Ancient Romans Really Did Use Poop as Medicine. We Just Got The First Real Proof.

11 Feb. 2026, By C. CASSELLA

https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-romans-really-did-use-poop-as-medicine-we-just-got-the-first-real-proof

(Atila et al., Journ. Arch. Sci. Rep., 2026)



Stool transplants are cutting-edge experimental procedures, but using poop as medicine is hardly a modern idea.

Ancient Romans knew their… feces – or at least they liked to think they did. According to historical documents, influential doctors in Rome were advising folks to brew up healing poultices and therapeutic fragrances using animal and even human dung.

At last, we have the cold, hard evidence.

Archaeologists in Türkiye have now found the first chemical traces of human poop in a 1,900-year-old bottle.

Glass unguentarium with preserved ancient pharmaceutical residue. 

(Atila et al., Journ. Arch. Sci. Rep., 2026)



This long, thin vessel looks sort of like a glass candlestick with a splayed base. In ancient Roman times, it was known as an unguentarium, and was typically reserved for perfume or makeup.

When researchers scraped the insides of the artifact, housed in the Bergama Archaeology Museum, dark brownish flakes of an unknown material fell away.

Grinding up the sample and analyzing its chemistry, the research team of three discovered markers that strongly indicate the presence of human poop.

Plus, there was a sprinkling of aromatic compounds from thyme, probably to mask the smell.

In ancient Rome, it was not unusual for prominent physicians, like Hippocrates, Pliny the Elder, or Galen of Pergamon, to advise using poop as medicine.

In fact, excrement or dung, usually from animals, was recommended in medical texts for a plethora of health issues, such as inflammation, infection, and even reproductive disorders.

Galen alone refers to fecal medicines in his writings at least two dozen times. While the famed Greek physician rarely recommends human feces, he does make sure to mention the therapeutic value of children's poop (so long as they are fed a very specific diet, of course).

To find remnants of human poop in an ancient Roman vessel, dated to the 2nd century CE, is telling. It suggests that human excrement really was used as a form of topical treatment or 'olfactory pharmacology', as historical documents indicate.

"Ancient sources make clear that the boundaries between cosmetic and medicinal usage were fluid, and that unguents often blurred distinctions between healing, hygiene, and magic," archaeologist Cenker Atila, of Sivas Cumhuriyet University, and colleagues write in their published paper.

Similar poop treatments seem to have persisted through the Middle Ages, but they were then lost in the 18th century.

Back then, using dung as medicine was probably quite risky, as feces can transmit dangerous pathogens.

But today, when fecal transplants are properly screened, the stool and its various microbes have the potential to address a whole variety of ailments, from depression and bipolar disorder to diabetes, heart disease, and drug-resistant superbugs.

Scientists may know more about the gut microbiome than ever before, and yet we still have so much to learn about the millions of microbes that reside in our intestines and how they might impact our health.

While clinical trial reviews suggest that fecal transplants can improve the gut microbiome and symptoms of those with certain illnesses, such as irritable bowel syndrome, the effects seem to diminish after about six months.

Because this experimental procedure carries its own health risks and can, on rare occasions, be lethal, there is every reason to tread cautiously, and yet there are promising signs.

In a recent study on mice, for instance, older animals who received a poop transplant from younger ones showed signs of a more youthful gut.

Plus, in 2021, another study on mice found that poo transplants from younger individuals reversed signs of aging in older animals.

Perhaps using young people's poop as medicine is not such a laughable idea, after all; Galen might have been on to something.

The birth of modern Man

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Scientists Propose Surprising Link Between Space Weather and Earthquakes

BY KYOTO U., FEB. 10, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-propose-surprising-link-between-space-weather-and-earthquakes/

Researchers propose a model suggesting that disturbances in the ionosphere, driven by solar activity, may under certain conditions exert forces on fragile regions of Earth’s crust. 

Credit: Stock

A new theoretical study explores how activity high above Earth could subtly influence processes deep within the planet’s crust.

Researchers at Kyoto University are advancing a new idea about how space weather might intersect with earthquake physics. Their model asks whether changes in the ionosphere could, in rare situations, apply additional electrical forces to already fragile parts of the Earth’s crust and help nudge a large quake toward initiation.

The work is not an earthquake forecasting method. Instead, it lays out a physical pathway that starts with solar flares and other intense solar activity, which can rapidly reshape the distribution of charged particles high above Earth. Those ionospheric charge shifts are measurable because they alter how satellite navigation signals travel through the upper atmosphere, a key reason scientists track total electron content in the first place.

Inside the crust, the model focuses on fractured rock zones that can trap water at extreme temperatures and pressures, potentially reaching a supercritical state. Under these conditions, the researchers treat the damaged region as electrically active, acting like a capacitor that is linked through capacitive coupling to both the ground surface and the lower ionosphere. In effect, the crust and the ionosphere become parts of one large electrostatic system rather than isolated layers.

Electrostatic Forces From Solar Activity

During strong solar events, electron density in the ionosphere can rise enough to form a more negative layer at lower altitudes. The model proposes that this atmospheric charge does not stay confined overhead. Because the system is capacitively connected, the changing ionospheric charge can translate into intensified electric fields within tiny voids in fractured crustal rock, on the scale of nanometers.

Why does that matter for earthquakes? Pressure inside small cavities can influence how cracks grow and merge, especially when a fault zone is already close to failure. In the Kyoto team’s calculations, the resulting electrostatic pressure can reach levels comparable to other subtle forces known to affect fault stability, including tidal and gravitational stresses.

Their quantitative estimates tie the effect to large solar flare related ionospheric disturbances that raise total electron content by several tens of TEC units. Under those conditions, the model indicates electrostatic pressures of several megapascals could develop inside crustal voids, a range that is large enough to be mechanically relevant in the right setting.

Before some major quakes, scientists have reported unusual ionospheric behavior such as higher electron density, a lower ionospheric altitude, and slower unusual propagation of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances. Historically, such signals have usually been interpreted as consequences of stress building in the crust, rather than as influences that might also feed back into crustal fracture processes.

A Bidirectional Interaction Framework

The new model provides a complementary perspective by proposing a bidirectional interaction: while crustal processes may affect the ionosphere, ionospheric disturbances themselves may also exert feedback forces on the crust. This framework offers a possible physical explanation linking space weather phenomena and seismic processes without invoking direct causation.

