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In a fascinating new study, scientists documented 34 attempts by wild killer whales to give food to humans. These rare cases spanned four oceans and 20 years. Some happened near boats, others in open water or even from the shore. 



The events highlight the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-use-kelp-to-massage-and-groom-each-other/">orcas</a>’ possible interest in humans and raise important questions about whale intelligence, communication, and social behavior.



“Orcas often share food with each other - it’s a prosocial activity and a way that they build relationships with each other,” said study lead author Jared Towers, of <a href="https://baycetology.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bay Cetology</a> in British Columbia, Canada. “That they also share with humans may show their interest in relating to us as well.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-lives-of-killer-whales">Social lives of killer whales</h2>



Orcas live some of the most complex social lives in the animal kingdom. They stick together in tight-knit family groups called pods, usually led by an older matriarch. 



These family units aren’t just casual gatherings - they’re lifelong bonds. Calves stay with their mothers for life, swimming, hunting, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/photographer-captures-killer-whales-wearing-fish-hats/">playing together</a>. 



In some regions, pods form larger communities or clans that share unique vocal dialects, kind of like cultural accents passed down through generations. This tight social structure helps them coordinate during hunts and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-use-kelp-to-massage-and-groom-each-other/">protect each other</a> from threats.



But it’s not all business. Orcas socialize for the joy of it too. They engage in what clearly looks like play - tossing kelp, breaching dramatically, or nudging one another during underwater games. 



They form friendships beyond their pods and even flirt, showing preferences and personalities. These interactions suggest that orcas have emotional lives and a sense of identity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-orcas-gave-humans">What orcas gave humans</h2>



The 34 incidents involved six distinct populations of killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-helps-humans-have-20-minute-conversation-with-humpback-whale-named-twain/">whales</a>. They offered humans a total of 18 species: six fish, five mammals, three invertebrates, two birds, one reptile, and even one piece of seaweed.



In 97 percent of these cases, the orcas waited for a human response. Some hovered for several minutes. 



On several occasions, they tried again when the humans ignored or returned the offering. In two especially curious cases, whales retrieved birds after humans returned them, only to offer them again.



This behavior could be a form of interspecies curiosity, communication, or even social learning. As the authors suggest, these events might represent "generalized altruism" - an advanced trait observed in only a few social animals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exploration-more-than-play">Exploration more than play</h2>



Though play was observed in 38 percent of the interactions, the researchers argue most cases were not playful. The age of the whales varied widely, and many offered whole, fresh prey. 



In over 75 percent of ignored cases, the whales later used the prey for themselves or their group. This suggests the offerings had purpose and value, not just entertainment.



Curiosity-driven behavior, distinct from play, seemed a stronger motivator. As the study explains, animals often explore to reduce uncertainty. 



Offering food to humans might help orcas learn how we respond, just as they would with unfamiliar members of their own <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whales-blow-bubble-smoke-rings-near-humans-to-communicate/">species</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deep-social-intelligence-at-work">Deep social intelligence at work</h2>



Some whales returned the same item to humans multiple times. Others acted in pairs or small groups. 



Most of the 34 events involved a single whale separating from a larger group. This suggests the act was not for show. Rather, it might reflect the whale's individual decision to interact.



Interestingly, killer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-dolphin-brains-evolved-to-see-underwater-by-using-sound-echolocation/">whales</a> have also been documented cooperating with human fishers in places like Australia and Russia. The authors noted that this history could influence modern interactions, especially as human activity increases near their habitats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-whales-may-view-humans-as-companions">Whales may view humans as companions</h2>



Killer whales rank second only to humans in brain-to-body ratio. They also show advanced emotional and social behavior. 



These traits support complex social learning, reciprocal behavior, and possibly even empathy.



“Offering items to humans could simultaneously include opportunities for killer whales to practice learned cultural behavior, explore or play and in so doing learn about, manipulate or develop relationships with us,” the researchers wrote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-humans-should-not-approach-whales">Humans should not approach whales</h2>



Despite the remarkable nature of these encounters, the researchers urge caution. Orcas can show complex and sometimes unpredictable behavior. 



While no wild killer whale has killed a person, some interactions have been intense. They warn against seeking out such encounters or encouraging the behavior without proper permissions.



Most of these whales belonged to populations that hunt near the surface and share prey frequently. 



No deep-water, fish-only populations were involved. This suggests that cooperative surface hunting may lead to more frequent and visible interspecies interactions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-minds-of-whales-and-humans">Complex minds of whales and humans</h2>



The findings challenge our assumptions about human-animal relationships. If orcas are experimenting with ways to relate to us, it means they recognize us not as threats, but as potential social partners.



These whales are not just predators. They are thinkers, observers, and maybe, in some way, explorers of culture, curiosity, memory, learning, and emotion. 



Their actions suggest complex minds in both whales and humans, capable of choice, empathy, and communication.



The study is published in the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-29805-001.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Comparative Psychology</a>. 



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Killer whales are attempting to bond with humans, according to many observations

In a fascinating new study, scientists documented 34 attempts by...

Underwater volcanoes, in the area that is now South Africa, vented roughly 20,500 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the ocean-atmosphere system roughly 183 million years ago, crippling the oxygen cycle. 



Human activity between 1850 and 2019 has already pumped out about 2,390 gigatons of the gas. That’s 12 percent of the Jurassic total in less than two centuries.



<a href="https://www.gps.caltech.edu/people/francois-tissot" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Professor François Tissot</a> of the California Institute of Technology studies what came next for the Jurassic seas and what it might tell us about the fate of today’s oceans.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sudden-loss-of-ocean-oxygen">Sudden loss of ocean oxygen</h2>



Bands of limestone from southern Italy record the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825223003252" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event</a> (T-OAE), a span when oxygen vanished from vast tracts of seawater and many marine species disappeared. 



During the event, only 6 to 8 percent of the seafloor lay under dead, oxygen-starved water. Yet that area was 28 to 38 times larger than today’s anoxic patches. 



“You can see lots of fossils within ocean sediments before the T‑OAE, and then suddenly they disappear,” said Tissot.



The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0009254116305393" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Karoo‑Ferrar</a> large igneous province triggered the event by pouring out vast amounts of carbon. It heated the planet, slowed ocean mixing, and altered chemistry enough to pull oxygen from the water.



The anoxic spell lasted roughly 300,000 to 500,000 years, eventually easing as volcanic pulses waned and natural feedbacks rebalanced carbon and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-oxygen-supply-may-have-been-kick-started-by-volcanoes/">oxygen cycles</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-disrupted-ocean-life">Carbon disrupted ocean life</h2>



Surging greenhouse gases warmed surface waters, strengthened stratification, and blocked the downward draw of fresh <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-oxygen-discovery-deep-ocean-rocks-upends-centuries-of-scientific-beliefs/">oxygen</a>. 



Warmer water also holds less dissolved gas, so every degree of heating squeezed oxygen concentrations further.



Nutrient runoff from newly exposed volcanic ash likely spurred <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-algae-in-lake-erie-may-be-hiding-toxic-deadly-compounds/">algal blooms</a>. When that organic matter sank and decayed, it consumed even more oxygen in deeper layers.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/limestone-quarry_ancient-seabed_T-OAE-Map_credit-Tissot_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/limestone-quarry_ancient-seabed_T-OAE-Map_credit-Tissot_1s.webp" alt="Map of localities in which the T-OAE was previously recognized, along with our study site. Local anoxia refers to sites where redox proxy data reveal locally dysoxic to anoxic conditions. The site of the MSS is shown by the star in the Inset. KFCA-LIP: Karoo–Ferrar–Chon Aike Large Igneous Province. Credit: Tissot" class="wp-image-1976065"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Map of localities in which the T-OAE was previously recognized, along with our study site. Local anoxia refers to sites where redox proxy data reveal locally dysoxic to anoxic conditions. The site of the MSS is shown by the star in the Inset. KFCA-LIP: Karoo–Ferrar–Chon Aike Large Igneous Province. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Tissot</figcaption></figure>



The result was anoxia, a chemically reduced state that favors the precipitation of once‑soluble uranium isotopes into sediments, leaving a measurable fingerprint for modern geochemists.



Scientists use those isotopes, preserved in carbonate grains, to reconstruct ocean redox conditions long after the water is gone.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracing-ancient-ocean-oxygen-change">Tracing ancient ocean oxygen change</h2>



Tissot’s team combined 30 limestone samples with a <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/what-bayesian-modeling" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bayesian model</a> built by <a href="https://www.gmu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">George Mason University</a> researcher <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Michael-A-Kipp-2118354679" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Michael Kipp</a> to convert uranium data into the size of past anoxic zones. 



The model showed oxygen loss peaking just after the first volcanic pulse, then gradually recovering as emissions slowed.



Because uranium mixes uniformly in seawater, its isotopic shift offers a global view rather than a local snapshot, sidestepping problems that plague black shale studies in restricted basins. 



Independent work on molybdenum and thallium isotopes points to the same magnitude of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jurassic-extinction-may-hold-clues-about-our-oceans-future/">Jurassic</a> deoxygenation, reinforcing confidence in the carbonate method. Multiple tracers show how fast oceans can suffocate when carbon overwhelms natural buffers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rock-preserved-ocean-memory">Rock preserved ocean memory</h2>



The limestones sampled from Mercato San Severino in Italy belong to a 5,000-foot-thick sequence of shallow-water carbonates. These were laid down on the southern edge of the ancient <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825223002830" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tethys Ocean</a>. 



These deposits are ideal for capturing uranium isotope signals because they formed under well-oxygenated conditions and remained chemically stable over time.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/limestone-quarry_ancient-seabed_Mercato-San-Severino_credit-Tissot_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/limestone-quarry_ancient-seabed_Mercato-San-Severino_credit-Tissot_1s.webp" alt="A quarry illustrating bands of stratified limestone from the ancient seafloor in what is now Mercato San Severino in Italy. Credit: F. Tissot" class="wp-image-1976063"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A quarry illustrating bands of stratified limestone from the ancient seafloor in what is now Mercato San Severino in Italy. Click image to enlarge. Credit: F. Tissot</figcaption></figure>



Geochemical screening confirmed the rocks remained largely unaltered after burial. Isotope ratios, trace elements, and sediment structure all supported the conclusion that these limestones faithfully recorded seawater chemistry from the time of deposition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-today-s-waters-mirror-the-past">Today's waters mirror the past</h2>



Modern measurements show that only about 0.2 percent of the seafloor is overlain by permanently anoxic water, mostly in marginal seas like the Black Sea. 



Yet the global inventory of dissolved oxygen has already fallen by roughly 2 percent since 1960. “Oxygen concentrations in both the open ocean and coastal waters have been declining since at least the middle of the 20th century,” said marine ecologist <a href="https://serc.si.edu/staff/denise-breitburg/breitburgd9302003?sort_bef_combine=field_pub_date_value%20ASC&amp;page=3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Denise Breitburg</a>.



