Ancient 'Asgard' microbe may have used oxygen long before it was plentiful on Earth, offering new clue to origins of complex life

By K. Hughes-Castleberry published Feb. 20, 2026

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/ancient-asgard-microbe-may-have-used-oxygen-long-before-it-was-plentiful-on-earth-offering-new-clue-to-origins-of-complex-life

An image of an Asgard archaeon, an evolutionarily ancient microbe that may have been key to the emergence of complex life on Earth. 

(Image credit: © Thiago Rodrigues-Oliveira, Univ. Wien)

A new study suggests that ancient microbes once cast as oxygen haters may have actually learned to use the gas, offering a clue to how the first complex cells — and, eventually, all plants and animals — evolved.

More than 2 billion years ago, long before Earth's atmosphere contained oxygen, one hardy group of microbes may have already evolved to live with the gas, setting the stage for the rise of complex life.

In a new genetic survey of ocean mud and seawater, researchers found evidence that the closest known microbial cousins of plants and animals — a group known as Asgard archaea — carry the molecular gear to handle oxygen, and possibly even convert it into energy. Previously, many Asgards studied were associated with oxygen-poor areas.

That twist could help explain one of biology's most important origin stories, as experts think a simple microbe fused with a bacterium and, over time, developed into more complex cells that created everything from redwoods to people. But this ancient meet-cute, while compelling, has an awkward problem: How did these two find each other and work together in the first place?

Mitochondria, the energy hubs inside complex cells, came from a bacterium which needs oxygen to survive. But archaea — one of the three large domains of life— are thought to be the hosts in the important microbe-meets-bacterium story — and many of them seemed to be built for surviving without oxygen. The new study, published Feb. 18 in the journal Nature, suggests that the microbe host, known as Asgard archaea, may have tolerated oxygen better than previously thought.

"Most Asgards alive today have been found in environments without oxygen," study co-author Brett Baker, an associate professor of marine science at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a statement. "But it turns out that the ones most closely related to eukaryotes live in places with oxygen, such as shallow coastal sediments and floating in the water column, and they have a lot of metabolic pathways that use oxygen. That suggests that our eukaryotic ancestor likely had these processes, too."

Asgard archaea, named after the dwelling place of the gods in Norse mythology, were discovered in 2015 when researchers assembled genomes from deep-sea sediments near the Loki’s Castle hydrothermal vent. From this research, the team created an Asgard superphylum which included archaeal groups like Lokiarchaeota, Thorarchaeota and Odinarchaeota. Follow up studies revealed that Asgards appeared to carry multiple “eukaryotic signature” genes, suggesting a close ancestral tie to eukaryotes, organisms whose cells have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.

A deep-sea journey

To understand how Asgards may have tolerated oxygen, the team hunted in the Bohai Sea at 100 feet (30.5 meters) below sea level and in the Guaymas Basin at 6,561 feet (2,000 meters) below sea level, areas where microbes thrive. They sifted through and analyzed roughly 15 terabytes of environmental DNA from marine sediments, rebuilt more than 13,000 microbial genomes, and pulled out hundreds of genetic sequences that belong to the Asgards.

"These Asgard archaea are often missed by low-coverage sequencing," study co-author Kathryn Appler, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, said in the statement. "The massive sequencing effort and layering of sequence and structural methods enabled us to see patterns that were not visible prior to this genomic expansion."

Those patterns included genes linked to aerobic respiration, the oxygen-powered process many organisms use to squeeze extra energy from food. The team also used an AI tool called AlphaFold2 to predict protein shapes and strengthen their case for genetic machinery that was oxygen-tolerant inside the microbe.

In particular, one branch of the Asgards, known as Heimdallarchaeia (named for the watchman of the Norse gods), stood out. The researchers reported that many Heimdallarchaeia genomes contain parts of the molecular machinery used to move electrons and generate energy with oxygen, along with enzymes that help manage toxic oxygen byproducts.

If these oxygen-handling abilities were present in the archaeal ancestor of complex cells, it makes the famous merger easier to picture.

"Oxygen appeared in the environment, and Asgards adapted to that," Baker said. "They found an energetic advantage to using oxygen, and then they evolved into eukaryotes."

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Mysterious Stone in US Backyard Turned Out to Be an Archaeological Treasure

26 Feb. 2026, By M. Starr

https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-stone-in-us-backyard-turned-out-to-be-an-archaeological-treasure

Not from Home Depot.

 (D. Ryan Gray/PRCNO)

If you've ever tried to overhaul a garden, you know you're bound to find broken bits of pottery and long-forgotten statuary swallowed by vines – but for one couple, that imitation of archaeological discovery turned into the real thing.

At first glance, the marble slab etched in Latin – including the phrase "spirits of the dead" – might have looked like a mass-produced facsimile designed to lend a garden a little decorative gravitas.

But for anthropologist Daniella Santoro, who lives with her husband Aaron Lopez in a historic home in New Orleans' Carrollton neighborhood, the object – found half-buried in the undergrowth – set off some spidey senses. For a moment, she feared they might have uncovered an old grave.

"The fact that it was in Latin that really just gave us pause, right?" Santoro told the Associated Press. "I mean, you see something like that and you say, 'Okay, this is not an ordinary thing.'"

Instead of ignoring the instinct, Santoro reached out to experts. Among those who examined the inscription were archaeologist Susann Lusnia of Tulane University and anthropologist D. Ryan Gray of the University of New Orleans, who shared the find with other colleagues.

It didn't take long for the researchers to recognize what the couple had found.

The Latin text begins Dis Manibus – "to the spirits of the dead" – a common dedication on Roman funerary tablets. In Roman funerary practice, Dis Manibus was a standard dedication to the spirits of the departed, often carved at the top of tombstones. Thousands of such inscriptions survive across the former Roman Empire.

