<p>Mammals are not only good at hearing sounds, they are especially tuned to voices. A new cross-species study compared humans, dogs, and pigs and mapped how fast the brain flags a voice, then sorts out whether it belongs to one of our own.</p>



<p>The researchers recorded tiny pulses of brain activity while participants listened to people, dogs, and pigs, plus everyday noises. The animals were awake, relaxed, and unmedicated, and the sessions used gentle scalp sensors, not implants.</p>



<p>A team from <a href="https://www.elte.hu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eötvös Loránd University</a> (ELU) focused on two questions that cut to the heart of social hearing in mammals. </p>



<p>The first was whether the brain treats vocal sounds as a distinct category, separate from other noises. The second was whether it goes a step further, recognizing and highlighting voices that belong to members of the same species - a process known as conspecific recognition.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-brain-signals-to-sound">Tracking brain signals to sound</h2>



<p>The setup used non-invasive EEG sensors to track the brain’s fast electrical responses to sound. The signal components the team examined are called event-related potentials, and they are well suited for timing how processing unfolds.</p>



<p>Participants heard short clips such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/laughter-makes-the-stress-of-life-feel-less-overwhelming/">laughs</a>, barks, and grunts, alongside non vocal noises like traffic or a closing door. </p>



<p>The recordings let the researchers compare voice versus non-voice processing, then compare same species voices to all other sounds.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-two-step-brain-response">Two-step brain response</h2>



<p>In humans and pigs, the brain marked any voice very quickly, within about 0.2 seconds after the sound began. </p>



<p>Later, after roughly 0.3 seconds and beyond, all three species showed a second step that tagged same species voices as a special category.</p>



<p>“These patterns were very similar despite the large evolutionary distance between the three species, pointing to shared neural mechanisms that likely predate the divergence of their lineages some 90 million years ago,” said Boglárka Morvai, the study's lead author.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dogs-pigs-and-people">Dogs, pigs, and people</h2>



<p>Dogs did not show the early “any voice” signal as clearly as humans and pigs, even though they live closely with people. </p>



<p>They did show the later step that marked dog sounds as different from other sounds, which matches the idea that same species calls matter most for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-bacteria-influence-our-social-behavior-and-sense-of-fairness/">social behavior.</a></p>



<p>Pigs showed both steps and did so on a similar time course to people. That pattern strengthens the case that the early voice flag is a general feature of mammal hearing, not a quirk of primates.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-voice-areas-in-mammals">Voice areas in mammals</h2>



<p>For two decades, brain imaging in humans has found voice sensitive regions in the superior temporal cortex, often called temporal voice areas. </p>



<p>A comprehensive review outlines how these regions support recognition of who is speaking, what they feel, and how the voice changes over time.</p>



<p>Dogs have their own voice sensitive patches too, and they align in function with human areas when both species listen to vocal sounds.</p>



<p> A comparative paper showed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lost-in-translation-how-we-misread-our-dogs-emotions/">dog</a> and human brains both devote cortex to processing voices, including sensitivity to emotional tone.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-speed-of-voice-detection">Speed of voice detection</h2>



<p>Past EEG work in people has reported early differences between voice and non-voice sounds on the order of a fifth of a second. </p>



<p>One open access article found effects emerging around 0.164 seconds and peaking near 0.2 seconds on frontotemporal sensors.</p>



<p>These timings line up with the early “any voice” response reported in the recent study. The later same species effect fits with known windows for categorical decisions in auditory cognition.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pig-brains-and-voices">Pig brains and voices</h2>



<p>Pigs are increasingly used in neuroscience because their brains share organizational features with ours. </p>



<p>Recent physiology work has mapped clear auditory event-related responses in healthy piglets using scalp EEG, strengthening their value as a model species.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Finding the early voice flag in pigs suggests that this quick detection step is not limited to primates or carnivores. It likely reflects a basic property of mammalian hearing tuned by social life.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolutionary-roots-of-voice">Evolutionary roots of voice</h2>



<p>The two-step pattern, first voice detection, then same species sorting, makes evolutionary sense. Fast detection buys time to orient toward a biologically relevant sound, then a later pass adds the social label needed to decide how to react.</p>



<p>If distantly related species share both steps, the underlying circuitry likely traces back to a common ancestor. That is consistent with decades of work showing conserved organization for voice and affect processing across mammals.</p>



<p>All recordings relied on cooperative, awake participation. Dogs and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/selective-breeding-has-dramatically-sped-up-the-evolution-of-pigs/">pigs</a> were measured in calm settings, often near their owners, and no training or sedation was required for them to rest while the sensors recorded.</p>



<p>The protocol emphasizes trust and low stress, which improves data quality and respects the welfare of companion animals. The approach also allows direct comparisons with human EEG.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sorting-same-species-voices">Sorting same-species voices</h2>



<p>Same-species voices carry information about identity, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-identify-the-simple-emotion-that-gives-life-meaning-and-its-not-happiness/">emotion</a>, age, and intent. That richer meaning calls for more processing than a quick voice versus non-voice flag.</p>



<p>The later timing suggests a categorical decision process in which the brain checks acoustic features against learned templates for its own kind. </p>



<p>In humans, that machinery feeds into language, but it operates in social mammals that do not use speech.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-voice-studies">Future of voice studies</h2>



<p>Future studies can add more species and test a wider range of calls to see how acoustic structure shapes the early and late steps. Portable EEG could expand testing into natural settings where animals communicate most.</p>



<p>Combining EEG with imaging can also map the timing onto brain regions, tying the fast electrical signatures to specific circuits. That could clarify how the two steps interact during real world social listening.</p>



<p>Better models of voice processing can guide assistive tech for people with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drugs-may-be-available-to-prevent-hearing-loss/">hearing</a> or language challenges. They can also inform animal welfare by helping us detect stress or need from vocal cues in pets and livestock.</p>



<p>Cross species designs like this one keep us honest about what is uniquely human and what is widely shared. That distinction matters for both neuroscience and ethics.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925003581?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>NeuroImage</em></a>.</p>



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Mammals share ancient brain mechanisms for voice recognition

Mammals are not only good at hearing sounds, they are especially tuned to voices. A new cross-species study compared humans, dogs, and pigs and mapped how fast the brain flags a voice, then sorts out whether it belongs to one of our own. The researchers recorded tiny pulses of brain activity while participants listened to people, dogs, and pigs, plus everyday noises. The animals were awake, relaxed, and unmedicated, and the sessions used gentle scalp sensors, not implants. A team from Eötvös Loránd University (ELU) focused on...

<p>Pain is not just a signal from skin or nerves. It is a decision made by your brain after weighing context, experience, and expectation, and a new study now shows that decision can be tuned to specific body parts.</p>



<p>Researchers found that placebo pain relief does not spread everywhere. It shows up mainly where your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pain-relief-breakthrough-as-scientists-discover-a-safer-non-addictive-approach-trpv1/">brain</a> expects it.</p>



<p>Dr. Lewis S. Crawford of the University of Sydney’s School of Medical Sciences and Brain and Mind Centre (<a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/brain-mind/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BMC</a>) led the work. His team used ultra-high field functional magnetic resonance imaging (<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3073717/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fMRI</a>) to watch tiny brainstem hubs while people reported their pain.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pain-relief-follows-body-map">Pain relief follows body map</h2>



<p>Your brainstem sits between the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/virtual-nature-scenes-provide-relief-from-chronic-pain/">brain</a> and the spinal cord and helps regulate breathing, heart rate, and pain control. It routes signals to and from the body and houses chemical systems that set our internal state.</p>



<p>The team found that pain relief followed a spatial pattern. Facial pain relief linked to activity in higher brainstem regions while arm and leg relief tracked lower ones.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trained-spots-show-less-pain">Trained spots show less pain</h2>



<p>Ninety-three healthy volunteers received heat pulses to the face, forearm, or leg. A sham cream labeled as a numbing agent was applied and the heat was quietly turned down during training so the cream seemed to work.</p>



<p>During scanning, the same heat was applied to the sham site and a control site with identical settings. Many people still reported less pain on the trained site, which reflects placebo analgesia.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-pain-feels-emotional-new-brain-pathway-linked-to-suffering/">Response</a> rates differed by location. Significant pain reductions appeared in 49 percent for face, 48 percent for arm, and 61 percent for leg.</p>



<p>Importantly, the relief stayed local. When a hidden cream was placed on a separate body site during scanning, the effect did not generalize to that new spot.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-brainstem-zones-guide-placebo-signals">Brainstem zones guide placebo signals</h2>



<p>Two brain regions did most of the work, the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM). These areas form a descending control system that can quiet incoming pain signals before they reach conscious awareness.</p>



<p>A recent <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1380171/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> maps how different periaqueductal gray subregions support defensive actions and pain control. The new results fit that picture by showing location-specific changes for face versus limbs.</p>



<p>The periaqueductal gray appears to organize pain relief in a rostral to caudal gradient. The rostral end aligned with face-related relief and the caudal end with body-related relief.</p>



<p>The rostral ventromedial medulla showed a matching pattern. It linked rostral zones to face relief and more caudal zones to limb relief.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-placebo-in-pain-relief">Placebo in pain relief</h2>



<p>The periaqueductal gray has columns that support different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mindfulness-meditation-is-a-powerful-weapon-against-chronic-pain/">strategies</a>. The lateral column is tied to active coping and short-lasting, targeted analgesia, while the ventrolateral column is more associated with whole body opioid-driven analgesia.</p>



