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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
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Are we in a sixth mass extinction?
Around 66 million years ago, a six-mile-wide asteroid hit Earth, triggering the extinction of three-quarters of all living species. The age of dinosaurs, which had lasted 165 million years, ended with a fiery crash and suddenly sooty skies. Farther back in our planet's history, volcanic eruptions, rapid climate change, and plummeting oxygen levels have caused at least four additional mass extinctions, with smaller pulses of biodiversity loss also showing up in the fossil record. In each of the five largest events, which spanned anywhere from thousands to tens of millions of years, at least 75 percent of Earth's species died out. These are the most commonly agreed upon major mass extinctions in paleontology. You've also likely heard about a sixth one. Many ecologists and biologists say we're on the precipice (or already in the midst) of another era of mass extinction. This sixth mass extinction, also referred to as the Holocene or Anthropocene extinction, is described as ongoing and caused by human activities. Hunting, overfishing, habitat destruction, human encroachment, and invasive species introductions are the major drivers of the losses incurred thus far. Human-caused climate change is also set to become another factor, as decades of rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and increasingly extreme weather catch up to already stressed ecosystems. It's indisputable that humans shape life on Earth in major ways, and that animals and plants are dying out at an alarming rate. But is it true that our impact is on par with that of an asteroid? Not all scientists agree. There is no question that Earth is losing species fast. 'Biodiversity crisis is a pretty accurate term' to describe the present moment, says John Wiens, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Arizona. 'Extinction crisis' is another, he adds, 'based on the large number of species that are threatened with extinction.' Five other experts that Popular Science corresponded with for this article all agree on this 'crisis' terminology. In comparison with background levels of extinction, all of our sources said that current extinction rates are much higher. Extinction isn't always a sign of disaster. It's also a natural outcome of evolution. As species diverge, compete, and struggle to survive, not all of them make it long-term. Conditions on Earth shift over geologic time, and those forces inevitably lead to some dead ends on the tree of life. [ Related: Earth's 5 catastrophic mass extinctions, explained. ] However, throughout most of our planet's history, the rate of new species emerging has exceeded the rate of species dying out, says Gerardo Ceballos, an ecologist and conservation biologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Thus, biodiversity normally exists in a positive balance. Currently, we're losing species far faster than new ones emerge. Present extinction rates are up to 100 times faster than background levels, according to one 2015 study co-authored by Ceballos. In that analysis, Ceballos and his colleagues estimated the natural vertebrate extinction rate sits at around two species lost per 10,000 species each century. Then, they compared that statistic with the number of confirmed and likely extinctions recorded on the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. They determined that, even using conservative numbers, the extinction rate for every vertebrate group was between eight and 100 times the background rate. The species losses incurred in the past 100 years would have taken thousands of years to occur naturally, per the assessment. Other counts find the current rate of extinction is even higher. One often cited 2014 study concluded Earth is losing species 1,000 times faster than natural background rates. That analysis also reported the level of loss is poised to accelerate to 10,000 times the background rate in the near future. These numbers vary widely in large part because the estimates of background extinction rates are difficult to pin down. The fossil record is incomplete, so scientists generally rely on mathematical models and reconstructions of the past to determine what was once alive and when it died out. Small shifts in starting assumptions can lead to major changes in the final calculations. The time period you're calculating average extinction rate over and types of organisms you're assessing also impact the result. This same ambiguity in estimating extinction rate persists in the present. Though Wiens describes our moment as a biodiversity crisis, he doesn't believe it meets the bar for a sixth mass extinction. 