Stunning facial reconstructions of 'hobbit,' Neanderthal and Homo erectus bring human relatives to life

By Aristos Georgiou published July 10, 2025

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/stunning-facial-reconstructions-of-hobbit-neanderthal-and-homo-erectus-bring-human-relatives-to-life

Facial reconstructions of the prehistoric humans Homo floresiensis (left), Homo erectus (middle) and a Neanderthal (right) that are part of an upcoming five-part documentary series called "Human." 

(Image credit: BBC/BBC Studios)

A new documentary brings early human history to life with a "scientifically accurate" collection of hyper-real 3D models.

Four lifelike reconstructions of prehistoric humans have been unveiled — including a model of a species often dubbed "the hobbit," which, as an adult, was about the same height as a modern 4-year-old.

The 3D models are featured in the upcoming five-part documentary series "Human," which explores the extraordinary story of human evolution over the past 300,000 years, from our rise in Africa, to our migration into Eurasia and across the globe, including to our journey through the Americas after going along the Bering Land Bridge during the last ice age.

Scientists think that, in addition to Homo sapiens, at least six other human species existed around the time our species first emerged in Africa. The models from the series are based on three of these — Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis and Neanderthals — and the earliest known H. sapiens specimen.

"These are the most scientifically accurate collection of hyper-real 3D models of human species ever put on TV that we know of," paleoanthropologist and series presenter Ella Al-Shamahi said in a statement, adding that no TV show has brought this many ancient human species to life in such a way.

The production team for the series — a collaboration between the BBC Studios Science Unit and the U.S. science program "NOVA" — developed the 3D models using the latest available scientific data.

First, the team used hundreds of cameras to take photographs of actors who were chosen because their body shapes closely resembled the ancient humans being reconstructed, according to the statement. These images were then stitched together digitally to create a 3D model.

Next, the team adapted the 3D models to reflect the anatomy of each ancient human individual. They worked closely with the series' scientific consultants, who drew on the known fossil record to guide the reconstructions.

This model is based on human remains from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, which are considered the earliest known fossils of our species.

 (Image credit: BBC/BBC Studios)



Finally, the team determined the skin and eye color of the models based on genetic studies of these ancient humans. The Neanderthal model, for example, features a light skin tone, as indicated by DNA evidence from genes linked to pigmentation. This light skin color would have helped Neanderthals with vitamin D production, as they lived at high latitudes in Eurasia that had low levels of sunlight.

The series will fly through human evolution, showing the diverse places and climates we've experienced and the extraordinary animals we encountered — and hunted — along the way. Al-Shamahi will introduce viewers to different types of archaic humans who lived throughout history.

For example, Homo erectus lived from at least 1.89 million to 110,000 years ago, originating in Africa before spreading into Asia and possibly parts of Europe. H. erectus was the first human species fully adapted for exclusively upright walking and is widely believed to have been the first human species to use fire.

Homo floresiensis is nicknamed "the hobbit" for its small size; it stood around 3.5 feet (1 meter) tall. This species inhabited the Indonesian island of Flores as recently as 50,000 years ago and is known to have used tools.

Neanderthals, with their cold-adapted bodies, first appeared more than 400,000 years ago, and lived across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, before going extinct around 34,000 years ago. They even bred with modern humans for thousands of years.

The early H. sapiens model, meanwhile, is based on fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, dated to about 300,000 years ago. These remains exhibit a mix of modern and archaic features and suggest an earlier origin for our species than previously believed.

"Human" will premiere in the United Kingdom Monday (July 14) on BBC Two, and all episodes will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer for U.K. residents only. The series will air in the United States on Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on PBS. It will also be available to stream at pbs.org/nova, NOVA on YouTube and the PBS app.

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Here's Why Weather Can Trigger Your Migraines, And How to Ease The Pain

11 July 2025, By D. WILHOUR, THE CONVERSATION

https://www.sciencealert.com/heres-why-weather-can-trigger-your-migraines-and-how-to-ease-the-pain

(Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels)

"Is it just me, or is there a storm coming?"

If you are one of the 39 million Americans in the U.S. living with migraines, there's a good chance an intense headache will begin when the weather shifts.

You aren't alone. Studies find 30% to 50% of people with migraines identify some type of weather change as a trigger, making it the most commonly reported migraine source.

Yet, it's also one of the most puzzling.

Some people are more sensitive to weather

As a neurologist and headache specialist practicing in Colorado, a place with frequent weather shifts, patients often tell me that weather is one of their biggest migraine triggers. The results can disrupt work, school and social plans, and create a sense of helplessness.

Doctors still don't fully understand why some brains are more sensitive to environmental changes.

What we do know is that people with migraines have especially sensitive nervous systems, and that certain environmental changes – like shifts in air pressure, temperature, humidity and air quality – can activate pathways in the brain that lead to pain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwZypa0iKq8&t=3s

What's going on in the brain during migraines? TEDx.

Key ways weather can trigger migraines

Weather triggers can vary from person to person, but there are a few common migraine culprits:

Barometric pressure changes, or changes in atmospheric pressure, are among the most commonly cited triggers.

When a storm system moves in, the air pressure drops. Some scientists believe this change may affect the pressure inside your head or how blood vessels in your brain dilate and constrict.

One theory is that changes in barometric pressure may cause a small imbalance in the pressure between the inside of your skull and the outside environment. That might directly stimulate pain-sensitive nerves in the head, triggering inflammation and the start of a migraine.

Others point to inflammation, the way the brain processes sensory input, and changes in serotonin levels – which play a key role in activating migraine.

