Tiny bits of plastic no wider than a human hair have turned up in some unexpected places, including the human bloodstream. 



Now, data presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting shows that these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-spread-deep-into-the-ocean-far-below-the-surface/">fragments</a> have breached the fluids that surround eggs and travel with sperm.



The research team led by Dr. Emilio Gómez‑Sánchez of Next Fertility Murcia in Spain scanned <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/follicular-fluid" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">follicular fluid</a> from 29 women and seminal fluid from 22 men.



The experts found microplastics in 69 percent of the women and 55 percent of the men they studied. According to Dr. Gómez‑Sánchez, the team was surprised to find that the particles were so widespread.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastics-in-human-reproductive-fluids">Plastics in human reproductive fluids</h2>



The study detected polymers such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/polytetrafluoroethylene" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polytetrafluoroethylene</a> and <a href="https://adrecoplastics.co.uk/polypropylene-uses/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polypropylene</a>, materials better known for slick frying pans and food packaging. Seeing them next to human eggs turns a theoretical hazard into a measurable one.



Back in 2021, Italian obstetricians spotted twelve plastic fragments in every placenta they examined, confirming that particles smaller than five millimeters can cross the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33395930/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">maternal‑fetal boundary</a>.



Similarly sized particles have been uncovered deep in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35364151/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lung tissue</a> removed during surgery, proving that inhalation is a realistic delivery route for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/simple-way-to-remove-microplastics-from-tap-water-home-faucet/">plastic</a> dust.



Researchers in the Netherlands have even measured plastic mass circulating in human blood samples, an <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35367073/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">observation</a> that explains how fragments migrate to distant tissues.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-plastics-enter-the-human-body">How plastics enter the human body</h2>



Most people take in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-in-human-brains-may-affect-mental-health/">plastic</a> flecks by eating, drinking, or breathing, because everyday products shed invisible dust whenever they are heated, abraded, or exposed to sunlight. 



Once swallowed or inhaled, particles small enough can slip through the gut wall or the thin air‑blood membrane in the lungs.



Animal studies suggest that fragments under one micrometer can enter cells directly, whereas larger shards get trapped in tissue and spark local irritation. Either way, they bypass the body’s usual waste filters.



Laboratory work on mice shows that digestive uptake rises when <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/airborne-microplastics-where-they-come-from-and-where-they-go/">microplastics</a> hitchhike on fats, a detail that matters for fertility research because reproductive hormones ride on similar lipid highways. 



The overlap raises worry that plastics may act as endocrine mimics or carriers for other chemicals.



Dr. Gómez‑Sánchez’s team avoided laboratory contamination by collecting every human sample in glass vials and verifying the absence of background plastic. This means the polymers they found were genuine residents, not stray lab dust.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-harms-fertility">Plastic harms fertility</h2>



Mice exposed to polystyrene fragments shed sperm with damaged DNA and sluggish movement, effects traced to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31896473/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">oxidative stress</a> that overwhelms antioxidant defenses.



Separate <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36948006/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> on rodent Leydig cells shows shriveled mitochondria after nanoplastic exposure, which throttles testosterone production and shrinks litter sizes.



Reviews published in 2024 concluded that microplastics can disrupt the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38750730/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hypothalamic‑pituitary‑gonadal axis</a>, leading to hormonal imbalances and faulty egg maturation.



Because human oocytes develop over months, chronic exposure could matter more than a short spike. That makes the repeated detection of PTFE in both eggs and sperm especially noteworthy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-levels-in-eggs-and-sperm">Plastic levels in eggs and sperm</h2>



In the current data set, PTFE appeared in 31 percent of sampled egg fluid and 41 percent of semen. PP ranked second among women and <a href="https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/chemicals/polystyrene/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polystyrene</a> second among men, with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/polyethylene-terephthalate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyethylene terephthalate</a> also present but in smaller numbers.



Annual plastic output has climbed from under two million tons in 1950 to about 460 million in 2019, a 230‑fold jump documented by the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36969097/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Minderoo‑Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health</a>.



Each uptick in production increases litter, weathering, and fragment release, tightening the feedback loop between plastics and people. Reproductive cells, delicate by design, stand on the front line.



Gómez‑Sánchez reported that most reproductive samples contained only one or two plastic particles, amounts considered low compared with overall debris in the fluids. Yet fertility specialists note that even trace metals can derail embryo development, so particle counts alone may not predict risk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-fertility-research-must-include-plastics">Human fertility research must include plastics</h2>



“They should be considered an additional argument in favor of avoiding the generalized use of plastics in our daily lives,” said Professor Carlos Calhaz‑Jorge of the University of Lisbon. He also noted that further research is needed to prove causation.



The research team will now study hundreds of patients and link particle loads to embryo quality during <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22457-ivf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in vitro fertilization cycles</a>. Those correlations could supply the first direct human evidence beyond laboratory rodents.



They plan lifestyle questionnaires to test whether habits such as heavy bottled‑water use or microwaving food in plastic correlate with higher particle counts. The approach could convert abstract exposure theory into personal advice.



“Microplastics are just one variable in a complex equation,” said Dr. Gómez‑Sánchez. He urges moderation of plastic use rather than alarm. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-simple-habits-to-lower-exposure">Simple habits to lower exposure</h2>



Switching from plastic bottles to glass or stainless steel lowers ingestion because heat and time no longer leach particles from container walls. Replacing scratched nonstick pans can cut PTFE flakes in the diet.



Researchers advise skipping plastic cutting boards and using ceramic or bamboo instead, because knife action liberates shavings that cling to food. Letting take‑out cool before transferring it from polystyrene boxes also helps.



Air purifiers with HEPA filters capture airborne fibers shed by synthetic textiles, a step especially useful for nurseries. Regular vacuuming with a sealed system keeps particles from resuspending.



These tweaks are not foolproof, yet they come with side benefits like removing chemical additives that ride on plastic dust. They buy time while science sorts out the clinical stakes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-efforts-to-cut-human-plastics-pollution">Efforts to cut human plastics pollution</h2>



Public‑health researchers argue that personal choices alone cannot outrun a supply chain making more than a billion pounds of new plastic every day. 



Negotiators at the United Nations are hammering out a global treaty that could cap production and streamline recycling.



<a href="https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/morrissey/departments/biology/people/faculty-directory/Phil-Landrigan.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Philip Landrigan</a> of Boston College calls the treaty a once‑in‑a‑generation chance to protect human health, because curbing output remains the only sure way to slow microplastic fallout. He points to the emerging fertility data as evidence that time is short.



Whether lawmakers act or not, the science of sub‑visible plastic is moving fast thanks to sharper imaging tools and nanomechanical sensors. Studies that once took months now finish in days, filling the literature with fresh clues.



Every new dataset sharpens the same picture: plastics weather into dust, the dust goes everywhere, and living tissue keeps no closed doors. Eggs and sperm, it turns out, are no exception.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Human Reproduction</a>.



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Tiny plastic particles found in human egg and sperm fluids

Tiny bits of plastic no wider than a human hair have turned up in some unexpected places, including the human bloodstream. Now, data presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting shows that these fragments have breached the fluids that surround eggs and travel with sperm. The research team led by Dr. Emilio Gómez‑Sánchez of Next Fertility Murcia in Spain scanned follicular fluid from 29 women and seminal fluid from 22 men. The experts found microplastics in 69 percent of the women and 55...

Evolution is taking an unexpected turn on the volcanic islands of the western Galápagos. Wild tomato plants are producing a toxic blend of chemicals that hasn't existed in their species for millions of years. 



Somehow, these plants have started making molecules more like eggplants than the modern tomato. This bizarre twist in evolution is being studied by scientists at the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a>. 



The research team describes this phenomenon as a rare case of “reverse evolution.” That term raises eyebrows in the world of biology, where evolution is typically seen as a one-way street - not a boomerang.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tomato-evolution-in-reverse">Tomato evolution in reverse</h2>



Normally, evolution moves forward, adapting organisms to current conditions. The idea that it can <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ferns-evolving-backward-a-new-look-at-the-evolution-of-life/">loop back</a> and restore long-lost traits isn’t just controversial - it’s considered highly unlikely. 



Even when organisms regain something similar to an ancestral trait, they almost never do it through the exact same genetic route. But that’s what these Galápagos <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tomatoes-have-a-molecular-trick-to-survive-in-extreme-heat/">tomatoes</a> seem to be doing.



“It’s not something we usually expect,” said Adam Jozwiak, a molecular biochemist at UC Riverside and lead author of the study. “But here it is, happening in real time, on a volcanic island.”