Further translation revealed that the stone commemorated a Roman soldier, a Thracian named Sextus Congenius Verus. Commissioned by his heirs, Atilius Carus and Vettius Longinus, the grave marker records that he died at 42, after 22 years of military service – some 1,900 years before Santoro and Lopez found his grave marker in an overgrown garden, half a world away.

Intriguingly, this was not the first record of the stone. Early in the 20th century, it had been documented as part of the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia, Italy, a port town where the grave marker once stood in a small cemetery.

The museum was heavily damaged during Allied bombing in 1943 and 1944, and numerous artifacts were lost or displaced. Across Europe, wartime bombing and looting displaced countless cultural artifacts, many of which remain unaccounted for decades later.

The grave marker was among those later listed as missing. Its exact measurements, as recorded by the museum, matched those of the tablet found in Santoro and Lopez's garden.

Exactly how the stone traveled from wartime Italy to suburban Louisiana remained an equally fascinating saga. According to Erin Scott O'Brien, the Carrollton house's former owner, the tablet had been on display in a cabinet containing other heirlooms in the Gentilly house of her grandfather, Charles Paddock Jr., a soldier stationed in Italy during WWII.

Paddock Jr. and his wife died in the 1980s; when O'Brien moved into the home in the early 2000s, her mother gifted her the stone.

"We planted a tree and said this is the start of our new house. Let's put it outside in our garden," O'Brien told Preservation in Print. "I just thought it was a piece of art. I had no idea it was a 2,000-year-old relic."

More than 80 years have passed since the museum that once held the relic was devastated by war, and the principal players in the drama are dead. It's likely we'll never know the true story of how Paddock came into possession of the stone, but perhaps what really matters is that it's finally returning home – to the land of the empire Sextus Congenius Verus so faithfully served.

The FBI's Art Crime Team is coordinating its repatriation to the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia.

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Alaska’s Killer Whales Have a Surprisingly Diverse Menu

By U. of Alaska Fairbanks, Feb. 25, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/alaskas-killer-whales-have-a-surprisingly-diverse-menu/

Fish-eating killer whales in southern Alaska may have a more varied and flexible diet than previously understood. 

Credit: Shutterstock

A long-term study using DNA from whale scat has revealed surprising complexity in the diets of southern Alaska’s fish-eating killer whales.

Fish-eating killer whales in southern Alaska consume a wide range of prey that changes with the seasons, according to a new study published in Ecosphere. Their food choices include several salmon species as well as groundfish, and the mix varies noticeably among different feeding areas across the region.

Researchers have tracked killer whales in Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords since 1984 through a long-term monitoring effort led by the North Gulf Oceanic Society. Each year from May through September, scientists collect fish remains and fecal samples left behind after feeding. Over time, they have gathered about 400 samples to better understand what these whales are eating.

The analysis shows that the whales shift their primary prey among Chinook, chum, and coho salmon depending on the season and location. They also consume Pacific halibut, arrowtooth flounder, and sablefish, though in smaller amounts. For certain pods, or family groups, these groundfish species make up a meaningful portion of their diet.

New Tools Reveal a Broader Menu

In the past, studies of killer whale diets relied mainly on collecting fish fragments from the water’s surface, most often scales. That approach made it easier to identify salmon but provided a limited view of the whales’ overall feeding habits.

Newer methods examine DNA found in fecal samples, allowing scientists to detect a much wider range of prey species.

Hannah Myers, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, said it was striking to see how the whales’ main prey changed among feeding hotspots, even in areas located close to one another.

A southern Alaska resident killer whale catches a salmon at the surface.

 Credit: Eva Saulitis/North Gulf Oceanic Society

“Switching between these salmon species — with important contributions from groundfish — is a different narrative from the one we usually hear about the diet of fish-eating killer whales in the North Pacific, which emphasizes Chinook salmon as their primary prey,” said Myers, the lead author of the paper.

The findings also underscore the need to consider sampling bias. Myers explained that Chinook salmon appeared most frequently in collected samples, but they were also the easiest remains to spot and retrieve. When the team examined diet patterns by season and specific location, the role of other fish species became more apparent.

How Researchers Track a Hunt

To gather prey remains, scientists follow whales during feeding bouts and watch for sharp turns and splashing at the surface that signal a fish chase. After the whales move away, researchers carefully approach the area and use pool nets to collect floating scales or bits of tissue.

Collecting fecal samples requires patience and distance. Researchers trail behind the whales and look for scat rising to the surface in the swirling water created by the animals’ flukes as they dive.

In the North Pacific, killer whales that feed exclusively on fish, often referred to as “residents,” are considered a separate subspecies from two other groups: one that preys on marine mammals and another that focuses largely on sharks. Fish-eating killer whales are the most widespread type in the region. Roughly 1,000 of them range from Southeast Alaska to Kodiak Island. They live in stable family groups led by females, with offspring remaining alongside their mothers for life.

Implications for Ecosystems and Fisheries

A flexible diet could help southern Alaska’s resident killer whales cope with shifts in fish abundance. If one prey species declines, they may be able to rely more heavily on others.

The research may also matter for fisheries management. Managers estimate how many fish are lost to natural predators when setting catch limits. A clearer understanding of which species are targeted by killer whales, and when, could eventually inform those decisions.

“DNA studies from fecal samples are exciting because they have so much more information than previous techniques,” said Dan Olsen, a biologist with the North Gulf Oceanic Society and a co-author of the paper. “This prey diversity is important to understanding the ecosystem, and perhaps future winter samples will show even more variability when times are lean.”

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Aloe Vera Compound May Help Fight Alzheimer's Disease, Simulations Suggest

25 Feb. 2026, By D. Nield

https://www.sciencealert.com/aloe-vera-compound-may-help-fight-alzheimers-disease-simulations-suggest

(Ekaterina Goncharova/Moment/Getty Images Plus)

Could the natural world point us towards improved treatments for Alzheimer's disease? A new study of the Aloe vera plant has identified one compound that, based on its predicted binding activity, could help slow the progression of this most common form of dementia.

