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 <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. 



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.



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



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.



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. 



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



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



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



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



“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.



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



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



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>



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.



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



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



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



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



 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.



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



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



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



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.



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



Pigs are increasingly used in neuroscience because their brains share organizational features with ours. 



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



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.



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



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.



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.



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.



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.



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



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.



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



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



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



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.



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.



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.



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.



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



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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...

The beginning phases of artificial intelligence are all around us, from the algorithms that determine which advertisements you see online, to spam filters, to virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri. 

Have we reached the era of AI? As its name implies, artificial intelligence is  a system that learns on its own, improving on past mistakes. 

Although machine learning and AI seem to be two terms that are used interchangeably, there are some definite differences. Most of today’s touted AI programs are actually using machine learning and filtering through readily available data. 

Google’s DeepMind is probably one of the most authentic examples of artificial intelligence, and in 2016, the DeepMind machine beat an expert human player at “Go,” an extremely complicated game. 

But despite DeepMind’s many accomplishments, the race for AI is ongoing. 

Many countries are scrambling to be the first to develop a true artificial intelligence system capable of learning on its own and taking on any task it’s given. 

These innovations are just around the corner, and as true AI becomes more and more of a reality, the question remains -- how do we ensure that these machines don’t go rogue or take over of the world as so many popular sci-fi films like to imagine?

Steve Omohundro, an AI researcher, along with Dr. Kailtyn Regehr, will tackle the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificia-intelligence-socially-responsible/">ethical considerations of AI</a> in a new episode of the podcast <a href="https://www.howresearchers.com/">How Researchers Changed the World</a>. 

Regehr and Omohundro will discuss why ethical questions need to be addressed now rather than later as advancements in AI technology continue. 

For example, if a company designs an AI system to win at chess no matter what, will it be able to teach itself how not to get switched off? What ethical safety measures should be built into an AI system? 

“Should these systems be allowed to vote? Should they be full citizens? Should they be viewed as servants? Should they be viewed as slaves? Are they just machines?” asked Steve Omohundro.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Tatiana Shepeleva

How do we ensure that artificial intelligence is ethically designed?

The beginning phases of artificial intelligence are all around us,...

Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change. In November of 2017, researchers at the <a href="https://www.salk.edu/">Salk Institute for Biological Studies</a> in San Diego launched the <a href="https://www.salk.edu/harnessing-plants-initiative/">Harnessing Plants Initiative</a> in an effort to exploit the natural ability of plants to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and combat <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-warming-cost-trillions/">climate change</a>. 

The Salk team, led by executive director Professor Joanne Chory, was granted $35 million last week through The Audacious Project at the TED 2019 conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

“Every year plants and other photosynthetic organisms take up an incredible amount of CO2 - like twentyfold more than we ever put up when we burn fossil fuels - but then at the end of the growing season most plants just die, and they decompose, and it goes back up as CO2. That's been a real problem,” Professor Chory told <a href="https://www.wired.com/">WIRED</a> at the TED conference. 

According to the Salk Institute, plants capture 746 gigatons of CO2 and then release 727 gigatons of CO2 back into the atmosphere on a yearly basis. This natural system would work perfectly well if not for an additional annual contribution of 37 gigatons of CO2 from human activities. Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change 

The researchers aim to engineer plants that can take up more CO2 and also store it for much longer in the soil.

“There are a lot of geoengineering efforts to come up with ways of pulling carbon dioxide out of the air,” said chemical biologist Joseph Noel. “Plants do this anyway, so why not try a biological solution as well.”

Plants have roots made of a protective substance called suberin, which is the same material as the cork in a wine bottle and is very effective in capturing carbon. If the world’s crop plants were modified to have larger and deeper roots, the CO2 may remain buried in the dirt for hundreds of years as opposed to being released after fall harvest. 

“We don't want to change photosynthesis, because plants are already so good at it,” said Professor Chory. “But we want them to make bigger roots and deeper roots with more suberin. We think we can get them to make 20 times what they make now pretty easily.”

According to WIRED, the team believes that their method has the potential to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 20 to 46 percent. 

