A worker digging up clay in an English limestone quarry discovered a dinosaur highway made up of 200 tracks dating back 166 million years. The Oxfordshire footprints include a mix of footprints from both herbivores and at least one carnivore. Most dinosaur toes pointed northward.So just who were these creatures, where were they heading and why were they going there?Following the FootprintsAt least four sets of tracks were likely made by the long-necked herbivores Cetiosaurus, a dinosaur that grew to nearly 60 feet long. Another set looks like the distinctive three-toed feet of the Megalosaurus, a 30-foot-long predator. One stretch shows the carnivore and herbivore tracks crossing, raising questions about whether and how the two were interacting.Richard J. Butler, paleontologist at the University of Birmingham, who worked at the site, applied some deductive reasoning to pinpoint the dinos intentions. Most of the tracks seem to be heading in the same direction (broadly towards the north), probably following the coastline, Butler says. The herbivores must have been heading towards somewhere with food because there was no vegetation on the mudflats in which the tracks are preferred. One possibility is that the carnivore might have been following/shadowing herds of herbivores.Sauropod Sweet SpotThe Southeast England location appears to have been a sweet spot for sauropods. The first Megalosaurus bones were found within 15 miles in 1824 essentially launching dinosaur science. Then in 1997, researchers found similar footprints within a half mile, but in a different quarry of the same rock type. The two are likely connected.They are in the same limestone surface so actually the 1990s discoveries and the new ones form parts of a huge track site, says Butler. Together, the sites document hungry sauropods that were likely constantly on the march for food.Its clear that a lot of large sauropods were traveling through this particular area, perhaps in herds, says Butler. Where were they traveling to? Thats unclear but it must have been somewhere with plants because these giant herbivores needed to consume a lot of vegetation daily.Documenting the PastUntil the discovery this summer, that earlier location was considered the most scientifically important set of dinosaur prints. However, those have been buried and are now largely inaccessible.Its unlikely a similar fate will befall the new ones. And they have already become well documented. Scientists snapped over 20,000 digital pictures and deployed drones to create 3-D models of the prints. Paleontologists will draw on this data to help understand each dinosaur's size, stride, and speed. The quality of the tracks should make such calculations easier and help reconstruct the world in which these dinosaurs roamed.The preservation is so detailed that we can see how the mud was deformed as the dinosaurs feet squelched in and out, Duncan Murdock, an Earth scientist at the Oxford museum and one of the scientists studying the scene, said in a press release. Along with other fossils like burrows, shells and plants we can bring to life the muddy lagoon environment the dinosaurs walked through.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:University of Birmingham. Major new footprint discoveries on Britains dinosaur highwayBefore joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

In a brilliant development, scientists have discerned the origins of a fast radio burst borne from the magnetic surroundings of a dead neutron star. Its sighting can be traced to a curved glint of light originating from a faraway galaxy. New research from a study in Nature on this luminous phenomenon has issued an updated perspective on fast radio bursts short-lived explosions of radio waves that release an abundance of energy.Fast Radio Burst 20221022AA fast radio burst (FRB), thought to stem from compact astronomical objects like neutron stars (a supergiant star left behind from a supernova) and potentially black holes, produces a scintillation that has continuously caught the eyes of astrophysicists. The gleam of light, although only lasting for a thousandth of a second, is powerful enough to outshine an entire galaxy.Researchers have been keen on solving the mysteries behind the creation of FRBs since their initial discovery in 2007, and they have recently cornered one in particular that yielded exciting results. A team of astronomers at MIT released the study that points to FRB 20221022A, a previously discovered FRB from a galaxy about 200 million light-years away.This FRB is so special because its distinctive foundation presents a new look at how these outbursts of energy form.The Debate Over FRB LocationFor years, questions have loomed over the specific forces behind FRBs and where they materialize. Scientists have wanted to know if FRBs are primarily formed close to a source or far away from a source. The new study seems to move the needle in a certain direction.The research team that analyzed FRB 20221022A has claimed it originated close in proximity to its source, having arisen around 10,000 kilometers away from a rotating neutron star. The birthplace of the FRB, they assert, was likely in the neutron stars magnetosphere a magnetized region surrounding an astronomical object. Previously, skepticism surrounded the possibility of a radio burst escaping the intense environment of a magnetar, a neutron star with a powerful magnetic field. The case of FRB 20221022A deviates from one previous model suggesting that FRBs instead occur as part of shockwaves that are pushed out further from a compact astronomical object.To collect more evidence on the unresolved origins of FRBs and confirm whether they form close to objects like neutron stars or far away from them the researchers turned to the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), a radio telescope in British Columbia containing four half-pipe shaped reflectors. By receiving radio waves from hydrogen in space, CHIME has picked up thousands of FRBs across the universe.The Meaning of Scintillation The whereabouts of FRBs have been considered through their scintillation an effect wherein light filters through some medium like gas within a galaxy. When starlight passes through gas, for example, it bends in ways that make it appear as if a star is twinkling in the night sky.The researchers applied measurements of scintillation to determine the relative size of the region from where the FRB appeared. They claim that a smaller region would correlate with the burst occurring closer to the source (and likely within a neutron stars magnetosphere), and a larger region would correlate with the burst occurring far away from the source.This is when FRB 20221022A, first detected in 2022 by CHIME, came into the picture. Although its brightness was standard, another research team from McGill University noticed that it possessed one significant trait: the light from the burst was highly polarized, and the angle of polarization generated an S-shaped curve. This means that the FRB emission site is rotating, which usually happens in pulsars (rapidly rotating, magnetized neutron stars).Getting a Close-up of an FRBThe unique pattern of polarization suggests that the signal from the FRB may have originated close to a neutron star.Using this knowledge as a springboard, the MIT researchers worked to prove the close proximity of the FRB to its source. Analyzing data from CHIME, they found that gas from the FRBs host galaxy was filtering the radio waves and causing them to bend. The gas, prompting some of the scintillation, allowed the researchers to zoom in on the FRB site and confirm that the burst came from a very small region, estimated to be about 10,000 kilometers wide.The results from the new study, along with the additional findings from the McGill team, show for the first time that FRBs can emerge close to a neutron stars turbulent magnetosphere. Given that CHIME collects evidence of multiple FRBs daily, there are plenty more opportunities to uncover the origins of different bursts in the universe. Going forward, evaluating scintillation will become a vital method as researchers continue to seek answers on the creation of FRBs.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:NASA. Neutron Stars Are Weird!Jack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.

Rangers at Yellowstone National Park are often asked to predict when the next massive volcanic eruption will occur there.A team of USGS scientists, who surveyed the parks underground magma reservoirs, recently confirmed the standard response, probably not any time soon. But they have pointed out that the area where such activity is likely to occur has shifted, according to a report in the journal Nature.Reservoirs of Molton RockIts not like theres been a pattern of frequent, massive eruptions there; the area has seen only three major events over the past two million years. Those events are labeled caldera forming, because the molten rock vacating the underground reservoirs leaves an empty space, which leads to the land above collapsing, ultimately forming a bowl-shaped basin.Beneath those basins, called calderas, sit reservoirs of magma. The recent survey shows that the magma within them has not stood still. It now appears to be shifting to the northeast of the Yellowstone Caldera. For the past 160,000 or so years, the magma reservoirs have mainly existed beneath the caldera.However, a number of geologic factors suggest that, despite the movement, the reservoirs are not eruptible, according to the paper. That doesnt necessarily mean that the region will be completely devoid of volcanic activity just that it wouldnt be as cataclysmically explosive as the previous Big Three.Mapping the MagmaYellowstone is a destination largely because of volcanic activity. The hot liquid rock beneath the crust fuels the geysers, hot springs, and boiling mud pots that attract swarms of tourists to that corner of Wyoming. So how did the geologists come to their conclusion? First, not all magma is created equally. It is formed from different kinds of melted rock. Some contain more silica, some hold more basalt. Some is rich in minerals like iron or magnesium, some less so.These differences are important for two reasons. First, these different mineral mixes give off a variety of magnetic and electrical fields which geologists can measure. Thats exactly what the USGS scientists did essentially mapping the magma reservoirs throughout the Yellowstone Caldera area.The differences also give hints about how fast the magma flows, based on its mineral composition. For example, the magma nearest the surface of the Yellowstone Caldera contains a lot of silica, which lends the molten rocks a sticky, viscous, and slow-moving quality.Seven ReservoirsThe geologists magma-mapping efforts revealed seven distinct regions. Some reservoirs feed into each other kind of like the Great Lakes. They lie between 2.5 miles to 30 miles underground. They were perhaps most surprised by the northeast pocket both due to its location and composition. Earlier estimates had not placed this area as a potential producer of volcanic activity. The magma also is layered like a parfait, with two flavors. The lower level is rich in basalt, while the upper level contains a lot of silica. The lower level essentially helps keep the upper level warm.The upper-level chambers of silica-rich molten rock measure between 240 cubic miles to 300 cubic miles. Thats a lot of magma. Indeed, it is comparable to the amounts that were likely emitted during each of the previous three large eruptions.What are the Odds for Eruption?However, that magma is not likely to go anywhere anytime soon, wrote Mark Stelton, a USGS scientist stationed at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, in an online column called Caldera Chronicles.Stelton wrote that the short-term chance of an eruption is akin to the probability of getting bonked in the head by a baseball while standing outside a major league stadium. Predicting the frequency of a major Yellowstone eruption requires factoring how often such events happen within a given time period.Based on our current knowledge of Yellowstones eruptive history, the annual probability of a volcanic eruption is on the order of 0.001 percent, but even this low number is probably an overestimate for the short term, Stelton wrote in the column. There are no signs of an impending volcanic eruption based on monitoring data, and we know that the magmatic system beneath Yellowstone is mostly solid.Article Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

(Credit: Artsiom P/Shutterstock) NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsThe sun had a big year in 2024. First, April brought a total solar eclipse that provided a wide swath of the continental U.S. with nearly four minutes of hushed totality. It also gave sun-gazers a chance to observe the outer layers of the suns atmosphere, which are normally obscured.Then, on May 1011, the aurora borealis seemed to appear everywhere, all at once. Reports came from North Texas, Arizona, even Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee nearly the entire U.S. that the night sky had turned green, purple, and pink. In places where the light was almost too faint for the naked eye, it revealed itself in camera photos. Another strong auroral show dazzled on Oct. 1011. The northern lights rarely extend so far south; Mays unusual light show resulted from the largest geomagnetic storm since 2003 to reach Earths atmosphere. A geomagnetic storm begins when the sun releases a blob of high-energy ions and electrons, called a coronal mass ejection (CME), in Earths direction. Earths protective geomagnetic field deflects most of such blasts. During strong events like the one in May, though, those energetic particles interact with the magnetic field and gases in the atmosphere, producing the auroras. The sun also released bright flashes of light, called solar flares. (These can accompany CMEs but are separate phenomena. Solar flares travel at the speed of light, reaching Earth in eight minutes. CMEs take a few days.)In 1859, the most powerful geomagnetic storm in recent history, called the Carrington Event, blasted Earth. Witnesses reported that the storm disrupted telegraph lines, ignited telegraph paper, and even shocked operators. Today, such an event could do far greater damage than small fires and a few zaps. Geomagnetic storms can threaten communication satellites, navigation systems, the electric grid, and more. On Halloween 2003, for instance, a powerful storm destroyed a satellite and disrupted GPS systems used for airlines, deep-sea drilling, and other applications. The storm that struck in May, although not as strong as the Carrington Event, was rated a G5 the most severe rating by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). While people admired the auroras, space weather scientists breathed a sigh of relief. Even though there were a lot of effects, were unaware of a lot of really bad impacts, says Shawn Dahl, a space weather forecaster at NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. This was the most successfully mitigated extreme space weather storm in history. Were better prepared than we were in the past, says Dahl. Scientists use satellites to track changes in the suns temperatures and magnetometers around the world to look for magnetic field fluctuations. We can forecast a lot of these events up to three days in advance, he says. In May, NOAA issued a warning six hours in advance, giving grid operators time to prepare and airline companies time to redirect flights to safer routes. In the future, he hopes to see a wider warning system to alert farmers using GPS for seeding and spraying, for example. Theres plenty to look forward to, too. In March 2025, NOAA plans to launch a satellite for solar weather prediction. And NASA announced in October that the sun had reached solar maximum for its 11-year cycle. The level of activity could continue for another year, which could mean more CMEs, more flares, and more aurora borealis, shining down in Dallas. Stay tuned.space exploration1 free article leftWant More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/monthSubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In1 free articleSubscribeWant more?Keep reading for as low as $1.99!SubscribeAlready a subscriber?Register or Log In

