There are probably very few similarities between cooking a meal in a kitchen on Earth and preparing one on the International Space Station (ISS). There is, however, one surprising link.
A process behind a technology being used to keep astronauts alive is also key to a popular method of making e-methane — a promising fuel of the future that one day we could be using for cooking, heating and more.
The connection lies in something called the Sabatier reaction. Synthetic methane is made by combining hydrogen produced from water via electrolysis with CO₂, often using a nickel catalyst in a process invented over a century ago by French chemist Paul Sabatier. On the ISS, this process is being used to take the CO₂ exhaled by astronauts and recycle it into water needed for oxygen production.
Back on Earth, e-methane holds promise as a low-emissions fuel with near-identical chemical and physical properties to natural gas. For that reason, amid the race to decarbonize, companies and countries across the globe are exploring its use as an alternative to gas in both domestic and industrial settings.
E-methane could be used without refitting existing natural gas infrastructure, such as LNG carriers
A low-emissions alternative to natural gas?
Emitting less CO₂ than other fossil fuels, natural gas is often described as an important fuel as the world transitions to more renewable energy sources.
Because it is interchangeable with natural gas, e-methane has the potential to help decarbonize gas networks in the future without the need to retrofit existing infrastructure such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals, LNG tankers, gas pipelines and consumer equipment. E-methane can be stored in a variety of ways — in salt caverns, porous formations in gaseous form, and LNG storage tanks. This means it could support the integration of renewables by storing energy to meet swings in demand.
It can also help bring together future hydrogen and methane networks, with surplus hydrogen being converted into e-methane before being injected into the methane system.
An ambitious goal for e-methane
Thanks to this potential, enthusiasm for the future role of e-methane is growing globally, with projects recently being announced in Finland, the US, Australia and more.
The Japanese gas industry, meanwhile, is targeting e-methane to make up 1% of its gas supply network by 2030, and aims to increase that share to 90% by 2050.
The country’s largest gas company, Tokyo Gas, is testing e-methane synthesis in Yokohama City with researchers at Osaka University and the Japanese space agency. Part of this project is devising new processes to create e-methane that are less heat-intensive and more efficient, including an update to the Sabatier method.
Ensuring e-methane is clean
While e-methane does create CO₂ emissions when burned, it is made by recycling captured CO₂. This means the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere does not increase in real terms, making its emissions effectively zero.
As the industry scales up, however, ensuring that e-methane has been produced with low emissions will be crucial to meeting decarbonization goals in this area. To this end, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group has entered into a partnership with Japan’s Osaka Gas to launch the first digital platform to manage clean gas certificates for the country’s city gas industry. The platform uses MHI’s CO₂NNEX technology, which was originally developed to visualize and manage the carbon capture, utilization and storage value chain.
The digital platform from MHI and Osaka Gas will enable companies to seamlessly manage and transfer to other organizations information on e-methane, including the amount of hydrogen and CO₂ used as raw materials, the method of production and recovery, and CO₂ emissions throughout the life cycle.
The CO₂NNEX platform is being used during the 2025 World Expo in Osaka to support Osaka Gas’s e-methane production and utilization demonstration. The companies intend to use the results of this trial to help support the wider application of e-methane technology across society.
The CO2NNEX platform helps track information that certifies the environmental value of e-methane
Creating demand is key
Challenges remain to the uptake of e-methane. As the International Energy Agency (IEA) points out, the complex value chain supporting its production means that investment and operating costs are currently high — leaving a large gap between the cost of production and those willing to pay. Availability of feedstocks — low-emissions electricity, fresh water and renewably sourced CO₂ — is another hurdle.
Demand creation, the agency says, will be crucial to support final investment decisions. If that happens, the IEA projects that e-methane production could reach more than 1 billion cubic meters across the globe by 2030.
Sabatier’s process continues to be used by space agencies exploring the universe — and as the technology used to make e-methane evolves, it could prove to be a big step for decarbonization on Earth.
Oscar Piastri has rued the impact of a “pretty bad” 10-second time penalty on his race at the British Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver feeling that he did not get the result he “deserved”.
After starting from P2, Piastri had got himself into the lead of what proved to be a highly eventful wet-dry race at Silverstone, holding onto that position through two Safety Car periods.
However, when the second phase came to an end, Piastri was deemed by the stewards to have braked too late at the restart, resulting in him being handed a 10-second penalty which he later served during a pit stop.