Aloe vera is a succulent evergreen plant, regarded for its medicinal properties. For hundreds of years, its ingredients have been used to treat skin inflammation, improve digestion, boost the immune system, and more besides, though scientific evidence for these benefits is mixed.

Here, researchers from Hassan II University of Casablanca in Morocco found that a compound called beta sitosterol, produced in aloe vera leaves, may be helpful in tackling Alzheimer's, too.

This research was done entirely 'in silico', meaning the team used computer models to simulate how aloe vera compounds may interact with enzymes thought to play a role in Alzheimer's. Even though the study didn't involve any lab experiments or human trials, it's a good starting point that identifies potential treatment pathways worth investigating.

"Our findings suggest that beta sitosterol, one of the aloe vera compounds, exhibits significant binding affinities and stability, making it a promising candidate for further drug development," says chemist Meriem Khedraoui.

Both the binding qualities and the stability of beta sitosterol are important, but the story starts with acetylcholine. This chemical messenger helps us learn and remember, and it's often found at lower-than-normal levels in people with Alzheimer's disease.

Previously, this has led scientists to look at the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), both of which help break apart acetylcholine. It follows that targeting AChE and BChE might improve Alzheimer's symptoms.

That was where this new study began, and the team looked at 11 aloe vera compounds in total. With the plant's purported medicinal properties, the researchers were keen to take a closer look.

Using structural models of the molecules, the researchers simulated how well aloe vera compounds fit the binding sites of 

AChE (top) and BChE (bottom).

 (Khedraoui et al., Curr. Pharm. Anal., 2025)

Binding affinities were simulated first to see how well these compounds might connect with AChE and BChE, as an indication of how effective they may be at stopping the enzymes from breaking down acetylcholine. Beta sitosterol got the highest scores for binding to both AChE and BChE.

Then the researchers looked at how well beta sitosterol might work in drug form. This is done through an analysis called ADMET: Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, Toxicity. These models look at how the medication may interact with and move through the body.

Again, beta sitosterol performed well, as did another compound called succinic acid, and the study concludes that it's worth investigating both of these options for their potential as the basis of Alzheimer's treatments.

"The comprehensive analysis supports the potential of these compounds as safe and effective therapeutic agents," says chemist Samir Chtita.

Any subsequent development of treatments isn't going to happen quickly, especially as these findings are based only on computer simulations. But scientists continue to make progress in identifying key players in Alzheimer's – such as AChE and BChE – and drugs that might have an impact on them.

As the study researchers point out, Alzheimer's affects more than 55 million people today, and there are expected to be 138 million cases by 2050, as the global population gets older. It's currently the leading cause of dementia.

While scientists are learning more and more about the effects Alzheimer's can have on the brain, and the risk factors that can make the disease more or less likely to develop, we're still working towards a full understanding of what causes it – and how it might be cured.

Alzheimer's is such a multifaceted disease that numerous causes and drivers are probably involved, which will require numerous therapeutic treatments. Recent studies have suggested that high blood pressure supplements and cancer drugs could be effective in some ways, and the aloe vera plant gives experts another way forward.

"Our in silico approach offers a promising direction for the development of novel treatments for Alzheimer's disease," says Khedraoui.

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New Research Reveals Why Some Brains Can’t Switch Off at Night

By C. Gibson, U. of South Australia, Feb. 24, 2026
https://scitechdaily.com/new-research-reveals-why-some-brains-cant-switch-off-at-night/

A new study reveals that insomnia may stem from a misalignment in the brain’s internal clock, altering the natural rhythm of mental activity across the day and night. 

Credit: Shutterstock

Insomnia may be driven by delayed circadian rhythms that prevent the brain from powering down at night.

Australian scientists have uncovered strong evidence that chronic insomnia may stem from disruptions in the brain’s internal 24-hour cycle of mental activity. The findings help explain why some people find it so difficult to “switch off” at night, even when they are physically tired.

In a study published in Sleep Medicine, researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) tracked how thinking patterns rise and fall across the day in people with long-term insomnia compared with healthy sleepers. This is the first study to chart daily cognitive rhythms in this way.

Insomnia affects roughly 10% of the population and up to one-third of older adults. Many people with the condition describe their minds as overactive or constantly racing at night.

Although this nighttime mental alertness has often been described as cognitive hyperarousal, its underlying cause has remained uncertain. The researchers set out to test whether difficulty calming the mind at night, a defining feature of insomnia, might be linked to abnormalities in circadian rhythms, the body’s internal timekeeping system.

Removing the world to reveal the clock

To investigate this, the team conducted a carefully controlled laboratory experiment involving 32 older adults, including 16 with insomnia and 16 without sleep problems. Participants were monitored for 24 hours while remaining awake in bed. By removing external time cues and daily routines, the researchers were able to focus specifically on the brain’s natural internal rhythm.

Volunteers stayed in a dimly lit environment with tightly regulated food intake and activity levels. Every hour, they completed detailed checklists describing the tone, quality, and controllability of their thoughts, allowing researchers to map how mental activity changed throughout the day and night.

Participants remained awake in a dimly-lit room, in bed, with food and activity carefully controlled. They completed hourly checklists, assessing the tone, quality, and controllability of their thoughts.

Both healthy sleepers and insomniacs showed clear circadian patterns in mental activity, with peaks in the afternoon and troughs in the early morning.

However, several key differences emerged in the insomnia group.

“Unlike good sleepers, whose cognitive state shifted predictably from daytime problem-solving to nighttime disengagement, those with insomnia failed to downshift as strongly,” says lead researcher UniSA Professor Kurt Lushington.

“Their thought patterns stayed more daytime-like in the nighttime hours when the brain should be quietening.”

Their cognitive peaks were also delayed by around six and a half hours, suggesting that their internal clocks may encourage alert thinking well into the night.