Bats are often synonymous with a dark and stormy night mostly for their association with vampires, the fact that theyre nocturnal, and thanks to media like Scooby-Doo. While bats may add an extra layer of eerie to nighttime, their presence in bad weather may actually be due to a migratory advancement.A new study in the journal Science explains how certain bats may use warm storm fronts to aid in cross-continental migration.Bats and Storm SurfingBat migration is notoriously difficult to study because of their nocturnal nature and high-frequency vocalizations. Unable to see or hear bats as they migrated, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) devised a plan.After attaching tiny and lightweight sensors to 71 common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula), the research team could track the bats as they made their spring migration across Europe.The data pulled from the sensors revealed something incredible. It appeared as though the bats surfed the warm storm fronts as a way to migrate further and use less energy.The sensor data are amazing! said lead study author Edward Hurme, a postdoctoral researcher at MPI-AB and the Cluster of Excellence Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz, in a press release.We dont just see the path that bats took, we also see what they experienced in the environment as they migrated. Its this context that gives us insight into the crucial decisions that bats made during their costly and dangerous journeys, said Hurme in the release.Novel Tracking TechnologyEngineers with the MPI-AB developed the novel tracking technology so that it was on 5 percent of the bats body weight and contained multiple sensors for tracking the bats movements and the air temperature around it. The new technology, dubbed ICARUS-TinyFoxBatt tag, also allows researchers to track the bats remotely compared to previous technology, where the research team would need to be close enough to the tagged animal to collect data.The new tags now collect the data daily and compress it into a 12-byte file before transmitting it back to the research team via a novel long-range network. The tags would transmit 1440 daily sensor measurements.The tags communicate with us from wherever the bats are because they have coverage across Europe much like a cell phone network, said senior author Timm Wild, who led the development of the ICARUS-TinyFoxBatt tag in his Animal-borne Sensor Networks group at MPI-AB, in a press release.Surprising Migration PatternsResearchers from MPI-AB decided to track the noctule bats because they are one of four bat species that migrate across Europe, especially the female who are more likely to spend winters in southern Europe before returning north in the spring.The research team attached the trackers to the female bats each spring for 3 years and tracked them for about four weeks during their migration. The results were surprising. It turns out the bats werent following a set path, like most migratory birds do.There is no migration corridor, said senior author Dina Dechmann from MPI-AB in a press release. We had assumed that bats were following a unified path, but we now see they are moving all over the landscape in a general northeast direction.Bats migrate in a sporadic path because they need to stop and feed much more frequently than migratory birds.The other striking observation that researchers noted was the sudden burst of departures.On certain nights, we saw an explosion of departures that looked like bat fireworks, said Hurme. We needed to figure out what all these bats were responding to on those particular nights.The sensors indicated a drop in pressure and a temperature rise these nights, meaning a storm was incoming.They were riding storm fronts, using the support of warm tailwinds, said Hurme.Read More: The Bumblebee Bat: The Smallest Mammal in the WorldStudying Bat MigrationResearchers noted from the collected data that during these storm fronts, the bats were using less energy as they traveled.Though there is still much more to learn about bat migration, this new technology is a great start. Understanding how bats migrate could help prevent unnecessary human-caused deaths, like collisions with wind turbines.Before this study, we didnt know what triggered bats to start migrating, said Hurme in a press release. More studies like this will pave the way for a system to forecast bat migration. We can be stewards of bats, helping wind farms to turn off their turbines on nights when bats are streaming through. This is just a small glimpse of what we will find if we all keep working to open that black box.Article Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:A graduate of UW-Whitewater, Monica Cull wrote for several organizations, including one that focused on bees and the natural world, before coming to Discover Magazine. Her current work also appears on her travel blog and Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching PBS shows as a kid with her mom and spending too much time binging Doctor Who.

#MuseumSelfie Day has received international engagement and coverage, from news outlets including the Guardian, CNN, and more. (Credit: Mar Dixon)NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news#MuseumSelfie Day is the perfect blend of art, culture, historyand selfies! Mark your calendars now for January 15, 2025.Mar Dixon, a leader in social media and the cultural sector, created #MuseumSelfie Day in 2014 as part of her quest to make museums fun for everyone thus changing the image of museums from stodgy and boring institutions, to places that anyone can enjoy. This simple concept taking a fun selfie in a museum has become a global movement, with people, museums, news outlets, and organizations from around the world getting in on the action. #MuseumSelfie Day has received international engagement and coverage, from news outlets including the Guardian, CNN, and more. (Credit: Mar Dixon)Visitors and staff at museums still participate each year by sharing their #MuseumSelfie photos on platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram. From ancient artifacts to modern masterpieces, every museum offers a unique opportunity for a selfie moment.Who knows who will get involved in this years #MuseumSelfie Daythough itll be hard to top the Cookie Monsters playful participation! (Credit: Cookie Monster)Mar Dixon, who passed away in 2024, leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of making museums more accessible and interactive through campaigns like this. Her vision transformed how cultural institutions engage with the public, and her influence continues to be felt worldwide.How to participate in #MuseumSelfieDayGet ready for January 15, 2025 (always the third Wednesday in January)! Heres how to join the fun:Visit a Museum: Head to any museum, gallery, or cultural institution.Find a Feature You Love: Choose an exhibit or piece that inspires you.Take a Selfie: Snap a picture with the exhibit or feature in the background.Post Your Photo: Share it on X, Bluesky, Instagram, or Facebook using #MuseumSelfieDay or #MuseumSelfie. Dont forget to tag the museum and add a caption describing the exhibit or your experience!Get Creative: Use filters, props, or poses to make your post stand out. Have fun with it!Whether youre an art enthusiast, a history buff, or just looking for a fun day out, #MuseumSelfie Day is a fantastic way to explore culture while sharing your journey with the world.Join the movement this January and help keep Mar Dixons vision alive by celebrating museums as vibrant, welcoming spaces for everyone.Mar Dixon and her friends visited the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in the United Kingdom on #MuseumSelfieDay in 2018. (Credit: Mar Dixon)Get creative! Its meant to be fun!culture

When most people think of Neanderthals, they picture a classic caveman caricature brutish and backward, a relic of the distant past. But this image doesnt tell the whole story.These Ice Age inhabitants of Europe and parts of Asia were skilled hunters, toolmakers, and caregivers. And their legacy persists not just in the archaeological record, but in our very genes. Some modern-day people have 2 percent Neanderthal DNA, according to Prof. Chris Stringer, a leading human evolution researcher at the British Natural History Museum.Over the past century and a half, fossil discoveries have helped rewrite the story of Neanderthals, revealing them not just as survivors but a species with social bonds, adaptability, and ingenuity. These are some of the most famous finds that have transformed our understanding of these ancient relatives.1. The First Neanderthal FossilsIn 1856, workers in Germanys Neander Valley unearthed a skullcap and scattered bones that defied expectations. The remains were clearly human-like, yet strikingly different from anything researchers had seen before.This discovery, later named for the valley, became a turning point in our understanding of human origins. It challenged long-held beliefs about humanitys uniqueness and sparked debates about evolution that would shape the emerging field of paleoanthropology.(Credit: Marla_Sela/Shutterstock)2. Evidence of Care in Shanidar CaveHigh in Iraqs Zagros Mountains, Shanidar Cave revealed a tender side of Neanderthal life. The burial of Shanidar 4, a male skeleton found surrounded by wildflower pollen, sparked theories about symbolic rituals. While debated, the find hints that Neanderthals may have buried their dead with intention.Another skeleton from the cave shows healed injuries, suggesting long-term care for the injured. These discoveries challenged stereotypes, and revealed a species capable of deep social bonds.3. Aging in La Chapelle-aux-SaintsWhen archaeologists in France uncovered a nearly complete skeleton of an elderly Neanderthal male in 1908, they were confronted with new questions about the species. The individual, crippled by arthritis and tooth loss, had survived well beyond the years he could fend for himself.This discovery forced scientists to rethink their assumptions: Neanderthals didnt abandon their sick or elderly. Instead, they likely lived in supportive communities that cared for vulnerable members, reshaping the image of Neanderthals as cold, solitary figures.(Credit: Puwadol Jaturawutthichai/Shutterstock)4. Family Life at La FerrassieExcavations at La Ferrassie in France uncovered an array of Neanderthal skeletons, including children and an infant buried in what appeared to be a shallow grave. These remains offer a rare glimpse into Neanderthal social structure and burial practices.This site is among the most complete records of Neanderthal skeletons, providing insights into their social structure, life stages, and possible burial practices. It offers a poignant reminder that these ancient humans may have honored their dead in ways not so different from our own.The reconstruction of Altamura Man by Dutch artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis. (Credit: Roberto Montanari/Shutterstock)5. Altamura Mans Frozen LegacyDeep in an Italian cave, researchers discovered Altamura Man, a Neanderthal fossil encased in limestone for over 130,000 years. This remarkable find is one of the most intact Neanderthal skeletons ever unearthed.While the limestone that preserved him made analysis difficult, scientists successfully extracted DNA, unlocking novel insights into Neanderthal evolution and genetic diversity. 6. The Tragedy of El SidrnIn Spains El Sidrn Cave, archaeologists uncovered the remains of 12 Neanderthals, likely a closely related family group. Evidence of cannibalism, including cut marks and fractured bones, suggested they died in a catastrophic event and were later scavenged.Genetic analysis revealed parent-child relationships and close familial ties, shedding light on how Neanderthals organized their social groups and supported one another, even in dire circumstances.7. Gibraltars Last HoldoutsThe caves of Gibraltar house some of the last-known Neanderthal populations. Fossils and artifacts show that these Neanderthals adapted to isolation, surviving thousands of years longer than their counterparts in the rest of Europe.Their story underscores their resilience and offers clues about the environmental pressures that shaped their final days.(Credit: Nzch/Shutterstock)8. Vindija Cave and the DNA Revolution Vindija Cave in Croatia yielded fossils that revolutionized the study of ancient genetics. By extracting and sequencing Neanderthal DNA, scientists unlocked unprecedented insights into their biology and behavior. The analysis confirmed that Neanderthals interbred with early modern humans, which marked a turning point in understanding ancient human interactions.This breakthrough not only showcased the potential of genetic research but also shed light on traits and adaptations shared between Neanderthals and their modern relatives. 9. Expanded Horizons in Teshik-TashThe discovery of a young Neanderthal in Teshik-Tash Cave, Uzbekistan, challenged long-held views about the range of Neanderthal habitation. This find, located far from their better-known European strongholds, revealed that Neanderthals had adapted to and thrived in Central Asias diverse environments.The burial itself offers intriguing clues about Neanderthal behavior. The remains were surrounded by goat horns, which some researchers interpret as evidence of symbolic or ritualistic practices. This discovery not only broadens our understanding of where Neanderthals lived but also deepens the mystery of their cultural and behavioral complexity.The entrance to Denisova cave in Siberias Altai Mountains. (Credit: Igor Boshin/Shutterstock)10. Denisova Caves Hybrid DiscoveryA fragment of bone found in Siberias Denisova Cave revealed that a child born 90,000 years ago had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. Denisovans, an extinct group of archaic humans closely related to Neanderthals, are known from only a few fossil remains, primarily from this cave.This hybrid discovery underscores the complex interactions between ancient human species, showing that Neanderthals were not isolated but part of a dynamic web of migration and interbreeding. Neandertals and Denisovans may not have had many opportunities to meet, said Svante Pbo of the Max Planck Institute in a press release, but when they did, they must have mated frequently much more so than we previously thought.The discovery serves as one of many reminders of the interconnection between ancient human species. Neanderthals were not just a relic of the past; their lives, migrations, and relationships shaped the evolutionary paths that led to us. Each new fossil continues to reveal not only who they were but also how we came to be.Article Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Natural History Museum. Who were the Neanderthals?Journal of Quaternary Science. Worldwide research trends on NeanderthalsCambridge University Press. New Neanderthal remains associated with the flower burial at Shanidar CaveSmithsonian Natural History Museum. La Chapelle-aux-SaintsJournal of Human Evolution. La Ferrassie 1: New perspectives on a classic NeandertalJournal of Human Evolution. The Neanderthal in the karst: First dating, morphometric, and paleogenetic data on the fossil skeleton from Altamura (Italy)National Library of Medicine. Late survival of Neanderthals at the southernmost extreme of EuropeScience. A Draft Sequence of the Neanderthal GenomeMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Neandertal mother, Denisovan father!