The study discusses recent large earthquakes in Japan, including the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, as examples that are temporally consistent with the proposed mechanism. In these cases, intense solar flare activity occurred shortly before the seismic events. The authors emphasize that such temporal coincidence does not establish direct causality, but is consistent with a scenario in which ionospheric disturbances act as a contributing factor when the crust is already in a critical state.

By integrating concepts from plasma physics, atmospheric science, and geophysics, the proposed model broadens the conventional view of earthquakes as purely internal Earth processes. The findings suggest that monitoring ionospheric conditions, together with subsurface observations, may help improve scientific understanding of earthquake initiation processes and seismic hazard assessment.

Future research will focus on combining high-resolution GNSS-based ionospheric tomography with space weather data to clarify the conditions under which ionospheric disturbances may exert significant electrostatic influence on the Earth’s crust.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Spider Silk Is Stronger Than Steel and Now We Know Why

BY KING'S COL. LONDON, FEB. 10, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/spider-silk-is-stronger-than-steel-and-now-we-know-why/

Spider silk has long fascinated scientists for its extraordinary strength and flexibility, but the molecular secrets behind these properties have remained elusive. New research reveals how subtle interactions between specific amino acids guide silk proteins from a liquid state into an ordered, high-performance fiber. 

Credit: SciTechDaily.com



By uncovering the molecular interactions that give spider silk its remarkable properties, researchers have revealed principles that could inspire advanced materials and shed light on biological processes far beyond the spider’s web.

Researchers have pinpointed the tiny chemical attractions that help spider silk pull off its famous balancing act: extreme strength without losing flexibility. By explaining what holds the material together at the molecular scale, the work could make it easier to design bio-inspired fibers for aircraft parts, protective clothing, and medical uses. The same kinds of self-organizing behaviors may also offer clues about neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

The results appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences from a collaboration between King’s College London and San Diego State University (SDSU).

Instead of treating spider silk as a mystery material to copy outright, the team focused on the underlying “rules” that nature uses, principles that could be applied to build a new generation of high-performance, more sustainable fibers.

Revealing the Molecular Design of Spider Silk

Spider silk is made from proteins, long chains built from amino acids. The study reports that, inside these proteins, certain amino acids interact in a way that behaves like molecular “stickers.” Those repeating, reversible connections help the proteins gather, organize, and ultimately lock into a structure that can handle both stretching and heavy loads.

Chris Lorenz, Professor of Computational Materials Science at King’s College London, who led the UK side of the research, said: “The potential applications are vast – lightweight protective clothing, airplane components, biodegradable medical implants, and even soft robotics could benefit from fibers engineered using these natural principles.”

Spider dragline silk stands out among natural materials because it is stronger than steel by weight and tougher than Kevlar – the material used to fabricate bulletproof vests. Spiders rely on this silk to construct their webs and to support their own movement, and scientists have spent decades trying to replicate its extraordinary characteristics.

This type of silk is created inside a spider’s silk gland, where the proteins are kept in a dense liquid form called “silk dope.” As the spider spins its web, this liquid is transformed into solid fibers.

Although researchers have known that the proteins first gather into liquid-like droplets before turning into fibers, the precise molecular steps that connect this phase change to the final structure of the silk have remained a mystery until now.

Key Amino Acids Drive Silk Formation

The interdisciplinary team of chemists, biophysicists, and engineers used a combination of advanced computational and experimental tools – including molecular dynamics simulations, AlphaFold3 structural modeling, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy – to demonstrate that the amino acids arginine and tyrosine interact to trigger the initial clustering of the proteins.

Crucially, these same interactions persist as the silk fiber forms, helping to create the complex nanostructure responsible for its exceptional mechanical performance.

“This study provides an atomistic-level explanation of how disordered proteins assemble into highly ordered, high-performance structures,” added Lorenz.

Gregory Holland, SDSU professor of physical and analytical chemistry, who led the US side of the research, said one of the most surprising outcomes was how chemically sophisticated the process turned out to be.

“What surprised us was that silk – something we usually think of as a beautifully simple natural fiber – actually relies on a very sophisticated molecular trick,” Holland said. “The same kinds of interactions we discovered are used in neurotransmitter receptors and hormone signaling.”

He suggested the findings could therefore extend into human health research.

“The way silk proteins undergo phase separation and then form β-sheet–rich structures mirrors mechanisms we see in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” Holland said. “Studying silk gives us a clean, evolutionarily-optimized system to understand how phase separation and β-sheet formation can be controlled.”

The Life of Earth

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Scientists Uncover the Lost Island That Gave Birth to Karnak Temple

BY U. OF SOUTHAMPTON, FEB. 9, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-uncover-the-lost-island-that-gave-birth-to-karnak-temple/

New research shows Karnak Temple rose from an island created by the Nile, reshaping ideas about its origins. The site’s unique geography may have been chosen to reflect ancient Egyptian beliefs about creation itself.

 Credit: Shutterstock

Karnak Temple may have been built where myth and the Nile literally rose together.

Archaeologists have completed the most detailed geoarchaeological investigation ever undertaken at Egypt’s Karnak Temple near Luxor, one of the largest temple complexes of the ancient world and a UNESCO World Heritage site visited by millions each year. The research provides a clearer picture of when the site was first occupied and suggests a possible connection between its location and ancient Egyptian creation beliefs.

The findings, published in Antiquity, present fresh evidence about the age of the temple, explore potential links to Egyptian mythology, and explain how changes in the Nile’s landscape influenced people who lived at and expanded the site over roughly 3,000 years.

“This new research provides unprecedented detail on the evolution of Karnak Temple, from a small island to one of the defining institutions of Ancient Egypt,” says Dr. Ben Pennington, lead author of the study and a Visiting Fellow in Geoarchaeology at the University of Southampton.

Karnak Temple lies about 500 meters east of the modern River Nile, close to Luxor, in what was once the religious heart of Ancient Egypt at Thebes.

Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt.

 Credit: Dr. Ben Pennington

Reconstructing the Ancient Environment Around Karnak

The international team was led by Dr. Angus Graham of Uppsala University and included several researchers from the University of Southampton. Together, they examined 61 sediment cores taken from inside and around the temple complex. To refine the timeline of their discoveries, the team also analyzed tens of thousands of ceramic fragments recovered from the site.

