Quantum entanglement is a mind-boggling phenomenon in quantum mechanics that intrigues both scientists and the public alike.



Unlike the predictable nature of classical physics, quantum mechanics thrives on unpredictability, often challenging our everyday perceptions. This is particularly evident in the behavior of entangled particles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-quantum-entanglement">Understanding quantum entanglement</h2>



In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously, a concept known as superposition. Entanglement elevates this idea: when <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-entanglement-laws-thermodynamics-follow-entropy-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">particles become entangled</a>, their states are interlinked.



A change in one particle's state instantly influences the other, regardless of distance—imagine two distant light bulbs flickering in sync across the cosmos.



Entanglement suggests that information can be shared instantaneously between particles, defying the notion that nothing travels faster than light.



This "<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-entanglement-spooky-action-at-a-distance-persists-between-top-quarks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spooky action at a distance</a>," as Albert Einstein famously termed it, prompts profound questions about the nature of space and time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-of-measurement">Challenges of measurement</h2>



Measurement in quantum mechanics presents unique challenges. Observing one particle in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-dance-entangled-photons-wave-functions-captured-real-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">an entangled pair</a> determines the states of both, leading to critical inquiries: What constitutes a 'measurement,' and how does it influence our understanding of reality?



The complex mathematics underpinning quantum mechanics -- incorporating concepts like Hilbert spaces, wave functions, and operators -- can be intimidating, rendering entanglement less accessible to many.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fascinating-puzzle">Fascinating puzzle</h2>



Simply put, quantum entanglement is just too complicated for most people to fully understand. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-tunneling-allow-particles-break-light-speed-barrier/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">It defies classical intuitions</a>, involves sophisticated mathematics, and urges us to reevaluate our understanding of reality.



That is, until now. 



Enter Professor Carl Kocher, a pioneer of the study of quantum entanglement. He is currently a member of the <a href="https://quantumfoundry.ucsb.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Quantum Foundry</a> at University of California Santa Barbara and Professor Emeritus at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon State University</a>.



Professor Kocher is the author of a new article in Frontiers in Quantum Science and Technology, explaining his groundbreaking 1964-67 experiments in quantum entanglement and discussing the 'paradox' of quantum entanglement.



In the following guest editorial, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carl-Kocher" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Professor Kocher</a> helps us stretch our minds to understand this apparently paradoxical phenomenon.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-quantum-entanglement-0">Understanding quantum entanglement</h2>



My new article, ‘<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/quantum-science-and-technology/articles/10.3389/frqst.2024.1451239/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Quantum Entanglement of Optical Photons: The First Experiment, 1964-67</a>’, is intended to convey the spirit of a small research project that reaches into uncharted territory. 



The article breaks with tradition, as it offers a first-person account of the strategy and challenges for the experiment, as well as an interpretation of the final result and its significance. 



In this guest editorial, I will introduce the subject and also attempt to illuminate the question ‘What is a paradox?’



Let’s begin with the gyroscope that I bought when I was eight, from a store that sold novelties and magic tricks. The spinning disk, supported at one end of its shaft, did not fall, but moved slowly around in a horizontal plane. 



This behavior seems mysterious or paradoxical in the context of common experience that excludes gyroscopes, but makes complete sense in the context of Newtonian mechanics, which resolves the paradox by predicting precisely how gyroscopes will behave.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolution-of-quantum-theory">Evolution of quantum theory</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radical-new-theory-finally-unites-gravity-spacetime-and-the-quantum-realm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Quantum theory</a>, conceived in the mid-1920s, has been impressively successful in accounting for the properties and interactions of atoms and molecules. 



In 1935, Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen stirred controversy with a thought experiment in which two particles of common origin move apart, noting that quantum theory predicts correlations in subsequent measurements of their spins.



The correlation may seem quite puzzling, as a measurement on one of the particles appears to influence a subsequent measurement on the other, even if the particles do not interact.



In current terminology, these correlations are an example of entanglement, and the correlation phenomenon is known as the EPR paradox.



The puzzle has become a subject for much discussion and analysis, especially because there was (and is) no known mechanism for measurements to communicate with each other.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disentangling-quantum-entanglement">Disentangling quantum entanglement</h2>



In 1964 I was intrigued by this unfamiliar effect and began to think of a way to actually perform the EPR experiment -- or at least a version of it -- for observing the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-entanglement-discovery-is-a-revolutionary-step-forward/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">correlation and entanglement</a>. It would be a low-energy experiment that could be set up in a small laboratory.



For the experiment outlined here, the particles of interest are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-entanglement-photons-used-to-measure-earth-rotation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">visible-light photons</a>, which are noninteracting, emitted by excited calcium atoms in a two-stage spontaneous emission process. The polarization states of the photons, which are related to their spins, can be measured simply, with ordinary linear polarizers. 



Photomultiplier detectors count the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-dance-entangled-photons-wave-functions-captured-real-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">individual photons</a>, #1 (green) and #2 (violet), and timing circuits enable the identification of photon pairs from the same atom. A rotatable linear polarizer is mounted in front of each detector.



In simplest terms, the experiment involves counting the rate at which photon pairs are detected, as a function of the orientation of the polarizers. A photon pair detected from the same atom is recorded as a “coincidence count.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-theory-and-experiment-agree">Theory and experiment agree</h2>



Quantum theory makes the following predictions:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-computer-photons-create-vortex-when-they-collide/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Each photon</a>, taken separately, has a 50% chance of being transmitted by its polarizer, regardless of its angle of orientation. </li>



<li>If the polarizer axes are parallel, both photons from the same atom can pass through their polarizers and be counted. Coincidence counts will be observed. </li>



<li>If the polarizer axes are perpendicular, it never happens that both photons pass through their polarizers. Therefore, no coincidence counts will be observed.</li>
</ol>



Predictions #1 and #2 are not surprising, as the green and violet beams of light are unpolarized.



Prediction #3, discussed further in my article, is a quantum entanglement effect with no analog in classical (non-quantum) physics. It is especially interesting because it can be tested experimentally. I designed the experiment specifically for this purpose.



The results of the experiment, after nearly three years of effort in the laboratory, clearly demonstrate that coincidence counts are recorded if the polarizer axes are parallel, and that no coincidences are recorded if the polarizers are perpendicular. The agreement between theory and experiment is unequivocal and striking.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-so-is-there-a-paradox">So is there a paradox?</h2>



In our brief discussion of the gyroscope, no paradox was acknowledged because Newton’s theory (classical dynamics) fully explains how a gyroscope moves. 



Furthermore, both the theory and the observed gyroscopic behavior are compatible with our life experience and intuitive ability to grasp natural processes in the classical realm.



In the entanglement case, quantum theory accounts for the observed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/super-photons-fascinating-behavior-in-quantum-realm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">correlation of the photon polarizations</a>. But even when a theory predicts experimental results, a paradox may remain if the intuition cannot reach out to connect with it.



Take another look at predictions #1 and #3 above. If we draw on our experience of life in a non-quantum world, we may notice something very strange when the polarizers are “crossed” at 90 degrees. 



If each photon has a 50% chance of transmission through its polarizer, why don’t we get coincidences 25% of the time? Instead, we observe none at all. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stretching-the-mind-to-resolve-the-paradox">Stretching the mind to resolve the paradox</h2>



At first consideration, this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/impossibility-paradox-calculating-incalculable-quantum-realm-particles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">does seem to qualify as a paradox</a>. One possible explanation could involve a missing component of quantum theory - perhaps a causal mechanism that could allow one photon, or one measurement, to communicate with the other. 



However, despite extensive research, no evidence has been found for such a mechanism.



As we do not live in an <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-quantum-revolution-will-impact-all-aspects-of-society/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">overtly quantum world</a>, classical phenomena may influence our thought processes - even when we venture into the quantum realm. It may therefore remain a challenge to assimilate entanglement into the intuition.



I believe that the paradox can be at least partially resolved when further thought and experience, such as the experiment considered here, ‘stretch the mind’ to more fully embrace entanglement and other quantum phenomena.



I have come to view these aspects of nature as ‘strangely wonderful’.



The full paper and study can we read at <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/quantum-science-and-technology/articles/10.3389/frqst.2024.1451239/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Quantum Science and Technology</a>.



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Quantum entanglement: A simple way to fully grasp this 'impossible' concept

Quantum entanglement is a mind-boggling phenomenon in quantum mechanics that intrigues both scientists and the public alike. Unlike the predictable nature of classical physics, quantum mechanics thrives on unpredictability, often challenging our everyday perceptions. This is particularly evident in the behavior of entangled particles. Understanding quantum entanglement In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously, a concept known as superposition. Entanglement elevates this idea: when particles become entangled, their states are interlinked. A change in one particle's state instantly influences the other, regardless of distance—imagine...

What makes us human? Most would say our minds. The ability to think, empathize, and build complex societies sets us apart from every other species on Earth. But where did this begin? 



A new hypothesis from researchers at Cambridge and Oxford suggests a surprising factor in human brain evolution: the placenta. 



This temporary organ that nurtures unborn babies may have driven the development of our large, social human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-brains-solve-complex-problems-with-simple-tricks/">brains</a>.



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



The placenta is a dynamic, intelligent system that nurtures and safeguards new life from conception to delivery. It attaches to the lining of the uterus and connects to the fetus through the umbilical cord, acting as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pregnancy-stress-may-have-lasting-effects-on-fetal-development/">a vital lifeline</a>. 



Through this connection, the placenta delivers oxygen and nutrients from the mother’s bloodstream to the fetus while removing carbon dioxide and waste products. 



It also produces hormones - such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sperm-have-a-heat-activated-switch-that-may-be-key-to-fertility/">progesterone</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/germ-cells-play-a-crucial-role-in-aging-and-lifespan/">estrogen</a>, and human chorionic gonadotropin - that help maintain the pregnancy and support fetal development.



