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For 540 million years, the ebb and flow in the strength of Earth's magnetic field has correlated with fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen, according to a newly released analysis by NASA scientists. The research suggests that processes deep inside the Earth might influence habitability on the planet's surface.

Earth's magnetic field arises from the flow of material in the planet's molten interior, which acts like a giant electromagnet. The flow isn't perfectly stable, and this causes the field to change over time.

Many scientists have argued that the magnetic field is crucial for protecting the atmosphere from eroded by energetic particles coming from the Sun. But, the authors of the study inScience Advancespoint out, the role of magnetic fields in preserving the atmosphere is an area of active research. Before addressing the complexity of the cause-and-effect relationship between magnetic fields and oxygen levels, the study authors decided to see whether Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere have fluctuated in ways that demonstrate a link.

The history of the Earth's magnetic fields is recorded in magnetized minerals. When hot minerals that rise with magma at gaps between spreading tectonic plates cool down, they can record the surrounding magnetic field. The minerals retain the field record as long as they are not reheated too severely. Scientists can deduce historic oxygen levels from ancient rocks and minerals because their chemical contents depend on the amount of oxygen available when they were formed. Data for both Earth's magnetic field and oxygen extend over comparable ranges in databases that myriad geophysicists and geochemists have compiled. Until now, the authors of the new study say, no scientists had made a detailed comparison of the records.

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

When Kuang and colleagues analyzed the two separate datasets, they found that the planetary magnetic field has followed similar rising and falling patterns as oxygen in the atmosphere for nearly a half billion years, dating back to the Cambrian explosion, when complex life on Earth emerged.

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

The researchers hope to examine longer datasets to see if the correlation extends farther back in time. They also plan to investigate the historic abundance of other chemicals essential for life as we know it, such as nitrogen, to determine whether they also support these patterns. As for the specific causes linking the Earth's deep interior to life on the surface, Kopparapu said: "There's more work to be done to figure that out."

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The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has unveiled the very first "mega" images of the cosmos obtained thanks to the extraordinary features and wide-field view of its LSST camera — the largest in the world. The camera took nearly two decades to build and involved hundreds of scientists across the globe, including a number of CNRS teams. The world-wide First Look unveiling event is held on June 23 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

The impressive, car-sizedLegacy Survey of Space and Timecamera is like nothing seen before: thanks to its 3200-megapixel resolution and the wide field of view of the telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory1, the LSST camera can photograph 45 times the area of the full moon in the sky with each exposure. The high-definition images, which use six different colour filters, capture the entire southern night-sky in just three nights of shooting. One year after its journey from the United States to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, the first "mega" images will be unveiled on June 23 at a press conference held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. This worldwide premiere is the culmination of 25 years of research and construction by international teams, including several research teams from CNRS2.

The exceptional quality of these initial images show that the telescope is ready to start its mission: to scan the entire southern hemisphere sky by taking 1,000 high-definition photographs using six colour filters, every three nights for the next ten years. Studied end-to-end, these scans will provide a high-definition, four-dimensional film of the evolving processes of the Universe. The ten-year project will also generate unprecedentedly rich and profound views of the southern sky and reveal the faintest and furthest-away objects of the cosmos. For the first time on a large scale, this vast survey will reveal the slightest changes in the Universe, from nearby celestial phenomena, such as asteroids and comets, to very distant ones, like supernovae. The project paves the way for major advances in cosmology in dark matter and dark energy, as well as our understanding of our solar system.

CNRS: a key component of this international projectThe project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory built the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera. As historic partners, SLAC called on CNRS scientists to help build the focal plane of the camera and help design and build its robotic filter exchange system, which will automatically change the camera's colour filters — each weighing 24-38 kgs — 5-15 times per night. By measuring the quantity of light emitted by night-sky objects, and by converging the images taken through the different filters, it will make it possible to precisely determine their position and distance in relation to the Earth. Other CNRS scientists helped develop the computing infrastructure for the quantitative and qualitative data analysis of the gigantic trove of images that will be collected from the 17 billion observable stars and 20 billion observable galaxies. The goal of this painstaking effort is to create the most comprehensive catalogue of data on the universe.

Twenty terabytes of collected data will be stored every night. In France, the France Data Facility (IN2P3) (CNRS) in Lyon will store and process 40% of the collected raw image data. This data will be released to scientists around the world at regular intervals to foster groundbreaking discoveries and breakthroughs over the coming decades.

