Far beneath our feet, beyond the Earth's rocky mantle and molten outer core, lies a dense, solid sphere of iron and other elements like carbon. 



This inner core is Earth’s deepest secret, shaping the magnetic field that shields our planet. Yet, scientists still puzzle over how it first formed and what ingredients allowed it to crystallize.



A new study by researchers from the University of Leeds, University of Oxford, and <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University College London</a> provides fresh insight. 



Their findings reveal that carbon may have been the key element that enabled the inner core to solidify billions of years ago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-earth-s-core-composition-matters">Why Earth's core composition matters</h2>



The makeup of Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-inner-core-proven-to-be-rapidly-changing-and-now-rotating-backwards/">core</a> determines not only its density but also its thermal and magnetic behavior. 



Seismology shows that the core is less dense than pure iron, meaning lighter elements must be present. Candidates like silicon, sulphur, oxygen, and carbon have all been considered.



The latest simulations show that carbon, in particular, may have been essential. Without it, the inner core’s crystallization would have required impossible conditions, making its very existence a mystery.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/earth-inner-core_hidden-chemistry_illustration_credit-Alfred-Wilson_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/earth-inner-core_hidden-chemistry_illustration_credit-Alfred-Wilson_1s.webp" alt="Drawing of Earth with cutaway showing the mantle and inner and outer core. Magnetic field lines produced by the geodynamo extend into space and interact with the solar wind. The iron-rich core at Earth's center is slowly freezing from the inside out. Credit: Dr. Alfred Wilson" class="wp-image-1984775"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Drawing of Earth with cutaway showing the mantle and inner and outer core. Magnetic field lines produced by the geodynamo extend into space and interact with the solar wind. The iron-rich core at Earth's center is slowly freezing from the inside out. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Dr. Alfred Wilson</figcaption></figure>



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



Liquids rarely freeze solid the instant they cool past their <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/melting-point" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">melting point</a>. Instead, they must be supercooled, chilled further before crystals can form. 



For molten iron alone, estimates suggested that a massive 800 to 1000 °C (1472 to 1832 °F) of supercooling would be needed.



If that had occurred, the consequences for our planet would have been dramatic. 



The inner core would have grown far too quickly, disrupting the delicate balance of heat flow inside <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-inner-core-is-not-solid-it-is-shape-shifting-time-for-textbooks-to-be-rewritten/">Earth</a> and destabilizing the magnetic field that protects life from harmful solar and cosmic radiation.



Scientists know this did not happen. Geophysical evidence points instead to a modest level of supercooling, limited to about 250 °C (482 °F). 



That small difference between theoretical predictions and observational reality has puzzled researchers for decades.



This contradiction, known as the inner core nucleation paradox, continues to inspire debate, experiments, and advanced simulations aimed at uncovering the true chemistry of Earth’s deepest layers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-simulating-the-impossible">Simulating the impossible</h2>



To resolve the paradox, the research team ran atomic-scale simulations of iron mixed with different light elements. 



They tested silicon, sulfur, oxygen, and carbon, and watched how each affected the first step of freezing: nucleation.



“Each of these elements exists in the overlying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-an-ocean-of-fire-shaped-early-earths-core-according-to-a-new-study/">mantle</a> and could therefore have been dissolved into the core during Earth’s history,” explained co-author Associate Professor Andrew Walker from the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Oxford</a>.



“As a result, these could explain why we have a solid inner core with relatively little supercooling at this depth. The presence of one or more of these elements could also rationalize why the core is less dense than pure iron, a key observation from seismology.”



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/earth-inner-core_cross-section_convection_credit-Alfred-Wilson_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/earth-inner-core_cross-section_convection_credit-Alfred-Wilson_1s.webp" alt="Cross section of the Earth showing the mantle, outer core and inner core. Convection in the outer core produces Earth's geomagnetic field. The properties of Earth's iron-rich core are key to understanding our planet's deep interior, from its temperature to the way it generates the global magnetic field. The core's exact chemistry remains unknown. Credit: Dr. Alfred Wilson" class="wp-image-1984773"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cross section of the Earth showing the mantle, outer core and inner core. Convection in the outer core produces Earth's geomagnetic field. The properties of Earth's iron-rich core are key to understanding our planet's deep interior, from its temperature to the way it generates the global magnetic field. The core's exact chemistry remains unknown. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Dr. Alfred Wilson</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-drives-earth-s-core-freezing">Carbon drives Earth's core freezing</h2>



The simulations revealed that silicon and sulfur actually hindered freezing, which would have increased the supercooling requirement. Carbon, however, had the opposite effect.