Beyond its physiological functions, the placenta serves as a protective barrier, filtering out many harmful substances, though not all. 



Certain viruses, bacteria, and drugs can still cross into fetal circulation, which underscores the importance of maternal health and prenatal care. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hormones-and-social-traits">Hormones and social traits</h2>



Dr. Alex Tsompanidis, senior researcher at Cambridge’s <a href="https://www.autismresearchcentre.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Autism Research Centre</a>, is the study's lead author.



“Small variations in the prenatal levels of steroid hormones, like testosterone and oestrogen, can predict the rate of social and cognitive learning in infants and even the likelihood of conditions such as autism. This prompted us to consider their relevance for human evolution,” noted Dr. Tsompanidis. 



He and his co-authors argue that these hormones influenced not just individuals but helped shape human social traits across millennia.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-brain-and-its-origins">Human brain and its origins</h2>



“We’ve known for a long time that living in larger, more complex social groups is associated with increases in the size of the brain. But we still don’t know what mechanisms may link these behavioral and physical adaptations in humans," said Professor Robin Dunbar.



This study suggests the missing piece may be sex steroid hormones like testosterone and oestrogens. These affect brain structure and connectivity even before birth.



To explore this, the researchers used “mini-brains” grown from stem cells in petri dishes. These clusters allowed them to observe how hormones shape developing neurons. 



The team found that testosterone increases brain volume, while oestrogens enhance <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/your-brain-literally-changes-based-on-daily-activities-and-lifestyle/">neural</a> connectivity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-brain-size-and-the-placenta">Human brain size and the placenta</h2>



Humans and great apes share a powerful hormonal connection between mother and fetus via the placenta. But humans seem to have a unique advantage. 



“The placenta regulates the duration of the pregnancy and the supply of nutrients to the fetus, both of which are crucial for the development of our species’ characteristically large brains. But the advantage of human placentas over those of other primates has been less clear,” noted Professor Graham Burton.



That advantage may lie in hormone levels. Studies show that oestrogen levels in pregnant humans are higher than in other primates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hormones-supported-social-living">Hormones supported social living </h2>



One human hallmark is our ability to maintain very large, stable groups. To manage this, our ancestors had to evolve both high fertility and reduced male competition. Sex steroid hormones may have supported both changes.



Hormones like testosterone drive male-like traits such as strength and competitiveness. In <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-has-a-meal-memory-that-controls-hunger/">humans</a>, these traits exist but appear less extreme than in our close relatives or extinct cousins like Neanderthals. 



In contrast, traits linked to oestrogens, like reduced body hair and certain finger ratios, became more common.



Why? Possibly because the placenta helps convert testosterone into oestrogens using an enzyme called aromatase. Humans have more of this enzyme than other primates, and interestingly, males may have slightly more than females.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-placenta-influenced-human-brain-evolution">Placenta influenced human brain evolution</h2>



By combining all these pieces, the researchers argue that stronger placental function and elevated prenatal hormone levels together expanded brain size and connectivity. 



A lower ratio of testosterone to oestrogen could have reduced male aggression and boosted fertility in females. This allowed humans to live together in larger, more cooperative groups.



“We have been studying the effects of prenatal sex steroids on neurodevelopment for the past 20 years. This has led to the discovery that prenatal sex steroids are important for neurodiversity in human populations," said Professor Simon Baron-Cohen.



"This new hypothesis takes this further in arguing that these hormones may have also shaped the evolution of the human brain."



According to Dr. Tsompanidis, the team's hypothesis puts pregnancy at the heart of our story as a species. "The human brain is remarkable and unique, but it does not develop in a vacuum."



"Adaptations in the placenta and the way it produces sex steroid hormones may have been crucial for our brain’s evolution, and for the emergence of the cognitive and social traits that make us human,” Dr. Tsompanidis concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/evan.70003" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews</a>.



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Hormones produced in the placenta may have driven human brain evolution

What makes us human? Most would say our minds. The...

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky stretches for more than 420 miles (675 kilometers) below the surface of the ground and is often described as the world’s largest cave system. Recent explorations there uncovered two new fossil sharks that once roamed shallow coastal waters more than 325 million years ago.



Ancient shark specialist John-Paul (JP) Hodnett of the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (<a href="https://www.mncppc.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MNCPPC</a>) worked with the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/index.htm">National Park Service Paleontology Program</a> to identify the fossils. 



These finds have everyone buzzing because they offer a glimpse into marine habitats that thrived when parts of what is now eastern North America were covered by a warm sea.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-prehistoric-shark-fossil-puzzle">Prehistoric shark fossil puzzle</h2>



The newly documented sharks are Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius careforum, and they are from a group known as <a href="https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-month-cten.php">ctenacanth</a> sharks. 



They both measured about 10–12 feet (3–3.6 meters) long, which is similar in size to an oceanic whitetip shark.



The shark fossils were collected from various limestone formations, which were deposited during the Middle to Late <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/mississippian-period.htm">Mississippian Period</a>. 



The bigger picture is that these habitats were once submerged under shallow seas and supported a wide range of fish life. Researchers have now identified more than 70 ancient fish species in the cave system.



A partial set of jaws belonging to a young <a href="https://shark-references.com/species/view/Glikmanius-careforum">Glikmanius careforum</a> revealed fresh details about cartilage, which rarely fossilizes well. 



Cartilaginous remains of sharks are often fragile and easily destroyed by erosion, so finding them preserved in a protected space is especially rewarding.



Experts note that this newly identified material adds depth to ongoing discussions of how shark groups diversified while the supercontinent <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-was-pangea">Pangea</a> was taking shape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-collaborations-and-fieldwork">Collaborations and fieldwork</h2>



“Every new discovery at Mammoth Cave is possible due to collaborations,” said park superintendent <a href="https://www.nps.gov/maca/learn/management/index.htm">Barclay Trimble</a> of Mammoth Cave National Park. 



Researchers and volunteers have explored hidden passages, river channels, and even narrow crawlways in search of key fossils.



Members of the <a href="https://www.cave-research.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cave Research Foundation</a> also took part in these efforts. The name Glikmanius careforum was chosen to honor that organization’s valuable support in the field.



The partial cartilage from this genus points to a short head with a strong bite, possibly used to feed on smaller fish and <a href="https://www.geo.mtu.edu/KeweenawGeoheritage/HoughtonEC/Orthocones.html">orthocones</a>, which are squid-like creatures with elongated shells.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-help-trace-evolutionary-change">Fossils help trace evolutionary change </h2>



Troglocladodus trimblei stands out for its branching tooth design that helped it secure prey in the Mississippian seas. 



This prehistoric hunter probably shared a coastal environment with G. careforum, in waters that covered modern-day Kentucky and Alabama.



Researchers say these sharks likely thrived in nearshore habitats that teemed with bony fish, shelled organisms, and other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cocaine-sharks-brazilian-waters-sharpnose-sharks-rhizoprionodon-lalandii-ocean-pollution/">marine creatures</a>.



Tracing these fossils across multiple rock layers provides insights into how the environment changed over time. 



Coastal waters rose and fell as landmasses drifted toward each other, gradually merging into a single continent. 



These broader patterns helped shape the distribution and evolutionary paths of ancient sharks like T. trimblei and G. careforum.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-preserve-shark-fossils">How to preserve shark fossils</h2>



Field teams spent long hours underground carefully mapping and collecting small fragments of teeth. A single <a href="https://www.npca.org/articles/7703-the-unveiling-of-mammoth-cave-s-history">tooth</a> from T. trimblei sparked initial interest when Superintendent Trimble first discovered it on a 2019 trip. 



Seasoned cavers and geologists coordinated to ensure safe retrieval of each piece, knowing that one misstep could damage the delicate remains.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ctenacanth-sharks_cave-discovery_325-million-years-ago_1big.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ctenacanth-sharks_cave-discovery_325-million-years-ago_1s.webp" alt="A reconstruction of the new Middle to Late Mississippian ctenacanth sharks from Mammoth Cave National Park and northern Alabama. Glikmanius careforum is seen swimming in the foreground with two Troglocladodus trimblei swimming above. Artwork by Benji Paynose" class="wp-image-1973763"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A reconstruction of the new Middle to Late Mississippian ctenacanth sharks from Mammoth Cave National Park and northern Alabama. Glikmanius careforum is seen swimming in the foreground with two Troglocladodus trimblei swimming above. Click image to enlarge. Artwork by Benji Paynose</figcaption></figure>



Research at Mammoth Cave has led to conversations about how best to preserve fragile fossils within difficult-to-access passages. Experts say stable cave temperatures help keep these discoveries in good condition. 



Park managers have also integrated these new data into guidelines for future research so that more clues to marine life from 325 million years ago may be found.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-these-shark-fossils-matter">Why these shark fossils matter</h2>



Scientists use these finds to compare local fossil collections with specimens from similar periods in other parts of the world. 



Documenting body sizes, tooth arrangements, and skeletal details helps researchers build a clearer timeline of shark <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-skeletons-could-lead-to-technological-innovations/">evolution</a>.



These comprehensive studies uncover shifts in fish diversity that occurred as oceans changed and landmasses joined together. 



Experts also link fossil data with knowledge from bony fish records, coral structures, and other sea life. This combined approach paints a full picture of ancient marine habitats and shows how some species adapted while others vanished. 



The two new fossil sharks at Mammoth Cave highlight that even well-known geologic areas can hold <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopus-caught-riding-on-the-back-of-the-worlds-fastest-shark-in-the-open-ocean/">surprises</a> for many years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-cave-explorations">Future cave explorations</h2>



Mammoth Cave continues to yield glimpses into a vanished coastline that spanned what is now Kentucky, Europe, and northern Africa. 



T. trimblei and G. careforum are just two recent additions to an ever-expanding fossil catalog, reminding everyone that exploration still brings answers and new questions.