Adults with migraine or severe headache in past 3 months

The National Health Interview Survey in 2018 asked U.S. adults if they had experienced a migraine or severe headache in the previous three months. More women then men said they had. Migraines were most common among those ages 18-44.

10.6% of men and 20.1% of women said they had experienced a migraine or severe headache in the previously 3 months.

Yes

No

10.6%

89.4%

Men

20.1%

79.9%

Women

About 27,000 adults were surveyed in confidential, face-to-face interviews

Temperature extremes, with very hot or very cold days, or sudden changes in temperature, can throw off the body's internal balance. High humidity or rapid shifts in moisture levels can have a similar effect.


Air pollutants like ozone and nitrogen dioxide can cause inflammation in the nerves that play a role in migraines.

Bright sunlight can also be especially bothersome, likely due to heightened sensitivity to light and an overactive visual processing system in the brain.

Lightning and strong winds may also be linked to migraine attacks in certain individuals.

In short, weather changes can act as stressors on a brain that's already wired to be more sensitive. The exact triggers and responses vary from person to person, but the research suggests that the interaction between weather and our biology plays a significant role for a subset of patients with migraines.

Steps you can take to reduce the pain

You can't change the weather, but you can be proactive. Here are a few tips to help weather-proof your migraine routine:

Track your migraines and watch the forecast: Use a migraine diary or app to track when attacks occur, along with weather conditions. Patterns may emerge, such as attacks a day before rain or during temperature changes, that will allow you to adjust your schedule or medication plan.

Develop healthy eating, sleeping and exercise habits: Dehydration, poor sleep and skipped meals can magnify the effects of weather triggers, so keeping your body on an even keel helps reduce vulnerability. Regular exercise and a healthy diet can also help.

Create a migraine-friendly environment: On days when the sun is harsh or the humidity is high, stay inside. Sunglasses, eye masks or even blue-light glasses can be helpful. Some people find that certain earplugs are able to reduce pressure changes felt in the middle ear.

Try meditation, mindfulness techniques or biofeedback, which teaches people to moderate their physiological responses, such as muscle responses and breathing. These strategies can help your nervous system become less reactive over time, which can be especially helpful when dealing with uncontrollable triggers like weather.

Consider pretreatment: If you know a storm is likely to trigger your migraines, you can keep rescue medications close by or even preemptively treat yourself during weather events.

Look into preventive treatment: If weather triggers frequent migraines, talk to your health care provider about preventive treatments – medications, supplements or neuromodulation devices – which can be used on a regular basis to reduce migraine occurrence.

The bigger picture

It's important to remember that while weather can be a trigger, it's rarely the only one. Migraine is usually the result of a perfect storm of factors: genetic susceptibility, hormones, stress, sleep, food and, yes, the weather.

That's why identifying your personal triggers and building a plan, if necessary, with the support of a medical provider, can make a big difference in managing migraines.

Weather-related migraine can be one of the most frustrating triggers because it feels completely out of your hands. However, with knowledge, tracking and the right treatment strategies, you can take back a sense of control.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

A Simple Daily Habit Could Help Lower Your Blood Pressure

11 July 2025, By C. HEISS, THE CONVERSATION

https://www.sciencealert.com/a-simple-daily-habit-could-help-lower-your-blood-pressure

(PDPics/Canva)

We're constantly told to "eat healthy" – but what does that actually mean?

Even doctors sometimes struggle to offer clear, practical advice on which specific foods support health, why they work and what real benefits people can expect.

A growing body of research is starting to offer some answers. Along with colleagues, I have researched whether a group of plant compounds called flavan-3-ols could help lower blood pressure and improve blood vessel function.

The results suggest these everyday compounds may have real potential for protecting heart health.

Flavan-3-ols – sometimes called flavanols or catechins – are natural plant compounds that belong to the flavonoid family. They're part of what gives plants their colour and helps protect them from sunlight and pests.

For us, they show up in some of our most familiar foods: cocoa, green and black tea, grapes, apples and even some berries. That slightly tart or bitter note you taste in dark chocolate or strong tea? That's flavan-3-ols at work.

Scientists have long been interested in their health effects. In 2022, the Cosmos trial (Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study), which followed over 21,000 people, found that cocoa flavanols, but not multivitamin supplements, reduced deaths from cardiovascular disease by 27%.

Our study set out to dig even deeper, focusing specifically on their effects on blood pressure and endothelial function (how well blood vessels dilate and respond to blood flow).

We analysed data from 145 randomised controlled trials involving more than 5,200 participants.

These studies tested a range of flavan-3-ol-rich foods and supplements, including cocoa, tea, grapes, apples and isolated compounds like epicatechin, and measured their effects on two key cardiovascular markers: blood pressure and flow-mediated dilation (FMD): a measure of how well the inner lining of blood vessels functions.

The studies ranged from short-term (a single dose) to longer-term interventions lasting weeks or months. On average, participants consumed about 586 mg of flavan-3-ols daily; roughly the amount found in two to three cups of tea, one to two servings of dark chocolate, two tablespoons of cocoa powder, or a couple of apples.

Regular consumption of flavan-3-ols led to an average drop in office blood pressure of 2.8 mmHg systolic (the top number) and 2.0 mmHg diastolic (the bottom number).

But for people who started with elevated blood pressure or diagnosed hypertension, the benefits were even greater with reductions of up to 6–7 mmHg systolic and 4 mmHg diastolic.

That's comparable to the effects of some prescription blood pressure medications and could significantly lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPUgG5dVqPI

We also found that flavan-3-ols improved endothelial function, with an average 1.7% increase in FMD after sustained intake. This benefit appeared even in participants whose blood pressure was already normal, suggesting these compounds may help protect blood vessels through multiple pathways.