“These plants will be stronger and more sustainable,” said Professor Chory. “The old adage is, feed the soil not the plant.”

Currently, the researchers are experimenting with ways to engineer crop plants with increased suberin and root systems that are bigger and grow deeper into the ground. 

The team is working as quickly as possible. Beyond the swift action needed to mitigate climate change, Professor Chory is suffering from Parkinson's disease. 

“My days are going to be numbered in a way that I can see,” she told WIRED. “So that gives me a sense of urgency.”

Salk President Rusty Gage expressed his gratitude for Professor Chory’s work and leadership. 

“Joanne’s passion and commitment, as well as her decades of research into the biology of plants, has set the foundation for this revolutionary and ambitious approach,” said Professor Gage. “We are immeasurably proud of her and the entire Salk plant biology team for taking such a leadership role in combating climate change.”

For more information on the Harnessing Plants Initiative, check out this <a href="https://youtu.be/JSv5UkuRV-A">video</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change

Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change. In...

Scientists at <a href="http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a> have found antiseptic properties in three plants which were recommended for use on soldiers injured in the Civil War. The study revealed that extracts from the white oak, tulip poplar, and the devil's walking stick offer natural protection from dangerous <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-travel-thousands-miles/">bacteria</a> associated with wound infections. 

During the Civil War, the Confederate Surgeon General commissioned a guide to traditional plant remedies that could assist physicians who faced shortages of conventional medicines. The current study identified three plants from the guide as containing antimicrobial activity against one or more strains of the drug-resistant bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Study senior author Cassandra Quave is an assistant professor at Emory's Center for the Study of Human Health and an ethnobotanist, which means that she studies how plants are used in traditional healing practices. 

“Our findings suggest that the use of these topical therapies may have saved some limbs, and maybe even lives, during the Civil War,” said Professor Quave. “Ethnobotany is essentially the science of survival - how people get by when limited to what's available in their immediate environment. The Civil War guide to plant remedies is a great example of that.”

If the researchers can identify the active ingredients responsible for the antimicrobial activity, they will be able to improve upon modern wound care. 

“It is my hope that we can then test these molecules in our world-renowned models of bacterial infection,” said study co-author Daniel Zurawski. “I've always been a Civil War buff. I am also a firm believer in learning everything we can garner from the past so we can benefit now from the knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors.”

“I was surprised to learn that far more Civil War soldiers died from disease than in battle,” said study first author Micah Dettweiler. “I was also surprised at how common amputation was as a medical treatment for an infected wound.”

Francis Porcher, a botanist and surgeon from South Carolina, compiled a book of medicinal plants found in the Southern states, including plant remedies used by Native Americans and enslaved Africans. Published in 1863, “Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests” described 37 species for treating gangrene and other infections. 

Based on Porcher's specifications, the Emory team collected extracts from white oak bark and galls, tulip poplar leaves, and the devil's walking stick leaves. Lab tests showed that extracts from the white oak and tulip poplar inhibited the growth of S. aureus, while the white oak extracts also inhibited the growth of A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae. 

“Plants have a great wealth of chemical diversity, which is one more reason to protect natural environments,” said Dettweiler. “I'm interested in plants because, even though they don't move from place to place, they are extremely powerful and important.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificreports">Scientific Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Stephen Nowland, Emory University

Plants used as Civil War injury remedies prove effective against tough bacteria

Scientists at Emory University have found antiseptic properties in three...

A new information service provided by the Copernicus Earth Observation Programme of the European Union may ultimately change how meteorologists deliver information about the weather. Climate observations may be incorporated into weather reports to raise awareness about how extreme weather events are influenced by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>. 

The long-term goal of the <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/">Copernicus Climate Change Service</a> (C3S) is to "provide a wide range of users with timely and reliable information about extreme weather events and how they relate (or not) to anthropogenic climate change."

In recent years, a new field of climate science research has emerged known as “extreme event attribution," which investigates the relationship between human-induced climate change and severe weather. 

While individual weather events may not be directly caused by climate change, factors such as global warming are setting up conditions which increase the likelihood that a major storm or event will occur. Advancements in technology are enabling scientists to more accurately identify these types of connections.