In many ways, these ancient sharks highlight how puzzle pieces of geologic history keep fitting together. Field teams are now eager to see what lies in deeper chambers or behind the narrow channels.



The next phase of study may involve more advanced imaging and careful excavation in lesser-known passages, guided by new mapping techniques. 



Findings like these spur a broader appreciation for the cave system’s scientific value, well beyond its length or visual features.



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377873693_NEW_CTENACANTH_SHARKS_CHONDRICHTHYES_ELASMOBRANCHII_CTENACANTHIFORMES_FROM_THE_MIDDLE_TO_LATE_MISSISSIPPIAN_OF_KENTUCKY_AND_ALABAMA">Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology</a>.



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Two prehistoric sea monsters found after 325 million years in the world’s largest cave

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky stretches for more than 420 miles...

The brown bear, Ursus arctos, is often described as adaptable, and its European range has never stayed still for long. 



New research shows that the bear’s wanderings are tied less to temperature than to where its food grows or grazes - an important detail with big conservation consequences.



Pablo M. Lucas and colleagues at the <a href="https://ics-seville.org/university-of-seville/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Seville</a> analyzed more than three million <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-brown-bears-have-a-genetic-weak-spot/">bear</a> locations and the energy yield of 276 food species to find the pattern.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bears-follow-food-with-most-energy">Bears follow food with most energy</h2>



“We detected 276 species in their diet. Bears occupy those places where the most energy from the species in their diet is available,” explained Lucas. 



Brown bears consume anything from acorns to red deer, shifting diet with local supply. Lucas’s team confirms that bears settle where the most calories are packed into the landscape, a principle ecologists call <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/10/1928" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic energy optimization</a>.&nbsp;



Europe holds about 17,000 free‑ranging brown <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/untangling-the-history-of-polar-bears-and-brown-bears/">bears</a> spread over 22 countries, yet the population is fragmented into 14 sub‑populations, from the Cantabrian Mountains to Karelia. 



The <a href="http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/eurasian-brown-bear/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN</a> classifies the species as “Least Concern” globally, but several regional groups remain vulnerable. Fragmentation matters because food landscapes vary sharply across short distances.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-shifts-food-sources-for-bears">Climate shifts food sources for bears </h2>



Climate change is already nudging thousands of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-brown-bears-are-digging-up-japans-artificial-forests/">species</a> poleward and uphill, some three times faster than biologists once estimated. As fruiting plants, insects and ungulates relocate, bears face a moving target.&nbsp;



In warmer regions such as Greece and Türkiye, the study found bears behaving almost like herbivores, with nuts and berries dominating the diet. 



Farther north in Scandinavia and Finland, meat from wild boar or moose supplies over half of a bear’s annual calories.



American grizzlies offer a parallel: on Alaska’s Kodiak Island, warmer summers now ripen elderberries during salmon runs, and many bears abandon fish for fruit. 



The European analysis suggests similar switches are likely whenever plant and animal phenology collide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-the-energy-landscape">Mapping the energy landscape</h2>



To quantify edible energy, the team combined scat and stomach studies with remote‑sensing models of plant and prey habitat. 



A key variable was <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/691/ds691.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">isothermality</a>, the ratio of day‑to‑night temperature range to annual range, which influences plant productivity.



Areas rich in reproductive plants such as oak and beech mast scored high for bears in Spain, while regions with dense roe‑deer populations pulled bears east of the Carpathians.



The researchers then layered these food maps onto climate and land‑use projections for 2050. Where forests shrink or heat stress pushes oaks uphill, the calories disappear and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bears-help-huckleberries-thrive-in-a-changing-climate/">bear</a>’s probability of presence drops with them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bear-food-zones-may-shrink">Bear food zones may shrink</h2>



Under a mid‑range emissions pathway, suitable bear habitat could contract by one‑third if both abiotic (climate, land use) and biotic (food availability) changes unfold as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70252" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forecast</a>. 



Losses are steepest in the East Balkan and Türkiye groups, where warming outpaces plant adaptation. In contrast, the Scandinavian and Karelian sub‑populations may gain ground as forests march north, provided prey species keep pace.



A separate Swedish <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296319593_Seasonal_and_annual_variation_in_the_diet_of_brown_bears_Ursus_arctos_in_the_boreal_forest_of_southcentral_Sweden" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">analysis</a> of 527 bear scats showed similar north-south dietary splits and underlines that bears quickly alter foraging tactics when new options arise. 



Such flexibility could buffer northern bears but offers little help to isolated southern populations hemmed in by farmland and roads.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-people-and-policy">Implications for people and policy</h2>



Europe’s large carnivores have rebounded over the past two decades, sparking new debates about coexistence. Where wild prey declines, bears turn to orchards, beehives and livestock carcasses, raising conflict costs. 



Predicting hotspots of future food scarcity can guide compensation schemes and habitat corridors before tensions flare.



Forest managers also gain a roadmap: protecting seed‑producing trees in southern Europe may retain critical autumn fattening grounds, while maintaining continuous ungulate habitat in the north ensures carnivorous diets stay wild. 



The study argues that conservation targets should shift from static range maps to dynamic “energy maps” that track how calories, not just climate, flow across the continent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-all-species-adapt-like-bears">Not all species adapt like bears</h2>



Brown bears are generalists, able to switch food sources as the landscape changes. But many species aren’t so lucky. 



Animals with a <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/generalist-and-specialist-species/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">specialist diet</a>, such as the Iberian lynx or alpine butterflies, may not adapt as quickly if their primary food vanishes or migrates beyond reach.



Species with limited mobility or narrow climate tolerance face a double threat: they can’t chase food, and even if they could, suitable shelter might not be there. 



Conservation strategies that work for flexible foragers like bears won’t always translate to more fragile species caught in tight ecological niches.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-step-is-testing-other-predators">Next step is testing other predators</h2>



Lucas and co‑authors hope to expand the model to wolves and lynx, testing whether prey‑driven range forecasts improve planning for multiple predators at once. 



The researchers are also calling for finer‑scale monitoring of plant phenology so managers can spot mismatches early.



For now, the brown bear reminds us that protecting a species means protecting its pantry. Where acorns fall and deer graze today will shape where cubs are born tomorrow.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70252" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Change Biology</a>.



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Brown bears move where their food grows

The brown bear, Ursus arctos, is often described as adaptable,...

Cosmic rays hit Earth’s atmosphere all the time, but most are too weak to detect. A few, however, carry extreme energy: more than a million times what particle accelerators on Earth can produce.



A new study suggests that those monsters are born in the churning magnetic fields of pairs of neutron stars that are on the brink of collapse. The high-energy rays are thought to arise moments before a black hole flickers into existence. 



<a href="https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/glennys-farrar.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Glennys Farrar</a>, a theoretical physicist at <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York University</a>, argues that this brief window of magnetic bedlam can sling charged nuclei far beyond 100 exa‑electron volts (EeV), topping what the <a href="https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Large Hadron Collider</a> can muster by a factor of a million.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-energy-cosmic-rays-and-human-machines">High-energy cosmic rays and human machines</h2>



Farrar’s name carries weight in the hunt for Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Rays <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.4256" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">(UHECRs)</a>, a class of particles first recognized in the 1960s. They arrive so rarely that a detector the size of Delaware might record one a year. 



The most recent UHECR detected by the telescope array in Utah was nicknamed “<a href="https://astrobites.org/2023/12/20/amaterasu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amaterasu</a>,” and it clocked in at 240 EeV, making it the third most energetic cosmic ray ever recorded. It made headlines for coming from a seemingly empty part of space.



Astrophysicists once blamed <a href="https://webbtelescope.org/contents/articles/what-are-active-galactic-nuclei" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">active galactic nuclei</a>, <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/universe/gamma-ray-bursts-harvesting-knowledge-from-the-universes-most-powerful-explosions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gamma‑ray bursts</a>, or the collapse of massive stars for such energies. Yet decades of sky maps reveal no tidy link between those explosions and the arrival directions of UHECRs.



Kotera and Olinto’s classic <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-astro-081710-102620" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> noted that magnetic fields scramble most cosmic rays, hiding their tracks, but still could not explain why the very top end seems to follow a tight energy‑to‑charge relation. Farrar’s model now tackles that puzzle head‑on.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-merging-stars-messy-magnets">Merging stars, messy magnets</h2>



When two city‑size <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-two-neutron-stars-collide-kilonova-explosion-very-bad-things-happen/">neutron stars</a> spiral together, their crusts shatter and magnetic fields twist like pulled taffy. Supercomputer runs show those lines amplifying a thousand‑fold in under eight milliseconds, priming a natural particle accelerator.



Before the merged core collapses, the tangled field ejects blobs of plasma moving at <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/black-holes-may-be-the-secret-force-behind-cosmic-rays/">near‑light speed</a>. 



Charged nuclei surfing that turbulence gain energy in proportion to their electric charge, matching the observed rigidity trend that has stumped earlier theories.



The same chaos also explains why only a few particles breach 200 EeV. Farrar points out that the heaviest <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19980007188/downloads/19980007188.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">r‑process nuclei</a> - xenon, tellurium, and maybe even uranium - are rare in the debris, so only a handful reach truly extreme energies.



Those r‑process elements form when neutrons jam into seed nuclei during the merger, the same alchemy that minted much of the universe’s gold and iodine. 



Gravitational‑wave event <a href="https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0145/P1700294/008/Abbott_2017_ApJL_848_L12.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GW170817</a> provided smoking‑gun evidence for that elemental factory when telescopes caught a kilonova glow rich in lanthanides.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clues-from-gravitational-waves">Clues from gravitational waves</h2>



If Farrar is right, the loudest cosmic rays should coincide in time and sky position with measurable gravitational waves. That offers an observational lifeline because <a href="https://gcn.nasa.gov/missions/lvk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LIGO‑Virgo‑KAGRA</a> can time‑stamp mergers to within milliseconds.



