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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Nanoparticles are threatening the stability of plant cells

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Earth is just three years away from a dangerous carbon milestone

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Obese mothers may trigger lifelong liver damage in babies

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

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