The tomatoes aren’t just making alkaloids - bitter chemicals that many nightshade plants, like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crops-of-the-future-potatoes-that-thrive-in-heatwaves/">potatoes</a> and eggplants, produce for defense - they’re making an ancient version of them. And these aren't the same ones found in cultivated tomatoes today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-chemical-clue-from-the-past">A chemical clue from the past</h2>



The team collected over 30 tomato samples from across the Galápagos. On the eastern, older islands, tomatoes made the expected modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-how-pollinators-evade-plant-toxins/">alkaloids</a>. 



But on the younger, rockier western islands, something had changed. Those plants were producing a different form of the molecule - one with a structure seen only in distant tomato ancestors and still present in eggplant relatives.



The reason? A small tweak in enzyme chemistry. Specifically, four amino acid changes in one enzyme flipped the way the plant built its alkaloid molecule.



Two molecules can have the same atoms but act completely differently depending on how those atoms are arranged. In this case, that small change meant the difference between modern and ancient chemistry.



To test the idea, the researchers re-created the enzyme genes in the lab and inserted them into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tobacco-and-zinnia-can-thrive-in-polluted-land/">tobacco plants</a>. As a result, the tobacco plants started making the ancestral alkaloids, just like the western island tomatoes.



“Our group has been working hard to characterize the steps involved in alkaloid synthesis, so that we can try and control it,” Jozwiak said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nature-s-harsh-conditions-may-be-the-trigger">Nature's harsh conditions may be the trigger</h2>



Why is this happening? The researchers think the backward direction of tomato evolution has to do with the islands themselves.



The eastern islands are older, more stable, and have richer ecosystems. The western ones are newer, harsher, and less developed. The plants there may be responding to tougher conditions by falling back on an older, stronger chemical defense.



“It could be that the ancestral molecule provides better defense in the harsher western conditions,” Jozwiak said.



To make sure this was a true throwback, the team ran evolutionary modeling using modern DNA to reconstruct what ancient tomato ancestors might have looked like. The chemistry of today’s western island tomatoes matched those early models.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-reverse-evolution-real">Is reverse evolution real?</h2>



Referring to this phenomenon in Galápagos tomatoes as "reverse evolution” is a bold claim. There are other examples in nature - snakes regaining limbs, bacteria flipping traits - but they’re rare. This case stands out because the genetic and chemical steps are so precise and clearly documented.



“Some people don’t believe in this,” Jozwiak said. “But the genetic and chemical evidence points to a return to an ancestral state. The mechanism is there. It happened.”



And this shift isn’t just interesting for botanists. It has wider implications for other species - possibly even humans.



“I think it could happen to humans,” noted Jozwiak. “It wouldn’t happen in a year or two, but over time, maybe, if environmental conditions change enough.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reverse-evolution-as-a-survival-strategy">Reverse evolution as a survival strategy</h2>



The study opens a window into how flexible evolution might be. Traits we thought were gone forever may just be dormant, waiting for the right conditions to reappear.



“If you change just a few amino acids, you can get a completely different molecule,” Jozwiak said. “That knowledge could help us engineer new medicines, design better pest resistance, or even make less toxic produce. But first, we have to understand how nature does it. This study is one step toward that.”



What’s growing on the rocky edges of the Galápagos isn’t just wild tomato - it might be a preview of how life, under pressure, rewrites its own rules.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59290-4">Nature Communications</a>.



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Reverse evolution? These wild tomatoes are turning back time

Evolution is taking an unexpected turn on the volcanic islands...

When it comes to exploring Mars, the surface is just the beginning. That’s why NASA’s Perseverance rover is doing more than just collecting core samples. It’s also grinding into Martian rocks to uncover secrets buried just beneath the dusty surface.



On June 3, Perseverance got to work on a stubborn rock the team has named “Kenmore.” The rover scraped away part of the surface, cleared off the debris, and took a closer look at what was inside. 



With its sophisticated set of tools, the rover examined the rock’s minerals and geological features. Kenmore is the 30th rock to be studied this way, starting with a two-inch-wide abrasion patch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-digging-deeper-into-a-difficult-rock">Digging deeper into a difficult rock</h2>



Professor Ken Farley, a noble gas isotope geochemist at <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/">Caltech</a>, is the deputy project scientist for the Perseverance mission. He noted that Kenmore was "a weird, uncooperative rock."



“Visually, it looked fine - the sort of rock we could get a good abrasion on and perhaps, if the science was right, perform a sample collection," said Professor Farley. 



"But during abrasion, it vibrated all over the place and small chunks broke off. Fortunately, we managed to get just far enough below the surface to move forward with an analysis.”



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/mars-perseverance-rover_abrading-drill-bit_NASA_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/mars-perseverance-rover_abrading-drill-bit_NASA_1s.webp" alt="Perseverance’s gold-colored abrading bit takes center stage in this image of the rover’s drill taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument on Aug. 2, 2021, the 160th day of the mission to Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS" class="wp-image-1975772"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Perseverance’s gold-colored abrading bit takes center stage in this image of the rover’s drill taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument on Aug. 2, 2021, the 160th day of the mission to Mars. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS</figcaption></figure>



Scientists are especially interested in getting past the outermost layers of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-mars-rocks-contain-signs-of-life-scientists-call-to-bring-them-back-to-earth/">Martian rocks</a>, which are weathered and coated with dust. 



Grinding helps expose the unaltered interior, giving a clearer picture of what the rock is made of. It also leaves behind a flat patch, perfect for close-up inspection with the rover’s instruments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-approach-to-cleaning-mars-rocks">New approach to cleaning Mars rocks</h2>



Previous Mars missions like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-spirit-and-opportunity-rovers-celebrate-20-years-on-the-red-planet/">Spirit and Opportunity</a> used spinning grinders with brushes to clean off rock surfaces. NASA’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-curiosity-rover-finds-sulfur-crystals-martian-rock-hints-at-possible-life/">Curiosity rover</a> used wire bristles to sweep away dust. But Perseverance is taking a cleaner and more efficient approach. 



Instead of brushes, Perseverance uses the gaseous Dust Removal Tool, or gDRT. It shoots out a blast of nitrogen gas to clear away debris left behind after grinding.



“We use Perseverance’s gDRT to fire a 12-pounds-per-square-inch (about 83 kilopascals) puff of nitrogen at the tailings and dust that cover a freshly abraded rock,” said Kyle Kaplan, a robotic engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. 



“Five puffs per abrasion - one to vent the tanks and four to clear the abrasion. And gDRT has a long way to go. Since landing at Jezero Crater over four years ago, we’ve puffed 169 times. There are roughly 800 puffs remaining in the tank.”



The gDRT is especially useful because it doesn’t touch the rock, which avoids the risk of bringing Earth contaminants into the mix.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-closer-look-with-high-tech-tools">Closer look with high-tech tools</h2>



Once the dust is blown away, Perseverance gets to work using a set of advanced sensors. A camera called WATSON takes close-up images from the rover’s robotic arm. 



Then, from its mast, the SuperCam begins firing thousands of tiny laser pulses at the abraded area. Each laser shot kicks up microscopic particles, which are analyzed by a spectrometer.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/mars-perseverance-rover_kenmore-rock_tool-marks_NASA_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/mars-perseverance-rover_kenmore-rock_tool-marks_NASA_1s.webp" alt="This close-up view of an abrasion showing distinctive “tool marks” created by the Perseverance’s abrading bit was acquired on June 5. The image was taken from approximately 2.76 inches (7 centimeters) away by the rover’s WATSON imager. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS" class="wp-image-1975775"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This close-up view of an abrasion showing distinctive “tool marks” created by the Perseverance’s abrading bit was acquired on June 5. The image was taken from approximately 2.76 inches (7 centimeters) away by the rover’s WATSON imager. Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS</figcaption></figure>



“SuperCam made observations in the abrasion patch and of the powdered tailings next to the patch,” said team member Cathy Quantin-Nataf from the University of Lyon in France. 



“The tailings showed us that this rock contains clay minerals, which contain water as hydroxide molecules bound with iron and magnesium - relatively typical of ancient Mars clay minerals. The abrasion spectra gave us the chemical composition of the rock, showing enhancements in iron and magnesium.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-all-mars-rocks-are-created-equal">Not all Mars rocks are created equal</h2>



The SHERLOC and PIXL instruments also studied Kenmore. They backed up SuperCam’s findings and added something new. 



The tools detected feldspar - a mineral known for its bright appearance on the Moon. More notably, PIXL spotted a manganese hydroxide mineral. It’s the first time this kind of material has been found during the mission.



Now that Perseverance has wrapped up its work on Kenmore, the rover is heading off to explore more areas along the edge of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lake-sediments-found-in-jezero-crater-hint-at-past-life-on-mars/">Jezero Crater</a>.



“One thing you learn early working on Mars rover missions is that not all Mars rocks are created equal,” said Farley. "The data we obtain now from rocks like Kenmore will help future missions so they don’t have to think about weird, uncooperative rocks."