This dropped the Australian down to second, while team mate Lando Norris took victory and brought Piastri’s championship lead down to just eight points. Nico Hulkenberg, meanwhile, claimed a debut F1 podium in third.
During his initial post-race interview, Piastri was reluctant to comment on what happened as he said: “I’m not going to say much, I’ll get myself in trouble. Well done to Nico – I think that’s the highlight of the day. I’ll leave it there.”
He added: “Apparently you can’t brake behind the Safety Car anymore. I did it for five laps before that and, again, I’m not going to say too much because I’ll get myself in trouble.
“But thanks to the crowd for a great event, thanks for sticking through the weather. I still like Silverstone even if I don’t like it today. Thanks for coming out everyone.”
When speaking to media later on, the 24-year-old gave a further insight into his feelings about what had happened.
“I thought the penalty was pretty bad but, anyway, I’m glad we had a quick car today, showed what I needed to prove, and it’s just disappointing when what you deserve gets taken from you, but that’s how it goes,” said Piastri.
“I hit the brakes, saw the Safety Car lights went off so I didn’t accelerate again, and Max [Verstappen] went past me which was a bit strange, and then I got a penalty for it so about as simple as that.”
Pushed on what he would take from the weekend as a whole, Piastri responded: “The pace was good, I did everything I needed to, just didn’t get the result I deserved.”
Following a nearly 60-year onscreen career, Michael Douglas‘ leading man days might be in the past.
At the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the 2x Oscar winner recently noted that unless “something special came up” for him to play, he has “no real intentions” of returning to acting in the future.
“I’ve had a very busy career. Now, I have not worked since 2022, purposefully, because I realized I had to stop,” he explained during a press conference.
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“I’d been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set,” added Douglas. “I’m very happy with taking the time off. I have no real intentions. But I say I’m not retired, because if something special came up, I’d go back. But otherwise, I’m quite happy. I just like to watch my wife work.”
The comment comes after Douglas teased Deadline in December that he’s “flirting with” the idea of making a “good horror” movie in the near future.
After undergoing chemotherapy for his stage IV cancer diagnosis in 2010, Douglas noted at KVIFF that he “was lucky to continue working,” avoiding a form of tongue cancer that would have removed part of his jaw and limited his ability to speak.
Douglas is currently at KVIFF for the 50th anniversary of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to present a newly restored version of the Miloš Forman film, which Douglas produced with Saul Zaentz.
While appearing on Vogue’s “Off the Cuff” alongside his “Jurassic World Rebirth” co-stars Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey, Ali dodged the question when Bailey asked how many Marvel films they’ve both starred in.
“Leave me out of it,” Ali joked. “That’s a Scarlett question.”
“Well, there’s one that we’re very excited about,” Bailey quipped back, referencing Ali’s long-delayed “Blade” reboot.
Although the feature comic book adaptation about the daywalking vampire hunter has been in production limbo for the past six years, Ali recently told Variety he remains ready to take on the titular role.
“Call Marvel,” Ali said at the New York premiere of “Jurassic World Rebirth.” “I’m ready. Let them know I’m ready.”
First announced in 2019, “Blade” has experienced a revolving door of actors and directors, with Marvel unable to get the film off the ground. Despite the ongoing issues, Marvel CEO Kevin Feige said at D23 Brazil 2024 that the comic book titan is “committed” to bringing “Blade” back to the big screen.
“We love the character. We love Mahershala’s take on him,” Feige said. “And rest assured: whenever we change direction with a project, or are still figuring out how it fits into our schedule, we let the audience know. You’re all up to date on what’s happening. But I can tell you that the character will indeed make it to the MCU.”
It was recently revealed that Ryan Coolger’s “Sinners” featured costumes originally intended for “Blade,” but went unused after the Marvel production hit a roadblock.
“[Costume designer] Ruth Carter was working on the Blade movie that ended up not shooting,” “Sinners” producer Sev Ohanian explained. “At one point that movie was going to deal with, and she’s talked about this before, but at one point that film was going to deal with the past around the same era as ‘Sinners.’ She happened to have a warehouse full of period-appropriate clothes, and it was like, ‘Yo, we got to shoot this movie like tomorrow.’ And Marvel was generous enough and kind enough to let us basically purchase it at price.”