<p>This study points to the lateral column when placebo relief is spatially precise. That suggests a different chemistry may be at work than standard opioid circuits.</p>



<p>Cannabinoid signaling is one candidate within the periaqueductal gray. Evidence shows cannabinoids can reduce pain when engaged in this region.</p>



<p>A human and animal <a href="https://journals.lww.com/painrpts/fulltext/2021/01000/effects_of_inflammatory_pain_on_cb1_receptor_in.25.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> summarizes how cannabinoids in the periaqueductal gray influence antinociception and may contribute to descending control.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-expectations-and-placebo-response">Expectations and placebo response </h2>



<p>Expectations set during conditioning shaped the brainstem response. Relief appeared where people believed the cream would help and activity shifted in matching brainstem zones.</p>



<p>Ultra-high field scanning at 7 Tesla MRI made it possible to resolve these small nuclei. That level of detail is rare in human imaging and helped separate face-related and limb-related signals.</p>



<p>The effect was not all-or-nothing. Some participants did not show a measurable placebo response at a given site, which is consistent with known variability in placebo sensitivity.</p>



<p>Those who did respond showed changes in both periaqueductal gray and rostral ventromedial medulla that lined up with the trained body region.</p>



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



<p>If the brain controls pain with a map, treatment could be tuned to the right spot rather than blasting the whole system. This could reduce side effects and keep people alert and functional.</p>



<p>“This is the first time we’ve seen such a precise and detailed pain map in the human brainstem, showing us that it tailors pain relief to the specific part of the body that’s experiencing it,” said Dr. Crawford.</p>



<p>Opioid medications can quiet pain but often act broadly and carry risks when used long term. According to Dr. Crawford, a map-based approach could guide non-opioid strategies that target the right microcircuit.</p>



<p>“This could lead to more precise treatments for chronic pain that don’t rely on opioids and work exactly where the brain expects pain relief to occur."</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-pain-relief-varies-with-placebo">Why pain relief varies with placebo</h2>



<p>Why did almost half of participants fail to show a significant placebo effect at some sites? Individual differences in learning, attention, and expectations likely play roles, along with subtle physiology in the descending system.</p>



<p>A timely <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40875865/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">commentary</a> from the National Library of Medicine notes that identifying somatotopy in brainstem pain modulation could help in the management of chronic pain, where localized symptoms are common.</p>



<p>Researchers also need to determine which neurotransmitters drive the precise mapping. Opioids probably contribute in some circuits, while cannabinoids and other transmitters may shape lateral column effects.</p>



<p>Behavioral training that tunes expectations to match specific sites could enhance clinical results. Devices or medicines might then amplify that targeted control.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-tests-of-placebo-effects">Future tests of placebo effects</h2>



<p>Non-invasive stimulation methods could be tested to nudge the correct brainstem nodes while patients practice site specific expectation training. Imaging could confirm whether the right periaqueductal gray and rostral ventromedial medulla zones are engaged during therapy.</p>



<p>Drug development could also change. If a medicine claims to help a knee or jaw, imaging can check whether the matching brainstem segment lights up as expected.</p>



<p>Clinicians may one day combine modest doses of systemic drugs with local expectation training to get focused relief. The goal is steady function without heavy sedation or widespread side effects.</p>



<p>Patients with chronic, localized pain might benefit most from this approach. They could receive treatment plans that respect the map.</p>



<p>“The brain’s natural pain relief system is more nuanced than we thought,” said Dr Crawford. “Essentially, it has a built-in system to control pain in specific areas. It’s not just turning pain off everywhere; but working in a highly coordinated, anatomically precise system.”     </p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu8846" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Science</em></a>.</p>



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Placebo pain relief occurs where the brain expects it

Pain is not just a signal from skin or nerves....

<p>Tropical forest loss is not just a story about trees. It is a story about people living next to those trees who are now facing hotter days and higher risks.</p>



<p>A new <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02411-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> reports that local warming from tropical deforestation is associated with 28,330 heat-related deaths per year across Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. </p>



<p>The same analysis estimates that 345 million people were exposed to higher temperatures caused by nearby forest loss between 2001 and 2020.</p>



<p>The research was led by Dr. Carly Reddington and Professor Dominick Spracklen from the University of Leeds’ School of Earth and Environment (<a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/see" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UL</a>). The team worked with collaborators in Brazil and Ghana to connect satellite records of forest change and temperature with public health data. </p>



<p>The work adds a direct human health lens to a topic often framed only as a climate or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/international-day-for-biological-diversity-2025-bonding-with-nature/">biodiversity</a> problem.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-deforestation-raises-heat">How deforestation raises heat</h2>



<p>In simple terms, deforestation means permanent removal of tree cover from an area. The team mapped where tree cover declined and then measured how much land surface temperature rose in those same places.</p>



<p>They compared these deforested pixels to nearby pixels that kept their trees. That method isolates the heat tied to forest loss from broader climate trends.</p>



<p>The researchers overlaid population maps and national data on non-accidental mortality to estimate the share of heat-related mortality linked specifically to the added local heat from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-deforestation-directly-linked-to-atmospheric-mercury-emissions/">deforestation</a>. </p>



<p>The central estimate was 28,330 deaths per year, with the largest numbers in Southeast Asia due to larger exposed populations and higher vulnerability in many districts.</p>



<p>The analysis revealed that deforestation alone added about 0.81 degrees Fahrenheit of warming in deforested areas over 2001 to 2020. In places that lost forest, that local boost accounted for most of the warming people actually experienced.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trees-keep-areas-cool">Trees keep areas cool</h2>



<p>Trees cool the air through evapotranspiration, where water moves from leaves to the atmosphere. This process removes heat, while shade further limits surface warming at midday.</p>



<p>A global <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aac8083" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> has shown that when forests are cut, nearby air temperatures rise and daily temperature swings grow larger. When the canopy is lost, the land loses both its source of moisture and its shield from the sun.</p>



<p>The burden is not spread evenly. Regions of Southeast Asia that lost forest had the highest heat-related mortality rates in the new dataset.</p>



<p>Populations working outdoors, living in rural areas, or lacking access to cooling face greater exposure. Health systems with fewer resources also struggle more during heat spikes.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-related-deaths-from-deforestation">Heat-related deaths from deforestation </h2>



<p>Local case studies back up the pan-tropical picture. In Berau Regency, Indonesia, a modeling study showed that deforestation between 2002 and 2018 raised population-weighted mean temperatures by 1.55°F.</p>



<p>The researchers estimated that 7.3 to 8.5 percent of all-cause deaths in 2018 in Berau were linked to the combined warming from deforestation and climate change. </p>



<p>In the current study, the experts estimate that deforestation alone can account for over a third of heat-related deaths where forest loss occurred.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forest-loss-and-outdoor-work">Forest loss and outdoor work </h2>



<p>Heat does not just affect mortality. It also limits safe time for labor, especially in agriculture and construction.</p>



<p>Independent research shows that deforestation-driven warming reduced safe outdoor working hours for about 2.8 million workers across the tropics in recent years. </p>



<p>Lost work time means lost income, and it increases health risks for those who continue laboring in dangerous conditions.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-local-impact-of-deforestation">Local impact of deforestation</h2>



<p>We often talk about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-are-lagging-centuries-behind-in-climate-adaptation/">forests</a> as carbon stores. That is true, but the cooling services that trees provide to neighboring communities are immediate and local.</p>



<p>The Leeds study shows that in areas with forest losses, local biophysical warming from deforestation explained most of the temperature rise that residents felt. </p>



<p>This explains why people living near cleared land notice sharper heat compared to those located a short distance away near intact forest.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deforestation-adds-to-global-heat">Deforestation adds to global heat</h2>



<p>Heat is already a leading environmental risk for health worldwide. A global <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196%2821%2900081-4/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> estimated that non-optimal temperatures were associated with about 5.08 million deaths per year from 2000 to 2019.</p>



<p>Deforestation adds fuel to that fire by removing local cooling in some of the hottest, most humid places on Earth. It does so alongside rising greenhouse gases that are lifting baseline temperatures.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-actions-to-protect-people">Actions to protect people </h2>



<p>Stopping further loss of tropical forests can quickly lower local <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-heat-is-pushing-parts-of-earth-beyond-human-survival/">heat stress</a>. Keeping canopy intact restores shade and evapotranspiration, which cools surfaces and the air above them.</p>



<p>At the same time, communities need basic protections, including shade structures, water, rest breaks, and early warning for dangerous heat. Where possible, improving access to efficient cooling can protect health while limiting extra emissions.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02411-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Nature Climate Change</em></a>.</p>



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Millions exposed to deadly heat from deforestation

Tropical forest loss is not just a story about trees....