According to a report in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>, experts using the climate change attribution approach compare real-world weather observations with computer models of a world without human-induced global warming. 

"It’s good this is now happening,” said climate scientist Peter Stott of the UK Met Office. "People of course ask the question with extreme weather events, of how they are linked to climate change."

<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/">Carbon Brief</a> recently mapped and analyzed 260 extreme weather events across the globe for which attribution studies had been previously conducted. The analysis revealed that 68 percent of the weather events were made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change. 

Stott told New Scientist that intense weather reminds us just how vulnerable we are, like the recent deadly heatwave in India. He said that it is important to know if our susceptibility is due to natural variability or if it can be linked to a warming world. "Is this just bad luck or is climate change adding to the risks? That’s where the attribution comes in."

The Copernicus system is expected to be up and running next year. The <a href="https://www.dwd.de/EN/Home/home_node.html">German Meteorological Service</a> DWD is also developing a climate attribution system that will likely be implemented in 2020. "Attribution can provide answers here. With the knowledge, the public or politicians get a better picture of the effects of climate change," said Frank Kreienkamp of DWD. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Scherbinator

Weather reports may start to include the role of climate change

A new information service provided by the Copernicus Earth Observation...

Serotonin is an important chemical in the body which is known to play a role in mood, memory, social behavior, appetite, and cognition. While this compound is also known to influence sleep, previous studies have produced conflicting evidence as to whether serotonin promotes sleepiness or wakefulness. 

To investigate, a team of researchers at <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/">Caltech</a> focused on a region of the brainstem called the raphe nucleus, which is responsible for both manufacturing and releasing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/serotonin-expedite-learning-process/">serotonin</a> to other brain regions. These structures are found in a wide range of organisms from fish to humans, and the experts used zebrafish as a model for the study. 

The researchers genetically modified zebrafish so that their raphe did not produce serotonin. The mutant fish were found to sleep about half as much as they would normally sleep. The fish also slept much less than usual when the raphe was completely removed. 

"This suggests that serotonin produced by the raphe is required for the fish to get normal amounts of sleep," explained study lead author Grigorios Oikonomou.

In another experiment, zebrafish were modified so that their raphe could be activated by light. When the researchers shined a light on the fish, it put them straight to sleep. Activating the raphe in fish that did not synthesize serotonin, however, had no effect on sleep.

The researchers believe that the firing of neurons in the raphe and their release of serotonin is a way for the brain to build up sleep pressure. For example, they found that zebrafish lacking serotonin showed reduced sleep pressure.

"There are two main factors that control sleep. One is the circadian clock -  when it is light during the day, the body is awake, and when it gets dark, the body knows to sleep. The other factor is called homeostatic sleep pressure," explained Oikonomou.

"When you wake up in the morning, you have just gotten rest, and so you're energetic. As the day goes on, you get tired and sleepy, so there is a building of pressure to sleep. If you don't sleep that night, your sleep pressure is even higher, and you are even more tired the next day even though it's light outside, and your circadian clock dictates that you should be awake." 

"The theory is that, in order to sleep, you need to have high sleep pressure and the circadian clock needs to be aligned with the time of day - nighttime for diurnal creatures like us and daytime for nocturnal animals."

The research may help to explain some of the sleep-related side effects of common antidepressant drugs that increase serotonin levels in the brain.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Caltech

New study suggests that serotonin promotes sleep, not wakefulness

Serotonin is an important chemical in the body which is...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.uni-leipzig.de/en/">University of Leipzig</a> have discovered that immune cells are activated when the bacteria found in fermented foods is detected. According to the study, both humans and great apes have cell receptors that recognize metabolites from these types of bacteria and signal the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sleep-helps-kill-infection/">immune system</a>. 

Lactic acid bacteria are those that turn milk into yogurt and cabbage into sauerkraut. The consumption of these bacteria can offer many health gains, yet these benefits are not entirely understood on a molecular level. Scientists have also not been able to pinpoint how ingesting lactic acid bacteria may affect the immune system.

For the current study, researchers were analyzing proteins on the surface of cells called hydroxycarboxylic acid (HCA) receptors. While most animals have two types of this receptor, humans and great apes have three types. 

