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A new study argues that the first urban civilization of Sumer in southern Mesopotamia emerged from a landscape shaped by tides, rivers, and shifting sediments at the head of the Persian Gulf.



Early farmers tapped a dependable, twice-daily pulse of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanishing-freshwater-earth-continents-are-rapidly-drying-out/">fresh water</a> to grow crops and date groves with simple canals. When the tides withdrew, the system unraveled, forcing societies to reinvent how they managed land and water - setting the stage for city-states and large public works.



The study was led by Liviu Giosan, a senior scientist emeritus in geology and geophysics at the <a href="https://www.clemson.edu/cafls/baruch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sumer-s-world-shaped-by-water">Sumer’s world shaped by water</h2>



“Our results show that Sumer was literally and culturally built on the rhythms of water,” Giosan said.



“The cyclical patterns of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-warming-is-subtly-changing-the-tides/">tides</a>, together with delta morphodynamics - how the form or shape of a landscape changes over time due to dynamic processes - were deeply woven into the myths, innovations, and daily lives of the Sumerians.”



For millennia, Sumer’s reputation has rested on its inventions: writing, the wheel, planned fields, and temple economies across city-states like Ur, Uruk, and Lagash. The new work reframes those achievements as responses to a coastal world that would not sit still.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-water-reached-deep-into-mesopotamia">Water reached deep into Mesopotamia</h2>



From roughly 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Persian Gulf extended far inland. Twice a day, tides pushed tongues of freshened water up the lower Tigris and Euphrates. In that setting, short lateral canals could lift and spread water without monumental infrastructure.



The hydrology was predictable. Fields and groves thrived. Villages clustered along channels, harvesting fish, reeds, and fertile silt while tending irrigated plots.



That coastal geometry did not last. As the great rivers constructed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-does-saturns-moon-titan-have-rivers-but-not-deltas-scientists-have-an-idea/">deltas</a> at the head of the Gulf, tidal reach shrank, channels silted up, and access to the interior by tide was severed. The dependable pulse that once watered fields began to fail.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-water-crisis-to-power">From water crisis to power</h2>



The loss of tides likely set off an ecological and economic crisis. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flood-fatalities-experts-reveal-the-hidden-health-impacts/">Floods</a> became wilder, droughts harsher, and salt more intrusive. 



To cope, communities scaled up. They cut long canals, raised levees, and coordinated labor across wider territories. Those efforts - irrigation, flood protection, and engineered landscapes - came to define Sumer’s golden age.



Study co-author Reed Goodman is an assistant professor of environmental social science in the <a href="https://www.clemson.edu/cafls/baruch/">Baruch Institute of Social Ecology and Forest Science</a> at Clemson University.



“We often picture ancient landscapes as static,” Goodman said. “But the Mesopotamian delta was anything but. Its restless, shifting land demanded ingenuity and cooperation, sparking some of history's first intensive farming and pioneering bold social experiments.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gods-floods-and-power"><a></a>Gods, floods, and power</h2>



Water shaped belief as well as practice across Mesopotamia. Flood narratives and a water-centered pantheon fit a world where seas advanced and retreated, and rivers remade the land. 



Political order followed the flow, too, as leaders who organized water earned authority.



“The radical conclusions of this study are clear in what we're finding at Lagash,” said Holly Pittman, director of the Penn Museum's <a href="https://www.penn.museum/research/project.php?pid=219">Lagash Archaeological Project</a>. “Rapid environmental change fostered inequality, political consolidation, and the ideologies of the world's first urban society.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rebuilding-the-ancient-coast"><a></a>Rebuilding the ancient coast</h2>



To test their ideas, the team blended paleoenvironmental evidence with archaeology and remote sensing. They assembled ancient environmental and landscape data, analyzed new samples from Lagash, and mapped preserved channels, levees, and shorelines with satellite imagery.



The result is a coastal reconstruction that shows where tides once ran, where deltas prograded, and how settlements tracked those changes.



The picture is of a coast in motion: a tide-fed mosaic that promoted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ideas-traveled-farther-than-people-in-the-early-days-of-farming/">early agriculture</a> with minimal engineering, followed by a deltaic cutoff that compelled canal states and complex governance. In that sequence, myth and innovation sit alongside mud and tide as co-authors of civilization.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sumer-s-changing-stage">Sumer’s changing stage</h2>



Sumer has often been treated as a fixed stage on which cities appeared. This study argues the stage itself kept changing. The earliest farmers exploited a fortunate hydrological rhythm. When that rhythm stopped, societies did not collapse - they transformed. 



They built the first large-scale waterworks in Mesopotamia, formalized hierarchies, and encoded water’s power into ritual and law.



“Our work highlights both the opportunities and perils of social reinvention in the face of severe environmental crisis,” Giosan explained.



“Beyond this modern lesson, it is always surprising to find real history hidden in myth - and truly interdisciplinary research like ours can help uncover it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-water-modern-warning">Ancient water, modern warning</h2>



The through-line is sobering and timely. Coastal systems are never still. As seas rise and deltas shift today, communities face versions of challenges the Sumerians knew well: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salinity-is-rising-in-coastal-areas-and-hurting-farmlands/">salinity</a>, erratic floods, silt-clogged channels, and the need for collective action. 



The Sumerian experience shows both the gains of cooperation and the costs of delay. Sumer may be the cradle of urban life, but it was also a proving ground for living with change. 



The first cities in Mesopotamia did not just master water. They learned, repeatedly, to live by its rhythms - and to rebuild when those rhythms changed.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0329084" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PLOS One</a>.



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Water shaped the world’s first urban society in ancient Mesopotamia

A new study argues that the first urban civilization of...

Americans are carving out far less time to read for pleasure than they did two decades ago. The drop is large, sustained, and uneven across communities.&nbsp;



In a new study, experts warn the slide could carry cultural, educational, and health costs if it continues.



Researchers at the University of Florida (UF) <a href="https://www.artsinmedicine.arts.ufl.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Center for Arts in Medicine</a> analyzed 20 years of time-use data from more than 236,000 U.S. residents. The study revealed a decline of more than 40% in daily leisure reading since 2003.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-steep-steady-decline">A steep, steady decline </h2>



Study co-author Jill Sonke is co-director of the EpiArts Lab, a National Endowment for the Arts research lab at UF in partnership with <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University College London</a> (UCL).&nbsp;



“This is not just a small dip - it's a sustained, steady decline of about 3% per year,” said Sonke. “It's significant, and it's deeply concerning.”



The trend does not mean everyone has stopped reading. It does mean that, as a nation, fewer people now choose a book, magazine, or long article when they have time to spare.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-is-reading-less-in-america">Who is reading less in America?</h2>



The downturn is not evenly distributed. Steeper declines were found among Black Americans than white Americans, among people with lower incomes or less formal education, and in rural areas compared with metropolitan ones. Even among groups that tend to read more, the pattern is shifting.



“While people with higher education levels and women are still more likely to read, even among these groups, we're seeing shifts,” said lead author Jessica Bone, a senior research fellow in statistics and epidemiology at UCL.&nbsp;



“And among those who do read, the time spent reading has increased slightly, which may suggest a polarization, where some people are reading more while many have stopped reading altogether.”



Reading with children held steady over the period, which is encouraging. But it happens far less often than adults reading for themselves, despite its outsized importance for early literacy and family bonds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-leisure-reading-and-daily-life-nbsp">Leisure reading and daily life&nbsp;</h2>



The <a href="https://www.bls.gov/tus/">American Time Use Survey</a> offers a granular window into daily life. It captures how people actually spend their hours, not how they wish they did.



“We're working with incredibly detailed data about how people spend their days,” Bone said. “And because it's a representative sample of U.S. residents in private households, we can look not just at the national trend, but at how it plays out across different communities.”



Over two decades, the pattern is consistent: the share of people reporting any leisure reading on a given day keeps shrinking.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-leisure-reading-nbsp">Significance of leisure reading&nbsp;</h2>



“Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life,” Sonke said. “When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it's a serious loss.”



Leisure reading supports language growth, empathy, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/surprising-limits-of-human-imagination-revealed-by-science/">imagination</a>, and lifelong learning. Prior work from the EpiArts Lab links creative engagement to better mental health and well-being.&nbsp;



A national retreat from reading could ripple through classrooms, workplaces, and communities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-americans-may-be-reading-less">Why Americans may be reading less</h2>



The study did not test causes, but the authors point to likely drivers. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/screen-time-and-mental-health-a-vicious-cycle-for-kids/">Screens</a> now compete for nearly every spare minute. Economic pressures have squeezed leisure time. Access to books and libraries remains uneven.



“Our digital culture is certainly part of the story,” Sonke said. “But there are also structural issues - limited access to reading materials, economic insecurity, and a national decline in leisure time.”



“If you're working multiple jobs or dealing with transportation barriers in a rural area, a trip to the library may just not be feasible.”



Thus, the decline is not only about preference. For many households, it is about time, money, and proximity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-might-help">What might help</h2>



Interventions can work, the authors argue, but they must be targeted and practical. One of the strongest levers is at home.



“Reading with children is one of the most promising avenues,” said Daisy Fancourt, a UCL professor and co-director of the EpiArts Lab. “It supports not only language and literacy, but empathy, social bonding, emotional development, and school readiness.”



According to the researchers, communities can also make reading easier and more social.



“Ideally, we'd make local libraries more accessible and attractive, encourage book groups, and make reading a more social and supported activity - not just something done in isolation,” Bone added.



Those steps can lower barriers, especially where transportation or cost limits access to books.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-stakes-for-public-health">The stakes for public health</h2>



“Reading has always been one of the more accessible ways to support well-being,” Fancourt said. “To see this kind of decline is concerning because the research is clear: reading is a vital health-enhancing behavior for every group within society, with benefits across the life-course.”



Reversing the slide will take more than nostalgia. It will require policies that protect library budgets, widen digital and physical access to books, and give families back a bit of free time. It will also take creative programs that make reading feel communal and joyful again.



The data show a country drifting away from a simple, proven habit. The choice now is whether to let that drift continue - or to rebuild the everyday moments that keep reading alive.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)01549-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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America’s cultural crisis: Reading less, scrolling more

Americans are carving out far less time to read for...

For centuries, humans have gazed into the night sky, wondering what lies beyond the planets we know. Each new discovery in the Solar System reshapes our sense of place in the cosmos.



Now, astronomers are once again pointing to the possibility of an unseen world - one that may be orbiting far beyond Neptune. This hypothetical body has been given the tentative name "Planet Y."



The idea of hidden <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mars-captured-in-true-color-like-youve-never-seen-the-red-planet-before/">planets</a> is not new. Astronomers once speculated about Planet X, which was believed to be seven times Earth’s mass and orbiting 50 times farther from the Sun than Earth.