When disengagement is delayed

“Sleep is not just about closing your eyes,” Prof Lushington says. “It’s about the brain disengaging from goal-directed thought and emotional involvement.”

“Our study shows that in insomnia, this disengagement is blunted and delayed, likely due to circadian rhythm abnormalities. This means that the brain doesn’t receive strong signals to ‘power down’ at night.”

Co-author, UniSA Professor Jill Dorrian, says the findings highlight new treatment possibilities for insomniacs, such as interventions that strengthen circadian rhythms.

“These include timed light exposure and structured daily routines that may restore the natural day-night variation in thought patterns,” Prof Dorrian says.

“Practicing mindfulness may also help quiet the mind at night.”

The researchers say that current treatments often focus on behavioral strategies, but these findings suggest that tailored approaches addressing circadian and cognitive factors could offer a solution.

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Scientists Create “Chocolate Honey” Packed With Antioxidants

By São Paulo Research Foundation, Feb. 24, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-create-chocolate-honey-packed-with-antioxidants/

Researchers in Brazil have developed an unusual combination of native bee honey and cocoa bean shells that transforms an agricultural byproduct into a potentially valuable food and cosmetic ingredient. By pairing biodiversity with ultrasound technology, the team not only enhanced the honey’s flavor and bioactive content but also evaluated the sustainability of the process using green chemistry principles (Artist’s concept). 

Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Researchers used a product made by native stingless bees to recover bioactive compounds, including caffeine, from chocolate manufacturing waste. The method increases the nutritional and commercial value of a material that is typically discarded.

Researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo, Brazil have created a new product that blends honey from native stingless bees with cocoa bean shells, a byproduct of chocolate manufacturing.

The resulting mixture can be eaten on its own or incorporated into foods and cosmetic formulations. Their findings were published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, which highlighted the study on its cover.
Turning cocoa waste into value

Instead of using conventional chemical solvents, the team relied on native bee honey as an edible extraction medium. Using an ultrasound-assisted process, they were able to draw out stimulant compounds such as theobromine and caffeine from cocoa bean shells.

These compounds are often associated with cardiovascular benefits. Cocoa shells are typically discarded during chocolate production, but in this case, they became a source of valuable ingredients. The extraction method also increased the honey’s content of phenolic compounds, which are known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Cocoa bean shells contain theobromine and caffeine, which can be transferred to honey from stingless bees using ultrasound-assisted extraction.

 Credit: Felipe Bragagnolo/FCA-UNICAMP

Early tastings suggest that the final product can develop a pronounced chocolate flavor depending on the proportion of honey to shells, although formal evaluations of taste, aroma, and texture are still planned. “Of course, the biggest appeal to the public is the flavor, but our analyses have shown that it has a number of bioactive compounds that make it quite interesting from a nutritional and cosmetic point of view,” says Felipe Sanchez Bragagnolo, the study’s first author. He carried out the research during his postdoctoral work at the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FCA) at UNICAMP in Limeira with a scholarship from FAPESP.

The team has patented the extraction process and is working with INOVA UNICAMP, the university’s innovation agency, to identify industry partners interested in licensing the technology and bringing the product to market.

Native honey drives sustainable extraction

Beyond product development, the project also highlights the sustainable use of regional biodiversity. The researchers selected honey from native stingless bees because it typically contains more water and is less viscous than honey produced by European bees (Apis mellifera), making it more effective as a natural solvent.

They tested honey from five Brazilian species: borá (Tetragona clavipes), jataí (Tetragonisca angustula), mandaçaia (Melipona quadrifasciata), mandaguari (Scaptotrigona postica), and moça-branca (Frieseomelitta varia). The cocoa shells used in the experiments were supplied by the Comprehensive Technical Assistance Coordination Office (CATI) unit of the São Paulo State Department of Agriculture and Supply in São José do Rio Preto.

Mandaguari honey was initially chosen for process optimization due to its intermediate water and viscosity values. However, the optimized process was later used for the other honeys analyzed.

Bragagnolo points out that honey is highly susceptible to external influences, such as climate, storage conditions, and temperature. “Therefore, it’s possible to adapt the process to locally available honey, not necessarily mandaguari honey,” he says.

Ultrasound boosts green chemistry

Ultrasound-assisted extraction involves placing a probe, visually similar to a metal pen, inside a pot containing honey and shells. The probe uses sound waves to enhance the extraction of compounds from the shells, which then migrate to the solvent – in this case, honey.

This method is efficient because it creates microbubbles that implode and temporarily increase the temperature to break down the plant material. This technique is considered environmentally friendly in the food industry because it is faster and more efficient than other methods.

This was one of the positive points in another assessment included in the study, which measured the product’s sustainability. The Path2Green software was used. It was developed by a group led by Professor Mauricio Ariel Rostagno from FCA-UNICAMP, who is also Bragagnolo’s postdoctoral supervisor and coordinator of the study.

The tool verified compliance with 12 principles of green chemistry, such as transportation, post-treatment, purification, and application. Using an edible, local, ready-to-use solvent was one of the most important factors. On a scale of -1 to +1, the product scored +0.118.

“We believe that with a device like this, in a cooperative or small business that already works with both cocoa and native bee honey, it’d be possible to increase the portfolio with a value-added product, including for haute cuisine,” Rostagno suggests.

Toward safer, longer-lasting honey products

The researchers are preparing new studies to evaluate the effect of ultrasound on honey microbiology. As with plant material, the method breaks down the cell walls of microorganisms, such as bacteria, that can degrade the product.

“Honey from native bees usually needs to be refrigerated, matured, dehumidified, or pasteurized, unlike honey from European bees, which can be stored at room temperature. We suspect that, simply by being exposed to ultrasound, the microorganisms contained in the honey are eliminated, increasing the stability and shelf life of the product,” he explains.