The team discovered that a metabolite produced by lactic acid bacteria, known as D-phenyllactic acid, binds strongly to the third HCA receptor and alerts the immune system. The experts believe that the third HCA receptor appeared in a common ancestor of humans and great apes, which enabled them to consume foods that are starting to rot, such as fruits picked up off the ground.

[caption id="attachment_1873033" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/fermented.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873033" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/fermented.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="316" /></a> D-phenyllactic acid is absorbed from lactic acid bacteria fermented food and triggers HCA3-dependent migration in human monocytes. Image Credit: Claudia Stäubert[/caption]

The findings provide new insight into the evolutionary history of microbes and their human hosts. The research may ultimately lead to a better understanding of the positive health benefits associated with fermented foods. 

"We are convinced that this receptor very likely mediates some beneficial and anti-inflammatory effects of lactic acid bacteria in humans," said study lead author Claudia Stäubert. "That is why we believe it could serve as a potential drug target to treat inflammatory diseases."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/">PLOS Genetics</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fermented foods offer health perks by activating the immune system

Researchers at the University of Leipzig have discovered that immune...

Earth's magnetic north is shifting at an unprecedented rate, according to a new report from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> (ESA). While scientists believe that this point has always wandered, exactly what is driving the recent acceleration remains unknown. 

“While this has some practical implications, scientists believe that this sprint is being caused by tussling magnetic blobs deep below our feet,” explains the ESA.

The geographic North Pole is in a fixed location, but magnetic north has been known to shift since it was first measured in 1831. Since then, it has been drifting slowly from the Canadian Arctic towards Siberia.

As a result, the World Magnetic Model (WMM) has to be modified every few years with the pole’s current location so that navigation systems such as those used by ships, Google maps, and smartphones are up to date. Recently, the WMM had to be updated sooner than usual because of the pole’s accelerated speed. 

Between 1990 and 2005, magnetic north shifted from a speed of 0-15 kilometers a year to its current speed of 50-60 kilometers a year. In 2017, it crossed the international date line within 390 kilometers of the geographic North Pole and continues to dive south.

“ESA’s Swarm mission is not only being used to keep track of magnetic north, but scientists are using its data to measure and untangle the different magnetic fields that stem from Earth’s core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere,” states the ESA.

“Our magnetic field exists because of an ocean of superheated, swirling liquid iron that makes up the outer core. Like a spinning conductor in a bicycle dynamo, this moving iron creates electrical currents, which in turn generate our continuously changing magnetic field.” 

This means that tracking changes in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earths-magnetic-field-nearly-collapsed/">magnetic field</a> can give experts insight into how the iron in the core moves.

“Several theories have been proposed to explain this behaviour but, since they rely upon changes in the small-scale magnetic field, they cannot explain the recent trajectory of the pole,” explains Phil Livermore from the University of Leeds.

“Using data collected over two decades by satellites, including ESA’s Swarm trio, we can see that the position of the north magnetic pole is determined largely by a balance, or tug-of-war, between two large lobes of negative magnetic flux at the boundary between Earth’s core and mantle under Canada and Siberia.”

According to the ESA, changes in the pattern of core flow between 1970 and 1999 elongated the Canadian lobe and weakened its signature on Earth's surface, causing the pole to move toward Siberia more quickly. Over the next decade, the north magnetic pole is predicted to wander 390-660 more kilometers in the direction of Siberia.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab

What is driving the movement of Earth’s magnetic north?

Earth's magnetic north is shifting at an unprecedented rate, according...

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.engineering.utoronto.ca/">University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a> have developed a new electrochemical path that can transform CO2 into fuels and plastics. This new technology could drastically improve the way we <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carbon-capture-climate-change/">capture</a> and recycle carbon from the air.

"Today, it is technically possible to capture CO2 from air and, through a number of steps, convert it to commercial products," said lead researcher Professor Ted Sargent. "The challenge is that it takes a lot of energy to do so, which raises the cost and lowers the incentive. Our strategy increases the overall energy efficiency by avoiding some of the more energy-intensive losses."