Why develop a ground-based telescope?Even with 25 space telescopes currently in use, ground-based observation remains essential in documenting the Universe in its entirety. Larger and more sensitive, ground-based instruments produce higher-precision exposures as a result. These instruments also record larger volumes of data than space-based ones, as the remote downloading of data from the latter remains a complex process. Last but not least, ground-based telescopes can also be repaired and improved with increasingly efficient tools. With this state-of-the-art camera, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is the latest addition to the fifty or so structures operating equipment and infrastructure to observe the universe from Earth and space.

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Biological drugs have improved the lives of many people with severe asthma. However, a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that some immune cells with high inflammatory potential are not completely eradicated after treatment.

Biological drugs (biologics) have become an important tool in the treatment of severe asthma.

"They help most patients to keep their symptoms under control, but exactly how these drugs affect the immune system has so far remained unknown," says Valentyna Yasinska, consultant in pulmonary medicine at Karolinska University Hospital and doctoral student at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Medicine in Huddinge.

In a new study published in the scientific journalAllergy, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have explored what happens to the immune cells of patients being treated with biologics. By analyzing blood samples from 40 patients before and during treatment, they found that instead of disappearing during treatment, certain types of immune cell – which play a key part in asthma inflammation – actually increased.

"This suggests that biologics might not attack the root of the problem, no matter how much they help asthma patients during treatment," says Jenny Mjösberg, professor of tissue immunology at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Medicine in Huddinge. "Continued treatment might be necessary to keep the disease under control."

The study is based on data from patients with severe asthma sourced from the BIOCROSS study. The researchers used advanced methods such as flow cytometry and single-cell sequencing to determine the properties and function of the immune cells.

"We were surprised to find that blood levels of inflammatory cells increased rather than decreased," says Lorenz Wirth, doctoral student at the same department at Karolinska Institutet. "This could explain why inflammation of the airways often returns when the treatment is tapered or discontinued. It is important that we understand the long-term immunological effects of these drugs."

Little is still known about the long-term effects of biologics like mepolizumab and dupilumab since they are relatively new, having been prescribed to asthmatics for less than ten years.

The next stage of the study will be to analyse samples from patients with a long treatment history and to study lung tissue to see how the immune cells are affected in the airways.

The study was financed by grants from the EU (Horizon 2020), the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Centre for Innovative Medicine, the Swedish state, the Torsten Söderberg Foundation, Karolinska Institutet and the ChAMP Consortium.

Any conflicts of interest are reported in the published paper.

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Research led by Earth scientists at the University of Southampton has uncovered evidence of rhythmic surges of molten mantle rock rising from deep within the Earth beneath Africa.

These pulses are gradually tearing the continent apart and forming a new ocean.

The findings, published inNature Geoscience, reveal that the Afar region in Ethiopia is underlain by a plume of hot mantle that pulses upward like a beating heart.

The team's discovery reveals how the upward flow of hot material from the deep mantle is strongly influenced by the tectonic plates — the massive solid slabs of Earth's crust — that ride above it.

Over millions of years, as tectonic plates are pulled apart at rift zones like Afar, they stretch and thin — almost like soft plasticine — until they rupture. This rupturing marks the birth of a new ocean basin.

Lead author Dr Emma Watts, who conducted the research at the University of Southampton and is now based at Swansea University, said: "We found that the mantle beneath Afar is not uniform or stationary — it pulses, and these pulses carry distinct chemical signatures. These ascending pulses of partially molten mantle are channelled by the rifting plates above. That's important for how we think about the interaction between Earth's interior and its surface."

The project involved experts from 10 institutions, including the University of Southampton, Swansea University, Lancaster University, the Universities of Florence and Pisa, GEOMAR in Germany, the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Addis Ababa University, and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences.

The Afar region is a rare place on Earth where three tectonic rifts converge: the Main Ethiopian Rift, the Red Sea Rift, and the Gulf of Aden Rift.

Geologists have long suspected that a hot upwelling of mantle, sometimes referred to as a plume, lies beneath the region, helping to drive the extension of the crust and the birth of a future ocean basin. But until now, little was known about the structure of this upwelling, or how it behaves beneath rifting plates.

The team collected more than 130 volcanic rock samples from across the Afar region and the Main Ethiopian Rift.

They used these, plus existing data and advanced statistical modelling, to investigate the structure of the crust and mantle, as well as the melts that it contains.

Their results show that underneath the Afar region is a single, asymmetric plume, with distinct chemical bands that repeat across the rift system, like geological barcodes. These patterns vary in spacing depending on the tectonic conditions in each rift arm.