The model further predicts a burst of neutrinos above 10 peta‑electron volts that would be created when the newborn cosmic rays smash ambient photons. 



<a href="https://icecube.wisc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IceCube</a>’s latest 12‑year search tightens the limits on such events but has not yet ruled the idea out.



Unlike photons or cosmic rays, neutrinos fly straight through magnetic fields, so catching a high‑energy neutrino alongside a merger would be a smoking gun. 



<a href="https://icecube.wisc.edu/news/research/2025/02/icecube-search-for-extremely-high-energy-neutrinos-contributes-to-understanding-of-cosmic-rays/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IceCube‑Gen2</a>, now in planning, is expected to boost sensitivity by an order of magnitude, making that coincidence test feasible within the next decade. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-energy-cosmic-ray-paper-trail">High-energy cosmic ray paper trail</h2>



Data from the <a href="https://www.auger.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pierre Auger Observatory</a> already hint that the highest‑energy particles are not simple protons but heavier nuclei. 



That composition trend squares with Farrar’s call for rare r‑process atoms, although Auger’s statistics above 100 EeV remain thin.



Next‑generation ground arrays in Utah and Argentina aim to triple exposure and sharpen mass estimates through improved muon measurements. 



If they find <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.174104" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tellurium</a> or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0265931X06000336" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">xenon</a> signatures in air‑shower profiles, the merger‑accelerator picture would gain serious traction.



Radio telescopes add another breadcrumb. When UHECRs skim the atmosphere they emit nanosecond radio flashes; mapping those flashes back to a recent gravitational‑wave event would tie the chain from merger to magnet to particle.



Theorists are not off the hook. Simulating <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/magnetohydrodynamic-turbulence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">magneto‑hydrodynamic turbulence</a> at the needed resolution still pushes current supercomputers, leaving uncertainties in exactly how long the acceleration window stays open.



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



Farrar’s framework turns several <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-source-of-cosmic-rays-found-after-a-century-long-search/">competing mysteries</a> into one experiment: catch a merger, a neutrino, and a cosmic ray from the same patch of sky within days. 



Such a trifecta would let researchers measure the particle’s charge, the merger’s energy budget, and the strength of the intervening magnetic fields.



Until that day, every extreme particle that pings a detector is another clue. 



Some may still come from runaway black‑hole jets, but the new theory hands astronomers a clear recipe to test and perhaps this will allow the older suspects to be retired.



The study is published in <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.081003" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Physical Review Letters</a>.



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High-energy cosmic rays may form during the magnetic chaos of black hole birth

Cosmic rays hit Earth’s atmosphere all the time, but most...

Coastal communities can’t catch a break. Waves pound the shores, storms grow fiercer with the changing climate, and rising seas nibble away at the sand supporting coastal properties around the world.



Standard defenses - sea walls, trucked-in sand, and injections of cement - buy time but rarely offer a lasting fix. Something simpler and sturdier is needed before more beaches <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/accelerating-coastal-retreat-in-alaska-the-triple-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slip beneath the surf</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-jolting-coastal-sand-with-electricity">Jolting coastal sand with electricity</h2>



Now, engineers have found that a trickle of electricity - just a couple of volts, about what a toy flashlight uses - can lock loose coastal sand into a rock-like mass. 



The current coaxes dissolved minerals already floating in seawater to crystallize between grains of sand, gluing them together almost instantly. 



In lab tests, the sand stayed put after only a few days of stimulation and showed strength on par with quarried stone.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oregon-coast-shuts-down-mussel-harvest-shellfish-poison-outbreak/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Clams and mussels</a> turn seawater’s calcium into sturdy shells without breaking a sweat. Researchers copied that natural chemistry, but replaced metabolic energy with an external battery. 



At 2-3 volts, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562303/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">calcium carbonate</a> forms; nudge the voltage to 4 volts and magnesium hydroxide and hydromagnesite join the mix. 



These minerals are tougher than standard concrete and can withstand repeated wetting, drying, and salt spray.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spark-of-creativity">Spark of creativity</h2>



“Over 40% of the world’s population lives in coastal areas,” explained Alessandro Rotta Loria of <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Northwestern University</a>, who led the study. “Because of climate change and sea-level rise, erosion is an enormous threat to these communities.”



He explained that erosion of coastal sand already causes “billions of dollars in damage per year worldwide” through the loss of land and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coastal-cities-will-spend-over-3-trillion-dollars-damages-from-sea-level-rise/">disintegration of infrastructure</a>. 



Current approaches to mitigate erosion involve building protection structures or injecting external binders into the subsurface.



“My aim was to develop an approach capable of changing the status quo in coastal protection - one that didn’t require the construction of protection structures and could cement marine substrates without using actual cement,” Rotta Loria continued. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coastal-erosion_natural-cement_microscopy-image_credit_NorthwesternU_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coastal-erosion_natural-cement_microscopy-image_credit_NorthwesternU_1s.webp" alt="Microscopy image of natural cement. Credit: Northwestern University" class="wp-image-1974256"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Microscopy image of natural cement. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Northwestern University</figcaption></figure>



“By applying a mild electric stimulation to marine soils, we systematically and mechanistically proved that it is possible to cement them by turning naturally dissolved minerals in seawater into solid mineral binders - a natural cement.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shortcomings-of-familiar-fixes">Shortcomings of familiar fixes</h2>



“Sea walls, too, suffer from erosion,” Rotta Loria noted. “Over time, the sand beneath these walls erodes, and the walls can eventually collapse.”



He explained that many protection structures are built from large stones that cost millions of dollars per mile. 



“However, the sand beneath them can liquefy because of several <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coastal-living-will-cost-five-times-more-by-2050/">environmental stressors</a>,” he said. “These big rocks are swallowed by the ground beneath them.”



Injecting cement and other binders into the ground has a number of irreversible environmental drawbacks. According to Rotta Loria, it also typically requires high pressures and significant amounts of energy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-numbers-that-matter">Numbers that matter</h2>



A 2020 analysis by the European Commission’s <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/joint-research-centre_en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joint Research Centre</a> warned that nearly 26 percent of Earth’s beaches could disappear by 2100 if nothing changes. 



Traditional chemical grouting can cost as much as $70 per cubic yard, yet it still cracks under relentless waves. Electrically cemented sand costs roughly $4 to $8 per cubic yard, slashing expenses while promising decades of stability.



“After being treated, the sand looks like a rock,” Rotta Loria said. “It is rigid and solid, instead of granular and incohesive. The minerals themselves are much stronger than concrete, so the resulting sand could become as strong and solid as a sea wall.”



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coastal-erosion_electricity-strengthened-sand_credit-NorthwesternU_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/coastal-erosion_electricity-strengthened-sand_credit-NorthwesternU_1s.webp" alt="Sample of strengthened sand, treated with mild electricity, from the Rotta Loria lab. Credit: Northwestern University" class="wp-image-1974254"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sample of strengthened coastal sand, treated with mild electricity, from the Rotta Loria lab. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Northwestern University</figcaption></figure>



Researchers tested everything from common quartz beach sand to iron-rich grains collected near volcanoes. 



Each type bonded firmly once the current flowed. Longer stimulation periods thickened the mineral bridge, but the first gains arrived quickly.



“We have noticed remarkable outcomes from just a few days of stimulation,” Rotta Loria enthused. “Then, the treated sand should stay in place, without needing further interventions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-life-friendly-coastal-sand">Sea-life-friendly coastal sand</h2>



Sea creatures won’t notice the gentle buzz coursing through the seabed. And if planners change their minds, flipping the battery’s poles dissolves the mineral glue. 



The minerals form because we are locally raising the pH of the seawater around cathodic interfaces. If you switch the anode with the cathode, then localized reductions in pH dissolve the previously precipitated minerals.



This technique offers a wide range of practical uses. It can be applied to reinforce the seabed beneath sea walls, stabilise sand dunes, and secure areas with loose or shifting soil. 



Beyond that, it can strengthen breakwaters, marine foundations, and a variety of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hawaii-is-sinking-faster-than-expected/">other coastal structures</a>. Overall, the method provides numerous opportunities to enhance coastal protection.



Field trials on real beaches are up next. If the results match the lab’s promise, future coastline projects might swap hulking barriers for a low-voltage power supply and a few well-placed electrodes. 



With millions of people living a stone’s throw from high tide, a solution that turns shifting sand into steadfast rock - using the ocean’s own minerals - couldn’t come at a better time.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01604-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Earth &amp; Environment</a>.



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Fighting coastal erosion with a "shockingly" simple solution, and it actually works

Coastal communities can’t catch a break. Waves pound the shores,...

Nanoparticles - microscopic specks released by cars, factories, forest fires, and volcanoes - float through every ecosystem on Earth.



Scientists are also designing these particles to precisely deliver <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fertilizer-reduces-plant-damage-caused-by-droughts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fertilizers</a> to crop roots, target pests with pesticides, or serve as tiny sensors that detect plant stress. 



But new research, led by the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Riverside,</a> shows that once those particles enter a plant cell, they can change in unexpected ways and interfere with the plant’s ability to photosynthesize.



The researchers uncovered a chain reaction: inside the cell, nanoparticles pick up a greasy coating and then cling to RuBisCO, the enzyme that jump-starts <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-foundation-of-life-is-at-risk-from-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">photosynthesis</a>. The result is a dramatic slowdown in the plant’s carbon-dioxide intake.



The discovery does not condemn the promise of agricultural nanotechnology, but it does force scientists to rethink how particles are designed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unintended-consequences-of-nanoparticles">Unintended consequences of nanoparticles</h2>



While many agricultural scientists see nanotechnology as a key to feeding a growing global population, even its strongest proponents admit that today’s fertilizers and pesticides are wildly inefficient.



Juan Pablo Giraldo is the senior author and an associate professor of plant biology at UC Riverside.