Companies have been experimenting with direct-air carbon capture in recent history. One such company captures its CO2 by forcing air through a liquid alkaline solution wherein the CO2 dissolves and forms a substance called carbonate. Then, to complete the recycling process, the carbonate is then turned back into CO2 gas where it can then be used as the base for fuels and plastics after being mixed with other chemicals.

However, the researchers at the University of Toronto have devised a new recycling plan that utilizes an electrolyzer, a device that uses electricity to produce a chemical reaction, and has already been used to separate hydrogen from water.  

"We used a bipolar membrane, a new electrolyzer design that is great at generating protons," said co-lead author Geonhui Lee of the study’s paper, published in <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/aelccp">ACS Energy Letters</a>. "These protons were exactly what we needed to convert the carbonate back into CO2 gas."

The electrolyzer used in this experiment contains a silver-based catalyst that converts the produced CO2 into a gas mixture called syngas, which can be easily turned into a wide variety of other products like jet fuel and various plastics.

"This is the first known process that can go all the way from carbonate to syngas in a single step," Sargent said. He notes that electrolyzers can be used to convert CO2 into other chemical building blocks, but never into carbonate.

"Once the CO2 turns into carbonate, it becomes inaccessible to traditional electrolyzers," said co-lead author postdoctoral fellow Y. Chris Li. "That's part of the reason why they have low yields and low efficiencies. Our system is unique in that it achieves 100% carbon utilization: no carbon is wasted. It also generates syngas as a single product at the outlet, minimizing the cost of product purification."

The carbonate-to-syngas conversion was successful 35% of the time. More work will be needed to stabilize and scale up the process, but their current findings show a viable alternative to the current process of direct-air carbon capture.

"It goes a long way toward answering the question of whether it will ever be possible to use air-captured CO2 in a commercially compelling way," Sargent concluded. "This is a key step toward closing the carbon loop."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Marit Mitchell

New CO2-to-fuel process could make carbon capture more economical

Researchers from the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science...

Gorillas have a far more complex social structure than previously realized, and a new study has discovered many parallels between human societies and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/african-mountain-gorillas-friendships/">gorilla families</a>.

Years worth of careful monitoring of gorillas in the Republic of Congo provided researchers from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge </a>with a better understanding of the complicated social systems of gorillas. 

The researchers published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

The results of the study indicate that social systems in humans didn’t evolve separately but that the roots of these systems can be traced much further back along our family tree to the common ancestor of humans and gorillas. 

For over six years, the researchers monitored western lowland gorillas in two sites in the Republic of Congo. 

“Studying the social lives of gorillas can be tricky,” said Dr. Robin Morrison, the lead author of the study. “Gorillas spend most of their time in dense forest, and it can take years for them to habituate to humans. Where forests open up into swampy clearings, gorillas gather to feed on the aquatic vegetation. Research teams set up monitoring platforms by these clearings and record the lives of gorillas from dawn to dusk over many years.”

A gorilla band is typically comprised of a dominant male with several females and their offspring. Some bachelor gorillas travel together in groups. 

Morrison identified previous social layers among gorilla units that had never before been recorded. 

[caption id="attachment_1874958" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/gorilla-groups.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-1874958" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/gorilla-groups.jpeg" alt="" width="650" height="359" /></a> Three western gorilla groups mingle peacefully, Image Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society[/caption]

Statistical algorithms were used to help find patterns in the interactions between the gorillas and the researchers recorded the length and frequency of “associations” or interactions. 

The researchers discovered a second circle of extended family, a tier of about 13 gorillas beyond the immediate family, and an even larger third circle of 39 gorillas similar to a group of friends or co-workers that spent time together without being related. 

“Females spend time in multiple groups throughout their lives, making it possible for males not closely related to grow up in the same natal group, similar to step-brothers,” said Morrison. “The bonds that form may lead to these associations we see as adults. If we think of these associations in a human-centric way, the time spent in each other’s company might be analogous to an old friendship.” 

Gorillas may even congregate together during special events like when their favorite fruits are in season, which could be similar to the festivals that humans gather for.

Very few species of mammals have similar social structures to humans, and food is an important driving factor in these social systems. 