That idea was mostly debunked. Later came Planet Nine, a still-viable candidate about 10 times Earth’s mass, at least 300 times farther from the Sun. Now, evidence is mounting for yet another contender.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warped-orbits-suggest-hidden-planet">Warped orbits suggest hidden planet</h2>



Amir Siraj at <a href="https://www.princeton.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Princeton University</a> and his colleagues suggest a new possibility. They noticed a warping effect in the orbits of some Kuiper belt objects, a distant region filled with icy remnants, including Pluto. 



“If that warp is real, the simplest explanation is an undiscovered inclined planet,” Siraj said.



This <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-earth-like-planet-may-be-hiding-just-beyond-neptune/">potential world</a> would be smaller than Earth but larger than Mercury, orbiting 100 to 200 times farther from the Sun than Earth does. 



Its gravity seems to nudge nearby objects about 15 degrees out of the solar system’s flat plane, like ripples disturbing a lake’s surface.



“Our signal is modest, but credible,” Siraj said, estimating just a two to four percent chance of being a fluke. Early evidence for Planet Nine carried similar odds, though the signatures differ. 



Planet Nine would tug objects toward it, while this “Planet Y” appears to tilt orbits out of alignment. In theory, both worlds could exist at once.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unexplained-kuiper-belt-tilt">Unexplained Kuiper belt tilt</h2>



The new research shows that if no hidden planets exist, the average plane of the Kuiper belt should align with the invariable plane of the solar system.



 However, astronomers now detect a clear warp between 80 and 200 astronomical units (AU).



This tilt is unlikely to be primordial, since natural orbital precession would erase it in less than 100 million years. For the warp to persist, something must be maintaining it - such as the gravity of a hidden planet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-the-kuiper-belt">Understanding the Kuiper Belt</h2>



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/streaming-instability-hypothesis-altjira-system-kuiper-belt-hubble-three-body-system/">Kuiper Belt</a> is a vast region of space that lies just beyond Neptune, stretching from about 30 to 55 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. 



Think of it as a cosmic neighborhood filled with icy bodies, leftover building blocks from the early solar system. 



These objects never formed into a planet because Neptune’s gravity stirred things up, keeping them scattered. 



Some are as small as a mountain, while others, like Pluto, are large enough to be considered dwarf planets. The Kuiper Belt is also the source of many comets that swing into the inner solar system.



The objects out there are made of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eris-and-makemake-icy-dwarf-planets-in-our-own-solar-system-may-support-life/">ice, rock, and frozen gases</a> - substances that have barely changed in billions of years - making it like an enormous time capsule, preserving materials from the solar system’s earliest days.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-possible-planet-y-scenarios">Possible Planet Y scenarios</h2>



Jonti Horner at the <a href="https://www.unisq.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Southern Queensland</a> in Australia sees this as possible.



“It plays into the fact that we simply don’t know what’s out there. It’s only in the last couple of decades that we’ve really started to explore the space beyond Neptune,” he said.



Astronomers believe such planets might not have formed so far from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/widest-high-resolution-photo-of-the-sun-ever-captured-solar-orbiter/">Sun</a>. Instead, they could have been scattered outward early in the Solar System’s history. “Scattering seems more likely,” Horner said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-models-support-planet-y-theory">Models support Planet Y theory</h2>



Numerical experiments suggest that a planet with a mass between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-there-life-on-mercury-possibly-in-the-planets-craters-study-reveals/">Mercury</a> and Earth, an orbit of roughly 100 to 200 AU, and an inclination greater than 10 degrees could maintain the observed warp.



Lower-mass bodies like Pluto could contribute, but far less effectively. Planets more massive than Earth would cause distortions in nearer regions, making them poor fits for the data.



The proposed Planet Y differs from Planet Nine in both location and influence. Planet Nine, if real, is thought to explain the clustering of orbital paths at great distances. Planet Y, by contrast, would explain why the Kuiper belt’s average plane is warped.



“The signature is different,” Siraj said, emphasizing that both ideas could coexist without contradiction.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-search-for-hidden-worlds-continues">Search for hidden worlds continues</h2>



The outer solar system is one of astronomy’s greatest frontiers, and the next decade promises breakthroughs. 



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-images-from-the-vera-c-rubin-observatory-are-breathtaking/">Vera C. Rubin Observatory</a> will soon begin its 10-year survey, mapping the night sky in unprecedented detail. This facility could spot Planet Y directly or confirm indirect signs of its influence.



“Rubin will rapidly expand the catalog of well-measured trans-Neptunian objects,” Siraj said. If Planet Y exists, “within the survey’s first few years” we may either see it or gather stronger proof of its gravitational effects.



For now, Planet Y remains hypothetical, a hint drawn from subtle orbital patterns. But history shows that careful attention to small irregularities can reveal great discoveries. 



From Neptune’s prediction in the 19th century to Pluto’s identification in the 20th, the search for hidden worlds has always reshaped our cosmic understanding. If Planet Y is real, it may soon step from speculation into fact.



The study is published in <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14156" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arXiv</a>.



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Astronomers find signs of a new world called "Planet Y" hiding in our own Solar System

For centuries, humans have gazed into the night sky, wondering...

For millions of Americans, daily life involves coping with altered vision, from blurriness to complete blindness. Glasses and contact lenses offer solutions, yet many prefer not to rely on them. 



In response, hundreds of thousands turn to corrective eye surgeries every year. Among the most common is LASIK, a laser-assisted procedure that reshapes the cornea to sharpen sight.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-lasik-has-limits">Why LASIK has limits</h2>



Although considered safe, LASIK comes with risks. Cutting into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-eyes-retina-sync-everything-they-see-before-sending-visual-signals-to-the-brain/">cornea</a> weakens the eye’s structure and can cause unwanted side effects. Researchers are now working on a way to reshape the cornea without any incisions at all.



Michael Hill, a professor of chemistry at <a href="https://www.oxy.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Occidental College</a>, is presenting this new work at the <a href="https://www.acs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Chemical Society</a>’s Fall 2025 meeting.



“LASIK is just a fancy way of doing traditional surgery. It’s still carving tissue - it’s just carving with a laser,” said Hill. The new method asks a simple question: what if reshaping the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eye-strain-in-young-adults-is-linked-to-the-type-of-content-consumed/">cornea</a> required no cutting?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-discovery-of-a-lasik-alternative">Discovery of a LASIK alternative </h2>



Hill and collaborator Brian Wong, a professor and surgeon at the&nbsp;<a href="https://uci.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of California, Irvine</a>, are exploring electromechanical reshaping (EMR). 



“The whole effect was discovered by accident. I was looking at living tissues as moldable materials and discovered this whole process of chemical modification,” noted Wong.



The team's approach relies on the chemistry of collagen-rich tissues, which hold their shape through charged molecular bonds and high water content. 



By applying an electric potential, the experts can temporarily loosen these bonds, making the tissue malleable. Restoring the original conditions then locks in the new form.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-electric-reshaping-on-corneas">Electric reshaping on corneas</h2>



Electromechanical reshaping (EMR) was first tested on animal tissues like rabbit ears and pig skin, where it successfully reshaped cartilage and reduced scars. Because the cornea is also rich in collagen, the researchers saw it as an ideal next step.



The team designed platinum “contact lenses” that could act as electrodes, providing both a template for the desired curvature and a tool to deliver a controlled electric current. 



In experiments, these lenses were placed on rabbit eyeballs immersed in a saline solution that mimicked natural tears. When a small electric charge was applied, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/your-eyes-vision-could-alert-you-to-dementia-alzheimers-disease-up-to-12-years-earlier/">cornea</a> softened and quickly molded itself to the shape of the lens.



Within just a minute, the cornea had adopted its new curvature. This was comparable in speed to LASIK surgery but did not involve cutting, required simpler tools, and avoided risks linked to incisions, making it a promising alternative for future vision correction.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-testing-on-rabbit-eyes">Testing on rabbit eyes</h2>



The team ran trials on 12 rabbit eyeballs, simulating myopia in most of them. In every case, the treatment adjusted the focusing power toward clearer vision. The corneal cells survived, thanks to careful control of pH gradients.



Beyond vision correction, EMR showed potential in reversing certain types of corneal cloudiness. Currently, that condition can only be treated with a full transplant, making this approach especially promising.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hurdles-before-human-trials">Hurdles before human trials</h2>



Despite encouraging results, research on this LASIK alternative remains at an early stage. Wong emphasized that the next steps involve “the long march through animal studies that are detailed and precise,” including experiments on living rabbits.



The team also wants to map the full range of corrections EMR could offer, from astigmatism to farsightedness. But scientific funding uncertainties have slowed progress. 



“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic. But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible,” noted Hill.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-forward">Looking forward</h2>



If electromechanical reshaping proves successful, it could transform vision correction by eliminating the need for surgical cuts. The method uses electricity to gently reshape the cornea, offering a safer and less invasive option. 



Unlike LASIK, it may lower risks and reduce costs. This innovation has the potential to make clearer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/long-space-missions-in-microgravity-take-a-toll-on-astronauts-eyes/">vision</a> accessible to more people while preserving the eye’s natural strength and structure.



Ultimately, the study represents a shift in how vision correction could be approached in the future.



The research was supported by the <a href="https://www.nei.nih.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Eye Institute</a> of the National Institutes of Health and the John Stauffer Charitable Trust. 



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LASIK alternative reshapes vision with electricity, not lasers

For millions of Americans, daily life involves coping with altered...

A team using <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/garden-sprinkler-s-shaped-jet-found-distant-neutron-star-circinus-x1/">MeerKAT in South Africa</a> spotted a new repeating source of short, sharp radio pulses and, within days, tracked it through an intense outburst that produced hundreds of events across multiple frequency bands.



These bursts belong to a class known as fast radio burst (<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farthest-known-fast-radio-burst-traced-to-rare-cluster-of-galaxies/">FRB</a>) events, which last only milliseconds and come from far beyond our galaxy, with properties that let astronomers study matter scattered across the universe.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-capturing-the-radio-bursts">Capturing the radio bursts</h2>



Lead author <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1914-877X" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jun Tian</a> of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at The University of Manchester (<a href="https://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JBCA</a>) and collaborators in the MeerTRAP project used MeerKAT’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-detect-more-than-20-mysterious-radio-signals-from-space/">real time system</a> to search for fast transients while other observations were running.



“FRB 20240619D was first discovered on 2024 June 19 with three bursts being detected within two minutes in the MeerKAT L-band,” wrote Tian. 



A week later, the team followed up across ultra high frequency, L band, and S band and recorded a total of 249 bursts.