'No one has provided a quantitative analysis that has really shown that,' he says. If the top five major mass extinctions in the paleontological record each killed off at least 75 percent of species at the time, then the sixth one should theoretically cross the same threshold. Yet so far, the IUCN has confirmed fewer than 1,000 extinctions from the past 500 years–just about 0.1 percent of all known species, according to an analysis co-authored by Wiens in April. We have not catalogued every living species, and the IUCN is far from having assessed all known species. The IUCN database is also biased, skewing towards large, charismatic vertebrates and wealthy regions like North America. The criteria for extinction are strict, requiring extensive surveys, and yet sometimes species reappear after being declared gone forever. Still, the IUCN dataset is among the best windows we have into the state of life on Earth, and it suggests there's a way to go before three quarters of species are gone. [ Related: Earth's 'Great Dying' killed 80-90% of life. How some amphibians survived. ] However, it's worth noting that other assessments estimate a much higher proportion of species have already disappeared. One 2022 paper, which extrapolated extinction rates from data on mollusks, found that upwards of 10 percent of all species may have gone extinct in the past 500 years. And, those like Ceballos who argue a major mass extinction has already begun, point to calculations that indicate we could reach that grim, 75 percent mile marker in just a few centuries. If all IUCN threatened species went extinct in the next 100 years, and that rate of species loss continued, Earth would surpass 75 percent loss of species across most vertebrate animal groups in under 550 years, according to a landmark 2011 review paper. This study published in Nature, remains among the most thorough quantitative assessments of extinction trends. Yet to write every threatened species off as doomed to imminent extinction would be a mistake, says Stuart Pimm, a conservation biologist at Duke University and president of the conservation non-profit, Saving Nature. 'We have no idea what the future is,' he says. And, in the meantime, 'there's a lot of things we can do.' Pimm points to conservation success stories like the rebound of certain baleen whale populations and the stabilization of savanna elephant numbers over the past 25 years. He worries that claims about the sixth extinction might leave the public resigned to what might otherwise be a preventable catastrophe. 'It's not inevitable,' Pimm says. From the paleontological perspective, mass extinctions are something that can only be definitively confirmed in the past tense. They are defined based on the proportion of species that existed before, but not after a cataclysmic event like a major asteroid strike. If there's not yet an after, it's impossible to say for sure what number of lineages died out. There are no crystal balls in science. And in that uncertainty, there's room for hope that we could stop species from sliding off the cliff. But nearly half of all animals are losing population worldwide, according to a 2023 estimate, based on trend data for more than 71,000 species. Barring exceptional levels of investment and intervention, lots of species are already doomed to extinction, says Sarah Otto, an evolutionary biologist at the University of British Columbia. 'Many of the extinctions we think that humans are causing haven't actually happened yet. These are the 'living dead' species whose population sizes are small, whose habitats are fragmented,' she explains. 'There's a lot of extinction debt.' [ Related: An 'ancestral bottleneck' took out nearly 99 percent of the human population 800,000 years ago. ] A 2020 report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that an average of 25 percent of species across animal and plant groups are threatened with extinction within decades, and that the human impacts to blame are intensifying. Without preventative action, as species disappear, 'there will be a further acceleration in the global rate of species extinction,' the report authors write. Species depend on one another for survival, Otto notes. For example, in our acidifying and warming oceans, coral reefs are teetering on the brink. If they go, then the fate of the many species dependent on the infrastructure they provide is unclear. Major losses of marine life could then have knock-on effects on land. Notably, the IPBES report doesn't directly consider the influence of climate change on future extinction rate. If it did, 'those projected numbers could really go up,' says under Wiens' comparatively rosy outlook, he still expects 12 to 40 percent species losses over the next century. And if species don't disappear across their entire ranges, local losses and population declines can still have major repercussions for ecosystem function and human society. The 75 percent threshold is an arbitrary line, Otto notes. Lots can go wrong before we officially place sixth in the world's worst contest. Human impacts on biodiversity 'will be seen in the fossil record,' she says. 'Whether or not it's going to be up there in the top six is really a matter of what we do next.' This story is part of Popular Science's Ask Us Anything series, where we answer your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall. Have something you've always wanted to know? Ask us.
