case 3 involved Pet79, a female from the dominant kin group. After returning from a long absence, she was groomed by her daughters. A month later, with maggots visible in her wounds, even close family avoided her.



Case 4 described Pet87, who died in winter. His body had no maggots. Group members remained close. A juvenile female groomed his corpse. Her mother had groomed Pet87 regularly when he was alive.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disease-avoidance-may-play-a-role">Disease avoidance may play a role</h2>



Macaques appear to avoid corpses showing signs of infestation. This may be a survival behavior. Avoiding flies and maggots likely reduces the risk of disease.



Many reacted by sniffing their fingers after contact or rubbing them on the ground. These actions suggest discomfort triggered by smell or touch.



When the corpse showed no damage or signs of infestation, macaques behaved calmly and remained nearby. This pattern supports the idea that visible decay, more than death itself, shapes avoidance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-death-awareness-in-macaques">Death awareness in macaques</h2>



Some behaviors hint at cognitive recognition of death. One low-ranking male, who avoided a higher-ranking male while alive, stayed near his corpse. Possibly, he understood the male no longer posed a threat.



Other group members hesitated to enter areas where a corpse lay still. This unusual caution may reflect recognition that something was not normal.



These findings suggest that macaques feel <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hurricane-on-monkey-island-made-macaques-more-socially-tolerant/">emotions</a> like grief and compassion, at least in simple forms. The depth of their understanding remains unclear, but their actions show social bonds do not always end with death.



“More observations of death-related events in more species will be needed to fully understand the emotional responses of non-human primates to the dead,” said Nakamichi.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-path-forward-in-primate-thanatology">Path forward in primate thanatology</h2>



To learn more, the researchers want to combine behavioral studies with physiological data. Measuring hormone levels, tracking stress responses, and observing reactions to smell may offer deeper insights.



Chimpanzees, for example, show aversion to the scent of putrescine, a chemical linked to decay. Similar tests in macaques may reveal if scent triggers their aversion or if vision plays a bigger role.



This study challenges long-held beliefs about grief. Japanese macaques show emotion toward the dying and dead, guided by bonds and sensory cues.



They remind us that even in the forest, empathy may bloom. Loss does not go unnoticed.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-025-01196-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Primates</a>.



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Japanese macaques have social bonds that persist beyond death

Once thought unique to humans, grief may exist in other...

Squid are famous for flashing from glass-clear to kaleidoscopic in the blink of an eye, but biologists have long puzzled over the physical trick behind the act.



A research team led by the <a href="https://www.uci.edu/">University of California, Irvine</a>, joined by cephalopod experts at the <a href="https://www.mbl.edu/">Marine Biological Laboratory</a> in Woods Hole, took that mystery head-on.



By peering into squid skin in three dimensions, they uncovered a hidden forest of nano-columns built from an uncommon protein called reflectin.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-squid-skin-bends-light">How squid skin bends light</h2>



These columns act much like tiny mirrors, bouncing or passing light depending on how close together they sit.



Alon Gorodetsky, an expert in chemical and biomolecular engineering at UC Irvine, is the senior author of the research.



“In nature, many animals use Bragg reflectors [which selectively transmit and reflect light at specific wavelengths] for structural coloration,” he said. “A squid’s ability to rapidly and reversibly transition from transparent to colored is remarkable."



"We found that cells containing specialized subcellular columnar structures with sinusoidal refractive index distributions enable the squid to achieve such feats.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-the-master-shapeshifter">Studying the master shapeshifter</h2>



The animals under study were longfin inshore squid, Doryteuthis pealeii. “These are longfin inshore squids – Doryteuthis pealeii – that are native to the Atlantic Ocean,” Gorodetsky said.



“Marine Biological Laboratory has been famous for studying this squid and other cephalopods for more than a century. We were fortunate to be able to leverage their world-class expertise with properly collecting, handling, and studying these biological specimens.”



Inside the squid mantle, shimmering cells known as iridophores - or iridocytes - hold the secret. 



To visualize them without disturbing their delicate innards, the team used holotomography, a form of quantitative phase microscopy that maps how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/physicists-succeed-in-converting-light-into-a-supersolid-that-flows-like-a-liquid/">light</a> bends through a sample.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/squid-skin_color-change_montage_credit-UCIrvine_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/squid-skin_color-change_montage_credit-UCIrvine_1s.webp" alt="Digital camera images of the entire body (top left) and dorsal mantle (top right) of a squid show the splotches' blue, green, yellow, orange and red iridescent (angle-dependent) colors. An individual splotch (bottom, from left) transitions from transparent to red to orange to green at 0, 60, 90 and 120 seconds, respectively, when subjected to chemical and neurophysiological stimuli. Credit: Alon Gorodetsky Lab, UC Irvine" class="wp-image-1975656"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Digital camera images of the entire body (top left) and dorsal mantle (top right) of a squid show the splotches' blue, green, yellow, orange and red iridescent (angle-dependent) colors. An individual splotch (bottom, from left) transitions from transparent to red to orange to green at 0, 60, 90 and 120 seconds, respectively, when subjected to chemical and neurophysiological stimuli. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Alon Gorodetsky Lab, UC Irvine</figcaption></figure>



Georgii Bogdanov, a postdoctoral researcher in chemical and biomolecular engineering at UC Irvine, is another lead author of the study.



“Holotomography used the high refractive index of reflectin proteins to reveal the presence of sinusoidal refractive index distributions within squid iridophore cells,” he said.



Reflectin platelets form spiral columns inside iridophores, enabling cephalopods to control how their skin transmits and reflects light.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-borrowing-nature-s-blueprint"><a></a>Borrowing nature’s blueprint</h2>



Once the researchers understood the architecture - the stacked, spiraling Bragg reflectors - they wondered whether they could engineer something similar.



Studying squid color change inspired flexible materials that shift appearance using tiny, wavy Bragg reflector columns. They added nanostructured metal films, enabling the materials to also shift appearance in the infrared spectrum.



Using a mixture of polymer chemistry, nanofabrication, and metal coatings, the group built thin films that shift color when stretched, pressed, or heated. 



They went a step further by tailoring the same films to tune their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mosquitoes-use-thermal-infrared-vision-to-track-and-bite-humans/">infrared</a> emission. This allows the material to hide or reveal heat signatures as well as visible hues.



“These bioinspired materials go beyond simple static color control, as they can dynamically adjust both their appearances in the visible and infrared wavelengths in response to stimuli,” said co-author Aleksandra Strzelecka, a PhD student at UC Irvine.



“Part of what makes this technology truly exciting is its inherent scalability," she said. "We have demonstrated large-area and arrayed composites that mimic and even go beyond the squid’s natural optical capabilities."



This opens the door to many applications ranging from adaptive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-squid-power-their-amazing-camouflage-abilities/">camouflage</a> to responsive fabrics to multispectral displays to advanced sensors.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-optics-from-squid-skin">Future optics from squid skin</h2>



The implications stretch far beyond a novelty coating. The same Bragg-style stacks could sharpen laser output, filter signals in fiber-optic lines, and boost solar-cell efficiency. They could also enable real-time structural health monitoring in bridges and aircraft.



“This study is an exciting demonstration of the power of coupling basic and applied research,” Gorodetsky said. “We have likely just started to scratch the surface of what is possible for cephalopod-inspired tunable optical materials in our laboratory.”



Every advance stemmed from squid skin cells with tiny winding columns just hundreds of nanometers wide. Despite their size, these structures could orchestrate a light show visible from meters away.



The team’s work shows how decoding those natural nanostructures can lead to devices that humans manufacture by the meter rather than by the molecule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-squid-inspired-tech-evolves">Squid-inspired tech evolves</h2>



Researchers aim to speed up film response and develop biodegradable versions for sensors and medical patches.



Meanwhile, the discovery reaffirms why <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopus-and-squid-senses-linked-to-human-brain-evolution/">cephalopods</a> remain a favorite subject for materials scientists: they are masters of manipulating light without a single pigment or battery.



In the lab, that mastery is starting to take shape as fabrics that cool soldiers in the desert by day, buildings that shimmer to reduce air-conditioning loads, and flexible screens that display both artwork and thermal data.



The next chapter, as Gorodetsky’s group sees it, will be written where biology and engineering merge. 