"Instead, they’ll have a much better idea whether you can easily drive over it, sample it, separate the hydrogen and oxygen contained inside for fuel, or if it would be suitable to use as construction material for a habitat.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breaking-records-on-the-red-planet">Breaking records on the Red Planet</h2>



On June 19 - mission day 1,540 - <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/perseverance-rover-finds-best-evidence-yet-life-on-mars-cheyava-falls-rock/">Perseverance</a> set a new personal record. It traveled 1,348 feet (411 meters) in a single autonomous drive. That’s about 210 feet more than its previous record from April 2023.



While the science team selects the general path, the rover often drives itself using a system called AutoNav. This lets it move faster between areas of interest without waiting for every command from Earth.



“Perseverance drove 4½ football fields and could have gone even farther, but that was where the science team wanted us to stop,” said Camden Miller, a rover driver for Perseverance at JPL. “And we absolutely nailed our stop target location." 



"Every day operating on Mars, we learn more on how to get the most out of our rover. And what we learn today future Mars missions won’t have to learn tomorrow.”



To see more images and video of the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-rover-scours-mars-for-science/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"Kenmore rock" on Mars, click here...</a>



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Uncovering the hidden story of Mars, one rock at a time

When it comes to exploring Mars, the surface is just...

We often think we’re aware of everything around us, but our brains are constantly deciding where to focus.



Think about walking down a busy street. You might glance at a flashy car or a bright advertisement. But when it comes time to cross the street, those distractions vanish. Instead, your brain zooms in on the walk signal, moving vehicles, and people nearby.



That switch in focus - how we go from being drawn to attention-grabbing sights to zoning in on a specific task - has puzzled scientists for years.



Researchers at <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> wanted to understand not just what grabs our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/words-like-this-and-that-direct-attention-across-languages/">attention</a>, but how we shift it toward things that really matter in the moment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-brain-chooses-to-see">What the brain chooses to see</h2>



Most attention research looks at what draws our eyes - a sudden movement, a bold color, or something new. But this study focused on something different: what happens when our attention is deliberately steered toward a goal.



“We have a limited number of resources with which we can see the world,” said Ilker Yildirim, assistant professor of psychology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and senior author of the study. 



“We think of these resources as elementary computational processes; each <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-perception-changes-with-our-walking-rhythm/">perception</a> we experience, such as the position of an object or how fast it’s moving, is a result of exerting some number of these elementary perceptual computations.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-brain-focuses-on-the-task-at-hand">The brain focuses on the task at hand</h2>



To explore this, the team created a model called “adaptive computation.” This system, like a mental rationing tool, allocates our perceptual resources to the things most relevant to what we're trying to do. 



If you're trying to cross a street safely, the model prioritizes the walk sign over a flashy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-stops-paying-attention-to-repeated-distractions/">distraction</a>.



“Our model reveals a mechanism by which human attention identifies what things in a dynamic scene are relevant to the goal at hand, and then rations perceptual computations accordingly,” said study co-author Mario Belledonne, a student in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-focus-in-real-time">Tracking focus in real time</h2>



To test their ideas, the researchers ran experiments using a screen filled with colored dots. Participants were asked to track certain moving dots while ignoring others. The dots moved unpredictably, forcing people to adjust their focus constantly.



As the dots flashed briefly, participants were asked to press a key when they noticed one. This helped the researchers map how attention moved - almost second by second. 



The adaptive computation model was able to predict where and when these shifts would happen, based on which dots were more relevant to the task.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mental-effort-involved-in-a-task">Mental effort involved in a task</h2>



In another version of the task, participants still tracked a handful of dots, but the researchers changed how many “distractor” dots appeared and how fast they moved. 



Afterward, people rated how hard the task felt. Interestingly, the model’s predictions matched the participants’ feelings: when the model worked harder to track the targets, participants said the task felt harder.



In other words, the model gave insight into something very human - the mental effort we feel when concentrating on a tough task.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mimicking-the-brain-s-ability-to-focus">Mimicking the brain's ability to focus</h2>



One surprising takeaway from this work is how our brains selectively “ignore” things. That eye-catching car or glowing billboard? If it doesn’t help with what we’re trying to do, it might just disappear from our awareness.



“We want to work out the computational logic of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/action-observation-network-human-brain-perception-see-what-we-expect-to-see-mind-eye/">human mind</a>, by creating new algorithms of perception and attention, and comparing the performance of these algorithms to that of humans,” Yildirim said.



This approach could even guide how we build future <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/does-the-human-brain-outperform-artificial-intelligence/">artificial intelligence</a>. Unlike current AI systems that try to absorb everything, this new model mimics how humans sometimes miss obvious things - not due to error, but because it’s a smart way to focus.



“We think this line of work can lead to systems that are a bit different from today’s AI, something more human-like,” Yildirim said. “This would be an AI system that when tasked with a goal might miss things, even shiny things, so as to flexibly and safely interact with the world.”



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Frev0000572">Psychological Review</a>.



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How the brain decides what to focus on - and what to ignore

We often think we’re aware of everything around us, but...

Benjamina’s small cranium lay hidden in Spain’s <a href="https://engines.egr.uh.edu/episode/2516" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Atapuerca Mountains</a> for more than half a million years. Today her story challenges long‑held ideas about when human empathy first appeared.



<a href="https://produccioncientifica.ucm.es/investigadores/141651/detalle" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Juan Luis Arsuaga</a> of the Complutense University of Madrid, who directs the Sima de los Huesos excavations, says the child’s remains force scientists to rethink social life in the Middle Pleistocene.



Excavators <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38454744/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cataloged</a> Benjamina as Cranium 14, an almost complete neurocranium from a Homo heidelbergensis girl aged about ten to twelve. 



Computed‑tomography measurements place her brain volume near 1,200 cm³, slightly smaller than that of many modern pre‑teens.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-piecing-together-benjamina-s-life">Piecing together Benjamina’s life</h2>



Early restoration revealed that the left limb of the back‑of‑head suture had fused before birth, a condition called lambdoid synostosis. 



True fusion of this suture occurs in only two percent of craniosynostosis cases, making it the rarest form of the disorder.



Modern epidemiology puts overall <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544366/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">craniosynostosis</a> prevalence at roughly one in 2,000 births. 



Because the fused bone cannot expand, pressure diverts growth toward the forehead and opposite side, creating the asymmetrical dome seen on Benjamina’s right parietal plate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-lambdoid-synostosis">Understanding lambdoid synostosis</h2>



Surgeons today open the fused bone within an infant’s first year to prevent raised intracranial pressure and vision loss. 



Without intervention, secondary problems such as headaches, balance issues, and cognitive delays often follow.



Benjamina obviously received no operation. Even so, she survived long enough to lose baby teeth and grow permanent molars, milestones that show she lived at least a decade despite her deformity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-signs-of-community-care">Signs of community care</h2>



“Benjamina offers early evidence of empathy and social cohesion in our evolutionary history,” noted the excavation team. 



Keeping a disabled child alive in a hunter‑gatherer context would have required help with food, protection, and possibly mobility.



Skeletal <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/science/article/2024/07/11/bone-of-neanderthal-child-provides-evidence-of-social-care-in-prehistoric-times_6680969_10.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> of Neanderthals from nearby Valencia present a similar pattern, where a six‑year‑old with severe inner‑ear malformations lived well past infancy only through sustained group support. 



Together these Iberian fossils imply that caregiving emerged deep within the genus Homo rather than as a late feature of our own species.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-name-benjamina-matters">Why the name Benjamina matters</h2>



The name Benjamina comes from the Hebrew word for the youngest or most beloved <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/28000-year-old-hybrid-child-confirms-interbreeding-between-humans-and-neanderthals/">child</a>. Researchers chose it not only because of her young age, but because of the care she likely received during her life.



Assigning her a name also reflects a growing trend in paleoanthropology to humanize ancient individuals. It helps the public connect with prehistoric stories, not just as data points, but as once-living members of a social group.



Her group’s willingness to invest resources in a non‑productive juvenile hints at emotional bonds, shared responsibility, and perhaps rudimentary social norms. 



Those traits would later underpin cooperative hunting, extended childhoods, and the cultural explosion that followed.



Benjamina also broadens the medical record. The report calls her cranium “the earliest evidence of craniosynostosis occurring in a hominid.”