Tom Gernon, Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton and co-author of the study, said: "The chemical striping suggests the plume is pulsing, like a heartbeat. These pulses appear to behave differently depending on the thickness of the plate, and how fast it's pulling apart. In faster-spreading rifts like the Red Sea, the pulses travel more efficiently and regularly like a pulse through a narrow artery."

Links to volcanism and earthquakes

This new research shows that the mantle plume beneath the Afar region is not static, but dynamic and responsive to the tectonic plate above it.

Dr Derek Keir, Associate Professor in Earth Science at the University of Southampton and the University of Florence, and co-author of the study, said: "We have found that the evolution of deep mantle upwellings is intimately tied to the motion of the plates above. This has profound implications for how we interpret surface volcanism, earthquake activity, and the process of continental breakup."

"The work shows that deep mantle upwellings can flow beneath the base of tectonic plates and help to focus volcanic activity to where the tectonic plate is thinnest. Follow on research includes understanding how and at what rate mantle flow occurs beneath plates," added Keir.

Dr Watts added: "Working with researchers with different expertise across institutions, as we did for this project, is essential to unravelling the processes that happen under Earth's surface and relate it to recent volcanism. Without using a variety of techniques, it is hard to see the full picture, like putting a puzzle together when you don't have all the pieces."

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The pristine samples from asteroid Ryugu returned by theHayabusa2mission on December 6, 2020, have been vital to improving our understanding of primitive asteroids and the formation of the Solar System. The C-type asteroid Ryugu is composed of rocks similar to meteorites called CI chondrites, which contain relatively high amounts of carbon, and have undergone extensive aqueous alteration in their past.

A research team at Hiroshima University discovered the presence of the mineral djerfisherite, a potassium-containing iron-nickel sulfide, in a Ryugu grain. The presence of this mineral is wholly unexpected, as djerfisherite does not form under the conditions Ryugu is believed to have been exposed to over its existence. The findings were published on May 28, 2025, in the journalMeteoritics & Planetary Science.

"Djerfisherite is a mineral that typically forms in very reduced environments, like those found in enstatite chondrites, and has never been reported in CI chondrites or other Ryugu grains," says first and corresponding author Masaaki Miyahara, associate professor at the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University. "Its occurrence is like finding a tropical seed in Arctic ice — indicating either an unexpected local environment or long-distance transport in the early solar system."

Miyahara's team had been carrying out experiments to understand the effects of terrestrial weathering on Ryugu grains. While observing the grains by field-emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM) for effects of weathering, they found djerfisherite in the number 15 grain of sample plate C0105-042.

"The discovery of djerfisherite in a Ryugu grain suggests that materials with very different formation histories may have mixed early in the solar system's evolution, or that Ryugu experienced localized, chemically heterogeneous conditions not previously recognized. This finding challenges the notion that Ryugu is compositionally uniform and opens new questions about the complexity of primitive asteroids," Miyahara elaborates.

Ryugu is a part of a larger parent body that formed between 1.8 to 2.9 million years after the beginning of the Solar System. This parent body is thought to have originated in the outer region of the solar system, where water and carbon dioxide existed in the form of ice. Inside the parent body, heat generated by the decay of radioactive elements caused the ice to melt around 3 million years after its formation. The temperature during this process is estimated to have remained below approximately 50℃.

In contrast, the parent bodies of enstatite chondrites, which are known to contain djerfisherite, are believed to have formed in the inner region of the solar system. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that djerfisherite in enstatite chondrites formed directly from high-temperature gas. In addition, hydrothermal synthesis experiments have shown that djerfisherite can also form through reactions between potassium-bearing fluids and Fe-Ni sulfides at temperatures above 350 ℃.

This led the team to propose two hypotheses for its presence in the Ryugu grain: either it arrived from another source during the formation of Ryugu's parent body; or, it was formed intrinsically when the temperature of Ryugu was raised to above 350 ℃.

Preliminary evidence indicates that the intrinsic formation hypothesis is more likely to be true. The next steps will be to conduct isotopic studies of this and other Ryugu grains, to determine their origins. "Ultimately, our goal is to reconstruct the early mixing processes and thermal histories that shaped small bodies like Ryugu, thereby improving our understanding of planetary formation and material transport in the early solar system," Miyahara concludes.

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Scientists at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with researchers from Japan, China, Switzerland, and Italy, have developed an innovative method to produce and rapidly analyze a vast array of macrocyclic peptides, molecules increasingly used in modern medicine. The research, published inNature Communications, harnesses the familiar brewer's yeast, turning billions of these tiny organisms into miniature fluorescent factories, each capable of creating a unique peptide with potential therapeutic applications.