By combining these lines of evidence, the researchers reconstructed how the surrounding landscape evolved through different historical periods. Their analysis showed that before about 2520 BCE, the area was regularly overwhelmed by fast flowing Nile floodwaters, making long term settlement impractical. As a result, the earliest sustained occupation at Karnak likely dates to the Old Kingdom (c.2591-2152 BC). Pottery evidence supports this conclusion, with the oldest fragments dating between approximately c.2305 and 1980 BC.

“The age of Karnak Temple has been hotly contested in archaeological circles, but our new evidence places a temporal constraint on its earliest occupation and construction,” said Dr. Kristian Strutt, a co-author from the University of Southampton.

Core samples being extracted at Karnak Temple. 

Credit: Dr. Ben Pennington

How River Channels Created Sacred Ground

According to the study, the land that eventually supported Karnak Temple formed as Nile channels eroded their beds to the west and east of the site. This process left behind a raised island of stable ground in what is now the east/south-east portion of the temple precinct. That elevated area provided a suitable foundation for early settlement and construction.

As centuries passed, the river channels on either side of the site gradually moved farther apart. This natural shift opened up additional space, allowing the temple complex to expand over time.

One unexpected finding involved the eastern channel. Previously, it had been considered largely theoretical, but the new data show it was well defined and may even have been larger than the western channel that earlier studies emphasized.

“The river channels surrounding the site shaped how the temple could develop and where, with new construction taking place on top of old rivers as they silted up,” explained Dominic Barker, another co-author from the University of Southampton.

He added, “We also see how Ancient Egyptians shaped the river itself, through the dumping of sands from the desert into channels, possibly to provide new land for building, for example.”

Core samples being extracted at Karnak Temple.

 Credit: Dr. Ben Pennington



Parallels With Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths

The reconstructed landscape beneath Karnak closely resembles imagery found in Ancient Egyptian creation stories. This similarity has led researchers to suggest that religious ideas may have influenced the choice of the temple’s location. Texts from the Old Kingdom describe the creator god emerging as a mound of high ground rising from ‘the lake’. Notably, the island on which Karnak was established is the only known elevated area in the region that was once surrounded by water.

“It’s tempting to suggest the Theban elites chose Karnak’s location for the dwelling place of a new form of the creator god, ‘Ra-Amun’, as it fitted the cosmogonical scene of high ground emerging from surrounding water,” says Dr. Pennington.

Core samples being extracted at Karnak Temple. 

Credit: Dr. Ben Pennington



Later writings from the Middle Kingdom (c.1980-1760 BC) expand on this theme, describing the ‘primeval mound’ rising from the ‘Waters of Chaos’. During that era, the seasonal retreat of the Nile’s floodwaters would have visually echoed this myth, with the mound beneath Karnak appearing to rise and expand as the waters receded.

Expanding Research Across the Luxor Floodplain

With permission now granted to study the wider Luxor floodplain, the research team is extending its work to other major archaeological sites in the area. Their goal is to better understand how landscapes and waterways shaped the development of the entire religious capital zone of Ancient Egypt.

The birth of modern Man

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A Mysterious Gut Microbe Keeps Appearing in Healthy People Worldwide

BY U. OF CAMBRIDGE, FEB. 9, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/a-mysterious-gut-microbe-keeps-appearing-in-healthy-people-worldwide/

A massive global study has uncovered a mysterious group of gut bacteria, called CAG-170, that keeps showing up in healthy people around the world. 

Credit: Stock



A mysterious, hard-to-grow gut bacterium keeps showing up in healthy people worldwide—and it may be quietly protecting our microbiomes.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have identified a little-known group of gut bacteria that consistently appears in healthy people around the world. The bacteria, known as CAG-170, was found in unusually high levels in people without chronic illness, based on a large international analysis of gut microbiomes.

CAG-170 is unusual because scientists know it only through its genetic signature. Most of these bacteria have never been successfully grown in a laboratory, meaning they have largely escaped detailed study until now.

To track it down, the research team used advanced computational methods to search for CAG-170’s genetic fingerprint in gut microbiome samples from more than 11,000 people across 39 countries.

Strong Links to Health Across Populations

The results showed a clear pattern. Healthy individuals consistently had higher levels of CAG-170 than people living with conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

When the researchers examined the genes carried by CAG-170, they found signs that these bacteria can produce large amounts of Vitamin B12. They also carry enzymes capable of breaking down many different carbohydrates, sugars, and fibers found in the human diet.

The team believes the Vitamin B12 produced by CAG-170 most likely benefits other gut microbes rather than directly nourishing the human host. This suggests CAG-170 may help support the broader gut ecosystem by feeding beneficial bacteria.

Taken together, the findings suggest that CAG-170 could eventually serve as a marker of gut microbiome health. They also raise the possibility of developing future probiotics designed specifically to support healthy levels of these bacteria.

The team looked at gut microbiome samples from over 11,000 people across 39 countries. They found the level of a previously unstudied group of bacteria, called CAG-170, was consistently higher in healthy people than those with diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and multiple sclerosis. 

Credit: University of Cambridge

Dr. Alexandre Almeida, from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and lead author of the study, said: “Our work has revealed that CAG-170 bacteria – part of the ‘hidden microbiome’ – appear to be key players in human health, likely by helping us to digest the main components of our food and keeping the whole microbiome running smoothly.”

He added: “We looked at the gut microbes of thousands of people across 39 countries and 13 different diseases including Crohn’s and obesity. We consistently found that people with these diseases had lower levels of CAG-170 bacteria in their gut.”

The study is published today (February 9) in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

Mapping the Hidden Microbiome

The new research builds on Almeida’s earlier effort to create a detailed reference library of microbial genomes found in the human gut. This resource, called the ‘Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome catalog’, brings together genetic data from across the gut microbiome.

To build the catalog, Almeida used a technique known as ‘metagenomics’, which involves analyzing all microbial genomes in the gut at once and then separating them into individual species.

This work uncovered more than 4,600 bacterial species living in the human gut, including over 3,000 that had never been identified there before. These findings highlighted how much of the gut microbiome had remained hidden from science.