<p>A construction crew cleared out what used to be an ice cream parlor in Gdańsk, Poland, and archaeologists stepped in to check the ground before redevelopment. They did not expect to uncover a full medieval skeleton lying beneath a carved grave stone.</p>



<p>The stone shows a knight in chainmail with a sword and shield, and likely dates to the late 1200s or early 1300s. The slab is about 59 inches (1.5 meters) long, and many of its details have survived.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-well-preserved-skeleton-found">Well-preserved skeleton found</h2>



<p>Sylwia Kurzyńska, an archaeologist with <a href="https://www.archeoscan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ArcheoScan</a>, led the work and described the rare stone slab carved from Gotland limestone that appears to have been imported across the Baltic Sea.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“Given that it was made out of soft limestone and lay buried for centuries, the preservation of the slab is remarkable,” said Kurzyńska. Her team removed the stone and uncovered a well preserved male skeleton below it.</p>



<p>The burial lies within a medieval cemetery where nearly 300 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-study-changes-what-we-knew-about-irelands-oldest-graves/">graves</a> have been recorded, and only a handful carry stone tomb markers that signal elite status. That fits the visual language of the slab.</p>



<p>Archaeologists working in the same block had already identified that oak used to form the earliest church was cut in 1140. The area formed part of an early stronghold used from the late 1000s to the early 1300s. </p>



<p>The churchyard’s location, inside the power center of the old town, helped explain why a high status grave turned up here.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-ranking-man-under-grave-stone">High-ranking man under grave stone</h2>



<p>Most late medieval memorials in this region are simple slabs with crosses or short inscriptions. <a href="https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/medieval-effigies-comparative-expressions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Effigial</a> carving, where the stone carries a full body image of the deceased, appears far less often and points to wealth, tools, and specialized carvers.</p>



<p>The material adds another layer. Gotland limestone took a fine polish and allowed crisp details. </p>



<p>Traders moved it along Baltic routes that connected Poland with Swedish quarries and Hanseatic markets. An imported stone in a church floor hints at long distance ties that mattered for prestige.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-from-9000-year-old-skeletons-disproves-migratory-waves-theory-from-south-africa/">skeleton</a> belonged to an adult man with sturdy bones and no grave goods, an absence that sometimes reflects church rules rather than rank. </p>



<p>The raised sword and sculpted armor communicate status in a way that parishioners would have understood during services.</p>



<p>All available evidence suggests that the individual was of high social standing, most likely a knight or a military commander. The visual program on the slab carries that message without a written epitaph.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skeletons-give-data-on-diet-and-disease">Skeletons give data on diet and disease</h2>



<p>Height does not map neatly onto wealth, since it reflects nutrition, infection, and genetics. Medieval Polish datasets show wide ranges, and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7424595/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">researchers</a> analyze stature in a biocultural framework to avoid simple one-cause stories.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Studies of medieval populations in Poland use skeletons to track diet and disease stress, not just inches and feet. That kind of work helps separate personal traits from community level conditions.</p>



<p>The grave stone was transferred to the Archaeological <a href="https://archeologia.pl/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Museum</a> in Gdańsk on July 8, 2025, for cleaning, stabilization, and documentation. </p>



<p>Conservators plan high resolution imaging to capture the carving and any tool marks that survive.</p>



<p>On the skeleton, teams will run genetic tests alongside chemical work that can trace childhood and adult diets. A facial reconstruction will use skull measurements to create a research-based portrait for public display.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grave-stone-traded-from-across-the-sea">Grave stone traded from across the sea</h2>



<p>Gdańsk stood in the middle of busy Baltic trade, so stone, iron, and timber moved between ports in short coastal hops. That system made it practical to import a fine limestone slab from Sweden for a prominent burial.</p>



<p>The stone also signals taste, since carvers familiar with regional styles could sell their skills across borders. A figure shown with a sword and shield fits a shared visual code that circulated on both sides of the sea.</p>



<p>A single grave can tighten a city’s timeline. This one ties a place of worship, a military seat, and a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/archaeologists-find-a-luxurious-4000-year-old-tomb-for-a-teenager-with-gold-jewelry-and-mysterious-seals/">cemetery</a> together. They form a coherent picture that is anchored in wood from 1140 and carried forward into the 1300s.</p>



<p>It also frames open questions that only lab work can answer. Identity, origin, and life history will depend on careful analysis rather than guesswork.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-past-becomes-public">How the past becomes public</h2>



<p>Finds like this move quickly from trenches to museum benches, and then into classrooms and city tours. The story turns abstract ideas like sepulchral art into something concrete and local.</p>



<p>Public interest keeps momentum going, which helps fund analysis and conservation. That is how one carved stone becomes part of a shared record of the city’s past.</p>



<p>Photo source: <em>ArcheoScan – Archaeology and Conservation Laboratory</em>.</p>



<p>Information from a <a href="https://www.gdansk.pl/wiadomosci/Znaleziono-kompletny-szkielet-rycerza-Gdansk-archeologia,a,291781" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press release</a> on the Gdańsk official website.</p>



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What looked like an ice cream shop concealed a cemetery with nearly 300 graves

A construction crew cleared out what used to be an...

<p>The story of how horses became calm enough to carry people is written in their DNA. A new study tracked ancient horse genomes across thousands of years and connected specific genetic changes to behavior and body shape.</p>



<p>The work shows that early breeders first favored temperament, then selected for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/horse-genetics-could-unlock-breakthroughs-in-human-medicine/">bodies</a> that could handle speed, weight, and long travel. </p>



<p>The research also pinpoints one region in the genome that appears to have tipped the balance toward rideability.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-horses-changed-human-life">Horses changed human life</h2>



<p>Xuexue Liu led the project at the Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (<a href="https://ias.caas.cn/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CAAS</a>), working with collaborators in France and Switzerland. </p>



<p>Horses reshaped how people moved, traded, and fought. Archaeology and genetics place the successful spread of modern domestic horses in the Western Eurasian steppes a little over 4,000 years ago. </p>



<p>A 2021 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04018-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> linked the rise of horse domestication to new ways of moving across land using chariots and horseback.</p>



<p>Before engines, horses were the fastest way to move people and goods. They also pulled plows and carried messages over long distances, which pushed cultures into closer contact.</p>



<p>Those changes relied on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/all-domestic-horses-have-ancestors-in-russia/">animals</a> that would accept a rider and keep pace without breaking down. The new genetic timeline helps explain how that happened step by step.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scanning-horse-dna">Scanning horse DNA</h2>



<p>The researchers built a time series of horse DNA and scanned 266 trait linked markers tied to behavior and body conformation. They watched how those markers rose or fell in frequency as humans started managing horse breeding.</p>



<p>They found clear signals that early selection focused on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saving-przewalskis-horse-the-last-surviving-species-of-wild-horse/">behavior</a>. That pattern fits the simple idea that a trainable, steady animal is easier to handle before people attempt fast travel or combat.</p>



<p>The team also defined several key terms that matter for reading the data. Ancient DNA refers to genetic material recovered from archaeological remains, and a genome is the full set of genetic instructions in an organism.</p>



<p>A genetic locus is a specific location on a chromosome, and an <a href="https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Allele" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">allele</a> is a version of a gene at that location. When an allele becomes more common because it helps survival or success under human choice, that rise is called positive selection.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gene-linked-to-rideability">Gene linked to rideability</h2>



<p>One region named GSDMC stood out as the strongest candidate for rideability. The team reports that selection at this locus started about 4,750 years ago, with the period known as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871141308000747" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">domestication bottleneck</a> marking a sharp shift in breeding.</p>



<p>By about 4,150 years ago, variants in GSDMC had become very common in managed horse populations. The study links GSDMC genotypes to skeletal conformation in horses and to spinal anatomy, motor coordination, and muscular strength in mice.</p>



<p>Those traits align with the demands of carrying a human across uneven ground for many miles. A stiffer, stronger back, coordinated movement, and adequate muscle power would all contribute to a safe, steady ride.</p>



<p>The authors argue that selection on existing variation, not a brand new mutation popping up out of nowhere, likely fueled the rapid rise. That interpretation matches how breeders often work, choosing among the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-dna-reveals-37000-years-of-hidden-human-infections/">animals</a> already in their herds.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calm-horses-chosen-first">Calm horses chosen first</h2>



<p>The scan also flagged <a href="https://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=ZFPM1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ZFPM1</a>, a gene known to modulate behavior in mice, as showing positive selection roughly 5,000 years ago. </p>



<p>The timing hints that calm temperament and tractability came before the body tweaks that made sustained riding possible.</p>



<p>Taming an animal that is large, fast, and easily spooked would be the first hurdle. Once that gate is opened, people can begin to select for efficient movement and strength under load.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bronze-to-iron-age-changes">Bronze to Iron Age changes</h2>



<p>The data suggest a shift in emphasis after the earliest phase of domestication. From the Iron Age onward, breeding leaned harder into larger body size and greater tameness to meet the demands of transport and warfare.</p>



<p>That pattern mirrors the archaeological record that shows more widespread cavalry and heavier equipment later in time. Stronger, bigger horses would be better suited for those roles.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-horse-dna-shows-change">Horse DNA shows change</h2>



<p>Time series genetics works because DNA from different ages acts like snapshots, and many snapshots form a timeline. </p>



<p>With enough samples, researchers can watch allele frequencies move, which tells a story about selection pressure over centuries.</p>



<p>The team cross-referenced genetic markers for behavior and body plan with known timelines for human mobility. That combination helps separate changes driven by people from natural drift, and it points to windows when breeding priorities changed.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-horse-dna-gene-matters">Why horse DNA gene matters</h2>



<p>GSDMC is a plausible hub because it influences how the spine and muscles develop and function. A back that holds form under a rider without undue flexion would reduce pain and injury risk for the animal.</p>



<p>Coupled with better coordination and strength, the same horses could cross long distances at sustained paces. That capacity would give groups who bred and used them a real advantage in moving, trading, and waging war.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-many-questions-remain">Many questions remain </h2>



<p>The exact group or culture that first pushed rideability to center stage remains uncertain. The genetic clock narrows the window, yet it does not name the horse herders who made those early choices.</p>



<p>Future work could refine which specific variants in GSDMC matter most and test how they affect motion in living horses. </p>



<p>Ethical breeding today also has to balance performance with welfare, since back health is central to a horse’s quality of life.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp4581" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Science</em></a>.</p>



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Horse DNA reveals how humans bred calm animals

The story of how horses became calm enough to carry...