With 2.4 % carbon, the required supercooling dropped to about 420 °C (788 °F). Still too high, but much closer to reality. 



Extrapolating further, a carbon content of 3.8 % reduced the figure to 266 °C (511 °F), which is consistent with geological evidence.



This makes carbon the only element so far shown to both enable nucleation and align with seismic observations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-seeds-needed">No seeds needed</h2>



Unlike hail forming around dust in clouds, Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-how-gold-reaches-earths-surface-from-the-mantle/">core</a> appears to have frozen without “nucleation seeds.” 



Tests of possible seed materials, like oxides or metals, show they would melt or dissolve before reaching the center. That leaves chemistry itself, specifically the presence of carbon, as the driver of solidification.



“It is exciting to see how atomic scale processes control the fundamental structure and dynamics of our planet," said lead author Dr. Alfred Wilson from the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Leeds</a>. 



"By studying how Earth’s inner core formed, we are not just learning about our planet’s past. We’re getting a rare glimpse into the chemistry of a region we can never hope to reach directly and learning about how it could change in the future.”



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/earth-inner-core_iron-carbon-atoms-nucleating_credit-Alfred-Wilson_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/earth-inner-core_iron-carbon-atoms-nucleating_credit-Alfred-Wilson_1s.webp" alt="Drawing of iron and carbon atoms nucleating to form solids which could initiate growth of Earth's solid inner core. The study used atomic scale simulations to identify solids nucleating in supercooled liquids. Carbon atoms can accelerate this process, perhaps enough to trigger the freezing of Earth's solid inner core. Credit: Dr. Alfred Wilson" class="wp-image-1984777"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Drawing of iron and carbon atoms nucleating to form solids which could initiate growth of Earth's solid inner core. The study used atomic scale simulations to identify solids nucleating in supercooled liquids. Carbon atoms can accelerate this process, perhaps enough to trigger the freezing of Earth's solid inner core. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Dr. Alfred Wilson</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-s-role-in-earth-s-core">Carbon's role in Earth’s core</h2>



The research also helps refine estimates of when the inner core formed. Some argue it began crystallizing over two billion years ago, while others suggest it happened less than half a billion years ago. 



By identifying carbon as the critical player, scientists can narrow down these timelines. 



This enables a better understanding of how Earth’s deep engine has evolved to influence the magnetic field, surface conditions, and even the long-term habitability of our planet.



The message is clear: carbon is more than a surface element of life. It may also be the hidden architect of Earth’s inner heart, shaping its stability across geological time.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62841-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Scientists have changed their minds again about the composition of Earth's core

Far beneath our feet, beyond the Earth's rocky mantle and molten outer core, lies a dense, solid sphere of iron and other elements like carbon. This inner core is Earth’s deepest secret, shaping the magnetic field that shields our planet. Yet, scientists still puzzle over how it first formed and what ingredients allowed it to crystallize. A new study by researchers from the University of Leeds, University of Oxford, and University College London provides fresh insight. Their findings reveal that carbon may have been the key element...

The ancient residents of Central America knew how to prioritize. Geneticists have found that they first domesticated the cacao tree about 3,600 years ago.

The discovery doesn’t just show that ancient farmers knew what was important. It can also help geneticists and anthropologists trace human migrations throughout the two continents that make up the Americas.

"This evidence increases our understanding of how humans moved and established in America," lead author Dr. Omar Cornejo of <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a> said in a press release. "It is important in itself because it gives us a timeframe for asking questions that are perhaps trickier: How long did it take to make a good cacao? How strong was the process of domestication? How many plants were necessary to domesticate a tree?"

Cornejo led a team of 18 scientists from 11 different institutions, including <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>, <a href="https://www.indiana.edu/">Indiana University</a>, <a href="http://www.mars.com/global">Mars, Inc.</a> and the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>.

The researchers sequenced 200 plants, to spot variations in the genome that could indicate where and when the cacao tree was first domesticated.

They found that the “prince of cocoas,” a variety of Theobroma cacao known as Criollo, originated in the Amazon, near the border of Colombia and Ecuador. However, it was domesticated in Central America, where seeds were probably brought by traders.

The farmers who domesticated the cacao tree selected for flavor, disease resistance, and theobromine, a stimulant, but this meant that the plant kept genes linked to smaller crops.

These insights may be able to help researchers increase cacao tree production without sacrificing flavor, the researchers said.

"What we would like to have is a way to combine plants from populations with high productivity – like Iquitos – with plants of Criollo origin, while retaining all these desirable traits that make Criollo cacao be the best in the world," Cornejo said.