Side effects were uncommon and typically mild, usually limited to minor digestive issues, suggesting that adding flavan-3-ol-rich foods to your diet is generally safe.

Supporting cardiovascular health

While the benefits were most pronounced in those with high blood pressure, even people with normal readings saw improvements in vascular function. This suggests flavan-3-ols may help prevent cardiovascular problems before they begin.

High blood pressure is one of the major drivers of heart disease worldwide, even at levels that don't qualify as full-blown hypertension (140/90 mmHg or higher). Recent guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology now recognise that even "elevated" blood pressure (120–139 systolic and 70–89 diastolic) carries increased risk.

Lifestyle changes, particularly diet and exercise, are recommended by doctors as first-line strategies. But patients and even healthcare providers often lack clear, specific guidance on which foods truly make a difference.

Our findings help fill this gap by showing that boosting flavan-3-ol intake through everyday foods may offer a simple, evidence-based way to support cardiovascular health.

Eating certain foods could help support your heart health. 

(İclâl Ağlamaz/Pexels)

What about supplements?

Some studies tested supplements or isolated flavan-3-ol compounds, but these generally showed smaller effects than whole foods like tea or cocoa. This may be because other beneficial compounds in whole foods work together, enhancing absorption and effectiveness.

At present, it appears both safer and more effective to focus on getting flavan-3-ols from foods rather than high-dose supplements, especially for people taking medications, since interactions are not fully understood.

The studies we reviewed suggest that 500–600 mg of flavan-3-ols daily may be enough to see benefits. You could reach this by combining two to three cups of green or black tea, one to two servings (about 56g) of dark chocolate or two to three tablespoons of cocoa powder, two to three apples, plus other flavan-3-ol-rich fruits like grapes, pears and berries

Small daily swaps, then, like trading a sugary snack for an apple and a piece of dark chocolate or adding an extra cup of tea, could gradually improve your heart health over time. Because flavan-3-ol content can vary between foods, monitoring your blood pressure at home may help you see if it's making a difference for you.

More research is needed, particularly in people with diabetes, where the results were less consistent. We also need to better understand how flavan-3-ols interact with medications and whether even greater benefits can be achieved when combined with other healthy habits.

But the evidence is now strong enough to recommend flavan-3-ol-rich foods as part of a heart-healthy diet. As clinicians seek practical, affordable lifestyle strategies for patients, these findings bring us closer to the idea of using food as medicine.

Of course, flavan-3-ols aren't a magic fix. They won't replace medication for everyone. But combined with other healthy habits, they may offer a meaningful – and delicious – boost to cardiovascular health.

And unlike many health fads, this isn't about exotic superfoods or expensive powders. It's about foods many of us already enjoy, used a little more intentionally.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Antidepressant Withdrawal Is a Major Public Health Issue, Experts Warn

10 July 2025, By M. HOROWITZ & J. MONCRIEFF, THE CONVERSATION

https://www.sciencealert.com/antidepressant-withdrawal-is-a-major-public-health-issue-experts-warn

(Africa images/Canva)

A new review of antidepressant withdrawal effects – written by academics, many of whom have close ties to drug manufacturers – risks underestimating the potential harms to long-term antidepressant users by focusing on short-term, industry-funded studies.

There is growing recognition that stopping antidepressants – especially after long-term use – can cause severe and sometimes debilitating withdrawal symptoms, and it is now acknowledged by the UK government as a public health issue.

One of the main reasons this issue took decades to recognise after the release of modern antidepressants onto the market is because medical guidelines, such as those produced by Nice (England's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), had for many years declared withdrawal effects to be "brief and mild".

This description was based on studies run by drug companies, where people had only taken the medication for eight to 12 weeks. As a result, when patients later showed up with severe, long-lasting symptoms, many doctors didn't take them seriously because these experiences contradicted what the guidelines led them to expect.

Our recent research helps explain this mismatch. We found a clear link between how long someone takes antidepressants and how likely they are to experience withdrawal symptoms – and how severe these symptoms are.

We surveyed NHS patients and found that people who had used antidepressants for more than two years were ten times more likely to have withdrawal effects, five times more likely for those effects to be severe, and 18 times more likely for them to be long lasting compared with those who had taken the drugs for six months or less.

For patients who used antidepressants for less than six months, withdrawal symptoms were mostly mild and brief. Three-quarters reported no or mild symptoms, most of which lasted less than four weeks.

Withdrawal is milder for those who use antidepressants for less than six months. (fizkes/Getty Images/Canva)




Only one in four of these patients was unable to stop when they wanted to. However, for long-term users (more than two years), two-thirds reported moderate or severe withdrawal effects, with one-quarter reporting severe withdrawal effects.

Almost one-third of long-term users reported symptoms that lasted for more than three months. Four-fifths of these patients were unable to stop their antidepressants despite trying.

About 2 million people on antidepressants in England have been taking them for over five years, according to a BBC investigation. And in the US at least 25 million people have taken antidepressants for more than five years. What happens to people in eight-to-12-week studies is a far cry from what happens to millions of people when they stop.

Studying what happens to people after just eight to 12 weeks on antidepressants is like testing car safety by crashing a vehicle into a wall at 5km/h – ignoring the fact that real drivers are out on the roads doing 60km/h.

History repeating itself?

Against this backdrop, a review has just been published in JAMA Psychiatry. Several of the senior authors declare payments from drug companies.