Macrocyclic peptides are promising drugs because they combine precision targeting, stability, and safety, offering fewer side effects than traditional drugs. However, conventional methods for discovering and testing these peptides are often complex, difficult to control, slow, and environmentally unfriendly.

To overcome these limitations, the researchers engineered common brewer's yeast cells to individually produce different macrocyclic peptides. Each yeast cell acts like a tiny factory that lights up when prod-ucing the compound, allowing scientists to swiftly identify promising peptides. Using advanced fluorescence-based techniques, the team screened billions of these micro-factories in just a few hours, a process that is significantly faster and more ecofriendly than existing methods.

Sara Linciano, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at Ca' Foscari's Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, explains: "We manipulated yeast cells so that each one functions as a 'micro-factory' that becomes fluorescent when producing a specific compound. This allowed us to analyze 100 million different peptides rapidly and effectively."

Ylenia Mazzocato, co-leader of the study, highlights the sustainability of their approach: "By exploiting the natural machinery of yeast, we produce peptide molecules that are biocompatible and biodegradable, making them safe for health and the environment, a truly 'green pharma' approach."

The team also clarified how these peptides precisely bind to their targets. Zhanna Romanyuk, who contributed to the structural analysis, says: "Using X-ray crystallography, we demonstrated the excellent binding properties of these peptides, confirming their precision and potency."

This new method offers significant advancements for drug discovery, especially for challenging targets that conventional drugs cannot easily address. Alessandro Angelini, associate professor and study coordinator, emphasizes: "We are pushing the boundaries of this technology to create macrocyclic peptides that can deliver advanced therapies directly to specific cells, potentially revolutionising treatments. This could greatly benefit patient health and have substantial scientific and economic impacts."

This work was part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), supported by the European Union's Next Generation EU initiative, involving multidisciplinary teams from Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Padova, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), including experts in chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, and computational sciences.

Part of this technology has already been patented by Ca' Foscari and was recently acquired by the startup Arzanya S.r.l. "Seeing our technology gain international recognition makes me proud," Angelini concludes. "I I hope Arzanya S.r.l. can provide our talented young researchers with the opportunity to pursue their passions here in Italy, without necessarily needing to move abroad."

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Spinal cord injuries are currently incurable with devastating effects on people's lives, but now a trial at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland offers hope for an effective treatment.

Spinal cord injuries shatter the signal between the brain and body, often resulting in a loss of function."Unlike a cut on the skin, which typically heals on its own, the spinal cord does not regenerate effectively, making these injuries devastating and currently incurable," says lead researcher Dr Bruce Harland, a senior research fellow in the School of Pharmacy at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

Before birth, and to a lesser extent afterwards, naturally occurring electric fields play a vital role in early nervous system development, encouraging and guiding the growth of nerve tissue along the spinal cord. Scientists are now harnessing this same electrical guidance system in the lab.An implantable electronic device has restored movement following spinal cord injury in an animal study, raising hopes for an effective treatment for humans and even their pets.

"We developed an ultra-thin implant designed to sit directly on the spinal cord, precisely positioned over the injury site in rats," Dr Harland says.

The device delivers a carefully controlled electrical current across the injury site. "The aim is to stimulate healing so people can recover functions lost through spinal-cord injury," Professor Darren Svirskis, director of the CatWalk Cure Program at the University's School of Pharmacy says.

Unlike humans, rats have a greater capacity for spontaneous recovery after spinal cord injury, which allowed researchers to compare natural healing with healing supported by electrical stimulation.

After four weeks, animals that received daily electric field treatment showed improved movement compared with those who did not.

Throughout the 12-week study, they responded more quickly to gentle touch.

"This indicates that the treatment supported recovery of both movement and sensation," Harland says. "Just as importantly, our analysis confirmed that the treatment did not cause inflammation or other damage to the spinal cord, demonstrating that it was not only effective but also safe."

This new study, published inNature Communications, has come out of a partnership between the University of Auckland and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

"Long term, the goal is to transform this technology into a medical device that could benefit people living with these life-changing spinal-cord injuries," says Professor Maria Asplund of Chalmers University of Technology.

"This study offers an exciting proof of concept showing that electric field treatment can support recovery after spinal cord injury," says doctoral student Lukas Matter, also from Chalmers University.