The study has been published in the open source journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-018-0168-6">Communications Biology</a>. Funding for the study came from chocolate company Mars, Inc., which is backing efforts to study the cacao tree genome.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Farmers first grew cacao tree 3,600 years ago

The ancient residents of Central America knew how to prioritize....

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-extinction-event-darkness/">60 million years ago</a> left behind a crater so massive that it measures over 115 miles in width.

This crater, called Chicxulub, is buried by rocks beneath the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, and it’s the only crater on Earth with a peak ring consisting of broken rock fragments surrounding the crater. 

When an asteroid as big as a city crashes into Earth, like the one that formed Chicxulub, the resulting crater is so large that it’s usually very unstable and collapses. 

The impact is also so forceful it can vibrate the surrounding Earth and rocks to such a degree that they move like liquid, forming a peak ring. 

Now, for the first time, an international team of researchers drilled deep below the ocean floor to better understand how Chicxulub’s peak ring was formed. 

A study, published in the journal Nature, sheds new light on the moments following the asteroid impact that caused the mass extinction event. 

How exactly powerful vibrations cause rocks to move in such a fluid like way has been a topic of some debate. 

The research was only possible thanks to the efforts of the<a href="https://www.iodp.org/"> International Ocean Discovery Program</a> which drilled a mile deep into the Earth and produced core samples that were six inches in diameter. 

“What we found in the drill core is that the rock got fragmented,” Ulrich Riller, an author of the study, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45986449">BBC.</a> “It was smashed to tiny little pieces that initially are millimetre sized; and that basically causes this fluid-like behaviour that produces, in the end, the flat crater floor, which characterises Chicxulub and all such large impact structures, including those we also see on the Moon.” 

After examining the core samples and rock fragments, the researchers found that a process called acoustic fluidization forced the rocks that collapsed inward after the asteroid strike to rise in the center and form a mountainous ring. 

“For a while, the broken rock behaves as a fluid,” said Jay Melosh, an author of the study. “There have been a lot of theories proposed about what mechanism allows this fluidization to happen, and now we know it's really strong vibrations shaking the rock constantly enough to allow it to flow.”

To put the forceful vibrations in perspective, Sean Gulick, a member of the drill team, told the BBC that the amount of energy moving through the rocks after the asteroid struck was equivalent to ten billion Hiroshima bombs. 

The study gives researchers a better understanding of the mechanic of forceful asteroid impacts which are present on many planets and moons in our solar system. 

“These findings help us understand how impact craters collapse and how large masses of rock behave in a fluid-like manner in other circumstances, such as landslides and earthquakes,” said Melosh. “Towns have been wiped out by enormous landslides, where people thought they were safe but then discovered that rock will flow like liquid when some disturbance sets a big enough mass in motion.”
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs formed such a unique crater

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 60 million years...

Wall Of Fans Will Capture CO2 And Turn It Into Clean Fuel

To limit <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2030-limit-climate-change-warming/">warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius</a> above pre-industrial levels will require a massive effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and effective methods to capture carbon from the atmosphere. 

Current carbon capture and storage methods involve scrubbing CO2 from power plants and storing it deep below the Earth.

Carbon capture and storage is costly for coal and other power plants, but it also does nothing for the carbon already emitted into the atmosphere or the emissions from cars and planes. 

An obvious solution to help solve the carbon crisis might be to plant more trees, but the globe just doesn't have enough land for forests to make that a possibility. 

The amount of land and trees required to combat today’s current emissions would mean taking over viable agricultural land in a world where increasing food demands are a top concern. 

But now, <a href="http://carbonengineering.com/">Carbon Engineering</a>, a Canadian-based clean energy company, has developed promising direct air capturing technology that could capture carbon dioxide using fans. 

Not only could the carbon fans be placed anywhere to capture emissions, but the carbon captured would also be turned to carbonate and could be used again for fuel. This would start a sustainable process of emitting carbon, capturing it, storing, turning it into fuel where it will again be emitted. 

The company now has the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/04/carbon-emissions-negative-emissions-technologies-capture-storage-bill-gates">backing of Bill Gates</a>, but the question is will the costs make it feasible for a wide scale. 

A study published in the journal Joule earlier this year found that the that the costs of operating such technology would be between $94 and $232 per ton. 

This is well below previous cost estimates of around $600 per ton, which had been calculated by David Keith, a founder of Carbon Engineering and <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a> professor. 

“I hope to show that this as a viable energy industrial technology, not something that is a magic bullet ... but something that is completely doable,” Keith told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-carbon/scientists-say-cost-of-sucking-carbon-from-thin-air-could-tumble-idUSKCN1J325H">Reuters. </a>

Because the carbon capture technology harvests carbon for fuel that can be used to power planes and cars, it could make fuel as cheap as a dollar a liter, according to Keith. 

