Category: 7. Science

By Carolyn Bernhardt

Since it was first detected in New York in 1996, the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) has been an insidious threat to healthy hardwood trees nationwide. The striking black-and-white invader’s offspring tunnel deep into tree trunks as larvae, affecting beloved species like maple, birch, and elm. Today, managers mostly rely on cutting down infested trees and destroying them to curb the beetles’ spread.

But what if novel defensive strategies were lurking in nature? A new article published in June in Environmental Entomology reviews a promising lineup of microbial enemies—fungi, bacteria, and nematodes—that could help suppress Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) outbreaks. It’s the first comprehensive look at these natural biocontrol agents, and, according to lead author Ann Hajek, Ph.D., professor emerita at Cornell University, it’s long overdue.

“I was stunned that we had never written a review about this,” she says. When collaborating on a different review paper focused on parasitoids, Hajek noticed “there was far too much information about studies of pathogens” to merge the topics into a single review. That realization led to this second, standalone review focused squarely on these microbial enemies known as entomopathogens.

Fungal Frontlines

Among the most promising tools are insect-killing fungi, especially Beauveria and Metarhizium species. These fungi infect the beetles externally, their spores latching onto the beetle, entering the body, and eventually killing the beetle. In trials, beetles exposed to these fungi lived shorter lives, laid fewer eggs, and could pass pathogens to their offspring.

Researchers eventually developed a solution to strategically infect beetles: wrapping tree trunks with fungus-covered bands. A Japanese company had already commercialized fungal bands to manage related beetles in orchards. “We started with information about the Japanese product and adapted what we developed for ALB,” Hajek says.

But there was a hitch: The U.S. has prioritized eradication, not management. “The ALB populations in the U.S. were very low and scattered,” Hajek says. Once a tree is confirmed as infested, it’s swiftly cut down and chipped. That means U.S. researchers had no access to sustained beetle populations for field trials, so most of this work has had to take place in China, where ALB is native.

Hajek’s review combines findings from research conducted by others with studies she and colleagues have conducted in recent years. In these studies, field trials were successful, but some challenges emerged. The fungi require some moisture to work effectively, but ALB populations in China occurred in very dry regions. So, after several unsuccessful seasons with too few beetles or too-dry weather, the team discontinued field trials in China. In the U.S., testing shifted to evaluating how long the fungal bands remained viable outdoors, with researchers bringing samples back to Cornell’s quarantine lab to test infection potential.

Importantly, all tests in the U.S. used native or EPA-approved fungal strains—never imported ones. “We realized we needed to use U.S. isolates or fungi already approved by the EPA to develop a viable ALB control method,” Hajek says.

Hajek notes that these methods aren’t standalone solutions for eradication. But, she says, they could be powerful tools if ALB becomes more widespread or more complex to contain, especially if paired with other potential and emerging strategies, like pheromone lures to draw beetles to the bands.

Other Contenders

While fungi target adult beetles, tiny parasitic worms known as entomopathogenic nematodes set their sights on the larvae. Two species—Steinernema carpocapsae and S. feltiae—proved most effective in lab trials. These nematodes crawl into beetle tunnels and are especially attracted to beetle droppings. Once inside, the nematodes kill ALB larvae within days.

The team also tested Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), a bacterium already used in many natural biopesticides. But because ALB larvae live deep inside trees and rarely feed on exposed surfaces, Bt isn’t currently practical for field use. Another candidate, Nosema glabripennis, a microsporidium found infecting beetle larvae in China, hasn’t yet been detected in U.S. ALB populations, but scientists are still searching.

Why Aren’t These Tools in Use?

Despite the promise of these natural enemies for managing Asian longhorned beetle, fungal bands or nematodes have not been deployed more broadly in the U.S. because of the country’s aggressive and largely successful eradication approach through other means. Outbreaks remain relatively rare and localized, thanks to vigilant public reporting and swift tree removal. Biological controls like fungal bands are more useful for population suppression than eradication. For now, they remain a backup plan—tools that could be scaled up if outbreaks worsen or if managers need spot treatment options to supplement other control measures.

Hajek believes the U.S. could follow Japan’s lead, where fungal bands are already commercialized and in use. “I think it would be possible for industry in the U.S. to do this too, when needed,” she says.

Even in retirement, Hajek remains passionate about this particular beetle battle. She credits citizen scientists for playing a crucial role. “The last I knew, all ALB infestations were first found by the public! So, the public has been super important to detecting ALB in the U.S.,” she says.