A 2024 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52197-6">study</a> warned that deoxygenation will accelerate this century as warming and stratification intensify. If emissions rise, mid-depth zones could lose 20 percent of oxygen by 2100, exceeding many species’ physiological limits.



Dead zones already plague more than 400 estuaries worldwide, harming fisheries and coastal economies and hinting at larger changes offshore.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-action-needed-before-oceans-suffocate">Action needed before oceans suffocate </h2>



Past events show that once widespread anoxia takes hold, recovery can take tens of thousands of years even after carbon input stops. 



Unlike volcanic outbursts, human emissions are continuous and tightly linked to energy and food systems, making a quick cutoff challenging. 



Cutting fossil fuel use, protecting carbon‑storing ecosystems, and curbing nutrient runoff can slow oxygen loss before feedback amplifies the trend.



Satellites, autonomous floats, and seafloor sensors now track oxygen in near real time. This gives policymakers a chance to act before thresholds comparable to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jurassic-rocks-reveal-new-details-about-earths-climate-system/">Jurassic</a> pulse are crossed.



Tissot’s limestone cores remind us that the ocean’s memory is long and its tolerance finite.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2406032121" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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What happened in the ocean millions of years ago could happen again today

Underwater volcanoes, in the area that is now South Africa,...

Cell biology is a world of constant motion and hidden structures. Much of what we know about cells comes from decades of research using microscopes, stains, and models. Yet, even in this well-charted territory, surprises still emerge - enter the "hemifusome."



This previously unknown organelle may help explain how cells sort, recycle, and discard their internal cargo. This function is vital to life and is often disrupted in instances of genetic disease.



The discovery of this organelle, which was made by scientists at the <a href="https://www.virginia.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Virginia</a> and the National Institutes of Health (<a href="https://www.nih.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NIH</a>), offers a new lens through which to study the inner workings of the cell. 



It also presents a possible turning point for understanding diseases where cellular housekeeping breaks down. Using cutting-edge imaging tools, researchers have caught this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cambrian-explosion-fossils-push-back-the-rise-of-complex-life/">organelle</a> in action and outlined its potential impact on health and medicine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-introducing-the-hemifusome">Introducing the hemifusome</h2>



The hemifusome is not a static component but a temporary structure that appears and disappears depending on the cell’s needs. 



It consists of two vesicles joined together by a partial membrane connection called a hemifusion diaphragm.



In this configuration, the vesicles do not fully merge but maintain a shared boundary that allows them to interact without blending entirely.



"This is like discovering a new recycling center inside the cell," said researcher Seham Ebrahim, Ph.D., of UVA's Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics. 



"We think the hemifusome helps manage how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/third-state-of-existence-beyond-life-and-death-confirmed-by-scientists/">cells</a> package and process material, and when this goes wrong, it may contribute to diseases that affect many systems in the body."



These hemifused vesicles appear in two configurations. In the direct form, a smaller vesicle is attached to the outer side of a larger one, whereas in the flipped version, the smaller vesicle is embedded on the inner, or luminal, side. 



In both cases, a dense particle called a proteolipid nanodroplet anchors the structure at the junction, possibly guiding its formation and stability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-hemifusome-appears">How the hemifusome appears</h2>



To study hemifusomes, researchers turned to cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). This imaging method freezes cells rapidly, preserving them close to their natural state. 



Unlike traditional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/watching-electrons-move-1-quintillionth-of-second-attoseconds-attomicroscopy/">electron microscopy</a>, which can distort or destroy delicate structures, cryo-ET allows scientists to see cellular architecture as it truly exists.



By scanning the outer edges of four mammalian cell types, COS-7, HeLa, RAT-1, and NIH/3T3, the team identified hundreds of hemifusomes. These organelles made up nearly 10 percent of all membrane-bound vesicles in those regions. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/hemifused-vesicles_cryo-electron-tomography_Nature-Communications_1m.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/hemifused-vesicles_cryo-electron-tomography_Nature-Communications_1s.webp" alt="Cryo-electron tomography observation of hemifused vesicles at the leading edge of cultured cells. Credit: Nature Communications (2025)" class="wp-image-1976051"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cryo-electron tomography observation of hemifused vesicles at the leading edge of cultured cells. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Nature Communications (2025)</figcaption></figure>



Their consistency across <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-millions-of-fungal-species-still-remain-unknown/">cell</a> types suggests they are not rare anomalies but common cellular components.



"You can think of vesicles like little delivery trucks inside the cell," said Ebrahim, of UVA's Center for Membrane and Cell Physiology. "The hemifusome is like a loading dock where they connect and transfer cargo. It's a step in the process we didn't know existed."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-makes-the-hemifusome-unique">What makes the hemifusome unique</h2>



Hemifusomes stand out not just for their shape, but for what’s inside them. The larger vesicle usually contains granular material, similar to what is seen in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mitochondria-cells-batteries-leaking-causes-inflammation-diseases/">endosomes</a> and ribosome-associated vesicles.



But the smaller vesicle shows a smooth, translucent interior. This likely reflects a protein-free or dilute aqueous solution, setting it apart from other vesicles in the cell.



The hemifusion diaphragm itself is unusually large, about 160 nanometers in diameter, far bigger than the 10 nanometer diaphragms seen in standard vesicle fusion <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gold-eating-fungus-discovery-could-revolutionize-the-search-for-metals-and-minerals-on-earth-asteroids-and-other-planets/">events</a>. These extended diaphragms appear stable, not fleeting, suggesting they may be designed to last. 



In some cases, the diaphragm grows large enough to engulf the entire smaller vesicle into the larger one’s bilayer, creating a lens-like shape known in simulations as dead-end hemifusion. Seeing this in actual cells challenges the idea that such formations are purely theoretical.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anchors-and-architects-of-the-organelle">Anchors and architects of the organelle</h2>



One consistent feature at the heart of hemifusomes is the dense proteolipid nanodroplet, or PND. About 42 nanometers in diameter, these droplets are lodged at the rim of the hemifusion site. 



Their content, lipids and proteins, suggests they may help build or stabilize the hemifused structure.



These PNDs have never been observed in such a role before. Some appear free in the cytoplasm, others are embedded in membranes. Researchers propose that PNDs may serve as scaffolds for assembling new vesicles. 



As the PND integrates into a membrane, it may kickstart the formation of the smaller vesicle seen in hemifusomes.



This process, described as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/vasculogenesis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">de novo vesiculogenesis</a>, stands apart from classical vesicle fusion. The presence of a unique, translucent vesicle and the absence of known docking steps indicate the hemifusome may follow its own assembly path.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-hemifusomes-related-to-endosomes">Are hemifusomes related to endosomes?</h2>



Given their location and size, hemifusomes resemble some endosomal structures. To investigate this further, the researchers traced the journey of gold nanoparticles, common markers used to map endocytic activity. 



The particles entered known endosomes and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tricking-cells-into-thinking-they-ate-less-food-can-slow-aging-process/">lysosomes</a> but never appeared inside hemifusomes. This absence suggests that hemifusomes do not belong to the classical endocytic pathway.



Instead, they may represent a separate system operating independently of the cargo sorting carried out by proteins like ESCRT. This distinction may have wide implications for how we understand vesicle traffic inside cells.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-multivesicular-bodies-and-disease">Multivesicular bodies and disease</h2>



Some hemifusomes evolve into more complex structures. The study observed compound hemifusomes that contained multiple vesicles, all partially fused. 



These could be early versions of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/multivesicular-body" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multivesicular bodies</a> (MVBs), which cells use to break down and recycle internal material.



In the canonical model, ESCRT proteins form inward buds that eventually pinch off inside a larger vesicle. But in hemifusomes, vesicles grow inward through hemifusion and expand with the help of PNDs. 



This alternative route might explain how MVBs form in ways not covered by traditional theories.



One such condition affected by these pathways is Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. It is a genetic disorder marked by defects in pigmentation, lung function, vision, and bleeding. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/damaged-mitochondria-recycled/">Cellular recycling</a> issues are central to the disease.



Understanding the hemifusome may help explain these disruptions and lead to future treatments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-model-for-vesicle-formation">A new model for vesicle formation</h2>



The study proposes a full model where PNDs trigger the formation of translucent vesicles that partially fuse with larger ones, forming hemifusomes. 



These structures may then bud inward, transforming into flipped hemifusomes. Over time, they could scission off as free vesicles inside MVBs.



In contrast to the ESCRT system, which requires tight protein coordination, this mechanism relies on structural and biophysical cues. 



It also sidesteps the need for large lipid donations from other organelles, solving a long-standing puzzle in vesicle formation research.



"This is just the beginning," Ebrahim said. "Now that we know hemifusomes exist, we can start asking how they behave in healthy cells and what happens when things go wrong. That could lead us to new strategies for treating complex genetic diseases."



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



The implications of this discovery stretch far beyond cell biology. By offering a new pathway for how cells build and manage internal compartments, the hemifusome challenges decades of assumptions. 



It also invites new thinking about disease, especially conditions where cells fail to manage their waste.



Future research will focus on identifying what proteins guide hemifusome formation and how PNDs are created. 



Scientists also want to know if these structures exist in other parts of the cell, not just at the periphery. Advanced imaging tools and genetic models will be key to answering these questions.



In a field where many believed the major organelles were already mapped, the hemifusome serves as a reminder. The cell still holds secrets. And some of them could lead to cures.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59887-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Scientists discover a new organelle inside human cells with huge potential impact on health

Cell biology is a world of constant motion and hidden...

A fresh set of numbers is changing what scientists thought happens when a city‑sized slab of ice dissolves into the sea. The target was <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL104028">mega‑iceberg</a> A‑68A, a floating platform roughly twice the area of Delaware that drifted toward South Georgia in early 2021.



“We think this is the first time measurements have been made so close to an iceberg,” said <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/profile/nacas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natasha Lucas of the British Antarctic Survey</a>, lead author of the new study. 



For the first time, researchers steered robotic vehicles to within 14 mi of such a iceberg and kept them there long enough to watch meltwater, temperature, and life interact in real time.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-the-a-68a-iceberg">Tracking the A-68A iceberg</h2>



A‑68A calved from the Larsen C Ice Shelf <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/iceberg-larsen-c-antarctica/">back in 2017</a>, then rode the currents of the <a href="https://www.asoc.org/learn/welcome-to-the-southern-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Southern Ocean</a> on a five‑year tour that ended near South Georgia. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-satellites-are-monitoring-ocean-conditions-from-space/">Satellites</a> could trace its general route, but ships kept their distance because the iceberg’s smaller rifts and spins defied prediction.



That standoff ended when a six‑foot‑long glider slipped off the deck of the <a href="https://noc.ac.uk/facilities/ships/rrs-james-cook" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">research vessel RRS James Cook</a> and began diving and climbing through a 0.6‑mile‑deep column of water. 



Over 49 days it logged 265 vertical profiles, sending each packet of data to scientists piloting the craft from home offices locked down by COVID‑19 restrictions.