“Half of all fertilizer applied on farms is lost in the environment and pollutes groundwater," he said. "With the most commonly used <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-attack-bees-in-multiple-ways-throughout-the-body/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pesticides</a>, it’s even worse -&nbsp;only five percent may reach their intended targets. There’s a lot of room for improvement.” 



Nanoparticles can, in theory, deliver cargo directly to a leaf’s interior and then break down safely. Scientists suspected the traits helping particles enter plants might also cause harmful collisions with sensitive proteins.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nanoparticles-enter-plant-cells">Nanoparticles enter plant cells</h2>



To test that idea, the researchers exposed Arabidopsis plants - widely used as a model species - to positively charged nanoparticles. 



Using super-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, they watched the particles move through cell walls and membranes. Eventually, the particles reached the chloroplasts, where photosynthesis occurs.



“Nanoparticles, both natural and anthropogenic, are prevalent in many of Earth’s ecosystems, but scientists are only recently starting to understand how they interact with different parts of the environment,” said Lin He of the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Science Foundation</a>. 



Inside the plant’s watery interior, the particles experienced a lower pH and quickly attracted lipids from nearby membranes. This new greasy shell altered their surface chemistry and made them stick tightly to RuBisCO.



“The lipid coatings of positively charged nanoparticles enhance their binding to RuBisCO, and don’t allow it to do its job very well,” Giraldo explained.



RuBisCO is responsible for capturing carbon dioxide and turning it into sugar. Blocking even a fraction of its activity can leave a plant starved for energy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cost-to-photosynthesis">The cost to photosynthesis</h2>



To quantify that effect, the team measured <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-absorb-31-more-co2-than-previously-estimated/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CO2</a> uptake in living leaves. Outside the cell, nanoparticles had little impact on RuBisCO activity. Inside the cell - after the particles had acquired lipid coats - RuBisCO’s efficiency fell to roughly one-third of normal.



“This is the first time we’ve been able to compare the effect of a nanoparticle on a protein both outside and inside a living <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-plants-build-their-cell-walls-is-seen-by-scientists-for-the-first-time-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plant cell</a>” Giraldo said.



At first, the scientists assumed the particle’s electrical charge might be responsible. Deeper analysis showed otherwise.



“Now we know that it’s not the charge necessarily, but the transformation they undergo as they enter plants, and potentially, other organisms as well,” Giraldo added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-greasy-molecular-puzzle">A greasy molecular puzzle</h2>



The team collaborated with chemists at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Johns Hopkins University</a> to run molecular simulations of the interaction.



“We each bring in complementary techniques that enable deeper insights into a complex system such as a plant cell,” said co-author Rigoberto Hernandez, a scientist at Johns Hopkins.



His lab’s models showed lipid molecules flocking to the nanoparticle surface and forming a sticky layer that fits RuBisCO almost like Velcro.



“Using computer simulations providing a view of the structure and motion at microscopic scales, we resolved how lipids are acquired by nanoparticles in the presence of RuBisCO,” Hernandez said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nanoparticles-for-a-greener-future">Nanoparticles for a greener future</h2>



The researchers emphasize that nanoparticles still hold enormous promise, especially if they can be redesigned to avoid hijacking RuBisCO.



Through the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, researchers from various fields of chemistry and environmental science have collaborated closely. Together, they uncovered how nanoparticles transform and interact with a protein involved in plant photosynthesis.



“In so doing, they have laid the groundwork for the safer and more effective use of nanoparticles for agricultural and biotechnology applications," said Lin He.



Catherine Murphy, a chemistry professor at the <a href="https://illinois.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Illinois</a> and study co-author, put the challenge bluntly: “This landmark study tells us that we have a long way to go to make nanoparticles that are truly beneficial in the environment,” she said.



“But now that we know the mechanism of action, we can retune our methods to solve these problems.”



Next steps include designing coatings that stay inert in cells or steering particles away from RuBisCO-binding areas. With that knowledge, future nanoparticles could nourish crops, fight <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pests-are-moving-to-cooler-regions-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pests</a>, and measure plant health - without dimming the green engine that feeds the planet.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-025-01944-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Nanotechnology</a>.



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Nanoparticles are threatening the stability of plant cells

Nanoparticles - microscopic specks released by cars, factories, forest fires,...

At the current pace of carbon pollution, the world will blow through its last sliver of the 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) carbon budget by early 2028. That sobering deadline comes from the latest “Indicators of Global Climate Change” report, a yearly assessment of the planet’s vital signs.



Scientists from more than sixty research groups pulled together everything we know about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-is-on-pace-to-surpass-1-5c-global-temperature-increase-for-second-year-in-a-row/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rising temperatures</a>, sea levels, greenhouse-gas concentrations and more.



The experts calculated that, starting in January 2025, humanity can emit only about 130 billion tons of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-carbon-dioxide-travels-in-the-atmosphere/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon dioxide</a> before we lock in 1.5°C of long-term warming. We’re coughing up roughly 36 billion tons every year. Do the math, and the cushion evaporates in just over three years.



The 1.5°C threshold isn’t an arbitrary line in the sand. The best science suggests that beyond it, heatwaves, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flood-fatalities-experts-reveal-the-hidden-health-impacts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">floods</a>, and ecosystem losses become far more severe - and far harder to manage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-breaks-climate-records">Warming breaks climate records</h2>



The report’s findings are striking. Over the past decade, Earth’s surface averaged 1.24°C (2.23°F) warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and 1.22°C (2.19°F) of that spike is firmly pinned on us - our cars, furnaces, power plants, and razed forests.



“Warming levels and the rate of warming are both unprecedented,” said lead author Piers Forster, a climatologist at the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Leeds</a>. “Emissions are still at record highs, and that means more of us are feeling unsafe levels of climate impacts.”



In 2024 alone, the planet warmed to roughly 1.52°C (2.73°F) above pre-industrial times. That doesn’t “break” the Paris Agreement, which is measured over decades, but it shows just how close we are to the red line.



On land, the story is even hotter. Average daily high temperatures over the past decade have run almost 2°C (3.6°F) above the nineteenth-century baseline. Those are the blistering numbers that translate into parched soils, raging <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-are-changing-the-quality-of-our-air/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wildfires</a>, and stressed crops.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-oceans-soaking-up-the-heat">Oceans soaking up the heat</h2>



Most of the extra energy trapped by climate-warming greenhouse gases - roughly 90 percent - has been sinking into the oceans.



In 2024, global sea-surface temperatures hit record highs yet again. Warm water expands, so <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-heat-of-2024-triggered-a-surge-in-sea-level-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sea levels rise</a>. Add melting ice from Greenland and Antarctica, and the mean sea level has climbed about 26 millimeters in just five years. 



Since 1900, the total rise has been roughly 228 millimeters, or nine inches. That may not sound like much, but for low-lying coasts it’s the difference between a nuisance flood and a disaster. 



Every extra inch of water makes storm surges more damaging and chews away more coastline.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cleaner-air-warmer-planet"><a></a>Cleaner air, warmer planet</h2>



There is an ironic twist in the data. Efforts to cut <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-extinction-of-dinosaurs-was-not-caused-by-volcanic-eruptions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sulphur</a> pollution from ships and smokestacks have reduced the hazy aerosol particles that once reflected sunlight back into space.



The upside is cleaner air and fewer premature deaths. The downside is a small but important loss of planetary shade, leaving greenhouse gases to heat the planet even faster.



That’s why researchers say we must tackle methane, nitrous oxide, and other short-lived gases alongside carbon dioxide to protect Earth’s climate. Fast cuts to those pollutants could offset some of the extra warming triggered by cleaner skies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-emissions-have-rebounded">Global emissions have rebounded</h2>



Global emissions plunged briefly during pandemic lockdowns, but 2023 and 2024 erased that dip. Even international aviation, the sector hit hardest by travel restrictions, is back to its pre-COVID flight path of CO2 release.



Professor Joeri Rogelj at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Imperial College London</a>, one of the report’s co-authors, warned that every fraction of a degree matters.



The difference between 1.5°C and 1.6°C is not abstract; it’s thousands more heat-related deaths and a much higher risk of irreversible ice-sheet loss.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-carbon-deadline-is-approaching">Earth carbon deadline is approaching </h2>



Next year’s UN climate summit, COP 30, will meet in Belém at the edge of the Amazon rainforest. That gathering now has a crystal-clear mandate: bend the emissions curve hard, and do it immediately.



The takeaway from the new indicators is simple, if daunting. We cannot negotiate with the physics of accumulating CO2.



Every ton avoided buys time; every delay speeds us toward thresholds nobody wants to cross. The carbon clock is ticking for Earth, and politics is running out of time.



The report is published in the journal <a href="https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/2641/2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth System Science Data</a>.



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Earth is just three years away from a dangerous carbon milestone

At the current pace of carbon pollution, the world will...

Even before a baby's birth, a lot has already happened. Organs are built, immune cells settle in, and tiny instructions shape the body for life outside.



But in babies born to higher-weight mothers, those early instructions can affect the liver - and sometimes, they carry a cost.



Children born to higher-weight mothers often face metabolic challenges later in life. Even when they eat healthy, their livers may tell a different story. Scientists at the <a href="https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bonn</a> asked a big question: why? What’s going on in the womb that leaves such a lasting mark?



Turns out, it’s not just fat or food. It’s communication. A certain type of immune cell in the liver, the Kupffer cell, starts singing a different tune when the mother is considered to be <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-childhood-obesity-rate-is-expected-to-soar-by-2050/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">obese</a>. And the rest of the liver listens.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-obese-pregnancy-rewires-liver-cells">Obese pregnancy rewires liver cells</h2>



Kupffer cells aren’t just janitors cleaning up dying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-find-link-between-obesity-anxiety-and-gut-microbiome-changes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cells</a>, they lead. During development, they enter the liver early and stay for life. They send signals, guide metabolism, and help keep balance.



