Latest news with #ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Iron from steel and coal manufacturing is changing the North Pacific ecosystem: Study
Iron released from coal combustion and steel production is altering the ecosystem in a critical part of the North Pacific, a new study has found. About 39 percent of dissolved iron in the uppermost layer of the ocean is rooted in human industrial activity, according to the study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Iron is essential for the growth of microscopic phytoplankton in the ocean, but industrial emissions contain aerosolized iron, which quickly dissolves in the ocean and disrupts nutrient balances, the authors noted. These airborne metals, they explained, can flow to distant lands or oceans before getting scrubbed from the atmosphere via rain. 'This is an example of the large-scale impact that human pollution can have on marine ecosystems that are thousands of miles away from the source,' lead author Nick Hawco, an assistant professor in oceanography at the University of Hawaii Manoa, said in a statement. Hawco and his colleagues sampled oceanic water and phytoplankton samples across the North Pacific Transition Zone — an area just north of Hawaii — on four expeditions between 2016 and 2019. They also evaluated the properties of iron in these waters to identify whether the unique 'signature' of industry-generated iron was present. The scientists observed that the phytoplankton in the region tend to be iron-deficient during the spring and that a surge in iron supply boosts their seasonal bloom. But that burst also causes these microscopic marine algae to deplete other nutrients more rapidly, which then leads to a crash later in the season, according to the study. In tandem with their observations of this boom-and-bust trend, the researchers also confirmed the presence of industrial iron in the region, thousands of miles away from any possible source. 'The ocean has boundaries that are invisible to us but known to all sorts of microbes and animals that live there,' Hawco said. The North Pacific Transition Zone, he explained, is one of these critical boundaries, as this region separates low-nutrient ocean whirlpools from nutrient ecosystems in the north. 'With more iron coming into the system, that boundary is migrating north, but we are also expecting to see these boundaries shift northward as the ocean warms,' Hawco added. Similar such effects may have occurred in areas of the North Atlantic during the industrialization of North American and Europe, as coal-powered shipping saw an uptick in the early 20th century, the authors noted. While Hawco acknowledged that the changes impacting the North Pacific Transition Zone may not necessarily be entirely negative, he warned that regions closer to Hawaii are among those reaping the negatives of these developments. 'It's a one-two punch: industrial iron is impacting the base of the food web and the warming of the ocean is pushing these phytoplankton-rich waters further and further away from Hawaii,' he said. Going forward, Hawco and his colleagues added that they are working on developing new techniques to monitor iron nutrition in ocean plankton. Having greater insight into the metal's presence, they stressed, could help shed light on how changes in iron supply could be influencing ocean life. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
20 hours ago
- Science
- The Hill
Iron from steel and coal manufacturing is changing the North Pacific ecosystem: Study
Iron released from coal combustion and steel production is altering the ecosystem in a critical part of the North Pacific, a new study has found. About 39 percent of dissolved iron in the uppermost layer of the ocean is rooted in human industrial activity, according to the study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Iron is essential for the growth of microscopic phytoplankton in the ocean, but industrial emissions contain aerosolized iron, which quickly dissolves in the ocean and disrupts nutrient balances, the authors noted. These airborne metals, they explained, can flow to distant lands or oceans before getting scrubbed from the atmosphere via rain. 'This is an example of the large-scale impact that human pollution can have on marine ecosystems that are thousands of miles away from the source,' lead author Nick Hawco, an assistant professor in oceanography at the University of Hawaii Manoa, said in a statement. Hawco and his colleagues sampled oceanic water and phytoplankton samples across the North Pacific Transition Zone — an area just north of Hawaii — on four expeditions between 2016 and 2019. They also evaluated the properties of iron in these waters to identify whether the unique 'signature' of industry-generated iron was present. The scientists observed that the phytoplankton in the region tend to be iron-deficient during the spring and that a surge in iron supply boosts their seasonal bloom. But that burst also causes these microscopic marine algae to deplete other nutrients more rapidly, which then leads to a crash later in the season, according to the study. In tandem with their observations of this boom-and-bust trend, the researchers also confirmed the presence of industrial iron in the region, thousands of miles away from any possible source. 