Documenting pathology this ancient helps geneticists trace how skull‑fusion genes evolved. It also reminds clinicians that untreated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossilized-remains-of-17000-year-old-baby-show-first-evidence-of-blue-eyes-in-humans/">children</a> can reach school age, informing counseling for parents who decline surgery today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-teaching-the-next-generation">Teaching the next generation</h2>



“The students in my Thermodynamics course were the first to see this demonstration. I believe this approach will eventually become more accepted,” said <a href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/789683/overview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Martín‑Olalla</a> from the <a href="https://ics-seville.org/university-of-seville/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Seville</a>, emphasizing the value of introducing this proof to students early.&nbsp;



By rooting the theorem in the second law itself, rather than a loosely attached third principle, the argument might resonate with a new generation of physicists seeking internal consistency. Martín‑Olalla acknowledged the resistance that often meets reinterpretations of established theory. 



Earlier fossil skulls like the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sale-paleoanthropological-site-Morocco" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Salé cranium</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Singa-cranium-left-and-Broken-Hill-cranium-right-were-two-human-fossils-studied_fig5_283709064" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Singa 1</a> showed deformities, but neither could be definitively diagnosed with true lambdoid synostosis. 



Unlike Benjamina, these individuals lacked the distinctive skull features or CT data needed to confirm the rare fusion type.



Other historical examples, such as the deformed skulls from the <a href="https://www.archaeologs.com/w/munsingen-rain/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Münsingen-Rain</a> burial site in Switzerland or the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/82867462/The_earliest_evidence_of_true_lambdoid_craniosynostosis_the_case_of_Benjamina_a_Homo_heidelbergensis_child" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bab-al-Hanax cemetery</a> in Spain, occurred much later and show more variation. 



Benjamina remains the oldest confirmed case with such precision in diagnosis, giving her a unique place in paleopathological records.



The study is published in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38454744/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Child’s Nervous System</a>.



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Little Benjamina, the oldest evidence of social empathy in humans

Benjamina’s small cranium lay hidden in Spain’s Atapuerca Mountains for...

A compact planet-like object has been detected in a dusty ring of debris surrounding a nearby young star. It's faint, cold, and distant from the star it orbits. If confirmed, it will be the first planet directly imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope.



The exoplanet would also be the lightest ever spotted using this method outside of our solar system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clues-emerge-in-infrared-light">Clues emerge in infrared light</h2>



An international research team used the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to study the red dwarf star TWA 7, located just 34 light-years away. 



While analyzing the dusty disk around the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/runaway-star-j1249-36-spotted-trying-to-escape-our-milky-way-galaxy/">star</a>, the experts noticed a faint infrared object about 50 times farther from TWA 7 than Earth is from the Sun. The location matched a predicted spot where a planet could be shaping the disk’s structure.



“This observatory enables us to capture images of planets with masses similar to those in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/distant-icy-worlds-are-unlocking-secrets-of-the-solar-system/">solar system</a>, which represents an exciting step forward in our understanding of planetary systems, including our own,” said study co-author Mathilde Malin of <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-object-looks-like-a-planet">Why the object looks like a planet</h2>



To examine the object more closely, the researchers used MIRI’s coronagraph to block the bright light from the star. This allowed them to spot faint sources nearby. 



The team applied high-contrast imaging techniques to remove remaining starlight and revealed a dim, infrared signal. They ruled out other explanations, such as a passing solar system object or a background star. 



There's still a small chance it could be a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oxygen-detected-in-the-most-distant-and-primitive-galaxy-ever-analyzed/">distant galaxy</a>, but the evidence strongly supports the idea that it’s a new planet - one that appears to be influencing the structure of the surrounding dust disk.



Study lead suitor Anne-Marie Lagrange is a CNRS researcher at the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/">Observatoire de Paris-PSL</a> and Université Grenoble Alpes in France.



“Our observations reveal a strong candidate for a planet shaping the structure of the TWA 7 debris disk, and its position is exactly where we expected to find a planet of this mass,” said Lagrange.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-young-cold-planet">A young, cold planet</h2>



The object, now dubbed TWA 7 b, appears to have a mass about 0.3 times that of Jupiter - roughly equivalent to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-energy-imbalance-discovered-on-saturn/">Saturn</a>. It likely has a temperature around 120 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius). 



The signal was found right inside a gap in the disk, suggesting an interaction between the planet and its surroundings.



TWA 7’s nearly face-on disk gave scientists a clear view. That orientation, paired with Webb’s sensitivity to mid-infrared light, made it possible to detect a planet this small and this far away.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-debris-disks-and-planet-formation">Debris disks and planet formation</h2>



Debris disks are made of dust and rocks left over from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/planet-formation-new-insights-mechanics-physics/">planet formation</a>. They're often seen around younger stars because the disks shine brighter when they're new. 



The disks sometimes exhibit rings or gaps. Scientists have long believed these features are carved out by planets, but until now, they’ve never caught one in the act.



If TWA 7 b is indeed a planet, it would be the first time researchers have directly seen a planet inside a debris disk that appears to be shaping its structure. It might also offer a rare look at what’s called a "trojan disk" - a clump of dust stuck in a planet’s orbit.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rare-snapshot-of-planetary-evolution">Rare snapshot of planetary evolution</h2>



TWA 7, also known as CE Antliae, is only about 6.4 million years old. That’s extremely young in cosmic terms. And because it's nearby, it gives scientists a rare opportunity to study how planetary systems take shape.



Unlike older systems, where many clues have already faded, TWA 7 offers a snapshot of planetary evolution in progress. This makes it an especially valuable target for future observation campaigns.



The team will continue observing TWA 7 to confirm whether the object is truly a planet and to better understand its characteristics. This first glimpse suggests Webb is opening new doors to studying smaller, colder planets that were previously beyond our reach.



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Anne-Marie Lagrange (CNRS, UGA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Webb)



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Webb telescope may have just found its first planet

A compact planet-like object has been detected in a dusty...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-the-fish-ladder-works">Why the fish ladder works</h2>



“When swimming, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-alternative-seafood-can-help-save-our-oceans/">fish</a> on average generate a jet going backward, like the jet engine of a plane,” said Hungtang Ko, lead author of the study. Staying out of that jet reduces drag.



The ladder formation allows this. A fish swims slightly above or below the one in front, avoiding the jet while still staying close. This creates energy savings similar to the diamond model but with less need for perfect timing or alignment.



The diamond model assumes fish must synchronize tail beats and stay level. But in real schools, coordination varies. Fish rarely beat tails in exact anti-phase, a condition the diamond pattern needs to be effective.



Even in controlled experiments, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-are-quietly-battling-climate-change-on-the-seabed/">fish</a> constantly rearranged positions. The average pattern changed every 48 seconds for individuals and 32 seconds for the whole school.



Ko’s team observed that fish ladder formations shift based on flow rate. As speed increased from 1.6 to 5.6 body-lengths per second, the fish ladder stretched longer. This adaptation resembled behavior in other biological collectives, like fire ant rafts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-fish-in-three-dimensions">Tracking fish in three dimensions</h2>



Older studies limited fish to shallow tanks or still water, forcing unnatural formations. This experiment used deeper tanks and steady flow, removing boundary effects. 



The researchers trained AI to detect nose and tail positions in 3D space using SLEAP.ai and a custom MATLAB pipeline.



According to the heatmaps, fish were most likely to swim either above and behind, or below and ahead, of a partner - never directly inline.



This ladder structure formed naturally, not by training or conditioning. It shows how real-world conditions reshape what we think of as “efficient.”



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



The Nagpal lab is designing robot fish swarms inspired by these new insights. By mimicking ladder formations, underwater robots might conserve energy, move more smoothly, and navigate better in tasks like reef monitoring.



“The collaboration is a two-way street,” said Ko. “We can use computer vision to discover how and why animal groups do things together. And then we can ask, what kind of real-world robotic system could this biological insight be applied to?”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-schools-conserve-energy">Fish schools conserve energy </h2>



This study shows that energy savings don’t come from holding a perfect formation. Instead, savings come from many temporary, varied arrangements. 



Even fish that constantly shift positions still gain benefits by staying out of each other's wake.



The study also raises new questions. Can robot fish switch positions while still conserving energy? Do vertical ladders work better in turbulent water? Future experiments, especially using robotic models, may find answers.



For now, one thing is certain. Nature prefers complexity over perfection. Fish don't swim in flat diamonds. They climb invisible ladders, one body length at a time.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-06150-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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Fish swim in schools by stacking like ladder rungs

For 50 years, scientists believed that fish schools saved energy...

Climate, geology, and biology together gave rise to one of Earth’s most dramatic turning points: the Cambrian explosion. About 530 million years ago, most of the basic body plans of organisms that have survived until now emerged.



Yet a new study argues that key elements of this revolutionary event actually took shape earlier - perhaps ten-plus million years before the formal start of the Cambrian Period.



The research relies not on bones or shells, but on trace fossils - the tracks, burrows, and other imprints left by organisms as they crawled through ancient sediments.