<p>Evolution does not only respond to rivals, predators, or mates that bump into each other. It can also respond and evolve when ripples move through the environment and reach species that never cross paths, as shown in a new study.</p>



<p>Researchers tracked a simple question with big consequences: Could one species change the evolution of another without ever meeting it face to face?</p>



<p>The team studied indirect ecological effects, where one species influences another through a third species or by altering the environment rather than through direct contact. These effects can even cross habitat boundaries - as when land insects shape aquatic grazers - and, unlike obvious interactions such as predation or competition, they often go unnoticed.</p>



<p>The study was led by Shuqing Xu at <a href="https://www.uni-mainz.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz</a> and follows a long tradition of testing evolution in near-natural settings rather than only in small lab containers.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-experimental-ponds-track-evolution">Experimental ponds track evolution</h2>



<p>The researchers set up large outdoor mesocosms, which are controlled experimental ponds that mimic nature while allowing careful measurements. These systems were large enough to include many natural processes but controlled enough for clear tests. </p>



<p>Each pond held about 4,000 gallons of water, plus aquatic plants, algae, and the tiny crustacean <em><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lifes-rules-natural-selection-change-significantly-often-daphnia/">Daphnia</a></em>. The researchers added aphids that feed on duckweed to some ponds and kept other ponds as controls without aphids. </p>



<p>That created two worlds that never connected directly, since the aphids lived on floating macrophytes (larger aquatic plants like duckweed) while zooplankton and<em> Daphnia</em> (small drifting animals) as well as phytoplankton (microscopic algae) swam below.</p>



<p>"We showed that land-based aphids influenced the evolution of <em>Daphnia</em>, a tiny aquatic crustacean, even though the two species never come into contact," said Xu.</p>



<p>The researchers carefully tracked environmental change and genetic change at the same time. The ponds allowed the team to connect cause to effect without guessing.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nutrients-and-heat-shift">Nutrients and heat shift</h2>



<p>When aphids heavily consumed duckweed, the floating plant thinned out. With less cover, more light penetrated the water, and pond phytoplankton flourished - providing extra food for <em>Daphnia</em>.</p>



<p>The result was a sustained increase in <em>Daphnia</em> numbers in aphid ponds compared to controls, along with measurable shifts in nutrients and water temperature.</p>



<p>For example, there was a roughly 71.5 percent jump in total phosphorus, plus higher underwater light and a small temperature rise.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-species-evolve-under-pressure">Species evolve under pressure</h2>



<p>Evolution leaves fingerprints in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hidden-chapter-in-human-evolution-revealed-through-genetics/">DNA</a>. Whole genome sequencing showed that <em>Daphnia</em> in aphid ponds and Daphnia in control ponds diverged at many genomic sites, and the fraction of significantly different SNPs grew from one year to the next.</p>



<p>Population divergence increased across the experiment, and the team identified more than one hundred variants with strong treatment differences. </p>



<p>These genome-wide signals track with well-known resistance loci in Daphnia and support adaptive change in response to the altered environment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adaptation-came-with-a-cost">Adaptation came with a cost</h2>



<p>Transplant tests provided the decisive check on whether the observed genetic change was beneficial or just random drift.</p>



<p><em>Daphnia</em> that evolved in aphid ponds performed better back in aphid ponds than in control ponds.</p>



<p>There was a trade-off: the same aphid-pond lineages performed worse when moved into control conditions, a classic cost of specialization that often follows rapid adaptation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-species-shifts-spark-ripples">Species shifts spark ripples</h2>



<p>The quality of algal food matters as much as the quantity. Some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/turning-plants-into-carbon-capture-machines-with-cyanobacteria/">cyanobacteria</a> provide poor nutrition - or are even harmful - for <em>Daphnia</em>, and their abundance shifted during the experiment. </p>



<p>Independent studies explain why this matters: cyanobacteria are difficult for <em>Daphnia</em> to process and lack the key lipids the crustaceans need. </p>



<p>These changes in the water column did not stop with <em>Daphnia</em>. They rippled outward, altering duckweed and boosting the growth of aphids, which thrived in ponds shaped by earlier herbivory.</p>



<p>Such two-step echoes match ecological theory and show how evolutionary shifts in one part of an ecosystem can reverberate through others without direct contact.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-species-evolve-across-communities">Species evolve across communities</h2>



<p>Ecologists have long suspected that networks of interaction, not just pairwise encounters, shape evolution. </p>



<p>Past research shows that even species that do not interact directly can drive traits to evolve across mutualistic networks.</p>



<p>Experiments with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/guppies-are-helping-us-understand-evolution/">guppies</a> offered early proof that adaptation changes whole ecosystems, not only the fish themselves - locally adapted fish altered nutrient cycling, algae, and other organisms around them.</p>



<p><em>Daphnia</em> add another layer to this picture. Far from being slow, they can respond to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/its-a-two-way-street-between-evolution-and-environmental-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environmental change</a> within just a few generations, and their genetic shifts ripple through communities.</p>



<p>Modern genomics reveal how quickly <em>Daphnia</em> adapt to strong pressures, confirming that rapid evolution is not rare noise but a common feature of freshwater systems.</p>



<p>The study is published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2502742122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em></a>.</p>



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Species can evolve together without ever making contact

Evolution does not only respond to rivals, predators, or mates...

Low,Angle,View,Of,A,Group,Of,Multiracial,Young,Friends

<p>Psychoactive drugs are often discussed in the context of risk, yet science keeps asking a different question. What do psychedelics teach us about how people connect, feel, and heal, and how can we study those effects carefully in humans?</p>



<p>Dr. Harriet de Wit, director of the Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory at the <a href="https://psychiatry.uchicago.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Chicago</a>, has spent her career building tools to answer those questions. </p>



<p>She reflected on her work in a recent <a href="https://genomicpress.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/psychedelics/aop/article-10.61373-pp025k.0029/article-10.61373-pp025k.0029.xml?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview</a>.</p>



<p>Two drugs sit at the center of the story, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/psychedelic-drug-mdma-shows-promise-for-reducing-post-traumatic-stress/">MDMA</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lsd-can-treat-crippling-anxiety-with-a-single-dose/">LSD</a>, because they shift internal states that standard lab tasks rarely capture.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-psychedelic-connections">Studying psychedelic connections</h2>



<p>Dr. De Wit's work spans basic psychopharmacology and clinical translation, and her research program has been funded by the NIH for more than 42 years.</p>



<p>“The challenge of translating behavioral observations across species has continued to be a central theme in my research for the past 45 years,” said Dr. de Wit. </p>



<p>She treats cross-species comparison as a tool to test which findings generalize and which do not.</p>



<p>Her path began with animal studies of drug taking, then moved into controlled trials with human volunteers. That shift opened the door to measuring self reported states that animals cannot convey.</p>



<p>She also insists on measuring both <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-shows-psilocybin-from-magic-mushrooms-delays-aging-and-significantly-extends-lifespan/">behavior</a> and self reporting. That approach allows human studies to capture experiences, like empathy or awe, that nonverbal animals cannot report.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-psychedelics-connect-humans">Psychedelics connect humans</h2>



<p>A controlled laboratory <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43156-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> found that single doses of MDMA increased how connected people felt to a stranger during a guided conversation. </p>



<p>According to Dr. de Wit, demonstrating that MDMA enhances feelings of social connectedness during interpersonal interactions has profound implications for treating trauma-related disorders globally.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In the same paradigm, methamphetamine produced a similar rise in ratings of closeness, but only MDMA’s closeness was linked to oxytocin levels in saliva.</p>



<p>Those data put numbers on an everyday observation that pharmacology can shift social experience. The finding also gives therapists a concrete target, the feeling of connection during real conversations, to measure in future trials.</p>



<p>The work used a double blind, with separate groups for MDMA and methamphetamine. Participants rated closeness at the end of the session and one week later, providing both immediate and short follow-up readouts.</p>



<p>The similar behavioral outcomes with different physiological <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-psychedelic-dose-may-improve-brain-flexibility/">patterns</a> point to multiple routes to the same social endpoint. That matters because the mechanism will shape safety, dosing, and how a therapy session is structured.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lsd-and-mdma-microdosing">LSD and MDMA microdosing</h2>



<p>A randomized, double blind <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9731343/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trial</a> in healthy adults tested four low doses of LSD given every few days and found modest, short-lived subjective effects without lasting changes in mood or cognition. </p>



<p>Safety looked acceptable in that controlled setting, but the expected broad cognitive boost did not appear.</p>



<p>Across sessions, some acute effects weakened, suggesting that participants developed a tolerance for the low-dose LSD over time. </p>



<p>The high microdose reduced feelings of rejection during a social exclusion task during dosing days, yet those changes did not persist at follow up.</p>



<p>“Drugs such as MDMA and low doses of LSD produce unusual alterations in self reported internal states, such as feelings of empathy, awe, and oneness with the environment,” said Dr. de Wit. </p>



<p>Her research team now asks whether those altered states actually change future behavior, generosity, or values.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-craving-can-rise-with-abstinence">Craving can rise with abstinence</h2>