The squid’s split-second shape-shifting trick has journeyed from the Atlantic deep to a microscope slide and into a polymer film. 



Soon, it may appear on your jacket sleeve or smartphone case, blending vivid color with invisible infrared control just like in cephalopods.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn1570" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Scientists unlock the light-bending secrets of squid skin

Squid are famous for flashing from glass-clear to kaleidoscopic in...

Anyone who has ever tossed and turned at night knows how much sleep matters. Stress, social distractions, and even the weather can disrupt our rest. And it turns out we’re not the only ones.



Orangutans - some of our closest living relatives - face similar challenges, and they’ve figured out a relatable solution: they nap.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tired-minds-and-busy-days">Tired minds and busy days</h2>



Life in the rainforest is no easy task for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orangutans-use-complex-vocal-patterns-found-in-human-language/">orangutans</a>. Every day involves travel, food gathering, social puzzles, and constant movement - mental and physical strain is inevitable.



“Moving through the canopy, finding food, solving problems, navigating social relationships; these are all tiring and cognitively demanding tasks,” said&nbsp;Alison Ashbury, the study’s first author. 



“When an orangutan doesn’t get enough sleep, it does what any sleep-deprived human might do: it climbs into bed, lies down, and takes a nap.”



Scientists from the <a href="https://www.ab.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior</a> (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz in Germany, together with collaborators at the Universitas Nasional in Indonesia, studied wild orangutans in the rainforests of Sumatra. 



The goal was to understand how these great apes manage their sleep in the wild and what that can teach us about the evolution of rest in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bonobos-group-cohesion-common-enemy-effect-do-not-kill-inside-their-species/">primates</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-monitoring-orangutan-bedtimes">Monitoring orangutan bedtimes</h2>



For over 14 years, the team collected behavioral data on 53 adult orangutans at the Suaq Balimbing Monitoring Station. They followed the animals through 455 days and nights, closely watching how and where they slept.



Each evening, adult orangutans build a sleeping “nest” high in the treetops. This nest acts as a bed, with branches woven together to form a secure platform. 



The orangutans even add leaves for a mattress and pillow. Mothers share nests with their nursing babies, but otherwise, adults sleep solo. At dawn, they leave the nest and begin the day.



“From our point of view on the ground, we usually can’t see orangutans at all in their night nests, but we can hear them rustling around, getting comfortable,” said Caroline Schuppli, the study’s senior author and a group leader at MPI-AB. “Eventually, everything goes quiet and still. And the reverse happens in the morning.”



The researchers measured the period of nighttime silence as a proxy for sleep. Although they couldn’t directly monitor brain activity, the length of this quiet period closely matched patterns of actual sleep observed in captive orangutans and wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baboons-walk-in-lines-just-to-stay-near-their-friends/">baboons</a>. On average, orangutans slept for nearly 13 hours each night.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-interrupts-orangutan-sleep">What interrupts orangutan sleep?</h2>



Several factors disrupted sleep. Orangutans had shorter sleep periods when they built their nests close to others and when nights were colder. Sleep was also reduced on days when they had traveled farther.



“We thought it was really interesting that just being near other orangutans when building a night nest was linked to shorter sleep periods,” said Ashbury. “Imagine you stay up late hanging out with your friends, or your roommate is snoring so loudly in the morning that you get up early. I think it’s a bit like that."



"They’re prioritizing being social over sleeping, or their sleep is being disrupted by others nearby, or even both.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-naps-after-sleepless-nights">Naps after sleepless nights</h2>



The team also explored how orangutans compensate for lost sleep. They found a consistent pattern: when orangutans had shorter nighttime sleep, they napped more during the day. In fact, for every hour less sleep the night before, they added 5 to 10 extra minutes of nap time the next day.



“For people, even a short nap can have significant restorative effects,” noted the researchers. “It’s possible that these naps are helping orangutans reset physiologically and cognitively after a poor night’s sleep, just like they do in humans.”



The orangutans used simple, quickly built day nests for these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-afternoon-naps-impact-our-health/">naps</a>. These nests took less than two minutes to construct, lacked many of the comfort features of night nests, and were used solely for short rest periods.



“Day nests are less sophisticated, have fewer comfort elements, and are made quicker than night nests,” said Schuppli. “But even so, when we’re able to see an orangutan resting in a day nest, we see that their bodies are relaxed and their eyes are closed. They really do appear to be sleeping.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-naps-and-brain-power">Naps and brain power</h2>



Scientists have long recognized the Suaq orangutans for their exceptional mental abilities. Their frequent napping habits may play a role in supporting this cognitive edge.



“Among all studied orangutan populations, the Suaq orangutans arguably exhibit the widest range of cognitively demanding behaviors,” said Schuppli, who also directs research at the site. 



“This may be linked to their relatively high propensity for daytime nest use. Either they need these high-quality naps to meet their cognitive demands, or their cognitive abilities can come about because they take high-quality naps in day nests so often.”



Another possible factor is their semi-solitary lifestyle. Orangutans don’t live in tight social groups, so they’re free to nap when they feel the need. 



The data showed that orangutans took at least one nap on 41% of observed days, and those naps averaged 76 minutes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-from-wild-sleep">Lessons from wild sleep</h2>



“Studying sleep in the wild, in the natural social and ecological conditions under which it evolved, is important to broadening our understanding of the evolutionary origins and the ultimate functions of sleep,” said Meg Crofoot, director at MPI-AB and a professor at the University of Konstanz. 



“Why did animals, from humans to primates to spiders to jellyfish, evolve to spend such large portions of their lives in this vulnerable unconscious state? If we’re going to answer this question, we need to bring sleep research out of the lab and into the field. Studies such as this one contribute to that effort.”



Orangutans napping in leafy nests may seem like a simple sight. But their resting habits may hold deeper clues about sleep’s role in intelligence, social life, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/survival-of-the-fittest-study-suggests-its-more-a-game-of-chance/">survival</a> - for them and for us.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982225006694">Current Biology</a>.



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Orangutans manage sleep much like humans do

Anyone who has ever tossed and turned at night knows...

Cod once ruled the Baltic Sea - massive, plentiful, and essential to the region’s fishing economy. They often stretched over a meter long and weighed up to 40 kilograms. 



Along with herring, cod once sustained industries, communities, and families. Now, they have vanished - at least in their original form. 



Catching an impressive-sized cod is a rare sight - and is no longer permitted. A ban on targeted cod fishing has been in effect since 2019, following a population collapse.



It’s not just the numbers that plummeted. Cod shrank, and the changes didn't stop at the surface level. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fishing-pressure-rewired-a-species">Fishing pressure rewired a species</h2>



According to researchers from <a href="https://www.geomar.de/en/">GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel</a>, decades of intense fishing pressure didn’t just reduce the population - it rewired the species itself. 



The new study shows that human actions have altered the actual genetic makeup of cod in the Baltic Sea.



“Selective overexploitation has altered the genome of Eastern Baltic cod,” explains Dr. Kwi Young Han, the study’s first author. “We see this in the significant decline in average size, which we could link to reduced growth rates." 



"For the first time in a fully marine species, we have provided evidence of evolutionary changes in the genomes of a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oceans-are-quickly-losing-ability-to-support-fish-due-to-plankton-loss/">fish population</a> subjected to intense exploitation, which has pushed the population to the brink of collapse.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changes-in-cod-genetics">Changes in cod genetics</h2>



The study links specific genetic changes to a shift in how cod grow and reproduce. The researchers found that genetic variants tied to growth became more or less common over time - classic signs of what’s called directional selection. 



These variants weren’t random either. They matched up with known genes that influence size and reproduction.



The experts also observed changes in a particular section of the cod genome - a chromosomal inversion - that typically helps animals adapt to environmental stress. 



In this case, it followed the same <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lifes-rules-natural-selection-change-significantly-often-daphnia/">selection</a> pattern, reinforcing that the shrinking of the cod isn’t just bad luck or poor diet. It’s evolution, triggered by how we fish.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-from-the-past">DNA from the past</h2>



To study this long-term shift, the team turned to something unusual: tiny stones in fish ears called otoliths. Like tree rings, they store growth data year by year. 



The scientists used 152 otolith samples collected from the Bornholm Basin between 1996 and 2019 - part of GEOMAR’s Baltic Sea Integrative Long-Term Data Series.