The adventure was not entirely smooth. One glider vanished in the melee of drifting growlers, and another spent 17 days wedged beneath the berg before currents spat it out, battery blinking but sensors intact. 



Still, the mission mapped a zone of ocean that had never been observed so closely or for so long.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sensors-beneath-a-68a">Sensors beneath A-68A</h2>



The glider recorded a frosty cap of freshwater spreading across the top 30 ft of the sea. Right below, the instruments found a band of cold winter water that had lost its usual punch, a sign that melt‑driven turbulence had chewed away the seasonal layer separating surface and depth.



As that barrier thinned, nutrient‑rich deep water began sliding upward, carrying iron and silica shaved from the iceberg’s base. 



The upheaval altered local stratification, flipping the normal stack of density and temperature that keeps layers neatly in place during the Antarctic summer.



Salinity told the same story. At barely two miles from A‑68A, the profiles showed tongue‑shaped intrusions of water warmer and saltier than their neighbors, hallmarks of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-survived-when-earth-was-covered-in-ice-but-how/">meltwater</a> plumes that had raced up the iceberg’s base before fanning out sideways.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-68a-fuels-ocean-life">A‑68A fuels ocean life</h2>



Plankton reacted almost immediately. Near the ice wall, the glider’s fluorometer logged low <a href="https://oceantracks.org/library/oceanographic-factors/chlorophyll" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chlorophyll</a> and high backscatter, evidence that meltwater diluted existing blooms while also dumping silt that clouded the light.



Farther away, a spike in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shifting-ocean-color-is-pushing-marine-life-toward-the-poles/">chlorophyll</a> flared about 36 hours after the iceberg’s passage, matching lab‑measured growth rates for the local phytoplankton community.



The burst hints that the same plume which first thinned the bloom later primed the water with micronutrients, a one‑two punch that temporarily shuffled who eats whom in the surface ocean.



Because upwelling also lifts dissolved carbon and heat, even short‑lived events like this matter to krill, fur seals, and the economy of South Georgia’s fisheries.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-carbon-questions-on-a-cold-frontier">Carbon questions on a cold frontier</h2>



The carbon sink south of 35° S absorbs roughly 40 percent of humanity’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/creating-forests-cant-realistically-cancel-out-fossil-fuel-emissions/">fossil‑fuel emissions</a>. How that service will fare as calving accelerates remains uncertain.



The new findings show giant bergs can raise near‑surface stratification yet also stir the mid‑depths, two adjustments that tug carbon uptake in opposite directions. 



Recent model work argues current estimates may already overshoot Southern Ocean uptake by up to 0.4 Pg C yr‑1. Field evidence like the A‑68A data set will help sort winners from losers in that accounting.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-risk-reward-and-remote-control">Risk, reward, and remote control</h2>



Flying a glider next to a iceberg the size of Los Angeles is an exercise in calculated gamble. Lucas and colleagues guided their craft from desks more than 7,500 miles away, relying on patchy satellite snapshots to dodge smaller ice.



When the glider went missing under the berg, frustration turned to nervous excitement, then relief as it resurfaced with a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/supergiant-gold-deposit-find-claims-to-be-the-worlds-largest-discovery-ever/">gold mine</a> of temperature and salinity profiles. 



That trove fixed the first real numbers on basal melt rate, pegging it at roughly 6.9 × 10^8 m³ per day, an estimate within a factor of two of satellite calculations derived from changes in the iceberg’s freeboard height.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-icebergs-preview-ocean-changes">Icebergs preview ocean changes</h2>



A‑68A is gone now, splintered into shards tracked only by radar, but younger cousins are lining up. The trillion‑ton A‑23A grounded off South Georgia this <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/154022/iceberg-grinds-to-a-stop-off-south-georgia-island" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">March</a>, parking just 43 miles from the shore.



Researchers expect more deep‑drafted icebergs to exit West Antarctica as warming currents nibble ice shelves. 



Each one represents a floating lab, a hazard to shipping, and an agent of surprise for ecosystems that evolved around predictable cycles of light and nutrients.



The new study proves those labs are accessible with today’s tools. It also shows that a single iceberg can redraw local physics and biology in days, a reminder that climate change sends ripple effects far beyond melting ice.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01659-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Geoscience</a>.



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Scientists measure marine environment near melting mega-iceberg for first time

A fresh set of numbers is changing what scientists thought...

Far beneath the Pacific, where the Philippine Sea Plate dives under Japan, researchers have finally caught a peculiar kind of earthquake in the act.



Instead of lurching violently, the shallow end of the Nankai Trough crept for weeks, shifting only millimeters at a time while instruments buried in the seabed recorded every move.



“It's like a ripple moving across the plate interface,” said Josh Edgington, who analyzed the data while completing his PhD at the <a href="https://ig.utexas.edu/">University of Texas Institute for Geophysics</a> (UTIG).



The event - technically a slow-slip earthquake - was first spotted in autumn 2015 and repeated in 2020. Each episode unzipped roughly 20 miles of the fault in slow motion, starting about 30 miles off Japan’s Kii Peninsula and migrating seaward toward the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-ocean-trenches-holding-water/">ocean trench</a>.



Onshore seismometers and GPS receivers were oblivious. Only a new network of borehole observatories, drilled hundreds of feet into the seabed, was sensitive enough to detect motion so subtle.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-detecting-earthquakes-from-below">Detecting earthquakes from below</h2>



Those boreholes are part of Japan’s ambitious scientific-<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drilling-hole-reveals-significant-presence-of-high-grade-gold-and-silver-navidad-deposit/">drilling</a> program, which set out to plug the blind spot in global earthquake monitoring.



Land-based arrays can pinpoint sudden jolts but cannot “listen” to the shallows of subduction zones - precisely the places where tsunami-spawning ruptures begin. Installed sensors measure fluid pressure, strain and tilt with exquisite precision, allowing scientists to see how strain accumulates and releases in real time.



For UTIG director Demian Saffer, who led the study, the advantage is obvious. Slow-slip signals, he said, give researchers a direct view of how the shallow plate boundary behaves between major quakes.



If this creeping zone regularly releases stress, it could limit the size of future <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/650-foot-mega-tsunami-sends-seismic-waves-around-world-dickson-fjord-swot-mission/">tsunamis</a>. If not, the locked portion of the fault farther down-dip might still be primed for a magnitude-8 or 9 shock, similar to 1946, when a great Nankai earthquake leveled towns and killed more than 1,300 people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-water-helps-faults-slip">Water helps faults slip</h2>



Both slow-slip events tracked by the borehole array unfolded in regions where pore-fluid pressures are unusually high.



That correlation supports a popular but difficult-to-prove theory: overpressured fluids lubricate faults, allowing sections to move quietly rather than break catastrophically.



In the Nankai data, the link is as clear as it has ever been, offering a new metric for judging the tsunami potential of similar faults worldwide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tsunami-signs-from-afar">Tsunami signs from afar</h2>



While parts of Nankai appear to “creak and groan” in slow motion, the equivalent shallow segment off the Pacific Northwest known as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-dangerous-part-of-this-west-coast-earthquake-fault-cascadia-subduction-zone/">Cascadia</a> may be silent. 



That worries scientists, because a silent, locked interface stores energy that can unleash one of Earth’s rare magnitude-9 megathrusts and the devastating tsunamis that follow.



“This is a place that we know has hosted magnitude 9 earthquakes and can spawn deadly tsunamis,” Saffer said.



“Are there creaks and groans that indicate the release of accumulated strain, or is fault near the trench deadly silent? Cascadia is a clear top-priority area for the kind of high-precision monitoring approach that we’ve demonstrated is so valuable at Nankai.”



Installing similar borehole observatories along Cascadia, Chile, and Indonesia - other corners of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” - could reveal whether those margins harbor their own stealthy slow quakes or remain locked tight to the trench. 



The answer would refine tsunami-hazard forecasts and perhaps buy coastal communities critical minutes of warning.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creeping-fault-limits-big-earthquakes">Creeping fault limits big earthquakes</h2>



Taken together, the 2015 and 2020 Nankai slow-slip episodes suggest the shallow <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-dangerous-part-of-this-west-coast-earthquake-fault-cascadia-subduction-zone/">fault</a> functions more like a tectonic shock absorber than a ticking bomb. By periodically releasing energy, it might reduce how much strain transfers to deeper, more dangerous segments.



Yet the scientists caution against complacency. The deeper Nankai interface and neighboring segments could still fail suddenly, as history shows.



For now, geophysicists are analyzing the rich new dataset to model how fluids, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/solar-heat-and-earthquake-activity-is-there-a-connection/">temperature</a>, and rock composition govern the transition from silent creep to violent rupture.



Each slow-slip event is another frame in an expanding time-lapse of the earthquake cycle - one that could eventually reveal when the next big snap is likely to occur.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hearing-earthquakes-before-they-roar">Hearing earthquakes before they roar</h2>



Catch a fault in the middle of a slow-motion glide and you learn a simple truth: not every earthquake shouts. Some only whisper, rippling quietly through kilometres of rock.



By wiring the seabed for sound, scientists have begun to hear those whispers and, with them, the hidden conversations that decide when Earth decides to roar.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads9715">Science</a>.



Image Credit: Japan Meteorological Agency 



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Scientists detect a rare slow-motion earthquake along Japan’s tsunami fault

Far beneath the Pacific, where the Philippine Sea Plate dives...

Being cool can feel elusive and almost mythic - something we “know when we see it,” yet struggle to define.



A sweeping new investigation led by marketing scholars Todd Pezzuti of <a href="https://www.uai.cl/">Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez</a> and Caleb Warren of the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> argues that the concept is far less mysterious than it seems.



Across twelve nations, nearly 6,000 participants independently picked out the same constellation of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-type-can-accurately-predict-your-relationship-status/">personality</a> traits when describing a cool person. 



The findings reveal not only what separates “cool” from “good” but also why cool people tend to become catalysts of social change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-cool-across-12-nations">Mapping cool across 12 nations</h2>



Between 2018 and 2022, the research team collected online responses from adults in the United States, Australia, Chile, mainland China, Hong Kong, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.



Participants first confirmed that they understood the slang meaning of the word “cool,” then spent a few minutes imagining someone who embodied one of four labels: cool, uncool, good, or not good.



Afterward, volunteers evaluated that imagined person on a battery of personality dimensions drawn from psychology’s “Big Five” model and Schwartz’s theory of universal values.



Because all responses came from internet users in relatively urban settings, the sample leans toward technologically connected citizens. 



Still, it is one of the most culturally diverse datasets ever assembled to study reputational judgments. The result is a uniquely global snapshot of how people assign social prestige.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-cool-and-good-part-ways"><a></a>Where cool and good part ways</h2>



When the investigators compared ratings, they found considerable overlap: both cool and good people scored high on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-with-many-facial-expressions-seem-more-social-and-likeable/">likability</a>. Yet important divergences emerged.