In the future, they will test other applications using honey from native bees as a solvent for ultrasound-assisted extraction, such as processing other plant residues.

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Batteries are catching fire all over Toronto and Fire Chief warns to take risk seriously

Natalia Buia, Feb. 23, 2026

https://www.blogto.com/city/2026/02/lithium-ion-batteries-catching-fire-toronto/

Jim Jessop

Toronto Fire Services (TFS) is warning residents about the growing safety risks of lithium-ion batteries after several fires occurred in the city just this past day.

In a statement posted to X on Monday morning, Fire Chief & General Manager Jim Jessop said that crews had responded to three separate battery-related fires within 24 hours.

These batteries can be found in numerous household items, including smartphones, laptops, e-readers, and even some cordless vacuums, portable fans and rechargeable flashlights. They can overheat if charged for too long or not stored properly.

Halfway through 2025, TFS reported responding to 43 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, including one in a Toronto high-rise, where a "large quantity" of lithium-ion batteries were discovered within the unit.

These batteries can also be found in e-bikes and e-scooters, which pose significant risks. In response to a 2023 fire on a Toronto subway train, the TTC has implemented a seasonal ban on e-bikes during the winter months.

Power-assisted bicycles are not permitted on TTC vehicles and property from November 15 to April 15 each year. Instead, they can be parked at or near subway station entrances, or stored in bike lockers at most subway stations.

Electric wheelchairs and other devices used by people with mobility issues, however, will continue to be allowed on the TTC as they do not pose a safety or fire risk.

The City is advising residents to use lithium-ion batteries safely by only using certified, manufacturer-approved batteries, avoiding charging them unattended, and discontinuing use if they emit a strange odour, become deformed, overheat, or leak.

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Alcohol Profoundly Changes The Way Your Brain Communicates, Study Finds

24 Feb. 2026, By D. NIELD

https://www.sciencealert.com/alcohol-profoundly-changes-the-way-your-brain-communicates-study-finds

(Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision/Getty Images)

A few glasses of alcohol are enough to start fragmenting the way the brain works, leading to more localized information processing and reduced brain-wide communication, a new study has discovered.

While plenty of previous research has looked at the ways booze changes the brain, little of it has considered the network-wide effects. The brain is, of course, a delicately balanced and incredibly intricate organ, and any shifts in chatter between brain regions are going to have impacts on emotions and behavior.

The researchers behind the study, led by a team from the University of Minnesota, believe that their findings could go some way to explaining why different people can feel different levels of drunkenness at the same breath-alcohol level.

"At the network level, alcohol significantly increased local efficiency and clustering coefficient, consistent with a less random and more grid-like topology," write the researchers in their published paper.

"Notably, these increases, as well as corresponding decreases in global efficiency, significantly predicted greater subjective intoxication."

The researchers recruited the help of 107 healthy participants, aged between 21 and 45. Across two sessions, they were either given a drink designed to raise their blood-alcohol level to the US limit for driving (0.08 grams per deciliter), or a placebo drink.

Local connectivity in brain regions was boosted by alcohol intake. 

(Biessenberger et al., Drug Alcohol Depend., 2026)

Half an hour after imbibing, the participants went into an MRI scanner, where their brain activity was mapped. Using a variety of mathematical approaches, the researchers calculated communications between 106 different brain regions.

Overall, brain areas became more insular and less well connected to the rest of the brain, though the effect wasn't consistent over every region. It's a similar idea to traffic circling around one particular neighborhood rather than traveling city-wide.

Although the volunteers were all about as drunk as each other, some felt more intoxicated than others. The researchers found that this feeling of drunkenness was related to how disconnected their brain regions had become.

What's more, the network changes seen here – the breakdown between different brain regions – go some way to explaining how too much booze can start to cause blurred vision, difficulty walking in a straight line, and other well-known effects.

One of the regions most affected by the decreased global connectivity, for example, was the occipital lobe. It's here that the brain processes visual data fed in by our eyes, and these changes likely mean this data is less readily available to the rest of the brain.

"Our results that information transfer becomes more isolated and less integrated are consistent with alcohol's known influence on reward/aversion, inhibitory control, and stimulus valence," write the researchers.

However, this wasn't something the team tested directly; rather, the study infers it based on the computational models applied to the brain scans.

It's also worth noting that these findings only apply to brains at rest, not involved in any kind of activity, and it would also be interesting to see these impacts over longer periods.

The researchers also suggest, based on previous studies, that people with acute and chronic alcohol problems might see different changes in their brain maps when they get drunk: less of a fixed grid-like layout, less local clustering, and a more randomized and disorganized network overall.

There's lots more here for future studies to dig into as well. The researchers say future work should include broader groups of participants and look more directly at the effects of brain network disruption on people who are less physically and mentally healthy than the participants in this study.

"Given rapid changes in population demographics and increasing rates of drinking among older adults, studies of the functional neural correlates of acute alcohol use across the lifespan, in populations with heavier drinking patterns, and a broader range of negative affective symptomatology are needed," write the researchers.

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Did Climate Change End One of China’s Greatest Dynasties?

BY NOËMI KERN, U. OF BASEL, FEB. 23, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/did-climate-change-end-one-of-chinas-greatest-dynasties/

Severe droughts and floods in 9th-century China may have triggered migration, weakened border defenses, and accelerated the fall of the Tang dynasty. 

Credit: Shutterstock

Environmental phenomena and their consequences can disrupt social structures and destabilize political systems. An interdisciplinary research team demonstrated this through the example of the late Tang Dynasty in medieval China.

Climate driven migration is often viewed as a modern crisis, but history tells a different story. An interdisciplinary team of researchers, including scientists from the University of Basel, has shown that large-scale environmental disruption shaped societies more than a thousand years ago.

Their study examined how severe hydrological extremes such as prolonged droughts and destructive floods between 800 and 907 CE influenced political stability and everyday life in China. The findings were published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment.