In the ongoing fight against this tree-killing invader, fungi, worms, and microbes may not be miracle cures—but they’re powerful potential allies waiting in the wings.

Carolyn Bernhardt, M.A., is a freelance science writer and editor based in Portland, Oregon. Email: carolynbernhardt11@gmail.com.

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Once native to the rocky shores of Jeju Island, the top shell Turbo sazae is now moving north. Scientists at KIOST have linked the snail’s shifting range to rising sea temperatures driven by climate change.

Genetic evidence supports the snails’ expansion, showing shared ancestry between eastern and southern Korean populations.

A research paper published in the journal Animals reveals that this shift is not just recent. It is tied to deeper evolutionary history and ocean current dynamics.

“Climate change-driven rises in sea temperatures are a core variable in the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems,” said KIOST President Hyi Seung Lee.

Snails with shared ancestry

The researchers collected samples from six locations, including Jeju and the East Sea. Using mitochondrial DNA (COI), the team built haplotype maps to assess relatedness.

A dominant genetic type, called EJ1, appeared in 60% of Jeju individuals and 50% of East Sea ones. This strong overlap suggests these regions share more than just warm waters. They share a common genetic base.

Bayesian analysis dated the most recent common ancestor between these populations to between 9.7 and 23.3 million years ago.

Ocean currents and snail dispersal

The ancestral link between the snails reflects a long evolutionary history shaped by currents like the Kuroshio and Tsushima.

These ocean currents are central to the story. They carry larvae north during early planktonic stages. Turbo sazae larvae live in open water for 3 to 5 days before settling. That short window is enough to disperse widely along current paths.

This dispersal helps maintain genetic continuity between distant populations. That is why genetic differentiation between Jeju and the East Sea is low.

The study’s FST values and AMOVA results confirm that most genetic variation occurs within, not between, these groups.

Unique regions still shape genes

Despite shared ancestry, some sites showed early signs of divergence. Populations at Dokdo and Wangdolcho had site-specific haplotypes.

These locations have complex underwater topography and eddies that may trap larvae. This can limit outside gene flow and shape unique traits over time.

Dokdo, for instance, rises steeply from the ocean floor and is shaped by dynamic currents. These geographic features might create local barriers that influence how genes move. More research could clarify whether such structures truly restrict connectivity.

Warmer waters weaken snail immunity

Earlier studies suspected diet changes caused population drops in Jeju. Researchers thought urchin barrens affected feeding behavior. But recent findings show diet had little impact on physiology or reproduction.

Instead, warming waters weakened the snail’s immune function. In other words, climate change was the real driver of the snail’s population decline around Jeju.

This finding came from a second study published in the journal Marine Environmental Research. The study confirmed that higher sea temperatures compromise the snail’s immunity and make it more vulnerable to environmental stress.

Ocean warming shifts sea life habitats

Between 2009 and 2018, Turbo sazae expanded north at a rate of 12.4 km per year. That is a fast pace for a marine mollusk. It aligns with rising sea surface temperatures of 0.38°C per decade in the region. Warmer waters now support life where it once could not.

A marine desertification phenomenon called barren ground is also changing habitats. These zones lose kelp and become covered with white algae. Such shifts leave snails like T. sazae with fewer choices. They must move or decline.

Climate change and snail conservation

The study’s findings have practical implications. They show that Jeju acts as a source for new East Sea populations.

The shared genetics suggest that populations should not be managed as isolated units. Instead, integrated approaches should reflect their connectivity.

Yet, local differences still matter. Management plans must protect unique habitats, especially where signs of early genetic differentiation emerge. Monitoring, habitat conservation, and tracking larval dispersal are essential steps.

Snails adjusting to climate change

As the sea changes with the climate, snails and other inhabitants are changing too. Turbo sazae is adjusting, relocating, and surviving.

The science behind this shift not only charts the path of one species. It gives a broader glimpse into how ocean warming is reshaping sea life.

KIOST President Hyi Seung Lee said the findings will help deepen scientific understanding of how sea life distribution is changing and support ongoing efforts to protect marine ecosystems.

The study is published in the journal Animals.

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The Himawari-8 and -9 satellites, launched in 2014 and 2016, respectively, were developed to monitor global atmospheric phenomena through use of their multispectral Advanced Himawari Imagers (AHIs). The University of Tokyo team led by visiting researcher Gaku Nishiyama saw the opportunity to use the cutting-edge sensor data for spaceborne observations of Venus, which is coincidentally captured by the AHIs near the Earth’s rim.