That pace puts the source among the most active repeaters seen so far, and it gives scientists a rare chance to compare how burst counts change with observing frequency in the same time window.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-radio-bursts-revealed">What the radio bursts revealed</h2>



The catalog shows a clear frequency preference during the campaign, with far more activity centered in the L band than at lower or higher radio frequencies, a clue that the burst energy distribution turns over near that range.



Individual pulses are often confined to slices of the band rather than filling the entire tuning, and some show substructures that drift downward in frequency over time, a pattern common in repeaters and important for modeling the emission region.



In several other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/glitching-star-explains-cosmic-radio-bursts/">repeaters</a>, microsecond and even nanosecond scale features have been measured, pointing to compact emission zones and rapid variability that are hard to reconcile with distant shock models.



The new source adds to that picture by presenting complex, sometimes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-radio-burst-frb-20220610a-reaches-earth-after-8-billion-year-journey/">multi-component bursts</a> that change their frequency drift from one sub burst to the next, which strengthens the case for small scale structure close to the engine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-polarization-plays-a-role">Polarization plays a role</h2>



Polarimetric data show most bursts are nearly fully linearly polarized, with a significant minority carrying measurable circular polarization, a combination that narrows the viable physical models for where and how these pulses arise.



Highly ordered polarization and fast microstructure often point to emission produced in or very near the magnetic environment of a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unusual-activity-detected-from-earths-closest-magnetar/">magnetar</a>, rather than far from the star in an external shock, as seen in other active repeaters.



Across the pulse window, the polarization angle can stay flat, swing smoothly, or jump between levels, which hints at dynamic geometry or propagation effects in the local plasma around the source.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-optical-flash-tighter-limits">No optical flash, tighter limits</h2>



Alongside the radio work, the team coordinated optical observations with the <a href="https://astro.ru.nl/blackgem/?page_id=76" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MeerLICHT</a> telescope and reported a stringent upper limit on any simultaneous optical flash at the burst times&nbsp;



“We find no optical counterpart of FRB 20240619D in the MeerLICHT optical observations,” wrote Tian.



For context, independent programs have been pushing optical searches to millisecond time resolution and are beginning to set even deeper fluence ratio limits in other repeating sources. 



This helps to rule out bright optical companions to the radio bursts on those time scales.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-the-source">Tracking the source</h2>



Astronomers have long debated whether repeating and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fast-radio-burst-frb-20240209a-detected-from-dead-galaxy-should-not-be-possible/">non-repeating FRBs</a> come from the same kind of source or if they reflect different origins. 



Some models suggest highly magnetized neutron stars undergoing starquakes, while others point to interactions between compact objects in binary systems. 



The extreme activity of <a href="https://www.wis-tns.org/object/FRB20240619D/discovery-cert" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FRB 20240619D</a> gives researchers a chance to test these ideas against detailed data.



Earlier repeaters such as <a href="https://www.wis-tns.org/object/FRB20121102A/discovery-cert" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FRB 20121102A</a> and <a href="https://www.wis-tns.org/object/FRB20201124A/discovery-cert" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FRB 20201124A</a> also produced storms of hundreds of bursts per hour, and the similarities between them and the new source could mean there is a common underlying mechanism. 



Careful comparison of their timing, polarization, and frequency behavior will be crucial for narrowing down which physical processes are responsible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-deep-space-radio-bursts-matter">Why deep space radio bursts matter</h2>



By capturing hundreds of radio bursts in a very short period of time, the well documented campaign lets researchers take several important steps. 



They can test how burst counts scale with radio fluence, measure dispersion measure and rotation measure precisely, and compare activity across frequencies without months of waiting.



Because FRBs accumulate signals as they cross intergalactic space, they can trace otherwise invisible ionized gas, so tracking their activity and pinpointing hosts helps map the cosmic web and its <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-radio-burst-frb-20220610a-reaches-earth-after-8-billion-year-journey/">missing baryons</a>.



The study is published in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/540/2/1685/8131527" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</a>.



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Repetitive radio bursts from deep space hit Earth hundreds of times in a matter of minutes

A team using MeerKAT in South Africa spotted a new...

The brain plays a constant role in managing blood sugar, one of the body’s most vital energy sources. Every cell depends on glucose, and it’s the brain that helps prevent levels from rising too high or dropping too low.



For years, researchers have understood how the nervous system responds in emergencies like fasting or sudden dips in sugar, but its role in everyday control hasn’t been as clear. 



That gap in knowledge has left big questions about how the body keeps itself stable from one day to the next. It also explains why even small disruptions in this system can set the stage for health problems over time.



Recent work shows that specific neurons in the brain take on the everyday task of keeping <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/squats-vs-walking-the-definitive-winner-for-reducing-blood-sugar/">blood sugar</a> steady under normal conditions. It’s another important clue to how the brain helps the body maintain its energy balance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-master-regulator-in-the-brain">A master regulator in the brain</h2>



The hypothalamus, a small region deep in the brain, is already known as a master regulator. It controls <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-has-a-meal-memory-that-controls-hunger/">hunger</a>, temperature, fear responses, and even <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/does-your-finger-length-predict-sexual-behavior-a-rat-study-says-yes/">sexual behavior</a>. 



Within it lies the ventromedial nucleus, a hub that past studies linked to raising blood sugar during stressful events. What scientists wanted to know was whether this region also contributes during calm, routine conditions - like sleep.



The answer, it turns out, is yes. Researchers at the University of Michigan’s <a href="https://diabetes.med.umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Caswell Diabetes Institute</a> have pinpointed a set of neurons, called VMHCckbr neurons, that take on this task. 



These cells contain a protein known as the cholecystokinin b receptor, and their role becomes especially important overnight.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-night-shift-for-neurons">Night shift for neurons</h2>



By studying mice, the team discovered that VMHCckbr neurons spring into action in the first few hours after bedtime. 



Study co-author Dr. Alison Affinati described the important role of the neurons - which act as a safety net that operates while we sleep.



“In the first four hours after you go to bed, these neurons ensure that you have enough glucose so that you don't become hypoglycemic overnight,” explained Dr. Affinati.



The process works through <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/late-morning-exercise-may-burn-more-fat/">fat metabolism</a>. The neurons signal the body to start lipolysis, breaking down stored fat into glycerol. That glycerol is then converted into sugar, helping keep glucose levels stable until morning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-blood-sugar-control-at-night">Blood sugar control at night</h2>



To test how crucial these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-complete-map-of-every-neuron-in-the-brain-revealed/">neurons</a> are, the researchers turned them off in mouse models. When silenced, blood sugar control faltered during the early fasting hours of the night. 



On the other hand, when the neurons were activated, glycerol levels rose, confirming their role in fueling overnight glucose production.



This activity may also shed light on prediabetes. People with prediabetes often show an increase in nighttime lipolysis. The study suggests that overactive VMHCckbr neurons could be part of the reason their blood sugar runs high.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-than-a-simple-switch">More than a simple switch</h2>



“Our studies show that the control of glucose is not an on-or-off switch as previously thought,” said Dr. Affinati. 



“Different populations of neurons work together, and everything gets turned on in an emergency. However, under routine conditions, it allows for subtle changes.”



This layered system ensures flexibility. One group of neurons may control fat breakdown, while others likely fine-tune sugar balance through different mechanisms involving the liver or pancreas. 



That teamwork allows the body to adjust to different states - eating, fasting, or stress - without slipping into dangerous extremes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-brain-s-next-puzzle">The brain’s next puzzle</h2>



Scientists now aim to determine how all the various neurons in the ventromedial nucleus fit together. One part of that is mapping how brain signals feed into the liver and pancreas, which are key players in maintaining blood sugar levels. 



Dissecting these connections could ultimately lead to new ways to attack metabolic disorders like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-can-counteract-the-genetic-risk-for-diabetes/">diabetes</a>, which afflicts millions of individuals.



What this research makes unmistakably clear is that blood sugar regulation is not all about crises - it's something the brain is doing every day. 



When we’re asleep, these neurons work quietly in the background, keeping balance so we have the fuel that we need in the morning.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2212877825001231">Molecular Metabolism</a>.



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How blood sugar stays steady overnight: Hidden network revealed

The brain plays a constant role in managing blood sugar,...

Giraffes are instantly recognizable with their tall necks, patterned coats, and slow strides across African plains. For a long time, scientists believed they were all one species. New research shows that’s not the case.



A detailed analysis shows that giraffes aren’t one single group, but four separate species. This discovery reshapes conservation and forces a fresh look at Africa’s most iconic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-giraffe-day-2025-calls-for-urgent-action-to-save-giraffes/">animal</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-discovery-of-four-giraffe-species">Discovery of four giraffe species</h2>



After years of genetic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giraffes-have-gut-bacteria-that-are-unaffected-by-their-diet/#google_vignette">analysis</a>, researchers have identified four distinct giraffe species. These include Northern giraffes, reticulated giraffes, Masai giraffes, and Southern giraffes.



Michael Brown from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (<a href="https://iucn.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN</a>) explained why the split matters. 



“Each species has different population sizes, threats and conservation needs,” said Brown. “When you lump giraffes all together, it muddies the narrative.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-giraffes-face-various-threats">Giraffes face various threats</h2>



Northern and Masai giraffes face very different pressures. Northern giraffes live in South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic, where conflict and poaching continue to shrink their populations. 



Masai giraffes in Kenya and Tanzania confront another problem - rapid habitat loss. Expanding farms and cattle grazing steadily replace open savannas, leaving less room for giraffes to roam. 



These contrasting threats highlight why conservation cannot treat all giraffes as one group.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unique-conservation-needs-of-giraffes">Unique conservation needs of giraffes</h2>



Each species lives in unique conditions, shaped by political, social, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giraffes-hate-slopes-and-its-threatening-their-survival/">environmental factors</a>, and each requires tailored strategies to prevent further decline and secure its future in the wild.



In Uganda’s Kidepo Valley National Park, Northern giraffes show just how fragile the situation has become. 



Stuart Pimm, an ecologist from <a href="https://duke.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Duke University</a>, praised the new classification. “Considering four giraffe species is absolutely the right decision, and it’s long overdue,” he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-science-reveals-differences">Modern science reveals differences</h2>



Old studies focused on the giraffe’s coat. Spots seemed like a clue, but they were not considered strong enough evidence to define multiple species.



In more recent studies, researchers used genetic sequencing and skull comparisons to find differences. Even the giraffe’s bony head protrusions, often mistaken for horns, carry distinctions.



The task force behind the current study argued that taxonomy is never just academic. It shapes how funds get used, how laws protect animals, and how people understand risk. Getting the classification wrong means protecting the wrong populations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-genetics-reshape-giraffe-conservation">Genetics reshape giraffe conservation</h2>



Stephanie Fennessy from the&nbsp;<a href="https://giraffeconservation.org/">Giraffe Conservation Foundation</a>&nbsp;highlighted how falling sequencing costs transformed giraffe research. Two decades ago, analyzing a single genome cost tens of thousands of dollars, making large-scale studies nearly impossible. 