In what looks like history repeating itself, the review draws on short-term trials – many funded by the pharmaceutical industry – that were similar to those used to shape early treatment guidelines. The authors conclude that antidepressants do not cause significant withdrawal effects.

Their main analysis is based on eleven trials that compared withdrawal symptoms in people who had stopped antidepressants with those who had continued them or stopped taking a placebo. Six of these trials had people on antidepressants for eight weeks, four for 12 weeks and just one for 26 weeks.

They reported a slightly higher number of withdrawal symptoms in people who had stopped antidepressants, which they say does not constitute a "clinically significant" withdrawal syndrome. They also suggest the symptoms could be explained by the "nocebo effect" – where negative expectations cause people to feel worse.

In our view, the results are likely to greatly underestimate the risk of withdrawal for the millions of people on these drugs for years. The review found no relationship between the duration of use of antidepressants and withdrawal symptoms, but there were too few long-term studies to test this association properly.

The review probably underestimates, in our view, short-term withdrawal effects too by assuming that the fact that people experience withdrawal-like symptoms when stopping a placebo or continuing an antidepressant cancels out withdrawal effects from antidepressants. But this is not a valid assumption.

We know that antidepressant withdrawal effects overlap with side-effects and with everyday symptoms, but this does not mean they are the same thing. People stopping a placebo report symptoms such as dizziness and headache, because these are common occurrences.

However, as was shown in another recent review, symptoms following discontinuation of a placebo tend to be milder than those experienced when stopping antidepressants, which can be intense enough to require emergency care. So deducting the rate of symptoms after stopping a placebo or continuing an antidepressant from antidepressant withdrawal symptoms is likely to underestimate the true extent of withdrawal.

The birth of modern Man

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Instant Sex Swap: How a Female Fish Becomes a Male Boss in Minutes

BY U. OF OTAGO, JULY 9, 2025

https://scitechdaily.com/instant-sex-swap-how-a-female-fish-becomes-a-male-boss-in-minutes/

A female spotty/paketi (an endemic species of wrasse) in the Gemmell Lab at the University of Otago. 

Credit: Gemmell Lab

When the top spotty fish in a tank disappears, the runner-up turns aggressive within minutes, rushing and nipping rivals while its body quietly begins a weeks-long switch from female to male.

Otago scientists linked this lightning-fast coup to a dominance hierarchy based on size and to a neural decision-making network that fires up the moment power shifts. The findings reveal just how quickly behavior and brain chemistry can adapt, offering fresh clues about social flexibility across species—and practical insights for fisheries that rely on sex-changing fish.

Rapid Role Reversal Discovered

Scientists at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka have made a fascinating discovery about a remarkable species of sex-changing fish. In a new study, researchers found that it takes just minutes for these fish to shift their behavior and seize power when their social structure is disrupted.

The research, led by the University of Otago’s Department of Anatomy and published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, focused on the New Zealand spotty, or paketi, a coastal fish known for its ability to change from female to male during adulthood in response to social shifts.

When the dominant male in a group is removed, the sex change process in the next fish in line begins almost immediately.

Minutes to Dominate

PhD candidate Haylee Quertermous, lead author of the study, explains that while the full biological transition takes weeks, behavioral changes happen incredibly fast. Within minutes, a second-ranked fish starts displaying dominant behaviors to claim its new role.

“The aggressive behaviors (called ‘rushes’) involved the dominant fish swimming rapidly towards subordinate individuals,” she says.

“Sometimes the dominant fish will make physical contact with the subordinates, including taking bites at them, usually around their tail and fins. These aggressive behaviors are usually accompanied by the subordinate quickly swimming away (‘escaping’) from the dominant fish.”

Aggression Unleashed

While she expected to be able to see behavior changes within an hour of removing the dominant fish, she was surprised by just how rapid the change could be.

“In many of the tanks, second-ranked fish increased their aggression within just a few minutes after removal of the dominant fish.”

She cautions the dominant behavior that accompanies a female to male sex change in spotties does not indicate a change from typically ‘female’ to ‘male’ behavior, as other sex-changing fish species such as clownfish for example, change from male to more dominant female fish.

Size & Hierarchy Rules

The researchers observed that spotties form linear dominance hierarchies based on size, with larger individuals dominating smaller ones.

They sought to determine which fish in the hierarchy were more likely to change sex when the opportunity arose.

Results show dominant, larger fish are more likely to change sex, and when social hierarchies are disrupted, less dominant fish can quickly change their behavior to seize new opportunities.

Brain Wiring Behind Power

The study also delved into the neural mechanisms underlying spotties’ social interactions, finding that the social decision-making network in the fish brain is highly involved in establishing dominance.

Fish that attained dominant positions showed significant differences in this network compared to fish of all other ranks.

Dr. Kaj Kamstra, who led the neurobiological aspects of the research, says the findings provide valuable insights into the complex interplay between social behavior and neural processes in these fish.

Broader Impact & Applications

“They also highlight the importance of social context in shaping individual behavior, shedding light on the evolution of social behavior and the flexibility of brain mechanisms in adapting to changing social environments.

“The research has broader implications for understanding social dynamics in other species, even humans.”

The findings can be applied to other species of sex-changing fish where social dominance appears to be the most common trigger for sex change, and could prove beneficial for aquaculture and open water fisheries, with many commercial valuable fisheries dependent on fishes that change sex, for example, New Zealand’s blue cod.

The Life of Earth

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Dams around the world hold so much water they've shifted Earth's poles, new research shows

By Sascha Pare published July 9, 2025

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/dams-around-the-world-hold-so-much-water-theyve-shifted-earths-poles-new-research-shows

Baihetan Dam is a huge hydroelectric operation in China. 