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent slid as much as 1.6% toward $67 a barrel after falling 0.7% on Friday, and West Texas Intermediate was near $66. The group led by Saudi Arabia decided on Saturday to increase supply by 548,000 barrels a day, putting OPEC+ on track to unwind its most recent output cuts a year earlier than planned.
More than a year after implementing the first phase of the single-use plastics ban, Hong Kong restaurateurs are lamenting the lack of suitable alternative materials. As the city’s problem with plastic waste persists, the government can learn from successful international case studies and accelerate the adoption of proper plastic alternatives to achieve a plastic-free future.
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The implementation of a two-phase ban on single-use plastics in Hong Kong has taken a hit, as the city struggles to find alternatives.
Last month, Secretary for the Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said on Commercial Radio that the government is looking to launch a trial campaign with selected restaurants within two months to test alternative products and provide feedback to suppliers for improvement. “We will implement the second phase of the legislation only when the alternative product technology is more mature,” Tse told iCable in June. “It is difficult to require everyone to use their own utensils when buying take-away food, we need to find suitable alternatives before we continue with phase two,” he added.
Two-Phase Ban
The Legislative Council passed the Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill for regulating disposable plastic tableware and other plastic products in October 2023.
The first phase prohibits the sale or supply of styrofoam tableware, disposable plastic tableware such as straws, stirrers, cutlery, and plates, as well as the supply of cups, cup lids, food containers, and food container lids to dine-in and take-out customers in catering establishments. In the second phase, the supply and sale of all of the above plastic tableware in Hong Kong will be forbidden.
At the same time, hotels and guesthouses are banned from providing free disposable toiletries and grooming products (including rubber-handled toothbrushes, toothpaste, shower caps, razors, nail files, combs, and any liquid products stored in disposable plastic containers), as well as free disposable water in plastic bottles in rooms. The second phase will further prohibit the sale and free supply of multipack rings, table cloths, and plastic stemmed dental floss, and the distribution of free earplugs.
The manufacturing, supply and sale of oxidizable biodegradable plastic products – plastics that cannot be completely decomposed – have also been prohibited since the first phase was implemented in April 2024.
Businesses failing to comply with the regulation will be issued a notice and fined $2,000 if they have not taken action within 21 days from the notice. Repeated offences may result in fines of up to HK$100,000.
Recycling center Green@Island in Tung Chung, Hong Kong. Photo: Nansen Chen.
More than 19% of the 3.97 million tonnes of municipal solid waste disposed of at Hong Kong’s landfills in 2023 was plastic waste, a 10.5% decrease from the year prior, according to Environmental Protection Department (EPD) figures. Meanwhile, the quantity of plastic recycled locally rose from 119,900 tonnes in 2022 to 126,600 tonnes in 2023 – but still represented only 6.5% of the total waste.
Other Initiatives
To counter the rising plastic problem in the city, the EPD in 2021 also rolled out a Reverse Vending Machine pilot scheme for collecting plastic beverage containers, which was subsequently expanded to 120 machines scattered across all 18 Hong Kong districts. The machines offer a HK$0.10 rebate for each plastic beverage container returned. Customers need to register an account, and can return a maximum of 30 containers per day.
“The machine is effective and does not require a huge monetary incentive. The refund of 10 cents for each plastic bottle is alreadyattractive enough for the public to be willing to recycle,” Tse said in February.
As of last month, the scheme had collected 179 million containers, which are sent to local recyclers, saving more than 6.7 million kilograms of carbon emission, according to EPD data.
However, some critics have argued that the incentive is too low. According to Robert Kelman, Director at Reloop Pacific, an international non-profit that tackles packaging waste throughout the Pacific, the HK$0.10 rebate – the lowest in the world for such a program – is “virtually meaningless” to most Hong Kong consumers. He further argued that the low number of plastic bottles received at the recycling centres is disincentivizing recycling companies to invest in the scheme.
For Kelman, a scheme cannot succeed unless it is both convenient to consumers and offers an adequate refund value.
“I’m not sure which studies Tse was referring to when he said the rebate of 10 HK cents (1.3 US cents) was ‘attractive enough’ after lawmakers raised doubts about the effectiveness of such a rebate,” said Edwin Lau Che-feng, Executive Director of local environmental organization Green Earth. “Why not use a deposit approach in light of successful cases around the world, some of which have achieved a recovery rate of more than 90 per cent?”