The researchers paired chemical analysis of the otoliths with high-resolution DNA sequencing. They traced how cod growth patterns and genetic traits shifted across nearly three decades of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-hidden-consequences-of-catch-and-release-sport-fishing/">fishing pressure</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolution-driven-by-human-activity">Evolution driven by human activity</h2>



The outcome? Cod that grew fast and large used to be common. Now, they’ve nearly vanished. The survivors are the ones that grow slower, mature smaller, and escape early capture.



“When the largest individuals are consistently removed from the population over many years, smaller, faster-maturing fish gain an evolutionary advantage,” noted Dr. Thorsten Reusch, head of the Marine Ecology Research Division at GEOMAR. 



“What we are observing is <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-evolution-takes-place-in-decades-not-millions-of-years/">evolution</a> in action, driven by human activity. This is scientifically fascinating, but ecologically deeply concerning.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cod-recovery-isn-t-guaranteed">Cod recovery isn’t guaranteed</h2>



The genetic changes found in cod aren't easily reversible. Cod that grow slowly and reproduce early might be surviving, but they’re also less productive. They mature at smaller sizes and produce fewer offspring. 



Furthermore, the genetic diversity of cod is shrinking. This diversity is crucial for helping species adapt to new conditions.



“Evolutionary change unfolds over many generations,” said Dr. Reusch. “Recovery takes far longer than decline, and it may not even be possible. This is evident in our 2025 length data from the current ALKOR cruise: despite the fishing ban, there’s no sign of a rebound in body size.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-cod-genetics">Significance of cod genetics</h2>



This isn’t just about fish. It’s about how quickly humans can push a species to evolve in real time - and how hard it is to undo that. Genetic changes don’t bounce back when the pressure’s off. They linger, and in many cases, they stick.



“Our results demonstrate the profound impact of human activities on wild populations, even at the level of their DNA,” said Dr. Han. “They also highlight that sustainable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bleaching-effect-coral-loss-threatens-fisheries-and-livelihoods/">fisheries</a> are not only an economic issue, but also a matter of conserving biodiversity, including genetic resources.”



The science is clear. Overfishing doesn’t just take fish out of the sea. It leaves a permanent mark on the species. And it might have already cost us more than we can get back.



The full study was published in the journal Science Advances.



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Humans have changed the genetic makeup of cod

Cod once ruled the Baltic Sea - massive, plentiful, and...

Plateosaurus,Couple,,Dinosaurs,From,The,Late,Triassic,Period,Walking,On

Every visitor to the Natural History Museum in Zurich is greeted by a massive dinosaur skeleton nicknamed “Teoplati.” At first glance, it looks like any other prehistoric fossil on display, except for the presence of a serious bone infection. 



Teoplati’s story is anything but ordinary. 



This eight-meter Plateosaurus, which lived 220 million years ago in what is now Switzerland, met its end in sticky mud - and researchers say it was already struggling long before that. The dinosaur’s right arm, it turns out, was badly infected.



Scientists from the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Zurich</a>, along with researchers at the Frick Dinosaur Museum, recently studied the fossil and uncovered one of the oldest - and most severe - cases of bone infection ever recorded in a dinosaur.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mud-bound-dinosaur-had-a-useless-arm">Mud-bound dinosaur had a useless arm</h2>



Back in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/africas-oldest-known-dinosaur-recently-discovered/">Late Triassic </a>epoch, the Frick Valley in Aargau was a flat, dry landscape prone to sudden flooding. 



Picture a massive clay pit in a semi-arid basin - perfect for trapping large animals like Plateosaurus. Many of these dinosaurs likely died the same way: caught in the mud with no way out.



But this particular <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-a-33-foot-jurassic-giant-twice-as-big-as-its-cousin-xingxiulong/">Plateosaurus</a> had even worse odds. It was already injured.



The dinosaur’s right shoulder and upper arm were severely damaged by a chronic infection. 



When researchers examined the bones, they found signs of intense inflammation and deformation - evidence that the animal’s limb had been unusable long before it became stuck in the mud.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ct-scanners-detect-dinosaur-bone-infection">CT scanners detect dinosaur bone infection</h2>



The nearly complete skeleton was unearthed in 2018. Paleontologists from the University of Zurich began studying it closely, especially the damaged limb. 



To get a better look inside, they used high-tech CT scanners at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.



These scanners, typically used for industrial research, were the only machines large enough to handle the dinosaur’s massive bones.



What they found was striking. The Plateosaurus likely suffered from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bone-disease-killed-off-australias-giant-thunder-birds/">osteomyelitis</a> - a serious infection that attacks bone tissue.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-osteomyelitis-is-still-common-today">Osteomyelitis is still common today</h2>



"Osteomyelitis affects many living animals, including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/evolutionary-mystery-why-are-mammals-the-only-vertebrates-to-have-only-one-lower-jawbone/">mammals</a> such as humans, as well as birds and reptiles," explained Jordan Bestwick, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Paleontology at UZH.



"This disease is known to have affected several different dinosaur groups, including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-sauropods-walked-more-like-hippos-than-elephants/">sauropods</a>, so we had access to a range of specimens to compare our Plateosaurus with." said Bestwick.



"The affected bones in the shoulder and upper arm have unusually rough internal and external textures, altered shapes, and are even fused together - symptoms that are broadly typical of osteomyelitis."



What makes this case so unique is the size of the infected area. 



"Previous studies of osteomyelitis in dinosaurs report localized areas of infection, such as toe bones or a couple of adjacent bones in the spine," explained Bestwick.



"Having an entire infected shoulder and upper arm is very unusual. Although we don't know what initially caused the infection, the animal likely suffered from this disease for a substantial part of its life, possibly rendering its right arm useless."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-jurassic-infection-links-dinosaurs-and-humans">Jurassic infection links dinosaurs and humans</h2>



Today, Teoplati stands tall at the entrance of the Natural History Museum at the University of Zurich. 



The skeleton lies in the exact position in which it was found. Next to it stands a life-sized reconstruction that shows what the animal may have looked like in life - including the deformed right arm.



Dennis Hansen, who led the exhibit’s creation at the museum, said the display tells more than just a biological story - it’s a personal one. "We wanted a display that highlights the tragic story of this particular animal," said Hansen.



The exhibit includes a diorama of cracked mud and footprints - some of the dinosaur’s last steps - before it sank beneath the surface.



"Together with the paleo-reconstruction wizards from the Danish company 10 Tons, we created a reconstruction based on the skeleton that also showcases the disease on its right arm and shoulder," said Hansen.



"This makes the display one of the few, worldwide, where the reconstruction of an individual dinosaur includes its pathologies."



In other words, it’s not just a dinosaur. It’s a story of injury, survival, and an unlucky end. Visitors walking into the museum aren’t just meeting an ancient creature - they’re meeting an individual with a history written in its bones.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://sjpp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13358-025-00368-3">Swiss Journal of Palaeontology</a>.



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220-million-year-old Plateosaurus dinosaur died from a crippling bone infection

Every visitor to the Natural History Museum in Zurich is...

Bluebottles - also known as Portuguese man o' war - are jellyfish-like marine creatures with long, stinging tentacles that often wash up on beaches. It's been widely assumed that bluebottles all belong to a single species, but a new global genetic survey has revealed otherwise.



Dr. Samuel H. Church of <a href="https://www.yale.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yale University</a> coordinated the genome work with Australian colleagues, including Professor Kylie Pitt from Griffith University. Their findings overturn two centuries of scientific classification.



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



The Portuguese man o’ war (Physalia physalis is the main species name), also known as the bluebottle, is a siphonophore - not a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-jellyfish-day-2024-protecting-the-health-of-our-oceans/">true jellyfish</a>, although it closely resembles one. 



What makes it extraordinary is that it’s not a single organism but a colonial one - comprised of genetically identical individuals called zooids. 



Each zooid performs a specialized role: one floats, another captures prey with stinging tentacles, a third digests, and yet another reproduces. 



These zooids function together as if they were one being, demonstrating a remarkable example of biological division of labor and cooperative survival.



This organism’s iconic translucent float, or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/pneumatophores" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pneumatophore</a>, sits atop the water like a small sail, catching the wind to move it across the ocean’s surface. 