New Straits Times
23-05-2025
- Science
- New Straits Times
Malaysia's coral reefs in crisis as 34.1pct declared dead
KUANTAN: Malaysia's coral reefs are rapidly vanishing, with nearly 80 per cent showing signs of bleaching and 34.1 per cent already dead due to severe damage. In total, 50.7 per cent of reefs nationwide have been affected, according to a recent comprehensive marine health assessment. The report also identified Terengganu as the worst-affected state, recording a coral mortality rate of 44.2 per cent. Terengganu is renowned for its exceptional dive spots, especially around its island marine parks. This destruction not only affects marine structures but also severely impacts the broader ocean ecosystem — including fish nurseries, coastal protection, and one of the planet's primary sources of oxygen, Utusan Malaysia reported today. The loss of coral reefs has been likened to destroying the "womb of life" in the ocean. These national treasures contribute between RM10.1 million and RM174 million annually, excluding their immense value in fisheries, ecotourism, coastal protection, pharmaceutical potential, and aesthetic importance. The 2024 Malaysian Coral Bleaching Impact Report, jointly released by Coralku and Reef Check Malaysia following surveys in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. Professor Dr Zaidi Che Cob, Deputy Director (Development and Strategy) at the Centre for Natural and Physical Laboratory Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (ALAF-UKM), said that coral bleaching is not a natural phenomenon, but a global emergency that must be urgently addressed. Malaysia's coral reefs are now in a "critical" state due to severe bleaching, placing the country's marine environment at serious risk, he warned. "Coral is not merely a marine structure — it gives life, nurtures fish hatcheries, protects coasts, and contributes significantly to the world's oxygen supply. Its destruction is akin to demolishing the ocean's 'womb of life'," Zaidi said. "The coral ecosystem is vital to the Earth's blue heart. Without it, much of marine biodiversity will vanish. "These marine life forms support global fisheries, regulate the climate, produce medicines, and generate more than half of the oxygen we breathe. Yet we are now losing marine species at an alarming rate," he said. Zaidi said coral bleaching and death are the main causes, with industrial trawling and microplastics further harming marine life. The current coral bleaching signals our entry into the Anthropocene era — a geological age in which human activity has become the dominant influence on the environment and life on Earth, he said. "The Anthropocene era undoubtedly brings immense challenges to the ocean's ecological balance, especially in this country," he said. "Pollution, climate change, and habitat destruction are taking a serious toll on marine life. The scale and pace of biodiversity loss and species extinction are deeply concerning," Zaidi said.
Scoop
08-05-2025
- Science
- Scoop
Archeologists Join Geologists In The Quest To Define The Age Of Humans
The evolution of the human mind has allowed us to transcend our modern understandings of time and expand into the realm of 'deep time thinking.' One example of this is the Geologic Time Scale (GTS), a human construct that traces the astrophysical events that have affected the composition and structure of the Earth since it was formed some 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists have assembled bits and pieces of this huge temporal scale into periods of relative climatic and biotic stability based on geological and fossil data. By ordering these events sequentially in time, they have been able to reconstruct when, how, and under what conditions life emerged on the planet. Under the aegis of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) is charged with defining geological epochs based on fundamental changes registered in the Earth's geological formations. The GTS is often depicted with spiraling concentric branches divided into segments representing distinct geological epochs defined by periods of relative geobiological stability. These epochs are named, dated, and ordered, and the length of each segment is proportional to its duration relative to the other phases. As we progress toward the outer rings of the spiral, we notice that the time segments gradually become smaller, especially around 500 million years ago after the unprecedented proliferation of complex life forms that appeared during the Cambrian explosion, which accelerated the pace of global ecological changes registered in the Earth's layers. The emergence of the first humanoid species has been traced back to only around 7 million years ago and is placed at the extreme tip of the last branch of the spiral, underscoring how little time has passed, relatively, since our ancestors appeared on the planet. Based on global climatic data, the evolutionary story of the genus Homo has taken place throughout the Quaternary Period that began around 2.58 million years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch. This period roughly overlaps with the invention of the first breakthrough human technologies made from stone. A global warming event that began 11,650 years ago around the same time as the emergence of early sedentary civilisations in the Fertile Crescent signals the