'The ocean has boundaries that are invisible to us but known to all sorts of microbes and animals that live there,' Hawco said. The North Pacific Transition Zone, he explained, is one of these critical boundaries, as this region separates low-nutrient ocean whirlpools from nutrient ecosystems in the north. 'With more iron coming into the system, that boundary is migrating north, but we are also expecting to see these boundaries shift northward as the ocean warms,' Hawco added. Similar such effects may have occurred in areas of the North Atlantic during the industrialization of North American and Europe, as coal-powered shipping saw an uptick in the early 20th century, the authors noted. While Hawco acknowledged that the changes impacting the North Pacific Transition Zone may not necessarily be entirely negative, he warned that regions closer to Hawaii are among those reaping the negatives of these developments. 'It's a one-two punch: industrial iron is impacting the base of the food web and the warming of the ocean is pushing these phytoplankton-rich waters further and further away from Hawaii,' he said. Going forward, Hawco and his colleagues added that they are working on developing new techniques to monitor iron nutrition in ocean plankton. Having greater insight into the metal's presence, they stressed, could help shed light on how changes in iron supply could be influencing ocean life.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Amdavadi scientist at Yale aims to combat AMR bacteria using viruses
Ahmedabad: Taking a cue from ancient wisdom – an enemy's enemy is a friend — an associate research scientist from Yale University, with his roots in the city, is working on improving the virus-bacteria interaction to use viruses known as bacteriophages to kill bacteria. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Dr Jyot Antani is part of the team that aims to further the science of targeting specific bacteria that have developed antimicrobial resistance (AMR) due to which the infection they cause cannot be treated with conventional antibiotics. The study, 'Microscopic Phage Adsorption Assay: High-throughput Quantification of Virus Particle Attachment to Host Bacterial Cells,' by Antani, Timothy Ward, Thierry Emonet, and Paul Turner from Yale University, was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal. "Like humans, bacteria can also be infected by viruses. They bind to the receptors on a bacterial host cell and replicate in a process identified as lytic replication, where the host's resources are used to create more phages. This causes the cell to rupture and die," explains Antani. Globally, these mechanisms are being reviewed as a potential way to address AMR bacterial infections through phage therapy. However, one roadblock is understanding this unique interaction at the microscopic level. The traditional method involves mixing bacteria and viruses in a flask and testing the mixture sample at regular intervals to measure the attachment of the phage (virus) on bacteria. It is time-consuming, labour-intensive and provides only an estimation, said researchers. Antani's team from the Yale Quantitative Biology Institute worked on the problem to develop the Microscopic Phage Adsorption (MPA) assay. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The published work indicates that the method quantifies the interaction between bacteria and phage at individual levels. "Using fluorescent dye, the phages appear as bright spots against the background of bacteria. Using this technique, researchers can record videos of the phages and bacteria in real time, documenting the dynamic movements and individual attachments of phages to bacteria," read the research summary on the Yale University website, Yale Scientific. Antani said that the breakthrough will help researchers understand the impact of different phage types on bacteria and develop strategies to combat bacteria. "If the sample shows a stable fluorescent dot (phage), it means that it got strongly attached to host bacteria. Phages bind to specific molecules (proteins or sugars) that stick out from the bacterial surface, like a ship docking into its assigned spot in the harbour," he said. "We tried many different species of each, including some notorious bacteria known for becoming resistant to antibiotics. Our approach successfully worked for most phages and bacteria that we tested." Antani's journey from Ahmedabad to New Haven has been inspiring. He studied in Gujarati medium until Class 12 before gaining admission to IIT Bombay where he pursued chemical engineering. He received a scholarship for his PhD at Texas A&M University, where he studied the movement of bacteria. "The Covid and post-Covid phases motivated me to explore the interaction between bacteria and viruses, and I got the postdoctoral opportunity at Yale University," he adds. "There are several interesting projects going on in India in this field, too."