Beneath it trail long, venomous tentacles - sometimes over 30 feet - that contain specialized cells called nematocysts, which fire harpoon-like structures to inject potent venom into prey. 



Despite its beauty, the sting can be extremely painful to humans and potentially dangerous, though rarely fatal. The man o’ war plays a critical ecological role in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-the-sharks-body-grows-with-geometric-precision/">pelagic food webs</a>, preying on small fish and plankton while serving as food for predators like the blanket octopus and loggerhead turtle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-four-species-of-bluebottles">Four species of bluebottles</h2>



The team sorted the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/portuguese-man-o-war.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">specimens</a> into Physalia physalis, P. utriculus, P. megalista, and a newly named Physalia minuta, the last discovered in waters south of New Zealand. Each species carries distinctive sail colors and float shapes - traits once dismissed as harmless variation.



Genetic markers show the four <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-jellyfish-day-2024-protecting-the-health-of-our-oceans/">lineages</a> do not interbreed, even when they occupy the same stretch of ocean. This pattern means evolution is at work in the open sea, not only along coastlines or around islands.



“We were shocked, because we assumed they were all the same species,” said Professor Pitt. Her remark echoes a long‑held textbook view now overturned.



Every colony is a <a href="https://twilightzone.whoi.edu/explore-the-otz/creature-features/siphonophore/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">siphonophore</a> - a floating commune of genetically identical zooids that act as one animal. The arrangement lets a bluebottle grow long feeding tentacles while the gas‑filled float keeps the colony at the surface, a lifestyle that defines the <a href="https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/neuston-in-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-and-the-impact-of-cleanup/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neuston</a> layer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-differences-beyond-appearance">Differences beyond appearance</h2>



Raw genomes alone rarely hint at an animal’s appearance, so the researchers combed through 4,000 beach photographs. Color signatures and sail angles in the pictures matched the genetic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-phantom-jelly-discovered-exposed-ecosystem-under-antarctic-iceberg/">lineages</a> one by one.



Citizen scientists had, in effect, been taking field notes for years without knowing it. Their uploads supplied location data that helped map where each species turns up during different wind seasons. 



Machine‑learning tools flagged subtle differences, such as a deep‑purple crest on P. megalista or the small, clear float on P. minuta. Laboratory vouchers later verified those traits under a microscope.



The public photo trove also clarified left‑handed versus right‑handed sails, a feature that decides which way a bluebottle is blown. Such handedness now appears tied to species identity rather than simple developmental chance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ocean-currents-separate-bluebottle-species">Ocean currents separate bluebottle species</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jellyfish-more-than-just-a-snack-for-predatory-fish/">Ocean</a> circulation models recreated likely drift paths from hatchling to adult, revealing corridors that keep populations apart. 



Prevailing winds in the Pacific sweep P. utriculus west toward Australia, while the South Equatorial Current loops P. megalista into the Atlantic. 



The new species, P. minuta, hugs eddies of the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924796319300259" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tasman Front</a>, a route that spirals larvae southward before they ever cross open ocean. Because gonads detach and sink below the surface to spawn, deep water layers also partition gene flow.



Subtle climate shifts could shuffle these corridors and mix the species in the future, but for now the lines stay crisp. That stability gives evolutionary forces room to sculpt body size, venom genes, and reproductive timing without interference. 



The finding challenges a common idea that wind‑powered drifters form one gigantic, well‑mixed population. Instead, even a creature built for travel can remain genetically provincial.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bluebottle-stings-vary-by-species">Bluebottle stings vary by species</h2>



<a href="https://sls.com.au/bluebottlewatch-a-new-research-project-to-develop-a-bluebottle-prediction-tool-for-our-beaches/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Surf Life Saving Australia</a> ranks bluebottle contact as a leading reason for first‑aid calls, spurring a research grant to build a beach sting forecast. 



Knowing which species is likely to arrive could sharpen those alerts, because tentacle length and venom chemistry differ among the four.



During the summer of 2017, more than <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-01/bluebottle-stings-up-900-per-cent-in-queensland/8313970" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">38,000 people</a> were treated for bluebottle stings in Queensland alone - a spike of 900 percent over the prior season. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forecasting-bluebottle-seasons">Forecasting bluebottle seasons</h2>



Public health planners can now add species identity to their toolbox instead of relying on wind direction alone.



Lighter winds often carry the smaller P. minuta onto sheltered south‑facing bays, where novice swimmers gather. 



Lifeguards armed with species‑level forecasts might adjust patrols or signage accordingly. Thermal anomalies that favor jellyfish blooms may not boost every bluebottle equally, given their genetic split.



Future sting seasons could therefore hinge on which lineage catches the breeze rather than on sheer water temperature.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-population-structure-in-the-ocean">Hidden population structure in the ocean </h2>



The bluebottle story joins other case studies of copepods and pteropods that show hidden population structure in the high seas. 



Collectively, these results overturn the old axiom that “everything is everywhere” once an organism can drift. Marine cleanup projects often claim surface life is sparse, implying little ecological risk when skimming plastics. 



Evidence of partitioned diversity urges far more caution before nets sweep across convergence zones.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



Pharmaceutical scouts have isolated novel peptide toxins from P. physalis, but untapped species may hold different compounds with medical promise. A four‑species framework sets a clearer path for bioprospecting teams.&nbsp;



Climate models aiming to forecast <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-robots-are-exploring-the-oceans-role-in-climate-control/">oceanic carbon</a> cycling need accurate species counts because each colony’s buoyant gas is nearly 13 percent carbon monoxide. Four distinct production rates could alter estimates of gas exchange at the air–sea interface.



Researchers who track long‑range migrants, from sea turtles to seabirds, can now refine diet studies. Predator scat may tell which bluebottle species dominates a given flyway, adding another layer to ecosystem maps.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toxin-genes-in-bluebottle-species">Toxin genes in bluebottle species </h2>



Work is already under way to test whether the four lineages differ in toxin genes, an angle that could explain regional differences in sting severity. 



Another puzzle lies in the handedness trait, which might be hardwired by alleles rather than molded by early winds.



Field biologists plan to tag floats with tiny temperature loggers to see how much time each species spends in sun‑baked surface water. Results should reveal whether thermal tolerance helped split the lineages in the first place.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)00682-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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Biologists discover that the "Portuguese man o' war" has multiple species

Bluebottles - also known as Portuguese man o' war -...

Child-directed speech, also known as “baby talk,” plays a vital role in human development. Around the world, caregivers use a distinct vocal style to talk to infants. 



These modified speech patterns help young minds absorb vocabulary and structure. But how did this behavior originate? Could it have evolved from our primate ancestors?



A recent study led by researchers from the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Zurich</a>, <a href="https://www.unine.ch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Neuchâtel</a>, and collaborators across Europe and the U.S. offers new insights. 



The research, published in the journal Science Advances, explores whether great apes use infant-directed vocalizations like humans do.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-baby-talk-in-humans-and-apes">Baby talk in humans and apes</h2>



The team observed wild populations of bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. They also included data from human infants across diverse cultures: Shipibo-Konibo, Qaqet, Chintang, and Tuatschin.



To quantify communication, they analyzed vocal behavior during two-minute intervals. They categorized each instance as infant-directed, surrounding, or general vocal activity. 



They followed immature individuals closely, noting all relevant sounds from nearby group members.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humans-use-baby-talk-way-more">Humans use baby talk way more</h2>



These results highlight how unique human caregiving behavior is compared to that of our closest relatives. Human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-infants-connect-with-the-world-it-all-starts-with-the-feet/">infants</a> are surrounded by vocal input that is not only frequent but also specifically tailored to them. This level of attention likely helps them learn language faster and more efficiently.



Even when focusing only on what mothers said, humans stood out. Mothers spoke directly to their babies far more than ape mothers did. In fact, the difference between human and bonobo mothers was over 400-fold.



Most of the speech around human infants was directed at them. In contrast, great apes showed almost no such targeted communication. 



This suggests that humans may have evolved a special way of teaching language that relies heavily on speaking directly to infants.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-just-direct-speech">Not just direct speech</h2>



Surrounding speech refers to vocalizations that infants can hear but are not directly addressed to them. This type of input was fairly consistent across humans, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-select-the-best-materials-for-termite-fishing/">chimpanzees</a>, and bonobos. 