“Western gorillas often move many kilometres a day to feed from a diverse range of plants that rarely and unpredictably produce fruit,” said Morrison. “This food is easier to find if they collaborate when foraging.”

The study could help pinpoint the origins of human social behavior and shows that our social systems evolved much earlier than previously realized. 

“While primate societies vary a lot between species, we can now see an underlying structure in gorillas that was likely present before our species diverged, one that fits surprisingly well as a model for human social evolution,” said Morrison. “Our findings provide yet more evidence that these endangered animals are deeply intelligent and sophisticated, and that we humans are perhaps not quite as special as we might like to think.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society

Complex gorilla societies shed light on early roots of human social evolution

Gorillas have a far more complex social structure than previously...

Saad Nagi, Centrum för social och affektiv neurovetenskap, CSAN

A team of researchers from Sweden’s <a href="https://liu.se/en">Linköping University</a>, the U.K.’s <a href="https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/">Liverpool John Moores University</a>, and the U.S.’s <a href="https://www.nih.gov/">National Institutes of Health (NIH)</a> have discovered that pain signaling is much more rapid than previously thought, thus challenging our understanding of pain.

"The ability to feel pain is vital to our survival, so why should our pain-signaling system be so much slower than the system used for touch, and so much slower than it could be?" asks Saad Nagi, principal research engineer of the <a href="https://liu.se/en/organisation/liu/ike">Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine</a> and the <a href="https://liu.se/en/organisation/liu/ike/csan">Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience (CSAN)</a> at Linköping University.

Touch signals are conducted by nerves insulated in a fatty sheath of myelin, which helps these nerves transmit signals faster. Pain signals were thought to be carried by nerves encased in thin layers of myelin, if any at all.

The research team examined nerve cells similar to those that detect touch, but had similar characteristics to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-alternative-pain-medications/">pain</a> receptors, in 100 healthy participants via a technique that allowed them to detect the signals in the nerve fibers from a single nerve cell. These cells are called nociceptors. 

The team saw that 12% of thickly myelinated nerve cells had the same properties as pain receptors, as well as a high conduction speed was as is in touch-sensitive nerve cells.

"When we activated an individual nerve cell, it caused a perception of pain, so we conclude that these nerve cells are connected to pain centers in the brain," said Nagi.

Nagi and the team also investigated patients with various rare neurological conditions. One group of people had acquired nerve damage that led to their thickly myelinated nerve fibers being destroyed, while the small fibers were spared, thus damaging their ability to feel light touch. The scientists thought that the loss of myelinated nerve fibers should also affect the newly-identified rapidly conducting pain system. These people had an impaired ability to experience mechanical pain. 

These results could be significant for further pain research, and for the diagnosis and care of patients with pain. These findings are published in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

"It's becoming evident that thickly myelinated nerve fibers contribute to the experience of pain when it has a mechanical cause,” Nagi said. “Our results challenge the textbook description of a rapid system for signaling touch and a slower system for signaling pain. We suggest that pain can be signaled just as rapidly as touch.”

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Charlotte Perhammar/LiU

Pain signals travel just as fast as touch signals

A team of researchers from Sweden’s Linköping University, the U.K.’s...

Buildings, roads, and parking structures could soon be constructed using concrete that’s made of discarded glass. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/engineering">Deakin University School of Engineering</a> in Australia have found a way to take glass waste and grind it up into fine particles that can be substituted for sand in concrete mixtures. 

The resulting polymer concrete would help keep glass waste out of landfills and pave the way for more eco-friendly and sustainable materials in the construction industry.

Polymer concrete uses resins as an alternative to sandy lime-type cement to bind the mixture together.

Unlike traditional sand-based concretes, polymer concrete is stronger, water-resistant, and ideal for industrial flooring in areas like airport tarmacs and hangers or forklift operation areas. 

Concrete made from glass is both eco-friendly and economically sound. 

“Worldwide, the construction industry represents six per cent of global GDP, according to the World Economic Forum,” said Dr. Al-Ameri, a lecturer at Deakin University. “Concrete is a major construction material, and sand is one of its primary components, so finding an alternative to sand makes good economic sense.”