In all the places they studied, people consistently perceived cool individuals as more extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous. 



Good people, by contrast, ranked as conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cool-people-aren-t-always-good">Cool people aren't always "good"</h2>



In Pezzuti’s view, the cool profile evokes a kind of charismatic boundary-pusher: energetic, novelty seeking, and unapologetically self-directed.



That explains why cool individuals can inspire fashion trends or launch creative movements - roles that sometimes require bending social rules rather than following them.



“To be seen as cool, someone usually needs to be somewhat likable or admirable, which makes them similar to good people," said Warren. "However, cool people often have other traits that aren’t necessarily considered ‘good’ in a moral sense, like being hedonistic and powerful.”



The cool persona therefore straddles acceptance and transgression: admired enough to influence peers, rebellious enough to feel fresh.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cool-traits-go-global">Cool traits go global</h2>



In the mid-20th century, “cool” circulated in small countercultures - from Black jazz clubs to Beatnik cafés. Over the decades, fashion labels, record companies and Hollywood studios harnessed the aura of cool, broadcasting certain looks and attitudes to a worldwide audience.



The new study suggests that process may have standardized the meaning of the term. Even participants who live 10,000 miles apart now recognize the same signature <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-traits-linked-to-willingness-to-volunteer-or-donate/">traits</a>. As the authors note, the meaning of cool has crystallized on a similar set of traits and values around the world.



Pezzuti does not see commercialization as a death knell. “Coolness has definitely evolved over time, but I don’t think it has lost its edge. It’s just become more functional,” he said.



“The concept of coolness started in small, rebellious sub-cultures, including Black jazz musicians in the 1940s and the beatniks in the 1950s. As society moves faster and puts more value on creativity and change, cool people are more essential than ever.”



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



Because cool people display power and autonomy while earning admiration, the researchers argue that coolness helps establish informal hierarchies. Instead of relying solely on wealth or institutional authority, communities also elevate figures who embody daring and originality.



These individuals, in turn, shape cultural norms by modeling alternative ways to dress, speak, or live. As Pezzuti puts it, “everyone wants to be cool, or at least avoid the stigma of being uncool, and society needs cool people because they challenge norms, inspire change, and advance culture.”



That dual role - both aspirational and disruptive - makes the cool persona uniquely influential. Marketers know this instinctively when they cast charismatic musicians in sneaker ads. Activists harness it when they infuse protest art with edgy style.



The study provides empirical backing for those intuitions: people from Lagos to Los Angeles consistently associate coolness with adventurous independence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coolness-in-the-digital-age">Coolness in the digital age</h2>



The team notes their study excludes rural and offline groups, whose ideas of cool may differ significantly. They also restricted the study to cultures already familiar with the English slang term, potentially narrowing linguistic nuance.



Future projects could test whether the six-trait profile - extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous - holds in additional societies or emerges in other languages.



Researchers are likewise curious about how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-pressure-is-straining-teen-friendships/">social media</a> platforms, which accelerate the spread of trends, might further synchronize or fragment global standards of cool. Does TikTok broaden identity through niche subcultures or reinforce the six-trait mold by favoring charismatic risk-takers?



For now, the evidence is striking: when people across five continents imagine someone undeniably cool, they picture remarkably similar qualities. 



Coolness, it turns out, may be one of the few cross-cultural constants - an unwritten code that transcends borders even as it keeps pushing boundaries.



The study is published in the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0001799">Journal of Experimental Psychology: General</a>.



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What makes people cool? Scientists tracked down the traits

Being cool can feel elusive and almost mythic - something...

For decades, oceanographers assumed the surface waters circling Antarctica were becoming progressively fresher - a shift that helped lock deep heat away and nurture expansive winter sea ice.



However, new observations show the opposite is now happening. An international team led by the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/">University of Southampton</a> reported a sudden rise in surface <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/salinity-is-rising-in-coastal-areas-and-hurting-farmlands/">salinity</a> south of 50° latitude. This shift coincided with the steepest drop in Antarctic sea-ice extent ever recorded.



The analysis combines European satellite data with readings from autonomous floats that profile the water column. The result reveals an unanticipated pivot in the Southern Ocean’s salt balance sometime after 2015.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-excessive-salt-melts-sea-ice">Excessive salt melts sea ice</h2>



Cold, fresh surface water normally overlies warmer, saltier layers at depth, creating strong density “stratification” that traps heat below. When the surface grows saltier, that barrier weakens. Heat then mixes upward, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarcticas-melting-ice-shelves-threaten-global-sea-levels/">melting sea ice</a> from beneath and preventing extensive winter growth.



“Saltier surface water allows deep ocean heat to rise more easily, melting sea ice from below," said lead author Alessandro Silvano, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton. "It's a dangerous feedback loop: less ice leads to more heat, which leads to even less ice.” 



Since 2015, the continent has shed sea ice equivalent to the area of Greenland. Researchers call it the largest environmental shift detected anywhere on Earth in recent decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-ice-hole-returns-after-decades">Sea ice hole returns after decades</h2>



One striking symptom is the re-opening of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-hole-polynya-the-size-of-switzerland-appeared-in-the-antarctica-sea-ice/">Maud Rise polynya</a> - a yawning hole in the Weddell Sea ice cover. It spans nearly four times the size of Wales and last appeared in the late 1970s.



“The return of the Maud Rise polynya signals just how unusual the current conditions are,” Silvano said. “If this salty, low-ice state continues, it could permanently reshape the Southern Ocean - and with it, the planet.”



Reduced Antarctic ice darkens the ocean, absorbing more sunlight and already feeding back into the global climate system. This, as Silvano put it, will give rise to “stronger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rapid-antarctic-sea-ice-loss-is-causing-severe-storms-around-the-world/">storms</a>, warmer oceans, and shrinking habitats for Antarctic wildlife.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-old-predictions-fall-short">Old predictions fall short</h2>



Climate models had projected eventual Antarctic sea-ice loss under greenhouse forcing. However, many scientists believed that enhanced snowfall and increased melt from continental ice sheets would keep surface waters fresh for decades, delaying large declines. The new evidence challenges that assumption.



“While scientists expected that human-driven climate change would eventually lead to Antarctic sea ice decline, the timing and nature of this shift remained uncertain,” said co-author Aditya Narayanan, a physical oceanographer at the University of Southampton.



“Previous projections emphasized enhanced surface freshening and stronger ocean stratification, which could have supported sustained sea ice cover. Instead, a rapid reduction in sea ice - an important reflector of solar radiation - has occurred, potentially accelerating global warming.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eyes-on-the-southern-ocean">Eyes on the Southern Ocean</h2>



Because this turnaround was detected only after <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/satellites-reveal-a-sudden-drop-in-global-freshwater-levels/">satellites</a> began tracking sea-surface salinity in detail, researchers worry that other rapid transitions might be missed without constant observation.



“The new findings suggest that our current understanding may be insufficient to accurately predict future changes,” said senior author Alberto Naveira Garabato, a professor of physical oceanography at the University of Southampton.



“It makes the need for continuous satellite and in-situ monitoring all the more pressing, so we can better understand the drivers of recent and future shifts in the ice-ocean system.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sea-ice-loss-changes-the-planet">Sea ice loss changes the planet</h2>



Antarctic sea ice acts as a reflective shield, bouncing sunlight back to space and modulating heat exchange between ocean and atmosphere.



Its precipitous decline could amplify warming worldwide, disturb wind patterns, and alter the formation of the deep water masses that power global ocean circulation.



Saltier surface layers may also influence how much carbon the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-storage-mystery-emerges-in-the-southern-ocean/">Southern Ocean</a> can absorb, potentially weakening one of Earth’s most important climate buffers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-heat-and-salt-reinforce-sea-ice-loss">Heat and salt reinforce sea ice loss</h2>



The study leaves open questions about what triggered the sudden salinity jump. Possibilities include shifts in wind patterns, changes in precipitation, or increased intrusion of warm Circumpolar Deep Water onto the continental shelf.



Whatever the cause, the new feedback between salt and sea ice could lock the region into a self-reinforcing cycle of warming and ice loss.



Scientists stress that only sustained measurements - combining satellites, autonomous floats, and ship-based surveys - will reveal whether the Southern Ocean snaps back to its former fresher state or continues toward an unfamiliar, saltier future.



For now, the message is clear: Antarctica’s floating fringe, once thought relatively resistant to near-term change, is undergoing a rapid transformation that matters far beyond the frozen continent.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500440122">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Antarctic sea ice collapse linked to a sudden surge in ocean salt

For decades, oceanographers assumed the surface waters circling Antarctica were...

When it comes to creativity, especially in brainstorming new and unusual uses for everyday objects, many people instinctively turn to Google. It's quick, easy, and feels helpful. But that habit might actually be holding group creativity back.



A recent study from researchers at <a href="https://www.cmu.edu/">Carnegie Mellon University</a> suggests that searching online before thinking for yourself may lead to more predictable - and less original - ideas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creativity-at-a-cost">Creativity at a cost</h2>



The team asked participants to think of novel uses for two common items: umbrellas and shields. Some participants were allowed to use Google during the brainstorming process. Others were asked not to use the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/internet-access-should-be-a-basic-human-right/">internet</a> at all.



On an individual level, both groups produced similarly creative ideas. But once grouped, a pattern emerged. Google users tended to echo the same ideas.



Study lead author Danny Oppenheimer is a professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Social and Decision Sciences.



“This appears to be due to the fact that Google users came up with the same common answers, often in the same order, as they relied on Google, while non-Google users came up with more distinct answers,” noted Professor Oppenheimer.



In other words, Google didn’t kill creativity entirely, but it did seem to homogenize it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-less-help-from-google-more-creativity">Less help from Google, more creativity</h2>



The objects chosen, umbrellas and shields, produced an unexpected split. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/online-search-results-often-match-users-biases/">Online searches</a> generated plenty of alternative uses for umbrellas, but for shields - not so much.



That led to an interesting twist: participants had a harder time brainstorming ideas for umbrellas, even though Google offered more help. Shields, with fewer online suggestions, actually inspired more creative responses.



Why? The researchers believe it’s a case of "fixation effects." When people see a possible solution too early - especially a familiar one - they tend to stick to that path and struggle to think differently.



“For example, a person trying to brainstorm ‘things you might spread’ who sees other people, or Google, give answers like ‘butter’ or ‘jam’ is more likely to come up with other foods, such as cream cheese, and less likely to come up with non-food-based answers, like disease or rumors,” said Oppenheimer.



“This study is the first evidence of fixation effects being induced by internet search."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-s-not-about-banning-the-internet">It's not about banning the internet</h2>



So, is the internet ruining our creativity? Not quite. "The internet isn’t making us dumb, but we may be using it in ways that aren’t helpful,” said Oppenheimer.



Instead of avoiding <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-does-digital-technology-influence-our-sense-of-self/">technology</a> altogether, the researchers suggest we rethink how we use it. Taking time to think offline before jumping into a search engine might help avoid falling into the fixation trap.