These species likely live in more socially active environments, where infants overhear conversations or calls.



Orangutans, however, received much less surrounding speech. This fits their more solitary lifestyle, where fewer individuals are nearby to produce vocalizations.



Because infant-directed speech is rare among apes, they may depend more on what they hear in the background. This ambient input could help them learn communication patterns, even without being directly taught.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-baby-talk-helped-humans-evolve">Baby talk helped humans evolve</h2>



The data suggest a sharp evolutionary shift. “Our findings suggest that the tendency to direct vocalizations at infants... has been massively expanded in the human lineage,” the authors wrote.



One possible driver is the need to transmit learned communication. Unlike apes, human language is highly flexible and requires teaching. Infant-directed speech helps children grasp words, tone, and context more easily.



Interestingly, gestures may play a more prominent role in great apes. Repetitive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-bird-uses-wing-gestures-to-politely-say-after-you/">gestures</a> in apes mirror some features of human baby talk. These findings hint that vocal and gestural teaching modes may have evolved in parallel.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-humans-alone-not-quite">Are humans alone? Not quite</h2>



Other species also engage in infant-directed communication. Dolphins change pitch when around calves. Bats alter calls to suit pups. Cats and monkeys use specific sounds to call or calm infants.



However, these communications likely serve different functions, like identification or retrieval. Only in humans do these vocal patterns appear tightly linked to complex language learning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-apes-to-understand-ourselves">Studying apes to understand ourselves</h2>



The study opens up new paths. The researchers propose exploring who produces surrounding speech in ape societies, siblings, mothers, or others, and whether that affects learning.



Additionally, they call for deeper study of ape gestures directed at infants. “The gestural modality might represent an additional fruitful avenue for future work."



This research provides strong support that child-directed speech may have evolved to support <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/babies-can-naturally-learn-multiple-languages-from-birth/">language learning</a>. Our ancestors likely began with ambient communication, then shifted toward more intentional, tailored speech as language grew more complex.



By comparing the way species talk, or don’t talk, to their young, we gain a clearer view of what makes human language so powerful and so unique.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt7718" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Baby talk may explain what sets humans apart from apes

Child-directed speech, also known as “baby talk,” plays a vital...

The monarch may steal the spotlight, yet an ongoing crisis is affecting nearly every butterfly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/butterflies-can-adapt-quickly-but-evolution-has-its-limits/">species</a> in the lower 48. Between 2000 and 2020, total abundance fell by 22 percent, according to the largest survey ever assembled.



That national <a href="https://naba.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Rapid-butterfly-declines-across-the-United-States-during-the-21st-century_Science_03072025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dip</a> works out to 1.3 percent each year, a slow‑motion slide that rarely makes headlines but never takes a day off.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-butterfly-species-decline-and-habitat-loss">Butterfly species decline and habitat loss</h2>



Roughly a third of the 342 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/butterfly-migration-habits-are-not-determined-by-their-dna/">species</a> with solid data are shrinking fast, and 107 have already slipped by more than half of their former counts. 



Habitat carved into parking lots, hotter summers driven by climate change, and heavy use of pesticides each gnaw at different life stages, yet together they form a three‑pronged squeeze.



Even the unglamorous caterpillar matters here: without the right host leaves, no egg survives, no adult emerges, and no pollination happens. 



Cheryl Schultz of <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a> helped write the new recovery roadmap. She says the clock is ticking for the insects she has studied for three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-long-term-drop-in-butterfly-numbers">Long-term drop in butterfly numbers</h2>



The Science team pulled 12.6 million field observations from 76,000 surveys, then wrangled conflicting protocols into one set of trend lines.



Patterns varied by region, but the Southwest stood out as hardest hit, while the Pacific Northwest held steady only because one irruptive tortoiseshell species briefly boomed.



The authors stress that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/butterfly-hovering-technique-could-revolutionize-drone-design/">butterflies</a> act as living barometers: when they vanish, so do many less‑monitored insects doing similar ecological work. 



Losing butterflies also removes food for birds and other wildlife that depend on soft‑bodied prey each spring.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cleaning-data-to-track-real-trends">Cleaning data to track real trends</h2>



Tracking butterfly abundance across hundreds of species isn't easy. Observations often come from community science platforms like iNaturalist, where users sometimes upload misidentified species or report tropical butterflies from butterfly houses as wild sightings.



To clean the data, researchers used <a href="https://txtav.com/en/range-map" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">range maps</a> to flag out-of-place records and exclude bad data from their models. 



Eliza Grames, an assistant professor at <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/">Binghamton University</a>, said this step was key to making sure the trends reflected actual changes in nature rather than errors in reporting. Professor Grames specializes in using <a href="https://libguides.uta.edu/quantitative_and_qualitative_research/quant" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quantitative methods</a>, evidence synthesis, and long-term datasets to understand how climate, habitat loss, and species interactions are affecting biodiversity. 



Her work focuses on combining scattered data sources like historical surveys and citizen science to track insect declines and guide effective conservation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-restoring-habitats-for-butterfly-species">Restoring habitats for butterfly species</h2>



Scott Black is the director of the <a href="https://www.xerces.org/">Xerces Society</a> and a co‑author of the recovery roadmap.



"Butterflies need host plants on which to lay eggs, wildflowers on which to feed, a refuge from pesticides, and sites to overwinter. There is hope for these animals if we focus on providing habitat for butterflies across all landscapes,” said Black. 



Providing season‑long bloom is key, and <a href="https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/habitat-restoration/management" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Xerces</a> maintains region‑specific plant lists that match native flowers with local nectar feeders.



Land managers are urged to skip blanket spraying and instead spot‑treat weeds, mow outside bloom windows, and leave leaf litter for overwintering adults or chrysalids. 



Protecting habitat also buffers butterflies against flash droughts and early frosts that are becoming more common as weather swings widen.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-green-spaces-support-butterfly-species">Green spaces support butterfly species</h2>



The recovery roadmap emphasizes that conservation must happen everywhere, not just in protected wilderness. Even small green spaces can play a huge role when stitched together across cities, suburbs, and farms.



Pollinator corridors, like roadside flower strips or native plant buffers on farmland, let butterflies travel, feed, and lay eggs without interruption. 



When neighbors and land managers coordinate efforts, isolated patches of habitat can become a functioning network that supports entire species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-butterfly-species-and-cotton-yields">Butterfly species and cotton yields</h2>



Economics add weight to conservation: research in <a href="https://cns.utexas.edu/news/research/supporting-pollinators-could-have-big-payoff-texas-cotton-farmers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Texas</a> shows that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/national-learn-about-butterflies-day-an-enchanting-world-awaits/">butterflies</a> translate into about $100 million in annual pollination value for cotton alone.



When rows of nectar plants bordered the fields, cotton set more bolls, and farmers noticed a boost in yield without another drop of chemical inputs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-help-butterfly-species">How to help butterfly species</h2>



Homeowners can swap a slice of turf for milkweed, asters, and goldenrod. City planners can seed bloom strips along bike paths and medians instead of short mowed grass.



Rural roadsides double as corridors when mowing heights stay above six inches and herbicide use is limited to targeted patches, a change that costs little but scales quickly.



Even small pollinator islands in solar arrays or utility rights‑of‑way create stepping‑stones that let populations recolonize after drought or fire.



Success stories already exist. The Fender’s blue butterfly, once presumed lost, bounced back enough for the <a href="https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2023/10/16/pink-wildflower-in-oregon-and-southwest-washington-removed-from-federal-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service</a> to reclassify it from endangered to threatened in 2023.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp4671" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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Butterfly species are declining fast across the United States

The monarch may steal the spotlight, yet an ongoing crisis...

Far below the ocean’s surface, the Great Barrier Reef hums with life. It is not just about colorful fish or vibrant corals. Something else is happening that we cannot see.



Tiny <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-reef-awareness-day-2025-bringing-corals-back-to-life/">coral</a> larvae drift in the currents, carried away from their parents. Some travel far and some barely move at all. Where these larvae end up can decide the fate of entire reefs.