Direct carbon capture promises to be a viable solution for removing carbon from the atmosphere and could be a crucial part of limiting emissions and mitigating climate change. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Carbon Engineering

Wall of fans can suck carbon out of the air for a reasonable price

To limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels...

Druck

How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns. Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/">University of Konstanz</a> discovered why some species of colorful African cichlid fish have stripes while others don’t.

The study sheds insight on the genetic basis of convergent or repeated evolution, where different biological features will show up repeatedly independent of each other in a species' history. 

In this case, the researcher’s findings help explain what’s driving the repeated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/evolution-changes/">evolution of stripes</a> for cichlids in African lakes.How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns

The study was published in the journal Science. 

Stripes are common in the animal kingdom and among the thousand or so types of cichlid fish in Africa, there are many different variations of vertical and horizontal stripes and well and distinct color patterns. 

This makes the cichlid an excellent model for studying repeated evolution, according to the researchers.

[caption id="attachment_1861287" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/color.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861287" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/color-1024x724.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="495" /></a> Image Copyright: Claudius Kratochwil[/caption]

"They are extremely diverse in terms of social behaviour, body shape, colour pattern, and many other biological aspects, but at the same time certain features repeatedly evolved independently in the different lakes,” said Axel Meyer, the leader of the study. 

The researchers were able to identify the genetic mechanisms responsible for stripes and reconstructed the expression of genes necessary to turn stripes “on” or “off” in different breeds of cichlids using CRISPR, a precise tool for editing genes.

“If we use CRISPR-Cas to remove the gene from the genome of a species without stripes,” said Claudius Kratochwil, the first author of the study. “Then even a ‘stripeless’ fish will suddenly develop stripes, as we showed with a CRISPR-Cas mutant fish. This proves that the stripes gene is the decisive genetic factor.” 

The stripe gene is called agrp2 and is similar to the genes responsible for coloring and patterns in different species as well. 

“In breeding experiments, we can exactly determine on which of the 22 chromosomes, even on which area of the chromosome of the fish, the genetic instruction for stripes is located,” said Kratochwil.

Cichlids' stripes have disappeared and re-emerged over the course of millions of years which is why the fish are so intriguing to researchers. Typically when an evolutionary characteristic is lost, it’s lost forever in favor of new traits that better serve a species. 

The specific stripe gene agrp2 of the cichlid fish makes repeated evolution a possibility. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Copyright: Claudius Kratochwil

How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns

How evolution repeats itself with stripes and color patterns. Researchers...

A new type of camera developed by volcanologists at the <a href="http://www.manchester.ac.uk/">University of Manchester</a> can be used to measure the flow and speed of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-quality-kilauea-volcano/">ash</a> falling out of a volcanic plume. This method could help reduce the dangers, health risks, and travel impacts of ash plumes during a volcanic eruption.

“Models of ash dispersion are key to forecasting the concentrations of ash during an eruption, which ultimately determine which airspace is closed,” said study co-author Professor Mike Burton. “Our research helps to measure the dynamics of ash fallout during an eruption. This gives us new insights into volcanic ash dynamics, providing an important step towards improved models of ash dispersion.”

While ash is often considered to be a secondary danger when compared to volcano hazards such as lava and pyroclastic flow, ash can have a major impact on human lives and infrastructure. Heavy ash fall can cause buildings to collapse, and also poses a serious threat to electrical, water, and transportation networks, particularly air travel.

Professor Burton explained, “Volcanic ash is a primary product of an explosive volcanic eruption which generally poses a threat to human health and infrastructure.”

“The Icelandic eruption in 2010 highlighted to the whole world that ash-rich volcanic eruptions can have a major impact on the global economy through airspace closures designed to minimize the risk of jet engine failure due to ash clogging.”

At the Santa Maria volcano in Guatemala, the team used the camera to measure a series of explosions in the Santiaguito Lava Dome. The “AshCam,” which is the first camera of its kind in the world, enabled the researchers to measure how ash particles interact with sunlight and how they change the polarization of sunlight.

Study co-author and PhD Researcher Benjamin Esse explained, “AshCam is small, lightweight and relatively cheap, making it ideal for use in volcanic environments where larger, more expensive equipment is unable to be deployed.”

“This is an exciting development as it offers volcanologists a tool that allows them to easily measure the dynamics of ash plumes using only sunlight. The results from these measurements can be used to inform ash dispersal models, potentially improving their accuracy and effectiveness in mitigating the risks posed by ash plumes.”