In 1815, Mount Tambora experienced the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The eruption's effects altered Earths climate for years and even led to the year without summer in 1816. Volcanic eruptions occur frequently but rarely at this magnitude.Its likely that within the next thousand years, Tambora will violently erupt again, but is the eruption imminent?Significance of the 1815 Mount Tambora EruptionMount Tambora is a stratovolcano on the Sumbawa island in Indonesia. The volcano resides along the Sunda Arc a chain of volcanic islands. Though it has experienced several eruptions throughout history, Mount Tambora is famous for its eruption in 1815.Before the Mount Tambora eruption in 1815, the locals began noticing volcanic activity five days leading up to the eruption. During those five days, lava flows came down the volcano along with small seismic tremors.On the evening of April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora exploded with such force that the volcano nearly blew apart. At the time, it stood about 14,000 feet tall. But in the aftermath, a nearly four-mile caldera remained. Its currently 9,354 feet tall.From the caldera spewed 24 cubic miles of ash, rock, and gases into the air, including 60 megatons of sulfur. Large chunks of pumice stone apparently rained down around the volcano, and the dark column of smoke could be seen from over 300 miles away.Why the Mount Tambora Eruption Was So DeadlyThe eruption triggered tsunamis and pyroclastic flows fast-moving lava that flows down the volcano and initially killed around 10,000 people. However, it was the aftermath of the eruption that altered the climate, blocked out the sun, and prevented crops from growing. This likely led to the deaths of an additional 80,000 people in the surrounding areas, as it caused mass famine and disease.In other parts of the world, the effects of the volcanic fallout changed weather patterns, causing freezing temperatures and snow in parts of Europe and North America during their peak growing seasons, leading to crop failure and starvation. This would come to be known as the year without summer in 1816. Overall, the eruption lowered the planets temperature by about 5 degrees Fahrenheit.The eruption registered at a seven on the volcanic explosivity index (VEI), a scale that measures how long an eruption lasts, how far the volcanic materials spread, and how much volcanic material is ejected. The VEI rates volcanic eruptions on a one to eight scale, with eight as the largest. Because of its size and rating, many researchers agree that the Mount Tambora eruption is the largest in recorded history.When will Mount Tambora Erupt Again?Mount Tambora is still an active volcano and has erupted as recently as 1967, although it was barely registered on the VEI. As far as a VEI-7 level eruption, thats harder to know.According to the USGS, the likelihood of a VEI-7 eruption coming from Mount Tambora anytime soon is relatively small. An eruption of that scale does not happen often, and if it were to happen, it would likely come from a different active volcano instead of Mount Tambora.In the event of another eruption from Mount Tambora, experts from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation have created a plan to help minimize casualties to the best of their ability. And they are not alone. Organizations like the USGS are working to form plans in the case of massive volcanic eruptions. However, more resources and funding are needed.For the time being, it does not appear that Mount Tambora is showing any signs of a massive eruption. But those monitoring volcanoes will be sure to let us know when those signs appear. Read More: 5 of the Most Explosive Volcanic EruptionsArticle Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Britannica. Mount TamboraNational Park Service. Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation. Volcanic Disaster MitigationA graduate of UW-Whitewater, Monica Cull wrote for several organizations, including one that focused on bees and the natural world, before coming to Discover Magazine. Her current work also appears on her travel blog and Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching PBS shows as a kid with her mom and spending too much time binging Doctor Who.

Your pupils say a lot about you about your mental state, your attention span, your arousal, and your intelligence. Somewhat surprisingly, they also say a lot about your memories. According to recent research in Nature, the size of your pupils when youre asleep reveals what youre thinking about as you sleep and when, indicating whether youre ruminating about new memories or about old ones.Its like new learning, old knowledge, new learning, old knowledge, and that is fluctuating slowly throughout the sleep, said Azahara Oliva, one of the authors of the new research and a neuroscientist at Cornell University, in a press release. We are proposing that the brain has this intermediate timescale that separates the new learning from the old knowledge.Storing (And Saving) MemoriesResearchers have long sought to make sense of the mechanisms of memory consolidation, including the processes that fend off catastrophic forgetting, in which the storage of a new memory wipes out an old memory. Hoping to learn more about these mechanisms, a team of researchers turned to pupil size during non-REM sleep, the stage of sleep most associated with memory consolidation. Though the eyes tend to stay stationary during non-REM sleep, the pupils oscillate between small and large diameters, reflecting the different substages and depths of slumber throughout the non-REM phase.Non-REM sleep is when the actual memory consolidation happens, and these moments are very, very short periods of time undetectable by humans, like 100 milliseconds, Oliva said in the release. How does the brain distribute these screenings of memory that are very fast and very short throughout the overall night? And how does that separate the new knowledge coming in, in a way that it doesnt interfere with old knowledge that we already have in our minds?Tracking the brain activity and pupil size of sleeping mice, as well as the mices ability to complete certain tasks when awake, the researchers found that new memories are repeated and consolidated when the pupil is smaller during non-REM sleep, and that old memories are repeated when the pupil is larger. Obtained with small brain sensors and cameras, the results reveal how new memories are remembered without replacing old ones, and when, and may have important implications for future memory research.Read More: What Happens in Your Brain When You Make Memories?Mouse MemoryTo arrive at their findings, the team taught mice a myriad of tasks over the span of a month, including how to find water and food in a maze, then tracked their brain activity and pupil size as they slept. In time, the team taught the mice another task, too, then tracked their brain activity and pupil size as they slept again. The team disrupted the mices sleep when their pupils were a smaller or larger diameter, and then tested the mices ability to complete their new and old tasks. This allowed the researchers to determine which pupil sizes were associated with the repetition of new and old memories.They found that the mice were reactivating their new memories during the substage of non-REM sleep in which their pupil diameters were smaller and reactivating their old memories during the substage of non-REM sleep in which their pupil diameters were larger.While additional work is still needed to parse through this process completely, this research offers important insights into the storage of new and old memories and provides new possibilities for memory research. It may inform future memory techniques and treatments for humans. Read More: How Naps Improve Memory PerformanceArticle Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Nature. Sleep Micro-Structure Organizes Memory ReplaySam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Back in the first millennium A.D., waves of human migration across Europe created an elaborate genetic puzzle that researchers have now started to unravel with a leap in DNA analysis. An enhanced look at the movement of populations during the time of the Roman Empire and the Vikings has illustrated the genetic impact of this consequential era of history.New research led by the Francis Crick Institute and published in Nature centers around a data analysis method known as Twigstats, which focuses on assessing genetic family trees. This allowed for a plethora of unprecedented discoveries on historic Iron Age migrations in Europe from the years 1 to 1000. Using Twigstats, the researchers dissected the differences between genetically similar groups in a more precise way than ever before.Southward Migration of Germanic PeoplesThe researchers examined over 1500 European genomes from people who lived during the first millennium, an eventful period in European history. These years marked the dramatic rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the dawn of the Vikings, and the migration of several Germanic groups throughout the continent.The origins of Germanic peoples is somewhat nebulous the word Germanic is an umbrella term used to describe a multitude of tribes that spoke related Germanic languages. Theyre thought to have originated somewhere around the modern day regions of Northern Germany, Denmark, and Southern Sweden.The new research, however, illuminated the departure of groups that migrated from Northern Germany or Scandinavia to Central and Southern Europe. Alliances of Germanic tribes famously fought back against the Roman Empire as it attempted to expand its borders around the beginning of the millennium. The earliest information on Germanic peoples and their culture was recorded in Roman accounts a notable example could be Germania, a book written around 98 A.D. by Roman historian Tacitus.Researchers bolstered this historical knowledge with genetic evidence, finding ancestry from the Germanic groups that spread south in people who lived in southern Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and southern Britain. In one case, they found that a person in southern Europe that carried 100 percent Scandinavian-like ancestry.The genetic study showed that the migrating Germanic peoples mixed with pre-existing populations. Their migration routes appeared to match with the three major branches of Germanic languages that would eventually develop: West Germanic (English, German, and Dutch), North Germanic (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese), and East Germanic (a now extinct language family).Migration Back to ScandinaviaThe researchers uncovered one person possibly a Roman soldier or slave gladiator living in Britain around 100 A.D. to 300 A.D. who had 25 percent Scandinavian ancestry. This insinuates that people of Scandinavian ancestry were in Britain before the Anglo-Saxon period (around 400 A.D. to 1,000 A.D.) and Viking period (around 800 A.D. to 1,000 A.D.).Genetic analysis explored another wave of migration toward the end of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, which ended about 800 A.D., coinciding with the rise of Vikings. This time, though, it was people from Central Europe moving back up north into Scandinavia.Evidence suggests this was not just a one-time migration event, but a continuous shift in ancestry. Researchers landed on this idea thanks to biomolecular analysis of teeth from people buried in the island of land, Sweden, who carried ancestry from Central Europe, but grew up locally.More evidence is needed to determine the reasons for migrations around Scandinavia at this time, but researchers say repeated conflicts and unrest may have played a large role in spurring the movement of people.The Vast Range of Viking AncestryVikings are known for their marauding campaigns across parts of Europe, made possible by their shipbuilding capabilities that allowed raid parties to reach the British Isles and other areas by sea.The extent of their raids had a resounding genetic impact throughout much of Europe, as researchers found that many people outside of Scandinavia during the Viking Age had a mix of local and Scandinavian ancestry.This could be seen near the eastern limits of Europe, where researchers identified ancestry from Sweden in Viking Age individuals who lived in what is now Ukraine and Russia.On the opposite side of Europe, they similarly identified ancestry from Denmark in individuals living in Britain during the height of the Viking era. In Britain, remains of deceased men buried in Viking Age mass graves also showed Scandinavian ancestry, demonstrating the spread of Viking genetics in the region.The genetic discoveries from Twigstats have undeniably helped round out the story of Iron Age migrations from Germanic peoples to Vikings, but they will also pave the way for future studies on historic ancestry, as more ancient genome sequences need to be studied according to researchers.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Britannica. Germanic peoplesBritannica. Germanic languagesJORVIK Viking Centre. Where did the Vikings come from?Jack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.

Dinosaur fossils have been dug up across the world, but one of the newest discoveries involves a ferocious creature with a familiar name that left its teeth behind in coastal England. Researchers recently unearthed fossil evidence denoting the presence of Tyrannosaurs in the Bexhill-on-Sea region of East Sussex, along the southern coast of England.A December 2024 study published in Papers in Paleontology details the process leading researchers to determine that a slew of dinosaur predators stomped along the Bexhill-on-Sea region around 135 million years ago.Theropods Along the CoastWith the help of a local retired quarryman who collected numerous specimens from Ashdown Brickworks the site containing the fossilized dinosaur teeth examined in the study researchers determined the presence of Tyrannosaurus, along with spinosaurs and members of the Velociraptor family. These dinosaurs are all classified as theropods, which were mostly carnivorous.Theropods, according to the researchers, are rare in the Cretaceous sediments of southern England, making the Bexhill-at-Sea dinosaurs noteworthy. Normally, paleontologists have their sights set on the Isle of Wight, a small island on the English Channel that has turned out to be a treasure trove of fossils more than 20 types of Early Cretaceous dinosaurs have been found on the island, plus fossils of other prehistoric animals and even tools from prehistoric humans.The Significance of Theropod TeethThe new dinosaur discoveries can be attributed to collections of theropod teeth found in sediment. Studies involving these prehistoric creatures often rely on teeth above all else; a durable enamel coating helps teeth fossilize reliably, although enamel thickness differs among dinosaur species.Dinosaur teeth are tough fossils and are usually preserved more frequently than bone. For that reason, theyre often crucial when we want to reconstruct the diversity of an ecosystem, said Chris Barker, visiting researcher at the University of Southampton and lead author of the study, in a statement. Theropod teeth can vary in terms of their size, shape, and the serrated edges that helped them tear prey apart.Assigning isolated teeth to theropod groups can be challenging, especially as many features evolve independently amongst different lineages. This is why we employed various methods to help refine our findings, leading to more confident classifications, said Lucy Handford, a co-author of the study and a PhD candidate at the University of York, in the statement.Fossil LocationThe tyrannosaur teeth in the Ashdown Brickworks turned out to be fortuitous find, as researchers say the dinosaur group hadnt previously been identified in sediments of this age and region. These fossils originated from the Valanginian period (139.8 million years to 132.9 million years ago) during the Early Cretaceous. The Ashdown Brickworks is part of the Wadhurst Clay Formation, a Valanginian Age portion of the larger Wealden Group of rock strata along southern England.Southern England has an exceptionally good record of Cretaceous dinosaurs, and various sediment layers here are globally unique in terms of geological age and the fossils they contain, said Darren Naish, a co-author of the study, in the statement.Tyrannosaur RelativesAlthough the Tyrannosaurs at Bexhill-on-Sea were formidable predators, likely hunting smaller dinosaurs and other reptiles in the floodplain habitat, they didnt possess the same colossal stature as their relative, Tyrannosaurus rex. Based on analysis of the fossils, they would have been a third of the size of a T. rex.Previous evidence has established that T. rex lived in western North America, with fossils found in U.S., states like Montana and South Dakota and Canadian provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan. Many T. rex relatives also once roamed Asia, in northern China and Mongolia.The specimens found in the Wadhurst Clay Formation older than those from the Isle of Wight represent an important step in paleontology centered around southern England. Researchers say that their discovery has helped tremendously in distinguishing the theropods of this region, which were poorly known before. Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:University of Alberta. What do dinosaurs & dentistry have in common?Jack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.