Co-authors Olmo Miguez Salas of the <a href="https://web.ub.edu/web/ub/">University of Barcelona</a> and Zekun Wang of London’s <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum</a> analyzed these subtle signatures. 



The goal was to reconstruct early animal anatomy and behavior during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition, roughly 545 million years ago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossil-traces-reveal-ancient-life">Fossil traces reveal ancient life</h2>



Traditional fossil studies skew toward creatures with hard parts, because bones and shells preserve most readily in rock. Trace fossils capture a different story: the activities of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-first-animals-were-very-picky-about-where-they-lived/">soft-bodied animals</a> that rarely leave skeletal remains.



“The trace fossil record provides valuable information about evolutionary periods when soft-bodied fauna were dominant,” Miguez Salas said.



“Fossil traces reflect the behavior of the organism that generates them, which is determined by habitat and responses to environmental stimuli. Therefore, they are an indicator of the palaeoecological conditions in which the organisms that generated them lived.”



That focus is especially useful for the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary, a time when soft-bodied organisms still outnumbered shelly ones and ecological dynamics were in rapid flux.



Early burrowers and crawlers disturbed microbial mats on the seafloor. This paved the way for new feeding strategies, novel body plans, and ultimately the hard-part explosion more familiar to paleontologists.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-show-how-life-moved">Fossils show how life moved</h2>



By quantifying the widths, lengths, and winding patterns of fossil trackways such as Archaeonassa, Gordia, Helminthopsis, and Parapsammichnites, the team derived scaling laws that link track size to the animals’ own proportions. 



The results show that organisms with streamlined, elongated profiles were already active 545 million years ago.



“These organisms probably possessed coelomic hydrostatic bodies, with an anteroposterior axis, muscles, and possibly segmentation,” Miguez Salas said.



“Furthermore, these organisms could move in a specific direction (directional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/not-all-kangaroo-ancestors-hopped-as-a-means-of-locomotion/">locomotion</a>) and probably possessed sensory capabilities to move and feed on heterogeneous substrates in a habitat dominated by microbial mats.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-traits-predate-cambrian-explosion">Traits predate Cambrian explosion</h2>



Such abilities - directional crawling, muscular movement, possible segmentation - echo the hallmarks of bilaterian animals that dominate the modern biosphere. 



If those traits existed well before 530 million years ago, then the lineage-splitting events that scientists historically assign to the Cambrian must have roots in the late <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/591-million-years-ago-complex-life-emerged-on-earth-magnetic-field-ediacaran-period/">Ediacaran</a>.



“Therefore, the so-called Cambrian explosion and its evolutionary implications may have occurred much earlier than estimated,” Miguez Salas added.



Instead of a sudden burst, the data point toward a protracted interval of experimentation. Ecological engineering by active burrowers created niches that later organisms exploited.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-math-reveals-ancient-mobility">Math reveals ancient mobility</h2>



Until now, suggestions of pre-Cambrian complexity leaned heavily on qualitative observations - isolated sites showing possible bilateral tracks or ambiguous body impressions. What sets the new paper apart is its mathematical approach.



The authors modeled modern track size to body length, then applied that scaling framework to ancient trace fossils. The outcome is a statistically grounded estimate of early animal width, length, and locomotion speed.



“This new discovery opens the door to quantitatively study future Ediacara trace fossils and to corroborate that the explosion did not happen in the Cambrian, but many millions of years earlier,” Miguez Salas said.



The same scaling rules could probe other critical transitions, such as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-worms-sparked-explosive-evolutionary-period-of-life-on-earth/">Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event</a>, offering a consistent yardstick for comparing evolutionary shifts across geologic time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-shift-life-s-timeline">Fossils shift life’s timeline</h2>



If complex bilaterians were shaping seafloor habitats 545 million years ago, paleontologists must rethink long-held assumptions. Environmental and genetic triggers like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rewrite-the-textbooks-life-on-earth-did-not-arise-due-to-increased-oxygen-levels/">oxygen</a> rise, ocean shifts, or gene changes may need rethinking for the Cambrian proper. 



Those factors may have been in motion earlier, with the visible “explosion” marking only the point when hard parts made diversity easier to preserve.



The study also underscores how behaviors - burrowing, mat-grazing, sediment mixing - can serve as evolutionary catalysts. Mobile animals turning over sediment could have unleashed nutrients, altered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-laid-the-foundation-for-early-life-on-earth/">microbial communities</a>, and spurred arms races that drove further innovation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-fossils-may-still-reveal">What fossils may still reveal</h2>



Future expeditions into late Ediacaran strata may uncover additional trace fossil assemblages to test the new timeline. 



High-resolution 3D scans, geochemical proxies, and refined radiometric dating can link track-making horizons to precise ages and environmental conditions.



Meanwhile, the mathematical framework introduced by Miguez Salas and Wang equips researchers worldwide to translate faint surface scribbles into vivid portraits of Earth’s earliest movers and shakers.



In shifting the Cambrian explosion’s fuse back several million years, the fossil record reminds us that life’s history often blurs textbook boundaries. Evolution, like geology itself, tends to roll out gradually - until we gather the evidence to see its subtler steps.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G53332.1/655874/Quantitative-decoding-of-Ediacaran-locomotory">Geology</a>.



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Cambrian explosion: Fossils push back the rise of complex life

Climate, geology, and biology together gave rise to one of...

For decades scientists have combed the gut looking for bacteria in the microbiome that push the immune system toward multiple sclerosis (MS). New evidence from a rare twin study now points a clear finger at two species of bacteria that hide in the small intestine.



The study, which compared 81 pairs of genetically identical siblings, singled out Eisenbergiella tayi and Lachnoclostridium as the most likely triggers of the nerve‑damaging disorder. 



<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Peters-10" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Anna Peters</a> of <a href="https://www.lmu.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich</a> steered the international team that linked these bacteria to disease in both people and mice.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-clues-in-identical-twins">Tracing clues in identical twins</h2>



Identical twins share nearly every gene, so differences in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-study-shows-that-dairy-milk-cheese-consumption-improves-gut-biodiversity-health/">health</a> are often related to outside factors. By focusing on twins where only one sibling had MS, the researchers stripped away much genetic noise.



Detailed DNA tracking of gut samples revealed 51 microbial candidates whose numbers diverged between affected and unaffected siblings. 



Two species of bacteria kept resurfacing with the highest odds ratios, putting them at the top of the watch list.



Those samples came from the ileum, the last stretch of small intestine that hosts a busy immune garrison. The choice mattered because <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3651097/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pro‑inflammatory T cells</a> gather here before they head for the brain and spinal cord.



A later comparison with the 1,152‑person <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36113426" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International MS Microbiome Study</a> echoed the same two species of bacteria. The overlap gave the Munich team confidence that their twin cohort was not a statistical fluke.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gut-bacteria-linked-to-multiple-sclerosis">Gut bacteria linked to multiple sclerosis</h2>



To test cause rather than correlation, the investigators moved beyond sequencing. They transplanted ileal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-found-alive-sealed-inside-rock-after-2-billion-years/">microbes</a> from selected twins into germ‑free mice bred to develop MS‑like inflammation. 



In animals that received bacteria from the sibling with multiple sclerosis, paralysis appeared within twelve weeks. Mice given microbes from the healthy twin stayed mobile the entire study.



Three female mice in one experiment showed a dramatic bloom of E. tayi just before MS symptoms set in. Their stool lost other common bacterial genera, hinting that the bloom crowded out potential competitors.



A follow‑up transfer from another twin pair repeated the outcome, this time with Lachnoclostridium dominating late in the trial. The signal again skewed toward female animals, matching the <a href="https://www.nationalmssociety.org/news-and-magazine/momentum-magazine/the-ms-experience/ms-facts-vs-myths" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">higher risk</a> of MS seen in women.



Altogether, more than sixty percent of mice given “MS” bacteria developed spinal lesions, compared with fewer than ten percent in control groups. No other single species rose in step with disease across experiments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fiber-digesting-bacteria-and-inflammation">Fiber-digesting bacteria and inflammation</h2>



E. tayi and Lachnoclostridium belong to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/lachnospiraceae" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lachnospiraceae family</a>, a large clan of anaerobes that usually help digest fiber. Most relatives are considered harmless and even beneficial.



What sets these two apart is not yet clear, but the German group noted that both can thrive on mucus sugars when dietary fiber is scarce. That ability could thin the intestinal barrier and expose immune sensors to microbial products.



Earlier work on Akkermansia muciniphila showed a similar mucus‑eating habit that sometimes heightens inflammation. The new study hints the same mechanism may operate here but in a much smaller bacterial niche.