The catalog provides reference genomes for each species, including CAG-170. These reference genomes act like genetic fingerprints, allowing scientists to detect specific bacteria in other gut samples.

“Our earlier work revealed that around two-thirds of the species in our gut microbiome were previously unknown. No-one knew what they were doing there – and now we’ve found that some of these are a fundamental and underappreciated component of human health,” said Almeida.

Three Independent Lines of Evidence

The researchers examined more than 11,000 gut microbiome samples from people living primarily in Europe, North America, and Asia. The dataset included both healthy individuals and people diagnosed with 13 different diseases, including Crohn’s disease, colorectal cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.

By comparing these samples against the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome catalog, the team found that CAG-170 stood out as the hidden microbiome group most strongly associated with good health. This relationship held true across different countries and populations.

In a second analysis, the researchers examined the complete gut microbiomes of more than 6,000 healthy people. They looked for species most likely to help stabilize the gut ecosystem. Once again, CAG-170 emerged as the group most consistently linked to a healthy microbiome.

The third analysis focused on people with dysbiosis, a condition in which the gut microbiome is out of balance. Lower levels of CAG-170 were associated with a higher risk of dysbiosis. This imbalance has been linked to long-term conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and anxiety and depression.

New Paths Toward Future Therapies

The human gut microbiome is made up of billions of bacteria representing roughly 4,600 different species. While the exact mix varies from person to person, the overall role of the microbiome is the same: to help the body function properly.

Scientists hope that by better defining what a healthy gut microbiome looks like, they can understand how it changes in disease and find ways to restore balance. Approaches such as targeted probiotics are one possible path forward, and the new findings bring that goal closer.

“The probiotic industry hasn’t really kept up with gut microbiome research – people are still using the same probiotic species that were being used decades ago. We’re now discovering new groups of bacteria like CAG-170 with important links to our health, and probiotics aimed at supporting them could have a much greater health benefit,” said Almeida.

Until now, much of gut microbiome research has focused on bacteria that can be easily grown and studied in the lab. Most CAG-170 bacteria do not fall into that category. Researchers will now need to find ways to culture and study them in order to turn these discoveries into potential new treatments.

The Life of Earth

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We Just Found a Mind-blowing New World of Electrostatic Biology

By Anton Petrov, Feb. 9 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql35lWxuaVU

Anton Petrov explores a surprising new field: electrostatic ecology. 

Discover how static electricity impacts tiny creatures, from pollination to hunting, using high-speed camera footage. 

This reveals unexpected behaviours and the crucial role of electric fields in their survival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql35lWxuaVU

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Science history: 'Father of modern genetics' describes his experiments with pea plants — and proves that heredity is transmitted in discrete units — Feb. 8, 1865

By T Ghose, published Feb. 8,2026

https://www.livescience.com/health/genetics/science-history-father-of-modern-genetics-describes-his-experiments-with-pea-plants-and-proves-that-heredity-is-transmitted-in-discrete-units-feb-8-1865

Gregor Mendel described his experiments with pea plants and proved that genes are transmitted in discrete units, with certain fundamental laws of inheritance.

Pea plants provide a unique test bed for studying inheritance because they reproduce quickly, grow easily, and have single-gene traits that can be easily observed and recorded. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Milestone: Principles of inheritance discovered

Date: Feb. 8 and March 8, 1865

Where: Brno, in what is now the Czech Republic

Who: Gregor Mendel

On a cold day in February, an Augustinian friar described his experiments breeding garden-variety plants — and gave rise to the field of modern genetics.

Gregor Mendel was an Austrian priest who had spent eight years cultivating and crossbreeding more than 28,000 pea plants (Pisum sativum) in the garden of Monastery of St. Thomas in Brno (formerly known as Brünn), painstakingly recording details of the plants' progeny.

Mendel was actively discouraged from pursuing his research. His bishop giggled whenever Mendel told of his scientific experiments, according to a letter his abbot Cyril Napp wrote to him in 1859.

"He asked if I though [sic] it seemly for a man of your intellectual attainments to be plodding in a pea patch, prying into the germinal proclivities of peas. He suggested that pea propagation was a subject less worthy of your curiosity than, say, the writings of the Church Fathers or the Doctrine of Grace. My dear Brother Mendel, as sympathetic as I am to your researches [sic], we can ill afford to have the monastery made the laughingstock of the diocese."

But Mendel was undeterred from his research — not because of a deep-seated interest in plants, but because he wanted to reveal the principles of inheritance.

He had chosen to study the plants of this unassuming legume for a number of reasons. First, pea plants reproduced quickly and well in both pots and in the ground, according to an 1866 monograph he wrote about his research. Second, they seemed to have clear traits they passed along to their offspring — such as pink, white or red flowers — and the hybrids were perfectly fertile.

Finally, "accidental impregnation by foreign pollen, if it occurred during the experiments and were not recognized, would lead to entirely erroneous conclusions," he wrote.

Mendel, who was an ordained Catholic priest, conducted his research on pea plant genetics over the course of eight years, using the garden plot at his monastery. 

(Image credit: Public Domain)



He identified several distinct traits to track — such as the color of the peas and their pods, the positions of the flowers, and the lengths of the stems — and then crossbred those with differing characteristics. Then, he let each distinct type of plant "self-breed" for two years, showing that the traits continued to be passed along to offspring.

Next, he crossbred those plants and crossbred the resulting hybrids. He painstakingly tallied all of the ways traits were inherited, denoting different traits from each parent with simple labels like Aa, Bb and Cc.

By analyzing the mathematical patterns in each subsequent generation, he deduced the basic principles of inheritance. First, he noted that some traits were transmitted in discrete units, or "particles" — if you cross a green-pea plant with a yellow-pea plant, you get either green or yellow offspring, not yellowish-green ones.

He also concluded that some traits were inherited in a "dominant" pattern. For instance, if plants bred for generations to have only smooth seeds were bred with those that had wrinkly seeds, the offspring would always have smooth seeds.

When Mendel crossbred hybrids, he noticed something strange: Most of the plants would look smooth, but about a quarter would look wrinkled. He deduced that the wrinkly trait was instead passed on in a "recessive" manner and that the trait actually came from the grandfather plant's generation.

A schematic of pea plant color by generation (F1, F2, F3). The "dark" flower color here is dominant. The first generation of hybrids is all dark, while a quarter of the F2 and later generation crossbreeds will have light-colored flowers. 