Sttudy co-author Mark Patterson is an assistant teaching professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Social and Decision Sciences.



“Many of us are sort of rethinking what our relationships with technology are like,” said Patterson.



“It feels like every week there’s some sort of mind-blowing, new advance, and I think one interpretation of our paper is a reminder about the important advantages that we have just as regular people trying to solve problems.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-holding-on-to-our-individuality">Holding on to our individuality </h2>



Patterson emphasized the value of original thought - even if it feels a little old-school.



“Even though it sounds like the kind of messaging you might get from your preschool teacher. Like, ‘You’re you, and you’re different, and you’re unique.’ That messaging actually does matter,” said Patterson. 



“We want to hold on to our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/are-we-losing-our-uniqueness-people-have-less-desire-to-stand-out/">individuality</a> and our regular, un-tech-aided <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-humanity-can-work-together-to-solve-global-challenges/">humanity</a>, because it’s the thing that’s going to make us solve problems slightly differently than other people, and that can really be valuable.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-smarter-prompts-smarter-thinking">Smarter prompts, smarter thinking</h2>



The team also points to the importance of how we use technology - not just whether we use it.



“Our hope is that by studying how human thought interacts with technology use, we can figure out ways to glean the best of the internet while minimizing the negative consequences,” Oppenheimer said.



This might mean using better prompt strategies or doing a round of solo brainstorming before opening a browser. The goal isn’t to stop using online tools. It’s to use them smarter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-google-doesn-t-always-harm-creativity">Google doesn't always harm creativity </h2>



For most daily searches - quick facts, simple tasks - fixation isn’t a big problem. But for larger, more complex problems that require group input and diverse thinking, it could be.



“For some of these bigger, tough, societal-level challenges that we’re facing, I think taking advantage of real diversity and a wide range of solutions requires groups to come up with a lot of different solution strategies,” said Patterson.



In other words, creativity still starts with the human mind. The internet can help - but only if we don’t let it do all the thinking for us.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13421-025-01732-x">Memory &amp; Cognition</a>.



-----



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How Google searches can limit your creativity

When it comes to creativity, especially in brainstorming new and...

Warsaw isn’t short on parks or tree-lined boulevards, but a trio of Polish universities wondered whether smaller, resident-run gardens could add something crucial to the capital’s climate resilience.



To find out, researchers from <a href="https://english.swps.pl/">SWPS University</a>, <a href="https://eng.pw.edu.pl/">Warsaw University of Technology</a>, and the <a href="https://www.sggw.edu.pl/en/">Warsaw University of Life Sciences</a> mapped every vacant meadow, former orchard, and post-industrial lot within easy walking distance of apartment blocks.



They came up with a staggering 1,864 hectares (4,600 acres) - more than enough space, they say, for a citywide network of community gardens that soak up stormwater, cool overheated streets, and capture <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/planting-diverse-crops-traps-carbon-and-boosts-soil-health/">carbon</a>.



The investigation combined that spatial analysis with more than 250 in-depth interviews. The goal was to see who is already gardening, what motivates them, and how much social capital - trust, shared norms, cooperative spirit - might be harvested alongside tomatoes and herbs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-uses-the-urban-gardens">Who uses the urban gardens</h2>



It turns out the movement is surprisingly broad. Urban gardening brings together all social groups, the team reports, from school children planting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-are-disappearing-and-its-bad-news-for-plants/">pollinator</a> patches to cultural institutions converting courtyards into micro-farms.



Still, two cohorts dominate the regular volunteer lists: retirees - often women with higher education - and young middle class families. 



Most gardens revolve around a core group of 10 to 15 steady hands, supplemented by casual helpers and passers-by who stop to chat, water, or simply lounge among the raised beds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-motivation-of-urban-gardeners">Motivation of urban gardeners </h2>



Why do they show up week after week? According to study co-author Piotr Majewski of SWPS University, the motivations of urban gardeners vary. 



"The most important ones are: reconnection to nature, positive contribution to the environment, social relations, and mutual learning between gardeners," said Majewski.



Food, interestingly, is not the primary driver. Leaders said harvests help, but real value comes from biodiversity, composting, and public workshops on sustainable living.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tiny-plots-big-impact">Tiny plots, big impact</h2>



Those activities tally with an expanding body of international research linking <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-carbon-footprint-urban-farms-and-agriculture/">urban agriculture</a> to climate adaptation. 



Even pocket-size plots act as carbon sinks, trap particulate pollution, and soften the urban heat island. Raised beds can be engineered to hold back flash-flood water, while compost heaps divert organic waste from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/landfills-emit-exorbitant-amount-methane-into-atmosphere/">landfills</a>.



For Warsaw, the numbers are compelling. Nearly all of the identified 1,864 hectares (4,600 acres) lie within a quarter mile of housing, meaning a potential garden is no farther than a ten-minute stroll for most residents - and often half that.



Such proximity, the experts argue, makes it easier to harness gardens as a distributed green-infrastructure network in a warming metropolis of nearly two million people.



Yet the real strength may be social. Garden groups knit neighbors together, boosting the informal networks that cities rely on during <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-has-made-heatwaves-more-deadly/">heatwaves</a>, floods, or other climate-related shocks.



Many interviewees said they joined to cultivate community first, vegetables second. Regular workdays double as impromptu skill‐shares: retirees pass on horticultural know-how, children learn ecological stewardship, and newcomers forge local friendships.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-urban-gardens-in-city-plans">Urban gardens in city plans</h2>



Majewski and his colleagues believe Warsaw’s planners should take that social-ecological synergy seriously.



“The system of community gardens should also be considered as a tool to support <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-power-of-imagination-in-climate-change-adaptation/">climate change adaptation</a> solutions in urban policies in spatial planning - provided that they are considered an important link in the urban green infrastructure system,” he explained.



To get there, the researchers lay out a handful of recommendations. First, city hall could weave gardens into official zoning strategies rather than treating them as informal afterthoughts. 



That might mean leasing public land at peppercorn rents, streamlining permits, or integrating gardens into new housing estates from the design phase.



Second, municipal agencies could supply starter kits - soil, timber, rain barrels - while leaving day-to-day management to residents. Third, wider publicity would help spread the idea beyond the usual eco-activist circles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scaling-gardens-citywide">Scaling gardens citywide</h2>



The study also flags areas for further research. At what point does a collection of isolated plots start delivering measurable cooling or flood mitigation benefits? 



How can Warsaw ensure that garden networks thrive in all districts, not just affluent ones with vocal community groups? And what responsibilities will fall on municipal departments when gardens become part of critical infrastructure rather than hobby spaces?



Those unknowns aside, the evidence is clear: Warsaw already hosts a vibrant cohort of “hero activists” who coax life from overlooked corners.



With modest institutional backing, their trowels and compost bins could double as climate-adaptation tools - cooling concrete and absorbing rainfall. 



Perhaps most importantly, they help draw neighbors together in a city that will need every ounce of solidarity as temperatures rise.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/mgrsd-2025-0005">Miscellanea Geographic</a>.



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Urban gardens help cities fight climate change

Warsaw isn’t short on parks or tree-lined boulevards, but a...

New high‑pressure experiments show that the chemical recipe of Earth's deep mantle has barely budged since our planet formed 4.5 billion years ago. 



The finding, drawn from crushed rock samples held at pressures rivaling those 1,800 miles down, reshapes ideas about how oxygen and metals move through our planet’s interior.



The research centers on bridgmanite, the most common mineral on Earth yet one that never reaches the surface. 



After being squeezed until it glowed at 4,000 °F, the mineral kept almost the same ratio of ferric iron to total iron that scientists infer for early Earth, hinting at an enduring redox balance.



Lead author <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fei-Wang-91" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fei Wang</a>, <a href="https://www.bgi.uni-bayreuth.de/?&amp;lng=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bavarian Research Institute</a> of Experimental Geochemistry &amp; Geophysics, and colleagues combined the lab data with thermodynamic models to track iron chemistry through the lower mantle.



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



Geologists care about the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08701-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lower mantle</a> because it locks in the planet’s earliest history and influences how volcanoes feed the surface. 



If its chemistry drifts over time, gases like carbon dioxide and water entering the atmosphere would shift too, altering climate and habitability.



Early models suggested that violent mixing during a global magma ocean phase might have reset the interior’s redox state. 



Yet samples of ancient <a href="https://conf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2021/meetingapp.cgi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diamonds</a> indicate the volatile mix inside Earth has matched today’s values since at least 2.7 billion years ago. Those diamonds act as time capsules, trapping mantle gases long before complex life emerged.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bridgmanite-under-crushing-pressure">Bridgmanite under crushing pressure</h2>



In the new study, the team packed powdered silicates with tiny metal sensors, then drove them to 730,000 pounds per square inch inside a multi‑anvil press. 



Temperature was held near 2,300 K so the crystals mirrored lower‑mantle conditions.



Despite equilibrium with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/iron-was-lifes-first-essential-metal-and-shaped-early-evolution/">metallic iron</a>, bridgmanite still carried roughly 17 percent of its <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/geologists-found-the-worlds-largest-iron-ore-deposit/">iron</a> in the oxidized state, a figure almost identical across pressures from 400 to 1,000 miles depth. 



Similar laser‑heated diamond‑anvil experiments last year reached the same conclusion, showing ferric‑iron ratios unchanged by pressure across the mid‑mantle.



The key variable turned out to be temperature: hotter crystals shed ferric iron, while cooler ones gain it. 



That trend explains why Earth's current lower mantle may sit near the threshold where metallic iron precipitates, matching seismic hints of scattered iron blobs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-s-mantle-in-the-early-days">Earth's mantle in the early days</h2>



Thermodynamic modeling stitched the lab data into a planet‑wide picture, simulating how the Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratio evolved as the magma ocean cooled. 



The results imply that only 0.2 weight percent of metallic iron separated into the core while the rest of the solid mantle held steady.



Such a small escape fits with earlier calculations showing that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-largest-iron-ore-deposits-reveal-a-1-3-billion-year-old-secret/">iron</a> droplets wet grain boundaries and percolate downward quickly at near‑solidus temperatures. 



Once the mantle fully crystallized, further oxidation stalled because the dominant substitution of Fe³⁺ and Al³⁺ in bridgmanite is remarkably pressure‑insensitive.



This built‑in stability means later plate recycling and plume activity simply stir existing chemistry rather than overhaul it. 



As a result, the upper mantle’s oxygen level rose to present values through slow mixing instead of fresh inputs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stability-over-time">Stability over time</h2>



Observations outside the lab echo the model. Seismic <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022JB025689" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> find that the bulk sound speed of the mid‑mantle matches compositions with constant iron valence, leaving little room for dramatic chemical layering.