start of the Holocene Epoch, in which we currently live. The Anthropocene (The Age of Humans) has been proposed as a new geological epoch after or within the Holocene, and, if formalised, would be the first to be introduced based on geologically observable effects of human activity on the planet. This compelling proposal spurred the establishment of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), which is tasked to evaluate whether the geophysical signature of human behavior is sufficient to justify placing this new epoch at the apex of the spiraling branches of the GTS. While many scientists agree on the idea in principle, a major point of contention is when exactly the Anthropocene began. Not surprisingly, pinpointing a precise threshold when human activity caused recognisable global geological alteration has proven to be a very difficult task that geologists and archeologists are working together to resolve. Some archeologists consider the Anthropocene as an incremental process, whose genesis can be identified diachronically in the Earth's strata as early as tens of thousands of years ago, when modern humans consolidated planetary dominance, appropriating and transforming landscapes and biotic resources in archeologically detectable ways. Anthropogenic signals, such as changes in ecosystems brought on by human overhunting of ice age megafauna, can be traced back to this period. By 10,000 years ago, plant and animal domestication boosted human ecosystem engineering as populations grew steadily through time. By around 5,000 years ago, the first urban dwellings drew swelling numbers of individuals into restricted areas, and technological innovation surged after the invention of metallurgy. Growing populations and intensified farming consumed and modified land, and animal husbandry led to increases in methane emissions traceable in the Earth's sedimentary record. The human imprint on the planet becomes significantly more conspicuous after the industrial age was launched in the Western world around 200 years ago, with an upsurge in carbon emissions from burning coal to feed technological development and increasing concentration of greenhouse gases driving global warming. While viable arguments support each of these signposts along our evolutionary highway, the AWG concluded that the most suitable time to begin the Anthropocene would be in the 1950s, when the Great Acceleration sharply augmented the signs of human activity in the global geological record. This made the signs even more clearly distinguishable thanks to a wide range of indicators synchronously chronicling their symptoms, like climate deregulation, atmospheric, terrestrial, and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, excessive resource consumption, and massive land transformations. In March 2024, the IUGS decided not to formally integrate the Anthropocene into the GTS; a verdict that has hardly quelled disagreements surrounding this matter. And there are other problems related to this issue. For example, while the existing chronostratigraphic divisions of the GTS register periods of stability lasting millions of years, the Anthropocene would be the first geological epoch to occur within only a human lifetime. Even if we situate its beginning thousands of years before the industrial revolution, the Anthropocene sedimentary archive is currently still under formation. No matter the outcome of this fascinating planet-wide debate, the Anthropocene has indelibly entered into scientific and social discourse as the world faces many challenges posed by the unprecedented expansion of advanced human populations with unique techno-social behaviors that are now clearly linked to cataclysmic climatic events and biological genocide. It has become evident that the implications of the Anthropocene now exceed the question of its validity as a geochronological division in the Earth's evolutionary history. While geologists examine the end results of long-term paleoecological scenarios, archeologists center on more recent layers that record the origins and evolution of human life (the archeosphere). Fascinating interpretations are coming out of the collaboration between geologists and archeologists on the issue of the Anthropocene. Among these, the concept of the physical technosphere is particularly interesting since it addresses questions about how the entire mass of materials manufactured and modified by humans is becoming assimilated into the Earth system. In 2016, Jan Zalasiewicz and colleagues estimated the total mass of the physical technosphere to be a staggering 30 trillion tons, and it continues to grow, far surpassing both the volume and the diversity of the domesticated biosphere (plants and animals). 