(Image credit: VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

The construction of thousands of dams since 1835 has caused Earth's poles to wobble, new research suggests.

Scientists found that large dams hold so much water they redistribute mass around the globe, shifting the position of Earth's crust relative to the mantle, the planet's middle layer.

Earth's mantle is gooey, and the crust forms a solid shell that can slide around on top of it. Weight on the crust that causes it to shift relative to the mantle also shifts the location of Earth's poles, the researchers said.

"Any movement of mass within the Earth or on its surface changes the orientation of the rotation axis relative to the crust, a process termed true polar wander," the researchers wrote in the study, published May 23 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Scientists already knew human activities that displace enormous volumes of water can trigger polar wander. A study published in March showed that dramatic ice melt due to climate change may move the poles by 90 feet (27 meters) by the end of this century. And a 2023 study concluded that groundwater extraction between 1993 and 2010 caused a polar drift of 31 inches (80 centimeters).

For the new study, researchers examined the impact of 6,862 dams, built across the planet, on Earth's poles between 1835 and 2011. The team used an already-published database of dams, which previously revealed that the volume of water held by these dams — a volume that could fill the Grand Canyon twice — had resulted in a 0.9-inch (23 millimeters) fall in global sea levels.

Storing water behind dams caused Earth's poles to move a total distance of 3.7 feet (1.1 m) over the study period, the authors of the new research found.

"As we trap water behind dams, not only does it remove water from the oceans, thus leading to a global sea level fall, it also redistributes mass in a different way around the world," study lead author Natasha Valencic, a graduate student in geology, geophysics and planetary science at Harvard University, said in a statement.

The results, which were based on computer calculations and modeling, showed two distinct phases of polar wander within the study period. The first, from 1835 to 1954, reflects large-scale dam construction in North America and Europe. This caused the North Pole to migrate 8 inches (20 cm) closer to the 103rd meridian east — an imaginary line that runs north-south through Russia, Mongolia and China.

 Redistributed under the terms of Creative Commons.)

(Image credit: Valencic et al. (2025).

The second phase, from 1954 to 2011, reflects expansive dam construction in East Africa and Asia. These dams added mass onto the opposite sides of the globe to North America and Europe, leading to a 22-inch (57 cm) shift in the North Pole's location toward the 117th meridian west, which runs through western North America and the South Pacific. Polar wander is not linear, instead forming a wobbly line, which is why the net shifts in each direction do not add up to 3.7 feet.

While the location of the poles has relatively little impact on Earth's processes, the impact of dams on sea levels is meaningful, Valencic said. "We're not going to drop into a new ice age, because the pole moved by about a meter in total, but it does have implications for sea level," she said.

The results suggest that scientists should account for dams in their sea level rise projections, because dams block so much water from reaching the oceans. Global sea levels rose by 4.7 to 6.7 inches (12 to 17 cm) during the 20th century. About a quarter of that amount of water is behind dams, which means that depending on where you are in the world, dams will influence sea levels, Valencic said.

"That's another thing we need to consider, because these changes can be pretty large, pretty significant," she said.

The Life of Earth

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'Classic' Hymn Deciphered From Ancient Babylonian Library

07 July 2025, By J. COCKERILL

https://www.sciencealert.com/classic-hymn-deciphered-from-ancient-babylonian-library

The cuneiform tablet with the newly discovered hymn. 

(Anmar A. Fadhil, University of Baghdad/Iraqi Museum/State Board of Antiquities and Heritage)

At its peak some 3,000 years ago, the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon was the largest metropolis on Earth. Renowned for their literacy, the city's residents left behind stacks of cuneiform tablets in the Sippar Library.

While many of the ancient records remain, their fractured nature requires a painstaking effort in solving the world's hardest jigsaw puzzle.

Assyriologists Anmar Fadhil, from the University of Baghdad, and Enrique Jiménez, from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, have now found a 250-line hymn in praise of the ancient city by comparing text scattered across numerous fragments on tablets.

"It's a fascinating hymn that describes Babylon in all its majesty and gives insights into the lives of its inhabitants," Jiménez explains.

"It was written by a Babylonian who wanted to praise his city. The author describes the buildings in the city, but also how the waters of the Euphrates bring the spring and green the fields. This is all the more spectacular as surviving Mesopotamian literature is sparing in its descriptions of natural phenomena."

The hymn also reveals details about Babylonian women, of whom little else is known.

Only part of the hymn is intact on the main tablet, but the researchers could piece the rest together using copies of the text identified on other tablets. 

(Fadhil & Jiménez, Iraq, 2025)



"The passage has great importance for understanding the roles played by the various classes of priestesses: ugbakkātu, nadâtu, and qašdātu," Fadhil and Jiménez write.

"The priestesses are particularly virtuous but, in contrast to the active role of men in protecting the helpless, the main virtue praised in women is devotion and discretion."

By digitizing Babylon's cuneiform text fragments, the team traced copies of the hymn across 20 tablets from the 7th to 2nd or 1st centuries BCE; a process that, according to Jiménez, previously would have taken decades.

This process even allowed them to piece together parts of the hymn that were missing from the first tablet.

"Using our AI-supported platform, we managed to identify 30 other manuscripts that belong to the rediscovered hymn," he says. "The hymn was copied by children at school. It's unusual that such a popular text in its day was unknown to us before now."

With the same hymn being found on so many clay tablets, the researchers think the hymn may be a 'classic', one students may have even committed to memory as part of their education.