A fire cloud erupts above Oregon's Falls Fire on July 15, 2024. The Western United States and Canada were plagued by intense, fast-spreading wildfires during 2024 part of a long-term trend linked to climate change. (Credit: InciWeb)NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsIt really has been a drama-filled year for our home planet. With relentless, record-setting global heating, rampaging wildfires, and extreme storms, we've had ample reason to be seriously concerned about the future. But other events, have amazed us with great beauty and displays of creative energy. Among them were awesome volcanic eruptions of lava in Iceland and Hawaii, as well as mind-boggling eruptions of plasma from the Sun that caused dazzling displays of the Northern Lights. During 2024, I've tried to keep pace with these events by using compelling imagery to tell their stories. Now, at year's end, I thought it would be revealing to do a recap featuring some of that imagery in a three-part series. Please check out the first part here. In Part 1, I document events from early in the year through the spring. Here, I take things through the fall. And you can find the third part here.So, without further ado, on to Part 2:The Heat Goes On. And On. And...Here's how daily global surface temperatures have changed since the 1940s. The months of June through September show up warmer than others because this is the warm season in the Northern Hemisphere, which has a higher proportion land than the Southern Hemisphere. Also note that in addition to the obvious overall heating, the warm season has expanded. (Credit: Zeke Hausfather via Bluesky Social)Just yesterday (I'm writing this on New Year's Eve), the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 is set to be the warmest year in records dating back to the 1800s. This means a heat-streak of record-setting years has gone on for a decade. "The top ten hottest years on record have happened in the last ten years, including 2024, UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres said in a New Year message.A landscape desiccated by heat and lack of water. (Credit: World Meteorological Organization.)The heating of Earth's climatic life-support system has been caused by our emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which reached a record high in 2024. The continued increase in emissions from our industries, motor vehicles, worsening wildfires, and other sources, has caused carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere not only to continue rising, but to do so at an increasing rate as this graph demonstrates: The annual mean growth rates for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii is shown here. (Blue bars.) In the graph, decadal averages of the growth rate are also plotted, as horizontal lines for 1960 through 1969, 1970 through 1979, and so on. (Credit: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory)The global heating cause by the greenhouse gases we continue to pump into the atmosphere is having multiple, intensifying climate impacts. According to a new report from World Weather Attribution, issued in collaboration with Climate Central, in 2024 climate change intensified 26 of 29 weather events examined by the researchers. "Its likely the total number of people killed in extreme weather events intensified by climate change this year is in the tens, or hundreds of thousands," the report concluded. Globally, climate change added on average 41 additional days of dangerous heat in 2024 heat severe enough that it threatened peoples health.The record-breaking heat of 2024 helped generate record-breaking downpours. "From Kathmandu, to Dubai, to Rio Grande do Sul, to the Southern Appalachians, the last 12 months have been marked by a large number of devastating floods," the World Weather Attribution report found. "Of the 16 floods we studied, 15 were driven by climate change-amplified rainfall." The researchers also found that hot seas and warmer air helped provide the fuel for more destructive storms among them, Hurricane Helene, which I'll feature in Part 3 of this series.And there were also devastating, fast-moving wildfires.An "Exceptional Year" of Wildfire Activity in the AmericasSmoke from wildfires in Canada as well as the United States blankets about 1.5 million square miles, as seen in this image acquired by the GOES-18 satellite on July 19, 2024.Hot and dry conditions primed the Americas this past year for what the European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service described in a recent report as "exceptional" wildfire activity. "The scale of some of the fires were at historical levels, especially in Bolivia, the Pantanal and parts of the Amazon, and Canadian wildfires were again extreme, although not at the scale of 2023," said Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist at the monitoring service. The fires had "continental-scale impacts on air quality with high surface concentrations of particulate matter and other pollutants which persisted for several weeks."You can see an example of such "continental-scale impacts" in the satellite image above, showing wildfire smoke from Canadian blazes spreading across thousands of miles of North America. Overall, increasing heat, extended droughts, and a thirstier atmosphere are intensifying and lengthening fire seasons in some regions of the world. This has been especially true of the Western United States, which has been seeing significantly increasing wildfire risk and extent during the last two decades. "Some of the most deadly and destructive wildfires in U.S. history have occurred in recent years, with most having the common characteristic of extremely rapid growth," write the authors of a recent study on fast-growing wildfires led by University of Colorado scientist Jennifer Balch. (Note: Balch is a colleague of mine at the University of Colorado, where I direct the Center for Environmental Journalism.)The sprawling, angry scar from California's Park Fire is seen in this Landsat satellite image acquired on Aug. 4, 2024. Note the Northern California City of Chico, population 101,301, in the lower part of the 40-mile-wide image. (Credit: Landsat data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, processed by Pierre Markuse.)We saw that play this past year with a number of vicious wildfires. "For example, in July, the Park wildfire in northern California spread to more than 50,000 hectares in its first 24 hours the equivalent of around one football field per second," Balch and her colleagues write.The area burned by wildfires in the West each year is now ten times greater than four decades ago, thanks in part to faster spreading flames, their study shows. The year 2020 saw the most area burned so far 3.3 million hectares, which is larger than Belgium. If the region continues getting warmer and drier still, as is expected, its likely that this record will be surpassed in just 5 to 10 years, Balch and a colleague, A. Park Williams, write in a commentary accompanying their research paper. There are many ways for us to be more resilient in the face of wildfire risks, they say. Some examples: careful application of prescribed burning to thin out fuels; managing ecosystems more wisely to prepare for future ecological changes; more robust collection of data on wildfires along with better modeling to help us prepare for and manage blazes that are going to continue coming; and being wiser about where we build and how we build. "Individual disasters attract attention, and rightly so, but the focus should be on how to coexist with fire not simply how best to battle it," Balch and Williams conclude.Please check out the third installment of this series here.

The eye of Hurricane Beryl is seen in this image acquired by a Sentinel 2 satellite on July 1, 2024. The image is about 40 miles wide. (Credit: Modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by Pierre Markuse.)NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsIn this final installment of a three-part series recapping some of the most dramatic and significant events of 2024, I'll start with a look at the record-setting hurricane season that recently ended. And then, to balance things out, I'll finish with some dazzling events that brought us great beauty during the year.But first, for Part 1 of the series, go here. And for Part 2, here. And now, let's get to it Part 3 of "A Year on Planet Earth":Above Average Atlantic Hurricane SeasonThe Atlantic Hurricane season didnt quite live up to some forecasts of hyper-activity with as many as two dozen named storms. But it still set notable records and some storms caused devastating damage. During the official season, from June 1 to Nov. 30, 18 named storms swirled in the Atlantic basin. (Named storms have winds of 39 mph or greater.) Eleven of these had winds of 74 mph or greater, qualifying them as hurricanes. Of these, five intensified to major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or more. All told, five hurricanes swept onto land in the continental United States, with two of them making landfall as major hurricanes. In Part 1 of this series, I featured an image of Hurricane Beryl taken from the International Space Station on July 1. It shows the sprawling storm from a dramatic oblique angle. At the time, the cyclone's winds were howling at 150 miles per hour. Above, I've included a dramatic close-up satellite image of Beryl's eye, also acquired on July 1. Beryl was notable because it was the earliest Atlantic basin Category-5 hurricane on record, and the strongest June and July hurricane ever recorded in the basin. She roared across parts of the Caribbean and the Yucatn Peninsula, making landfall in the United States along the Gulf Coast as a Category-1 storm.Sunlight falls on Hurricane Helene on Sept. 26, 2024, as seen in this image acquired by the GOES-16 satellite. (Credit: (CSU/CIRA & NOAA)The usual peak of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season saw a bit of a lull, but then activity came roaring back with record-breaking storms. Hurricane Helene was one of them. Seen in the GOES-16 satellite image above, it stretches across a vast swath of the eastern seaboard of the United States. Helene truly was huge. At its biggest extent, it was 420 miles wide. That made her larger than all but two Gulf of Mexico storms since 1988, according to an analysis by Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach.Helene made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26. After tearing things apart and pushing up inundating storm surges along the coast, Helene swept north, causing catastrophic flooding across the southern Appalachians, as well as widespread wind damage all the way to the North Carolina mountains. The storm ultimately killed more than 200 people.Hurricane Milton also was a notable storm of 2024. It made landfall as a Category-3 near Siesta Key, Florida, on October 9, triggering an outbreak of 46 tornadoes, causing rainfall amounts of 10-15 inches (and higher) that led to flooding. Milton also pushed up a destructive storm surge between Siesta Key, Florida, and Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. But arguably Milton's biggest claim to fame was how quickly it intensified. Its 90-mile-per-hour increase in wind speed over 24 hours was among the most rapid intensifications ever observed in the Atlantic Basin. On the flip side of this story is what happened in the Pacific. Hurricane season activity was below-normal for both the eastern Pacific basin and central Pacific basin and fell within predicted ranges, according to NOAA.In Happier News, 2024 Brought us Much Beauty TooAn astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this extraordinary view of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, on Oct. 11, 2024. (Credit: Don Pettit/NASA via X)When I first saw the image above, it stopped me dead in my tracks. I've seen the aurora borealis many times from the ground in Northern Norway, and I've always been awe-struck. But this image, looking down from the International Space Station on the Northern Lights shimmering above the surface of the Earth was unlike anything I had seen before. Here's another view: Astronaut Matthew Dominick took this photo of the aurora borealis on Oct. 7, 2024 from the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. (Credit: Matthew Dominick/NASA via X)I could imagine myself on the station (and, in fact, even had a dream about it), my face plastered to the oval window looking spellbound at what I might be tempted to call an "otherworldy" scene passing below except for it being very much of our world. As I wrote in a story about this on Oct. 22, the beautiful display was caused by a massive X-class solar flare, the largest kind, and an accompanying outburst of solar plasma and magnetic field called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, that raced toward Earth. (For an image of a large X-flare exploding from the Sun, see Part 1 of the series.) The result was that millions more people than usual were treated to displays of the red, green and pink auroral lights in the sky. You usually must travel to far northern areas (or far southern ones in the Southern Hemisphere) to see dramatic displays like this. But overnight on Oct. 10 and 11, they lit up the skies as far south as Texas!As I'm writing this on New Years Eve, the sun has once again launched a series of CMEs at Earth, and these are already causing the skies to light up above Finland as this screenshot of a live webcam view shows: Screenshot of a live webcam showing the Northern Lights glimmering above Lapland in Finland at about 2 a.m. local time on Jan. 1, 2025. (Credit: Northern Light Live, Levi, Finland, North view, via Youtube.)To check out the live webcam on Youtube for yourself, go here.Iceland Volcanic Eruption ReduxThe first image I shared in Part 1 of the series was a view from space of a volcanic eruption last winter in Iceland that sent brilliant, burning orange lava coursing over white snow. In remote sensing images like that, the contrast between the fire and ice was quite stunning. So here's another view of the scene acquired by a different satellite:Landat 9 image acquired on Feb. 10, 2024. (Credit: NASA Earth Observatory)That eruption was part of a series that began in December of 2023 and continued into early 2024. As predicted, it did not fade. And in November, satellites once again captured beautiful images of a new eruption like this one: The eruption of lava near Iceland's world famous Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is seen here in an image acquired by the Landsat 9 satellite on Nov. 24, 2024. Infrared data collected by the satellite reveals the glow from the flowing lava on the Reykjanes Peninsula. (Credit: Landsat 9 data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, processed by Pierre Markuse)In late November, lava crept into the outskirts of the world famous Blue Lagoon hot springs resort. The Landsat view above truly does make it seem like Earth's crust has cracked open, allowing us to peer into the burning bowels of the Earth. And in a sense, that's right. Iceland lies along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North America and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart. On Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, this is causing fissures to open in the curst, allowing lava to well up from a heat source deep in Earth's mantle. Last But Very Much Not Least, Hawaii!On Dec. 24, 2024 the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image of lava filling the caldera of Hawaii's Klauea volcano. The false-color image was created using several wavelengths of light captured by the satellite sensor, including infrared, which reveals the heat signature of the new lava in red and yellow colors. (Credit: NASA Earth Observatory)You may well have heard of the spectacular pre-Christmas eruption of the Klauea volcano on Hawaii. (My colleague here at Discover Erik Klemetti wrote it about here.) It was heralded by a swarm of earthquakes, and then the opening of fissures in the floor of the Halema'uma'u caldera. Fountains of lava soon began spewing skyward, and the molten rock spread out quickly along the bottom of the caldera. It somehow seems appropriate and uplifting to finish this series with images of these volcanic events, which are helping to renew the surface of our ancient planet. They're also providing spurts (literally and figuratively) of creative energy that reminds us just how dynamic, resilient and utterly awesome our home truly is. Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2025 brings you happiness and many wondrous experiences of nature.