'We define the physical technosphere as consisting of technological materials within which a human component can be distinguished, with part in active use and part being a material residue. The human signature may be recognised by characteristics including form, function and composition that result from deliberate design, manufacture and processing. This includes extraction, processing and refining raw geological materials into novel forms and combinations of elements, compounds and products,' stated the article by Zalasiewicz and colleagues published in the Anthropocene Review, United Kingdom. The study further added, 'The active technosphere is made up of buildings, roads, energy supply structures, all tools, machines, and consumer goods that are currently in use or usable, together with farmlands and managed forests on land, the trawler scours and other excavations of the seafloor in the oceans, and so on. It is highly diverse in structure, with novel inanimate components including new minerals and materials… and a living part that includes crop plants and domesticated animals. Humans both produce and are sustained by (and now are dependent on) the rest of the physical technosphere.' Although it was formed culturally because of anthropogenic agency, the technosphere combined with natural forces, has become an integral part of the functioning Earth system. It operates above and below the ground, in the seas, and even in outer space, with components interacting constantly and dynamically with the lithosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere. While these other spheres have evolved over millions, or even billions of years, the technosphere—like the Anthropocene—has existed for a comparatively minute period of time. Continuously growing in pace with human demography and technological advances, the technosphere now generates so much excess waste that it cannot all be recycled back into the system, creating an imbalance in the structural relationships guiding the planet's equilibrium and generating traceable Anthropocene deposits. Beyond its physical aspects, the technosphere also encompasses the human social structures that enable it to function and in which all individuals play a part. Much like the synapses within the human brain or molecular systems forming the parts of a larger whole, humans constitute the individual components of the technosphere, cooperating to enable it to function while also creating the need for its existence. 'The technosphere is also manifest in the wide distribution of myriad artefacts such as needles, motors, and medicines, and by technological or technologically assisted processes like pumping and harvesting, as well as by nominally human activities that are closely tied to technological processes, such as watching television or filling out tax forms. Most such localised systems, processes and artefacts derive from, or are connected either directly or indirectly to, the globe-spanning networks of the technosphere,' stated the 2014 article by P. K. Haff, published in the Geological Society, London. Following geological precepts and using methodologies classically applied in archeological sciences, the imprint of human activity on the planet is gradually being defined, quantified, mapped, and categorised, while novel subjects like technospheric taxonomy are being developed to complement traditional geological and stratigraphic practices. Just like the remnants of prehistoric material culture—like stone tools or pottery sherds—the objects we produce, use, and throw away in our daily lives are transforming into technofossils that will become markers in the chronocultural framework of human evolution, providing fodder for future archeologists. At the generational scale, residues from polluting gases, sewage, toxic chemicals, and microplastics are melding into sedimentary layers, and artificial ground transformed by landfills, war rubble, mining, and urban settings is converted into novel anthropic geological settings with the passage of time. There is no doubt that scarring and modification of land and sea resulting from wars, agriculture, urbanisation, mining, and other human activities are being incorporated into the Earth's geological layers. The evolution of human technologies has led our species to embark on an ongoing process that began incrementally and snowballed exponentially over the millennia, converting into the emblem of modern human heritage. The global distribution of all human waste will be chronicled in relation to its position in sub-actual sedimentary formations that—in the not so distant future—will serve to define and classify the sequential cultural contexts of the Anthropocene. Author Bio: Deborah Barsky is a writing fellow for the Human Bridges, a researcher at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution, and an associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain, with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). She is the author of Human Prehistory: Exploring the Past to Understand the Future (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Credit Line:
The Guardian
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Apes, toilets, conflicts and cowboys: Sony World Photography awards