Read a translated excerpt of the hymn below:

"The Euphrates is her river – established by wise lord Nudimmud –
It quenches the lea, saturates the canebrake,
Disgorges its waters into lagoon and sea,
Its fields burgeon with herbs and flowers,
Its meadows, in brilliant bloom, sprout barley,
From which, gathered, sheaves are stacked,
Herds and flocks lie on verdant pastures,
Wealth and splendor – what befit mankind –
Are bestowed, multiplied, and regally granted."

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

This Ultra-Thin Drumhead Moves Sound With Almost No Loss – And May Change Tech Forever

BY U. OF COPENHAGEN, JULY 9, 2025

https://scitechdaily.com/this-ultra-thin-drumhead-moves-sound-with-almost-no-loss-and-may-change-tech-forever/

Enlargement of the silicon nitride membrane. The colors represent the measured motion of the membrane in the out of plane direction. Red means that part of the membrane moves upward, and blue means that part moves downwards.

 Credit: Albert Schliesser and Xiang Xi



When a drummer hits a drum, the surface vibrates and creates sound—a signal we recognize as music. But once those vibrations stop, the signal disappears. Now imagine a drumhead that’s incredibly thin, only about 10 millimeters wide, and covered in tiny triangular holes. Scientists have created exactly that, and it does something extraordinary.

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, working with teams from the University of Konstanz and ETH Zurich, discovered that vibrations can travel through this miniature membrane with barely any energy loss. In fact, the vibrations move more cleanly than signals in even the most advanced electronic circuits. This breakthrough, recently published in Nature, opens up new possibilities for how we transmit sound and information, especially in the race toward powerful new quantum technologies.
Phonons – Sound Signals or Vibrations That Spread Through a Solid Material

Instead of using electricity, this research focuses on phonons—tiny vibrations that travel through solid materials. You can think of them as sound waves moving through a crystal or a drumhead. When atoms vibrate, they nudge neighboring atoms, creating a wave of motion that carries information.

If that wave weakens along the way or gets scrambled by heat or disorder, the message becomes more challenging—or impossible—to recover.

System Reliability is Crucial

What makes this new membrane so exciting is how little signal is lost. Researchers found that vibrations could move through it with extraordinary efficiency. In fact, the signal loss was almost nonexistent.

Even when the vibrations had to curve around holes in the membrane or change direction, only about one phonon out of a million went missing. That’s far better than what we see in electronic circuits, where signals typically weaken a hundred thousand times faster.

This level of precision could make the membrane a powerful new tool for transferring information in everything from quantum computers to high-precision sensors.

Assistant Professor Xiang Xi and Professor Albert Schliesser in the Quantum Optomechanics research group at the Niels Bohr Institute have managed to get oscillations to transport around a membrane almost without loss.

 Credit: Niels Bohr Institute
Basic Research with Perspectives



Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, Assistant Professor Xiang Xi and Professor Albert Schliesser, explain that the result should not be thought of in a specific, future application – but there are still rich possibilities. Currently, there is a global effort to build a quantum computer, which is dependent on super-precise transfer of signals between its different parts.

Another field within quantum research deals with sensors that, for example, can measure the smallest biological fluctuations in our own body – here too, signal transfer is crucial.

But Xiang Xi and Albert Schliesser are currently most interested in exploring the possibilities even further.

“Right now, we want to experiment with the method to see what we can do with it. For example, we want to build more complex structures and see how we can get phonons to move around them, or build structures where we get phonons to collide like cars at an intersection. This will give us a better understanding of what is ultimately possible and what new applications there are,” says Albert Schliesser. As they say: “Basic research is about producing new knowledge.”

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World's Most Popular Weedkiller Has a Regrettable New Ingredient

09 July 2025, By C. CASSELLA

https://www.sciencealert.com/worlds-most-popular-weedkiller-has-a-regrettable-new-ingredient

(Visoot Uthairam/Getty Images)

The producer of the world's most popular weedkiller – Roundup – is replacing a notorious ingredient with what could be a "regrettable substitution".

As scrutiny grows over the health risks of glyphosate, the herbicide diquat is increasingly used in its place.

A fresh analysis from researchers in China, however, suggests that the alternative is not without its harms. In fact, at some concentrations, it can cause irreversible damage to organs.

Diquat is a close cousin of paraquat – a herbicide that is 28 times more toxic than glyphosate and that is banned in 70 countries. Glyphosate was initially introduced as a safer alternative to paraquat; however, both chemicals now face scrutiny for their potential health effects.

Diquat has begun to rapidly take their place.

Like paraquat, diquat is well known to be toxic, which is why it must be handled with protective gear, but there is disagreement on precisely what levels of exposure are safe.

Even though diquat is less easily absorbed by the lungs, it can still damage the skin, and ingestion remains a serious risk.

The European Union banned diquat from 2018 because of the 'high risk' it poses to workers, bystanders, and residents.

Switzerland and the United Kingdom have also banned the chemical for its potentially harmful health effects. Neither paraquat nor diquat is banned in the US.

Analyzing the latest research, scientists in China, led by Cheng He of the Suining Central Hospital, have now identified all the ways in which diquat may disrupt our health.

"Although diquat exhibits lower acute toxicity compared to the related herbicide paraquat, it still poses a significant threat to ecosystems due to its potential for bioaccumulation and long-term persistence in soil and water bodies," argues the team.

Diquat use in the US from 1992 to 2018. (USGS/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)

The health effects are mostly understood through reports of acute poisonings and animal studies, but the signs don't look good.

When absorbed through the gut, diquat can spread throughout the body's tissues. The herbicide that is not excreted through faeces or urine usually goes on to cause acute kidney injury. Liver dysfunction is also common, and lung and nervous system injuries have also been reported.