Observing temporal temperature variations in the cloud tops of Venus is essential to understand its atmospheric dynamics and related phenomena, such as thermal tides and planetary-scale waves. Obtaining data for these phenomena presents multiple challenges, as Nishiyama explained. “The atmosphere of Venus has been known to exhibit year-scale variations in reflectance and wind speed; however, no planetary mission has succeeded in continuous observation for longer than 10 years due to their mission lifetimes,” he said. “Ground-based observations can also contribute to long-term monitoring, but their observations generally have limitations due to the Earth’s atmosphere and sunlight during the daytime.”

Meteorological satellites on the other hand appear suited to fill this gap with their longer mission lifetimes (the Himawari-8 and -9 satellites are scheduled for operation until 2029). The AHIs allow multiband infrared coverage, which has been limited in planetary missions to date, essential for retrieving temperature information from different altitudes, along with low-noise and frequent observation. Aiming to demonstrate this potential to contribute to Venus science, the team investigated the observed temporal dynamics of the Venusian atmosphere and provided a comparative analysis with previous datasets. “We believe this method will provide precious data for Venus science because there might not be any other spacecraft orbiting around Venus until the next planetary missions around 2030,” said Nishiyama.

The team first established a data archive by extracting all Venus images from the collected AHI datasets, identifying 437 occurrences in total. Taking into account background noise and apparent size of Venus in the captured images, they were able to track the temporal variation in cloud-top temperature during the periods where the geostationary satellite, Venus and the Earth lined up in a row.

The retrieved temporal variations in brightness temperatures were then analyzed on both year and day scales and compared for all infrared bands to investigate variability of thermal tides and planetary-scale waves. Variation in thermal tide amplitude was confirmed from the obtained dataset. The results also confirmed change in amplitude of planetary waves in the atmosphere with time, appearing to decrease with altitude. While definitive conclusions on the physics behind the detected variations were challenging due to the limited temporal resolution of the AHI data, variations in the thermal tide amplitude appeared possibly linked to decadal variation in the Venus atmosphere structure.

In addition to successfully applying the Himawari data to planetary observations, the team was further able to use the data to identify calibration discrepancies in data from previous planetary missions.

Nishiyama is already looking at implications of the study beyond Venus’ horizon. “I think that our novel approach in this study successfully opened a new avenue for long-term and multiband monitoring of solar system bodies. This includes the moon and Mercury, which I also study at present. Their infrared spectra contain various information on physical and compositional properties of their surface, which are hints at how these rocky bodies have evolved until the present.” The prospect of accessing a range of geometric conditions untethered from the limitations of ground-based observations is clearly an exciting one. “We hope this study will enable us to assess physical and compositional properties, as well as atmospheric dynamics, and contribute to our further understanding of planetary evolution in general.”

Funding: This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP22K21344, 23H00150, and 23H01249, and JSPS Overseas Research Fellowship.

Angular momentum is a fundamental quantity in physics that describes the rotational motion of objects. In quantum physics, it encompasses both the intrinsic spin of particles and their orbital motion around a point. These properties are essential for understanding a wide range of systems, from atoms and molecules to complex materials and high-energy particle interactions.

When a magnetic field is applied to a quantum system, particle spins typically align with or against the field. This well-known effect, known as spin polarization, leads to observable phenomena such as magnetization. Until now, it was widely believed that spin played the dominant role in how particles respond to magnetic fields. However, new research challenges this long-held view.

In this vein, Assistant Professor Kazuya Mameda of Tokyo University of Science, Japan, in collaboration with Professor Kenji Fukushima of School of Science, The University of Tokyo and Dr. Koichi Hattori of Zhejiang University, found that under strong magnetic fields, the orbital motion of magnetovortical matter becomes more significant than spin effects, leading to reversing the overall direction of angular momentum. The study will be published in Physical Review Letters on July 01, 2025.

“It was previously believed that most microscopic phenomena in a magnetic field were governed by spin angular momentum—a physical quantity characterizing the intrinsic rotational motion of microscopic particles,” explains Dr. Mameda. “However, this study found that in a strong magnetic field, orbital motion can overwhelm spin effects, reversing the direction of rotational motion from what was previously believed.”

The researchers studied fermionic systems—specifically Dirac fermions— subjected to both strong magnetic fields and rotation. By ensuring gauge invariance and thermodynamic stability in their theoretical framework, they demonstrated that orbital contributions to bulk properties can exceed spin contributions.