This is a documentary project, spanning six years and four continents, that explores the fractured relationship between humans and the natural world. Nelson says: 'Kenya's reserves offer the chance to see wild animals in what remains of their natural habitat. In Maasai Mara, tourists engage in colonial fantasies, re-enacting the picnic scene in Out of Africa' The Sony World Photography awards 2025 exhibition is at Somerset House, London, 17 April until 5 May Taking the concept of the Anthropocene, a term for the current period in Earth's history, which is characterised by humans being the dominant influence on the environment, Nelson's series focuses on humanity's response to its impact on the planet. The project looks at artificial spaces, created by humans as a means to 'experience' and interact with nature, from safari parks, nature reserves and resorts, to natural history museums, zoos and green cities This award goes to acclaimed documentary photographer Susan Meiselas. Known for her collaborative approach to portraiture, and for shedding light on lesser-known narratives, Meiselas's work has been instrumental in shaping contemporary documentary practices, and the conversation around participation in photography. More than 60 images by Meiselas, including excerpts from some of her landmark series, are on view as part of the Sony exhibition Candomblé practitioner Samara Souza makes an offering to Yemanjá, the Yoruba deity of the sea waters. Yemanjá's name means 'the mother whose sons are fishes' and she is the most popular orixá in Brazil. Due to syncretism, in Brazil she is represented by an image of a white, skinny woman, while in Africa her image shows a corpulent woman with big milking breasts. M'kumba is an ongoing project that illustrates the resilience of Afro-Brazilian communities in the face of local religious intolerance Some 117 billion humans have gazed at the moon, yet only 24 people – all American men – have seen it up close. During the Covid pandemic, the artist discovered the chance to apply for the ultimate art residency: dearMoon. In 2018, Japanese billionaire and art collector Yusaku Maezawa announced a search for eight artists to join him on a week-long lunar mission aboard SpaceX's Starship. In 2021, Rhiannon Adam was chosen as the only female crew member. For three years she immersed herself in the space industry, until Maezawa cancelled the mission Part of the reason the second amendment was written was to ensure that American civilians were sufficiently armed to deal with a British invasion. Yet when Tom Franks knocked on their door and asked – with a British accent – if he could see their guns, have a chat and take their photograph, he was invited straight into the subjects' homes. The photographer spent over two weeks in Prescott, Arizona, visiting residents to learn about the normalisation of gun ownership in the US Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity that we can all relate to. This project explores the tumultuous public lives of young people in the gang-governed Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa, where their daily commute carries the risk of death. Using handmade, lo-fi experimental techniques, this project explores how young people have to walk to and from school avoiding the daily threat of gang crossfire. It offers a rare insight into this confusing and challenging world In April 2022, Irina Shkoda left Ukraine for France. As a refugee, she entered a culture that was entirely foreign to her, which required her to adapt, to speak a new language, to submit to new rules: to lose parts of herself in order to be accepted. Through this project, she explores her personal experience of hospitality, both given and received Guayaquil is Ecuador's largest city and its main port, but prioritising its urban, political and economic interests has had a severe impact on a number of endemic species. Two of the most serious problems are linked to trafficking and urban developments into the forest and estuary. The Sacha Rescue Foundation was established to protect wildlife and now receives a large number of species that it aims to return to the wild or transfer to conservation centres. Some arrivals come from illegal trafficking and possession This series follows the inspiring story of four girls from Chad who, in 2019, received scholarships from a Spanish foundation to move to Spain and pursue their dream of becoming professional gymnasts. The girls worked hard throughout their training, with the goal of representing Chad at the Paris Olympic Games 2024. Although they did not qualify, their story has had a transformative impact on their home country, leading to the creation of Chad's first gymnastics federation, which already has five registered clubs Brazil saw its hottest year in 2024. Although the high temperatures affected all regions of the country, three biomes were especially impacted, with drought, fire and deforestation transforming the landscape into apocalyptic scenes. In the Amazon, extreme drought turned some of the world's most powerful rivers into sand deserts. This fuelled forest fires, with 134,979 blazes in the first 11 months of the year. The Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland on the planet, also faced a historic drought due to human activity and the climate crisis This is an urban redevelopment project in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, that involves the design and construction of modern public restrooms that encourages their use. The distinctive buildings are as much works of art as they are a public convenience. These images are part of a larger body of work documenting the architectural aesthetics of these structures in their urban environment India, the world's most populous country, with 1.4 billion people, has only a handful of female skaters. It is here that Shred the Patriarchy comes to life, portraying how – facing prejudice and threats – some women have rebelled, transforming skateboarding into a form of resistance against the patriarchy, through the art of falling and getting back up. Many have