In fact, at high enough concentrations, diquat poisoning can lead to multiple organ failure and even death.

Autopsy studies of those who have died from diquat poisoning suggest that not all the herbicide is absorbed by the gut. Some of the chemical sticks around in the digestive tract, possibly disrupting the microbiome and weakening the gut lining.

"The gut plays a crucial role in the poisoning process," argues the team from Suining Central Hospital.

"The intestine is not only the primary route of exposure but also a central target of [diquat's] toxic effects."

In Brazil, where diquat is popular and where protective gear is limited, local farmers have reported disturbing poisonings associated with the herbicide spray.

In the US, diquat-related illnesses have been recorded for years now.

While herbicides can help farms with their profits and boost crop yields, they also come with serious potential downsides to human and environmental health.

Replacing one toxic substance with another does little to solve the problem, it merely prolongs it.

The Life of Earth

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Scientists Discovered This Amazing Practical Use For Leftover Coffee Grounds

07 July 2025, ByT. KOUMOUNDOUROS

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discovered-this-amazing-practical-use-for-leftover-coffee-grounds

(matusgajdos17/500px)

We could be producing concrete that's 30 percent stronger by processing and adding charred coffee grounds to the mix, researchers in Australia found.

Their clever recipe could solve multiple problems at the same time.

Each year the world produces a staggering 10 billion kilograms (22 billion pounds) of coffee waste globally. Most ends up in landfills.

"The disposal of organic waste poses an environmental challenge as it emits large amounts of greenhouse gases including methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change," explained RMIT University engineer Rajeev Roychand when the research was published in 2023.

With a booming construction market globally, there's also an ever increasing demand for resource intensive concrete causing another set of environmental challenges too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NVpvjgH2-c

"The ongoing extraction of natural sand around the world – typically taken from river beds and banks – to meet the rapidly growing demands of the construction industry has a big impact on the environment," said RMIT engineer Jie Li.

"There are critical and long-lasting challenges in maintaining a sustainable supply of sand due to the finite nature of resources and the environmental impacts of sand mining. With a circular-economy approach, we could keep organic waste out of landfill and also better preserve our natural resources like sand."

Global demand for sand is increasing, and with it environmental impacts. (Pixabay/Pexels)



Organic products like coffee grounds can't be added directly to concrete because they leak chemicals that weaken the building material's strength. So using low energy levels the team heated coffee waste to over 350 °C (around 660 °F) while depriving it of oxygen.

This process is called pyrolyzing. It breaks down the organic molecules, resulting in a porous, carbon-rich charcoal called biochar, that can form bonds with and thereby incorporate itself into the cement matrix.

Roychand and colleagues also tried pyrolyzing the coffee grounds at 500 °C but the resulting biochar particles were not as strong.

Scanning electron microscope images of the surface structures on the pyrolyzed coffee grinds. 

(Roychand et al, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2023)



The researchers cautioned that they still need to assess the long term durability of their cement product. They're now working on testing how the hybrid coffee-cement performs under freeze/thaw cycles, water absorption, abrasions and many more stressors.

The team is also working on creating biochars from other organic waste sources, including wood, food waste and agricultural waste.

"Our research is in the early stages, but these exciting findings offer an innovative way to greatly reduce the amount of organic waste that goes to landfill," said RMIT engineer Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch.

Once used to make coffee, the grounds become waste.

 (Andrew Kenney/Unsplash)



"Inspiration for my research, from an Indigenous perspective, involves Caring for Country, ensuring there's a sustainable life cycle for all materials and avoiding things going into landfill to minimize the impact on the environment."

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One Major Feature of Aging Might Not Be Universal After All

08 July 2025, By S. J. WHITE & P. B. WILSON, THE CONVERSATION

https://www.sciencealert.com/one-major-feature-of-aging-might-not-be-universal-after-all

We may not all age in the same way. 

(J Brarymi/Getty Images)

For years, scientists have believed that inflammation inevitably increases with age, quietly fuelling diseases like heart disease, dementia and diabetes. But a new study of Indigenous populations challenges that idea and could reshape how we think about ageing itself.

For decades, scientists have identified chronic low-level inflammation – called "inflammaging" – as one of the primary drivers of age-related diseases. Think of it as your body's immune system stuck in overdrive – constantly fighting battles that don't exist, gradually wearing down organs and systems.

But inflammaging might not be a universal feature of ageing after all. Instead, it could be a byproduct of how we live in modern society.

The research, published in Nature Aging, compared patterns of inflammation in four very different communities around the world. Two groups were from modern, industrialised societies – older adults living in Italy and Singapore.

The other two were Indigenous communities who live more traditional lifestyles: the Tsimane people of the Bolivian Amazon and the Orang Asli in the forests of Malaysia.

The researchers analysed blood samples from more than 2,800 people, looking at a wide range of inflammatory molecules, known as cytokines. Their goal was to find out whether a pattern seen in earlier studies – where certain signs of inflammation rise with age and are linked to disease – also appears in other parts of the world.

The answer, it turns out, is both yes and no.

Among the Italian and Singaporean participants, the researchers found a fairly consistent inflammaging pattern. As people aged, levels of inflammatory markers in the blood, such as C-reactive protein and tumour necrosis factor, rose together. Higher levels were linked to a greater risk of chronic diseases including kidney disease and heart disease.

But in the Tsimane and Orang Asli populations, the inflammaging pattern was absent. The same inflammatory molecules did not rise consistently with age, and they were not strongly linked to age-related diseases.