Sand mining for concrete uses up large amounts of industrial water reserves and <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/sand-mining-at-poyang-lake-china/">dredging lakes for sand</a> can cause water levels to drop and damage aquatic habitats. 

“Mined sand requires washing and grading before it is added to aggregate, cement and water to make concrete,” said Al-Ameri. “Any changes that reduce the cost of production will lead to significant gains across the industry, potentially on a global scale.” 

The new concrete was developed and tested by Dikshit Modgil, an engineering student in collaboration with the company <a href="https://www.orcacivil.com.au/">Orca Civil Products.</a>

“The specific type of waste glass used in this project was unsuitable for recycling back into glass and the amount that is stockpiling is becoming a community problem,” said Alan Travers, the Director of Orca Civil Products. “The concept has even more appeal to us because of predicted shortages of natural, mined sands in the medium term.”

Having a stronger and sustainable alternative to traditional concrete is promising, and Orca Civil Products plans to continue researching and assessing the commercial potential for using recycled glass. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: SWNS

Discarded glass can now be turned into concrete

Buildings, roads, and parking structures could soon be constructed using...

Among patients with <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/daily-exercise-alzheimers-disease/">Alzheimer's</a>, excessive daytime napping is often observed long before memory problems are apparent. Prior research has suggested that daytime fatigue results from the poor nighttime sleep associated with Alzheimer's, while other studies have proposed that abnormal sleeping patterns contribute to the progression of the disease itself. 

But now, a study from <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">UC San Francisco</a> has identified a surprising new biological explanation for this phenomenon. The experts discovered that Alzheimer's disease directly attacks brain regions responsible for wakefulness during the day.

The team demonstrated that these brain regions are among the first to be impacted by the neurodegenerative effects of Alzheimer's disease. With this in mind, excessive daytime napping could serve as an early indication that the disease is developing, especially in the absence of significant nighttime sleep issues.

The early damage to the brain's wakefulness center was found to be caused by a protein known as tau, which adds to a growing collection of evidence that tau contributes more directly to neurodegeneration than the more extensively studied amyloid protein.

Study senior author Dr. Lea T. Grinberg is an associate professor of Neurology and Pathology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and a member of the Global Brain Health Institute.

"Our work shows definitive evidence that the brain areas promoting wakefulness degenerate due to accumulation of tau - not amyloid protein - from the very earliest stages of the disease," said Dr. Grinberg.

The investigation was focused on data from the UCSF Neurodegenerative Disease Brain Bank for 13 deceased Alzheimer's patients and seven healthy control subjects. The researchers measured tau protein levels and neuron numbers in three relevant brain regions.

The study revealed that Alzheimer's patients had significant tau buildup in all three wakefulness-promoting brain centers that were examined, including the locus coeruleus (LC), lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), and tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN). In addition, these regions had lost up to 75 percent of their neurons.

"It's remarkable because it's not just a single brain nucleus that's degenerating, but the whole wakefulness-promoting network," said study lead author Jun Oh. "Crucially this means that the brain has no way to compensate because all of these functionally related cell types are being destroyed at the same time."

The results support earlier findings by Dr. Grinberg's team that deceased individuals with elevated levels of tau protein in their brainstem, an early characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, had already begun to experience mood changes and increased sleep disturbances.

"Our new evidence for tau-linked degeneration of the brain's wakefulness centers provides a compelling neurobiological explanation for those findings," said Dr. Grinberg. "It suggests we need to be much more focused on understanding the early stages of tau accumulation in these brain areas in our ongoing search for Alzheimer's treatments."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/">Alzheimer's and Dementia</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/pathdoc

The brain’s wakefulness center is one of the earliest casualties of Alzheimer’s

Among patients with Alzheimer's, excessive daytime napping is often observed...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Greenland's ground rises while coasts worldwide face higher seas

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

AI agent training boosts mental health and profits

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Revolutionizing agriculture through microbiome engineering

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Social modeling affects our food choices

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Scientists discover we age in bursts

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



-----



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Scientists solve the mystery of tickling

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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







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Retired professor claims he solved time travel

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

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</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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.

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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