The next step is to explore how different doses, including the strength, frequency, and duration of the treatment, affect recovery, to discover the most effective recipe for spinal-cord repair.

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Parts of New Orleans and its surrounding wetlands are gradually sinking, and while most of the city remains stable, a new study from Tulane University researchers suggests that sections of the region's $15 billion post-Katrina flood protection system may need regular upgrades to outpace long-term land subsidence.

The study, published inScience Advances, used satellite radar data to track subtle shifts in ground elevation across Greater New Orleans between 2002 and 2020. The study found that some neighborhoods, wetlands and even sections of floodwalls are sinking by more than an inch per year — with some areas experiencing up to 47 millimeters (nearly 2 inches) of elevation loss annually.

"In a city like New Orleans, where much of the land is already near sea level, even minor drops in elevation can increase flood risk," said Simone Fiaschi, lead author of the study and a former researcher with Tulane's Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering, now employed at TRE-Altamira.

The findings underscore how both natural and human-driven forces are reshaping the city's landscape. Causes of the sinking — known as subsidence — include natural soil compaction, groundwater pumping, industrial development and the legacy of wetland drainage for urban growth.

The study used a remote sensing technique called InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar), which detects millimeter-scale changes in land surface elevation by comparing satellite radar images taken over time. This allowed the researchers to build the most detailed map yet of vertical land motion in New Orleans — including areas like wetlands that had previously lacked reliable data.

Among the most troubling findings: some of the concrete floodwalls and levees built to protect the city after Katrina are themselves sinking. In a few cases, parts of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) are losing elevation faster than sea levels are rising, reducing their capacity to block storm surges.

"These results are a wake-up call," said co-author Prof. Mead Allison, also of Tulane. "We need ongoing monitoring and maintenance to ensure that our flood defenses don't lose their level of protection beneath us."

The study also found pockets of sinking around industrial sites, the airport and newer residential developments — areas where soil compression and groundwater withdrawal are likely contributors. In contrast, some areas such as parts of Michoud showed modest land uplift, likely due to the halt of industrial groundwater pumping and recovery of the water table.

Wetlands east of the city, long known for their ecological importance, are also sinking rapidly in places. In some spots, the loss of elevation could transform marshes into open water within a decade if trends continue. This has implications not just for wildlife but also for storm protection, as wetlands help buffer storm surges.

New Orleans, much of which lies below sea level, relies on an elaborate system of levees, pumps and drainage canals to keep water out. As sea levels rise and the ground sinks, the margin for error narrows.

Experts say that without sustained monitoring, including satellite data and ground-based measurements, it's difficult to know where to reinforce levees or how to plan for future storms.

"This research shows that land movement isn't uniform, and understanding these patterns is crucial for protecting lives and property in a city where inches truly matter," Fiaschi said. "However, it's crucial to remember that our results still require careful ground-truthing. This is especially true for critical areas like the floodwalls, where on-site verification was not possible during this project."

The study highlights the potential of satellite monitoring to guide infrastructure maintenance and urban planning, not just in New Orleans but in coastal cities worldwide facing similar challenges.

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Bright colors, fruit imagery, and labels like "locally made" or "vegan" might seem harmless — but when used on cannabis edibles, they can send misleading messages to teens.

That's according to a new Washington State University-led study examining how adolescents perceive the packaging of cannabis-infused products such as gummies, chocolates and sodas. Despite regulations barring packaging that targets youth, many teens in the study found these products appealing — often likening them to everyday snacks or health foods.

The research, conducted in collaboration with Public Health – Seattle & King County, is part of a broader effort to reduce accidental cannabis exposure among teens. The findings could help shape new rules aimed at limiting underage appeal.

"What surprised us was how often these products were interpreted as healthy or natural," said Jessica Willoughby, associate professor in WSU's Murrow College of Communication and co- author of the study, published in theJournal of Health Communication. "When you combine that with vibrant packaging and familiar fruit flavors, it's easy to see how these items start to look like snacks — not something potentially harmful or illegal for teens."

Researchers conducted virtual focus groups and interviews with 28 Washington teens, ages 13 to 17, using real product photos from stores to prompt discussion. With parental permission, participants shared which packaging elements caught their eye and why.

The teens consistently pointed to bright, colorful designs and packaging that resembled healthy snacks as particularly appealing. Some said they'd display the packaging in their rooms or use it in social media posts. Others said terms like "locally made" and "vegan" made the products feel more aligned with their personal values — even if they knew the items contained cannabis.