(Image credit: ullstein Bild Dtl/Getty Images)



Mendel wasn't content to study one "particle" at a time. He also crossbred plants that were hybrids for two different traits and learned that each trait was transmitted separately, which is now known as the principle of segregation.

Mendel's work wasn't recognized in his lifetime. And although Mendel is often known as the "father of genetics," the term "genetics" was not coined until the early 1900s, when English biologist William Bateson rediscovered Mendel's forgotten work and realized its overarching significance.

Soon after, some argued Mendel's data was "too good to be true," and that he must have fabricated his results. A 2020 study put that idea to rest, showing that given the seeds available then, what Mendel knew, and how seeds were classified then, his results were in fact what you'd expect.

Decades later, research would reveal that inheritance isn't as simple as Mendel's pea plants would suggest — some genes are inherited in a sex-linked manner, and other traits have incomplete "penetrance," meaning they don't always manifest the same way. And in early 2026 research revealed that some disease-causing genes we believed were dominant don't operate like we thought, which may challenge some of the fundamental tenets of Mendelian inheritance.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

NASA Finds Earth’s Oxygen Follows a Hidden Magnetic Rhythm

By NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Feb. 8, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/nasa-finds-earths-oxygen-follows-a-hidden-magnetic-rhythm/

The solar wind flows around Earth’s magnetic field. A new NASA study suggests that the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere and strength of the magnetic field have been correlated for more than half a billion years. 

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Laboratory

Earth’s magnetic field and atmospheric oxygen appear to have moved in sync for half a billion years, pointing to a surprising connection between the planet’s deep interior and life-supporting conditions above ground.

Magnetic Field and Oxygen Move Together Over Deep Time

A new analysis by NASA scientists finds that changes in Earth’s magnetic field strength have closely tracked shifts in atmospheric oxygen for roughly 540 million years. The results point to a possible connection between processes occurring deep inside the planet and the conditions that allow life to thrive at the surface.

The finding suggests that Earth’s habitability may not be shaped only by surface or atmospheric processes, but also by long-term activity within the planet itself.

How Earth Generates Its Magnetic Shield

Earth’s magnetic field is created by the movement of molten material inside the planet’s interior, which functions much like a massive electromagnet. This internal flow is not perfectly steady, causing the strength of the magnetic field to rise and fall over geological time.

Many researchers believe this magnetic shield helps protect Earth’s atmosphere from erosion by high-energy particles emitted by the Sun. However, as the authors of the study published in Science Advances note, the exact role magnetic fields play in preserving atmospheres is still being actively studied. Rather than attempting to untangle complex cause-and-effect relationships right away, the researchers first asked a more basic question: do changes in Earth’s magnetic field and atmospheric oxygen show matching patterns over time?

Clues Locked Inside Ancient Rocks

Evidence of Earth’s past magnetic fields is preserved in magnetized minerals. When molten rock rises at boundaries between spreading tectonic plates and begins to cool, minerals within the magma can capture a record of the surrounding magnetic field. That record remains intact as long as the minerals are not later reheated to extreme temperatures.

Scientists are also able to estimate ancient oxygen levels by studying the chemistry of old rocks and minerals, since their composition depends on how much oxygen was present when they formed. Extensive databases containing magnetic and chemical records have been compiled by geophysicists and geochemists over many years. According to the study’s authors, no previous research had closely compared these two long-term records in detail.

“These two datasets are very similar,” said coauthor Weijia Kuang, a geophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Earth is the only known planet that supports complex life. The correlations we’ve found could help us to understand how life evolves and how it’s connected to the interior processes of the planet.”

A Pattern Reaching Back to the Rise of Complex Life

By analyzing the magnetic and oxygen records side by side, Kuang and his colleagues found that both followed comparable ups and downs for nearly half a billion years. The pattern extends back to the Cambrian explosion, the period when complex life first became widespread on Earth.

“This correlation raises the possibility that both the magnetic field strength and the atmospheric oxygen level are responding to a single underlying process, such as the movement of Earth’s continents,” said study coauthor Benjamin Mills, a biogeochemist at the University of Leeds.

Looking Deeper Into Earth’s Life-Supporting Systems

The research team plans to examine even older datasets to determine whether the relationship holds further back in Earth’s history. They also aim to study the past levels of other elements essential for life as we know it, including nitrogen, to see if similar patterns emerge.

As for identifying the exact mechanisms that link Earth’s deep interior to conditions at the surface, Kopparapu emphasized that more investigation is needed, saying: “There’s more work to be done to figure that out.”

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

AI Boom Could Add Nearly a Million Tons of CO₂ Annually, Researchers Warn

By K. Giles, IOP Publishing, Feb. 8, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/ai-boom-could-add-nearly-a-million-tons-of-co%e2%82%82-annually-researchers-warn/

As artificial intelligence spreads through more corners of the U.S. economy, researchers are beginning to quantify an often-overlooked cost tied to its growing appetite for energy. 

Credit: Stock

Growing AI adoption could modestly increase U.S. carbon emissions, highlighting the need for energy-efficient AI systems.

A study published in Environmental Research Letters estimates that expanding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the United States could raise annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 900,000 tons.

Although this represents a measurable increase, the authors emphasize that it would account for only a small fraction of total national emissions.

AI growth brings a manageable carbon cost

As AI systems become more widely deployed to improve efficiency and drive economic growth, the study suggests their overall environmental impact is modest compared to many other energy-intensive industries. The researchers assessed how AI could be adopted across multiple sectors and calculated the additional electricity demand and resulting carbon emissions linked to that expansion.

Key findings include:

Widespread adoption of artificial intelligence across the U.S. economy could lead to about 896,000 additional tons of CO2 emissions each year. Even so, this increase would account for only 0.02% of total U.S. emissions.

At the industry level, energy demand could rise by as much as 12 petajoules per year, an amount roughly equal to the annual electricity use of about 300,000 households in the United States.

Co-author Anthony R. Harding explains: “While the projected emissions from AI adoption are modest compared to other sectors, they still represent a meaningful increase. This underscores the importance of integrating energy efficiency and sustainability into AI development and deployment, especially as adoption accelerates across industries.”