<p>A translational human <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3027849/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> in cigarette smokers documented incubation, the counterintuitive increase in cue triggered craving after longer abstinence periods. </p>



<p>Across groups, cue-induced craving was greater after 35 days than after 7 days, even as background withdrawal eased.</p>



<p>The result pushes back against the idea that craving simply fades with time away from a drug. Clinicians can plan check-ins for later windows when cue reactivity rebounds, which may help people stay off cigarettes.</p>



<p>The design verified abstinence day by day and tested responses to smoking cues in a controlled setting. That level of control strengthens confidence that timing itself can shape craving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breathwork-creates-psychedelic-states-without-drugs/">responses</a>.</p>



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



<p>In a foundational human <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2693956/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paper</a>, volunteers developed a conditioned place preference for a room paired with amphetamine, and their preference tracked how much they liked the drug during conditioning. </p>



<p>The result validated a widely used animal assay in people and tied subjective liking to learned context.</p>



<p>Procedurally, the study used repeated conditioning sessions followed by a test day when people rated the rooms. That design allowed the team to connect learned preference to the specific feelings the drug produced during training.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feeling-connected-with-psychedelics">Feeling connected with psychedelics</h2>



<p>A phase 3 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02565-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trial</a> reported that MDMA assisted therapy reduced symptom severity and functional impairment in people with moderate to severe PTSD. </p>



<p>These clinical outcomes sit alongside lab-based evidence that MDMA can increase feelings of connection during real conversations.</p>



<p>Translation is never automatic, but it is not a shot in the dark. By pairing controlled human experiments with clinical trials, researchers can map which laboratory effects actually move the needle in care.</p>



<p>“I am concerned about the decline in respect for science, scholarship, and education,” said Harriet de Wit. A long running research program only exists when society is willing to invest in it.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://genomicpress.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/psychedelics/aop/article-10.61373-pp025k.0029/article-10.61373-pp025k.0029.xml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Psychedelics</em></a>.</p>



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



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How psychedelics enhance feelings of deep connection, even between strangers

Psychoactive drugs are often discussed in the context of risk,...

<p>A new study maps the chemical cues that common gut bacteria detect, showing what helps them find nutrients and thrive. Researchers tested real human gut residents rather than the usual lab pathogens, and the results reset a few assumptions.</p>



<p>The experts found that carboxylic acids - especially lactic acid and formic acid - top the list of preferred cues in these microbes. The work was led by Victor Sourjik at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology (<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11844446/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MPI</a>).</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-microbes-follow-chemical-trails">Microbes follow chemical trails</h2>



<p>The microbiome is a bustling community where microbes trade byproducts and share resources. Cross-feeding is central to that economy, as a recent review showed with examples across the gut ecosystem.</p>



<p>Bacteria use chemotaxis to swim toward helpful chemicals and away from harmful ones. In Escherichia coli, a classic study linked stronger attraction to amino acids with faster use of those same amino acids.</p>



<p>Nutrients do not just feed an individual cell, they shape who lives where. Signals can set up gradients that guide <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-found-alive-sealed-inside-rock-after-2-billion-years/">microbes</a> toward niches that match how they make a living.</p>



<p>The new work asks a simple question with wide reach: What do helpful gut bacteria actually sense in the chemical soup of the intestine?</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-probing-gut-bacteria-detection">Probing gut bacteria detection</h2>



<p>The researchers built a library of sensory domains from 20 gut species, focusing on the abundant Clostridia, then screened more than 150 metabolites.</p>



<p>They identified 34 matches between receptors and specific compounds, spanning amino acids, nucleobase derivatives, amines, indole, and several classes of carboxylic acids.</p>



<p>These sensory domains sit on three types of transmembrane receptors that control movement, gene responses, or second messengers. Ligands were assigned to 12 of 35 chemotaxis receptors but only one of 33 histidine kinase receptors, a pattern consistent with chemotaxis being mainly about finding food.</p>



<p>The coverage was deep for one large family of extracellular sensor modules called Cache domains. About half of the Cache-type chemotaxis receptors in the tested commensals could be assigned a ligand.</p>



<p>Those numbers matter because they connect behavior to metabolism. They show that in this habitat, receptors lean toward signals tied to growth.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-bacteria-prefer-to-find">What bacteria prefer to find</h2>



<p>Acids made up most of the results. Among them, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/energy-can-be-generated-from-sweaty-fingertips/">lactate</a> and formate were the ones bacteria responded to the most.</p>



<p>That pattern fits what we know about community metabolism, where one microbe’s waste is another’s lunch. Microbial lactate utilization often funnels into energy-yielding pathways that stabilize the gut environment.</p>



<p>Growth tests in several Roseburia strains supported the idea that these cues point to food sources. L-lactate and formate accelerated growth most strongly in strains that carried matching receptors.</p>



<p>Microbes sensed the familiar short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) too, but less often than expected. The high-affinity sensors favored lower-abundance metabolites, showing how microbes home in on limiting resources.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-science-of-sensing">The science of sensing</h2>



<p>A ligand is simply a chemical that a receptor can detect and respond to. In this study, researchers looked at two types of sensor designs: one with a single unit that picked up on lactate or pyruvate, and another with two units that could respond to very different types of molecules.</p>



<p>One of these two-unit sensors, called dCache_1UR, turned out to be especially interesting. One part of it recognized uracil, while the other part detected acetate. </p>



<p>The team was even able to map out its structure, showing how each part used a different set of building blocks to grab onto its target.</p>



<p>That split setup hints at flexible wiring. The binding pocket that recognizes uracil is closely related to an amine-sensing pocket, and small sequence swaps can shift specificity.</p>



<p>Evolutionary analysis suggested that these domains change targets readily as bacteria adapt to new niches. That adaptability may explain how commensals tune their sensory repertoire to the gut’s complex chemistry.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bacteria-talks-to-each-other-and-us">Bacteria talks to each other and us</h2>



<p>When one species secretes lactate or formate, neighbors with matching sensors can follow the trail. This creates channels for cross-feeding that keep communities resilient, even when diets or conditions shift.</p>



<p>Signals are not limited to nutrients. Microbiota-derived indoles modulate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/even-mild-inflammation-can-majorly-damage-the-brain/">inflammation</a> and can reshape microbial networks through metabolite handoffs.</p>



<p>These findings land squarely in the lives of butyrate producers like Roseburia. <em>Roseburia intestinalis</em> is a motile, beneficial organism tied to barrier health and energy balance through butyrate production.</p>



<p>Chemotaxis gives such species a way to track nutrient gradients near the intestinal wall. It also offers a route to coordinate with partners that release the compounds they prefer to use.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nutrition-microbes-and-balance">Nutrition, microbes, and balance</h2>



<p>If commensals chase lactate and formate, diet and host <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-metabolism-has-evolved-to-become-energetically-unique/">metabolism</a> could indirectly steer where and how these microbes grow. That opens the door to interventions that alter metabolite landscapes rather than trying to install single strains.</p>



<p>Therapies that stabilize lactate fluxes may help keep communities in balance. SCFA production could improve when lactate is quickly captured and converted by the right partners.</p>



<p>The receptor data point toward specific targets for prebiotics that enrich favorable behaviors. They also sketch a map for designing biosensors that report on gut chemistry in real time.</p>



<p>"These domains appear to be important for interactions between bacteria in the gut and could play a key role in the healthy human microbiome," said Wenhao Xu, a postdoctoral researcher in Sourjik’s group.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-in-gut-sensing">Next steps in gut sensing</h2>



<p>The discovery of dual-module receptors that bind uracil and acetate raises questions about module cooperation. Independent binding means two inputs without crosstalk, yet evolution could rewire that logic.</p>



<p>Formate and lactate preferences appear widespread among chemotactic receptors in these commensals. Tracking how those preferences change with diet, medication, or disease would be informative.</p>



<p>The team found a sensor protein that detects indole, a chemical signal made by microbes. This shows how bacteria can link what they sense in their environment to changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-genes-may-predict-infertility-and-disease-by-flipping-like-a-light-switch/">gene</a> activity. </p>



<p>The researchers also noticed that receptor strength worked in the opposite way to how common each metabolite was. In other words, receptors bound most tightly to rare compounds - an advantage in patchy environments where resources are scarce.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2508950122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em></a>.</p>



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Gut bacteria 'sniff out' nutrients with big effects on our health

A new study maps the chemical cues that common gut...