Some of the most stunning and spectacular sites on the planet are waterfalls. Not only are they beautiful, but these natural water breaks can have cultural significance, help shape landscapes, create microclimates, and even be used as a source of hydroelectricity.The tallest waterfalls on the planet can reach heights of over 1,000 feet, with millions of gallons of water spilling over them. And while the tallest waterfall on land is Angel Falls in Venezuela, which stands at 3,212 feet tall, the tallest waterfall in the world is actually underwater.The Denmark Strait CataractAn underwater waterfall seems counterintuitive; however, experts consider the Denmark Strait cataract as the worlds tallest. The Denmark Strait cataract is an overflow that channels water through the Denmark Strait which is situated between Iceland and Greenland. The cataract is a tall rock outcropping jutting towards the surface from the sea floor, and over the cataracts edge, there is an 11,500-foot drop.The 123 million cubic feet of water passes over the cataract per second, which can put Angel Falls to shame. The water that flows past the Denmark Strait cataract is about 1,300 feet deep. However, as that water passes the cataract, only about 660 feet of that initial 1,300 falls towards the sea floor. The rest of the water flows over it to mix with warmer water.But how does water fall underwater? It all comes down to salinity and water temperature.Read More: Why Is the Ocean Salty?A Waterfall UnderwaterIts common knowledge that heat rises. The same goes for warmer waters. Cooler waters from the Nordic Seas flow through the Denmark Strait and out towards the Atlantic Ocean. Before reaching the strait, some of the polar waters freeze, causing more salt to mix into the unfrozen water. This colder, saltier ocean water is denser and flows closer to the sea floor.As this water approaches the cataract, the warmer waters are pushed toward the surface, and the colder waters sink. The cold water then pours over the cataract towards the seabed. The remaining cold water on the seafloor then creates an icy current that carries water out to the Irminger Sea in the Atlantic Ocean.You would think that with the amount of water that goes over the cataract, the current would be swift. However, because the water temperature is so cold, the water actually falls rather slowly at about 1.6 feet per second.Importance of the Denmark Strait CataractAn underwater waterfall may be a wonder to behold, but it is also a crucial part of our interconnected oceans. Waters from the Denmark Strait help feed into the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a crucial network of ocean currents that move cold waters south and warm waters north. This current system helps move vital nutrients throughout the Atlantic Ocean and helps ensure marine life can thrive.However, the risk of climate change could disrupt the cold water flows through the Denmark Strait. As ocean waters warm and ice caps melt, the salinity levels in polar waters are decreasing, meaning less water could flow over the cataract.You may not be able to see the worlds largest waterfall from a spectacular viewing platform or from a boat while wearing a rain poncho; in fact, without modern mapping and monitoring technology, it would almost look like nothing is going on at all. But the waters from the Denmark Strait cataract are still flowing, and for the sake of our oceans, lets hope they continue to do so. Article Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Live Science. What's the largest waterfall in the world?A graduate of UW-Whitewater, Monica Cull wrote for several organizations, including one that focused on bees and the natural world, before coming to Discover Magazine. Her current work also appears on her travel blog and Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching PBS shows as a kid with her mom and spending too much time binging Doctor Who.

(Credit: CHIEW/Shutterstock) NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsBack in 1998, astronomers made a curious discovery. By studying the behavior of distant supernovas, they concluded that the universe is not just expanding, but that this expansion is accelerating. The cosmos, they concluded, is exploding. The discovery rocked cosmology. It implied that the universe would probably experience a long cold death as its components raced inexorably away from each other. It also raised the question of what was causing this acceleration. Cosmologists eventually decided that the expansion was being driven by a force they called dark energy and began to develop a cosmological model that could account for it, called the Lambda-Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model. The story reached a climax in 2011 when the astronomers behind the discovery were awarded the Nobel Prize for physics. But important questions remain and understanding this enigmatic phenomenon has since been a central challenge for modern cosmology. Dark IllusionNow the puzzle may finally be drawing to a close thanks to the work of Antonia Seifert and colleagues at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. This group has analyzed the most recent and most comprehensive observations of type-Ia supernovas and say the evidence is consistent with a model of the universe that isnt exploding after all. In other words, dark energy is merely an illusion.These results provide evidence for a need to revisit the foundations of theoretical and observational cosmology, say the team. At the heart of this debate is the distinction between the Friedmann-Lematre-Robertson-Walker model and a different model called timescape cosmology put forward by David Wiltshire and others in 2007 (Wiltshire is one of the authors of the new paper). The Friedmann et al model assumes the universe is homogeneous on the largest scales so that light propagates evenly in all directions. But various theorists have pointed out that the universe is far from homogeneous and instead peppered with high density galaxies and giant voids that form into giant filamentary-type structures on an even larger scale. Galaxies are well known to bend and distort light waves, and some cosmologists say the voids must do as well and have developed the mathematical tools to study how this might make the universe look to observers on Earth. Wiltshires contribution is a model based on this thinking called timescape cosmology that explores how the variations in gravitational forces across the universe can make time slow down for light waves. The effect is to make type-Ia supernovas look further away than expected and so appear to be moving faster. All this, he said, would create the illusion that the universe was exploding when, in actuality, the expansion of the universe might be slowing. Crucially, this perspective eliminates the need for dark energy. Of course, the ultimate test for cosmological theories is whether they are backed by observational evidence. So to test the timescape hypothesis, Seifert, Wiltshire, and co-conducted a model-independent analysis of the most extensive compilation of type-Ia supernovae observations to date, called the Pantheon+ dataset. Type-Ia supernovae are crucial here because they have a consistent intrinsic brightness that allows astronomers to determine their distance accurately.Seifert and co compared the predictions of the CDM model and the timescape model. The analysis revealed strong evidence favoring the timescape model. Notably, the Bayes factor a statistical metric used to compare models indicated a decisive preference for the timescape cosmology over CDM. When considering the entire Pantheon+ sample, we find very strong evidence in favor of timescape over CDM, say Seifert and co. Nuanced TheoryOf course, other groups will need to validate and repeat these findings. But if validated, the implications are profound. Dark energy, the distinct force driving the universe's acceleration, would be rendered unnecessary. Instead, the observed effects would stem from a nuanced understanding of general relativity applied to a clumpy, inhomogeneous universe.That means cosmologists will need to revise the CDM model, which has been the cornerstone of modern cosmology for decades. The CDM model incorporates dark energy using the cosmological constant, , but it also attempts to account for the powerful gravitational effects thought to be generated by cold dark matter, even though they have yet to observe dark matter directly. If dark energy is indeed an illusion, cosmologists will have to revisit this paradigm.That will be a relief for physicists who have long pondered how the universe can create so much energy dark or otherwise seemingly from nowhere.The paper by Seifert and co is by no means the last word. But they emphasize that their results are a compelling case for reevaluating the foundations of theoretical and observational cosmology. Our results imply profound consequences for cosmology and astrophysics, say Seifert and co. Whether dark energy will ultimately remain a cornerstone of cosmology or fade into history as an illusion of perception remains to be seen, but either way, the journey ahead looks exciting. Ref: Supernovae evidence for foundational change to cosmological models: arxiv.org/abs/2412.15143cosmology1 free article leftWant More? 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Whooping cough cases are increasing in the United States, having hit their highest point in a decade, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Based on the data, there were around 32,000 cases of whooping cough in the U.S. by mid-December in 2024, but around 6,000 cases by mid-December in 2023. There were also more cases of whooping cough in 2024 than in any other year since 2014 (and more cases than in all of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 combined).The increase represents a return to the typical, pre-pandemic prevalence of whooping cough, which tended to surge in cyclical patterns of over 10,000 cases a year prior to the appearance of COVID-19. According to the CDC, the return is tied to the reduction of pandemic precautions, including masking and social distancing, which fended off whooping cough as well as COVID-19. Whooping Cough CasesWhooping cough, also called pertussis, is a contagious respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Its initial symptoms are mild similar to those of the common cold and tend to last for one to two weeks, while its later symptoms are more severe and typically last for one to six weeks or more. In about a third of all cases, whooping cough causes coughing fits that are associated with a whooping sound, produced as patients inhale air after coughing. These coughing fits tend to worsen as the disease continues, increasing in intensity and frequency throughout the course of the disease. Whooping cough can also cause sneezing, stuffiness, fever, and fatigue, as well as difficulties with breathing. Whooping cough can be contagious for weeks after the start of its symptoms, and is spread when a person with the disease coughs or sneezes, sending out a spray of bacteria that others then breathe in themselves. As such, the disease is most transmissible when people spend time together, sharing space and touching the same surfaces.Whooping cough cases have increased in the U.S. since 1990, and are increasing again in 2024, hitting a high point after a drop in cases during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. So why are whooping cough cases surging today?Increasing Whooping CoughThe increase in whooping cough cases since 1990 is attributable to a combination of causes, including a change in whooping cough vaccines and an increased awareness of the disease, as well as an increased availability of diagnostic testing, according to the CDC. Mutations to the bacteria B. pertussis are also fingered for the increase in whooping cough cases, as these mutations make the bacteria a more formidable foe against whooping cough vaccinations. Reductions of pandemic precautions are also connected to the recent rise in whooping cough. CDC data shows that cases dropped from their pre-pandemic levels between 2020 and 2023, in part due to the preventative actions taken during the pandemic, which dulled the transmission of whooping cough as well as COVID-19. Thus, as the preventative actions taken during the pandemic decline, whooping cough cases are again increasing, returning to their pre-pandemic cycles and patterns of more than 10,000 cases a year.According to the CDC, the strongest protection against whooping cough is vaccination, which is suggested for infants, children, and adults, as well as during pregnancy. While infants and younger children receive doses of the DTaP vaccine, older children and adults receive doses and booster doses of the Tdap vaccine, both of which reduce the spread and severity of whooping cough, while also targeting tetanus and diphtheria.While vaccination reduces the risk of whooping cough, vaccinated individuals of all ages can still contract the disease, though their symptoms tend to remain mild. As such, both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals are affected as the U.S. returns to its typical cycles of whooping cough.Article Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Sam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