As AI technologies become more integrated into daily operations, researchers encourage industry leaders to incorporate energy efficiency and sustainability into their AI strategies to ensure responsible growth as adoption scales.

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/

Can You Engineer a Dream? Neuroscientists Say Yes – and It Boosts Creativity

By Northwestern U., Feb. 7, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/can-you-engineer-a-dream-neuroscientists-say-yes-and-it-boosts-creativity/

New research suggests that the sleeping brain may be more responsive to unresolved problems than previously thought. By subtly influencing dream content during REM sleep, scientists observed changes in how participants approached challenges after waking.

 Credit: Shutterstock

New research from Northwestern University suggests that dreams may play a more active role in creative problem-solving than previously demonstrated.

The advice to “sleep on it” has stuck around for a reason. Psychologists have long noted that stepping away from a hard problem can lead to sudden insight later, but dreams have been difficult to study scientifically because researchers rarely have a reliable way to steer what someone dreams about without waking them up.

A team of neuroscientists at Northwestern University reports evidence that dream content can be nudged in a controlled setting. Their work supports the idea that REM sleep, the rapid eye movement stage linked to vivid dreaming and occasional lucid awareness, may be a promising window for creative thinking to surface.

In the study, scientists used a technique called targeted memory reactivation (TMR). While participants slept, researchers played specific sounds linked to earlier attempts at solving puzzles. These sounds were intended to remind the brain of unfinished problems and prompt related dream content. The sounds were delivered only after brain activity confirmed that participants were fully asleep.

The approach proved effective. Seventy-five percent of participants reported dreams that contained elements related to the unsolved puzzles. Problems that appeared in dreams were later solved at a much higher rate than those that did not (42% vs 17%).

Interpreting the Findings

The researchers caution that these results do not prove that dreaming about a problem directly causes its solution. Other influences, such as increased interest in a puzzle, could make both dreaming and solving more likely. Still, the ability to deliberately guide dream content represents a meaningful advance in studying how sleep might contribute to creative thinking.

“Many problems in the world today require creative solutions. By learning more about how our brains are able to think creatively, think anew and generate creative new ideas, we could be closer to solving the problems we want to solve, and sleep engineering could help,” said senior author Ken Paller, the James Padilla Professor of Psychology and director of the cognitive neuroscience program in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern.

How the study was conducted

The research team recruited 20 volunteers who had prior experience with lucid dreaming, which involves being aware of dreaming while it is happening. After arriving at the laboratory, participants attempted a series of challenging brain teasers, with three minutes allotted for each puzzle. Every puzzle was paired with a distinct soundtrack. Because the puzzles were intentionally difficult, most were not solved during this initial session.

Participants then slept overnight in the lab while their brain activity and other physiological signals were monitored using polysomnography. During REM sleep, researchers played the soundtracks associated with half of the unsolved puzzles in order to selectively reactivate those memories. Some participants used prearranged signals, such as repeated in-and-out sniffs, to indicate that they recognized the sounds and were thinking about the related puzzles in their dreams.

Dream Content and Problem-Solving Outcomes

After awakening, participants told the researchers about their dreams. Many dreams included fragments or ideas from the puzzles, but in 12 of 20 participants, dreams referenced the specific puzzles prompted with sound cues more often than those that were not. These individuals subsequently came up with the correct solution to reactivated puzzles more often than the other puzzles, increasing their problem-solving ability from 20% to 40% — which was significant.

The lead author of the study is Karen Konkoly, a post-doctoral researcher in Paller’s Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory. Konkoly, who received her Ph.D. from Northwestern, said the biggest surprise of the study was the extent to which the cues influenced non-lucid dreams.

“Even without lucidity, one dreamer asked a dream character for help solving the puzzle we were cueing. Another was cued with the ‘trees’ puzzle and woke up dreaming of walking through a forest. Another dreamer was cued with a puzzle about jungles and woke up from a dream in which she was fishing in the jungle thinking about that puzzle,” Konkoly said.

“These were fascinating examples to witness because they showed how dreamers can follow instructions, and dreams can be influenced by sounds during sleep, even without lucidity.”
Implications

The researchers say the next step is to apply the methods of targeted memory reactivation and interactive dreaming to study other proposed functions of dreaming, such as emotional regulation and generalized learning.

“My hope is that these findings will help move us towards stronger conclusions about the functions of dreaming,” Konkoly said. “If scientists can definitively say that dreams are important for problem solving, creativity, and emotion regulation, hopefully people will start to take dreams seriously as a priority for mental health and wellbeing.”

The Life of Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/ 

'Burping' Your Home Really Could Be Good For Your Health, Says Expert

06 Feb. 2026, ByV. Niranjan, The Conversation

https://www.sciencealert.com/burping-your-home-really-could-be-good-for-your-health-says-expert

(Matthias Heitmann/Getty Images)

'House burping' is the latest thing cluttering people's feeds: short clips of people flinging open every window and door, announcing they're 'burping' their home to get rid of stale, germ-filled air.

Behind the playful name is a serious question: Does this actually make a home healthier, or are people just swapping indoor germs for outdoor pollution?

In Germany, this trend looks less like a revolution and more like everyday life. Lüften – literally "airing out" – and Stoßlüften, or "shock ventilation", have long involved opening windows wide for a few minutes to let fresh air race through, even in the depths of winter.

Some German rental contracts even mention regular airing as part of looking after the property, mainly to prevent damp and mould.

The health logic is simple. Indoor air collects moisture from showers and cooking, smoke and particles from stoves and candles, chemicals from cleaning sprays and furniture, and tiny particles and viruses that people breathe out.

Indoor spaces can be full of aerosols, dust, and tiny particles.

 (Esra Korkmaz/Pexels/Canva)



In a previous study, my colleagues and I conducted, we found many diseases linked to indoor air pollution. Over time, these build up, especially in well-insulated homes that keep heat – and pollution – in. When the house is 'burped', the sudden rush of outdoor air dilutes this mixture and pushes a good chunk of it outside.

This is particularly important for infections that spread through the air. During the COVID pandemic, public health agencies stressed that better ventilation – including simply opening windows – could help cut the risk of catching the virus indoors.

In one classroom study, opening all windows and doors dropped carbon dioxide levels by about 60% and reduced a simulated 'viral load' by more than 97% over an eight-hour day, shrinking the area with higher infection risk to around 15% of the room.