"Our findings suggest that teens are drawn not just to the look of these packages, but to what the design represents," said Stacey Hust, a professor in WSU's Murrow College and the study's lead author. "They saw these products as trendy, natural and aspirational — qualities that resonate with their identities and beliefs."

The study also showed that teens with greater familiarity with cannabis — either through personal use or family exposure — were more likely to notice warning labels and dosage information. Those with less knowledge often overlooked health warnings or didn't recognize cannabis symbols at all.

The results raise concerns for health educators and policymakers as cannabis edibles become more prevalent. The researchers recommend incorporating teen perspectives into regulatory discussions and increasing cannabis literacy through targeted education efforts.

"Teens are telling us what speaks to them — and sometimes it's not what adults expect," said Sarah Ross-Viles, youth cannabis prevention manager with King County and study co-author. "If we're serious about making cannabis packaging less appealing to youth, we need to use their insights to guide smarter, more effective regulations."

The WSU team recently worked with Public Health – Seattle & King County health officials and the Washington State Liquor & Cannabis Board to conduct a follow-up quantitative study exploring how packaging elements correlate with perceived teen appeal and intent to use.

While broad changes like plain packaging may ultimately be difficult to implement, the researchers say practical updates — such as clearer warnings and limiting branding that mimics health food — could help reduce youth attraction.

"We're not calling for a marketing ban," Hust said. "We're asking for thoughtful regulations that balance the rights of adult consumers with the need to protect kids."

Ross-Viles agreed: "This is about ensuring cannabis packaging serves its real purpose — informing adult consumers — without confusing or enticing teens. And now, for the first time, we are getting direct feedback from Washington youth to help make that possible."

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Astronomers have uncovered a vast cloud of energetic particles — a 'mini halo' — surrounding one of the most distant galaxy clusters ever observed, marking a major step forward in understanding the hidden forces that shape the cosmos.

The mini-halo is at a distance so great that it takes light 10 billion years to reach Earth, making it the most distant ever found, doubling the previous distance known to science.

The discovery demonstrates that entire galaxy clusters, among the largest structures in the universe, have been immersed in high-energy particles for most of their existence.

Such a mini-halo consists of highly energetic, charged particles in the vacuum between galaxies in a cluster, which together emanate radio waves which can be detected from Earth.

Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, with the pre-print version of the paper published today. the findings show that even in the early universe, galaxy clusters were already shaped by energetic processes.

The international team of researchers behind the discovery was co-led by Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo of Université de Montréal and Roland Timmerman of the Institute for Computational Cosmology of Durham University, in the U.K.

The researchers analysed data from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope, a vast network of over 100,000 small antennae spanning eight European countries. While studying a galaxy cluster named SpARCS1049, the researchers detected a faint, widespread radio signal.They found that it did not emanate from individual galaxies, but from a vast region of space filled with high-energy particles and magnetic fields.

Stretching over a million light-years, this diffuse glow is a telltale sign of a mini-halo,a structure astronomers have only been able to observe in the nearby universe up until now. "It's as if we've discovered a vast cosmic ocean, where entire galaxy clusters are constantly immersed in high-energy particles," said Hlavacek-Larrondo.

Added Timmerman: "It's astonishing to find such a strong radio signal at this distance. It means these energetic particles and the processes creating them have been shaping galaxy clusters for nearly the entire history of the universe."

There are two likely explanations behind the formation of the mini-halo.

One is that there are supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies within a cluster that can eject streams of high-energy particles into space. However, astronomers are still trying to understand how these particles would be able to migrate away from the black hole to create such a gigantic cloud of particles, while maintaining so much of their energy.

The second explanation is cosmic particle collisions. This is when charged particles within the hot plasma of the galaxy cluster collide at near-light speeds, smashing apart into the highly energetic particles that can be observed from Earth.

This new discovery provides a rare look at what galaxy clusters were like just after they formed, the astronomers say.

It not only shows that galaxy clusters have been infused with these high-energy particles for billions of years more than previously known, but it also allows astronomers to study where these high-energy particles come from.

It suggests that black holes and/or high-energy particle collisions have been enriching the environment of galaxy clusters much earlier than expected, keeping them energized over billions of years.

With newer telescopes being developed such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), scientists will be able to detect even fainter signals and further explore the role of magnetic fields, cosmic rays, and energetic processes in shaping the Universe, the astronomers say.

"We are just scratching the surface of how energetic the early Universe really was," said Hlavacek-Larrondo. "This discovery gives us a new window into how galaxy clusters grow and evolve, driven by both black holes and high-energy particle physics."

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