<p>As night falls in the rainforests, orangutans climb into the canopy to construct intricate tree nests, displaying remarkable ingenuity. </p>



<p>These comfy platforms are carefully engineered beds, providing warmth, comfort, protection from predators, and even reduce mosquito bites.</p>



<p>Scientists have long wondered how young orangutans learn to master such complex architecture. Recent findings reveal that they acquire this skill through close observation and practice, a process called observational <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-and-bees-are-capable-of-complex-social-learning/">social learning</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orangutans-build-nests-for-survival">Orangutans build nests for survival</h2>



<p>Nest-building is essential for survival. Unlike many behaviors in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-orangutans-can-teach-humans-about-food-and-fitness/">animals</a>, this skill is neither entirely instinctive nor quickly learned. </p>



<p>Orangutans must manipulate branches, twigs, and leaves with strength and dexterity while making decisions about materials and structure.</p>



<p>Night nests, far more elaborate than day nests, can include linings, pillows, blankets, and even roofs. </p>



<p>To build such structures requires both technical know-how and material knowledge, making nest-building a cognitively demanding task.</p>



<p>Young <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orangutan-mothers-have-unique-parenting-styles-like-humans/">orangutans</a> begin showing interest in nests at just six months, playing with leaves and branches. </p>



<p>Practice of basic day nests starts around age one, but night nest practice begins only at three years and is not mastered until about the age of eight.</p>



<p>Complex additions, such as multitree nests and comfort elements, appear later. This long timeline shows that the skill is not acquired quickly but gradually, with repeated attempts and guided observation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learning-from-mom">Learning from mom</h2>



<p>Researchers documented that immatures who carefully peered at their mothers during nest-building were far more likely to practice soon afterward. </p>



<p>Merely being nearby without watching closely did not have the same effect. This highlights the importance of selective attention in learning.</p>



<p>“Nest-building is critical to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/experts-unlock-the-mysteries-of-orangutan-communication/">survival</a> in orangutans but is surprisingly not the focus of a lot of research," noted Dr. Ani Permana from the <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Warwick</a>. </p>



<p>"We previously reported that it takes multiple years for immature orangutans to learn to nest-build but, based on 17 years of observational data, this paper shows that this learning process is highly dependent on young animals carefully watching the nest-building of others.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orangutan-nests-are-complex">Orangutan nests are complex</h2>



<p>The study also showed that young orangutans pay special attention to complex features like multitree nests, twig manipulations, and comfort elements. </p>



<p>These require memorizing multiple steps and sequences. After observing these, immatures increased their practice, suggesting they were specifically learning the more challenging parts. </p>



<p>Simpler nests, such as single-tree day nests, did not trigger the same level of focused observation.</p>



<p>“Orangutan nest-building tendency may have some innate basis, but the details and method must be socially learned, starting from a very young age, by watching and practicing, learning from mistakes as they grow and this paper is the first time this has been shown in wild apes,” Dr. Permana added.</p>



<p>At first, immatures mostly learn from their mothers, but as they grow older, they begin peering at other group members, thereby expanding their knowledge base.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learning-what-to-use">Learning what to use</h2>



<p>Beyond construction skills, orangutans also learn what materials to use. </p>



<p>“Aside from learning ‘how to’ build a nest, immature orangutans also appear to learn the ‘know-what’ of which materials to use," noted Dr. Caroline Schuppli, <a href="https://www.ab.mpg.de/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior</a>.</p>



<p>The choice of tree species is important, and infants - who primarily peer at their mothers - are more likely to select the same species their mothers use.</p>



<p>“Just like human teenagers finding their own path, maturing orangutans increasingly peer at the nest-building of others and begin experimenting with the tree species those individuals use," Dr. Schuppli continued.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-returning-to-roots">Returning to roots</h2>



<p>Interestingly, adults often revert to using the tree species favored by their mothers, even after experimenting with alternatives in youth.</p>



<p>“Ultimately, adult orangutans tend to revert to the nest materials used by their mothers, perhaps recognizing that the most effective methods had already been established," Dr. Schuppli noted. </p>



<p>"This consistent variation in nest materials across generations indicates that wild orangutan populations possess cultural elements that could be lost without the conservation of the species and their habitats,” </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orangutans-learn-and-pass-on-traditions">Orangutans learn and pass on traditions</h2>



<p>The study emphasized four main points: peering, not just proximity, drives learning; immatures focus on complex multi-step elements; role models expand with age; and knowledge of tree species is socially transmitted.</p>



<p>These findings suggest orangutans display cultural variation, with nest-building traditions passed through generations.</p>



<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32658/chapter-abstract/270606055?redirectedFrom=fulltext&amp;login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nest-building</a> is an evolutionarily ancient behavior shared by great apes. </p>



<p>By proving that orangutans acquire this skill through observational social learning, the study suggests that such cultural learning has deep roots in primate history.</p>



<p>It highlights not just the intelligence of orangutans but also their fragile cultural heritage - one that can only continue if their forest homes are preserved.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08217-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Biology</a>.</em></p>



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Orangutans learn to build complex tree nests by watching their mothers

As night falls in the rainforests, orangutans climb into the...

<p>An international team kept solid gold intact while superheating it to 19,000 Kelvin, about 33,740 °F (18,726 °C). They measured the temperature directly, in real time, and documented the feat in a new study. The result outstrips a long assumed ceiling on how hot a solid can get before it gives way.</p>



<p>The team reached this state with ultra fast laser heating and then checked the atoms with precise X-ray probes.</p>



<p>The work also lays out a clean way to take the temperature of extremely hot, dense matter, which is something that has frustrated experimenters for decades.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-superheating-gold-means">What superheating gold means</h2>



<p>Lead author Thomas G. White of the University of Nevada, Reno (<a href="https://www.unr.edu/physics/people/admin-faculty-and-staff/thomas-white" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNR</a>), led the international collaboration with colleagues at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and partner institutions.</p>



<p>The study focuses on superheating, which is when a solid sits above its melting point yet does not melt because the rapid conditions do not give its structure time to reorganize.</p>



<p>Here, the group pushed a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-high-grade-gold-mine-found-in-an-unexplored-area-of-south-america/">thin gold sample</a> far beyond its normal melting threshold in a flash. </p>



<p>The superheated gold remained crystalline for a brief window, long enough to record how fast the atoms were moving and therefore how hot the lattice was.</p>



<p>The work touches a broader frontier known as warm dense matter (WDM), which is a high energy state relevant to planetary interiors and fusion targets.</p>



<p>Accurate temperatures in this regime have been hard to pin down because these hot states are tiny and very short lived.</p>



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



<p>In 1988, Hans J. Fecht and William L. Johnson proposed an upper stability boundary called the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/334050a0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">entropy catastrophe</a>, arguing that a solid cannot be heated much past about three times its melting temperature without melting. </p>



<p>The idea was that as a crystal heats, its entropy rises until it matches the liquid, which should trigger melting.</p>



<p>That back of the envelope limit, about three times the melting point, became the accepted stopping point in textbooks and talks. </p>



<p>It also aligned with the fact that most experiments ran into disordering events at lower temperatures anyway.</p>



<p>The new gold measurements show that ultra fast heating sidesteps those assumptions. </p>



<p>By outrunning processes that normally give a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-create-a-time-crystal-using-giant-atoms-long-thought-to-be-impossible/">crystal time to expand</a> and unravel, the team produced a much hotter solid phase without violating basic physics.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-team-pushed-past-the-limit">How the team pushed past the limit</h2>



<p>The experiment used a brief pulse, only 45 femtoseconds long, to pump energy into a thin gold <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-silver-and-gold-discovery-morena-confirmed-to-be-extraordinarily-high-grade-deposits/">foil</a>.</p>



<p>Immediately after this, an intense X-ray pulse captured the atomic motion through tiny shifts in the scattered X-ray frequency. This gave a direct readout of the atoms’ speeds.</p>



<p>Those shifts revealed the gold’s lattice temperature without relying on indirect models. </p>



<p>Because the heating was so swift, the lattice could not expand significantly during the measurement window, and crystalline order persisted for a few trillionths of a second.</p>



<p>The diagnostic hinges on inelastic X-ray scattering (<a href="https://neutrons.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/NX2023_IXS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IXS</a>) which, in this fast backscattering geometry, records a clean spectral broadening linked to atomic velocities.</p>



<p>In short bursts, the technique treats the ion motion much like a classical gas and translates the line width into temperature.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-obeying-the-laws-of-thermodynamics">Obeying the laws of thermodynamics</h2>



<p>Direct temperature tracking matters because warm dense matter only exists for fleeting instants in the lab. </p>



<p>A reliable, model independent measurement gives planetary physicists and fusion researchers a sharper tool to test their calculations.</p>



<p>“It is important to clarify that we did not violate the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/second-law-of-thermodynamics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Second Law of Thermodynamics</a>. [But] the entropy catastrophe was still viewed as the ultimate boundary,” said White.</p>



<p>Outside voices have noted that ultrafast, ultrasmall conditions may not map cleanly onto everyday solids under normal pressure. </p>



<p>Even so, this controlled window lets researchers test long-standing assumptions about melting and stability with far less guesswork.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heating-gold-for-future-technology">Heating gold for future technology</h2>



<p>Better temperature measurements open doors for modeling planets, where WDM controls how heat moves through cores and mantles. Getting the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/superconductivity-achieved-at-room-temperature-with-new-materials/">temperature</a> right helps set the melting curves that guide those models.</p>



<p>Fusion research also stands to gain. In inertial confinement experiments, laser driven targets quickly cross from solid to ultra hot states, and design choices depend on when and how those transitions occur.</p>



<p>There is a materials angle as well. If rapid heating can lift other solids far beyond past expectations without immediate melting, that would invite a rethink of strength, heat capacity, and failure in extreme environments.</p>



<p>The upshot is not that thermodynamics has been tossed out. It is that speed, and the lack of time for expansion, can keep order in place long enough to measure and learn from it.</p>



<p>Future work will likely try different elements, thicker targets, and varied time delays to map exactly when order fails. Each variation will test where the practical limits really lie and how general the no-longer-so- strict ceiling might be.</p>



<p>The full study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09253-y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Nature</em></a>.</p>



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

Physicists superheat gold to over 33,740°F without melting it

An international team kept solid gold intact while superheating it...