“These processes played a major role in the Earth being surrounded by an oxygen‑rich atmosphere,” said <a href="https://www.profilfelder.uni-bayreuth.de/en/advanced-fields/4_High_pressure-and-high--temperature-research/contributors/mccammon_catherine/index.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Catherine McCammon</a> of the University of Bayreuth. 



Volatile ratios in volcanic gases also line up with Archean samples, reinforcing the idea of a long‑lived interior equilibrium. 



Diamond data add another hint: helium, neon, and argon proportions trapped in 2.7‑billion‑year‑old stones mirror those in modern basalts. 



“This was a surprising result. It means the volatile‑rich environment we see around us today is not a recent development,” noted <a href="https://crpg.univ-lorraine.fr/membres/michael-broadley/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Michael Broadley</a> of University of Lorraine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plate-tectonics-and-life-on-earth">Plate tectonics and life on Earth</h2>



A chemically constant interior simplifies models of atmospheric evolution because surface reservoirs can be traced back to a fixed deep source. 



It also suggests that catastrophic oxidation events were not required to set the stage for photosynthesis.



For plate tectonics, a stable redox budget means that slabs sinking today enter roughly the same environment as their ancient counterparts. 



That constancy helps seismologists interpret <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fresh-lava-from-deep-earth-mantle-pulses-burst-onto-land-where-new-ocean-is-forming/">deep‑Earth</a> images without invoking hidden chemical layers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-s-mantle-still-holds-mysteries">Earth's mantle still holds mysteries</h2>



Researchers now want to know whether small pockets of iron‑rich melt lurk near the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ringwoodite-mineral-confirms-vast-ocean-exists-400-miles-under-earths-crust/">core‑mantle boundary</a> and how they affect heat flow. 



Upcoming experiments that combine synchrotron X‑rays with electrical measurements aim to pin down the conductivity of iron‑bearing bridgmanite at even higher temperatures.



Another open issue is how water cycles through Earth's deep mantle without altering its oxidation state, a puzzle that links deep‑Earth chemistry to ocean volumes over geologic time. 



Answers will refine our picture of a planet that, deep inside, appears to have kept the same recipe since birth.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01725-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Geoscience</a>.



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Earth's mantle chemistry has remained stable for billions of years, according to scientists

New high‑pressure experiments show that the chemical recipe of Earth's...

Virginia faces a stubborn enemy: the spotted lanternfly (SLF). These invasive insects damage trees, crops, and gardens by feeding on plant sap and leaving behind sticky honeydew. A research team led by Assistant Professor Scotty Yang at Virginia Tech has discovered an unexpected helper in the battle against this pest: ants.



Yang and his team found that ants, drawn to honeydew, can carry traces of lanternfly DNA in their bodies. By analyzing the ants, scientists can now detect whether the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-swim-in-schools-by-stacking-like-ladder-rungs/">pest</a> has reached an area, even without spotting the insect directly.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ants-collect-lanternfly-dna">Ants collect lanternfly DNA</h2>



The research is based on environmental DNA, or eDNA. This approach collects genetic material that organisms leave behind in their surroundings. 



Spotted lanternflies leave DNA in their sugary waste, which ants readily consume. Scientists then apply a lab technique called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, to identify SLF DNA inside the ants.



“Ants are nature’s sugar seekers,” Yang said. “If there’s even a tiny drop of honeydew left behind by a spotted lanternfly, ants are likely to find it.”



Yang’s team named the method “antDNA.” Even a single meal of honeydew lets <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/swarm-intelligence-ants-can-anticipate-obstacles-and-plan-ahead/">ants</a> retain the lanternfly's DNA for up to five days. Because ants roam widely, this method can detect SLF activity from as far as 100 meters from the infestation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-field-tests-across-virginia">Field tests across Virginia</h2>



Researchers tested the method at three Virginia sites: Salem, Lynchburg Site 1, and Lynchburg Site 2. These locations represented low, medium, and high lanternfly densities. 



At each site, they placed honey-baited lure stations along transects, attracting ants with cotton balls soaked in honey.



The Salem site showed a 46.7 percent positive rate for SLF DNA. Lynchburg Site 1 and Site 2 showed 62.1 percent and 62.5 percent, respectively. Most stations attracted ants within 30 minutes, proving the method’s ease of use.



The study also tested ants from nine species. SLF DNA was found even in ants that had not directly fed on honeydew, likely due to food sharing within <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/selfish-dna-in-a-few-ants-can-change-the-behavior-of-the-entire-colony/">colonies</a>. This behavior, known as trophallaxis, helps spread the DNA signal among nestmates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ants-outperform-other-lanternfly-detectors">Ants outperform other lanternfly detectors</h2>



The antDNA technique works across landscapes and does not depend on the pest being visible. Unlike other methods, it does not require water, filtration, or special storage. Ants can be preserved in ethanol without refrigeration, reducing the burden on field teams.



Ants are present in nearly every habitat, from forests to cities. The collection setup is simple and inexpensive. The ants’ ability to hold liquid in their crop allows the DNA to stay detectable longer than in typical surface samples. 



The study confirmed that DNA from honeydew lasts longer than DNA from insect tissue, making honeydew a more stable source.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-importance-of-early-detection">Importance of early detection</h2>



Spotted lanternflies harm many plants, including grapevines, hardwoods, and hops. As they feed, they weaken plants and coat them in honeydew. This sticky substance promotes sooty mold, which further harms plant health. 



Early detection is critical because removing the pest becomes harder once it spreads. Current surveillance efforts rely on human sightings of the insect or its egg masses. These sightings often occur only when the population has already grown. 



The ant surveillance method allows early detection of lanternfly species even in low-density zones and inaccessible areas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scaling-up-and-looking-forward">Scaling up and looking forward</h2>



Yang and his team are now working on a portable test kit for use in the field. This will allow real-time molecular testing without needing a full lab. Faster results mean quicker action against the pest.



“One of the biggest advantages of using ants is that they live almost everywhere, such as forests, farms, cities - you name it,” Yang said. “Their constant search for food makes them ideal frontline samplers for spotted lanternfly DNA.”



This approach offers a new way to watch for invasive species like lanternflies using ants, without depending on visual surveys. It opens up possibilities for surveillance that is fast, flexible, and low-cost.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ants-may-detect-other-pests-like-lanternflies">Ants may detect other pests like lanternflies</h2>



The method could be expanded to track other pests. Many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-many-ants-live-on-earth-at-any-point-in-time-total-number-is-astounding/">insects</a> excrete honeydew, and ants can pick up their DNA too. This opens the door for broader pest detection strategies using the same principle.



Ants, in their natural role as sugar hunters, may become an essential part of protecting crops, forests, and native ecosystems. With antDNA, researchers are tapping into nature’s own behaviors to find smarter ways of monitoring invasive threats.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ps.8814" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NeoBiota</a>.



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How ants could help stop the tree-killing lanternfly

Virginia faces a stubborn enemy: the spotted lanternfly (SLF). These...

In the wild, social lives shape survival. For female chimpanzees, bonds with others aren't just emotional glue. They are critical for keeping babies alive. 



A new study of wild eastern chimpanzees in Gombe National Park finds that social integration predicts whether a newborn survives, even when no close kin is around.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chimpanzees-with-strong-social-bonds">Chimpanzees with strong social bonds</h2>



Female <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/laughter-lifts-bonobo-moods-offering-clues-to-human-emotion/">chimps</a> are often the ones who leave their birth group. That means most do not live near their mothers or sisters. Still, those who manage to build friendships with other females raise more babies to weaning age.



“In species where females live in groups with their sisters and mothers, it’s less surprising that female sociality is beneficial,” said <a href="https://scholars.duke.edu/person/joseph.feldblum" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joseph Feldblum</a>, lead author and research professor at Duke. 



“But female chimps don’t usually have that. They are also less gregarious than males, so the fact that forming strong social connections still matters is striking.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-babies-of-social-chimpanzees">Babies of social chimpanzees </h2>



The team analyzed 37 years of detailed records from 37 mothers and 110 offspring. Using a composite sociality index (CSI), they tracked how much time females spent associating or grooming others before giving birth.



Their best model showed that higher CSI scores, especially with other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baby-talk-may-explain-what-sets-humans-apart-from-apes/">females</a>, greatly increased infant survival to age one and even to age five. The effect held even after excluding mothers who died shortly after giving birth.



A female with a CSI score twice the average had a 95 percent chance of her baby surviving the first year. For those below average, this dropped to 75 percent. 



Among females without any close kin, the trend was stronger. A single unit rise in sociality increased survival odds by over 17 times.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kinship-and-male-alliances">Kinship and male alliances </h2>



The researchers ran extra tests to see if the benefit was just from living with relatives. It was not. They also checked if relationships with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-rumbles-to-rituals-scientists-map-the-cultures-of-the-animal-kingdom/">males</a> helped. That also came up short.



“That tells us it’s not just about being born into a supportive family,” said Feldblum. “These are primarily social relationships with non kin.”



Even when female kin were present, they had no direct effect on offspring survival. Instead, they raised the chance that a mother had strong friendships. But it was those friendships, not the family ties, that made the difference.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-ties-remain-stable-over-time">Social ties remain stable over time</h2>



The benefits of bonding were not a one time fluke. Females who were social before birth stayed social after birth too. Their social worlds remained steady. 



“Our results don’t prove causation, but they point to the value of being surrounded by others who support you, or at least tolerate you,” said Feldblum.



This was not the case for bonds with males. Social connections between male and female chimpanzees were less stable and showed no link to baby survival.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-bonds-and-chimpanzee-babies">Social bonds and chimpanzee babies </h2>



How do these friendships help? The exact mechanism remains uncertain. Social bonds might protect chimpanzee mothers from aggression. They could mean better access to food. Friendships might even prevent infanticide.



Earlier studies in this same group of chimps estimated that infanticide by other females may cause 3.5 percent to 19 percent of deaths in the first year. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-curiosity-starts-young-and-helps-us-survive/">Social</a> mothers may face less of that risk.



More research is needed, but one thing is clear. Socially connected females stay in better shape, which could boost prenatal health. Unlike rank or dominance, which did not correlate with survival during this study window, sociality kept its value.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-social-chimps-mirror-humans">Social chimps mirror humans</h2>



Though females often move away from family, they form lasting ties with unrelated females. The Gombe chimps mirror women in human patrilocal societies, who build networks after moving for marriage.



“We humans are remarkably collaborative and cooperative. We cooperate at scales that are pretty much unique in the animal kingdom,” said Feldblum. 



“Human females who don’t have access to kin, for example because they moved to a new city or village, are still able to form strong bonds that can benefit them.”



This study adds to the growing body of evidence that friendship matters. In baboons, dolphins, and horses, social bonds also improve reproductive success. In chimps too, strong bonds give babies a better chance at life.



Studying these dynamics in our closest relatives helps us understand our own nature. Like chimps, human survival does not just depend on strength or status. It depends on others. 



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225011241" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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Babies of social chimpanzee mothers are more likely to survive

In the wild, social lives shape survival. For female chimpanzees,...