Lau was referring to so-called Deposit Refund Schemes (DRSs), which apply an initial deposit, or “tax”, on the purchase, which is then returned to the consumer upon proper recycling.
More than 40 countries around the world have implemented DRSs. Slovakia, for example, requires consumers to pay a deposit of €0.15 (HK$1.37) for packaged beverages. The scheme, launched in 2022, resulted in a recovery rate of 70% in the first year. Similarly, Germany imposes deposits on glass and plastic beverage containers ranging between €0.08 and €0.25 (HK$0.73-2.28) and in 2022, it was able to achieve a 98.4% return rate.
“The authorities should realise that had they taken the deposit approach, coupled with a higher deposit value than the current rebate of 10 HK cents, producers, with retailers’ support, would have no trouble reaching a recovery rate higher than the suggested initial targets of 10 per cent for drink cartons and 30 per cent for plastic bottles,” said Lau.
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You might also like: 3 Waste Management Solutions from Around the World
Plastic-Free Matters
Plastics take 400 years to decompose – and even then, they do not fully disappear but rather break down into tiny particles known as microplastics. According to Greenpeace East Asia, 97% of Hong Kong’s riverine waste is plastic, of which more than 70% is food, logistics and beverage packaging as well as disposable tableware.
In 2021, Greenpeace found microplastics in Hong Kong’s countryside streams for the first time, and last year, it detected microplastics in the feces of countryside mammals.
97% of the waste on Hong Kong’s riverbanks is plastic waste, of which the four major categories of packaging waste, food, logistics, beverages and disposable tableware account for 70%. Photo: Greenpeace.
“Country streams are at the front end of the entire water cycle. The fact that they are contaminated by microplastics is a major warning sign that plastic pollution in urban rivers and oceans may be even more serious,” said Tam Wing-lam, the Greenpeace’s Project Director. She warned that microplastics can contaminate the water system, threatening public health.
Christelle Not, Senior Lecturer of Department of Earth Sciences in University of Hong Kong, said Greenpeace’s findings demonstrated that wildlife can still take up microplastics from the environment even when they are far away from urban areas and human activities.
Microplastics carry harmful additives and toxins that can damage the nervous, immune and endocrine systems when they accumulate in the food chain and enter the human body. Exposure to plastics and microplastics is linked to chronic diseases such as diabetes, developmental disorder, cancers, birth defects, and endocrine disruption.
Plastic is also detrimental to animals. Sea animals like turtles often mistake plastic for food, but their bodies are unable to digest it. They can become entangled, leading to injuries and even death.
A research team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) found that micro beads, manufactured micro plastics used in products ranging from facial scrubs to toothpastes, ending up in the digestive tracts of fish and other marine creatures can affect their growth and development. “Despite all the adverse impacts these minute plastic pollutants have on the marine ecosystems, they are still being used in many personal care products around the world – including here in Hong Kong,” said Karen Chan, Assistant Professor from the Division of Life Science at HKUST and study lead.
The Greenpeace research team selected riverbanks with high ecological value as investigation sites to record the actual pollution caused by plastic waste from the city falling into the riverbanks. Photo: Greenpeace.
Finding Alternatives
The most common plastic substitutes in Hong Kong include paper, bamboo, wood, and plant-based fibers such as wood pulp, grass pulp, and bagasse. Among these, paper and bagasse are the most widely used in both tableware and daily accessories due to their eco-friendliness and practicality.
While considered more eco-friendly than plastic, paper packaging manufacturing is still associated with carbon dioxide emissions and extensive water usage. According to local environmental NGO Friends of the Earth, producing one tonne of paper generates approximately 950 kilograms of carbon dioxide and requires 2,700 litres of water. Still, contrary to plastic, paper is a natural, biological, and in most cases renewable material, making it a better alternative.
The Hong Kong Consumer Council also reported in 2022 that perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were detected in 23 samples of bagasse-based vegetable fibre tableware, with some paper drinking straws exceeding the European Union’s safe limits.
PFAS – better known as forever chemicals – are synthetic chemicals used in the manufacture of heat-, oil-, and water-resistant coatings for products like nonstick cookware or waterproof clothes. They are associated with increased risk of certain cancers, including prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers, and found to reduce the body’s immune system’s ability to fight off infections.
In 2023, researchers from the University of Antwerp in Belgium who examined 39 different types of straws (paper, glass, bamboo, stainless steel, plastic) discovered that PFAS was present in 90% of paper straws and 80% of bamboo straws. 75% of all tested plastic straws also contained PFAS.