“But these Kupffer cells also act as conductors,” said Professor Dr. Elvira Mass from the LIMES Institute at the University of Bonn. “They instruct the surrounding liver cells on what to do. In this way, they help ensure that the liver, as a central metabolic organ, performs its many tasks correctly.”



But in the offspring of heavier-weight mothers, these instructions change. Something tweaks the conductor’s baton. The Kupffer cells tell liver cells to soak up fat. Fat they don’t need. Fat that eventually causes disease.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-liver-gets-fatty-even-without-bad-diet">Liver gets fatty even without bad diet</h2>



In experiments with mice, the team saw a strange thing. Even pups fed a normal diet developed fatty livers if their mothers were classified as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-is-obesity-difficult-to-reverse-it-starts-in-the-brain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">obese</a>. That raised a red flag.



“We were able to show that the offspring of obese mothers frequently developed a fatty liver shortly after birth,” said study co-author Dr. Hao Huang from the University of Bonn. “And this happened even when the young animals were fed a completely normal diet.”



How? The Kupffer cells got reprogrammed. They remembered the womb. They carried forward a message: hold onto fat. Even when there was no need.



“Figuratively speaking, they no longer conduct one of Beethoven's symphonies but rather a piece by Vivaldi,” said Huang.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pregnancy-triggers-lasting-liver-change">Pregnancy triggers lasting liver change</h2>



What changes these cells? Metabolic signals from the mother. They flip a molecular switch in the Kupffer cells, a switch called HIF1α. Once flipped, this switch changes how the cells behave long term.



These Kupffer cells no longer burn fuel like before. They shift from efficient energy use to a fast and dirty mode: glycolysis. That shift activates genes that push the liver toward storing fat.



When the researchers removed this switch during pregnancy, something amazing happened. No fatty liver. The offspring grew up healthy. Their livers stayed lean.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cells-ignite-disease-after-birth">Cells ignite disease after birth</h2>



There’s more. These reprogrammed Kupffer cells start churning out proteins like APOE and APOA1. These are usually part of lipid transport, but here they act like little fat magnets.



In the lab, when scientists exposed liver cells to these proteins, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/childhood-obesity-rates-are-surging-worldwide/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fat</a> started to pile up fast.



Within four hours, fat droplets formed. That’s how strong these signals are. And they don’t just cause fat buildup. They stir inflammation too.



Fat plus inflammation equals trouble. Over time, inflamed livers develop scars. Fibrosis. That damage limits function and can lead to cancer. All from a signal passed on before birth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-liver-carries-lifelong-memory-of-obesity">Liver carries lifelong memory of obesity</h2>



The team went deeper. They studied the epigenetics, how genes are packaged and read. Kupffer cells from heavier-weight pregnancies looked different at that level too.



Their chromatin, the wrapping around DNA, had changed. That meant different genes stayed active, even long after birth. The cells remembered. They carried a permanent record of their developmental environment.



Clusters of these programmed Kupffer cells appeared. They glowed with active genes for lipid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-metabolism-has-evolved-to-become-energetically-unique/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">metabolism</a>, inflammation, and immune regulation. None of this happened in control mice.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cell-reset-soon-after-birth">Cell reset soon after birth</h2>



Maybe. The researchers tried two things. First, they wiped out Kupffer cells right after birth and let new ones grow in. The new cells didn’t carry the memory. The mice didn’t develop fatty liver.



Second, they turned off the HIF1α switch during pregnancy. Again, the liver stayed healthy. That gives hope.



The idea that we could reset or avoid these developmental instructions opens a new path. Instead of treating liver disease years later, we could prevent it before birth or shortly after.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-obesity-likely-impacts-human-babies">Obesity likely impacts human babies</h2>



While the study used mice, the implications don’t stop there. Maternal obesity in humans is rising. So is childhood fatty liver disease. The patterns match. It’s likely that a similar mechanism operates in people too.



“It is becoming ever more evident that many diseases in humans already begin at a very early developmental stage,” says Mass. “Our study is one of the few to explain in detail how this early programming can happen.”



This isn’t just a mouse story. It’s a message about how deeply early life matters. About how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-increases-the-number-of-immune-cells-in-cancer-patients/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">immune cells</a>, once programmed, can carry out instructions that last for decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-resetting-early-disease-signals">Resetting early disease signals</h2>



This project brought together teams from Bonn, Vienna, Ghent, and Shanghai. Funding came from major European and German research groups.



Together, they mapped a hidden pathway from maternal obesity to liver disease in the next generation.



For now, it’s a warning. But it could become an opportunity. If researchers can find ways to reprogram or reset Kupffer cells, they might cut off fatty liver at its source.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09190-w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Obese mothers may trigger lifelong liver damage in babies

Even before a baby's birth, a lot has already happened....

Not all screen time is created equal - especially when it comes to preteens’ mental health. A new study has found that it’s not the total number of hours kids spend in front of screens that poses the biggest threat, but whether their use has become addictive.



The research, led by scientists from <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> and <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a>, followed nearly 4,300 children starting at age 8 and tracked their use of mobile phones, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-pressure-is-straining-teen-friendships/">social media</a>, and video games for four years.



The findings are stark: children who showed addictive patterns in their screen use were significantly more likely to suffer from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/too-much-screen-time-is-making-teens-anxious/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">anxiety</a>, depression, aggression, and even suicidal thoughts or behaviors. 



In contrast, the amount of time spent on screens had no consistent link to mental health outcomes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-kids-screen-addiction-starts">How kids' screen addiction starts</h2>



The study defined addictive use as screen behaviors that interfere with kid's school, home life, or other daily activities. Researchers identified different trajectories of screen use depending on the device.



For mobile phones, about half of the children began the study with high levels of addictive use and stayed that way through early adolescence. Another quarter started with low use but developed addictive patterns as they aged.



When it came to social media, around 40% of children either maintained high addictive use or showed increasing dependence over time.



Video games, however, followed a different pattern: most children fell into one of two groups - either consistently low or consistently high use - without a group that shifted gradually into addiction.



“These kids experience a craving for such use that they find it hard to curtail,” said senior author John Mann, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.



“Parents who notice these problems should have their kids evaluated for this addictive use and then seek professional help for kids with an addiction.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-addictive-patterns-of-screen-time">Addictive patterns of screen time</h2>



To assess the psychological toll of screen habits, the researchers examined mental health data alongside kids’s screen use patterns.



At the end of the four-year period, about 5% of the children had exhibited suicidal behaviors, from ideation to attempts.



Those with high or escalating addictive use of mobile phones or social media had two to three times greater risk of these outcomes compared to peers who showed consistently low levels of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/internet-addiction-impairs-brain-function-in-teenagers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">addiction</a>.



Surprisingly, the total amount of time children spent on screens wasn’t a strong predictor of mental health risks. The researchers emphasized that the pattern and quality of screen engagement mattered far more than the quantity.



“While national surveys and previous studies have documented rising screen use, our study is the first to map longitudinal trajectories of addictive use specifically, offering new insights into when and for whom risks emerge,” said lead author Yunyu Xiao, an assistant professor at <a href="https://weill.cornell.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Weill Cornell Medicine</a>.



“Policy efforts should move away from generic limits on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/screen-time-and-mental-health-a-vicious-cycle-for-kids/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">screen time</a> and instead focus on identifying and addressing addictive patterns of screen use.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-for-early-warning-signs"><a></a>Looking for early warning signs</h2>



One of the study’s key takeaways is the importance of monitoring screen habits over time. 



Some children may show no signs of trouble at first but can develop addictive behaviors as they grow older. Catching those changes early is essential for intervention.



“If you do not follow kids over time, you would miss this substantial group that shifts from low risk to higher risk,” Mann said.



Unlike past research that lumped all screen time together, this study examined screen use in context. 



Teams asked children to reflect on their behaviors with statements like “I feel the need to use social media apps more and more” or “I play <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-violent-video-games-impact-the-human-mind/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">video games</a> so I can forget about my problems.” Their responses helped researchers map how addictive behaviors emerge and evolve.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-screen-time-rules">Rethinking screen time rules</h2>



The findings suggest that efforts to protect kid’s mental health should move away from blanket rules about screen hours and instead focus on how and why screens are used.



Interventions that address compulsive use - rather than simply cutting back on time - may be far more effective.



“Now that we know that an addictive use pattern is so important, we need to develop intervention strategies and test them in controlled clinical trials,” Mann said.



He added that researchers still don’t know whether the key is eliminating access entirely or simply placing limits. “We know from studies of addiction management that partial access can quickly reinforce the addiction,” he said.



As screen use becomes a defining feature of childhood and adolescence, understanding the difference between casual use and harmful addiction will be crucial. 



This study makes clear that the real danger lies not in how long preteens spend on their devices, but in how deeply they depend on them.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2835481">JAMA</a>.



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Mobile addiction harms kids' mental health more than screen time

Not all screen time is created equal - especially when...

3d,Rendering,X,And,Y,Chromosome,With,Telomeres

Flip open a high-school biology textbook, and the rule seems tidy: two X chromosomes mean girl, and an X paired with a Y means boy. That much smaller Y chromosome carries the SRY gene, which is the switch for testis development. 



For the last 300 million years or so, this system has been working very well. Now, however, chatter in genetics circles hints that something is amiss. 



Over time, the Y chromosome has been losing pieces of itself, and computer models suggest the last scraps could vanish in roughly 11 million years. 



Y chromosome loss (<a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6996334/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LOY</a>) no trivial matter, because what it holds - or drops - can sway everything from cancer risk to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mouse-with-two-dads-survives-to-adulthood-major-implications-for-same-sex-human-couples/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">how future humans reproduce</a>.