The current eruption at Klauea in Hawai'i that started just before Christmas is still rolling along. The activity from the major vents on the edge of the Halema'uma'u crater has waxed and waned some, but lava fountains reaching tens of meters (hundreds of feet) have been common for the past week. The USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory reports that lava from this eruption has covered two-thirds of the caldera floor. An overflight of the volcano on December 27 showed the extent of the new, dark, black lava flows from the eruption. A small cone has built up on the edge of the caldera where the vents have been most active. The most recent reports (December 30) from the HVO say that the summit area is slowly deflating but sulfur dioxide emissions are still high, which makes sense considering that the eruption is ongoing.Webcam image of lava flows across the Halema'uma'u Crater at Klauea from the December 2024 eruption. Credit: USGS/HVO.Shield volcanoes like Klauea see these cycles of eruption and collapse commonly. This is the sixth eruption that the summit caldera of Klauea has experienced in since 2000, with some events filling in the caldera while others help deepen it through more collapse. The most recent collapse event happened during the 2018 eruption, when the eruption on the East Rift Zone led to a collapse that doubled the width and deepened Halema'uma'u from 85 meters (280 feet) to 488 meters (1,600 feet) deep! Thing is, Halema'uma'u isn't a caldera, but rather a pit crater formed initially in the last few hundred years.Klauea's CalderaThe summit caldera of Klauea in Hawai'i seen by ESA's Sentinel-2 on December 25, 2024. Credit: ESA, annotated by Erik Klemetti.If you check a recent Sentinel-2 image of the summit of Klauea, you can see the generations of different collapses in the multiple calderas. I've numbered some different calderas or collapse craters at the summit, including the larger Kaluapele Caldera that formed in the late 1400s and early 1500s as well as Halema'uma'u Crater including the deeper down-dropped block from 2018. There are also smaller features (pit craters) like 1959's Klauea Iki.The full Kaluapele Caldera is a robust 4 kilometers (~2.7 miles across). It formed through gradual collapse unlike some other terrestrial calderas like Yellowstone or Crater Lake that formed thanks to very large explosive eruptions. Imagine the Kaluapele eruption forming as the magma that was holding the land up erupted as lava flows across Klauea over the course of months to years.The Largest CalderaThe summit calderas of Olympus Mons on Mars seen by ESA's Mars Express on January 21, 2004. Credit: ESA, processed by Andrea Luck/Flickr, annotated by Erik Klemetti.As big as Klauea's caldera seems, it is nothing compared to the multiple calderas found on top of the solar system's largest volcano, Olympus Mons on Mars. However, they do share a lot of similarities. Most likely, the many calderas on Olympus Mons formed thanks to copious lava flows draining the magma body inside the volcano rather than massive explosive eruptions. There is a sequence of calderas (and collapses) as well on Olympus Mons. I've numbered the sequence of caldera formation on ESA's Mars Express image taken on January 21, 2004. All of these calderas have names like Athena Patera, Hera Patera and Apollo Patera -- patera being the word we use for calderas on other planets or moons.However, they are big. The largest -- Zeus Patera (1 on my image) -- is at least 60 kilometers (37 miles) across and might be as large as 72 kilometers (45 miles) at its widest. Even a smaller one like Athena Patera (4 on my image) is 20 kilometers (12 miles) across, dwarfing Kaluapele Caldera on Klauea. Yet, all of these are the same volcanic feature formed by eruption and collapse. You could even imagine eruptions like we see on Klauea today happening many millions of years ago at Olympus Mons on Mars.Webcam capture showing the vents for the December 2024 eruption at Klauea in Hawai'i. Credit: USGS/HVO.You can still watch the current eruption at Klauea on the USGS-HVO summit webcam. As mentioned by HVO, these eruptions could be over in days ... or over a year. The fountaining going on right now suggests that the supply of magma to the summit is robust, so the lava will continue to pave the floor of Haluma'uma'u. It might be a lot smaller than its cousins on Mars, but we learn about distant volcanoes on other planets by watching eruptions like this on Earth.

In 2024, space exploration dazzled the world.NASAs Europa Clipper began its journey to study Jupiters moon Europa. SpaceXs Starship achieved its first successful landing, which is a critical milestone for future deep space missions. China made headlines with the Change 6 mission, which successfully returned samples from the far side of the Moon. Meanwhile, the International Space Station continued to host international crews, including private missions like Axiom Mission 3.As an aerospace engineer, Im excited for 2025, when space agencies worldwide are gearing up for even more ambitious goals. Heres a look at the most exciting missions planned for the coming year, which will expand humanitys horizons even further, from the Moon and Mars to asteroids and beyond:Scouting the Lunar Surface With CLPSNASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative aims to deliver science and technology payloads to the Moon using commercial landers. CLPS is what brought Intuitive Machines Odysseus lander to the Moon in February 2024, marking the first U.S. Moon landing since Apollo.In 2025, NASA has several CLPS missions planned, including deliveries by companies Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Firefly Aerospace.These missions will carry a variety of scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to different lunar locations. The payloads will include experiments to study lunar geology, test new technologies for future human missions, and gather data on the Moons environment.(Credit: NASA/Firefly Aerospace)An illustration of Fireflys Blue Ghost Lander, which will bring scientific instruments to the lunar surface. Surveying the sky with SPHERExIn February 2025, NASA plans to launch the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer, or SPHEREx, observatory. This mission will survey the sky in near-infrared light, which is a type of light that is invisible to the naked eye but that special instruments can detect. Near-infrared light is useful for observing objects that are too cool or too distant to be seen in visible light.SPHEREx will create a comprehensive map of the universe by surveying and collecting data on more than 450 million galaxies along with over 100 million stars in the Milky Way. Astronomers will use this data to answer big questions about the origins of galaxies and the distribution of water and organic molecules in stellar nurseries where stars are born from gas and dust.(Credit: NASA/BAE Systems)NASAs SPHEREx observatory will make the most colorful cosmic map. Studying Low Earth Orbit With Space RiderThe European Space Agency, or ESA, plans to conduct an orbital test flight of its Space Rideruncrewed spaceplane in the third quarter of 2025. Space Rider is a reusable spacecraft designed to carry out various scientific experiments in low Earth orbit.These scientific experiments will include research in microgravity, which is the near-weightless environment of space. Scientists will study how plants grow, how materials behave, and how biological processes occur without the influence of gravity.Space Rider will also demonstrate new technologies for future missions. For example, it will test advanced telecommunication systems, which are crucial for maintaining communication with spacecraft over long distances. It will also test new robotic exploration tools for use on future missions to the Moon or Mars.(Credit: ESA)Space Rider, shown in this illustration, will provide a reusable space transportation system for routine access to and from low Earth orbit. Exploring the Moon with M2/ResilienceJapans M2/Resilience mission, scheduled for January 2025, will launch a lander and micro-rover to the lunar surface.This mission will study the lunar soil to understand its composition and properties. Researchers will also conduct a water-splitting test to produce oxygen and hydrogen by extracting water from the lunar surface, heating the water and splitting the captured steam. The generated water, oxygen and hydrogen can be used for enabling long-term lunar exploration.This mission will also demonstrate new technologies, such as advanced navigation systems for precise landings and systems to operate the rover autonomously. These technologies are essential for future lunar exploration and could be used in missions to Mars and beyond.The M2/Resilience mission is part of Japans broader efforts to contribute to international lunar exploration. It builds on the success of Japans Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, mission, which landed on the Moon using a precise landing technique in March 2024.(Credit: ispace) An illustration of the Resilience lander and rover on the lunar surface. Investigating an Asteroid with Tianwen-2Chinas Tianwen-2mission is an ambitious asteroid sample return and comet probe mission. Scheduled for launch in May 2025, Tianwen-2 aims to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and study a comet. This mission will advance scientists understanding of the solar systems formation and evolution, building on the success of Chinas previous lunar and Mars missions.The missions first target is the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamooalewa. This asteroid is a quasi-satellite of Earth, meaning it orbits the Sun but stays close to Earth. Kamooalewa is roughly 131-328 feet (40-100 meters) in diameter and may be a fragment of the Moon, ejected into space by a past impact event.By studying this asteroid, scientists hope to learn about the early solar system and the processes that shaped it. The spacecraft will use both touch-and-go and anchor-and-attach techniques to collect samples from the asteroids surface.After collecting samples from Kamooalewa, Tianwen-2 will return them to Earth and then set course for its second target, the main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS. This comet is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.By analyzing the comets materials, researchers hope to learn more about the conditions that existed in the early solar system and possibly the origins of water and organic molecules on Earth.Solar System FlybysBesides the above-planned launch missions, several space agencies plan to perform exciting deep-space flyby missions in 2025.A flyby, or gravity assist, is when a spacecraft passes close enough to a planet or moon to use its gravity for a speed boost. As the spacecraft approaches, it gets pulled in by the planets gravity, which helps it accelerate.After swinging around the planet, the spacecraft is flung back out into space, allowing it to change direction and continue on its intended path using less fuel.Spacecraft can fly by a planet to get a boost using gravity.BepiColombo, a joint mission by ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, will make its sixth flyby of Mercury in January 2025. This maneuver will help the spacecraft enter orbit around Mercury by November 2026. BepiColombo aims to study Mercurys composition, atmosphere, and surface geology.NASAs Europa Clipper mission, which launched in October 2024, will make significant progress on its journey to Jupiters moon Europa. In March 2025, the spacecraft will perform a flyby maneuver at Mars.This maneuver will help the spacecraft gain the necessary speed and trajectory for its long voyage. Later in December 2026, Europa Clipper will perform a flyby of Earth, using Earths gravity to further increase its momentum so it can arrive at Europa in April 2030.The ESAs Hera mission will also perform a flyby of Mars in March 2025. Here is part of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission, which plans to study the Didymos binary asteroid system. The mission will provide valuable data on asteroid deflection techniques and contribute to planetary defense strategies.NASAs Lucy mission will continue its journey to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, which share Jupiters orbit around the Sun, in 2025. One key event for Lucy is its flyby of the inner main-belt asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson, scheduled for April 20, 2025.This flyby will provide valuable data on this ancient asteroids composition and surface features, which can help researchers gain insights into the early solar system. The asteroid is named after the paleoanthropologist who discovered the famous Lucy fossil.ESAs Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, mission will perform a Venus flyby in August 2025. This maneuver will help JUICE gain the necessary speed and trajectory for its journey to Jupiter. Once it arrives, JUICE will study Jupiters icy moons to understand its potential for harboring life.2025 promises to be a groundbreaking year for space exploration. With NASAs ambitious missions and significant contributions from other countries, we are set to make remarkable strides in humanitys understanding of the universe. These missions will not only advance scientific knowledge but also inspire future generations to look to the stars.Zhenbo Wang is an Associate Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this dramatic image of Hurricane Beryl from the International Space Station on July 1, 2024. At the time, the cyclone's winds were howling at 150 miles per hour. Beryl was the earliest Atlantic basin Category-5 hurricane on record and the strongest June and July hurricane in the basin. The hurricane roared across parts of the Caribbean and the Yucatn Peninsula, making landfall in the United States along the Gulf Coast as a Category-1 storm. (Credit: NASA)NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsWhen I conceived the idea for this column in 2013, I came up with the name "ImaGeo" as a mashup of "image" and "geo" as in "images of Earth." (The mashup also hinted at "imagination.")Since then, I've tried whenever possible to emphasize images of Earth from space, as well as imagery created with data from other kinds of sensors. With that original ImaGeo theme in mind as 2024 was drawing to a close, I thought I would pick a selection of compelling images that helped me tell the stories of noteworthy events during the year just ending. This is the first of a two-part series featuring these images. It covers events running through spring. Part 2, will pick things up in summer and take us through the fall and into the winter. Volcanic ExuberanceAlthough there are no signs that volcanic activity is increasing globally, it was nonetheless quite a spectacular year for eruptions. As of Dec. 23, there were 72 confirmed eruptions during 2024 from 64 different volcanoes, of which 30 were new, according to the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution. Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula has seen its share of this activity. It cracked open in December of 2023, commencing a series of eruptions that still continues. At the start of 2024, burning lava poured across a bright, snow-covered landscape, making for a dramatic view from space as seen in this image from a Copernicus Sentinel 2 satellite:The heat signature from lava erupting on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula is seen in this image captured by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on Feb. 8, 2024, less than 10 hours after the event began. (Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery)As I wrote in a story published Feb. 13, land around the world famous Blue Lagoon and the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power plant was rising at a rate of about 0.5 to 1.0 centimeters per day. "Magma thus continues to accumulate in the magma reservoir beneath Svartsengi," stated an update from the Icelandic Met Office at the time. "It is therefore highly likely that the cycle continues in a few weeks with another dyke propagation and a volcanic eruption."Volcanic activity there has indeed continued, and in November, lava encroached on the Blue Lagoon. This new activity also was captured in remote sensing imagery which I'll feature in Part 2 of this series, as a kind of bookend. El Nio Bids Adieu, But Where in the World is La Nia?The El Nio of 1993 and 1994 was a doozy. Considered a strong episode, the natural climate phenomenon contributed to an unprecedented streak of 15 straight months of global heating records. Characterized by warmer than normal sea surface temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and implicated in a host of extreme weather impacts, the El Nio finally petered out in May of 2024. Its demise was heralded by a gargantuan blob of relatively cool water rising from the depths of the ocean. You can see it in this animation showing the evolution of sea temperatures in a 1,000 foot cross section of the Pacific Ocean along the Equator from December of 2023 through January of 2024: Water temperatures between December 2023 and January 2024 in the top 300 meters (1,000 feet) of the tropical Pacific Ocean, compared to the 19912020 average. (Credit: NOAA Climate.gov animation, based on data from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.)The warm colors show El Nio's characteristic abnormal warmth at and near the surface in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. But at that same time, a chilly phantom was rising from the depths and spreading eastward, threatening to replace the warm water.This was one of the main reasons why last February, scientists forecast a nearly 80 percent chance that El Nio would soon fade to neutral, with a 55 percent chance that La Nia would take over during June through August.They got the first part right: El Nio did fade away. But its replacement by La Nia has been delayed. According to the latest forecast, issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in mid-December, there is a nearly 60 percent chance that La Nia conditions will definitively emerge by the end of January. But it is likely to be mild and short-lived. El Nio and La Nia are two sides of a climatic coin known as the El Nio Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. And La Nia is no less capable than its brother of influencing weather far and wide which is a good reason why we should care about it. In fact, even though it is likely to be relatively weak, the predicted La Nia could contribute to a notable dearth of precipitation this winter across the southern United States and Mexico, with enhanced precipitation in the Pacific Northwest and the Ohio and Upper Mississippi Valley regions.The Obstreperous SunOn May 14, 2024, the Sun unleashed a powerful, X8.7 solar flare at the time, the largest of the current solar cycle and the most powerful since 2003. It's visible in the lower right corner. (Credit: Screenshot of video from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)In 2024, the Sun's behavior reached a pinnacle of unruliness, officially entering the peak of its roughly 11-year activity cycle. Known as "solar maximum," this period is characterized by barrages of solar flares sudden, large eruptions of electromagnetic radiation; massive explosions of plasma and magnetic fields known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, which typically accompany flares; and increases in the solar wind.The image above shows the second most powerful solar flare of 2024 a massive burst of x-rays on May 14 that scientists measured as an X8.7 flare. X-class flares like this are the most powerful, being 10 times stronger than M-class, and 100 times stronger than C-class flares. During the year just ending, the Sun unleashed more than 50 of them. Flares and their associated CMEs can cause geomagnetic storms here on Earth. In addition to producing beautiful displays of the aurora borealis, geomagnetic storms can knock out satellites and power grids, and cause other serious disruptions. Because of the Sun's orientation toward Earth at the time, the coronal mass ejection accompanying the May 14 flare was not terribly disruptive. But a much smaller event a few days earlier was much more impactful. That's because the flare and CME were aimed directly at us. Among other impacts, it treated many millions of people to displays of the aurora borealis occurring much farther south than usual. (I'll have more to say about this year's wondrous auroral displays in Part 2 of this series.)Note: As I'm preparing this column on Dec. 30, the Sun has unleashed a series of flares, including a strong X-class flare, along with associated coronal mass ejections all directed at us. The result: A strong geomagnetic storm is expected that could trigger auroral displays overhead on New Years Eve as far south as Portland Oregon and New York City, and possibly visible on the horizon as far south as Oklahoma City and Raleigh, N.C., according to a forecast from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.Speaking of storms..."Extreme weather reached dangerous new heights in 2024," according to a report issued by World Weather Attribution in collaboration with Climate Central. "This years record-breaking temperatures fueled unrelenting heatwaves, drought, wildfire, storms and floods that killed thousands of people and forced millions from their homes."Millions of Texans experienced some of that mayhem starting on May 16, when a band of extreme thunderstorms spawned winds topping out at 100 miles per hour in the Houston area. The winds were especially long-lasting, qualifying the event as a "derecho."It was the most devastating wind event to impact the city in nearly 25 years, according to research to be presented at the upcoming 2025 American Meteorological Society conference. The derecho unleashed "destructive winds across a vast area, leading to widespread power outages and causing several fatalities," the co-authors write in their abstract. "Typically, Houston and the Gulf Coast are less susceptible to derechos, making this event particularly rare and alarming."An especially strong and long-lasting band of thunderstorms in Texas on May 16 and 17 produced long-lasting winds that reached 100 mph. Resulting widespread power outages in Houston continued for many days. This animation of images from the Suomi NPP satellite shows what that looked like from space. The before image is a composite based on data collected in April. The after image shows the scene on May 18. (Credit: NASA Earth Observatory)The power outages darkened large swaths of Houston, as seen in this stunning before-and-after animation of images from the Suomi NPP satellite. Nearly a million people were affected, some for days on end, leaving them without air conditioning as heat-index conditions soared to dangerous levels.To what extent was cimate change implicated in this extreme weather event? The research presented at the American Meteorological Society meeting in mid-January should answer that question in detail. But we do know this already: The severe storms exploded along the northern margin of a heat dome that was centered over Central America and the Caribbean. This large area of high pressure had stalled for many days, producing record-high temperatures over a large area, from Florida to Mexico. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico also were much warmer than the long-term average. And winds blowing across them swept sultry air into the Houston area high-octane fuel for thunderstorms. Ultimately, multiple factors came together in just the right way or I should actually say the wrong way to produce the severe weather. But in the background was climate change, which overall is making heat waves and extreme precipitation events worse. More Meteorological MayhemAn EF-4 tornado carved a path of destruction through Greenfield, Iowa, on May 21, 2024. With peak winds of 185 miles per hour, the twister's rampage through the little town is visible in this image captured by the Sentinel 2 satellite on May 25. (Credit: Modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by Tom Yulsman)The year just ending saw an upsurge in another form of extreme weather in the United States: tornadoes. Through November, the year's preliminary tornado count was 1,762 among the highest on record for the January-November period. "Only 2011, 2008 and 2004 have a similar high count of tornadoes," according to NOAA.The satellite image above shows the severe impact one of this year's tornadoes on the town of Greenfield, Iowa. The twister spun up on Tuesday, May 21 in the southwestern part of the state. It then carved a path of destruction 44 miles to the northeast, ripping through tiny Greenfield, population 2,062, with 185 mile-per-hour winds. And those cataclysmic winds spread across a terrifying maximum width of more than a half mile.The result: A path of destruction through Greenfield that could easily be seen from space. Please stay tuned for Part 2 of this series, which will include compelling images captured from Earth orbit of wildfires, devastating Hurricane Helene, the Northern Lights, and more volcanic activity.