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: Benjamin Esse, The University of Manchester

New method helps reduce the impact of volcanic ash on air travel

A new type of camera developed by volcanologists at the...

How butterflies get their wing colors. The vibrant colors of butterfly wings serve many purposes. They can attract a mate, act as camouflage, or communicate different warnings signals. 

But Heliconius butterflies, a group of colorful species native to Central and South America, use their coloring as a disguise. The distinct yellow or white markings of Heliconius cydno stand out against their muted, black wings. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a> examined Heliconius cydno butterflies in a new study and discovered that one gene is responsible for these yellow or white markings. 

The researchers then used CRISPR <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/alter-butterfly-wing-patterns/">gene editing technology</a> to turn the gene off and change of the coloring of some H. Cyndo butterflies. 

The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

[caption id="attachment_1861284" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/butterflies.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861284" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/butterflies.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="433" /></a> Image Credit: Kat Carlton, UChicago[/caption]

First, the researchers developed a genetic map and sequenced the genome of yellow and white H. cydno butterflies.

A gene called aristaless1 (al1) was discovered to be the switch that determined if a butterfly would have white or yellow markings, and the researchers found that if the switch was turned on, the butterfly markings were white. 

After the researchers found out what caused the white markings, CRISPR was used to turn off the al1 gene in the butterfly embryos where it was switched on, in other words in the butterflies that would have white markings. These butterflies ended up with yellow markings instead. 

“For decades people have been cross-breeding these butterflies, and they knew that this white vs. yellow switch was in one spot in the genome. They just weren't able to trace it to the actions of a single gene,” said Marcus Kronforst, the senior author of the study. “Now with CRISPR we can knock the gene out and see what happens. It turns out the evolutionary innovation here is not one species gaining a pigment, but instead turning on a gene to repress an ancestrally present pigment.” 

The same gene that determines wing color for H. cydno may also play a role in mating preference, because butterflies with the same color markings prefer to mate with each other. 

Future research investigating why the butterflies have this mating preference could yield important evolutionary insights about species diversity within Heliconius butterflies. 

“Whether it was natural selection driving it or it was just chance that these two things are linked, that might be part of the reason why we have such a diverse group of butterflies,” said Kronforst. “When the color and preference for the color are linked together, it causes these things to evolve together very rapidly.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How butterflies get their wing colors

How butterflies get their wing colors. The vibrant colors of...

What do sand crabs and comets have in common? You may be surprised. Researchers recently found a link between the mechanics of a sand crab’s tunnel and the pits that cover your typical comet. 

If you walk on a sandy beach, you might notice an array of holes near the shoreline which are entrances to narrow tunnels burrowed by sand crabs. Sand crabs feed on tiny plankton and can quickly scope out their prey as the waves wash up near the burrows. 

Researchers from <a href="http://en.nagoya-u.ac.jp/">Nagoya University</a> knew that the wet grainy mixture of sand was a key component for sand crab burrows and so conducted a study to better understand how the tunnels kept their strength and stability. 

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. 

First, the researchers modeled crab tunnels in a wet mixture of tiny glass beads and water which was meant to replicate the densely packed damp sand near the shoreline. 

The team dug different size holes with varying widths and diameters to test the structural capacity of the burrows. Interestingly, when the researchers pressed on the “sand” above a tunnel, the burrow shrunk. 

However, the larger in diameter a burrow, the less stable it was and more likely to collapse. It was diameter which is dependent on the size of sand granules that determined how strong the tunnel was and the pit that formed after collapse. 

The researchers discovered there was a threshold between a burrow collapsing but not disrupting the soil above and collapsing into a pit. This threshold was anywhere between five centimeters and seven centimeters in diameter. 

Sand crabs burrows are rarely larger than five centimeters which means that the crabs know how big is too big for an unsafe burrow. 

The researchers next looked to comets because many comets are covered in pit structures like those of a collapsed sand burrow. 

It’s been suggested that the origin of these pits on comets is the volatile materials that make up the comet itself, a cohesive mixture of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/interstellar-ice-grains-life-earth/">ice and solid particles</a>. 

The researchers were able to apply their threshold model to comet pit structures and found that the boundaries were similar as far as the diameters of the holes on the comet and the kind of collapse that followed. 

The results show that tunnel collapse in granular matter is more universal than previously thought and besides explaining cometary pits, the study could also help aid in disaster prevention methods for roads and bridges in the future. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sand crabs and comets have more in common than you may think

What do sand crabs and comets have in common? You...

The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on Earth. The famous space race refers the international exploration competition that got the most publicity in the United States.  There are of course many other examples of countries racing to plant a flag somewhere, if for nothing more than saying they were first and the chance at scientific discovery.  