Today, the cost is around $100, a dramatic drop that opened access for nonprofit groups and conservationists. 



With this affordability, researchers gathered over 2,000 genetic samples from giraffes across Africa, building a vast dataset that reshaped understanding of giraffe diversity. But the assessment emphasized that genetics alone cannot carry the burden of taxonomy.



Strong conclusions need multiple forms of evidence. Anatomy, such as skull differences, and ecological patterns, like habitat ranges, must align with genetic data to build a reliable picture. If classifications depend only on one source, conservation planning risks misdirection. 



By combining disciplines, scientists ensure that strategies reflect reality, giving giraffes a better chance at survival in an increasingly pressured environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-population-counts-show-urgency">Population counts show urgency</h2>



Population counts reveal the stakes. Northern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giraffes-are-suffering-a-silent-extinction-and-need-more-protection/">giraffes</a> are the scarcest, with around 7,000 left. "It’s one of the most threatened large mammals in the world,” said Fennessy. 



Reticulated giraffes number around 21,000, while Masai giraffes total nearly 44,000. Southern giraffes have the strongest population, with about 69,000 individuals remaining.



These numbers show why the new classification matters. Without separating species, losses in one group hide behind stability in another. With clarity, strategies can actually match the dangers each group faces.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protecting-giraffes-individually">Protecting giraffes individually</h2>



The story of giraffes and their conservation is no longer simple. “If not all giraffes are the same, then we have to protect them individually," said Fennessy.



A change in perspective could determine giraffes’ future in Africa - either remaining a familiar presence or vanishing from the wild. 



Science now provides conservationists with stronger tools to act. The pressing challenge is simple yet urgent: will these tools be applied effectively before it becomes too late?



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Recognizing different giraffe species is crucial for conservation

Giraffes are instantly recognizable with their tall necks, patterned coats,...

Forests hold our climate together. They store carbon, balance rainfall, and shelter more life than we can count. Among them, the Amazon and Andes stand out. These vast forests feed rivers, shape weather, and anchor communities of plants, animals, and people.



But they are now falling behind. A new study by <a href="https://www.wfu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wake Forest University</a> and international partners shows that tree communities in the region are not adjusting fast enough to rising temperatures. 



Decades of monitoring reveal that while some forests near the cloud base shift slightly, most remain stuck. That slow pace threatens not just biodiversity, but also the services humans rely on every day.



"These <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-are-lagging-centuries-behind-in-climate-adaptation/">forests</a> are simply not keeping up with climate change," said lead author William Farfan-Rios of Wake Forest University. "The result is a growing climatic debt that threatens the integrity and functioning of the most diverse forests on Earth."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forests-lag-behind-climate-change">Forests lag behind climate change</h2>



The team followed 66,000 trees across 2,500 species for more than 40 years. They expected to see warm-adapted species slowly replacing those suited to cooler conditions - a process known as thermophilization. But the forests told a different story.



From the low Amazon basin to the high Andes, tree communities showed almost no sign of this shift. Trees grew, died, and recruited, yet the overall balance barely moved. 



Scientists call this gap between climate warming and ecological response a climatic debt. If that debt builds, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/old-growth-forests-remain-earths-strongest-carbon-vaults/">forests</a> risk crossing thresholds that they cannot recover from.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stress-at-the-cloud-base">Stress at the cloud base</h2>



The clearest signs of strain appeared in mid-elevation <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-most-diverse-forests-are-failing-to-adapt-to-climate-change/">forests</a> between 1,200 and 2,000 meters. Here, mortality of cool-adapted trees rose sharply. These cloud-base forests seem to carry the heaviest burden of warming.



The Amazon lowlands, by contrast, showed little consistent movement at all. On the surface, that looks stable. In reality, it signals trouble ahead. 



Heat stress and drought will hit harder in the coming decades, and these forests have no hotter-adapted species waiting to take over.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forests-must-change-with-climate">Forests must change with climate</h2>



The Amazon and Andes together hold the greatest variety of life on Earth. They also act as giant carbon sponges, slowing the buildup of greenhouse gases. 



If their tree communities fail to adapt, the consequences will spread far beyond South America. Carbon storage will shrink, species will vanish, and ecosystems could unravel.



"You have to be there for long periods of time to understand how these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protecting-forests-helps-birds-and-humans-in-many-ways/">forests</a> change," said co-author Miles Silman of Wake Forest University. 



"If we lose these climate observatories, these natural labs, we blind ourselves to our future. What we found is that forests are changing, but they're not changing in the ways that make them resilient to climate change."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limits-of-forest-adaptation">Limits of forest adaptation</h2>



Tree communities simply cannot keep pace with today’s speed of warming. Individual trees die within decades, but species turnover takes centuries. 



On top of that, forests need dispersers and pollinators to expand into new ranges. Yet many of these animals are disappearing as habitats shrink.



"They also need the full complement of animal dispersers and pollinators to help expand their range - and loss of habitat is shrinking their ranks," noted Silman. 



"If you look at the magnitude of changes happening in the Andes-Amazon, the forest communities likely are not going to keep up. That's why research like this is important."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-decades-of-data-serve-as-a-warning">Decades of data serve as a warning</h2>



Tropical species face sharper limits than temperate ones. They tolerate only narrow temperature ranges, and they often have nowhere warmer to move. In the lowlands, for example, no hotter-adapted species exist to take over. That leaves communities locked in place.



This study, authored by more than 20 scientists across the Americas and Europe, draws on decades of collaboration. 



Networks like ABERG, RAINFOR, and <a href="https://www.forestplots.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ForestPlots.net</a> made it possible to track forests over long stretches of time. The collective data show that the tropics, once thought resilient, may be less able to adjust than forests in temperate zones.



The message is stark. The world’s most diverse forests are changing, but too slowly to match the heat. If this pattern continues, the Andes and Amazon could face tipping points that threaten both ecosystems and people.



For now, continued monitoring remains vital. These forests act as early warning systems, showing us how nature responds to climate stress. Without them, we lose both knowledge and time.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2425619122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Forests are not adapting fast enough to climate change

Forests hold our climate together. They store carbon, balance rainfall,...

Extinction stories are not just about the past. They tell us how fragile survival can be. The cave bear that once dominated Europe was adaptable, widespread, and seemed secure. Yet around 25,000 years ago it disappeared.



Cave <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/polar-bear-cubs-are-emerging-earlier-from-dens/">bears</a> vanished after climate change, dwindling resources, and human pressure collided. This deadly mix shows survival requires more than adaptability. 



Modern bears now face similar overlapping threats. Their future depends on reducing these pressures before resilience alone proves insufficient - as history already warned with the extinction of cave bears.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-cave-bear-bones-revealed">What cave bear bones revealed</h2>



The study was led by <a href="https://www.uclan.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Central Lancashire</a>&nbsp;archaeologist Dr. Jennifer Jones, along with colleagues from Spain, Serbia, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University College London</a>. 



The team examined cave bear remains from Šalitrena Pećina in Serbia. The bones, more than 40,000 years old, still held chemical traces of the bears’ diets.



The study overturned old assumptions, showing cave bears were flexible eaters. Instead of relying on one food, they consumed plants from forests, open landscapes, and even lichens. 



This adaptability should have improved their survival odds, yet environmental upheaval and human pressures proved stronger than their dietary range.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adaptable-but-not-invincible">Adaptable but not invincible</h2>



During the last Ice Age, Europe’s climate shifted dramatically, with colder temperatures, longer winters, and shrinking vegetation reduced food supplies.



At the same time, humans expanded into their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brown-bears-move-where-their-food-grows/">habitats</a>, competing for shelter and hunting bears. Neanderthals and modern humans occupied caves once essential for hibernation. 



Predators like hyenas further stressed populations by preying on vulnerable cubs. Each threat alone might have been manageable, but together they overwhelmed even a resilient species. 



The combination of climate stress, human pressure, and natural predation pushed cave bears past their survival threshold.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pressure-from-every-side">Pressure from every side</h2>



"Our study found that cave bears were flexible and could adapt to local conditions, much more so than previously thought. But when large-scale climate change was combined with human expansion, even a resilient species couldn't cope," said Dr. Jones. 



"This should serve as a warning for us as we explore ways of protecting endangered bears today."



Cave bears were strong, but they were not immune. Humans occupied caves, cut into their territory, and hunted them. The bears’ story is not just about climate, but about pressure from every side.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-bears-at-risk">Modern bears at risk</h2>



Today, six out of eight bear <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grizzly-bears-help-huckleberries-thrive-in-a-changing-climate/">species</a> face the same kind of squeeze. In Europe, only about 17,000 to 20,000 brown bears remain. They live across more than 20 countries, but in small, scattered groups. Some survive in mountains, others in forest patches, but few live in strong connected populations.



Habitat loss, poaching, and conflict with humans keep pushing them back. Climate change adds new stress. Isolation weakens their genetic strength. Every problem stacks on top of the last. 



Groups like the&nbsp;International Union for Conservation of Nature (<a href="https://www.iucn.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN</a>)&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Wildlife Fund</a>&nbsp;track these populations and warn of their growing vulnerability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-bear-survival">Lessons for bear survival</h2>



The cave bear’s extinction reveals that survival collapses under overlapping pressures, not a single cause. Climate, habitat loss, and human conflict together prove fatal. 



Today, brown bears and their relatives face the same dangerous mix, standing at a crossroads where combined threats could decide their future survival.



"We need to recognize that adaptability isn't enough for bear species to survive, if the threats against them continue to mount," said Dr. Jones. 



"The more pressure that we pile on today's wildlife like aggressive habitat loss, climate change and ongoing human conflicts, the smaller their chance of survival is."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-urgent-action-needed-to-protect-bears">Urgent action needed to protect bears </h2>



The past makes one point clear. Protecting today’s bears means lifting some of the heavy weight. That includes bigger habitats, safer food sources, and less conflict with humans. 



The study on cave bear extinction shows what happens when every margin of survival is erased. If we want brown bears to endure, the time to act is now.



Organizations like <a href="https://rewildingeurope.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rewilding Europe</a>&nbsp;already work to secure habitats and reconnect populations, but much more remains to be done.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14614103.2025.2521944" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Environmental Archaeology</a>.



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Extinct cave bears reveal threats to modern bears

Extinction stories are not just about the past. They tell...

Many of us associate air pollution with traffic, industry, or outdoor smog. Yet daily personal care routines can expose people to invisible risks within their own homes. 