Tree rings as contemporary witnesses

The period under investigation coincides with the final decades of the Tang dynasty, which ruled from 618 CE and is widely regarded as one of the most culturally and administratively advanced eras in Chinese history. During its height, the empire maintained a complex governing system and fostered remarkable achievements in art, literature, and technology.

Yet by the ninth century, that stability began to weaken. The research focuses on northern China, particularly the region surrounding the Huanghe River (Yellow River), an area central to agriculture, transportation, and political power.

To understand how the climate shifted during this critical period, scientists turned to natural archives known as climate proxies. Among the most valuable of these are tree rings. Trees record environmental conditions in their annual growth patterns. In wetter years, abundant rainfall allows trees to grow more quickly, producing wider rings. In dry years, growth slows, leaving narrower rings. The longer a tree lives, the further back this environmental record extends, offering a detailed timeline of past climate conditions.

The team relied on long-term tree ring datasets from the Yellow River basin to reconstruct historical runoff patterns. These reconstructions helped model hydroclimatic conditions, especially in the river’s upper reaches. Water flowing downstream directly affected how much was available for irrigation and farming. As the study’s first author Michael Kempf explained, “The runoff eventually reaches further downstream and influences the amount of water available, for example, for irrigating the fields.” Kempf conducted the research at the University of Basel and has since moved to the University of Cambridge.

Fatal changes in agriculture

After examining the evidence, the team determined that shifts in climate and a rise in severe weather events played a major role in the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 CE. More frequent droughts and floods placed intense pressure on the soldiers responsible for defending the empire’s frontiers, as well as on their families. These environmental hardships weakened their ability to protect the realm from invading forces beyond its borders.

“Hydroclimatic extremes have a very direct influence on crop failure and grain storage conditions,” says Kempf. Seed shortages and increased food demand quickly pushed supply systems to their limits. A bad year, therefore, also had consequences for the future.

The situation was further exacerbated by the choice of cereal crops: people increasingly favored the cultivation of wheat and rice over millet. Kempf can only speculate about the reasons for the agricultural change. Perhaps millet was considered a less prestigious food than wheat and rice. However, these are less climate-resistant than drought-resistant millet and require more water to grow. “As long as there is enough water, this is not a problem, but during prolonged dry periods, shortages occur.” Millet cultivation could perhaps have cushioned these negative effects. As it was, however, the risk of crop failures and famines increased.

These losses could not easily be compensated for by shipments from other parts of the country. This was also because droughts and floods affected supply routes and supply corridors collapsed.

Fleeing from hunger

The malnutrition of the population may ultimately have led to the collapse of border defenses in the north of the empire. “Of course, people were weakened and therefore more vulnerable. Due to the military pressure on the outer border regions, they migrated south, where they believed they would find better conditions,” says Kempf. “This led to political destabilization and is likely to have contributed to the demise of the Tang dynasty.”

However, Kempf emphasizes: “Our results are approximations. The actual conditions at that time cannot be reconstructed with certainty. It’s a complex interplay of many different factors.”

The study concluded that sociocultural and climatic changes can lead to tipping points in the system because the balance is disrupted. This is a development that could occur more frequently in view of climate change today.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Bacteria Frozen For 5,000 Years Could Fight Superbugs, But There's a Catch

17 Feb. 2026, By D. NIELD

https://www.sciencealert.com/bacteria-frozen-for-5000-years-could-fight-superbugs-but-theres-a-catch

(Cavan Images/Cavan/Getty Images)

Bacteria extracted from 5,000-year-old ice in the Scărișoara Ice Cave in Romania could help us fight superbugs, new research shows – if it doesn't become one itself.

The research was led by a team from the Institute of Biology Bucharest (IBB) of the Romanian Academy, and points towards the untapped therapeutic potential – and risk – of microbes preserved in cold environments for millennia.

As bacteria continuously evolve to outsmart the best treatments we can fire at them, antibiotic resistance represents a serious challenge to public health. It's not a new phenomenon, though: This cat-and-mouse survival game has played out over millions of years.

The Scărișoara Ice Cave. 

(Paun V.I.)

Extreme environments, such as the ice cave this bacteria was found in, help to push diversity in their microorganisms, and it's possible that this genetic adaptation may give us a route to improved antibiotics – or make the situation worse.

"The Psychrobacter SC65A.3 bacterial strain isolated from Scărișoara Ice Cave, despite its ancient origin, shows resistance to multiple modern antibiotics and carries over 100 resistance-related genes," says IBB microbiologist Cristina Purcarea.

"But it can also inhibit the growth of several major antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' and showed important enzymatic activities with important biotechnological potential."

The researchers removed a 25-meter (82-foot) ice core from a section of the Scărișoara Ice Cave known as the Great Hall. After carefully isolating bacterial strains in the ice, genome sequencing was used to identify which genes were linked to survival in the cold and antimicrobial activity.

An ice core was drilled from Scărișoara Ice Cave, which contains the largest and oldest perennial block of ice. 

(Itcus C.)



That analysis revealed that Psychrobacter SC65A.3 could be a blessing and a curse: sure, it could provide leads for new antibiotic drugs, but if it's allowed to reemerge and spread, it could also share its drug-resistant genes with other bacteria.

The researchers found Psychrobacter SC65A.3 was resistant to common antibiotics used to treat lung, skin, blood, and other common infections.

This bacterial strain is part of the Psychrobacter genus of bacteria, which have specifically developed to survive in the cold. While we know some species can cause infections, there are still a lot of open questions about how these microbes evolved, and how they could be used to improve modern antibiotics.

While the process of developing any new antibiotics from this bacteria won't be quick, along the way there will be other opportunities to learn about how resistance to drugs can develop and pass between species.

The team behind this study is calling for more research to be carried out into microorganisms that have been frozen in time – giving us a window into the ancient past, and hopefully also a way to improve the future.