Would that erase men from the planet, or would life simply shrug and invent a new plan? Rodents on remote islands and subtle changes inside aging human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blood-stem-cells-grown-in-the-lab-for-first-time-ever-leukemia-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bone marrow</a> are now providing clues. 



One story shows how a mammal kept producing males after its LOY disappeared entirely. The other warns how men already pay a price when some of their cells drift away from the chromosome during middle age.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-y-chromosome-fade-away">Y chromosome fade away</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mothers-pass-down-x-chromosomes-that-accelerate-brain-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The X chromosome</a> carries about 900 genes that do everything from wiring nerves to repairing DNA. Its partner, the Y, keeps only about 55. 



Comparative work across mammals shows that, once our lineage split from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-animals-balance-their-sex-chromosomes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">platypus</a> some 166 million years ago, the Y began dropping about five genes every million years. Run that line forward, and the ledger hits zero in 11 million years - a geological heartbeat.



Most biologists once chalked that outcome up to hype. After all, many species never shed their sex chromosomes. 



But the idea gained traction when researchers found the Japanese spiny rat and a few mole vole species thriving today without any Y chromosome at all. Somehow, they had rewired the traditional circuit for making testes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rodents-changed-the-rules">Rodents changed the rules</h2>



In 2022, scientists found a duplicated piece of DNA near a gene called <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/sox9/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SOX9</a> in the spiny rat. Usually, another gene (SRY) turns SOX9 on to make male traits develop. 



But in this rat, the new DNA copy does that job on its own - even without a Y chromosome - so a genetically female animal (XX) can still develop as male.



Drop the fragment into lab mice and testes still form. Evolution, it seems, can lay a new cable when the old one burns out.



That discovery hints that, should the human Y fizzle out one distant day, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lifes-rules-natural-selection-change-significantly-often-daphnia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">natural selection</a> could promote an alternative trigger. 



Different populations might even settle on different triggers, eventually splitting into separate species that cannot interbreed. The idea sounds like science fiction, but the rodent reality shows it is genetically feasible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-y-chromosomes-and-men-s-health">Y chromosomes and men's health</h2>



Long before any species-wide overhaul, countless men are already losing the Y chromosome cell by cell. Starting in their fifties, bone-marrow <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/living-mouse-created-with-stem-cells-that-predate-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stem cells</a> sometimes mis-segregate it during division. 



The resulting white-blood-cell lineages, missing their Y, multiply quietly. By 80 years old, more than 40 percent of men carry sizable pockets of this “mosaic loss of Y” in their blood.



Tracking 1,153 Swedish men in their seventies and eighties, researchers found that those with the loss died 5.5 years earlier, suffered more solid tumors and heart disease, and faced a seven-fold rise in Alzheimer’s. 



Kenneth Walsh of the <a href="https://www.virginia.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Virginia</a> then bred mouse blood stem cells without the Y chromosome and transplanted them. The recipients developed fibrosis, failing hearts, and early death, showing the loss is the culprit, not a bystander.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-enhanced-cancer-risk">Enhanced cancer risk</h2>



<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09071-2#Sec8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">In another study</a> released in June 2025, researchers mapped LOY across thousands of individual cells from human cancers and matched mouse models. 



They found that Y-negative cells were not limited to the tumors themselves; they also dominated the surrounding immune landscape. 



CD4⁺ helper T cells shifted toward a regulatory identity that dampens attack signals, while CD8⁺ killer T cells lost much of their punch.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/y-chromosome-disappearance-study-finds-direct-link-to-much-greater-cancer-risk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The degree of LOY in the bloodstream</a> mirrored what the team saw inside the tumor. Patients whose blood showed a high percentage of Y-negative white cells tended to harbor tumors rich in LOY and faced poorer outcomes. 



Those correlations held across lung, bladder, and head-and-neck cancers, hinting at a common mechanism rather than a disease-specific quirk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-direct-link-to-the-immune-system">Direct link to the immune system</h2>



A gene on the Y chromosome called <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/7404" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UTY</a> helps control the immune system. Without it, some immune cells stop working properly - one kind makes more scar tissue, and another becomes weaker, which helps cancer grow and spread. 



In mice, tumors grow twice as fast without the Y. In men, bladder cancers missing the Y chromosome are more dangerous - except they respond better to a certain kind of cancer treatment called checkpoint inhibitors.



The picture is complicated: a chromosome that underpins male development also tames inflammation and restrains tumors, yet its selective absence can make some drugs shine. 



Medicine and evolution rarely share the same bottom line. Natural selection prizes reproductive success over a lifetime, while clinicians care about the here and now.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-offsetting-y-chromosome-loss">Offsetting Y chromosome loss</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/does-vaping-help-people-quit-smoking-cigarettes-new-study-breaks-it-down/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cigarette smoke</a>, air pollution, and certain industrial chemicals add extra DNA damage and accelerate the Y chromosome loss. Kicking tobacco, breathing cleaner air, and limiting exposure to mutagens therefore rank as simple defenses - all it takes is willpower.



General habits that slow genomic wear - regular exercise, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mediterranean-diet-may-be-a-fountain-of-youth-for-women/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mediterranean-style</a> meals, and solid sleep - may also keep the Y chromosome in more cells for longer.



Antifibrotic drugs cleared for lung disease are being tested to blunt heart damage from the loss. Oncologists already use chromosome status in bladder tumors to steer checkpoint therapy. 



As single-cell sequencing gets cheaper, your physical exam might soon include a “Y-loss score” beside cholesterol.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-do-we-go-from-here">Where do we go from here?</h2>



The Japanese spiny rat proves that mammals can reinvent the rulebook after the ‘puny little chromosome’ disappears. That prospect keeps evolutionary biologists buzzing. 



Yet the rodent’s triumph offers little comfort to a 60-year-old man whose marrow has already shed Y in a third of his white-blood-cell army. 



Species-level salvation and individual-level hazard can coexist. That dichotomy - long-term adaptability versus immediate personal cost - will likely guide both medical practice and evolutionary debate in the years ahead.



The Y chromosome is quirky but crucial. It shapes male development, steadies immunity, and may also be plotting its own disappearance. 



However, the good news is that the practical advice is simple: dodge mutagens, stub out cigarettes, consider a mid-life test for loss, and keep an eye on new research as this chromosome writes its final chapters.



Let's go, men, you got this!



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00646-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cell</a>.



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The Y chromosome is disappearing, a fact that is already causing problems for men

Flip open a high-school biology textbook, and the rule seems...

NASA’s Perseverance rover has rolled across a bright carpet of dust and bedrock for more than four years, but few sights have stopped the team in its tracks quite like a charcoal‑colored boulder perched on Witch Hazel Hill. 



<a href="https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/missions/mars2020/2025/perseverance-rover-updates/Mars_Perseverance_ZR0_1472_0797612737_331EBY_N0711018ZCAM04115_1100LMJ.png" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The oddity</a>, dubbed “Skull Hill,” sits alone against tan sandstone, pocked with shallow pits and angled facets.



The rover first photographed the stone on April 11 while crossing a contact where light and dark units meet along the rim of Jezero Crater. 



<a href="https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/stackmorgan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Katie Morgan</a> of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JPL</a>) says that every fresh turn in the rim campaign has produced surprises, and Skull Hill is “all we had hoped for and more.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skull-hill-interrupts-the-crater-rim">Skull Hill interrupts the crater rim</h2>



Skull Hill is no pebble; <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Perseverance</a> rover's Mastcam‑Z images show a block roughly 1 ft tall and 1.6 ft wide that casts a sharp shadow at noon. 



Its basalt‑black skin contrasts so strongly with the surrounding deposits that researchers immediately tagged it as a foreigner to the site.



<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-rover-reaches-top-of-jezero-crater-rim/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Jezero rim</a> preserves a cross‑section of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-water-reservoir-discovered-medusae-fossae-formation-two-miles-deep/">Mars’s crust</a>, making it an ideal place to inventory rock types carried in by <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl4051" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rivers</a>, glaciers, or impacts. Each stray clast offers clues to terrains now eroded or buried elsewhere on the planet.



“We’ve found a few of these dark‑toned floats in the Port Anson region,” the mission blog reports. 



Mission scientists call such wanderers “floats” because they lie loose on the surface, having been transported far from their birthplace by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-has-a-water-reservoir-two-miles-deep-enough-to-fill-earths-red-sea/">water</a>, wind, or blast waves. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-rocks-like-skull-hill-float">How rocks like Skull Hill "float"</h2>



Three billion years ago <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/perseverance-rover-samples-bunsen-peak-rock-jezero-crater-martian-lake/">Jezero held a lake</a> nearly 28 miles across, fed by rivers that spilled over its rim and left a fan‑shaped delta now famous in orbital photos. 



Floods likely moved cobbles from the crater’s southern highlands into the basin before water vanished.



Later impacts churned up deeper layers and hurled projectiles across the landscape, peppering the delta with foreign stones. 



Models show that a 0.6‑mi‑wide crater can scatter ejecta more than 12 mi downrange, easily reaching Witch Hazel Hill.



After the water was gone, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128182345700290" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">aeolian abrasion</a> took over. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X08004340" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ventifacts</a> identified elsewhere on Mars develop when sand‑laden winds grind rock faces, sculpting facets and shallow pits. Skull Hill’s dimples could record the same relentless sandblasting.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meteorite-or-volcanic-fragment">Meteorite or volcanic fragment?</h2>



At first glance the boulder’s metallic sheen suggested it might be an iron meteorite like “<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/curiosity-mars-rover-checks-odd-looking-iron-meteorite/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Egg Rock</a>,” which <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/curiosity-mars-rover-checks-odd-looking-iron-meteorite/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Curiosity</a> zapped in <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/a-guide-to-gale-crater/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gale Crater</a> in 2016. Meteorites are rich in nickel‑iron alloys and often survive entry as glossy, fist‑size lumps.