Time of India
3 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Meteorite that hit Earth 3.26 billion years ago may have sparked good news for life, study reveals
What if one of the most destructive events in Earth 's history actually helped life flourish? A massive meteorite that slammed into the planet 3.26 billion years ago may have done just that, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Spearheaded by Harvard geologist Nadja Drabon, the research proposes that the colossal impact acted like a 'giant fertilizer bomb,' scattering life-supporting nutrients across early Earth—and potentially jumpstarting a microbial explosion that would shape the course of evolution. How life survived a meteorite bigger than the dinosaur killer Estimated to be between 50 to 200 times larger than the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs, the meteorite hit Earth during the Paleoarchean Era. During this time, our planet was far from what it is today—comprising gigantic oceans, tiny landmasses, and an atmosphere lacking oxygen. In spite of the immense destruction wrought by the collision—presumably vaporizing rock, releasing a global dust cloud, heating the upper ocean layers to a boil, and generating gigantic tsunamis—evidence indicates that life recovered quickly and tenaciously. South African Barberton Greenstone Belt rocks show a surprising return of microbial activity shortly after the collision. Early life survived one of Earth's most devastating impacts Most importantly, the meteorite was characterised as a carbonaceous chondrite, a class of space rock that contains a high percentage of volatile components and organic molecules. When it struck, it released large amounts of phosphorus, an essential nutrient for all living forms, but most especially microorganisms dependent on phosphorus for various essential biochemical processes like DNA and ATP formation. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In addition, the turbulence from the entry of the meteorite into the oceans of Earth created vast mixing of the water stratification. Iron-rich deep-sea water was uplifted to the upper layers, boosting the nutrient content in the shallow marine system and setting up a perfect environment for the growth of microbial ecosystems. Meteorite impacts: Early Earth's unexpected fertilizer for life "Picture these effects to be colossal fertilizer bombs," Dr. Nadja Drabon explained. Whereas meteorite impacts are usually linked with mass extinction and devastation of the planet, this paper defies that account—particularly in the early Earth. When life existed in simple, hardy microbes, the environment after an impact might have been more a blessing than a curse. The resilience and flexibility of these early life forms enabled them not only to survive, but quite possibly to thrive, in the wake of such catastrophic planetary transformation. This study represents a paradigm shift in scientists' understanding of ancient meteorite impacts. Far from being always destructive, such impacts may have, in favorable circumstances, given rise to biological innovation and diversification through the production of nutrient-rich, dynamic environments. Along with widening our knowledge of Earth's early biologic past, the results also carry larger consequences for the field of astrobiology. They imply that microbial life may in the same way adjust—and even thrive—on severe planetary events in other parts of the universe. Also Read |
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Stephen Miller's deportation machine is failing — and he's furious
The country, we were told, is awash with millions upon millions of undocumented criminals and straight-up crazy people, permitted by Democrats and their open borders to roam the land and terrorize the law-abiding white people they were meant to replace. 'There's been almost 10 million people that have entered this country in the last three years,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio told an interviewer during the 2024 presidential campaign. 'Consider that Joe Biden allowed approximately 20 million illegal aliens into our country,' Vice President J.D. Vance claimed more recently, jockeying for influence within the MAGA world and deciding that '20' sounded twice as bad as '10.' 'THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY … ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY,' President Donald Trump posted even more recently, dropping the liberal-coded 'approximately' and adding a million souls to the sum because he can. In reality, which still holds some influence in our aggressively-online world, there are about 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., total. And despite all-caps propaganda to the contrary, they as a class 'have substantially lower crime rates than native-born citizens,' according to a 2020 study; they even commit fewer crimes, on average, than fully legal immigrants — those who came here 'the right way.' 'Relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes,' according to the research, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That's why Stephen Miller is so mad: an administration that wants nothing more than to parade millions of brown bodies onto military aircraft and out of the country — a MAGA team that promised its voters nothing less than 'mass deportations now' — is having a tough time actually finding the hardened criminals the last folks supposedly let in. In April, the Trump administration deported more than 17,200 people; that's up 29% from a year but it's far below the pace necessary to meet the stated goal of one million deportees a year (and per NBC News, more than half of those now in ICE detention have no criminal record whatsoever). Thus, that anger. In a May 28 piece, Axios reported that Miller, the president's top aide, was livid at ICE officials, insisting that they are the reason why the desired spectacle is failing to materialize. 'Miller demanded that field office directors and special agents in charge get arrest and deportation numbers up as much as possible,' the outlet reported, with the new target being 3,000 arrests a day, or about a million a year. 'Miller's directive and tone had people leaving the meeting feeling their jobs could be in jeopardy if the new targets aren't reached,' according to two sources who attended the meeting with Miller. Before, when campaigning against the status quo, it was all so easy and obvious: Venezuelan gangs had taken over an entire apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, according to MAGA organs like Fox News, while marauding Haitians had conquered much of Ohio — and no one was doing anything about it! Start by rounding up the 400 billion illegals let in under Biden, the story went, and it will once again be safe to drive your big truck into Manhattan. Since Jan. 20, however, even the Trump administration has been forced to concede, with its lack of mass arrests, that a micro-narco state was not, in fact, established in the city of Aurora, nor were the immigrants who took factory jobs in Ohio a public menace demanding immediate deportations (the administration has thus far settled for revoking Venezuelans' and Haitians' protected legal status). Put simply: There are fewer undocumented people in the U.S. than is claimed by people who are far more likely, statistically, to have felony convictions on their record. What has happened, instead, is ICE agents appearing at immigration hearings, faces covered as if they were members of a paramilitary organization and not taxpayer-funded public servants, and making a big show of arresting the low-hanging fruit. Along with that, of course, has been a lot of lying, suggesting the ramp-up to 'mass deportations soon' will likewise be conducted without shame. 'I watched a planeload of people unload at Gitmo that were pedophiles,' Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a February appearance on Fox News, back when the U.S. military base in Cuba was the go-to gulag for the Trump administration. But of the several hundred people sent to Guantánamo Bay, DHS could not identify a single such sex offender when pressed by likewise misled when she jetted in for a photo op at the El Salvador prison now being used to house immigrants removed from the United States (the publicly stated sentence, without charge or trial, is life imprisonment). 'This facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people,' Noem said, describing those sent there as the 'worst of the worst.' But the shirtless inmates who were assembled behind her for the occasion were not those sent there by the U.S., nor those who were the 'worst of the worst.' An investigation by CBS News found that three-fourths of the 238 Venezuelans sent there have no criminal record — anywhere in the world. The New York Times likewise revealed that the Trump administration, realizing it had mistakenly included a Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, on one of its rendition flights, immediately set to work on smearing him as a leader of a criminal gang, MS-13, despite the fact 'that nobody seemed to know if it was true.' The Trump administration's failures, then, are no comfort. What we have seen so far — arresting mothers and fathers and slandering them as murderers and rapists — will ramp up with $150 billion in enforcement efforts, as federal agents, just trying to meet their arrest quotas, focus on the easy to grab and not the hard-to-find. But there will not and can never be victory: There will always be a need for an enemy, and for treachery, the Trump administration is certain to find Democrats, judges and activists to blame if mass deportations, now and forever, fail to make MAGA voters well and truly happy with their lives. We can take solace, only, in that Stephen Miller can cause harm, but he will never truly fulfill his dull vision of a homogeneous, white America. And he will always be angry.