Now, scientists from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Queensland</a> have unlocked a key mystery. Their new study shows how far these baby corals can go. The research also reveals why this matters more than we ever realized.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-some-coral-babies-survive">Why some coral babies survive</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-temperature-swings-boost-coral-reef-resilience/">Corals</a> are under pressure. Heatwaves damage them. Storms cause destruction. Oceans keep getting more acidic. Each year, the risk becomes worse. But not all corals are affected equally. PhD candidate Zoe Meziere explained why some reefs survive better than others.



“Quantifying genetic connectivity can predict the fate of populations as more isolated reefs with lower levels of genetic variation are likely more vulnerable,” said Meziere.



When coral species spread their larvae far, they swap genetic material with distant reefs. This boosts their ability to adapt and recover. Corals that keep their offspring close face greater risks. They may struggle to bounce back after disasters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coral-species-take-different-paths">Coral species take different paths</h2>



Meziere and her team searched for answers. They focused on two coral species found across the Great Barrier Reef, Stylophora pistillata and Pocillopora verrucosa.



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossils-reveal-how-humans-completely-changed-caribbean-reef-ecosystems/">species</a> live near each other, but their ways of reproducing could not be more different. Stylophora pistillata plays it safe. It fertilizes its eggs internally. Its larvae do not venture far. Most settle nearby, just meters from their parent colony.



Pocillopora verrucosa does the opposite. It releases eggs and sperm into the sea. Currents carry its larvae far from home.



The results surprised the researchers. Stylophora pistillata larvae traveled only 23 to 102 meters. Pocillopora verrucosa larvae journeyed as far as 52 kilometers.



Professor Cynthia Riginos noted that this is the first study to quantify how connected different coral populations are across the seascape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-journey-of-baby-corals-matters">Why the journey of baby corals matters</h2>



The story does not stop with distance. These differences shape the future of coral populations.



Stylophora pistillata stays close to home. It forms small, tight populations. Over time, these groups grow isolated. They lose genetic diversity. That leaves them vulnerable. Pocillopora verrucosa travels widely. It links distant populations. This mixing keeps its populations strong and diverse.



“Over time, these differences have profound evolutionary impacts with S. pistillata populations being more genetically distinctive with much lower genetic diversity and smaller population sizes than the more widely dispersing P. verrucosa,” explained Professor Riginos.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-baby-corals-travel">Where baby corals travel</h2>



The research team did not stop after measuring dispersal. They looked deeper into the genetic maps.



Stylophora pistillata stayed loyal to its local area. Its genetic patterns showed clear boundaries between reefs. Neighboring reefs looked genetically distinct. 



Pocillopora verrucosa showed no such boundaries. Its populations mixed freely throughout the reef. From one end to another, its genetics stayed consistent.



S. pistillata’s world spanned just a few hundred meters, while P. verrucosa’s world stretched across tens of kilometers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coral-survival-and-recovery">Coral survival and recovery</h2>



Distance is only part of the story. Gene flow also plays a big role. S. pistillata had weak gene flow. Its reefs relied mostly on themselves. This isolation put them at risk. One disaster could wipe out an entire population with no outside help.



P. verrucosa showed strong gene flow, as distant reefs shared genes often. This flow allowed for faster recovery after disasters.



This means that Pocillopora verrucosa can bounce back after bleaching far more quickly than Stylophora pistillata.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-coral-babies-stay-stronger">Some coral babies stay stronger</h2>



Genetic diversity matters for survival. The researchers found striking differences here too.



Stylophora pistillata had low genetic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-coral-collapse-may-help-save-the-great-barrier-reef/">diversity</a>. Its diversity also varied wildly between reefs. The lowest levels appeared in southern parts of the Great Barrier Reef.



Pocillopora verrucosa held onto high diversity. Its genetic richness stayed stable across all reefs. S. pistillata lives in a fragile world, and P. verrucosa thrives in a far more connected one.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smarter-conservation-for-corals">Smarter conservation for corals</h2>



The research offers a clear message for coral conservation efforts. Stylophora pistillata needs focused, local protection. Efforts must center on preserving nearby populations. Without these, this species faces collapse.



Pocillopora verrucosa calls for a broader approach. Large-scale conservation networks can help maintain its natural strength.



"Dispersal and connectivity are important drivers of coral adaptation, and being able to adapt is key to having healthy coral reefs in the future,” said Meziere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-approach-to-reef-restoration">New approach to reef restoration</h2>



Coral restoration should not follow a one-size-fits-all model. Stylophora pistillata may benefit from assisted migration. Moving larvae or adult corals from healthy reefs to damaged ones could restore genetic diversity. 



However, such moves must be done carefully. Forcing new genes into a delicate reef might cause new problems.



Pocillopora verrucosa already benefits from strong natural connections. Protecting these migration routes may be enough.



Each coral species has its own needs. These needs are not the same. Conservation efforts should focus on these differences.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-insights-for-coral-conservation">New insights for coral conservation </h2>



Coral reefs have an uncertain future. Their survival depends on how well we understand and protect the hidden connections between them.



The study, funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, brings new insights to reef science.



The research makes one thing clear: not all corals are the same. Some need protection close to home, while others depend on far-reaching connections. 



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt2066" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Reef survival may depend on how far baby corals travel

Far below the ocean’s surface, the Great Barrier Reef hums...

A new executive order aimed at deregulating the U.S. seafood industry is raising red flags among scientists and policy experts. While the order claims to boost competitiveness and cut red tape, critics warn it could do more harm than good - weakening the very systems that protect seafood sustainability.



Scientists from <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">UC Santa Barbara</a> and the University of Washington outlined their concerns in a recent paper. They argue that the executive order misses the mark, prioritizing short-term gains over long-term stability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inside-the-seafood-deregulation-order">Inside the seafood deregulation order</h2>



Signed in April 2025, the order - titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” - claims that U.S. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-seafood-industry-has-been-hit-hard-by-the-covid-19-pandemic/">seafood markets</a> are held back by overregulation and unfair trade practices. It calls for reducing regulatory burdens, eliminating unsafe imports, and strengthening the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seafood-spoilage-hidden-dangers-in-the-cold-chain/">seafood supply chain</a>.



However, the researchers say the plan is moving too fast and with too little support. They describe it as a policy that risks unraveling decades of scientific progress.



“(It’s) a significant escalation in undoing federal regulatory frameworks, weakening scientific authority and deemphasizing aquaculture development,” said Halley Froehlich of UC Santa Barbara and Jessica Gephart of the University of Washington.



“Instead of reform, it’s dismantling regulations in a very short amount of time,” added Froehlich, the paper’s lead author.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-noaa-s-role-under-threat">NOAA’s role under threat</h2>



The scientists point to cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a major concern. NOAA oversees roughly 500 commercial fishery stocks in the U.S. It plays a key role in managing, monitoring, and protecting marine resources.



Under the new directive, NOAA faces budget cuts, staff reductions, and tighter controls on communication. That’s a serious blow to its ability to coordinate sustainable fishing, especially across regions where fish migrate between countries.



“It’s quite problematic because NOAA is so central to how we manage our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bleaching-effect-coral-loss-threatens-fisheries-and-livelihoods/">fisheries</a>,” Froehlich said. “Data collection, monitoring, oversight, you name it, NOAA is part of that, and a really important part.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-plan-ignores-the-ocean-s-limits">The plan ignores the ocean’s limits</h2>



The executive order is supposed to help boost domestic seafood production. But the researchers argue that the ocean has limits - and we’re already close to reaching them.



“We are not going to get more out of the ocean,” Froehlich said. “We’re already near ‘peak fish,’ meaning maintenance and recovery of our stocks.”



Wild fisheries - both in the U.S. and globally - are already producing at or near their maximum sustainable levels. That leaves <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aquaculture-now-produces-more-food-than-wild-fishing/">aquaculture</a> as the only real path for growth. 



However, the new order gives little attention to farmed seafood and offers even less support to the agencies that regulate it. The scientists call it a mismatch between promises and practical outcomes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cutting-data-cutting-capacity">Cutting data, cutting capacity</h2>



One of the most troubling issues is the potential loss of data. The researchers warn that NOAA’s online databases, climate research, and monitoring tools may be defunded or decommissioned.



Without this data, managing fisheries becomes guesswork. It also makes it harder to prepare for climate-driven shifts in marine ecosystems.