Unlike spin, which aligns with the magnetic field, the orbital angular momentum aligns according to Lenz’s law—opposite to the direction of the magnetic field. As the magnetic field intensifies, the charge density from the orbital-rotation coupling and orbital angular momentum grow twice the magnitude of their spin counterparts, but with opposite sign.

This reversal in total angular momentum reshapes our understanding of magnetovortical matter and links its behavior to a broader class of quantum effects known as anomaly-induced transports. The findings also pave the way for simulations using lattice QCD—a powerful computational tool for studying strongly interacting particles such as quarks and gluons under extreme conditions.

The discovery that a strong magnetic field can reverse angular momentum in quantum systems challenges established theories. It highlights the previously underestimated role of orbital motion, showing it to be more influential than spin in certain regimes. This insight could spark advances in groundbreaking technologies, particularly in orbitronics, a field dedicated to manipulating the orbital motion of electrons.

“Total angular momentum reversal under strong magnetic fields has been overlooked across fields from materials science to astrophysics. Our findings redefine the foundational physics of modern physics and point to new frontiers in orbitronics—where controlling electron orbital motion could lead to innovative device applications,” concludes Dr. Mameda.

There is a growing buzz in the astronomy community about a new object with a hyperbolic trajectory that is moving toward the inner Solar System.

Early on Wednesday, the European Space Agency confirmed that the object, tentatively known as A11pl3Z, did indeed have interstellar origins.

“Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System!” the agency’s Operations account shared on Blue Sky. “ESA’s Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as #A11pl3Z, right now using telescopes around the world.”

Only recently identified, astronomers have been scrambling to make new observations of the object, which is presently just inside the orbit of Jupiter and will eventually pass inside the orbit of Mars when making its closest approach to the Sun this October. Astronomers are also looking at older data to see if the object showed up in earlier sky surveys.

An engineer at the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey, David Rankin, said recent estimates of the object’s eccentricity are about 6. A purely circular orbit has an eccentricity value of 0, and anything above 1 is hyperbolic. Essentially, this is a very, very strong indication that A11pl3Z originated outside of the Solar System.

A new technology that uses clinical MRI machines to image metabolic activity in the brain could give researchers and clinicians unique insight into brain function and disease, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report. The non-invasive, high-resolution metabolic imaging of the whole brain revealed differences in metabolic activity and neurotransmitter levels among brain regions; found metabolic alterations in brain tumors; and mapped and characterized multiple sclerosis lesions – with patients only spending minutes in an MRI scanner.

Led by Zhi-Pei Liang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and a member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I., the team reported its findings in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Understanding the brain, how it works and what goes wrong when it is injured or diseased is considered one of the most exciting and challenging scientific endeavors of our time. MRI has played major roles in unlocking the mysteries of the brain over the past four decades. Our new technology adds another dimension to MRI’s capability for brain imaging: visualization of brain metabolism and detection of metabolic alterations associated with brain diseases.”

Zhi-Pei Liang, professor of electrical and computer engineering and member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I.

Conventional MRI provides high-resolution, detailed imaging of brain structures. Functional MRI maps brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow and blood oxygenation level, which are closely linked to neural activity. However, they cannot provide information on the metabolic activity in the brain, which is important for understanding function and disease, said postdoctoral researcher Yibo Zhao, the first author of the paper.

“Metabolic and physiological changes often occur before structural and functional abnormalities are visible on conventional MRI and fMRI images,” Zhao said. “Metabolic imaging, therefore, can lead to early diagnosis and intervention of brain diseases.”

Both MRI and fMRI techniques are based on magnetic resonance signals from water molecules. The new technology measures signals from brain metabolites and neurotransmitters as well as water molecules, a technique known as magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging. These MRSI images can provide significant new insights into brain function and disease processes, and could improve sensitivity and specificity for the detection and diagnosis of brain diseases, Zhao said.

Other attempts at MRSI have been bogged down by the lengthy times required to capture the images and high levels of noise obscuring the signals from neurotransmitters. The new technique addresses both challenges.

“Our technology overcomes several long-standing technical barriers to fast high-resolution metabolic imaging by synergistically integrating ultrafast data acquisition with physics-based machine learning methods for data processing,” Liang said. With the new MRSI technology, the Illinois team cut the time required for a whole brain scan to 12 and a half minutes.

The researchers tested their MRSI technique on several populations. In healthy subjects, the researchers found and mapped varying metabolic and neurotransmitter activity across different brain regions, indicating that such activity is not universal. In patients with brain tumors, the researchers found metabolic alterations, such as elevated choline and lactate, in tumors of different grades – even when the tumors appeared identical on clinical MRI images. In subjects with multiple sclerosis, the technique detected molecular changes associated with neuroinflammatory response and reduced neuronal activity up to 70 days before changes become visible on clinical MRI images, the researchers report.