Hair sprays, serums, and heat styling tools release <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scented-products-release-indoor-air-pollutants/">particles</a> so tiny they can slip deep into the lungs. New research reveals just how significant these exposures may be.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-billions-of-tiny-particles">Billions of tiny particles</h2>



A <a href="https://www.purdue.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Purdue University</a> team led by Nusrat Jung and Ph.D. student Jianghui Liu found that a 10-20 minute hair styling routine can produce more than 10 billion <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-dust-is-making-indoor-air-more-polluted-than-outside/">airborne nanoparticles</a>. 



These particles are smaller than 100 nanometers and can penetrate deeply into the lungs, triggering respiratory stress, inflammation, and even cognitive effects.



"This is really quite concerning," Jung said. "The number of nanoparticles inhaled from using typical, store-bought hair-care products was far greater than we ever anticipated."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-drives-the-release">Heat drives the release</h2>



The study shows that heating tools like straighteners or curlers are the primary drivers of nanoparticle release. 



At temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit, volatile and low-volatility chemicals rapidly evaporate, nucleate, and condense into dense clouds of particles. 



At 360 degrees and higher, sub-100 nanometer particles made up more than 95 percent of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cutting-super-pollutants-could-quickly-cool-the-planet/">emissions</a>.



"Atmospheric nanoparticle formation was especially responsive to these heat applications," Liu explained. "Heat is the main driver - cyclic siloxanes and other low-volatility ingredients volatilize, nucleate and grow into new nanoparticles, most of them smaller than 100 nanometers."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-harmful-hair-styling-chemicals">Harmful hair styling chemicals</h2>



Among the chemicals, D5 siloxane stands out. This ingredient is widespread in hair products because of its smooth texture and thermal stability. 



Yet it is very persistent in the environment and bioaccumulates in living organisms. Animal studies link D5 siloxane to respiratory, liver, and nervous system damage.



"When we first studied the emissions from hair care products during heat surges, we focused on the volatile chemicals that were released, and what we found was already quite concerning," Jung said. 



"But when we took an even closer look with aerosol instrumentation typically used to measure tailpipe exhaust, we discovered that these chemicals were generating bursts of anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 nanoparticles per cubic centimeter."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-than-one-pathway">More than one pathway</h2>



The Purdue study revealed that two mechanisms fuel nanoparticle creation. The first is volatilization of siloxanes and similar ingredients during heating. 



The second involves atmospheric chemistry: fragrance additives and terpenes can react with indoor ozone, producing secondary organic aerosols. 



Even when no heat was applied, some nanoparticle formation still occurred through these chemical reactions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-breathing-zone-risks">Breathing zone risks</h2>



Hair styling often happens close to the face, placing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millions-of-people-die-from-air-pollution-each-year-yet-theres-still-a-lack-of-monitoring/">emissions</a> directly in the breathing zone. Modeling shows that nanoparticles deposit most efficiently in the pulmonary region, the deepest part of the lungs. 



Pulmonary deposition rates for sub-100 nanometer particles are especially high, raising concern over repeated exposures from daily routines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hair-styling-products-and-tools-matter">Hair styling products and tools matter</h2>



The researchers found that temperature mattered more than product type. At 410 °F, more than 46 billion nanoparticles deposited in the respiratory system, compared to less than one billion at 300 °F. 



Long hair also led to higher doses, since longer styling times produced more emissions.



Interestingly, appliances behaved differently. Straighteners and curlers emitted the most ultrafine particles, while wavers generated fewer but larger particles. 



Even so, larger particles can carry greater mass, meaning risk cannot be judged by particle counts alone.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-safer-hair-styling-practices">Safer hair styling practices</h2>



For context, 20 minutes of hair straightening at high heat can equal the nanoparticle dose of 20-200 minutes of sitting in vehicle traffic or 30-100 minutes of exposure to urban outdoor air.



In poorly ventilated homes, these exposures can become even higher as particles linger longer in indoor air.



Jung and Liu recommend limiting the combined use of hair products and heat tools. If use cannot be avoided, ventilation becomes essential. Exhaust fans, open windows, or air purifiers can help reduce particle buildup.



"If you must use hair care products, limit their use and ensure the space is well ventilated," Liu said. "Even without heating appliances, better ventilation can reduce exposure to volatile chemicals, such as D5 siloxane, in these products."



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



Future studies aim to measure even smaller particles down to one nanometer and identify their chemical makeup. This will help clarify the full health implications of these emissions and refine strategies to reduce risks.



"By addressing these research gaps, future studies can provide a more holistic understanding of the emissions and exposures associated with heat-based hair styling, contributing to improved indoor air pollution assessments and mitigation strategies," Jung said.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c14384" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>.



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Hair styling releases billions of toxic nanoparticles that then enter your body

Many of us associate air pollution with traffic, industry, or...

A burst of radio energy from deep space just set a new record. It was brighter than anything like it ever seen before - and it came from a galaxy only 130 million light-years away. That’s unusually close by cosmic standards. 



The burst, known as a fast radio burst or FRB, lasted just a few milliseconds but packed enough power to outshine entire galaxies in radio light.



This one was so intense, scientists gave it a nickname: RBFLOAT - short for “radio brightest flash of all time.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-a-fast-radio-burst">What is a fast radio burst?</h2>



A <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fast-radio-bursts-from-space-may-be-signs-of-alien-life/">fast radio burst</a> is a short, intense spike of radio waves that lasts only a few milliseconds. That’s a thousandth of a second. But in that split second, it can outshine entire galaxies in the radio part of the spectrum. 



FRBs have been baffling astronomers since they were first discovered in 2007. Nobody knows for sure what causes them. But this new detection could finally help change that.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-rbfloat-is-a-big-deal">Why RBFLOAT is a big deal</h2>



The burst was detected by an international team using a network of radio telescopes known as CHIME - short for Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment - and a new system called the CHIME Outriggers. 



The Outriggers, located at separate sites across North America, give the main CHIME telescope a powerful upgrade. Together, they allow astronomers to pinpoint exactly where a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spacexs-starlink-satellites-leak-radio-signals-that-threaten-to-ruin-astronomy/">radio signal</a> came from. This precision made all the difference. 



On March 16, 2025, CHIME picked up an ultra-bright flash. It was so bright, in fact, that scientists weren’t sure if it was coming from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-radio-burst-frb-20220610a-reaches-earth-after-8-billion-year-journey/">deep space</a> or just a burst of radio interference here on Earth.



But the CHIME Outriggers quickly narrowed it down: the signal came from a galaxy called NGC 4141, located in the constellation Ursa Major.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-do-the-bursts-come-from">Where do the bursts come from?</h2>



The burst came from the outer edge of the galaxy - right near a region where new stars are being born. This area is hot, chaotic, and full of activity, which makes it a prime candidate for violent events like FRBs.



The current leading theory is that FRBs come from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/huge-outbursts-from-quiet-magnetars-have-a-surprising-source/">magnetars</a> - a type of neutron star with insanely strong magnetic fields. These stars are known for producing powerful flares, especially when they’re young. 



Because the burst came from just outside the star-forming region, it might have been produced by a magnetar that’s slightly older than most and had more time to develop.



“These are mostly hints,” said Kiyoshi Masui, associate professor of physics at <a href="https://web.mit.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MIT</a>. “But the precise localization of this burst is letting us dive into the details of how old an FRB source could be."



"If it were right in the middle, it would only be thousands of years old - very young for a star. This one, being on the edge, may have had a little more time to bake.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-eyes-on-the-sky">New eyes on the sky</h2>



CHIME was originally built to map <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-star-forming-hydrogen-cloud-discovered-surprisingly-close-to-earth-eos/">hydrogen</a> in space. But over time, it became clear that the telescope was picking up something else: FRBs. 



Since 2018, CHIME has detected about 4,000 fast radio bursts. However, until recently, it couldn’t tell exactly where the bursts were coming from.



That changed with the addition of the CHIME Outriggers - smaller versions of the telescope placed in different locations. When a flash is picked up, all of the telescopes work together to trace it back to a specific location in the sky.



“Imagine we are in New York and there’s a firefly in Florida that is bright for a thousandth of a second, which is usually how quick FRBs are,” said Shion Andrew, a graduate student at MIT’s Kavli Institute. 



“Localizing an FRB to a specific part of its host galaxy is analogous to figuring out not just what tree the firefly came from, but which branch it’s sitting on.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diversity-of-fast-radio-bursts">Diversity of fast radio bursts</h2>



Once they had locked in the location of RBFLOAT, scientists went back through six years of CHIME data to see if anything similar had been seen before in the same spot. Nothing was found. That puts RBFLOAT firmly in the “one-off” category - a burst that flares once and then goes silent.



“Right now we’re in the middle of this story of whether repeating and nonrepeating FRBs are different. These observations are putting together bits and pieces of the puzzle,” said Masui.



That’s a major question in FRB science: are the ones that repeat caused by something different than the one-time flashes? This discovery doesn’t answer that question - but it gives researchers a big piece of evidence to work with. 



Because it’s so bright and close, they can study the area around the burst in greater detail than ever before.



“There’s evidence to suggest that not all FRB progenitors are the same,” said Andrew. “We’re on track to localize hundreds of FRBs every year. The hope is that a larger sample of FRBs localized to their host environments can help reveal the full diversity of these populations.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-race-to-understand-frbs">The race to understand FRBs</h2>



For now, scientists are digging deeper into the data - studying not just the burst itself, but also its environment, its galaxy, and any signs of activity that might hint at what caused it. 



The discovery of RBFLOAT doesn’t solve the FRB mystery, but it’s one of the clearest clues yet.



The more fast radio bursts that scientists find and locate, the closer they’ll get to cracking the code. And with CHIME and its new Outriggers up and running, the race is on.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf62f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Astrophysical Journal Letters</a>.



Image Credit: Danielle Futselaar



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Astronomers spot the brightest fast radio burst on record

A burst of radio energy from deep space just set...

Rice feeds billions. It thrives in warm, wet fields and stores energy in a way that fits busy lives and tight budgets. Those same flooded fields can also make arsenic more available to rice plants, and some of that arsenic can end up in the grain.



A growing body of field evidence points to a new twist: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astonishing-global-heat-in-january-2025-defied-climate-expectations/">as the planet warms</a> and CO₂ rises, flooded soils lose oxygen more often and for longer stretches. That chemical shift frees arsenic from soil particles, and rice roots take up more of it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-rice-and-arsenic">Climate, rice, and arsenic</h2>



After years of outdoor trials, researchers report that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-water-day-2025-preserving-glaciers-protecting-our-future/">climate conditions</a> expected by mid-century would increase the flow of inorganic arsenic - the harmful form - from soil to plant to grain.



The work appears in a leading medical journal and was conducted by teams at Columbia University’s <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mailman School of Public Health</a>, with collaborators in China and the United States. 