In fact, among the Tsimane, who face high rates of infections from parasites and other pathogens, inflammation levels were often elevated. Yet this did not lead to the same rates of chronic diseases that are common in industrialised nations.

Despite high inflammatory markers, the Tsimane experience very low rates of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and dementia.

Inflammaging may not be universal

These results raise important questions. One possibility is that inflammaging, at least as measured through these blood signals, is not a universal biological feature of ageing. Instead, it may arise in societies marked by high-calorie diets, low physical activity and reduced exposure to infections.

High calorie, western-style diets could be responsible for aging-related inflammation.

 (ksenee/Getty Images/Canva)



In other words, chronic inflammation linked to ageing and disease might not simply result from an inevitable biological process, but rather from a mismatch between our ancient physiology and the modern environment.

The study suggests that in communities with more traditional lifestyles – where people are more active, eat differently and are exposed to more infections – the immune system may work in a different way. In these groups, higher levels of inflammation might be a normal, healthy response to their environment, rather than a sign that the body is breaking down with age.

Another possibility is that inflammaging may still occur in all humans, but it might appear in different ways that are not captured by measuring inflammatory molecules in the blood. It could be happening at a cellular or tissue level, where it remains invisible to the blood tests used in this research.

Why this matters

If these findings are confirmed, they could have significant consequences.

First, they challenge how we diagnose and treat chronic inflammation in ageing. Biomarkers used to define inflammaging in European or Asian populations might not apply in other settings, or even among all groups within industrialised nations.

Biomarkers the define aging in some populations might not apply to others.

 (Sorapong's Images/Canva)

Second, they suggest that lifestyle interventions aimed at lowering chronic inflammation, such as exercise, changes in diet, or drugs targeting specific inflammatory molecules, might have different effects in different populations. What works for people living in cities might be unnecessary, or even ineffective, in those living traditional lifestyles.

Finally, this research serves as an important reminder that much of our knowledge about human health and ageing comes from studies conducted in wealthy, industrialised nations. Findings from these groups cannot automatically be assumed to apply worldwide.

The researchers are clear: this study is just the beginning. They urge scientists to dig deeper, using new tools that can detect inflammation not just in the blood, but within tissues and cells where the real story of ageing may be unfolding. Just as important, they call for more inclusive research that spans the full range of human experience, not just the wealthy, urbanised corners of the world.

At the very least, this study offers an important lesson. What we thought was a universal truth about the biology of ageing might instead be a local story, shaped by our environment, lifestyle and the way we live.

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Earth is going to spin much faster over the next few months — so fast that several days are going to get shorter

By A. Arthur published July 7, 2025

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/earth-is-going-to-spin-much-faster-over-the-next-few-months-so-fast-that-several-days-are-going-to-get-shorter

(Image credit: Francesco Carta fotografo/Getty Images)

Differences in the gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon will make July 9, July 22 and August 5 unusually short.

Earth is expected to spin more quickly in the coming weeks, making some of our days unusually short. On July 9, July 22 and Aug. 5, the position of the moon is expected to affect Earth's rotation so that each day is between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than normal.

A day on Earth is the length of time needed for our planet to fully rotate on its axis — approximately 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours. But Earth's rotation is affected by a number of things, including the positions of the sun and moon, changes to Earth's magnetic field, and the balance of mass on the planet.

Since the relatively early days of our planet, Earth's rotation has been slowing down, making our days longer. Researchers found that about 1 billion to 2 billion years ago, a day on Earth was only 19 hours long. This is likely because the moon was closer to our planet, making its gravitational pull stronger than it is now and causing Earth to spin faster on its axis.

Since then, as the moon has moved away from us, days on average have been getting longer. But in recent years, scientists have reported variations in Earth's rotation. In 2020, scientists found that Earth was spinning more quickly than at any point since records began in the 1970s, and we saw the shortest-ever recorded day on July 5, 2024, which was 1.66 milliseconds shy of 24 hours, according to timeanddate.com.

On July 9, July 22 and Aug. 5, 2025, the moon will be at its furthest distance from Earth's equator, which changes the impact its gravitational pull has on our planet's axis. Think of the Earth as a spinning top — if you were to put your fingers around the middle and spin, it wouldn't rotate as quickly as if you were to hold it from the top and bottom.

With the moon closer to the poles, the Earth's spin speeds up, making our day shorter than usual.

These variations are to be expected, but recent research suggests that human activity is also contributing to the change in the planet's rotation. Researchers at NASA have calculated that the movement of ice and groundwater, linked to climate change, has increased the length of our days by 1.33 milliseconds per century between 2000 and 2018.

Single events can also affect Earth's spin: the 2011 earthquake that struck Japan shortened the length of the day by 1.8 microseconds. Even the changing seasons affect Earth's spin, Richard Holme, a geophysicist at the University of Liverpool, told Live Science via email.

"There is more land in the northern hemisphere than the south," Holme said. "In northern summer, the trees get leaves, this means that mass is moved from the ground to above the ground — further away from the Earth's spin axis.” The rate of rotation of any moving body is affected by its distribution of mass. When an ice skater spins on the spot, they rotate faster when their arms are tight to their chest, and slow themselves down by stretching their arms out. As Earth’s mass moves away from its core in summer, its rate of rotation must decrease, so the length of the day increases, Holme explained.

Of course, on the days in question our clocks will still count 24 hours. The difference isn't noticeable on the individual level.

The only time we would see a change to time zones is if the difference between the length of day is greater than 0.9 seconds, or 900 milliseconds. Though this has never happened in a single day, over the years our clocks fall out of sync with the position of the planet. This is monitored by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), which will add a "leap second" to UTC as needed to bring us back in line.

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