The researchers foresee potential for broad clinical use of their technique: By tracking metabolic changes over time, clinicians can assess the effectiveness of treatments for neurological conditions, Liang said. Metabolic information also can be used to tailor treatments to individual patients based on their unique metabolic profiles.

“High-resolution whole-brain metabolic imaging has significant clinical potential,” said Liang, who began his career in the lab of the late Illinois professor Paul Lauterbur, recipient of the Nobel Prize for developing MRI technology. “Paul envisioned this exciting possibility and the general approach, but it has been very difficult to achieve his dream of fast high-resolution metabolic imaging in the clinical setting.

“As healthcare is moving towards personalized, predictive and precision medicine, this high-speed, high-resolution technology can provide a timely and effective tool to address an urgent unmet need for noninvasive metabolic imaging in clinical applications.”

Dust devils on Mars could be crackling with electric currents, according to a new study — and scientists are a little concerned about this because a buildup of such charge could harm rovers rolling along the surface of Mars.

“Electrified dust will adhere to conducting surfaces such as wheels, solar panels and antennas. This may diminish the availability of solar energy, harm communications and complicate the motion of rovers and robots,” Yoav Yair, a professor at Reichman University in Israel who studies planetary lightning and was not part of the new study, told Space.com.

Since 2015, Antarctica has lost sea ice equal to the size of Greenland — the largest environmental shift seen anywhere on Earth in the last decades. The Southern Ocean is also getting saltier, and this unexpected change is making the problem worse.

For decades, the ocean’s surface freshened (becoming less salty), helping sea ice grow. Now, scientists say that trend has sharply reversed.

Using European satellite data, research led by the University of Southampton has discovered a sudden rise in surface salinity south of 50° latitude.

This has coincided with a dramatic loss of sea ice around Antarctica and the re-emergence of the Maud Rise polynya in the Weddell Sea – a huge hole in the sea ice nearly four times the size of Wales, which hadn’t occurred since the 1970s.

The findings were published on June 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr Alessandro Silvano from the University of Southampton who led the research said: “Saltier surface water allows deep ocean heat to rise more easily, melting sea ice from below. It’s a dangerous feedback loop: less ice leads to more heat, which leads to even less ice.

“The return of the Maud Rise polynya signals just how unusual the current conditions are. If this salty, low-ice state continues, it could permanently reshape the Southern Ocean — and with it, the planet. The effects are already global: stronger storms, warmer oceans, and shrinking habitats for penguins and other iconic Antarctic wildlife.”

In these polar waters, cold, fresh surface water overlays warmer, saltier waters from the deep. In the winter, as the surface cools and sea ice forms, the density difference (stratification) between water layers weakens, allowing these layers to mix and heat to be transported upward, melting the sea ice from below and limiting its growth.

Since the early 1980s, the surface of the Southern Ocean had been freshening, and stratification had been strengthening, trapping heat below and sustaining more sea ice coverage.

Now, new satellite technology, combined with information from floating robotic devices which travel up and down the water column, shows this trend has reversed; surface salinity is increasing, stratification is weakening, and sea ice has reached multiple record lows — with large openings of open ocean in the sea ice (polynyas) returning.

It’s the first time scientists have been able to monitor these changes in the Southern Ocean in real-time.

Contrary to the new findings, man-made climate change was generally expected to sustain Antarctic Sea ice cover over the coming years.

Aditya Narayanan, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Southampton and co-author on the paper, explains: “While scientists expected that human-driven climate change would eventually lead to Antarctic Sea ice decline, the timing and nature of this shift remained uncertain.

“Previous projections emphasized enhanced surface freshening and stronger ocean stratification, which could have supported sustained sea ice cover. Instead, a rapid reduction in sea ice — an important reflector of solar radiation — has occurred, potentially accelerating global warming.”

Professor Alberto Naveira Garabato, co-author of the study and Regius Professor of Ocean Sciences at the University of Southampton added: “The new findings suggest that our current understanding may be insufficient to accurately predict future changes.”

“It makes the need for continuous satellite and in-situ monitoring all the more pressing, so we can better understand the drivers of recent and future shifts in the ice-ocean system.”

The paper Rising surface salinity and declining sea ice: a new Southern Ocean state revealed by satellites is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is available online.

The project was supported by the European Space Agency.