“Our results suggest that this increase in arsenic levels could significantly elevate the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and other non-cancer health effects,” explained <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/profile/lewis-ziska" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Lewis Ziska</a>, associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia Mailman School.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-arsenic-is-in-rice">Why arsenic is in rice</h2>



Arsenic occurs naturally in many soils and waters. In paddies that stay flooded, oxygen dwindles. Iron minerals that normally bind arsenic dissolve, and arsenic becomes more mobile. 



Warmer conditions paired with higher CO₂ push that chemistry along, especially in fields that remain waterlogged. 



Under future settings - temperatures <a href="https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/why-did-ipcc-choose-2deg-c-goal-limiting-global-warming" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than 2°C</a> (about 3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels plus elevated CO₂ - the balance tilts toward more inorganic arsenic entering the plant.



That does not make every bowl risky. Local geology, irrigation sources, soil type, and farming practices all shape grain levels. It does mean that the odds can shift in places where paddies stay saturated for long periods.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-studying-rice-and-arsenic">Studying rice and arsenic</h2>



The scientists did not rely on short greenhouse trials. They grew 28 rice varieties outdoors for roughly a decade using a Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (<a href="https://ess.science.energy.gov/face/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FACE</a>) system.



This process releases extra CO₂ around crops in the open air so that sunlight, wind, microbes, and soil behave as they do in real life.



Those long-running field data then fed into models linking plant arsenic levels to typical rice intake and body size across major <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/feeding-the-world-without-harming-nature-the-complex-balance-of-farming/">rice-eating countries</a> in Asia.



The projections indicate a sizable shift in risk. Lifetime cancer risks, particularly for lung and bladder cancer, increased by 44% relative to ambient conditions. China alone may face 19.3 million excess cancer cases related to arsenic exposure through rice. 



“From a health perspective, the toxicological effects of chronic iAs exposure are well established; and include cancers of the lung, bladder, and skin, as well as ischemic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heart-disease-kills-differently-now-than-five-decades-ago/">heart disease</a>,” said Dr. Ziska.



Non-cancer outcomes also matter. The modeling points to increased risks for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases tied to long-term inorganic arsenic exposure in populations with high rice intake.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-risks-are-the-highest">Where risks are the highest</h2>



Diet and water sources shape exposure. Regions where rice is a daily staple and paddies are often kept flooded will see the largest impacts under warmer, CO₂-richer conditions. 



“Ingesting rice in regions like southern China and Southeast and South Asia is already a significant source of dietary arsenic and cancer risk,” said Dr. Ziska.



Within countries, irrigation that draws from arsenic-rich groundwater can raise grain levels. Varieties also differ in how strongly they transport arsenic from roots to grain, which creates room for practical solutions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-this-is-bad-what-can-be-done">This is bad, what can be done?</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetic-fixes-may-save-crops-from-climate-stress/">Plant breeding</a> can help: select and develop varieties that limit arsenic uptake even when soils push it toward the roots. Breeders already see large differences among rice lines in how much arsenic reaches the grain. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trillions-of-cubic-meters-of-water-is-used-to-grow-crops-each-year/">Water management</a> is another lever. Continuous flooding increases arsenic mobility, while giving soils time to drain lets oxygen return, which can hold arsenic in less available forms.



Post-harvest steps matter too. Milling and cooking methods can reduce how much arsenic ends up on the plate. 



No single fix works everywhere. Shifting water regimes, for example, can raise cadmium in some settings, so local testing and tailored management are essential to avoid trading one problem for another.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limits-and-moving-parts">Limits and moving parts</h2>



Any mid-century projection carries uncertainty. Policies can bend emissions paths, and farmers adapt as technology and economics shift. 



Diets change with income, urbanization, and migration. The underlying processes are well established. The decade of fieldwork done for this study adds weight because it includes real weather, pests, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/engineered-plant-microbiomes-the-future-of-crop-protection/">microbial communities</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rice-arsenic-and-human-health">Rice, arsenic, and human health</h2>



Rice remains a staple food, and the findings from this research don't claim that every bowl on every table becomes unsafe. Instead, the scientists point to smarter ways of managing risk and a need to act upstream.



Farmers can adjust irrigation where feasible. Breeders can favor varieties that move less arsenic to the grain. Public health agencies can track arsenic in grains and irrigation sources to guide choices in hotspots. 



“Our study underscores the urgent need for action to reduce arsenic exposure in rice, especially as climate change continues to affect <a href="https://www.nifa.usda.gov/topics/global-food-security" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">global food security</a>,” said Dr. Ziska.



Keeping rice safe in a warming world is within reach: breed smarter, water smarter, process smarter—and cut emissions, because the air over our fields follows us to the table.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(25)00055-5/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Lancet Planetary Health</a>.



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Study finds that the 'king of poisons' is building up in rice fields around the world

Rice feeds billions. It thrives in warm, wet fields and...

From the songs of dawn to the soaring silhouettes over oceans, birds often inspire us with grace and freedom. Yet, beyond their beauty lies a deeper role: they act as movers of nutrients, linking land, sea, and sky. 



Just as whales recycle nutrients through their excretions, seabirds may quietly influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seabird-flights-and-amazing-feeding-behavior-in-the-ocean-captured-with-tiny-cameras/">marine life</a> with something far less glamorous: their droppings.



While bird guano has long been known as a rich fertilizer for land and coastal ecosystems, what happens in the open sea is still a mystery. 



Researchers recently turned their eyes to an unlikely subject, bathroom habits of seabirds far from shore. What they uncovered sheds light on how even the smallest actions can ripple across vast ecosystems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seabirds-that-only-poop-midair">Seabirds that only poop midair</h2>



On Japan’s remote islands, researchers noticed something unusual about streaked shearwaters. Instead of relieving themselves while floating, these seabirds poop midair. 



The study revealed that the birds follow this routine every 4 to 10 minutes. This aerial approach may keep them clean and at the same time fertilize the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-is-harming-seabirds-even-more-than-we-realized/">ocean</a> below.



Study lead author Leo Uesaka from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Tokyo</a> explained that the initial focus of the research had nothing to do with bird waste. 



“I was studying how seabirds run on sea surface to take off,” said Uesaka. “While watching the video, I was surprised that they dropped feces very frequently. I thought it was funny at first, but it turned out to be more interesting and important for marine ecology.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seabird-poop-and-ocean-nutrients">Seabird poop and ocean nutrients</h2>



Seabird droppings are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. On land, they enhance soils and boost coastal ecosystems. Yet, their impact at sea remains less explored. 



Streaked shearwaters and their relatives, with populations totaling around 424 million, may deliver a steady nutrient supply to the open <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seabirds-have-highly-sensitive-beaks-to-locate-food/">ocean</a>. These nutrients support plankton - the foundation of marine life.



The new study compared this process to the “whale pump,” in which whales recycle nutrients through their excretion.



Just like whales, vast seabird populations may shape marine productivity through their waste. This makes their periodic bathroom habits more than just a quirk - they could influence entire food webs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seabirds-avoid-pooping-in-water">Seabirds avoid pooping in water</h2>



The team strapped tiny backward-facing cameras, the size of erasers, to 15 shearwaters. They recorded nearly 200 bathroom events. 



The footage showed that the birds usually relieved themselves after takeoff. Some even took off briefly just to poop, returning to the water moments later.



Interestingly, nearly all excretion occurred midair. Only one recorded event happened while floating. This suggests the birds actively avoid releasing waste on the surface. 



Researchers believe this may help seabirds keep feathers clean, reduce pathogen risks, avoid predators, and release nutrients into the ocean. The flight posture may also make it easier to exert gut pressure compared to floating.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-patterns-and-body-weight">Patterns and body weight</h2>



“Streaked shearwaters have very long and narrow wings, good for gliding, not flapping,” said Uesaka. 



“They have to flap their wings vigorously to take off, which exhausts them. This means the risk of excreting on the sea surface outweighs the effort to take off. There must be a strong reason behind that.”



The research uncovered another surprising detail: the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shrinking-sea-ice-makes-it-harder-for-seabirds-to-find-food/">birds</a> kept a steady rhythm, often every few minutes, regardless of how much time passed after eating. Each bird excreted about 30 grams per hour, more than 5% of its body weight. 



That rapid loss could help lighten their load mid-flight, making gliding more efficient. This finding challenges earlier land-based estimates, which suggested lower excretion rates.



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



While the waste of a single bird seems trivial, the collective output of millions becomes immense. Their droppings may transport nutrients far from breeding colonies, enriching distant ocean waters. This influence might be crucial in areas where seabirds gather in large numbers.



The study also raises a health dimension. Seabird feces can carry pathogens like avian influenza. If excreted in shared feeding grounds, they might spread diseases across colonies. 



This possibility highlights how seabird behavior links not only to nutrient cycles but also to marine epidemiology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seabirds-and-hidden-nutrients">Seabirds and hidden nutrients</h2>



“We don’t know why they keep this excretion rhythm, but there must be a reason,” said Uesaka. 



He plans to expand studies with longer-lasting cameras and GPS to map where droppings fall at sea. "Feces are important. But people don’t really think about it," said Uesaka.



Ultimately, the study shows that even small, seemingly insignificant behaviors can shape ecosystems. What seems trivial may hold vital clues to how life sustains itself across the oceans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)00818-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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Seabirds only poop when they are flying, and that's a great thing for the ocean

From the songs of dawn to the soaring silhouettes over...

Some of the first human settlers in the Americas carried more than primitive skills and tools, they also brought a small but powerful genetic variant called MUC19. 



That gene fragment, inherited from an extinct hominin called Denisovans, appears to have helped early people cope with new diseases, foods, and landscapes.



In a new study, a team of scientists led by the University of Colorado Boulder (<a href="https://www.colorado.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CU Boulder</a>), with collaborators including <a href="https://www.brown.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brown University</a>, traced a Denisovan-derived variant of a gene called MUC19 that is unusually common in people with Indigenous American ancestry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-denisovans-gave-us-muc19">Denisovans gave us MUC19</h2>



“In terms of evolution, this is an incredible leap,” said Fernando Villanea, an assistant professor in the Anthropology department at CU Boulder and a lead author of the study. “It shows an amount of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-most-diverse-forests-are-failing-to-adapt-to-climate-change/">adaptation</a> and resilience within a population that is simply amazing.”



The result ties a deep past event to a much later journey. Long before humans crossed the Bering Strait ice corridors, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mysterious-denisovan-species-humans-lived-undisturbed-tibetan-plateau-160000-years/">Denisovans</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-link-autism-to-neanderthal-dna-genetic-variants-found-in-modern-humans/">Neanderthals</a> interbred.



Later, Neanderthals and humans did the same. Along that chain, a Denisovan version of MUC19 made its way into some human populations. Natural selection then favored it in the Americas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extinct-cousins-left-their-mark">Extinct cousins left their mark</h2>



Denisovans were close cousins of both humans and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-analysis-reveals-most-recent-modern-human-to-interbreed-with-neanderthals/">Neanderthals</a>. They ranged from Siberia south toward Oceania and west onto the Tibetan Plateau. 