Perseverance tested the idea within hours using its turret‑mounted <a href="https://an.rsl.wustl.edu/help/Content/About%20the%20mission/M20/Instruments/M20%20SuperCam.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SuperCam laser</a>. Early spectra showed scant nickel, pushing investigators toward an igneous origin instead.



Dark‑toned units elsewhere in Jezero, such as the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02329-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Máaz formation</a>, carry abundant <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/msa/elements/article/19/3/138/627700/Olivine-The-Little-Green-Science-Machine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">olivine</a> and <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/resources/detailed-rocks-and-minerals-articles/pyroxenes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pyroxene</a>, minerals that crystallize from cooling magma. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Mars-Perseverance_rock_spherules_closeup_NASA_1s.webp" alt="This image from NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover shows part of the “St. Pauls Bay” target, acquired from the lower Witch Hazel Hill area of the Jezero crater rim. The image reveals hundreds of strange, spherical-shaped objects comprising the rock. Perseverance acquired this image on March 11, 2025, or sol 1442 — Martian day 1,442 of the Mars 2020 mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP" class="wp-image-1974527"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> This image from NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover shows part of the “St. Pauls Bay” target, acquired from the lower Witch Hazel Hill area of the Jezero crater rim. The image reveals hundreds of strange, spherical-shaped objects comprising the rock. Perseverance acquired this image on March 11, 2025, or sol 1442 - Martian day 1,442 of the Mars 2020 mission. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP</figcaption></figure>



If Skull Hill is a chipped piece of that volcanic crust, it may have been excavated by impacts or fractured during ancient quakes.



Still, the team has not ruled out a stony meteorite made of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/chondrite" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chondritic material</a>, which contains far less nickel than iron meteorites. 



Ongoing <a href="https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/new-study-reveals-how-nasa-s-perseverance-rover-uses-libs-for-precise-mars-rock-analysis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LIBS measurements</a> will refine elemental ratios to better than 5 percent, a precision demonstrated in recent instrument tests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tools-that-read-martian-rocks-dna">Tools that read Martian rocks' DNA</h2>



SuperCam fires a five‑nanosecond pulse that heats surface grains to plasma, and detectors then parse the glow to identify elements. 



Combined with the rover’s LIBS capability, the system can analyze spots smaller than a pencil eraser from up to 23 ft away.



Chemistry is married to context by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0584854721003049" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mastcam‑Z stereo imaging</a>, panoramic mosaics, and microscopic color close‑ups that reveal textures as fine as 0.05 in. That detail lets geologists match mineralogy to grain size and erosional features.



“Luckily for us, the rover has instruments that can measure the chemical composition of rocks on Mars,” the operations team wrote. 



Perseverance has so far probed 83 targets with its laser on Witch Hazel Hill alone, a record pace for the mission. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-skull-hill-rock-matter">Why does Skull Hill rock matter?</h2>



Floats like Skull Hill extend the rover’s reach beyond its wheels. A single exotic sample can point to rock layers tens of miles away, offering a geologic telegram from terrains the rover will never visit.



If the boulder proves volcanic, it could anchor the age of eruptions <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo2196" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suggested</a> by orbital mapping of the crater floor. In situ dating with returned samples might then calibrate crater‑count chronologies used across the Red Planet.



A meteorite identification would be equally valuable. Weathered fusion crust, corrosion rinds, and impact pits would reveal how metals rust under Martian <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predicting-how-climate-change-will-alter-plant-growth-cycles/">climate cycles</a>, information vital for future human hardware.



The pits themselves chronicle present‑day <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.04222" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wind power</a>. Models of crater‑slope circulation predict gusts exceeding 40 mph at midday, fast enough to loft sand and abrade exposed rocks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mars-sample-return-in-doubt">Mars sample return in doubt</h2>



Skull Hill lies only yards from a planned cache site where the rover could seal core samples in titanium tubes for a future pickup. 



Yet the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-path-to-return-mars-samples-seeks-innovative-designs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mars Sample Return</a> program faces a shrinking budget and an $11 billion cost cap that Administrator <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-administrator-bill-nelson/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bill Nelson</a> called “too expensive” in 2023.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-gold-mission-unexpectedly-finds-x-shaped-structures-in-earths-upper-atmosphere/">NASA</a> has asked industry teams to redesign the mission for launch later this decade while trimming billions from the price tag. 



If the schedule holds, tubes dropped in Jezero could reach Earth in the mid‑2030s. Until then, Perseverance will keep trundling along the crater rim, zapping floats and drilling cores. 



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02329-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Earth &amp; Environment</a>.



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NASA rover finds a rock on Mars named 'Skull Hill' that doesn't belong where it was found

NASA’s Perseverance rover has rolled across a bright carpet of...

Most of us know our birthday, but our brains may not follow the same calendar. Scientists now compare a scan-based brain age with our actual age to find what’s called a “brain age gap.” A larger gap can hint at slower thinking and weaker memory.



The study included 1,437 Southeast Asian adults, all without dementia, with an average age of 66. Of this group, 60 percent showed no signs of cognitive impairment.



Each participant provided medical history through interviews, questionnaires, and medication reviews. They also underwent physical exams, lab tests, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-imaging-method-will-unravel-mysteries-of-neural-processes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brain imaging</a>.



“As we get older, our brains change," said study co-author Dr. Saima Hilal of the <a href="https://nus.edu.sg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National University of Singapore</a>. 



"With less brain volume and fewer blood vessels that support brain tissue, diseases can worsen these changes, profoundly affecting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-health-may-literally-be-a-state-of-mind/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brain health</a>.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-brain-age-is-calculated">How brain age is calculated</h2>



Using modern MRI scans, scientists fed data into a machine-learning model trained to estimate the biological age of a person’s brain. 



The experts then subtracted the individual’s real age from this predicted age to find the brain age gap. A positive number meant the brain appeared older than the person’s actual age. 



The research team also looked at each person’s brain scans for tiny signs of cerebrovascular disease - such as microbleeds or areas of dead tissue - caused by reduced blood supply.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-risk-factors-and-cognitive-performance">Risk factors and cognitive performance</h2>



To understand the likelihood of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/even-mild-covid-can-cause-prolonged-cognitive-impairment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cognitive impairment</a>, the researchers assigned each participant a risk score.



This score factored in age, ethnicity, education level, past and current smoking, body mass index, depressive symptoms, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and any history of stroke. A higher score indicated a greater risk of impaired thinking and memory.



The participants then completed a series of cognitive tests. These measured various mental skills including executive function, attention, language, and memory. 



The experts also assessed <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10265306/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">visuoconstruction</a> (such as the ability to copy a drawing) and visuomotor speed, which involves processing visual information and responding with movement.



The researchers found that higher risk scores consistently aligned with lower scores on these tests -especially in tasks involving visuoconstruction and visuomotor speed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-links-brain-age-and-risk">AI links brain age and risk</h2>



Once the researchers had each participant’s brain age, they explored whether the brain age gap played a role in how health risks affected thinking and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/memory-clutter-speeds-up-aging-in-the-brain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">memory</a>. In many cases, it did.



Among participants with more signs of cerebrovascular disease, the brain age gap had a stronger influence. It appeared to magnify how much health risks affected areas like executive function and language. 



Researchers calculated how much of the connection between risk factors and cognition could be explained by the brain age gap. They found that it accounted for 20 percent of the overall link.



It explained 34 percent of the link to executive function and 27 percent of the link to language skills.



“The brain age gap may be a helpful biomarker in determining a person’s risk of cognitive decline,” said Hilal. 



“Our findings suggest that accelerated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-can-detect-if-your-brain-is-aging-too-quickly/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brain aging</a> may serve as an important factor linking cognitive impairment risk factors to thinking and memory skills in adults with cerebrovascular conditions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-using-brain-age-to-guide-treatment">Using brain age to guide treatment</h2>



This research could help doctors spot early warning signs of cognitive decline, especially in people with known health risks. 



A simple scan that shows the brain is aging faster than it should could encourage earlier treatment or lifestyle changes. It may also help identify individuals who are more vulnerable to rapid cognitive decline, even if they currently show no outward symptoms. 



Over time, brain age analysis could become a useful tool alongside traditional checkups, offering a more complete picture of neurological health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-few-limits-to-consider">A few limits to consider</h2>



It’s worth noting that the study focused only on Southeast Asian participants, so the results may not apply to all populations. 



Also, data on diet, exercise, and certain genes tied to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-benefits-alzheimers/">Alzheimer’s disease</a> were not available for all individuals, limiting some of the analysis.



Longer studies will be needed to see how brain age gaps change over time and whether they can help predict future memory decline.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213815" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Neurology</a>.



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Your brain’s age might be older than your body, creating a "brain age gap"

Most of us know our birthday, but our brains may...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&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.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



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.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; 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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" 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.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes why experts are studying zebrafish to gain a better understanding of how the immune system responds to injury. Zebrafish have the ability to repair and regenerate organs.



“Organ regeneration offers an exciting opportunity for studying the immune system and to inquire why some species can regenerate organs like the heart or missing limbs while others like humans cannot,” explained Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski.



Zebrafish sensory organ hair cells are an ideal system to investigate the pathways and cell types involved in regeneration since they are easily destroyed with antibiotics and begin regenerating within five hours. This enabled the researchers to identify the exact timing and genetic programs for each anti-inflammatory macrophage activation state.&nbsp;



“Our hypothesis is that human macrophages do not receive the proper chemical activation 'cocktail' to instruct pro-regenerative processes,” said Dr. Nicolas Denans. “Identifying the molecular recipe of macrophage activation in zebrafish may one day enable us to design regenerative immunotherapies in humans.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The new evidence is a valuable resource for comparative studies on the genetic programs involved in macrophage-mediated repair and regeneration. In other words, different types of injuries may induce different kinds of inflammatory responses. We want to decipher whether this 'language' is universal or if there are a variety of dialects."



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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How the immune system responds to injury

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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