A backstreet in Hong Kong littered with plastic. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The cost of non-plastic tableware is also one of the factors that restaurants need to take into account. According to the Environmental Protection Department, the price difference between the lowest-priced disposable plastic product option and its lowest-priced alternative is still relatively large, ranging from HK$0.12 to HK$0.68.
However, costs are expected to decrease as demand, and consequently production, ramp up, said Simon Wong Ka-wo, President of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades.
Some restaurant owners or customers were also unhappy about the quality of alternative options. “If you’re walking home with your takeaway order in this box, that’d be fine. But if you have to drive, then that wouldn’t work,” the owner of a Shanghainese restaurant, who is surnamed Lee, told Hong Kong Free Press last April.
“It literally takes two sips [before] the [paper] straw starts getting soggy, and the forks don’t even work!” said one of his customers.
At the end of the day, neither recycling nor switching to biodegradable tableware is the best solution, environmentalists argue.
“Instead of placing our hopes in recycling and the use of degradable plastics, we should seek to avoid, reduce at source and reuse,” said Lau. “We must ditch our addiction to single-use plastics, slash plastic production at source and develop genuine plastic-free and harmless alternatives.”
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons.
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Understanding the link between job strain, stress, and smoking to severe climacteric symptoms, urging better workplace and healthcare support for midlife women.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study published in the July 2025 issue of European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology to explore how work- and health-related factors were associated with climacteric symptoms among middle-aged full-time working women prior to receiving any treatment.
They assessed 313 Finnish women aged 52–56 years who were employed full-time and had never used any treatment for climacteric symptoms (n = 313). Symptom experience was measured based on the presence and severity of menopause-related symptoms negatively affecting general or work-related well-being. These symptoms included hot flushes, sweat, sleeping problems, vaginal dryness and tenderness, loss of sexual desire, and depressive symptoms. The analyzed work- and health-related factors included psychosocial work environment, health behaviors such as body size, physical activity, smoking, perceived stress, and social support.
The results showed that a high-strain job, active smoking status, elevated stress levels, and limited social support were linked to both higher frequency and greater severity of climacteric symptoms. Women presenting these characteristics experienced menopause-related symptoms more often and with an increased intensity compared to those without these traits.
Investigators concluded that multiple factors impacted how full-time working women experienced climacteric symptoms before treatment, underscoring the need for collaborative efforts between healthcare professionals and employers to support women’s health and well-being.
A survey in Japan found that 32% of companies there said that they had experienced a cyberattack.
Cyber Threats
A May 2025 survey by Teikoku Databank found that around a third of Japanese companies had experienced a cyberattack. The online survey was aimed at 26,389 companies nationwide, receiving 10,645 valid responses.
A total of 32.0% of companies said that they had experienced a cyberattack, while 52.4% said that they had not and 15.6% said that they did not know. Large companies were more likely to have experienced such an attack at 41.9%, compared with 30.3% for small and medium-sized companies and 28.1% for small businesses alone.
Overall, 6.7% of companies experienced a cyberattack in the past month, but for this time period it was more common at smaller enterprises, affecting 6.9% of small and medium-sized companies and 7.9% of small businesses. Teikoku Databank noted the rapid recent rise in risk for such firms.
Data Sources
Cyberattack survey data (Japanese) from Teikoku Databank, 2025.
Business size categories are defined differently for various industries, with small and medium-sized firms having fewer than 300 employees in the manufacturing sector and fewer than 50 or 100 in other sectors, and small businesses having fewer than 20 employees in manufacturing and fewer than 5 in most other sectors.
Fifty thousand years ago, North America’s landscapes were alive with an astonishing array of enormous creatures. Massive woolly mammoths roamed vast icy plains, while dense forests echoed with the growls of mastodons and saber-toothed cats. Herds of gigantic bison, towering camels, and huge wolves traveled freely, and oversized beavers claimed lakes and rivers. East of the Rockies, giant sloths weighing over a ton lumbered slowly through lush grasslands.
But by the end of the Last Ice Age, most of these remarkable animals vanished, leaving scientists with a deep and enduring mystery: what caused their sudden disappearance?