<p>While most people witness only the familiar crack of thunder and flash of lightning from storms on Earth, brilliantly-colorful electric fireworks detonate much higher, in the thin air up to 55 miles overhead, easily seen from the ISS.</p>



<p>These brief spectacles - blue jets, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stunning-red-sprite-lightning-captured-from-space/">red sprites</a>, violet halos, ultraviolet rings - are collectively known as transient luminous events, or TLEs. </p>



<p>For decades, they eluded systematic study, appearing only in pilots’ anecdotes and the occasional lucky photograph.</p>



<p>The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/international-space-station-observes-something-unknown-55-miles-above-earth/">International Space Station</a> (ISS) has changed that by offering an unobstructed seat above the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/once-in-a-thousand-years-extreme-storms-are-becoming-much-more-frequent/">storms</a>, where specialized cameras and sensors capture every fleeting spark.</p>



<p>Piece by piece, researchers are discovering that what happens in this hidden layer can rattle radio transmissions, affect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flying-has-never-been-safer-and-continues-to-improve/">aircraft safety</a>, and even tweak the chemistry of the upper atmosphere.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-storm-laboratory-bolted-to-the-iss">Storm laboratory bolted to the ISS</h2>



<p>The centerpiece of this sky-watching mission is the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Research/Atmosphere_Space_Interactions_Monitor">Atmosphere–Space Interactions Monitor</a>. ASIM, built by the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a>, has clung to an external ISS platform since 2018. </p>



<p>Its job: watch Earth and record flashes smaller than a fingernail and shorter than a heartbeat.</p>



<p>The monitor’s high-speed cameras and photometers have already delivered more than scientists hoped. </p>



<p>Data show that certain lightning-like discharges at the crest of a thundercloud can pump <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lightning-sparks-the-discovery-of-a-new-electromagnetic-wave/">electromagnetic energy</a> into the ionosphere and ignite an enormous ring of ultraviolet light called an ELVES.</p>



<p>These rings can boost ionospheric charge for hundreds of miles, potentially disrupting long-distance radio signals.</p>



<p>ASIM has also catalogued ultra-brief corona discharges - bursts so short that ground-based instruments often miss them. </p>



<p>By timing and analyzing these coronas, researchers are beginning to understand how a cloud’s upper regions prime the pump for full-blown lightning.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strange-red-sprites-phenomenon">Strange "red sprites" phenomenon</h2>



<p>A mysterious phenomenon known as "<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mysterious-red-sprite-lightning-strikes-seen-above-the-himalayas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">red sprites</a>" randomly occur in the mesosphere, hanging like upside-down jellyfish for a scant ten milliseconds. Blue jets spear from cloud tops toward the stratosphere with eerie, silent urgency.</p>



<p>Both events happen so fast and high that capturing their details was nearly impossible. Yet ASIM can spot them from orbit.</p>



<p>One study used its footage and ground instruments to pinpoint the altitude of a single blue jet. This confirmed that these upward bolts really do punch beyond the weather layer we know.</p>



<p>Those measurements feed directly into storm-charging models, which in turn inform aviation guidelines about where dangerous electrical fields might lurk.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/red-sprite_TLE_Transient-Luminous-Events_ISS_NASA_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/red-sprite_TLE_Transient-Luminous-Events_ISS_NASA_1s.webp" alt="Red sprites like this one are called TLEs or Transient Luminous Events. They happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below. Astronauts have a great view above the clouds, so scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms. Credit: NASA/Nichole Ayers" class="wp-image-1982031"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Red sprites like this one are called TLEs or Transient Luminous Events. They happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below. Astronauts have a great view above the clouds, so scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA/Nichole Ayers</em></figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-iss-crew-films-storms-from-orbit">ISS crew films storms from orbit</h2>



<p>The ISS cupola - the seven-window observation dome often featured in astronaut selfies - has become part of the scientific toolkit.</p>



<p>Through ESA’s <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023EGUGA..2515873C/abstract">Thor-Davis</a> experiment, ISS crewmembers attach a state-of-the-art camera behind the glass and capture distant storms at up to one hundred thousand frames per second. </p>



<p>The resulting slow-motion movies reveal electrical filaments proliferating in ways textbooks never predicted.</p>



<p>By capturing lightning’s split-second branching in vivid detail, Thor-Davis helps scientists validate laboratory plasma tests against real-world events.</p>



<p> More practically, the footage might one day improve the algorithms that warn power-grid operators when severe lightning threatens transmission lines.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-catching-invisible-lightning-pulses">Catching invisible lightning pulses</h2>



<p>Lightning’s hidden drama is not limited to visible colors. Some strikes trigger terrestrial <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/integral-gamma-ray-telescope-mission-was-a-brilliant-success/">gamma-ray</a> flashes, pulses of radiation energetic enough to dowse an airliner in a brief surge equivalent to a chest X-ray.</p>



<p>To map these invisible hazards, the <a href="https://global.jaxa.jp/">Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency</a> worked with university partners to release <a href="https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/light-1#performance-specifications">Light-1</a> from the ISS. </p>



<p>Though no larger than a loaf of bread, the CubeSat carries detectors fine-tuned to high-energy photons.</p>



<p>As Light-1 records flashes over equatorial storm systems, researchers plan to line up its timestamps with global lightning networks on the ground. </p>



<p>Over time, this will help build a three-dimensional atlas of where gamma-ray flashes fire most often.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/red-sprite_TLE_Transient-Luminous-Events_ISS_labeled_NASA_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/red-sprite_TLE_Transient-Luminous-Events_ISS_labeled_NASA_1s.webp" alt="In this photo, the &quot;gigantic jet&quot; TLE storm with red sprites appears to be hovering near the Texas–Mexico border. You can spot the glow of Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston to the northeast, and Torreón, Mexico, to the southwest. Credit: NASA/Nichole Ayers" class="wp-image-1982028"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In this photo, the "gigantic jet" TLE storm with red sprites appears to be hovering near the Texas–Mexico border. You can spot the glow of Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston to the northeast, and Torreón, Mexico, to the southwest. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA/Nichole Ayers</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-storms-mess-with-signals">Storms mess with signals</h2>



<p>At first glance, a sprite or ELVES ring might seem like nothing more than meteorological curiosity - a sky-high cousin of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/auroras-captured-on-neptune-for-the-first-time-thanks-to-the-webb-telescope/">aurora</a>. </p>



<p>Yet these flashes erupt in the same charged layers that carry radio waves and relay signals to submarines. Disturb those layers and communications can fade or fail without warning.</p>



<p>For airlines, understanding when and where blue jets or gamma-ray flashes appear adds another layer of safety planning on polar or equatorial routes.</p>



<p>Scientists also care about climate. TLEs and corona discharges shuffle nitrogen oxides and other chemicals between atmospheric strata, altering ozone chemistry and radiative balance. </p>



<p>Incorporating this vertical mixing into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-models-underestimate-sea-ice-melt-and-global-warming/">climate models</a> can tighten predictions of future warming.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightning-trackers-get-upgrades">Lightning trackers get upgrades</h2>



<p>With the ISS likely to operate through the decade, ASIM and its successors will continue collecting a library of once-invisible storm events.</p>



<p>Engineers envision next-gen detectors that trigger automatically, record faster, and span a broader spectrum- from radio to hard X-ray. </p>



<p>CubeSats like Light-1 could multiply into a fleet, feeding real-time alerts to weather agencies and satellite operators whenever a gamma flash or mega-sprite erupts.</p>



<p>Above all, the space station shows that to grasp Earth’s weather, one must sometimes look down from above. Each orbit adds a few more frames to lightning’s hidden movie reel. </p>



<p>Those frames bring us closer to predicting - and perhaps mitigating - the electrical surprises that storms fling toward the edge of space.</p>



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



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NASA shares photos of an extraordinary event witnessed by astronauts on the space station

While most people witness only the familiar crack of thunder...

Happy,Woman,Watching,Movie,And,Eating,Popcorn,At,Night,At

<p>We all know the pull of one more episode. Streaming services make it easy to keep watching, and though it often feels like a guilty pleasure, new research suggests it may not be entirely bad.</p>



<p>A study from the University of Georgia (<a href="https://www.uga.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UGA</a>) highlights that binge-watching or marathon reading can actually strengthen how we remember stories. </p>



<p>These memories may not vanish once the credits roll but instead linger in our minds, shaping imagination and reflection.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-binge-watching-strengthens-memory">Binge watching strengthens memory</h2>



<p>The research connects this phenomenon to something called <a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34268/chapter-abstract/290548954?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">retrospective imaginative involvement</a>, or RII. It refers to how people continue to think about characters and events after finishing a story.</p>



<p>Rather than ending with the last chapter or episode, stories are reconstructed, expanded, and sometimes even altered in imagination.</p>



<p>“Humans are storytelling creatures. One of the functions of narratives is the ability to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-use-increases-smoking-vaping-risks-among-youth/">satisfy motivations</a> for things like connecting with other people, feeling autonomous and confident, and even security and safety. Stories have characters that fulfill these roles, and we can satisfy those needs through them,” noted Joshua Baldwin, lead author of the study.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-memory-and-imagination">Memory and imagination</h2>



<p>The study shows that people who binge-watch are more likely to engage with stories later, carrying them into daydreams. </p>



<p>Consecutive viewing appears to help audiences create richer mental models of characters and worlds, which makes these stories more accessible in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/emotions-shape-what-goes-viral-on-social-media/">memory</a>.</p>