Fossil traces are sparse, and the first recognized Denisovan was identified only 15 years ago through DNA in a bone fragment.



Like Neanderthals, Denisovans likely had prominent brow ridges and lacked chins - we think. What we know much more about is their genetic legacy. 



“We know more about their genomes and how their body chemistry behaves than we do about what they looked like,” Villanea said.



They left DNA behind in many modern people, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-evolution-not-random-can-be-predicted-pangenome-genetic-history/">shaping biology</a> from immunity to altitude tolerance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-muc19-improved-human-health">MUC19 improved human health</h2>



MUC19 sits in a family of 22 mucin genes in mammals. These genes help build mucus, a frontline barrier that protects tissues and traps pathogens. 



“It seems like MUC19 has a lot of functional consequences for health, but we’re only starting to understand these genes,” said Villanea.



Earlier work showed Denisovans carried a distinctive MUC19 sequence. Some modern humans inherited it. That kind of admixture was common in the ancient world. 



While all modern humans carry some Neanderthal DNA, only about 5 percent of us have Denisovan genes in our blood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-reveals-american-adaptation">DNA reveals American adaptation</h2>



Villanea and co-lead author David Peede examined already published <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-does-genome-size-impact-evolutionary-success/">genomes</a> from people in Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Colombia. 



They asked a simple question with big implications: Where is the Denisovan MUC19 variant most common?



The answer pointed to the Americas. Roughly one in three people of Mexican ancestry carries a copy of the Denisovan MUC19 variant. 



The signal is strongest on genomic segments that reflect Indigenous American heritage. In contrast, only about 1 percent of people with Central European ancestry carry it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-denisovan-core-neanderthal-shell">Denisovan core, Neanderthal shell</h2>



The team found another twist. The Denisovan segment sits inside a larger stretch of Neanderthal-derived DNA. “This DNA is like an Oreo, with a Denisovan center and Neanderthal cookies,” Villanea said.



That sandwich points to the path this gene likely took. Denisovans first passed MUC19 to Neanderthals. Later, Neanderthals passed that package to humans.



It is the first clear case of Denisovan DNA reaching humans through Neanderthals and not only through direct Denisovan-human mixing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-first-settlers-in-the-americas">First settlers in the Americas</h2>



After humans reached the Americas, selection seems to have boosted the Denisovan MUC19. Why here and not elsewhere? 



The first Americans faced environments unlike any their ancestors had known. New pathogens, new foods, new seasons and new terrains.



A mucus-related gene that improved barrier defenses or mucosal health may have offered an edge.



“All of a sudden, people had to find new ways to hunt, new ways to farm, and they developed really cool technology in response to those challenges,” noted Villanea. “But over 20,000 years, their bodies were also adapting at a biological level.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-genes-and-new-worlds">Ancient genes and new worlds</h2>



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthal-superhighways-through-eurasia-recreated-with-supercomputers/">migration</a> story spans ice, coastlines, and time. Early people moved from a shared ancestral population around the Bering Strait into a continent that contains rainforests, deserts, high mountains, and grasslands.



“What Indigenous American populations did was really incredible,” Villanea said. “They went from a common ancestor living around the Bering Strait to adapting biologically and culturally to this new continent that has every single type of biome in the world.”



Genes like MUC19 offer a record of that adaptation. They capture how ancient encounters with cousins like Denisovans left tools that descendants later used.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-muc19-humans-and-the-future">MUC19, humans, and the future</h2>



The team now wants to test what different versions of MUC19 do in living people. 



Does the Denisovan variant change mucus properties in the mouth, gut, or airways? Does it alter infection risk or inflammation? Those answers would connect a striking evolutionary story to present-day health.



For now, the lesson is broad. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-early-homo-species-discovered-lived-with-australopithecus-challenges-human-evolution-theory/">Human evolution</a> is not a straight line. It is a braided river with tributaries from Neanderthals and Denisovans. Some of those tributaries carried genes that mattered when humans stepped into a new world.



The first Americans adapted with ingenuity, culture, and technology - and, as this study shows, with a little help from very ancient DNA.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl0882%C3%B9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science</a>.



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DNA from extinct human cousins helped early humans colonize the Americas

Some of the first human settlers in the Americas carried...

Mountain forests don’t keep rising endlessly. At a certain point, trees run out of room to grow. A new global study shows why: cold temperatures set the upper limit everywhere, while water availability determines which tree species can survive close to that edge. 



This boundary, called the treeline, is where tall forests give way to smaller, scattered, and stunted growth. 



Research over decades has found that treelines align with temperature - not with a fixed altitude. They typically appear where the growing season lasts about 90 days and the average temperature hovers around 6.4°C (43.5°F).



The latest study was led by Yuyang Xie in the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (<a href="https://bio.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UNC</a>). 



The researchers pulled together one of the largest datasets of its kind to test a straightforward idea: heat sets the treeline’s height, while moisture determines which tree species can survive there.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cold-sets-mountain-tree-boundaries">Cold sets mountain tree boundaries</h2>



Xie’s team compiled more than 2,000 treeline records for dozens of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-evidence-reveals-ice-age-life-in-the-australian-blue-mountains/">mountain</a> regions. Across genera and continents, the uppermost trees appeared where local heat fell well below each species’ comfort zone.



“Heat deficits, averaging around 35 percent below genus and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-get-a-boost-from-diverse-neighbors-especially-in-wet-forests/">species</a> level thermal optima, consistently restrict the presence of treeline,” said Christian Körner, a plant ecologist at the <a href="https://www.unibas.ch/en.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Basel</a>.



Water availability then sorted which species could endure those margins. Sites with similar cold at the limit showed different species mixes depending on how wet or variable the climate was throughout the year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-predicting-treeline-shifts">Predicting treeline shifts</h2>



To move past one-size-fits-all models, the team introduced the Relative Distance to Optimum (RDO) index. It measures how far a species lives from the temperature and moisture it prefers.



RDO captures the slack or stress that a population carries at the limit, making projections of upslope or downslope shifts more precise for particular tree groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rainfall-steers-the-forest-edge">Rainfall steers the forest edge</h2>



Independent evidence backs the moisture filter. A Himalayan study found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tree-species-face-unprecedented-climate-shifts-across-their-ranges/">treelines</a> advanced faster on the wet eastern slopes but slowed or stalled on drier sites despite warming.



Spring precipitation emerged as a key control. The pattern reinforces the idea that water availability governs whether warming translates into actual upslope establishment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shifting-trees-impact-ecosystems">Shifting trees impact ecosystems</h2>



Treelines often lag behind climate change because trees take years to reach stature that qualifies as a tree. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rainforests-replanted-seedlings-after-logging-do-not-recover-well/">Seedlings</a> may appear far above today’s forest but remain shrubs for decades.



Local conditions can blunt simple warming signals. Windswept ridges that dry quickly can resist upward transitions, while lee slopes with late melting snow may shelter starts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-better-forecasts-for-forests">Better forecasts for forests</h2>



Land managers can think of treelines as following two simple rules. Cold determines how high trees can grow in a region, and water decides which species can survive near that limit. 



Forecasts that include species-specific tolerances will be more accurate than those based on temperature alone. Using RDO-style metrics can highlight areas where moisture is the main barrier, pointing to hotspots where monitoring or targeted planting could have the greatest impact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-map-shows-tree-limits">Map shows tree limits</h2>



The new map does not claim that water controls treeline height. Instead, it shows that cold fixes the height, while water determines which species can function there.



This framing explains why distant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-surprising-role-of-low-relief-mountain-ranges-in-climate-regulation/">mountain ranges</a> share similar thermal limits yet display very different tree lineups. It also explains why some places shift quickly while others hardly budge.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-research-refines-treelines">Climate research refines treelines</h2>



Improved climate data near the ground will help scientists better define the limits within which each species can survive. 



Long-term monitoring across the treeline zone will show whether seedlings are able to grow into mature trees or if their growth stalls at a younger stage.



The biggest gains will come from pairing physiology with climate. Knowing when populations live far from their optima can guide restoration and risk assessment before the forest edge moves. 



"Our findings highlight the synergic effects between heat and moisture in determining the taxonomic variation in treeline formation, offering insights for alpine treeline studies under climate change," the researchers concluded. 



The study is published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2504685122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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How cold air and water shape the limits of mountain trees

Mountain forests don’t keep rising endlessly. At a certain point,...

Lily Cups are a new generation in period protection: ultra-soft, environmentally friendly reusable menstrual cups made of 100% body-safe medical-grade silicone. Compact and collapsible to bring with you anywhere. Read more Overview Lily Cups are a new generation in period protection: ultra-soft, reusable menstrual cups made of medical-grade silicone. Collecting rather than absorbing menstrual flow, they respect your intimate balance and don't cause the dryness often associated with tampons. Lily Cups are perfectly shaped to fit your body for total comfort, covering the lightest to heaviest flows for up to 12 hours. The Lily Cup Compact is the world's first collapsible menstrual cup! Get the best of the Lily Cup in a compact, go-anywhere design. The Lily Cup Compact collapses flat into its protective case, which fits into your pocket or small purse. When you need it, simply pop it open for 10 hours of protection. Features & Benefits: Made from 100% body-safe medical-grade silicone Compact and collapses flat into its protective case to take with you anywhere Hypoallergenic, no irritation Environmentally friendly, lasts for years and is reusable; does the job of 1625 tampons! Protects intimate balance, doesn't absorb moisture, no dryness, fibers or odors No strings or padding, soft and flexible, forget you are wearing it Up to 12 hours of protection Can be worn all night long, worry-free Zero toxins; no link whatsoever to Toxic Shock Syndrome Easy grip stem for removal The only cup that can be rolled as thin as a tampon Instructions included in each box Comes in Size A and Size B (see below for size guide) Comes with convenient protective case Best for light to medium flow How to Use the Lily Cup Compact Using your lily cup is easy, and will become second-nature after a few uses. Simply expand, fold, insert, wear for up to 10 hours, remove, clean and collapse or re-use. Watch the video on the side bar of the product page for further information on how to use the cup, for folding options and tips. Instructions are also included in the box! Why Medical-Grade Silicone? Safe and healthy Medical-grade silicone is an ultra-safe, inert material that is developed especially for medical purposes. It is hypoallergenic, latex-free, phthalate-free, and contains zero toxins. Silicone is non-absorbent, so it respects pH and flora balance. Soft and comfortable The silicone used to make Lily Cups is super thin and flexible so that they can be folded very small. When inserted, they pop open easily and stay in place to keep you protected all day. The silicone of each Lily Cup has an incredibly soft and smooth finish; you don't even feel your cup when you're wearing it. Hygienic and easy to clean Silicone is non-porous so it inhibits bacterial growth, making it extra hygienic. The smooth surface of the cup makes it easy to clean with warm water and soap, and silicone is heat resistant so a Lily Cup can even be boiled for extra peace of mind. Choose the Best Size for You: Size A (Small) I have not given birth I have given birth by caesarean Size B (Large) I have given birth naturally I have a weaker pelvic floor Factors to Consider When Choosing Size Anatomy: This is a very important deciding factor when choosing your size. We recommend women with a smaller vaginal canal to use size A and those with a larger vaginal canal to use size B, regardless of age or menstrual flow. Pregnancy: Childbirth can often affect the shape of the vagina and weaken pelvic floor tone, size B is recommended to all women who have given birth naturally. Pelvic Floor Tone: The pelvic floor muscles, also known as vaginal muscles, play an important role when wearing a menstrual cup because they are the muscles which hold the cup in place. Like any other muscle group, aw we age they lose elasticity, often through pregnancy or hormonal changes. If you have been diagnosed with a weak pelvic floor or with a pelvic floor disorder such as incontinence, we recommend that you use size B. Virginity: We recommend that those who have not engaged in sexual intercourse to use size A. For those concerned about the hymen, please consult with your medical practitioner prior to use.