"To advance a comprehensive understanding of microbial life in cold environments, integrated research should focus on mapping their taxonomic and functional diversity, uncovering the mechanisms of cold adaptation, evaluating their roles in biogeochemical cycles and climate feedback processes, and exploring novel microbial taxa and functions with potential applications in biotechnology and medicine," write the researchers in their published paper.

The researchers talk about the possibility of frozen environments acting as reservoirs of resistance genes. As climate change turns frozen environments into unfrozen ones, we're already seeing thousands of tonnes of dormant microbes making a return to a world very different from the one they're familiar with.

That means the race is on to find ways to use these bacteria to fight infections and disease before they can cause any harm.

It's thought that antibiotic resistance contributes to more than a million deaths worldwide every year, and although the trend is heading in the wrong direction, there are still signs of encouraging progress too.

"If melting ice releases these microbes, these genes could spread to modern bacteria, adding to the global challenge of antibiotic resistance," says Purcarea.

"On the other hand, they produce unique enzymes and antimicrobial compounds that could inspire new antibiotics, industrial enzymes, and other biotechnological innovations."

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Ancient DNA Reveals Europe’s Last Hunter-Gatherers Survived Thousands of Years Longer Than Expected

BY U. OF HUDDERSFIELD, FEB. 22, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/ancient-dna-reveals-europes-last-hunter-gatherers-survived-thousands-of-years-longer-than-expected/

Genomic evidence has revealed that hunter-gatherer communities in parts of present-day Belgium and the Netherlands persisted for thousands of years longer than elsewhere in Europe, even after farming spread across the continent. 

Credit: Shutterstock

Ancient DNA shows that hunter-gatherers in northwestern Europe endured for millennia, with women driving a gradual cultural shift toward farming.

Researchers at the University of Huddersfield have analyzed ancient DNA to show that hunter-gatherer communities in one region of Europe endured for thousands of years longer than elsewhere on the continent. Their findings also highlight the central role women played during this extended transition.

The project formed part of a broader international collaboration of geneticists and archaeologists led by David Reich at Harvard University. The results have been published in the journal Nature.

At Huddersfield, the research was conducted by doctoral researcher Alessandro Fichera and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Francesca Gandini, working under the supervision of Dr. Maria Pala, Professor Martin B. Richards, and Dr. Ceiridwen Edwards from the Archaeogenetics Research Group in the School of Applied Sciences.

Funding came through a Doctoral Scholarship awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to Professor Richards and Dr. Pala. The team also worked closely with paleoecologist Professor John Stewart at Bournemouth University and archaeologists from the Université de Liège in Belgium, who were responsible for excavating and curating the ancient human remains used in the study.
Ancient DNA redraws Europe’s prehistory

To reconstruct this chapter of Europe’s past, the researchers sequenced complete human genomes from individuals who lived between 8500 and 1700 BCE in a region that today includes Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Map indicating hunter-gatherer ancestry proportions across Europe 4500–2500 BCE. 

Credit: University of Huddersfield



This period marked a transformative era in European prehistory, defined by sweeping population movements and cultural change. Long before modern borders existed, communities traveled widely across the continent. As new groups arrived, they mixed with local populations, reshaping the genetic landscape and introducing new languages, traditions, and lifeways that would leave a lasting imprint on modern European ancestry.

Dr. Maria Pala, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology, Department of Physical and Life Sciences, School of Applied Sciences. 

Credit: University of Huddersfield



The impact of these changes was so profound and expansive that virtually all modern-day European populations carry evidence of three ancestral components: a hunter-gatherer component, a Neolithic component brought by the first farmers from the Near East, and a third component associated with pastoralists from Russia.

Farming arrived without genetic turnover

This latest research reveals that the arrival of farming in the area in question, around ~4500 BCE, did not result in anything like the major shift in genetic composition that took place across the rest of Europe. Instead, it involved the uneven acquisition of farming-related practices by local hunter-gatherer communities with only minimal genetic input from the incoming farmers.

Strikingly, genomic data from the study suggest that this farmer influx was mostly from women marrying into the local hunter-gatherer communities, bringing with them their know-how as well as their genes. This pattern was limited to the riverine wetlands and coastal areas across the region. The wealth of natural resources seems to have allowed the local people to selectively embrace some aspects of farming while also preserving many hunter-gatherer practices, and therefore genes.

The high levels of hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted across the region (modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands) until the end of the Neolithic, around 2500 BCE, when new people spread across Europe. The new incomers this time arrived and mixed fully with local communities, so that the genomic trajectory of the area finally realigned with the neighboring regions.

The ancient DNA lab at the University of Huddersfield. 

Credit: University of Huddersfield



Women drove knowledge transfer

Professor Stewart commented: “We expected a clear change between the older hunter-gatherer populations and the newer agriculturalists, but apparently in the lowlands and along the rivers of the Netherlands and Belgium, the change was less immediate. It’s like a Waterworld where time stood still.”

Dr. Pala said, “Ancient DNA studies often bring to light unexpected pages of our past. We might anticipate finding the unexpected when analyzing samples from unexplored or peripheral regions of the globe. But here we are looking at the heartland of Europe, making these results even more striking. It’s a testament to the power of ancient DNA studies that findings like these can still surprise us.”

She added: “This study has also brought to light the crucial role played by women in the transmission of knowledge from the incoming farming communities to the local hunter-gatherers. Thanks to ancient DNA studies, we can not only uncover the past but also give voice to the invaluable but often overlooked role played by women in shaping human evolution.”

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Lithium Plume in Our Atmosphere Traced Back to Returning SpaceX Rocket

23 Feb. 2026, By R. SCHOFIELD & R. G. RYAN, THE CONVERSATION

https://www.sciencealert.com/lithium-plume-in-our-atmosphere-traced-back-to-returning-spacex-rocket

Artist's impression of a Falcon 9 upper stage with payload in 2015.