“Without the data, expertise and capacity to study and understand these systems we run the risk of fishery collapses becoming more common and long-lasting,” the authors wrote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trade-conflicts-and-mismatched-markets">Trade conflicts and mismatched markets</h2>



The executive order also makes assumptions about seafood markets that don’t align with reality. 



Much of the seafood farmed in the U.S. isn’t what consumers demand most. And a large portion of seafood caught in U.S. waters is processed overseas before being sold back into the domestic market.



If tariffs are imposed on imported or foreign-processed seafood, prices for high-demand products like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shrimp-crisis-alarming-virus-threatens-global-seafood-supplies/">shrimp</a> could rise sharply. Right now, only about 10% of shrimp eaten in the U.S. comes from domestic sources.



“In disrupting the market dynamics we do have, especially with trade wars with our trading partners, it’s likely that we’re going to have the opposite effect of creating opportunity long-term,” Froehlich said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-alternative-to-seafood-deregulation">An alternative to seafood deregulation </h2>



The paper was submitted as evidence in a recent hearing by the House Natural Resources Committee’s Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee. The scientists hope their findings will influence how Congress approaches <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seafood-will-help-feed-earths-future-population-of-10-billion/">seafood policy</a> moving forward.



“When it comes to any shifts in production, these high levels of uncertainty are not a beneficial thing to happen for the sector,” Froehlich said.



While deregulation may sound appealing to some, the authors argue that a stable, well-regulated system - backed by science and data - is what actually keeps seafood both sustainable and competitive. In their view, cutting corners now could cost the industry far more in the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X25002106">Marine Policy</a>.



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Why seafood deregulation may hurt more than help

A new executive order aimed at deregulating the U.S. seafood...

In a fascinating new study, scientists documented 34 attempts by wild killer whales to give food to humans. These rare cases spanned four oceans and 20 years. Some happened near boats, others in open water or even from the shore. 



The events highlight the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-use-kelp-to-massage-and-groom-each-other/">orcas</a>’ possible interest in humans and raise important questions about whale intelligence, communication, and social behavior.



“Orcas often share food with each other - it’s a prosocial activity and a way that they build relationships with each other,” said study lead author Jared Towers, of <a href="https://baycetology.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bay Cetology</a> in British Columbia, Canada. “That they also share with humans may show their interest in relating to us as well.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-lives-of-killer-whales">Social lives of killer whales</h2>



Orcas live some of the most complex social lives in the animal kingdom. They stick together in tight-knit family groups called pods, usually led by an older matriarch. 



These family units aren’t just casual gatherings - they’re lifelong bonds. Calves stay with their mothers for life, swimming, hunting, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/photographer-captures-killer-whales-wearing-fish-hats/">playing together</a>. 



In some regions, pods form larger communities or clans that share unique vocal dialects, kind of like cultural accents passed down through generations. This tight social structure helps them coordinate during hunts and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-use-kelp-to-massage-and-groom-each-other/">protect each other</a> from threats.



But it’s not all business. Orcas socialize for the joy of it too. They engage in what clearly looks like play - tossing kelp, breaching dramatically, or nudging one another during underwater games. 



They form friendships beyond their pods and even flirt, showing preferences and personalities. These interactions suggest that orcas have emotional lives and a sense of identity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-orcas-gave-humans">What orcas gave humans</h2>



The 34 incidents involved six distinct populations of killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-helps-humans-have-20-minute-conversation-with-humpback-whale-named-twain/">whales</a>. They offered humans a total of 18 species: six fish, five mammals, three invertebrates, two birds, one reptile, and even one piece of seaweed.



In 97 percent of these cases, the orcas waited for a human response. Some hovered for several minutes. 



On several occasions, they tried again when the humans ignored or returned the offering. In two especially curious cases, whales retrieved birds after humans returned them, only to offer them again.



This behavior could be a form of interspecies curiosity, communication, or even social learning. As the authors suggest, these events might represent "generalized altruism" - an advanced trait observed in only a few social animals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exploration-more-than-play">Exploration more than play</h2>



Though play was observed in 38 percent of the interactions, the researchers argue most cases were not playful. The age of the whales varied widely, and many offered whole, fresh prey. 



In over 75 percent of ignored cases, the whales later used the prey for themselves or their group. This suggests the offerings had purpose and value, not just entertainment.



Curiosity-driven behavior, distinct from play, seemed a stronger motivator. As the study explains, animals often explore to reduce uncertainty. 



Offering food to humans might help orcas learn how we respond, just as they would with unfamiliar members of their own <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whales-blow-bubble-smoke-rings-near-humans-to-communicate/">species</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deep-social-intelligence-at-work">Deep social intelligence at work</h2>



Some whales returned the same item to humans multiple times. Others acted in pairs or small groups. 



Most of the 34 events involved a single whale separating from a larger group. This suggests the act was not for show. Rather, it might reflect the whale's individual decision to interact.



Interestingly, killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-dolphin-brains-evolved-to-see-underwater-by-using-sound-echolocation/">whales</a> have also been documented cooperating with human fishers in places like Australia and Russia. The authors noted that this history could influence modern interactions, especially as human activity increases near their habitats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-whales-may-view-humans-as-companions">Whales may view humans as companions</h2>



Killer whales rank second only to humans in brain-to-body ratio. They also show advanced emotional and social behavior. 



These traits support complex social learning, reciprocal behavior, and possibly even empathy.



“Offering items to humans could simultaneously include opportunities for killer whales to practice learned cultural behavior, explore or play and in so doing learn about, manipulate or develop relationships with us,” the researchers wrote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humans-should-not-approach-whales">Humans should not approach whales</h2>



Despite the remarkable nature of these encounters, the researchers urge caution. Orcas can show complex and sometimes unpredictable behavior. 



While no wild killer whale has killed a person, some interactions have been intense. They warn against seeking out such encounters or encouraging the behavior without proper permissions.



Most of these whales belonged to populations that hunt near the surface and share prey frequently. 



No deep-water, fish-only populations were involved. This suggests that cooperative surface hunting may lead to more frequent and visible interspecies interactions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-minds-of-whales-and-humans">Complex minds of whales and humans</h2>



The findings challenge our assumptions about human-animal relationships. If orcas are experimenting with ways to relate to us, it means they recognize us not as threats, but as potential social partners.



These whales are not just predators. They are thinkers, observers, and maybe, in some way, explorers of culture, curiosity, memory, learning, and emotion. 



Their actions suggest complex minds in both whales and humans, capable of choice, empathy, and communication.



The study is published in the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-29805-001.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Comparative Psychology</a>. 



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Killer whales are attempting to bond with humans, according to scientists

In a fascinating new study, scientists documented 34 attempts by...

Plankton,Are,Organisms,Drifting,In,Oceans,And,Seas.,Zooplankton.

They may be small, but zooplankton like copepods, krill, and salps are pulling serious weight when it comes to storing carbon in the Southern Ocean. 



Every year, billions of these tiny animals migrate from the surface to deep waters. In doing so, they help trap tens of millions of tons of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-the-ocean-holds-carbon-hidden-mechanisms-revealed/">carbon</a> far below the ocean surface.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-look-at-ocean-carbon-storage">A new look at ocean carbon storage </h2>



Until recently, scientists believed most of the carbon stored in the Southern Ocean sank slowly through the water column, tied up in the waste left by larger zooplankton feeding near the surface. But a new study offers a clearer - and more surprising - picture.



The research was led by experts at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the <a href="https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/">University of Plymouth</a>, and the British Antarctic Survey 



The study is the first to measure how much carbon is pulled down by the “seasonal migrant pump.” 



In this process, zooplankton descend each autumn to depths below 1,640 feet (500 meters), stay there for months, and release carbon into the deep ocean through respiration and death.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiny-swimmers-store-carbon">Tiny swimmers store carbon</h2>



The team analyzed thousands of net haul samples collected over the past century from across the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-storage-mystery-emerges-in-the-southern-ocean/">Southern Ocean</a>. The records helped build a massive database that tracks how deep and how consistently these creatures migrate each year.



What the researchers found is eye-opening: this seasonal migration injects about 65 million tons of carbon annually into the deep ocean. This enormous amount of carbon could otherwise stay in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-weaker-ocean-will-release-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere/">atmosphere</a>, contributing to global warming.