managed to avoid arranged marriages, while others have gained financial independence Still Waiting presents collages that capture moments of pause, of waiting. They depict the liminal space between events, a threshold where time seems to stretch and meanings remain unfixed. The juxtaposition of objects within the space leaves room for interpretation, inviting surreal flights of thought. Everything is suspended, held in a fragile equilibrium, where intervention feels imminent 'There is hardly any other country in Europe,' says Toby Binder, 'where a past conflict is still as present in daily life as it is in Northern Ireland.' It is not only the physical barriers – the walls and fences – but also the psychological divisions in society. For many years, Binder has been documenting what it means for young people, all born after the peace agreement was signed in 1998, to grow up under this intergenerational tension in both Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods The musk ox has the exceptional ability to thrive in the most extreme winter weather conditions. This places the magnificent animal among the rare survivors of the last ice age. For several years, Pascal Beaudenon has been observing musk ox during winter in the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella national park in Norway, where they were reintroduced in the 20th century. This series was taken on the Høgsnita massif and shows the behaviour of musk ox as they attempt to save energy, preserve their body heat and protect their young Memories of Dust is a long-term project that explores traditional masculinity in the photographer's home state of Texas, by examining the cowboy and his place in a fast-changing society. The cowboy is a longstanding symbol of North America, and is romanticised as a 'real man', the strong, silent type, lonesome, self-reliant and emotionally distant. As Alex Bex travelled across Texas, spending time on ranches, he learned about the realities, routines and hardships of the cowboy, contrasting them with cultural myth The fragile Wadden Sea is one of Europe's last true wilderness areas. This immense wetland was designated a Unesco world heritage site in 2009, and it was here, in the late 19th century, that modern ecology was born. Today, threatened by the climate crisis, it has become a living laboratory for innovative eco-sustainable practices, as scientists grapple with the pressing challenges of the future Alquimia Textil is a collaborative project undertaken by Nicolás Garrido Huguet and the researcher and fashion designer María Lucía Muñoz, which showcases the natural dyeing techniques practised by the artisans of Pumaqwasin in Chinchero, Cusco, Peru. The project aims to bring visibility to, and help preserve, these ancestral practices, which demand many hours of meticulous work that is often underestimated within the textile sector This project invites viewers to consider what it means for a country to grow, and the advantages and disadvantages linked to that growth, by overlaying archival photographs from the 1940s to 1960s within current scenes of the same location. Early in Japan's period of rapid economic growth from 1945 to 1973, the trade-off for affluence was pollution in many parts of the country. As an island, its land and resource constraints also led to an uneven population distribution
Observer
07-04-2025
- Science
- Observer
You Can Make Amber Fossils in 24 Hours, Instead of Millions of Years
Amber is coveted the world over as both jewelry and a vessel for prehistoric remnants, with rarer specimens preserving ancient water, air bubbles, plants, insects or even birds. Typically, amber forms over millions of years as tree resin fossilizes, but paleontologists have sped that up, creating amberlike fossils from pine resin in 24 hours. The technique could help reveal the biochemistry of amber as it forms, a process that otherwise would remain hidden in the fog of prehistory. Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the results of the fast-fossilization experiment are akin to a meal made in a pressure cooker. 'It's similar to an Instapot,' said Evan Saitta, a research associate at the Field Museum in Chicago and co-author of the paper. The recipe for synthetic amber started with pine resin from the Chicago Botanic Garden. Saitta and his co-author, Thomas Kaye, an independent paleontologist, placed half-inch sediment disks in which the resin was embedded in a device that Kaye built using a medical pill compressor, air canisters and other parts. By both heating and pressuring the samples, researchers were trying to simulate diagenesis, the slow chemical transformation required before sediment consolidates into rock. 'Diagenesis is the ultimate hurdle you need to pass to become a fossil,' Saitta said. 'It's sort of the final boss.' Some samples were imperfect, but a few echoed amber's physical properties, such as darkened coloration, fracture lines, dehydration and increased luster. Looking ahead, experimental fossilization techniques may even allow scientists to explore the fossils of the future, Saitta said. How will Anthropocene life fossilize? What would happen to tissue or bone infused with microplastic or industrial heavy metals? We won't be here millions of years from now to find out. But with a pressure-cookerlike device, we may get closer. — RICHARD FISHER / NYT