Pets breathe the same air and can act as early warning signs of trouble. Veterinary studies link poor indoor air to lung irritation in dogs and cats, especially near the floor where particles settle – a reminder that stale air harms the whole household.

But the air outside is not always clean. Tiny particles from traffic and factories, and gases such as nitrogen dioxide, damage the heart, lungs, and brain and are now recognised as major causes of illness and early death. In many cities, most of the fine particles inside homes and schools actually come from outside and seep in through gaps, vents, and, of course, open windows.

Where you live shapes that trade-off. Homes close to busy main roads or motorways tend to have higher levels of traffic-related particles and nitrogen dioxide indoors, especially when windows facing the road are opened.

Living near a busy road may allow traffic-related particles in through open windows.

 (Stoica Adrian's Images/Canva)



A study in inner-city schools found that the closer a school was to major roads, the higher the levels of traffic-related PM2.5 (microscopic air pollution particles small enough to be inhaled deep into the lungs), nitrogen dioxide, and black carbon measured inside classrooms.

That means flinging open roadside windows at rush hour may bring in a surge of exhaust, tyre, and brake dust just as traffic pollution peaks. For people with asthma, heart disease, or chronic lung problems, that extra pollution can undo some of the health benefits of better ventilation.

The picture looks different in greener, quieter areas. When schools and homes are surrounded by more trees and green space and are further from main roads, indoor levels of traffic-related particles tend to be lower. Vegetation can help filter some particles from the air and break up plumes of pollution from nearby roads.

The right time to burp

Timing also matters. In many cities, outdoor pollution is highest during the morning and evening commute and lower late at night or in the middle of the day. Short bursts of house burping outside these peaks – or just after rain, which can temporarily wash some particles from the air – may offer a better balance between infection control and pollution exposure.

Poor indoor air does not stop at the lungs. Studies link higher levels of fine particles and carbon dioxide to poorer concentration, slower thinking, and raised risks of anxiety and depression. A stuffy home quietly chips away at mood and mental sharpness for everyone inside.

How the burp is done makes a difference to comfort and energy bills. German-style Stoßlüften, where all windows are opened fully for a short time, rapidly exchanges air but does not cool walls and furniture as much as leaving a small window open all day. Cross-ventilation – opening windows on opposite sides of the home – usually shifts air faster.

Treating COPD (a chronic lung disease) from poor indoor air can cost thousands yearly in drugs and hospital stays – a lifelong burden once diagnosed. Opening windows for five minutes in winter loses just pennies in heat. Fresh air now beats massive medical bills later.

For most households, a practical middle ground is possible. House burping is more likely to be helpful when it is done in short bursts, away from busy traffic times, and on the sides of the home that face quieter streets or greener spaces.

So the social media trend has a point, even if the name raises a smile. A home that never burps is likely to have higher levels of indoor pollution and a greater build-up of exhaled air, especially during virus season.

Give your home a mini spa break at the right time: Throw open the windows, let it burp out the stale air, and invite a burst of fresh stuff in. Your lungs, brain, and pets will thank you.

The birth of modern Man

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/ 

Earth’s Magnetic Field Has an “Astonishing” Wild Side Scientists Missed Until Now

By U. of Utah, Feb. 7, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/earths-magnetic-field-has-an-astonishing-wild-side-scientists-missed-until-now/

Earth’s magnetic field is often treated as a steady planetary shield, but geological records reveal a far more dynamic and variable system. New research examining ancient ocean sediments suggests that some geomagnetic reversals unfolded much more slowly than scientists once believed.

 Credit: Shutterstock

Deep beneath the ocean floor, ancient sediments hint that Earth’s magnetic field sometimes changed far more slowly than expected.

Deep beneath our feet, a restless ocean of molten metal helps keep Earth livable. The planet’s magnetic field forms as liquid iron and nickel circulate through the outer core, generating electric currents that create a global magnetic shield. That shield is powerful, but it is not permanently locked in place.

From time to time, Earth’s magnetic north and south poles trade positions in events called geomagnetic reversals. The story of those flips is written into the planet itself. As sediments settle on the seafloor and rocks cool, tiny magnetic minerals can align with the field at that moment, preserving a snapshot that scientists can read millions of years later. These reversals are not quick switches. They typically unfold over several thousand years as the field weakens, becomes erratic, and the poles drift across the globe before stabilizing again with the opposite orientation.

Over the last 170 million years, researchers have documented about 540 reversals, and many were thought to take roughly 10,000 years to complete.

A new study led by a University of Utah geoscientist, working with collaborators from France and Japan, suggests that some reversals moved at a very different pace. The team identified examples from about 40 million years ago in which the transition stretched far longer, in some cases lasting more than 70,000 years. That extended timeline reshapes how scientists think about the magnetic field that surrounds Earth and helps block solar radiation and harmful particles from space.

Potential Impacts on Life and Climate

A prolonged weak phase could matter because the magnetic field acts like a planetary filter. When it falters, more charged particles can reach the upper atmosphere, potentially altering chemical reactions there and changing how energy moves through the climate system. Some effects could also reach the biosphere, especially for species that rely on magnetic cues.

According to co author Peter Lippert, an associate professor in the U Department of Geology & Geophysics, long intervals of reduced geomagnetic shielding likely influenced atmospheric chemistry, climate processes and the evolution of living organisms.

“The amazing thing about the magnetic field is that it provides the safety net against radiation from outer space, and that radiation is observed and hypothesized to do all sorts of things. If you are getting more solar radiation coming into the planet, it’ll change organisms’ ability to navigate,” said Lippert, who heads the Utah Paleomagnetic Center. “It’s basically saying we are exposing higher latitudes in particular, but also the entire planet, to greater rates and greater durations of this cosmic radiation and therefore it’s logical to expect that there would be higher rates of genetic mutation. There could be atmospheric erosion.”

Yuhji Yamamoto examines drilling cores on the JOIDES Resolution during the 2012 expedition in the North Atlantic. 

Credit: Peter Lippert, University of Utah

The results appear in Nature Communications Earth & Environment. The lead author is Yuhji Yamamoto of Japan’s Kochi University.

“This finding unveiled an extraordinarily prolonged reversal process, challenging conventional understanding and leaving us genuinely astonished,” Yamamoto wrote in a summary posted by Springer Nature.