Intimina Lily Cup Compact Menstrual Cup

Lily Cups are a new generation in period protection: ultra-soft,...

Lily Cups are a new generation in period protection: ultra-soft, environmentally friendly reusable menstrual cups made of 100% body- safe medical-grade silicone. They are perfectly shaped to fit your body for total comfort, covering the lightest to heaviest flows for up to 12 hours. Read more Overview Lily Cups are a new generation in period protection: ultra-soft, reusable menstrual cups made of medical-grade silicone. Collecting rather than absorbing menstrual flow, they respect your intimate balance and don't cause the dryness often associated with tampons. Features & Benefits: Made from 100% body-safe medical-grade silicone Hypoallergenic, no irritation Environmentally friendly, lasts for years and is reusable; does the job of 1625 tampons! Protects intimate balance, doesn't absorb moisture, no dryness, fibers or odors No strings or padding, soft and flexible, forget you are wearing it Up to 12 hours of protection Can be worn all night long, worry-free Zero toxins; no link whatsoever to Toxic Shock Syndrome No-spill rim makes removal a breeze Easy grip stem for removal Invisible easy-insert 'spines' add rigidity for easy insertion The only cup that can be rolled as thin as a tampon Instructions included in each box Comes in Size A and Size B (see below for size guide) Comes with convenient carry pouch Best for light to heavy flow How to Use the Lily Cup Compact Using your lily cup is easy, and will become second-nature after a few uses. Simply fold, insert, wear for up to 12 hours, remove, clean and re-use. Watch the video on the side bar of the product page for further information on how to use the cup, for folding options and tips. Instructions are also included in the box! Why Medical-Grade Silicone? Safe and healthy Medical-grade silicone is an ultra-safe, inert material that is developed especially for medical purposes. It is hypoallergenic, latex-free, phthalate-free, and contains zero toxins. Silicone is non-absorbent, so it respects pH and flora balance. Soft and comfortable The silicone used to make Lily Cups is super thin and flexible so that they can be folded very small. When inserted, they pop open easily and stay in place to keep you protected all day. The silicone of each Lily Cup has an incredibly soft and smooth finish; you don't even feel your cup when you're wearing it. Hygienic and easy to clean Silicone is non-porous so it inhibits bacterial growth, making it extra hygienic. The smooth surface of the cup makes it easy to clean with warm water and soap, and silicone is heat resistant so a Lily Cup can even be boiled for extra peace of mind. Choose the Best Size for You: Size A (Small) I have not given birth I have given birth by caesarean Size B (Large) I have given birth naturally I have a weaker pelvic floor Factors to Consider When Choosing Size Anatomy: This is a very important deciding factor when choosing your size. We recommend women with a smaller vaginal canal to use size A and those with a larger vaginal canal to use size B, regardless of age or menstrual flow. Pregnancy: Childbirth can often affect the shape of the vagina and weaken pelvic floor tone, size B is recommended to all women who have given birth naturally. Pelvic Floor Tone: The pelvic floor muscles, also known as vaginal muscles, play an important role when wearing a menstrual cup because they are the muscles which hold the cup in place. Like any other muscle group, aw we age they lose elasticity, often through pregnancy or hormonal changes. If you have been diagnosed with a weak pelvic floor or with a pelvic floor disorder such as incontinence, we recommend that you use size B. Virginity: We recommend that those who have not engaged in sexual intercourse to use size A. For those concerned about the hymen, please consult with your medical practitioner prior to use.

Intimina Lily Cup Menstrual Cup

These elegant ivory tapers are hand dipped in 100% pure beeswax, creating long and even burning candles. This comes in a set of two. Read more Overview Each pair of ivory tapers has been hand dipped at least 20 times into vats of naturally filtered molten beeswax. This time-honored process creates dripless, smokeless, long burning tapers. Each candle burns for over 12 hours. Made from the nectar of flowers by industrious honeybees, pure beeswax emits a subtle honey-like fragrance. These tapers are natural and free of paraffin and other toxins. The wicks are made from 100% cotton and contain no lead or metal. Dimensions: 12" x 7/8".

Ivory Beeswax Tapers - Set of 2

These elegant ivory tapers are hand dipped in 100% pure...

A useful set of bamboo utensils - oval spoon, round spoon and spatula, perfectly sized for little hands! They are also an ideal size for camping and traveling. Read more Make dinner fun with your kids by inviting them to help prepare the meal. This set of utensils is sized right for smaller hands. Use the round spoon to mix cookies or cake batter, the spatula to turn eggs, and the oval spoon to stir soup or sauce. These utensils are also great for playtime. Features & Benefits: Set of 3 includes rounded spoon, oval spoon, and spatula Made from USDA certified organic bamboo Lightweight and stronger than wood Natural food-safe oil finish (no glues or lacquer) Hand wash for longer life Recommended for ages 3+ Size: 9 inches You can use Bamboo Goo to keep your cedar serving tray looking new for years to come.

Kids in the Kitchen Utensils Set

A useful set of bamboo utensils - oval spoon, round...

The Kill A Watt Edge Power Monitor measures the energy consumption and operating costs of your electronics to help you save energy and money over time. Read more Overview The Kill A Watt Edge has all the measuring capabilities of the original Kill A Watt electricity monitor, plus some new functions and user-friendly features. This advanced electricity monitor can calculate the consumption and cost of your devices when left in standby mode. Once you are familiar with these costs, they can be controlled with a programmable motion sensor, which turns off your items when you're not in the room. Over time, it will learn your consumption habits and tell you how much you saved by turning devices to "off mode". The Kill A Watt Edge is easy to read thanks to a tether that allows you to perch your meter nearby the item you are measuring without having to bend over or unplug the device to view data. Features & Benefits: Shows you the operating cost of your electronics Eliminates wasted power, both vampire & standby Calculates carbon footprint savings Built-in motion sensor Programmable and easy to use Dual display shows multiple lines of information at once 4.5 foot long cord for hard-to-reach plugs Overcurrent protected

Kill A Watt Edge

The Kill A Watt Edge Power Monitor measures the energy...

Use the Kill A Watt to monitor energy consumption of appliances around your home. Learn how much they cost to run, and then work to minimize their use. Read more Overview How much electricity does your computer use if you leave it on overnight? How much power does your TV use when on stand-by? A new energy efficient appliance may be able to pay for itself in lower electricity costs, but how will you know? Simply plug the Kill A Watt into a wall outlet and then connect your appliances to the monitor to find out how efficient or wasteful they really are. On the screen you will be able to monitor the kilowatt hour consumption of an item to learn how much it costs to run. You can determine your electrical expenses by day, week, or month. You may cycle through displays including voltage (volt), amperage (amp), wattage (watt), line frequency (Hz), and power factor (VA). Features: Large LCD display Cumulative Kilowatt-Hour Monitor Forecast your costs Also displays Volts, Amps, Watts, Hz, VA 0.2% Accuracy Specifications: Operative Voltage: 115 VAC Max Voltage: 125 VAC Max Current: 15 A Max Power: 1875 VA Weight: 5 oz. Approvals: ETL (c), ETL (us)

Kill A Watt Electricity Monitor

Use the Kill A Watt to monitor energy consumption of...

The King-Size Wool Comforter is hand-made using organic cotton fabric and Premium Eco-Wool. Each comforter measures 100" x 86" and is available in three distinct weights, for temperature regulation and breathability. Read more Overview These wool comforters are available in three distinct temperature weights: Cool Comfort, Perfect Comfort, or Extra Warmth. Most people choose the Perfect Comfort, unless they live in a very hot or cold climate, or if their body temperature tends to run hot or cold. Each comforter is hand stitched around the perimeter, and hand tufted in the middle to keep the wool in place and enable washing. Features & Benefits: Premium Eco-Wool batting Organic cotton sateen fabric cover Machine washable (gentle with special instructions) King size: 100 x 86 inches Handmade in the USA Wool Weight Options: Cool Comfort (3.75 lbs.) Perfect Comfort (5.2 lbs.) Extra Warmth (8.1 lbs.) How Much Warmth Do I Need? Cool Comfort: This temperature weight is best suited for: a hot natured person, a hot climate, or to be used in climates with mild winters where you can use this blanket in combination with others. Perfect Comfort: The most popular comforter weight, it can be used year round in most climates. You may want to add an extra blanket in the heart of winter, if needed. This comforter is ideal for partner sleeping. Extra Warmth: This temperature weight is best suited for those who tend to get cold. Great for people who sleep by themselves and tend to like a lot of covers.

King-Size Wool Comforter

The King-Size Wool Comforter is hand-made using organic cotton fabric...

The KitchenStone cleaning block offers safe and powerful cleaning of tough messes on kitchen surfaces. Made in the USA from 100% recycled glass bottles. Read more Overview The KitchenStone is an environmentally friendly cleaning block that provides non-toxic cleaning of baked-on messes in your kitchen. KitchenStone works great on hot and cold surfaces, and it can be safely used on most kitchenware including grills and ovens, stove burners, enamel and ceramic cookware, porcelain, tempered glass, bakeware, stoneware, tile and grout, and more. Completely chemical-free, the KitchenStone is a fast way to scrub away burnt food, grease, rust and stains. It won't clog or absorb odor-causing bacteria like sponges and scrubbers. Not recommended for use on stainless steel sinks and teflon coated, aluminum or copper cookware.

KitchenStone Cleaning Block

The KitchenStone cleaning block offers safe and powerful cleaning of...