The race to the South Pole between Roald Amundsen of Norway and Robert Falcon Scott of Britain in 1911 to 1912 is one of the earliest and most famous examples of explorers racing to a goal for a nation’s glory.  The long term competition between explorers often sponsored by national governments to be the first to summit Mount Everest is another good example of this type of exploration. Further from the limelight, there’s another exploration race that still hasn’t been concluded.  This less known race is a race between explorers and scientists going on literally underground.The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on Earth 

Project Mohole was started in 1958 as a US government-backed program to drill to the Earth’s hotter mantle below the crust.  The project was ambitious in its hope to physically access a part of the Earth never before contacted by humans. 

 The payoff for drilling through the earth’s crust of course would be scientific discovery.  We could learn much about the age of the earth, continental drift and the makeup of the earth itself.  When project Mohole was first started, continental drift was still controversial. Drilling into earth would in fact be a way to verify much that is theoretical in geology.  

Project Mohole was named for the Mohorovicic Discontinuity, which marks the boundary between the earth’s crust and the earth’s mantle.  It was decided that Project Mohole was to be undertaken in the seafloor rather than on land. It was thought that drilling equipment at that time wouldn’t hold up to the depths and temperatures involved in drilling on land.  

<a href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/history/mohole/">NationalAcademies</a> reports that the first stage of Project Mohole was a success.  A test hole was drilled off the coast of La Jolla California, already a hot spot for oceanographic research.  Drilling was then moved off of Guadalupe Mexico, where five holes were drilled, one to a depth of 601 feet below the seafloor.  Eventually changes in leadership and a request to congress for additional funding that was denied shelved Project Mohole. The whole project never got past stage one of three final stages and was ended in 1966.  But the US wasn’t the only country that had a project aimed at drilling deep into the Earth. 

In 1970, scientists from the Soviet Union began their own drilling project.  The end result of the Soviet attempt is the Kola Superdeep Borehole. This land based drilling project on the Kola peninsula reached a greater depth than Project Mohole, being the deepest borehole in the world in terms of true vertical depth, measuring  40,318 feet, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole">Wikipedia</a>.  

This was achieved by branching from a central borehole.  It was also possible to drill to these depths because the borehole was only 9 inches in diameter.  According to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-whats-deepest-hole-ever-dug-180954349/">Smithsonian Magazine</a>, one of the discoveries of Kola was microscopic fossils four miles deep in the earth.  The Kola Superdeep Borehole was abandoned in 1995 after the Soviet Union dissolved and is now just a ruin sometimes visited by the curious.  Other projects were inspired by Kola Superdeep Borehole and perhaps by project Mohole as well.

The KTB Superdeep Borehole, initiated by the German Continental Deep Drilling Programme, drilled to about 28,859 feet deep and the borehole is still open for scientific research.  For people like me, the most interesting subterranean exploration race is taking place in caves, where explorers still risk their lives and fortunes against the natural elements.

A different race to the naturally deepest place on the Earth has been taking place in caves.  American engineer Bill Stone has long been convinced that Sistema Huautla in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/experts-track-the-flow-of-nutrients-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/">Mexico</a> might be the deepest cave in the world.  Exploring Sistema Huautla has required weeks underground at a time, climbing, SCUBA diving and even the deaths of some team members.

Some have criticized Bill Stone as being willing to sacrifice the safety of others for his own obsession, but exploration has often cost lives and safety.  With over 40 cave expeditions under his belt, Stone is a veteran of so-called extreme caving. He’s pioneered cave exploration by engineering new cave equipment as well as helping NASA in using cave exploration techniques for exploration in space.  

In the end, it’s impossible to tell whether a cave is the deepest in the world until every cave has been explored completely.  With caves like Sistema Huautla, it’s virtually impossible to explore the entirety of the cave system. There are always side passages and no way of knowing where they lead or if there’s a deeper passage somewhere that’s been missed.  Inevitably the depth of a cave is just the measured depth and Sistema Huautla has been surpassed by another cave in the country of Georgia. 

Krubera Cave is now the deepest known cave on Earth.  Descending to the bottom of Krubera Cave has been described in <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/deepest-cave/">National Geographic</a> by one expedition member as ascending an inverted Mount Everest.  Sistema Huautla is maze like, with long passages that aren’t very vertical.  Krubera is more like a series of boreholes going vertically into the earth. It’s more a matter of rappelling over and over again.  There’s also the grueling work of clearing boulders and other debris out of the way of descent, working underground in sometimes cramped conditions.  So far Krubera has been explored to a surveyed depth of about 6,824 feet and is the deepest known cave in the world. 