The research builds on work Yamamoto and Lippert conducted during a 2012 scientific drilling expedition in the North Atlantic. The project focused on reconstructing climate conditions during the Eocene Epoch, which lasted from 56 to 34 million years ago. The two-month mission was carried out as part of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program’s Expedition 342. Researchers drilled beneath the seafloor off the coast of Newfoundland, recovering sediment cores from depths of up to 300 meters. These layered deposits preserve a detailed history of Earth’s past, formed slowly over millions of years.

Reading Earth’s Ancient Magnetism

As paleomagnetists, Yamamoto and Lipperts’ job was to “measure the direction and the intensity of the magnetization that’s preserved in those cores,” Lippert said. “We don’t know what triggers a reversal. Individual reversals don’t last the same amount of time, so that creates this unique barcode. We can use the magnetic directions preserved in the sediments and correlate them to the geologic timescale.”

These sediments carry a reliable magnetic signal locked in by tiny crystals of magnetite produced by ancient microorganisms and from dust and erosion from the continents. Like a compass, the direction they point reveals Earth’s polarity at the time the sediments were deposited.

One 8-meter-thick layer took the scientists by surprise, appearing to record prolonged geomagnetic reversals in incredible detail.

“Yuhji noticed, while looking at some of the data when he was on shift, this one part of the Eocene had really stable polarity in one direction and really stable polarity in another direction,” Lippert said. “But the interval between them—of unstable polarity when it went to the other direction—was spread out over many, many centimeters.”

Capturing a Slow-Motion Flip

They realized this was no ordinary flip and collected extra samples at extremely fine spacing, just a few centimeters apart, to capture the sediments’ story in high resolution.

To achieve this resolution and to test if the strange magnetic behavior was due to changes in the magnetic field or the sediments. In subsequent analysis of these cores over several years, Lippert and his colleagues confirmed this was recording changes in the magnetic field and constructed high-precision timelines for two reversals, one lasting 18,000 years and another for 70,000 years.

While the finding was a surprise, it may not have been unexpected, according to the study. Computer models of Earth’s geodynamo—in the swirling outer core that generates the electrical currents supporting the magnetic field—had indicated reversals’ durations vary, with many short ones, but also occasional long, drawn-out transitions, some lasting up to 130,000 years.

In other words, Earth’s geomagnetism may have always had this unpredictable streak, but scientists hadn’t caught it in the rocks until now.

The Life of  Earth

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/ 

Meditation Can Reshape Your Brain Activity, Study Reveals

07 Feb. 2026, By I. Farkas
https://www.sciencealert.com/meditation-can-reshape-your-brain-activity-study-reveals

(Naeblys/Getty Images)

Meditation may calm the mind, but a recent study suggests it can also reshape brain activity by profoundly altering brain dynamics and increasing neural connections – somewhat similar to psychedelic substances.

As a result, meditation may help practitioners achieve a hypothesized state known as "brain criticality", in which neural connections are neither too weak nor too strong, but at an optimal level for mental agility and function.

In the study, led by neurophysiologist Annalisa Pascarella of the Italian National Research Council, researchers used high-resolution brain scans and machine learning to examine how meditation can alter brain activity to achieve an equilibrium between neural chaos and order.

First, the researchers used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure brain activity associated with two types of meditation and non-meditative rest in a group of 12 monks. MEG measures the magnetic fields produced by electrical signals in the brain.

The monks were professional meditators, averaging more than 15,000 hours of meditation each, from the Santacittarama monastery near Rome. All male and aged 25-58 years, the monks belong to the Thai Forest tradition, a branch of Theravada Buddhism known as the Way of the Elders because it's grounded in the oldest Buddhist scriptures.

The study looked at two meditation techniques: Samatha, which centers the attention on a specific object, like mindful breathing, to achieve equanimity of mind, and Vipassana, which focuses the mind on the present moment so that sensations, emotions, and thoughts can flow freely without selective judgment.

"With Samatha, you narrow your field of attention, somewhat like narrowing the beam of a flashlight; with Vipassana, on the contrary, you widen the beam," explains University of Montreal neuroscientist Karim Jerbi, senior author of the study.

These two practices actively engage attentional mechanisms, Jerbi adds, and meditation practitioners often alternate between the two.

Brain activity comparisons across different meditative methods and during rest, showing the spectral power (red to yellow) of different frequency bands, and features associated with neural complexity and criticality (in blue, violet, green). 

(Pascarella et al., Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2025)

Analyzing the monks' brain signals, the team found that while Samatha produced a more focused, stable brain state conducive to deep concentration, Vipassana got the monks closer to achieving brain criticality – a term borrowed from statistical physics and used over the past two decades to describe an optimal balance between chaos and order in neural functioning.

In this 'sweet spot' of efficiency, the brain becomes ideally attentive and flexible to effectively store and process information and swiftly adapt to changing tasks.

"At the critical point, neural networks are stable enough to transmit information reliably, yet flexible enough to adjust quickly to new situations," says Jerbi.

"This balance optimizes the brain's processing, learning and response capabilities."

Other differences also manifested. For example, Samatha may be more effective at activating sensory networks, enabling practitioners to better focus on a particular sensation, such as their breathing.

Oddly enough, researchers noted a decrease in a type of brain activity called gamma oscillations, suggesting that meditation may reduce the processing of external stimuli and increase inward focus. In contrast, previous studies reported an increase in this type of brain activity, but this study used advanced signal processing tools to zero in on the desired brain signals.

The new findings suggest meditation may promote a shift away from engagement toward awareness. Among the 12 monks, more experienced meditators displayed a smaller difference between meditative and rest modes, suggesting their meditative brain states have become similar to their resting brain dynamics.

However, other research involving regular meditators reveals that the practice can have a dark side. Some meditators report experiencing anxiety, depression, or even delusions and a general sense of fear. These possible detriments are underreported and may be more common than previously thought.

While the new study used techniques that might offer more precise insights into how meditation influences the brain, those changes are still poorly understood, and meditation, it seems, is not a straightforward path toward enlightenment.

Future studies may provide more clarity, much as the stately lotus blooms from muddy waters.

 

 

 

 

The birth of modern Man 

https://chuckincardinal.blogspot.com/