Before you make a decision, your brain is already busy. It starts pulling in evidence, thinking through options, and slowly leaning toward a choice - all without you even realizing it.



Take a simple situation: two drivers in rush hour traffic. They both see the same congested road. One hits the gas to merge. The other taps the brakes and waits. 



Same scene, different reaction. Why? That’s a question that scientists have been trying to answer for years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-decision-making-in-the-brain">Decision-making in the brain</h2>



Researchers from <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>, working with teams from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stanford University, and Boston University, may be closer to cracking the code. 



The study was focused on how individual brain cells - each with its own quirks - somehow work together to land on a decision. In particular, the team investigated the dorsal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/two-distinct-maps-discovered-in-the-brain/">premotor cortex</a> - a part of the brain that helps turn decisions into actions. 



When we choose to reach, move, or act, the dorsal premotor cortex is in play. But it’s not as simple as one neuron equals one thought. The activity here is all over the map.



The researchers trained <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-structure-of-rhesus-macaques-is-shaped-by-social-interactions/">rhesus macaques</a> to look at a checkered screen and figure out whether red or green was more dominant. Sometimes the answer was obvious, while other times it was tough to call.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-signals-from-individual-neurons">Signals from individual neurons </h2>



While the monkeys made their choices, the scientists recorded signals from individual neurons. 



The researchers found that even during the same trial, the neurons didn’t behave in sync. The monkeys showed a wide range of responses, something scientists call “heterogeneity.”



Dr. Tatiana Engel, an associate professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, is the senior author of the study.



“The widespread assumption is that this heterogeneity reflects the complex dynamics involved in cognition,” said Dr. Engel. "But surprisingly, we found that this apparent complexity arises from a very different neural coding principle.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-neurons-work-together-for-a-decision">Neurons work together for a decision </h2>



The team developed a new type of computational model to help explain this complexity. It revealed that a neuron's behavior is shaped by two key factors. 



The first is tuning - when a neuron responds and what kind of decision it reacts to. The second is neural dynamics - how the brain’s internal state influences that activity as it unfolds over time.



Imagine a rolling landscape. In this model, valleys represent stable decisions. As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-complete-map-of-every-neuron-in-the-brain-revealed/">neurons</a> activate, their patterns move like a ball rolling down a hill. 



On steeper slopes (easier choices), the ball moves quickly toward a clear answer. On flatter ground (harder decisions), the ball wobbles more, making mistakes more likely.



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



When the team compared this model to real brain data, it held up. The tuning stayed the same no matter how easy or hard the task was, but the shape of the mental terrain shifted. 



That shift helped explain why neurons that look random on the surface are actually following the same deeper logic.



“Think of it like a group of skiers descending a mountain,” explained Dr. Engel. “Each prefers a slightly different path, but all are shaped by the same slope beneath them."



"Similarly, each neuron has its own preference and activity, but the group of cells collectively in the premotor cortex takes a coordinated journey and gradually settles into a stable state that represents the decision.”



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



The study helps decode how the brain works when we’re weighing choices, especially the tricky ones. That kind of insight is crucial - not just for understanding everyday decision-making, but for understanding mental health disorders.



In conditions like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/schizophrenia-linked-to-irregular-fatty-metabolism-in-the-brain/">schizophrenia</a> or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/high-fructose-intake-may-contribute-to-bipolar-disorder-and-aggression/">bipolar disorder</a>, decision-making can be disrupted. Knowing how neurons usually coordinate could help pinpoint what’s going wrong. It also opens the door to designing more targeted therapies that focus on decision-related brain activity.



The team isn’t done yet. Their next step is to dig deeper into the roles of different types of neurons and how their connections shape this internal landscape.



“Every decision is unique,” said Dr. Engel. “But by digging down to the level of single trials and single neurons, we can start to make sense of it.”



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09199-1">Nature</a>.



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How your brain makes a decision before you know it

Before you make a decision, your brain is already busy....

Gorillas, often thought of as ground dwellers, spend much more time in the trees than previously assumed. This finding from the Max Planck Institute challenges long-standing ideas about the anatomy and evolution of gorillas.



Western and Bwindi mountain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gorillas-are-digging-for-a-surprising-food-in-the-jungle-soil/">gorillas</a>, studied across Gabon and Uganda, were observed over many years. Even the largest males, weighing up to 170 kg, showed substantial tree use. 



Adult females in Loango spent 34% of their time in trees, while Bwindi females clocked 21%. That is a huge jump from the 7% figure for Virunga gorillas.



Study lead author Dr. Martha M. Robbins is a zoologist in the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution at the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/">Max Planck Institute</a> for Evolutionary Anthropology.



“Adult females spent 20% to 30% of their time in the trees, while silverbacks spent 18% to 20% of their time being arboreal, which is much more than 2 to 7% found previously in the Virunga mountain gorillas,” said Dr. Robbins.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-different-gorillas-different-tree-habits">Different gorillas, different tree habits</h2>



The Virunga population shaped our early understanding of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-gorillas-get-sick-from-being-too-social/">gorilla</a> habits. These highland gorillas live in fruit-scarce zones and rarely climb. But the new study included data from five groups in Bwindi and one in Loango, totaling nearly 5,200 observation days.



The findings are clear: tree use varies widely between populations. Even juveniles and subadults in Bwindi and Loango spent 32% to 43% of their time in trees - double the rate seen in Virunga’s younger gorillas.



The researchers also found that body size plays a role but does not prevent tree climbing. 



“This demonstrates that the large body size of gorillas is not necessarily a limiting factor to tree climbing and that gorillas can be just as arboreal as some chimpanzee populations,” said co-author Rhianna Drummond-Clarke.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climbing-is-not-just-about-fruit">Climbing is not just about fruit</h2>



The researchers expected fruit to be the main driver behind climbing. While gorillas did climb more while eating fruit, the full story is more complex. In Loango, adult females were more arboreal when eating leaves than fruit. In Bwindi, the reverse was true.



Even silverbacks, the heaviest individuals, climbed trees to eat fruit. At Bwindi, silverbacks were arboreal 82% of the time they ate fruit. But fruit formed just 14% of their diet, meaning most of their tree time involved eating leaves.



At Loango, gorillas often ate fallen fruit from the ground. This shows fruit-eating can be a terrestrial act too. Meanwhile, western gorillas also ate lots of tree leaves, about 30% of their diet, driving folivorous tree use, similar to some monkeys.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feeding-is-the-main-reason-to-climb">Feeding is the main reason to climb</h2>



What were the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/male-infertility-humans-linked-same-genes-gorilla-small-penises/">gorillas</a> doing in trees? Mostly feeding. Adult female gorillas were far more likely to climb while feeding than when resting or traveling.



Even when eating nonfruit, Loango females climbed more than Bwindi ones. This likely reflects differences in diet and foraging strategy. The energy payoff from fruit seems to outweigh the climbing cost, especially for massive silverbacks.



Also, Loango females were heavier climbers than their Bwindi peers when not eating fruit. This surprising reversal shows that even leaf-seeking gorillas may spend considerable time off the ground.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-this-means-for-ape-evolution">What this means for ape evolution</h2>



These results have big implications. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-endangered-primate-species-identified-in-new-report/">Gorillas</a> have long been labeled as terrestrial because of their bulk and plant-heavy diets. But that view no longer holds. The study shows gorilla arboreality spans all life stages, from infants to adults.



That shift affects how we interpret the fossil record. Gorilla-like bones have been taken to suggest ground-based life. But frequent tree climbing changes the picture. 



“We demonstrate that large body size and a largely folivorous diet in apes are also consistent with frequent arboreality,” noted the study authors.



Studies of limb proportions and bone strength now suggest a range, from more tree-based western gorillas to more ground-based Virunga ones. 



This means our models of ancient human relatives may need adjustment. Gorilla-like features may not imply they lived solely on the ground.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gorillas-are-tree-climbers-not-just-walkers">Gorillas are tree climbers, not just walkers</h2>



Gorillas are not just forest-floor giants. They climb often and for various reasons. From feeding on leaves to exploring the canopy, these behaviors offer key insights into how apes, including humans, evolved.



Future research may look into how such large animals navigate trees. They might distribute their weight across branches or use special movement strategies, similar to orangutans or chimpanzees. 



This research opens new doors in our understanding of ape mobility and evolutionary history.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00590-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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Gorillas spend much more time in trees than we previously thought

Gorillas, often thought of as ground dwellers, spend much more...

In the 1920s, the yellow-spored mold Aspergillus flavus gained infamy after members of Howard Carter’s team died not long after opening Tutankhamun’s tomb.



Decades later, a similar fate befell scientists who entered the crypt of Poland’s King Casimir IV. Within weeks, 10 of the 12 researchers succumbed to respiratory illness, and investigators traced the deadly outbreak to dormant A. flavus spores. 



Long dismissed as a toxic mold, Aspergillus flavus has revealed a new role: producing compounds that match some of the most trusted cancer therapies for acute myeloid leukemia.



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



This fungus is commonly found in soil, decaying vegetation, and grains. It thrives in warm, humid environments, which makes it a persistent problem in agricultural settings - especially in crops like corn, peanuts, and tree nuts. 



What makes it particularly concerning is its ability to produce aflatoxins, which are highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds. 



Aflatoxin contamination in food can pose serious health risks to both humans and livestock, prompting strict regulations and regular testing in the food industry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mold-s-molecular-treasure-map">Mold’s molecular treasure map</h2>



The breakthrough came from Sherry Gao’s laboratory at the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a>, where researchers hunt for drugs hidden in microbial genomes.



The team focused on ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs - small, ring-shaped molecules known for complex bioactivity. Scientists have cataloged thousands of RiPPs in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-think-they-found-two-key-bacteria-that-cause-multiple-sclerosis/">bacteria</a>, but they've found only a handful in fungi.



“Purifying these chemicals is difficult,” explained lead author Qiuyue Nie, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Moreover, scientists can easily overlook the genes that direct their synthesis.



Using a two-pronged strategy, the team first compared the chemical fingerprints of a dozen Aspergillus strains, then zeroed in on gene clusters likely to encode RiPP machinery. 



Turning those genes off caused the mysterious chemical peaks to vanish. This confirmed the researchers had found an active RiPP factory inside the tomb-dwelling mold.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-tomb-mold-to-cancer-medicine">From tomb mold to cancer medicine</h2>



Isolation and structural analysis revealed four previously unknown molecules sporting an intricate lattice of interlocking rings. The scientists named them asperigimycins in honor of their fungal source.



Two of the four showed notable activity against leukemia cells straight out of the flask, but a chemical tweak proved transformative.



By adding a fatty tail identical to one found in royal jelly - the nutrient-rich substance that turns ordinary bee larvae into queens - the team produced a lipid-capped asperigimycin. It matched cytarabine and daunorubicin, drugs that have anchored leukemia care since the 1970s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-drug-gets-inside">How the drug gets inside </h2>



Why did that extra lipid unleash such power? Gao’s group deployed a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crispr-gene-editing-gets-a-revolutionary-upgrade-with-new-tool/">CRISPR</a>-based screen, knocking out genes in leukemia cells and tracking changes in drug uptake. 