The expeditions exploring Krubera to its deepest point were made of members of at least seven countries.  The style of caving is reminiscent of the traditional mountaineering expeditions that first scaled peaks like Everest.  Camps were set up and resupplied by people carrying tons of gear into the cave as a smaller expedition crew pushed deeper and deeper into the cave.  The cave required SCUBA diving and technical caving skills, much like Sistema Huautla. 

The difference between caving the deepest cave and climbing the highest mountain in the world is a matter of finality.  When Everest was first climbed, it was already known to be the highest mountain in the world. Surveyors can measure mountains without ever setting foot on them, Everest was named for a surveyor who discovered it’s prodigious height from a distance away without ever setting his boot to the mountain itself.  In caving, it’s impossible to know how deep a cave is until you crawl, climb, dive, squeeze your way to the bottom and then survey the depth of that point. Every step of the process of cave exploration is physically demanding and painstaking. It’s still only a matter of time before a deeper cave or a deeper part of a known cave is discovered somewhere on Earth.     

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on Earth

The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on...

Working memory is critical in guiding us through everyday actions such as taking directions or weighing the costs and benefits of a decision. Experts have developed a new model of working memory that explains how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-compensates-uncertainty/">brain</a> holds information while executing volitional control over itself.

Study lead author Earl Miller is a professor in the <a href="https://picower.mit.edu/">Picower Institute for Learning and Memory</a> at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As a neuroscientist, Professor Miller has been studying how working memory operates for more than 20 years. 

“What's special about working memory is that it is volitional,” said Professor Miller. “It is the main mechanism by which your brain wrests control from the environment and puts it under its own control. Any simple creature can just react to the environment. But what higher order animals have evolved is the ability to take control over their own thoughts.”

According to Professor Miller, the new model brings together the maintenance and volition of working memory. The model proposes that the brain operates working memory by coordinating neurons in the cortex with bursts of activity specifically timed during the frequencies of specific brain waves. 

In the model, waves in the low “alpha and beta” frequencies carry our knowledge and goals and regulate the higher frequency “gamma” waves, which handle new sensory information that needs to be manipulated. 

For example, low frequency waves may carry the knowledge that you need to purchase a new set of long-lasting tires, as well as the highest price that you are willing to pay for them. High frequency waves may carry the salesperson's pitch about how much two different sets of tires cost and how long they would last.

Meanwhile, the temporary storage of the new sensory information is achieved based on the interactions of these rhythmic waves and the subsequent changes in the strength of the connections among the neurons, called synapses.

Professor Miller said that his lab is using the model to explore new questions that may explain working memory in finer detail. The team also hopes to find ways that working memory may be therapeutically enhanced for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism.

“Can we strengthen the ‘top down’ rhythms when you need to focus, or can we strengthen gamma by weakening beta when you need to be more sensorily receptive?” According to Professor Miller, the model may eventually answer these questions.

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

How working memory guides you through the day

Working memory is critical in guiding us through everyday actions...

A team of neuroscientists at the <a href="http://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT) has discovered a way that the brain compensates during challenges when it doubts its own abilities. The study revealed that when tasks are too complicated, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-control-movement-limbs/">brain</a> draws on previous experiences for guidance. According to the experts, this strategy actually improves overall performance.

Study senior author Mehrdad Jazayeri is the Robert A. Swanson Career Development Professor of Life Sciences and a member of MIT's <a href="https://mcgovern.mit.edu/mcgovern-institute-for-brain-research-at-mit">McGovern Institute for Brain Research</a>.

“If you're doing something that requires a harder mental transformation, and therefore creates more uncertainty and more variability, you rely on your prior beliefs and bias yourself toward what you know how to do well, in order to compensate for that variability,” explained Professor Jazayeri.

For many decades, neuroscientists have recognized an amount of uncertainty in the brain as it responds to things that we see or hear but do not fully understand. This uncertainty causes random fluctuations of electrical activity in the brain, or “noise,” that is also generated during social interactions and as we attempt to recall past events.

Previous research has revealed many strategies which help the brain to compensate for this uncertainty, such as relying on an average of its past experiences. The brain is also known to handle conflicting evidence by choosing the more reliable source.

Professor Jazayeri explained that these strategies have been previously shown to work together to increase bias toward a particular outcome, which makes our overall performance better because it reduces variability.

Noise is also produced in the brain during the mental conversion of sensory information into a motor plan. For example, if you try to write your name backward so that it can be read in the mirror, the brain faces uncertainty when attempting to perform this unfamiliar conversion.