Another clue comes from metabolic profiling, which found that E. tayi produces ethanol and succinate, both known to stimulate <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29894669/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Th17 immune cells</a>. Excess Th17 activity drives attack on myelin, the insulating layer around nerves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-lachnospiraceae-may-stir-trouble">Why Lachnospiraceae may stir trouble</h2>



In a controlled ulcerative colitis model, certain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-depression-contagious-couples-may-share-it-through-kissing/">Lachnospiraceae</a> pushed macrophages toward an aggressive stance. Similar macrophage patterns emerged in the spinal cords of the colonized mice. 



Other studies, however, have reported anti‑inflammatory roles for different members of the family, underscoring that taxonomy alone is not destiny. Context, gene content, and surrounding microbes all shape outcomes.



The twin study design hints that environment tilts the balance, because both siblings inherit the same immune genes. Diet, antibiotics, or viral history may give the two microbes the foothold they need.



“Together with our functional studies, this supports our conclusion that these bacteria might play a crucial role as environmental triggering factors of human multiple sclerosis,” wrote the researchers. 



The statement marks one of the strongest causal claims yet made about the role of gut bacteria in the development of multiple sclerosis.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multiple-sclerosis-bacteria-treatment">Multiple sclerosis bacteria treatment</h2>



Nearly <a href="https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000007044" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">one million Americans</a> live with MS, and existing drugs only slow its progress. Targeting a pair of bacteria offers a simpler aim than re‑engineering the whole gut microbiome. 



Researchers already use narrow antibiotics, phage cocktails, and engineered probiotics to chase single species in the gut. Similar tools could curb E. tayi or Lachnoclostridium before they spark immune trouble.



Another route involves adding fiber to keep mucus eaters occupied with safer food. Early trials of high‑propionate diets have shown modest symptom relief and could complement microbe‑directed therapies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limitations-and-next-steps">Limitations and next steps</h2>



Any multiple sclerosis therapy will also need to respect the wider community of gut bacteria that support vitamin synthesis and immune tolerance. 



Removing the wrong microbial strains could backfire, as seen when broad antibiotics sometimes worsen autoimmune flares. 



That risk has pushed researchers toward <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36191844/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bacteriophages</a>, viruses that hunt specific bacteria, which are already in early studies for inflammatory bowel disease. 



A similar designer phage could trim the Lachnospiraceae culprits while leaving friendly neighbors untouched.



Regulators will demand hard proof that tweaking the microbiome alters biomarkers such as neurofilament light, a blood protein that rises when neurons die. The twin‑mouse pipeline described by Peters now offers a way to collect that evidence quickly.



Continued collaboration between neurologists, immunologists, and microbial ecologists will decide how quickly these insights can be turned into medicines. 



For now, the results give patients a tangible target, and a fresh reason to care about what lives in their gut.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2419689122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PNAS</a>.



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Scientists think they found two key bacteria that cause multiple sclerosis

For decades scientists have combed the gut looking for bacteria...

We used to think leopard seals had broad diets, but new research suggests that many individuals are picky eaters - with big consequences.



While the species as a whole eats many prey types, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/harbor-seals-rely-on-visual-cues-to-navigate-cloudy-waters/">individual</a> seals often specialize. This pattern has ecosystem-wide effects, especially in the predator-rich waters off Cape Shirreff.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leopard-seals-prefer-specific-diets">Leopard seals prefer specific diets</h2>



The research team analyzed stable isotope values (δ15N and δ13C) from 46 whiskers of 34 seals. This long-term data covered a decade. 



The results showed that 59% of the seals were dietary specialists, 28% were intermediates, and only 13% were true generalists.



Specialists fall into two categories. High trophic level specialists likely hunt fur <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seal-pregnancies-reveal-clues-for-treating-birth-complications/">seal</a> pups and large fish. Medium to low trophic level specialists target krill, penguins, and cephalopods. 



The research suggests that individual differences in diet shape local food webs more than previously assumed.



“Even though leopard seals as a species eat a wide variety of prey, most individuals actually focus on just a few types of food,” said study co-author Dr. Emily Sperou from <a href="https://www.baylor.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Baylor University</a>. 



“This means that a few highly specialized seals can have a much bigger effect on certain prey populations than we previously thought.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-seal-diets-don-t-change">Some seal diets don’t change</h2>



The study revealed two long-term foraging styles. Some individuals, like seal 397, maintained high trophic level specialization for up to ten years. 



Others, like seal 12, changed diets significantly across five years, from specialist to generalist.



This variability suggests behavioral flexibility. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/elephant-seals-provide-a-window-into-the-oceans-twilight-zone/">Seals</a> might shift strategies depending on prey availability or competition. Such changes could buffer the species against ecosystem shifts.



“A few specialists can help shape entire ecosystems,” said study co-author Dr. Patrick Charapata. 



“Understanding these patterns in leopard seals and other top predators can help us better predict and manage changes to prey populations and the greater ecosystem these species live in.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leopard-seal-diets-and-prey-populations">Leopard seal diets and prey populations </h2>



Larger female leopard seals were found to consistently feed at higher trophic levels compared to males. This means they targeted prey that are themselves predators or occupy higher positions in the food web. 



Interestingly, all the individuals identified as high-level dietary specialists in the study were female. Their greater body size likely plays a key role in this pattern. 



Bigger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weddell-seals-have-a-surprising-survival-strategy/">seals</a> are physically capable of capturing and consuming larger, more energy-dense prey, such as Antarctic fur seal pups. This access to richer food sources gives them an energetic advantage and increases their impact on prey populations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-individuals-with-a-large-impact">Individuals with a large impact</h2>



The data also showed that females had broader isotopic ranges in their whisker samples. This suggests they influence a wider range of the ecosystem through their feeding habits. They do not just eat more; they affect more parts of the food web.



A few large females were found to be responsible for most of the observed predation on fur seal pups. One individual, identified as seal 397, stood out in particular. She had the highest number of recorded pup captures in the study. 



Her method involved ambush style attacks, showing strategic hunting behavior that likely made her even more effective. This highlights how a small number of powerful individuals can have an outsized effect on an ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diets-change-with-prey-numbers">Diets change with prey numbers</h2>



The data revealed a sharp drop in δ15N values between 2015 and 2017. This trend aligns with a known decline in Antarctic fur seals and some penguin species. Researchers believe the drop reflects a reduction in nitrogen-rich prey.



From 2017 to 2023, the number of leopard seals at Cape Shirreff fell by 76 percent. The few that remained, like seal 397, regained access to higher trophic prey. As competition dropped, δ15N values began rising again.



The study reshapes how we think about predator roles. Individual specialization can reshape ecosystems. Just a few high-impact predators may shift prey dynamics dramatically.



For instance, a pod of five orcas once consumed 8,500 sea otters annually. Leopard seals may be exerting similar pressure on fur seal colonies.



Current conservation strategies often assume that all individuals in a species behave alike. But this study warns against such assumptions. Ignoring individual-level behavior might cause poor management decisions, especially under climate stress.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leopard-seals-and-prey-dynamics">Leopard seals and prey dynamics</h2>



The study relied on stable isotope data but did not include direct prey identification. Future research could pair isotopic signatures with tracking and observational data.



While this study was focused on Cape Shirreff, genetic data indicate that these findings may apply to leopard seals across the Southern Ocean.



The research shows how a few individual predators can shape the fates of entire species. Leopard seals remind us that even in the coldest oceans, personal dietary choices matter.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71593" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ecology and Evolution</a>.



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Leopard seal diets are reshaping Antarctic ecosystems

We used to think leopard seals had broad diets, but...

Close-up,View,Of,Hand,Turning,Down,The,Volume,Of,Smartphone

A new study from Kyung Hee University explores how phones in "silent mode" may hold the key to healthier minds at work. 



Researchers examined whether a mobile mindfulness training (MMT) program could improve stress, burnout, and work engagement among office workers.



The trial at <a href="https://www.khu.ac.kr/eng/user/main/view.do" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kyung Hee University</a> included 114 participants, randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. 



Those in the experimental group used a mindfulness app called InMind for four weeks, while the control group delayed their participation until the second half of the eight-week study.



Assessments were conducted before the program, at the end of four weeks, and again at the eight-week mark. Outcomes included burnout, perceived stress, engagement at work, mindfulness, and vitality. 



The study found clear benefits to the mindfulness app, with reduced stress and increased focus among participants.



Some of the strongest results were linked to participants who adopted broader lifestyle changes alongside the app, such as silencing their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/digital-distraction-the-real-culprit-isnt-your-phone/">phones</a>. 



Some people never let their phones make a sound. The habit raises more than a few eyebrows. Psychology research says the choice speaks volumes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-silent-phones-and-personal-space">Silent phones and personal space</h2>



“Your cognitive capacity is significantly reduced when your smartphone is within reach, even if it’s off,” said <a href="https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-directory/profile/?username=aw33587" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Adrian Ward</a>, an assistant professor at the <a href="https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">McCombs School of Business</a>, University of Texas at Austin. According to a <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/691462" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> by Ward and colleagues, even a silent phone pulls at the mind. 