One transporter, SLC46A3, emerged as essential. It normally shuttles nutrients out of lysosomes, the cell’s recycling compartments. The researchers learned that the fatty tag let the mold-derived asperigimycins hitch a ride through this portal.



“This gene acts like a gateway,” Nie said. “Knowing that lipids can affect how this gene transports chemicals into cells gives us another tool for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oral-peptides-pave-the-way-for-new-drug-development/">drug development</a>.” 



The insight may rescue other cyclic peptides that falter in trials because they cannot cross cellular barriers efficiently.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disarming-cancer-s-dividing-machinery"><a></a>Disarming cancer’s dividing machinery</h2>



Microscopy and biochemical assays showed that the modified asperigimycins halt tumor growth by sabotaging microtubules, the protein scaffolds that haul chromosomes apart during mitosis.



Intriguingly, the mold-derived molecules left breast, liver, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honeybees-can-sniff-out-lung-cancer/">lung cancer</a> lines largely untouched, as well as an array of bacteria and yeast. 



That selectivity hints at fewer side effects for patients, a perennial challenge for chemotherapy agents that indiscriminately target all fast-dividing cells.



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



For decades, scientists debated how fungi construct RiPPs, often mistaking them for non-ribosomal peptides. The current study resolves that puzzle by linking chemical signatures to the responsible genes.



“The synthesis of these compounds is complicated, but that’s also what gives them this remarkable bioactivity," said Nie.



Comparative genomic scans have already flagged similar RiPP gene clusters in dozens of other molds, suggesting a trove of undiscovered molecules with antibiotic, antiviral, or immunomodulatory potential. According to Nie, this is an unexplored region with tremendous potential.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-tomb-to-trial">From tomb to trial</h2>



The next step is to test asperigimycins in mice to gauge toxicity, dosage, and efficacy in living organisms. Success there could pave the way for human clinical trials. Gao, reflecting on the journey from tomb lore to lab bench, recalls one guiding principle.



“Fungi gave us penicillin. These results show that many more medicines derived from natural products remain to be found,” Gao said.



Nature’s pantry still holds untold remedies waiting to be unlocked. With each advance in genomic mining and synthetic tailoring, the line between microbial menace and medical marvel grows ever thinner.



It’s a testament to evolution’s vast chemical imagination - and to scientists bold enough to mine mold and other microbes for the next life-saving drug.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-025-01946-9">Nature Chemical Biology</a>.



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Toxic mold found in ancient tombs has been engineered into a promising cancer drug

In the 1920s, the yellow-spored mold Aspergillus flavus gained infamy...

Made from renewable bamboo, these biodegradable plates are an eco-friendly alternative to disposable dinnerware. Set of 8 round plates. Available in 3 sizes listed below. Read more Overview Biodegradable and made from renewable bamboo, these plates are an elegant, natural alternative to disposable plastic dinnerware. Bamboo plates can be used indoors or outdoors for casual or formal occasions. Perfect for catered events, weddings, birthdays, picnics, or meals at home. At home, you can get multiple uses from these plates. Features & Benefits: Set of 8 round plates Compost approved Biobased Certified by USDA FDA approved food-safe No discoloration or irregularities - consistent plate to plate Chemical and pesticide-free; no bleaches or dyes Made of 100% certified organic bamboo Size Options: 7-inch round plates (set of 8) 9-inch round plates (set of 8) 11-inch round plates (set of 8) Compostable: Biodegradable bamboo plates can be composted after using. Plates will break down within 4 to 6 months in a home compost bin. Biodegradable bamboo utensils available here

Biodegradable Bamboo Plates - Set of 8

Made from renewable bamboo, these biodegradable plates are an eco-friendly...

Set of 24 natural biodegradable sporks made from organic bamboo. Perfect for picnics, birthday parties or meals on the go! Read more Overview Our biodegradable bamboo sporks are the perfect alternative to disposable plastic utensils. Keep plenty on hand for picnics, parties, birthdays, or in your backpack for meals on the go. When finished, simply toss into your compost pail instead of the garbage. In a home compost bin, these biodegradable sporks will break down in 4-6 months. Features & Benefits: Set of 24 sporks Biodegradable and compostable FDA approved food safe USDA certified biobased product Made from 100% organic bamboo To purchase matching plates, click here

Biodegradable Bamboo Sporks 24-pack

Set of 24 natural biodegradable sporks made from organic bamboo....

Made from 100% organic bamboo, these biodegradable utensils are perfect for picnics and birthday parties. Includes 8 forks, 8 knives, and 8 spoons. Read more Overview These biodegradable bamboo utensils are an eco-friendly alternative to disposable plastic cutlery. Keep plenty on hand for picnics, parties, weddings, birthdays, or dining on the go. This cutlery is sturdy enough to handle almost any meal. This set includes forks, knives and spoons for 8 place settings. Features & Benefits: Set includes 8 forks, 8 knives & 8 spoons Alternative to disposable plastic cutlery Chemical-free, no bleaches or dyes FDA-approved food safe USDA Certified Biobased Product for composting Made from 100% organic bamboo Veneerware cutlery can be composted after using. In a home compost bin, this biodegradable cutlery will break down within 4-6 months. To purchase coordinating plates, click here

Biodegradable Bamboo Utensils

Made from 100% organic bamboo, these biodegradable utensils are perfect...

Black Berkey purification elements fit into the Big Berkey and Berkey Light water filter systems, and each element has a 3000 gallon lifetime. This product cannot be shipped to California. Read more Overview There's no need for expensive disposable filters that need replacement every couple months - Black Berkey purification elements are re-cleanable during their 3000 gallon lifetime. When the flow rate decreases, simply brush the Black Berkey elements with a scrub pad under running water, reinstall, and your system is ready again to purify water. Black Berkey purification elements remove or reduce the following: Pathogenic Bacteria and Cysts (E. Coli, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Raotella Terrigena) - reduced to > 99.999% Viruses - reduced to > 99.9999% Parasites - reduced to > 99.9999% Harmful or unwanted chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides Chlorine - removed to below detectable limits Detergents Organic solvents THMs (Trihalomethanes - Bromodichloromethane, Bromoform, Chloroform, Dibromochloromethane) - removed to below dectable limits MTBEs (Methyl tert-butyl ether) - removed to below dectable limits Other VOCs - removed to below detectable limits MBAS (Methylene Blue Active Substances) Cloudiness, silt, and sediment Radiologicals (Radon 222) - removed to below dectable limits Nitrates and Nitrites - reduced to > 95% Selenium and Thallium - reduced to > 95% Heavy metals - reduced to > 95% Iron Foul tastes and odor

Black Berkey Purification Elements - set of 2

Black Berkey purification elements fit into the Big Berkey and...

Inspired by beautiful bluebell flowers, these colorful socks are knit in the USA with recycled cotton and mismatched with care. Available in three sizes. Whether you wear them all day at work, when relaxing at home or to keep your feet warm at night, these whimsical socks will brighten any day. Read more Overview Bluebell Recycled Cotton Socks are inspired by the little blue flowers that dot the garden in spring. Colors in the Bluebell socks: lime green, turquoise, purple, royal blue, and fuchsia. Features & Benefits: Socks knit with recycled cotton yarn Mismatched with care Keeps your feet comfortable and warm year round Machine washable and dryable Made in the USA from recycled materials Size Options: Small: Women's 6 - 8, Men's 5 - 7 Medium: Women's 8 - 10, Men's 7 - 9 Large: Women's 10 - 12, Men's 9 - 11 Socks fit true to size. Small, medium and large corresponds to shoe sizes above. If you are on the cusp between sizes and wondering which size to order, these socks will shrink a little but they also stretch. So if you like your socks to fit snug then opt for the smaller size, and if you don't like socks to fit snug then go for the larger size. You can machine wash and dry these socks. Bluebell socks are knit with pre-shrunk, colorfast cotton yarns. The colors will not run or fade. Eco friendly Bluebell socks are knit from recycled materials. The recycled cotton yarn is created by recovering the scraps left over from the production of cotton t-shirts. All the little cotton scraps are gathered, ground up and spun into yarn. Using recycled cotton reduces the amount of cotton waste sent to landfills. Using recycled cotton yarn also reduces the amount of water, land use, pesticides and herbicides used to grow new cotton fibers as well as eliminates the need for harmful chemicals to dye virgin cotton yarn. This recycled yarn is certified by Oeko-Tex to be free of harmful toxins. Locally made Sock design, knitting and finishing final touches are all completed at small family-owned businesses in Vermont, North Carolina, and Oregon.

Bluebell Recycled Cotton Socks

Inspired by beautiful bluebell flowers, these colorful socks are knit...

BNTO turns any wide mouth canning jar into an instant lunchbox, so you can pack snacks and mix or dip ingredients on the go! Read more Overview BNTO (pronounced: BEN-toh) is a canning jar adaptor for bringing food on the go! Inspired by Japanese bento boxes, Cuppow created a conveniently shaped insert that separates a canning jar into two compartments. Perfect for salad and dressing, yogurt and granola, veggies and dip, chips and salsa, leftovers and more! Features & Benefits: Turns any wide mouth canning jar into a lunchbox! Holds 6 fluid ounces (3/4 cup) Reusable and dishwasher safe Food-safe, BPA-free rigid plastic Made in the USA from 100% recycled materials How To Use: Use the BNTO to split a canning jar into two compartments. Simply unscrew the jar ring, lift the seal, nest BNTO into the jar, replace seal over BNTO, and screw ring onto jar to close. What size jar do I have? BNTO fits wide mouth canning jars = 3 inch mouth diameter.

BNTO Canning Jar Lunchbox Adaptor

BNTO turns any wide mouth canning jar into an instant...

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Butterfly Scatter Garden

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Made from reclaimed cedar, this one-of-a-kind serving tray is ideal for serving appetizers, drinks, coffee or tea, or as a catch-all on a table in your home. Read more Overview These serving trays are made from hand-selected cedar planks reclaimed from 70-year old Chinese houses, now upcycled for your home. The uniqueness of each board is derived from the color, grain, lines and knots that define each serving tray from one another. This six-sided serving tray can handle most needs including wine and glasses, coffee pot and cups, and a delectable food spread. Cedar wood is extraordinarily lightweight making it easy to maneuver around the kitchen and household. Features & Benefits: One-of-a-kind cedar serving trays Hand selected, reclaimed and upcycled Finished with a food-safe oil to nourish and protect the wood No lacquer coating Size: 15" L x 10" W Hand wash in warm soapy water and wipe dry. You can use Bamboo Goo to keep your cedar serving tray looking new for years to come.

Cedar Wood Serving Tray

Made from reclaimed cedar, this one-of-a-kind serving tray is ideal...