“We find that copepods significantly dominate carbon storage overwinter,” said Dr. Jen Freer. “This has big implications as the ocean warms and their habitats may shift."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-storage-in-the-southern-ocean">Carbon storage in the Southern Ocean </h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-crustaceans-have-what-it-takes-to-survive-climate-change/">Copepods</a> - small, shrimp-like crustaceans - are the main drivers of this deep-sea carbon delivery system. They’re responsible for about 80 percent of the total carbon flux linked to the seasonal migrant pump. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-krill-are-natures-unexpected-carbon-warriors/">Krill</a> contribute another 14 percent, while salps account for six percent.



These numbers matter. The Southern Ocean absorbs about 40 percent of human-released CO2 that ends up in the oceans.



That’s a huge chunk, but until now, models didn’t factor in this seasonal migration. They focused mostly on passive sinking - when detritus like feces or dead material falls through the water.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/zooplankton_mesozooplankton_carbon_southern-ocean_credit-LnO_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/zooplankton_mesozooplankton_carbon_southern-ocean_credit-LnO_1s.webp" alt="A schematic representation of our calculations of the seasonal vertical carbon transport by mesozooplankton, krill, and salps during winter of the Southern Ocean. The values for SVMP flux are totals for mesozooplankton, krill, and salps and the upper and lower ranges for POC flux refer to annual estimates based on sediment traps and earth system models. Credit: Limnology and Oceanography" class="wp-image-1976081"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A schematic representation of our calculations of the seasonal vertical carbon transport by mesozooplankton, krill, and salps during winter of the Southern Ocean. The values for SVMP flux are totals for mesozooplankton, krill, and salps and the upper and lower ranges for POC flux refer to annual estimates based on sediment traps and earth system models. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Limnology and Oceanography</figcaption></figure>



Unlike the slow sinking process, the seasonal migrant pump is a direct injection. And it has another upside: it keeps essential nutrients like iron in the upper layers, where they support marine life.



That means zooplankton aren’t just removing carbon - they’re doing it efficiently, without robbing the ocean’s surface of the nutrients needed to keep ecosystems going.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-shifts-zooplankton-paths">Warming shifts zooplankton paths</h2>



The Southern Ocean is changing. Climate warming is shifting the range of species like krill and copepods, and that could reshape how much carbon gets locked away each year.



“The study shows the 'seasonal migrant pump' as an important pathway of natural carbon sequestration in polar regions,” said Dr. Katrin Schmidt. “Protecting these migrants and their habitats will help to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-mitigate-climate-change-with-deep-ocean-storage/">mitigate climate change</a>."



The research suggests that climate models are in urgent need of an update. Current Earth System Models don’t include this zooplankton-driven mechanism, which means they may be missing a key part of the ocean’s carbon story.



“This study is the first to estimate the total magnitude of this carbon storage mechanism,” said Professor Angus Atkinson. “It shows the value of large data compilations to get an overview of the relative importance of carbon storage mechanisms."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-creatures-global-impact">Small creatures, global impact</h2>



By building on nearly a century of data and contributions from scientists in China, the UK, and Canada, the study provides one of the clearest pictures yet of how small marine animals influence global climate through ocean carbon storage.



“Our work shows that zooplankton are unsung heroes of carbon sequestration,” said study lead author Dr. Guang Yang. “Their seasonal migrations create a massive, previously unquantified carbon flux - one that models must now incorporate."



Protecting the Southern Ocean means more than safeguarding <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-leaks-conservation-efforts-may-shift-harm-elsewhere/">biodiversity</a>. It means defending one of the planet’s most efficient natural carbon storage systems - powered by creatures smaller than a grain of rice.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lno.70120">Limnology and Oceanography</a>.



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These tiny creatures play an outsized role in Southern Ocean carbon storage

They may be small, but zooplankton like copepods, krill, and...

Virginia faces a stubborn enemy: the spotted lanternfly (SLF). These invasive insects damage trees, crops, and gardens by feeding on plant sap and leaving behind sticky honeydew. A research team led by Assistant Professor Scotty Yang at Virginia Tech has discovered an unexpected helper in the battle against this pest: ants.



Yang and his team found that ants, drawn to honeydew, can carry traces of lanternfly DNA in their bodies. By analyzing the ants, scientists can now detect whether the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-swim-in-schools-by-stacking-like-ladder-rungs/">pest</a> has reached an area, even without spotting the insect directly.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ants-collect-lanternfly-dna">Ants collect lanternfly DNA</h2>



The research is based on environmental DNA, or eDNA. This approach collects genetic material that organisms leave behind in their surroundings. 



Spotted lanternflies leave DNA in their sugary waste, which ants readily consume. Scientists then apply a lab technique called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, to identify SLF DNA inside the ants.



“Ants are nature’s sugar seekers,” Yang said. “If there’s even a tiny drop of honeydew left behind by a spotted lanternfly, ants are likely to find it.”



Yang’s team named the method “antDNA.” Even a single meal of honeydew lets <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/swarm-intelligence-ants-can-anticipate-obstacles-and-plan-ahead/">ants</a> retain the lanternfly's DNA for up to five days. Because ants roam widely, this method can detect SLF activity from as far as 100 meters from the infestation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-field-tests-across-virginia">Field tests across Virginia</h2>



Researchers tested the method at three Virginia sites: Salem, Lynchburg Site 1, and Lynchburg Site 2. These locations represented low, medium, and high lanternfly densities. 



At each site, they placed honey-baited lure stations along transects, attracting ants with cotton balls soaked in honey.



The Salem site showed a 46.7 percent positive rate for SLF DNA. Lynchburg Site 1 and Site 2 showed 62.1 percent and 62.5 percent, respectively. Most stations attracted ants within 30 minutes, proving the method’s ease of use.



The study also tested ants from nine species. SLF DNA was found even in ants that had not directly fed on honeydew, likely due to food sharing within <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/selfish-dna-in-a-few-ants-can-change-the-behavior-of-the-entire-colony/">colonies</a>. This behavior, known as trophallaxis, helps spread the DNA signal among nestmates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ants-outperform-other-lanternfly-detectors">Ants outperform other lanternfly detectors</h2>



The antDNA technique works across landscapes and does not depend on the pest being visible. Unlike other methods, it does not require water, filtration, or special storage. Ants can be preserved in ethanol without refrigeration, reducing the burden on field teams.



Ants are present in nearly every habitat, from forests to cities. The collection setup is simple and inexpensive. The ants’ ability to hold liquid in their crop allows the DNA to stay detectable longer than in typical surface samples. 



The study confirmed that DNA from honeydew lasts longer than DNA from insect tissue, making honeydew a more stable source.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-early-detection">Importance of early detection</h2>



Spotted lanternflies harm many plants, including grapevines, hardwoods, and hops. As they feed, they weaken plants and coat them in honeydew. This sticky substance promotes sooty mold, which further harms plant health. 



Early detection is critical because removing the pest becomes harder once it spreads. Current surveillance efforts rely on human sightings of the insect or its egg masses. These sightings often occur only when the population has already grown. 



The ant surveillance method allows early detection of lanternfly species even in low-density zones and inaccessible areas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scaling-up-and-looking-forward">Scaling up and looking forward</h2>



Yang and his team are now working on a portable test kit for use in the field. This will allow real-time molecular testing without needing a full lab. Faster results mean quicker action against the pest.



“One of the biggest advantages of using ants is that they live almost everywhere, such as forests, farms, cities - you name it,” Yang said. “Their constant search for food makes them ideal frontline samplers for spotted lanternfly DNA.”



This approach offers a new way to watch for invasive species like lanternflies using ants, without depending on visual surveys. It opens up possibilities for surveillance that is fast, flexible, and low-cost.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ants-may-detect-other-pests-like-lanternflies">Ants may detect other pests like lanternflies</h2>



The method could be expanded to track other pests. Many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-many-ants-live-on-earth-at-any-point-in-time-total-number-is-astounding/">insects</a> excrete honeydew, and ants can pick up their DNA too. This opens the door for broader pest detection strategies using the same principle.



Ants, in their natural role as sugar hunters, may become an essential part of protecting crops, forests, and native ecosystems. With antDNA, researchers are tapping into nature’s own behaviors to find smarter ways of monitoring invasive threats.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ps.8814" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NeoBiota</a>.



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