Lining grocery store shelves are supplements like omega fish oil, goats rue and others that sound more like the ingredients of a witchs cauldron. Social media influencers also push high-tech sounding pills like CoQ10 or plant sterols to their followers. And you can find the classic supplements online or in person vitamin D, vitamin C or a daily multivitamin.In the United States, the supplement market was estimated to be worth $42.6 billion in 2022, and it was projected to increase up to $70.8 billion by 2031, according to Statista.But do any of these so-called health products provide real health benefits? According to long-term studies, the science is unclear on the benefits or negative impacts of many supplements. In fact, there is only evidence that a few of them have any benefits at all and are hardly a substitute for eating healthily, exercising, and abstaining from excessive drinking, smoking, or other harmful activities. Marketing and Research of SupplementsDietary supplements are any substances that you take in addition to your regular meals and snacks. They can be chemicals, extracts from plants or animal parts, minerals, acids, herbs, or vitamins.Supplements are typically marketed to provide consumers all kinds of different benefits, whether its daily immune system boosts, an increase in milk production for pregnant mothers, or specific conditions.Part of the issue for the dietary supplement industry is that companies have freedom of what to sell, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not determine whether dietary supplements are effective before they are marketed, according to the National Institutes of Healths (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements.Actual peer-reviewed studies on the purported effects of supplements are slow to follow the marketing. This is due to a lack of funding and time, and there is difficulty in isolating any one activity as the cause of a positive health outcome especially when consumers mix supplements to address their health issues.Are There Health Benefits? As a result, the list of vitamins and supplements that actually have scientific evidence of any real benefit is surprising small, given the number of these products available. NIHs Office of Dietary Supplements lists just a few positive effects from a handful of supplements.Calcium and vitamin D can improve your bone health, for example while folic acid can decrease the risk of birth defects. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils can help people with heart disease and a combination of vitamins C, E, zinc, copper, lutein, and zeaxanthin may slow down the vision loss of people with age-related macular degeneration.NIHs National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) notes that many vitamins and minerals are essential for our bodies, including vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and various types of vitamin B. Essential minerals include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, sulfur, cobalt, copper, fluoride, manganese, and selenium. But its important to note that we get many of these vitamins and minerals through eating healthy food. Whether taking these as supplements actually helps our bodies still needs more research. Nonetheless, in some cases, taking supplements doesnt hurt. NCCIH notes that taking your daily dose of multivitamin is unlikely to pose any risks for healthy people, though most studies have shown little or no effects from multivitamins on the risk of health problems. The Value of SupplementsSome research has revealed that even some of the most widely marketed supplements have little or no value. A Canadian study published in Current Nutrition Reports in 2013, for example, reported that echinacea had little or no evidence to shorten the symptoms of colds or the flu, despite marketing.Even primrose oil appeared to have no value in treating eczema, though it may be useful for rheumatoid arthritis and breast pain, and more research is needed. Gingko doesnt have much evidence of improving memory for Alzheimers patients, older adults or those suffering from dementia, and there is little evidence that ginseng does anything.[Ginseng] is among the most popular of herbs, and it is used for a variety of reasons, the most common of which are increased sense of well-being, stamina, and improved mental and physical performance, the authors wrote in the study. Overall, there is very little solid evidence that ginseng lives up to the many lofty claims of its efficacy.Can Supplements Cause Harm?There are a number of potential ways that supplements can cause harm, directly and indirectly. Taking more minerals, vitamins or other supplements than your liver can handle can cause problems and it doesnt matter whether the ingredients are chemical or natural.Many dietary supplements (and some prescription drugs) come from natural sources, but natural does not always mean safe, according to the NCCIH. For example, the kava plant is a member of the pepper family but taking kava supplements can cause liver disease.There are also some specific examples of negative effects from supplements. The Office of Dietary Supplements notes that vitamin K can reduce the ability of some blood thinners to prevent clotting, while St. Johns wort can reduce the effectiveness of medicines like birth control pills, antidepressants, and heart and anti-HIV medicines. Supplements that are antioxidants can reduce the effectiveness of some types of chemotherapy for cancer treatments.Even daily multivitamins may have negative effects to certain consumers. According to the NCCIH, smokers or former smokers may want to avoid multivitamins with high levels of vitamin A, which some studies have linked to increased risk of lung cancer.In fact, too much vitamin A can create headaches, liver damage, reduce bone strength, and even cause birth defects. Meanwhile, too much iron can induce nausea and may also cause liver and other organ damage.More Research Is NeededIndirectly, reliance on supplements may have a negative effect on the motivation of consumers to engage in other healthy activities like exercising, healthy eating in general, or limiting intake of alcohol, tobacco, or other harmful substances.One consumer study found evidence that drug marketing undermines intentions to engage in health-protective behaviors.The authors found that essentially, some may believe that supplements can compensate for not going to the gym or drinking too much on the weekends. They also found that, paradoxically, some people who take a lot of supplements may also associate this supplement-taking behavior with their own poor health.This perception reduces self-efficacy and perceived ability to engage in complementary health-protective behaviors, the authors wrote in the study.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:National Institutes of Health. Dietary Supplements: What You Need to KnowNational Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Vitamins and MineralsSpringer Nature. The Marketing of Dietary Supplements: A Canadian PerspectiveNational Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Using Dietary Supplements WiselyJournal of Consumer Research. How Does Drug and Supplement Marketing Affect a Healthy Lifestyle?Joshua Rapp Learn is an award-winning D.C.-based science writer. An expat Albertan, he contributes to a number of science publications like National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, Hakai, and others.

