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Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A Bermuda stalagmite reveals how the Gulf Stream shifted – and what it might do as the climate changes further
Beneath the subtropical paradise, Bermuda hosts a vast network of caves which contains records of Earth's climate history. Inside are mineral deposits called speleothems – including stalagmites on the cave floors more than six-foot tall. These grow slowly as water drips down from the cave ceiling, gaining a millimetre every few years. The stalagmites record the chemical signals of the dripwater that formed them. Cold weather tends to be windier, for example, leading to more sea spray and more seawater in the dripwater. Analysing the chemistry of one of these stalagmites has thus enabled us to indirectly reconstruct past sea surface temperatures. Our latest research, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, harnesses this information to show a long-term picture of Atlantic Ocean temperatures, with a datapoint every ten days back to the year 1449. This record shows the Gulf Stream moved northward 300 years ago – a sign that a major system of ocean currents called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (Amoc) started weakening then. The Gulf Stream is a major ocean current that moves warm surface water from the Gulf of Mexico northward across the Atlantic, helping keep western Europe mild. As the water travels north it cools and sinks, flowing back south at depth. Together, these processes form part of the ocean conveyor belt known as Amoc. If Amoc slows down too much, it could lead to dramatic regional climate change. Northern Europe would experience extreme cooling of up to 15°C, and rainfall and weather patterns across the tropics and subtropics would move and intensify. Scientists agree that this system is crucial for regulating climate, but there is great uncertainty surrounding its stability. Although some studies suggest there has been no recent weakening, most agree the system has weakened in response to rising global temperatures. However, we don't know for how long, and by how much, the Amoc has been slowing. One fingerprint of Amoc change is the position of the Gulf Stream. When the Amoc weakens, the Gulf Stream moves northward, crossing the Atlantic at higher latitudes. This is what our Bermudan stalagmite has revealed: before the year 1720, ocean temperatures were unusually high. This period coincides with the little ice age, a cold interval in the northern hemisphere between approximately 1300 and 1850. After 1720, Bermudan sea surface temperatures cooled substantially for more than a century. At the same time, records to the north (along the east coast of North America) show the opposite: warming where there had previously been cold temperatures. This shift suggests the Amoc may have begun weakening a long time ago, starting around 1720 – before widescale industrialisation. This indicates that the system may be more sensitive than previously thought, because it responded to natural melting of ice sheets earlier than expected. It could also mean the current Amoc is closer to a tipping point than expected. If a tipping point is crossed, the weakening would become self-perpetuating and lead to a near-complete shutdown of these vital ocean currents. A warning signal As global temperatures pass 1.5°C over the next few years, many climate models predict further weakening of the Amoc – and potentially even a collapse this century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global committee assessing climate science, estimates there is up to a 10% chance of collapse before 2100 – but new research suggests this probability could be even higher. Our study adds further historical context, showing that even small changes in ocean circulation can have large regional consequences. A sustained movement of the Gulf Stream would lead to changing regional temperatures, rainfall patterns and more extreme weather. This could have serious implications for wildlife and food security, as ecosystems struggle to adapt to the changing climate. Even if the Amoc does not cross a tipping point soon, our research shows the weakening could still have a significant impact on regional climate patterns. The record does not just tell us about the past – it's a warning that any amount of slowing down could have serious effects. Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation's environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who've subscribed so far. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. James Baldini received funding from the European Research Council (grant number 240167). Edward Forman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
LabConnect Partners with Kits4Life to Reduce Kit Waste and Advance Sustainable Clinical Trials
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn., Aug. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and industry leadership in sustainable clinical research, LabConnect is proud to announce our partnership with Kits4Life, an initiative of the MedSurplus Alliance. This collaboration reflects our broader ESG strategy and strengthens LabConnect's role as the world's most agile and responsible central laboratory services provider. Through this partnership, LabConnect will work with sponsors and clinical sites to identify and manage eligible kits for donation, reducing landfill waste while contributing to global health equity. Clinical trials are essential to developing life-changing therapies, but they can also generate significant material waste—particularly unused and expired specimen collection kits. These kits often contain high-quality medical materials that, when responsibly redirected, can have a second life in communities with critical healthcare needs. 