People who mute their devices often tuck them away as well, reclaiming cognitive capacity and a calm workspace. The absence of chirps removes the expectation of immediate responsiveness. 



That choice signals respect for personal boundaries. They decide when contact happens instead of letting a ringtone choose the moment.



Over time friends and colleagues learn to text first and wait, reinforcing the owner’s sense of autonomy. The boundary is not a wall that shuts <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/attractive-people-have-more-career-opportunities-and-success/">people</a> out, it is a gate that opens on the owner’s schedule, a subtle distinction that turns silence into courtesy rather than avoidance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-taking-charge-of-your-time">Taking charge of your time</h2>



Disruptions consume more than the seconds they steal. <a href="https://www.ics.uci.edu/~gmark/chi08-mark.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Researchers</a> estimate that after an interruption it can take 23 minutes and 15 seconds to regain full focus, a toll silent‑phone users are keen to avoid. By controlling notification windows, they group replies into set blocks and shave hours off the week.



Life today overflows with micro‑interactions that feel urgent but rarely are. Muting notifications teaches the brain to sort urgent from merely loud. 



Once the habit forms, the mind anticipates longer arcs of concentration, and projects that used to stall now reach completion in shorter calendar time.



The cumulative effect mirrors compound interest, with every rescued minute growing into larger stretches of productive time. That payoff is especially visible in creative or analytical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/employees-need-vacations-to-fully-disengage-from-work/">work</a> where even a small break can fracture thought.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-silent-phones-and-mindfulness">Silent phones and mindfulness</h2>



The same crowd often embraces mindfulness, turning the once‑noisy handset into a pocket coach. A four‑week mobile mindfulness program lifted attention and vitality among Korean office workers, showing that a quiet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/phone-bans-dont-help-children-learn-to-navigate-the-digital-world/">phone</a> can foster calm rather than craving. 



Muting alerts removes the constant tug back to the screen, creating space for an intentional breathing exercise instead of a reflexive swipe.



Clinicians note that the first step in any attention‑training protocol is reducing external triggers, and the silent setting accomplishes that task before meditation even begins. 



Because the phone stays available for emergencies, the user keeps the benefits of mobility while pruning the anxiety‑inducing soundtrack.



Practitioners say the rhythm sticks. Once the brain associates <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/silent-mind-when-the-inner-voice-fades/">silence</a> with steady breathing, the simple state of being unreachable cues relaxation. 



Colleagues notice the difference, describing these individuals as present, unhurried, and harder to rattle under pressure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-silent-phones-reduce-stress">Silent phones reduce stress</h2>



Noise primes the body for action even when the message is trivial. 



“Our research has shown that attention distraction can lead to higher stress, a bad mood, and lower productivity,” wrote <a href="https://www.ics.uci.edu/~gmark/chi08-mark.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gloria Mark</a>, a professor of informatics at the <a href="https://uci.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Irvine</a>.



Keeping the ringtone off shields the nervous system from that steady stream of alerts, letting heart rate and cortisol stay low for longer stretches. 



Physiologically, every ping can produce a brief spike in sympathetic nervous activity, a response designed for survival but unhelpful when the alert is a discount code.



Subtracting hundreds of such spikes each day eases the background hum of tension that many workers accept as normal. Many report better sleep as well, because no beep tempts them to check one last ping at midnight.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chasing-depth-over-buzz">Chasing depth over buzz</h2>



A single ringtone can shatter the fragile cadence of heartfelt talk. Silent‑phone people stay fully engaged, catching pauses and tone shifts that others miss. The result is conversation that feels stitched together instead of patch‑worked between glances at a glowing slab.



That depth pays dividends in trust, an asset that cannot be captured by screen time metrics but shows up in stronger social support. 



Observers often describe silent‑phone people as ‘good listeners,’ a reputation that circles back to benefit them in leadership and collaboration settings. Deeper bonds form because presence, like any gift, gathers value through its rarity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-working-in-the-flow">Working in the flow</h2>



“People checked their phones more often when their devices were in silent mode,” said S. Shyam Sundar, James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects in the <a href="https://bellisario.psu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications</a> and co-director of the <a href="https://bellisario.psu.edu/research/centers/medialab" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Media Effects Research Laboratory</a>.



The effect was strongest among people high in fear of missing out, yet seasoned muters offset it by putting the phone out of sight, breaking the feedback loop between silence and anxiety. 



Experienced muters also disable lock‑screen previews, removing visual bait that can reel them back in after they glance at the clock.



By orchestrating sound, sight, and distance, they create a layered defense against distraction, similar to noise‑canceling <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/healing-through-headphones-personalized-music-can-reduce-pain/">headphones</a> for the mind. 



Once out of reach, the device loses power to fracture burnout‑prone workflows, letting users sink into the state psychologists call “flow.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-self-awareness-on-silent-mode">Self‑awareness on silent mode</h2>



At the core sits self‑knowledge. Silent‑phone users recognize how easily sound hijacks thought, so they craft environments that support their goals instead of relying on raw willpower. 



Put simply, they have run the experiment on themselves and kept the setting that helps them move through the day with intention.



The same insight guides them to set bedtimes, plan reflective walks, and carve reading hours free from screens. 



Putting your phone on silent mode is a small ritual, yet it broadcasts a larger message: attention is finite, worth protecting, and best spent by conscious choice.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1440824/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Computers in Human Behavior</a>.



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People who keep their cell phones on "silent mode" share similar psychological traits

A new study from Kyung Hee University explores how phones...

Diseño sin título - 1

Our minds feel very private and unique to each of us, yet many researchers suspect our consciousness might plug into something far bigger. A controversial new framework says a quantum entanglement trick could happen inside microtubules, the tiny protein tubes that scaffold every neuron in your head.



<a href="https://www.wellesley.edu/people/michael-wiest" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mike Wiest</a>, a neuroscientist at <a href="https://www.wellesley.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wellesley College</a>, thinks those tubes may carry quantum information that never stays put.



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



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-entanglement-a-simple-way-to-grasp-this-impossible-concept-carl-kocher/">Quantum entanglement</a> is a phenomenon in quantum physics where two or more particles become so deeply linked that the state of one instantaneously influences the state of the other, no matter how far apart they are. 



When particles are entangled, their properties - such as spin, polarization, or momentum - are correlated in such a way that measuring one particle's state <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-entanglement-speed-is-measured-first-time-too-fast-for-humans-minds/">automatically determines</a> the other's. 



This strange connection defies classical logic and puzzled Einstein, who famously dismissed it as “spooky action at a distance.”



Despite its counterintuitive nature, scientists have experimentally confirmed entanglement countless times, and it now plays a crucial role in technologies like quantum computing and quantum cryptography. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quantum-events-and-consciousness">Quantum events and consciousness</h2>



The notion traces back to Nobel‑winning mathematician <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2020/penrose/facts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roger Penrose</a> and anesthesiologist <a href="https://hameroff.arizona.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stuart Hameroff</a>, who argued that quantum events inside microtubules create conscious moments faster than neurons can fire. 



Their “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064513001188" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">orchestrated objective reduction</a>” model claims that each wave‑function collapse sparks awareness, and those collapses might entangle with particles anywhere in space.



Wiest’s group recently tested one prediction in <a href="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Rattus_norvegicus/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rattus norvegicus</a>. 



Rats given a microtubule‑stabilizing drug stayed awake 69 seconds longer under isoflurane than untreated littermates, suggesting the gas pulls the plug by scrambling quantum signals in the tubes.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quantum-calculations-inside-warm-brains">Quantum calculations inside warm brains</h2>



Critics argue that warm, wet tissue kills quantum fragility. A 2022 magnetic‑resonance <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9336587/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> of 40 healthy volunteers found deep brain regions buzzing with activity at temperatures above 104 °F (40 °C) in the afternoon, yet cognition carried on.&nbsp;



Physics is catching up. A 2024 <a href="https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.110.024402" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Physical Review E paper</a> shows that the fatty myelin coating of axons can act like a cylindrical cavity, spitting out entangled photon pairs at body temperature.&nbsp;



Lab evidence for long‑lived quantum states inside microtubules keeps stacking. 



In Alberta, <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.2c01114" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jack Tuszynski</a> and his team blasted tubulin with ultraviolet photons and watched coherence last five nanoseconds, thousands of times longer than textbook estimates.



Colleagues at the <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Central Florida</a> hit microtubules with visible light and detected re‑emission for up to a second, plenty of time for a neuron to talk to its neighbors.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-consciousness-and-quantum-entanglement">Consciousness and quantum entanglement</h2>



If the idea sounds eerie, remember photosynthesis. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature05678" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Quantum coherence</a> helps pigments in bacteria explore every path from a leaf’s surface to its reaction center at once, boosting efficiency above 95 percent.