<p>By consuming content in longer stretches, viewers weave tighter connections across episodes and character arcs, allowing subtle details to resonate more clearly.</p>



<p>This means binging may support stronger recall in the short term, even if some details fade over time. </p>



<p>More importantly, it keeps the emotional and thematic essence alive, which is what fuels imagination and encourages people to revisit stories in new, creative ways.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-people-binge-watch">Why people binge watch</h2>



<p>The reason behind a person's binge-watching habits also matters. Some are drawn to stories to escape stress, while others seek to expand their sense of self through new perspectives.</p>



<p>The Temporarily Expanding Boundaries of the Self (<a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34268/chapter-abstract/290539200?redirectedFrom=fulltext">TE</a><a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34268/chapter-abstract/290539200" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">B</a><a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34268/chapter-abstract/290539200?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OTS</a>) model suggests narratives allow people to step outside daily limits and experience autonomy, competence, and connection in imagined worlds.</p>



<p>Escapism-driven viewing, on the other hand, gives relief by pushing aside everyday stress. </p>



<p>The study found both motivations can lead to retrospective imagination, though expansion motives appear more powerful in creating long-lasting engagement.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-enjoyment-versus-appreciation">Enjoyment versus appreciation</h2>



<p>Not all stories affect memory the same way. Lighter tales that are fun and easy to watch often spark simple recollections. </p>



<p>By contrast, appreciated stories (those that feel deep, moving, or even bittersweet) encourage people to reimagine, expand, and reshape them.</p>



<p>These more reflective narratives are especially likely to trigger dynamic forms of imagination, such as changing events or exploring hidden backstories.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stress-and-leisure-time">Stress and leisure time</h2>



<p>Stress does not influence story recall in a simple way. When stress is low or moderate, imagination can act as a relief, giving people a way to unwind and mentally process experiences. In these cases, stories serve as a calming outlet.</p>



<p>However, when stress levels rise too high, the brain becomes overloaded, leaving fewer mental resources available for remembering or reflecting on narratives. </p>



<p>Instead of nurturing imagination, the mind directs energy toward coping with immediate pressures.</p>



<p>Leisure time changes the picture. When people have free, relaxed moments, their minds are more open to revisiting favorite stories. </p>



<p>These quiet breaks - during a walk, while chatting, or simply reflecting - create mental space for narratives to return, grow, and shape daydreams.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-binge-watching-can-support-coping">Binge watching can support coping</h2>



<p>Binge-watching has often been criticized for harming sleep and well-being. But this research suggests the picture is more nuanced. </p>



<p>For some, it builds mental models that last well beyond the show itself. These memories and imagined extensions may even help people cope with challenges, making stories an ongoing psychological resource.</p>



<p>“People who have that habit of binge-watching shows often aren’t doing it passively but are actually actively thinking about it afterwards. They’re very much wanting to engage with stories, even when they’re not around to watch shows,” Baldwin explained.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stories-live-on-beyond-the-screen">Stories live on beyond the screen</h2>



<p>Most people think bingeing means wasting hours in front of a screen. But the study shows it can be much more than that. </p>



<p>When you get lost in a story, the characters and emotions often tag along even after you stop watching. Sometimes they reappear in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-dogs-binge-watch-television-everyday/">daydreams</a>, other times in quiet reflections when your mind drifts.</p>



<p>This habit doesn’t just strengthen memory. It can stir creativity, spark imagination, and even help people make sense of their own lives. </p>



<p>Stories can offer comfort, connection, or a fresh perspective - things we all need from time to time. That’s why they rarely end with the credits. Instead, they linger in our thoughts, shaping how we dream, reflect, and connect with the world.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <em><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825004147?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Acta Psychologica</a>.</em></p>



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Why binge-watching TV shows may actually be good for your mind

We all know the pull of one more episode. Streaming...

<p>A familiar idea in happiness research says people feel worse through their thirties and early forties, then things lift. That classic U-shape, with a midlife low and a late-life rebound, has been taught in classrooms and splashed across headlines for years.</p>



<p>New evidence released challenges that view. The new study reports that the midlife “unhappiness hump” has faded, and that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strong-immune-resilience-in-midlife-reduces-risk-of-early-death/">mental</a> ill-being now tends to decline with age.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-midlife-distress-has-declined">Midlife distress has declined</h2>



<p>A team led by David G. Blanchflower from <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/dartmouth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dartmouth College</a> analyzed large samples from the United States, the United Kingdom, and a multinational dataset. </p>



<p>“We show this empirical regularity has been replaced by a monotonic decrease in ill-being by age,” wrote Blanchflower. </p>



<p>The drop in the midlife peak is not because older adults suddenly got much happier. The shape changed because younger people’s mental health worsened relative to everyone else.</p>



<p>In U.S. data, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-better-in-midlife-helps-you-age-with-strength/">middle-aged</a> and older adults look roughly stable over time. Younger groups, especially under 25, report higher distress than cohorts the same age did a decade or two ago. The same broad pattern appears in the U.K. and across dozens of other countries.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surveys-show-midlife-change">Surveys show midlife change</h2>



<p>The team used the U.S. BRFSS telephone survey, which asks adults how many days in the past 30 days their mental health was not good. </p>



<p>Since the 1990s, BRFSS has run hundreds of thousands of interviews per year, providing a robust base for trend work, and the mental health days item sits in the official questionnaire.</p>



<p>For the U.K., they turned to UKHLS, also known as Understanding Society, which follows about 40,000 households. Mental health there is captured with the GHQ-12, a 12-item scale that sums to 36 points, where higher scores reflect more distress.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-patterns-of-well-being-and-ill-being">Patterns of well-being and ill-being</h2>



<p>To check whether the new pattern shows up globally, the researchers used the <a href="https://sapienlabs.org/global-mind-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Minds Project</a>, which assesses mental function using the MHQ. That metric summarizes capabilities across emotional, cognitive, and social <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/high-quality-carbs-in-midlife-linked-to-healthier-aging/">domains</a> on a scale that increases with better mental health.</p>



<p>These surveys measure subjective well-being and its counterpart, ill-being. The focus is not a one-time diagnosis by a clinician, but how people say they are doing and functioning.</p>



<p>That matters because policymaking often moves on perceptions and daily experience. As the authors show, the age profile in self-reported mental health has tilted in ways that match other social indicators.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-distress-falls-with-age">Distress falls with age</h2>



<p>Earlier datasets commonly showed a hump in reported worry, stress, and depression, rising into midlife before easing. Today the line looks more like a steady slope downward with age.</p>



<p>Younger adults now report the highest levels of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercising-in-midlife-can-reverse-years-of-inactivity/">mental</a> ill-being. Older groups look comparatively more stable, which changes the picture for researchers and planners who assumed midlife was the peak period of distress.</p>



<p>The causes of distress in young people are still being debated. One active line of <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20211218" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research</a> has found that the rollout of Facebook on U.S. campuses worsened student mental health.</p>



<p>Pandemic disruptions, weak access to timely care, and economic pressures may also play roles. The study authors point to those broad forces as plausible contributors for the last decade’s trend.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-youth-mental-health-crisis">Youth mental health crisis</h2>



<p>Mortality data capture the stakes in stark terms. In 2020, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db433.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suicide</a> ranked as the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 34 in the United States.</p>



<p>Education data tell a related story about strain and lost learning time. Rising absenteeism and reports of anxiety in schools fit the broader shift toward higher distress among teens and young adults.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shifting-patterns-of-distress">Shifting patterns of distress</h2>



<p>The new evidence does not say older adults live in perfect happiness. It highlights a relative shift in levels by age that raises concern for youth.</p>



<p>The researchers also do not claim that one single cause explains the change. Social media effects, pandemic exposure, health care access, and labor market scarring could all contribute, and impacts likely differ across communities.</p>



<p>If the highest distress now clusters in youth and early adulthood, then mental health resources should follow the data. Faster access to counseling, school-based supports, and training for primary care would go a long way.</p>



<p>Measurement should keep pace too. Annual reporting that breaks out age bands with consistent cross-sectional methods can catch reversals like this sooner, which helps leaders avoid steering by an outdated map.</p>



<p>The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0327858" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>PLOS ONE</em></a>.</p>



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No more midlife crisis? Young people now report the most distress

A familiar idea in happiness research says people feel worse...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXXGGiynIjs
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Greenland is not sinking. In fact, it is the opposite.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Greenland's ground rises while coasts worldwide face higher seas

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSM3EVeGHJU
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Companies like MindStudio help companies train their employees to implement the latest AI Agent building platform.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

AI agent training boosts mental health and profits

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HDXqTGEmi4
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Scientists give plants superpowers against bacterial disease</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Revolutionizing agriculture through microbiome engineering

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVywlgRJXsc
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Some children read facial expressions when making food choices.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



<p></p>

Social modeling affects our food choices

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JynHpMaNO8A
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chaotic cancer protein finally controlled after decades of mystery</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veg4HmmRVZY
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Our bodies hits two 'aging cliffs' at these ages.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Scientists discover we age in bursts

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqlF0XKzHY4
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The hidden science behind tickling.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Scientists solve the mystery of tickling

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

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elr4948_uOU
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr. Ronald Mallett from the University of Connecticut reveals secret mission to create working time travel device.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



<p></p>



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



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

Retired professor claims he solved time travel

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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



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



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



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



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



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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<p>Today’s <strong>Video of the Day</strong> from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;</p>



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



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



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



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



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



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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