'We are excited to partner with Kits4Life as a framework for recovering surplus clinical trial kits and ensuring they are ethically and safely donated to organizations,' states Julia Tarasenko, Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer at LabConnect. LabConnect's ESG strategy focuses on transforming clinical trials into a more sustainable and inclusive global enterprise. From carbon footprint reduction to ethical sourcing and community engagement, we are integrating environmental and social responsibility across the full lifecycle of clinical research. Our work with Kits4Life is one more way we are turning strategy into action—by diverting valuable materials from waste streams and redirecting them to improve lives. 'We believe that sustainability and scientific innovation are not mutually exclusive—they are mutually reinforcing. As the clinical research industry evolves, partnerships like this help chart a path forward where environmental responsibility and breakthrough therapies go hand in hand,' adds Tarasenko. About LabConnect LabConnect is the leading provider of Central Laboratory Services, FSP and Scientific Consulting, and Data Integration and Transformation Services for analytically and logistically complex studies such as immuno-oncology, cell and gene therapies, and rare & orphan diseases. LabConnect's unique combination of state-of-the-art technology, world-class laboratories, easy access to major and emerging markets, and extensive specialized testing expertise means that drug development companies can rely on one provider for all their central laboratory service needs. Learn more at and follow on LinkedIn. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE LabConnect
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
An AI System Found a New Kind of Physics that Scientists Had Never Seen Before
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: For all the problems AI is causing society, one of its greatest benefits lies in the world of science. A new study focused on the chaotic dynamics of dusty plasmas found that, when trained properly, AI can actually discover new physics all on its own. By providing the most detailed description of this type of matter, the AI corrected long-held theoretical beliefs about how particles behave inside a dusty plasma. In more ways than one, artificial intelligence is making the world worse. Generative AI now spews countless amounts of 'AI slop,' and in classrooms, AI is slowly eroding critical thinking skills, which are… you know… critical. That's not even mentioning AI's unfortunate role as environmental decimator and job destroyer. Luckily, some artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) models have grander ambitions than ripping off beloved animators and mass-producing essays at an eighth-grade reading level. Take, for instance, a new ML model developed by a team of Emory University scientists. Typically, machine-learning algorithms are used as a tool to help scientists sift through immense amounts of data or optimize experiments, but this particular ML model actually discovered new physics on its own—at least, as it relates to dusty plasma. You're likely familiar with plasma—that fourth state of matter that actually makes up 99.9% of all ordinary matter in the universe. Dusty plasma is simply the same mix of ionized gas, but with charged dust particles. This type of plasma can be found throughout both space and terrestrial environments. Wildfires, for example, generate dusty plasmas when charged particles of soot mixed with smoke. In this new study—published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)—a team of researchers describes how their trained ML model successfully provided the most detailed description of dusty plasma physics yet, creating precise predictions for non-reciprocal forces. 'Our AI method is not a black box: we understand how and why it works,' Justin Burton, a co-author of the study from Emory, said in a press statement. 'The framework it provides is also universal. It could potentially be applied to other many-body systems to open new routes to discovery.' Put simply, non-reciprocal forces (as their name suggests) occur when forces exerted between two particles in a plasma are not the same. The authors describe the phenomenon as two boats impacted by the wake of the other—relative position can impact the particles' attractive or repulsive forces. 'In a dusty plasma, we described how a leading particle attracts the trailing particle, but the trailing particle always repels the leading one,' Ilya Nemenman, another co-author of the study from Emory, said in a press statement. 'This phenomenon was expected by some but now we have a precise approximation for it which didn't exist previously.' The ML algorithm was also able to correct some theoretical misconceptions about dusty plasma. For example, scientists thought that the charge of the particle was proportional to its size, but the model confirms that while a larger particle does contain a larger charge, it isn't proportional, as it can also be influenced by density and temperature. They also found that the charge between particles isn't only influenced by the distance between two particles, but also by the particles' sizes. One the trickiest parts of this project, according to the authors, was designing the ML algorithm in the first place. Generally, AI acquires its abilities by being fed (or training on) datasets—give AI one million pictures of a monkey, and it'll get progressively better at identifying a monkey when it sees one. However, when it comes to discovering new physics, there isn't much training data to go on. So, the team had to create a structure that allowed it to work with the data it did have while still giving it latitude to explore unknown physics. 'I think of it like the Star Trek motto, to boldly go where no one has before,' Burton said. 'Used properly, AI can open doors to whole new realms to explore.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life? Solve the daily Crossword