Conscious brains need speed too. Billions of spikes firing every second must sync without overheating, so borrowing the same superposition trick inside microtubules could make sense.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/schrodingers-cat-put-into-silicon-chip-may-be-holy-grail-for-error-proof-quantum-computing/">Quantum</a> effects usually demand refrigerators at near -460 °F (-273°C), yet nature keeps finding loopholes. 



The myelin biphoton study shows entanglement survives at 98 °F (36.7°C), while plant complexes stay coherent at room temperature.



Together these results erode the biggest objection to a quantum mind.



“The mind, as a quantum phenomenon, would shape the way we think about a wide variety of related questions, such as whether coma patients or nonhuman animals are conscious. We will have entered a new era in our understanding of who we are,” commented Wiest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cosmic-quantum-entanglement">Cosmic quantum entanglement</h2>



Because quantum entanglement links objects instantly, regardless of distance, every collapse in your cortex might already be braided with particles beyond Earth. 



Penrose’s equations even allow those linkages to stretch across the cosmos, hinting that subjective experience could share the same physical substrate as spacetime itself.



Skeptics point out that correlation is not causation; anesthetics also modulate <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526124/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GABA receptors</a>. Yet the rat data show that tweaking microtubules alone meaningfully delays loss of righting reflex, so the tubes can’t be mere bystanders.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-critics-still-want-clearer-answers">Critics still want clearer answers</h2>



Not all researchers are convinced that microtubules are doing anything more than keeping neurons structurally intact. 



The idea that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-form-of-quantum-entanglement-discovered-will-transform-next-gen-technology/">quantum</a> events in the brain drive consciousness still lacks direct confirmation in humans, and many neuroscientists argue that existing brain imaging already maps consciousness without needing quantum physics.



Some physicists also remain skeptical because the predicted effects are subtle, hard to isolate, and often overlap with classical explanations. 



They point out that without a repeatable, testable prediction that is unique to quantum consciousness, one that can’t be explained by ordinary biology, the theory risks sounding more philosophical than scientific.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-for-quantum-consciousness-theory">Next steps for quantum consciousness theory</h2>



Engineers are developing noninvasive terahertz scanners that lock onto microtubule resonances through the skull, hoping to watch consciousness flicker on and off during sleep and surgery. 



Early <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/27/3/243">prototypes</a> detect subtle electromagnetic signatures that vanish when animals go under anaesthetic and rebound on waking.



If future trials map those signatures to perception, therapies might follow. Stabilizing microtubules could ease anesthesia in chemotherapy patients or counteract disorders of awareness. 



Reversible entanglement clues might even inspire brain‑wide <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radical-theory-unites-gravity-spacetime-and-the-quantum-realm/">quantum</a> networks that are faster than today’s silicon.



For now, the universe‑wide consciousness model remains a daring explanation rather than proven fact. Still, each year brings fresh data that chip away at the classical firewall between mind and matter, and the conversation is shifting from “if” to “how.”



The studies were published in <a href="https://www.eneuro.org/content/11/8/ENEURO.0291-24.2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eNeuro</a> and <a href="https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.110.024402" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Physical Review E</a>.



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Theory suggests that consciousness is a quantum process, connecting us all to the entire universe

Our minds feel very private and unique to each of...

In cities and countryside alike, bees, hoverflies, and other pollinators face a common problem - dwindling food supplies. As meadows vanish and flower diversity shrinks, pollinators struggle to find the nectar and pollen they need to survive. 



Concerned citizens have begun planting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-flowers-grow-perfectly-despite-chaotic-gene-activity/">wildflowers</a> in gardens and parks to help, but there’s one lingering question: which flower mixes actually work best?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-identifying-the-best-flower-mixes">Identifying the best flower mixes</h2>



For years, suggestions came from well-meaning enthusiasts, local guides, or plant sellers. But until recently, there wasn’t enough science to back up these recommendations. 



That’s where a collaborative study led by botanists from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/">University of Copenhagen</a> and the National Botanic Garden of Wales stepped in. They created, tested, and compared flower seed mixes using both field trials and systematic data reviews.



The goal was to identify flower mixes that truly support bees, hoverflies, and solitary bees - and look good doing it.



“Much of our knowledge in this area is anecdotal. So, there was a need for a scientific approach, where we systematically test different flowers to be sure how we can best help pollinators, which are extremely important to our ecosystems,” said Professor Natasha de Vere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-testing-flower-mixes-in-real-gardens">Testing flower mixes in real gardens</h2>



The researchers reviewed 447 studies and tested flower mixes in real garden plots. They compared four commercial seed mixes and two experimental blends. Some contained only native plants, while others combined native and non-native species.



“We can see that seed mixtures containing both non-native and native flowering <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flowering-plants-appeared-two-million-years-earlier-than-we-thought/">plants</a> establish themselves better in the soil, bloom for longer, and have more visits from pollinators. And they are also most attractive to the human eye,” said Professor de Vere.



Public preference also aligned with the data. In a survey at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, visitors overwhelmingly chose the non-native mixes as their favorites.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-flowers-work-best">Which flowers work best?</h2>



Based on the combined studies and field tests, these flowers emerged as top choices for pollinator-friendly seed mixes:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Achillea millefolium (Yarrow)</li>



<li>Anthemis arvensis (Corn chamomile)</li>



<li>Centaurea cyanus (Cornflower)</li>



<li>Echium plantagineum (Purple viper’s bugloss)</li>



<li>Glebionis segetum (Corn marigold)</li>



<li>Papaver rhoeas (Common poppy)</li>



<li>Sinapis arvensis (Field mustard)</li>



<li>Tripleurospermum inodorum (Scentless chamomile)</li>



<li>Cosmos bipinnatus (Garden cosmos)</li>



<li>Linaria maroccana (Moroccan toadflax)</li>



<li>Phacelia tanacetifolia (Common phacelia)</li>
</ul>



Many of these species showed consistent flowering from July through October. Some, like G. segetum, attracted over 50% of hoverfly visits. 



Bumblebees preferred cosmos and cornflower. Solitary bees favored scentless chamomile and corn chamomile.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mixing-native-and-non-native-flowers">Mixing native and non-native flowers</h2>



Non-native plants in mixes extended the flowering season and increased diversity. This combination also improved visual impact and public engagement. Visitors responded positively to mixes with bright colors and layered blooming patterns.



Some mixes were tailored specifically to bumblebees or hoverflies. These attracted their target pollinators but also benefited others. For example, the bumblebee-specific <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-ai-cant-truly-understand-a-flower/">mix</a> also drew honeybees in high numbers.



However, solitary bees were harder to attract. They may need nesting resources nearby, such as bare soil or cavity spaces. Their low numbers in the trials suggest they need more than just flowers to thrive.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-even-small-spaces-can-be-supportive">Even small spaces can be supportive</h2>



Professor de Vere emphasized that everyone can contribute. You don’t need a large garden. A few square meters of the right plants and flower mixes can provide critical food sources.



"It has become quite popular to plant strips of flowers in urban areas and in gardens where there may have been only grass lawns before. This is because flowers are good for bees, but also for our mental health," noted Professor de Vere.



“It is important that everyone does something to help - and even small changes can really make a difference. I myself only have a small backyard, which I have filled with the best plants for pollinators, and it is now full of bees and hoverflies.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-designing-the-perfect-pollinator-mix">Designing the perfect pollinator mix</h2>



The researchers followed a clear decision process to select plants. First, they eliminated invasive or banned species. 



Next, the team considered pollinator interaction records, horticultural value, cost, and flower traits. Plants were kept if they had over 10 verified pollinator interactions and were easy to grow from seed.



The researchers emphasized the need for both floral and nesting resources. For hoverflies, aquatic features or decaying wood may be key. Bees benefit from undisturbed soil and safe, pesticide-free environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-flower-mixes-that-work">The flower mixes that work</h2>



Mixes with both native and non-native species work best. They provide long-lasting blooms, visual appeal, and food for many types of pollinators. If you're planning your garden or advising a community project, focus on these top performers.



The best results came from blends that included G. segetum, C. bipinnatus, T. inodorum, and A. arvensis. These flowers dominated in both aesthetic surveys and insect visitation counts.



To help pollinators, plant smart. Choose flowers backed by science. And remember, even one flower bed can make a difference.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppp3.70041" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plants People Planet</a>.



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Both bees and humans like these flower mixes the best

In cities and countryside alike, bees, hoverflies, and other pollinators...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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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

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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;



---



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

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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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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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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

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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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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



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 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



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 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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Stowers...

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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



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.

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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



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.

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



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.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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