Researchers set out to investigate the brain's response to this type of mental conversion using three different tasks. For each task, they compared the performance of the participants in a version of the task that was simple versus a version that was extra challenging.


Overall, the experts found that during the version of a task that required difficult mental transformations, people altered their performance using the same strategies that they use to overcome noise in sensory perception. For example, when the individuals  had to draw lines ranging from 7.5 to 15 centimeters, they tended to draw lines that were closer to the average length of all the lines they had previously drawn. 

“This regression to the mean is a very common strategy for making performance better when there is uncertainty,” said Professor Jazayeri.

Based on their findings, the researchers believe that when people get very good at a task that requires complex computation, the noise will decrease and become less detrimental to overall performance. At this point, people will trust their computations more and stop relying on averages.

“As it gets easier, our prediction is the bias will go away, because that computation is no longer a noisy computation,” said Professor Jazayeri. “You believe in the computation; you know the computation is working well.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How the brain compensates for its own uncertainty

A team of neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

Could Fido’s coat color play a role in his health? In the case of chocolate Labs, a new study shows that it might. 

Researchers at the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> have analyzed vet records for 33,000 Labrador retrievers of all colors. They found that chocolate Labs have higher rates of ear and skin infections than black and yellow Labs do. 

They also found that chocolate Labs’ lifespans are, on average, 10 percent shorter than their non-chocolate counterparts. Lead author Dr. Paul McGreevy said the researchers were surprised by the findings.

"The relationships between coat color and disease may reflect an inadvertent consequence of breeding certain pigmentations," he said. "Because chocolate color is recessive in dogs, the gene for this color must be present in both parents for their puppies to be chocolate. Breeders targeting this color may therefore be more likely to breed only Labradors carrying the chocolate coat gene. It may be that the resulting reduced gene pool includes a higher proportion of genes conducive to ear and skin conditions."

They found that across the UK, the most common health conditions among chocolate Labs were obesity, ear infections and joint problems. Male dogs who had been neutered were more prone to obesity than other Labs.

"We found that 8.8 percent of UK Labradors are overweight or obese, one of the highest percentages among dog breeds in the VetCompass database," McGreevy said.

The researchers collected their data through the VetCompass Programme, which began in 2007 at the <a href="https://www.rvc.ac.uk/">Royal Veterinary College</a> in London in partnership with the University of Sydney. 

The program is now working to collect data on chocolate Labs and their black and yellow fellows in Australia. VetCompass now works with all of Australia's veterinary schools with support from the <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au/">Australian Research Council</a>.

The study has been published in the open source journal <a href="https://cgejournal.biomedcentral.com/">Canine Genetics and Epidemiology</a>.

Chocolate Labs coat colors could affect health

Could Fido’s coat color play a role in his health?...

Scientists finally have solid evidence: the Earth’s core is solid, if a little squishy, a new study has discovered.

The theory that Earth’s core is solid dates back to 1936, proposed by seismologist Inge Lehmann as she reanalyzed data from the massive 1929 Murchison, New Zealand earthquake. But until recently, there was no way to prove it. 

Then the team from <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/">Australia National University</a> struck on the idea of using earthquakes again. They decided to study echoes of earthquakes using a technique that researchers have been using to measure Antarctic ice sheets for decades.

Dr. Hrvoje Tkalčić, scholar Than-Son Phạm and their colleagues looked at similarities recorded by pairs of receivers after major earthquakes. The team detected “J waves,” which can only pass through solid objects, deep in the Earth’s core. 

“Using a global network of stations, we take every single receiver pair and every single large earthquake – that’s many combinations – and we measure the similarity between the seismograms,” Tkalčić told the magazine <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/">Newsweek</a>. “That’s called cross-correlation, or the measure of similarity. From those similarities we construct a global correlogram – a sort of fingerprint of the Earth.”

What that fingerprint showed was that there is solid material in the Earth’s core. However, it’s also a lot softer than scientists expected. 

“It turns out – if our results are correct – the inner core shares some similar elastic properties with gold and platinum,” Tkalčić said. “The inner core is like a time capsule; if we understand it we’ll understand how the planet was formed, and how it evolves.”

The study solves one of the mysteries about Earth’s core, Tkalčić and Pham said, but there is still research to be done before scientists come close to understanding the center of our planet.

“For instance, we don’t know yet what the exact temperature of the inner core is, what the age of the inner core is, or how quickly it solidifies, but with these new advances in global seismology, we are slowly getting there,” Tkalčić said.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

Earthquake 'echoes' show Earth's core is solid

Scientists finally have solid evidence: the Earth’s core is solid,...

<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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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The environmental problem we actually solved

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

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



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



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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 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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