Is it a fish? Is it a sea monster? Is it Cthulhu?In 1997, while using underwater microphones to monitor volcanic activity in the depths of the southern Pacific Ocean, researchers with NOAAs Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) recorded a mysterious sound. It was extremely loud and, well, weird. The fact that no one, including NOAA, had any idea what was making the noise fed theories like the ones above. The sound came to be called the bloop and remained a mystery for more than a decade.Like everyone else on the planet, the PMEL researchers wanted to know what was behind the bloop, but so little of the ocean has been explored (less than five percent, according to NOAA) that tracking down the source of one weird sound among many was not realistic. So they did what scientists do; they carried on, continuing to record and study the sounds of seafloor volcanoes and earthquakes.From 2005 to 2010, the PMEL researchers took their acoustic survey to the area around the Drake Passage, between the tip of South America and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica, and to the Bransfield Strait, between the South Shetlands and the Antarctic Peninsula. And there they found the source of the bloop. It was an icequake. The sound that had intrigued so many people and spawned so many strange theories was a sound not all that uncommon in the seas surrounding Antarctica. It was the sound of an iceberg breaking apart, a phenomenon known as calving.Antarctica's Role in the BloopOne wonderful thing about all the attention given to the bloop is that it was a reminder that Antarctica is down there. For those of us who live north of the equator, the southernmost continent is easy to forget.But it would not be wise to do so.Antarctica plays an important role in Earths climate. All that Antarctic ice reflects solar radiation away from Earth, helping regulate the planets heat balance. When the ice melts, Earth is able to absorb more solar radiation, and that can exacerbate global warming.Though the frozen continent is warming on average slightly faster than the rest of the planet Antarcticas glaciers and ice shelves have been largely stable. In fact, up until the mid-2010s, the extent of Antarctic ice was increasing, if only slightly. Then, after a peak in 2014, the yearly average of ice extent began to decline rapidly.By 2018, a 35-year gain in ice had been wiped out in just four years. The years 2023 and 2024 set two consecutive records for low maximum ice extent in Antarctica.Scientists arent sure what accounts for this change. Its likely due in part to warmer air and ocean temperatures, but Antarctic ice mass is known to take big swings, increasing and decreasing over relatively short periods. Global warming will eventually start to melt the frozen continent, but its too early to know if this is the beginning of that process or if Antarctic ice will remain more or less stable for a while yet. Regardless, its important to figure it out.Understanding AntarcticaUnderstanding whats happening in Antarctica could help us understand what to expect for the planet as a whole in the coming years. T. J. Fudge is a climatologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. Hes currently working on a project in Antarctica that gathers data on atmospheric gases from millions of years ago to help understand how the climate responds to high levels of carbon dioxide. This will help scientists better understand the climates feedback mechanisms as well as help make more accurate climate models.Antarctica, Fudge says, has been on the whole a bit slow to respond to climate warming. The continent is definitely experiencing overall warming and other changes that are leading to a rise in sea levels, he says. And those changes are expected to continue and accelerate. But the impact to the rest of the world depends a lot on the rate at which that happens.Some of these big glaciers are going to release meters of sea level rise, but it's going to be over hundreds if not thousands of years, Fudge explains. If we can limit the impact to Antarctica so that it slows from hundreds to thousands of years, that has a giant impact for society.As we blow past climate benchmarks, Fudge warns that we should not get fixated on the numbers. What we should fixate on, he says, is slowing the rate of warming. And its not too late to do that.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Sound recording of the bloop from NOAA. The Bloop: A Mysterious Sound from the Deep Ocean | NOAA SOSUSNOAA and Climate.gov. Antarctica is colder than the Arctic, but its still losing iceNOAA and Climate.gov. 2024 Antarctic sea ice winter maximum second lowest on recordT. J Fudge. climatologist at the University of Washington in SeattleAvery Hurt is a freelance science journalist. In addition to writing for Discover, she writes regularly for a variety of outlets, both print and online, including National Geographic, Science News Explores, Medscape, and WebMD. Shes the author of Bullet With Your Name on It: What You Will Probably Die From and What You Can Do About It, Clerisy Press 2007, as well as several books for young readers. Avery got her start in journalism while attending university, writing for the school newspaper and editing the student non-fiction magazine. Though she writes about all areas of science, she is particularly interested in neuroscience, the science of consciousness, and AIinterests she developed while earning a degree in philosophy.

At one time, the world of non-alcoholic drinks was limited to a few dusty old cans of ODouls sitting in the back fridge of your local bar.But more recently, the genre has exploded. Craft beer companies are bending the basic tenets of chemistry in an effort to make non-alcoholic IPAs, stouts, and other styles that more closely resemble their boozy cousins.And restaurants are crafting mocktails that focus on flavor specifically tailored to a lack of alcohol. All of this comes at a time when young people are seemingly drinking less than young people did in previous generations, .But what benefits do these non-alcoholic beverages even bring to consumers, if any?Alcoholic Beer vs. Non-Alcoholic BeerWhen it comes to a comparison between drinking alcohol in excess, the answers seem obvious and numerous. You can drink and drive on non-alcoholic beer and its unlikely to harm pregnancy.But there havent been many studies on actual health benefits of non-alcoholic drinks. Some of these potential benefits include the prevention of oxidative stress due to the antioxidants, helping blood and artery function, and lowering the potential of clotting.In fact, non-alcoholic beer is better than regular beer at positively impacting the body, according to research published in 2022 in Nutrients.This effect cannot be solely attributed to alcohol content, since the polyphenol content in conventional beer tends to be higher than that found in non-alcoholic beer, the researchers wrote in the study.Further studies are needed to learn more about the possible benefits of non-alcoholic beer. But, according to the evidence the researchers could find, The best option for cardiovascular health is probably a combination of non-alcoholic beer intake (instead of conventional beer) together with the inclusion of olive oil in the diet and increased physical activity, compared to drinking alcoholic beer.Mocktail Drink BenefitsAside from this, unlike alcohol, which can cause dehydration, drinks without booze can help keep your liquid levels high. But at least one study notes that due to sugar and other potential things in many of these drinks, plain old water is still likely better. The exception to this could be sparkling, non-alcoholic seltzers.Another drink often substituted for alcohol, kombucha, has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that may work against foodborne pathogens.As far as the non-alcoholic spirits that have gained in popularity non-alcoholic whiskey, tequila and the likes they carry less calories than booze does, for those who need to watch their weight.Cutting BackOne of the main reasons for the rise in popularity of non-alcoholic drinks doesnt have to do with its supposed benefits. Non-alcoholic beer or seltzer allows people to cut back on booze.Nonalcoholic beers are a great way for individuals to reduce their intake of alcohol while still being able to enjoy the taste and experience of a beer, sobriety proponent Kerry Benson told Everyday Health. By removing the alcohol, youre taking out a compound that is toxic and that increases the risk of chronic disease.Studies have found as much. One paper published in 2023 found that people with alcohol use disorder were more likely to drink non-alcoholic beverages sometimes as an effort to replace alcohol in their diet. And according to reporting by The New York Times, even just replacing one of your usual drinks per week with a non-alcoholic one is likely to benefit your health.Are There Negative Impacts to Health? Not everything is positive with non-alcoholic drinks, however. For example, non-alcoholic beer could provide adolescents a stepping stone to the consumption of alcoholic beer.One study published recently in Behavioral Sciences conducted in Taiwan surveyed whether the consumption of non-alcoholic beer and influencer marketing could impact students decisions to drink actual alcohol. The survey revealed that influencer marketing of non-alcoholic beer could indeed affect their desire to drink non-alcoholic beer, as well as alcoholic beer.For individuals who did not purchase alcohol in the past year, both the exposure to influencer marketing and the consumption of non-alcoholic beer were associated with intending to purchase alcohol in the future, the researchers wrote, adding that this was also true about individuals who had previously abstained from drinking alcohol.In conclusion, when adolescents were exposed to influencer marketing of non-alcoholic beer they were more likely to consume it, which resulted in an increased likelihood that they would then purchase and consume alcohol, the researchers continued.As for other packaged mocktails or similar type non-alcoholic drinks, the question of whether they offer any actual health benefits other than not ruining your liver really depends on the ingredients. Many of these drinks still carry a lot of sugar, and artificial sweeteners may cause problems such as heart problems, and may not help those looking to lose weight.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Advances in Food and Nutrition Research. Chapter Three - Microbial Ecology of Fermented Vegetables and Non-Alcoholic Drinks and Current Knowledge on Their Impact on Human HealthEveryday Health. Everything You Need to Know About Nonalcoholic BeerNational Library of Medicine. Non-alcoholic beverage consumption among US adults who consume alcoholThe New York Times. What to Know About Non-Alcoholic BeveragesMission Health. The not-so-sweet effects of artificial sweeteners on the bodyJoshua Rapp Learn is an award-winning D.C.-based science writer. An expat Albertan, he contributes to a number of science publications like National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, Hakai, and others.

NASAs Parker Solar Probe has now marked itself safe from its closest-ever encounter with the sun.The probe sent a signal just before midnight on Dec. 26, saying it was alive and doing fine. This should come as a relief to NASA scientists since communication with the probe went dark Christmas Eve when it made its record-breaking closest ever pass a mere 3.8 million miles from the suns surface, according to a NASA blog. That might seem like a big distance, but in the universe, everything is relative. If the Earth and sun marked opposite end zones of an American football field, the probes latest pass took it to the suns four-yard line. Read More: How Old Is the Sun?Better Understanding the SunThe probe is collecting data that will help researchers better understand how the sun works. Scientists hope the information will help solve some solar mysteries, like why is the corona 300 times hotter than the suns actual surface, which is 300 miles below it? What powers the supersonic solar wind that blows charged particles into the solar system? And what makes those particles move at up to half the speed of light?This is one example of NASAs bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe, Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in another blog before the probe broke its record. We cant wait to receive that first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving the science data in the coming weeks.That data will help scientists better understand the Northern Lights because they are generated when the space weather driven by the suns supersonic winds interacts with Earths atmosphere. But there are practical concerns and reasons to understand these forces better as well. Geomagnetic storms can impair GPS satellites and could disable electricity grids.Scientists expect the probes first data transmissions from its close pass around January. This moment has been a long time coming, according to a Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory timeline. Long Time ComingWhen Eugene N. Parker was a professor at the University of Chicago in the mid-1950s, he predicted the solar wind with mathematical theory. In the 1970s, NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed a flyby mission but they didnt yet have the technology especially the means to protect an instrument from the suns heat.That changed in the 2000s. Scientists developed a carbon composite heat shield that can withstand temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit while holding the probes electronics and instruments to 85 F. They also created a cooling system for the spacecrafts solar panels by pumping pressurized water through titanium radiators, keeping their temps to 320 F while collecting energy to power the crafts instruments.Parker was present when the probe launched on August 12, 2018. He died on March 15, 2022, at age 94. The probe holds a plaque with a quote from its namesake: Lets see what lies ahead.As data begins flowing back from the probe after this and the next two passes, it should provide some answers.Read More: The Aurora Borealis Like You've Never Seen ItArticle SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:John's Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. A Star ExploredBefore joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

Solar calendar. Place of worship. UFO Landing site. Many uses have been theorized for Stonehenge. Researchers have now added another: monument to unity, they propose in an Archaeology International article.Because the stones making up different aspects of the mysterious structure were moved from many parts of the British Isles, there must have been a reason for it. After all, its not the only henge in town. Hundreds of other stone circles have been found in Britain. But almost all of them have used locally sourced building materials.The Significance of Distant StonesStonehenge is unique in that regard. Its building blocks were gathered from both near and far. The most recentand perhaps most famous example is the "Altar Stone." That dominant crosspiece was somehow transported from Scotland, about 700 miles to the north. The fact that all of its stones originated from distant regions, making it unique among over 900 stone circles in Britain, suggests that the stone circle may have had a political as well as a religious purpose as a monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos, Mike Parker Pearson, a University of College London archaeologist and author of the paper, said in a press release. But the Altar Stone is not a one-off. The article provides a comprehensive list of where each stone likely originated and when it was probably moved. For instance, its 43 bluestones were transported from West Wales about 140 miles away, while the larger sarsen stones originated about 15 miles northwest of Stonehenges site on the Salisbury Plain.Cultural Significance of Stonehenge Both the Altar Stones provenance and placement hint that it was moved such a great distance, not just because it is an exceptionally cool rock. The paper highlights how Stonehenges horizontal Altar Stone matches the size and placement of similar stones from circles of northeast Scotland, where the Altar Stone originated.Megalithic stones had ancestral significance, the authors write. They represent a peoples origins. So, the Altar Stone may have been offered by the people of northern Scotland to represent an alliance.Stonehenge was also built in two phases. The first one appeared to involve more local material on the site. The second phase included stones from farther away, including Scotland and Wales. The succession of stones could somehow mark the area of Stonehenge as increasingly cosmopolitan at least in the Neolithic sense.The distant origin of the Altar Stone confirms Stonehenges unique status as the one stone circle built entirely from non-local stone, a material microcosm projecting at an enormous scale, the paper concludes. It is consistent with recent interpretations of Stonehenge as a monument whose builders attempted ultimately unsuccessfully to establish some form of political unification and shared identity across much or even all of Britain, bringing together these extraordinary and alien rocks which symbolized and embodied far and distant communities within a complex material and monumental expression of unity between people, land, ancestors and the heavens.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:University College London. Stonehenge may have been built to unify the people of ancient BritainBefore joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.