  (SpaceX)

Space junk returning to the Earth is introducing metal pollution to the pristine upper atmosphere as it burns up on re-entry, a new study has found.

Published today in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the study was led by Robin Wing from the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Germany.

Using highly sensitive lasers, he and his team of international researchers observed a plume of lithium pollution, tracking it back to the uncontrolled re-entry of a discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket upper stage.

This is the first observational evidence that re-entering space debris leaves a detectable, human-caused chemical fingerprint in the upper atmosphere. This was also the first time a pollutant plume from a specific space junk re-entry event has been monitored from the ground.

With many more satellite launches planned for the future, this event won't be the last. It highlights the urgent need for governments and the space industry to tackle this problem before it gets out of hand.

A part of the atmosphere we barely understand

The region that comprises the upper stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere (around 80 to 120 kilometres above Earth) is one of the least studied parts of the Earth system. It's too high for balloons, too low for satellites, and too harsh for aircraft.

Yet this region is crucial for radio and GPS communications, upper atmospheric weather patterns, and stratospheric ozone.

The upper atmosphere is largely unpolluted by humans. But the new space age is injecting growing quantities of metals and other pollutants from satellites, rocket bodies, and space debris.

The impact this will have on the stratospheric ozone layer, which is crucial to protecting life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, is as yet unquantified. But early findings are cause for concern.

For example, research from 2024 suggests aluminium and chlorine emissions related to rocket launches and re-entries may slow the ozone layer's recovery.

Soot from rocket launches is also likely to cause warming in the upper atmosphere.

Finding lithium with lasers

For the new study, the researchers used a highly sensitive laser-based sensor to detect the fluorescence of trace metals in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. This is not an off-the-shelf and readily available observation system, but it could be.

Space debris from satellites is contributing to metal layers in our atmosphere left by meteors. 

(Wing et al. Commun Earth Environ, 2026)

On 20 February 2025, they captured a clear, sudden enhancement in lithium ions from lithium batteries and human-made metal casings used in satellites. These are quite distinct from natural meteor material.

Using atmospheric trajectory modelling, they traced the timing and altitude of the lithium plume directly to the re-entry path of a discarded Falcon 9 rocket stage as it burnt up through the lower thermosphere into the mesosphere over the Atlantic Ocean, west of Ireland.

Lasers in operation at the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics. 

(Danny Gohlke)

A rapidly escalating problem

The number of satellites in orbit has exploded from a few thousand a couple of years ago to roughly 14,000 right now, driven largely by megaconstellations.

There are many more satellites planned. In fact, SpaceX has applied to launch a megaconstellation of up to one million satellites to power data centres in space. Every one of these satellites will eventually re-enter the atmosphere. So too will the rockets that launch them.

Current estimates suggest that by 2030, several tonnes of spacecraft material will burn up in the upper atmosphere every single day.

So far, there is no regulatory framework for these emissions, few monitoring options, and limited scientific understanding of the likely impacts.

The new lithium detection demonstrates that pollutants from re-entry are measurable and can be traced back to individual re-entry events. This is an important step when it comes to holding companies involved in space accountable.

International regulatory bodies need to be set up to liaise with governments and scientists to establish monitoring networks and instruments to track changes to our atmosphere from this emerging threat.

As the space industry skyrockets, our efforts to understand, monitor, and regulate upper-atmospheric emissions must keep pace.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Neanderthals Mysteriously Collected Horned Skulls in a Cave, But Why?

22 Feb. 2026, By M. STARR

https://www.sciencealert.com/neanderthals-mysteriously-collected-horned-skulls-in-a-cave-but-why

Some of the skulls found in the cave. 

(Villaescusa et al., Archaeol. Anthropol. Sci., 2026)

A new investigation of ancient horned animal skulls found in Spain's Des-Cubierta Cave deepens the mystery of when and why Neanderthals put them there.

According to multiple lines of evidence, the skulls weren't all placed there at the same time but were likely carried into a narrow gallery repeatedly over a prolonged period during the late Middle Paleolithic, between around 70,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Excavation of the cave began in 2009, and one of the rock layers caught archaeologists' attention for a large assemblage of Mousterian stone tools, a culture primarily associated with Neanderthals in Europe.

But it wasn't just tools; there was also an unusual assemblage of animal remains, overwhelmingly composed of skulls.

Researchers cataloged the top parts of the skulls of at least 35 individual animals, including 28 bovines, five deer, and two rhinoceroses. Most of the rest of the skeletons, such as jawbones, limbs, and even cheekbones, are absent.

The deliberate accumulation of animal crania is pretty rare in the archaeological record. A team led by archaeologist Lucía Villaescusa of the University of Alcalá in Spain wanted to know if the site itself could yield any clues about the way these skulls were placed.

They studied multiple lines of evidence, including the spatial distribution of geological debris and archaeological artifacts in the deposit; reassembly of the fragmented bones; and the level of preservation of the bones.

Their results showed that rockfall first introduced a cone of debris into the gallery. It was after this rockfall that Neanderthals began to bring in animal skulls, placing them in the cave during separate phases of activity.

The timeframe of this activity is unclear, but the separation between deposits makes it clear that it was not a one-and-done instance of skull collection.

As with so many ancient human and Neanderthal activities, it's likely we'll never know why the Neanderthals of Des-Cubierta had a repeated tradition of putting crania in a cave, but the repeated pattern suggests a structured practice that offers a rare glimpse into the possible symbolic lives of our ancient relatives.

"The integration of geological, spatial, and taphonomic data demonstrates that the accumulation of large herbivore crania was not a single depositional event, but rather the result of repeated episodes embedded within a long-term process of gallery use," the researchers write.

"This sustained and reiterated behaviour highlights the structured and transmitted nature of this practice, adding a significant piece to the broader discussion on the complexity and symbolic potential of Neanderthal cultural expressions."

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/