Humans Versus Climate
Researchers have long debated two main explanations. Some experts strongly believe that early humans were responsible. Humans arrived in North America around the same time as these animals disappeared, about 13,000 years ago. Early settlers might have hunted these creatures heavily, competed with them for resources, or altered their habitats dramatically. The timing certainly fits.
USNM 23792, Mammuthus primigenius, or Woolly Mammoth (composite), Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution. (CREDIT: Gary Mulcahey)
Yet many other scientists point to climate change as the main cause. As the planet warmed, glaciers melted and ecosystems rapidly changed. Animals adapted to cold conditions suddenly struggled as environments became warmer. But this explanation is incomplete, as some animals managed to survive longer than others despite similar environmental changes.
“No single theory explains everything we see,” said Dr. Emily Lindsey, a paleontologist at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum. “The evidence strongly suggests multiple factors working together.”
Indeed, alternative ideas like disease or even a comet strike that disrupted ecosystems remain under consideration. The debate continues because finding solid proof is extremely challenging.
Solving the Puzzle with Modern Science
One significant hurdle in solving this mystery is the poor condition of fossils from that era. Bones found at ancient sites are often broken, weathered, and badly damaged. Over thousands of years, exposure to harsh weather, physical damage, and decay destroy valuable clues, leaving scientists with incomplete evidence.
Despite this, researchers are hopeful thanks to recent advances in science. Modern technology, especially biomolecular techniques, can now uncover hidden information within these damaged bones.
Scientists at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History are leading this effort. The museum houses an enormous collection of bones excavated from archaeological sites decades ago, many untouched because of their fragmented condition.
The identified species included bison, mammoths (genus Mammuthus), camels (family Camelidae), and possibly mastodons (genus Mammut). (CREDIT: Leonello Calvetti / Getty Images)
New Life from Old Bones
ZooMS works by identifying collagen proteins preserved in bones. Even though most proteins quickly degrade after death, collagen lasts much longer. Each animal species has a unique collagen “barcode,” allowing scientists to accurately identify even tiny fragments of bones previously impossible to classify.
In a recent groundbreaking study, scientists tested whether the Smithsonian’s bones, excavated between 1934 and 1981 from five archaeological sites in Colorado, still held collagen suitable for ZooMS. Despite doubts due to the age and damage, the results were surprising.
“We found that 80% of these ancient bone fragments contained enough collagen for ZooMS analysis,” explained Dr. Rachel Hopkins, a researcher at the Smithsonian. “About 73% could be identified to at least the genus level.”
Among the identified animals were mammoths, camels, bison, and possibly mastodons. Some fragments could only be narrowed down to broader animal groups due to limited reference databases for North American animals. But even this partial identification offers valuable new insights.
The preparation of a sample plate for ZooMS analysis. The tiny droplets being deposited using the pipette contain small amounts of ground up collagen that will be analyzed on a mass spectrometer. (CREDIT: Samantha Brown)
Changing the Game for Archaeology
This discovery transforms the value of previously overlooked museum collections. Bones once considered too fragmented or degraded now hold crucial information. ZooMS provides a cost-effective and rapid method to analyze old bones, helping scientists piece together a more complete picture of the past.
The new technique allows researchers to explore deeper questions about the extinction of giant animals. Knowing precisely where and when these creatures lived, and how quickly they vanished, is critical to understanding why they disappeared. Techniques like ZooMS promise to clarify these questions significantly.
This research also highlights the importance of maintaining museum collections, even if they appear less impressive at first glance.
“Museum collections can be treasure troves,” said Dr. Hopkins. “We need to preserve them because today’s technology can find answers from yesterday’s forgotten bones.”
1961 excavation at Lamb Spring, showing Ed Lewis (standing on left) and Waldo Wedel, along with two fieldmen. Glenn Scott can be seen in the excavation pit alongside some mammoth bones wrapped in plaster jackets for preservation. (CREDIT: USGS public domain image)
As funding becomes tighter, museums often struggle to keep vast collections of bones and artifacts. However, this study emphasizes why protecting these collections matters greatly. Old bones stored away for decades can now answer critical scientific questions, shedding light on major events like North America’s megafaunal extinction.
While the ultimate cause of the extinction remains debated, modern methods like ZooMS are bringing scientists closer than ever to solving this ancient mystery. Each bone fragment analyzed is another piece in this fascinating puzzle, slowly uncovering the story of the spectacular animals that once roamed North America—and the factors that led to their sudden disappearance.
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