Jan 8, 2025 01:46 AM
Earth’s air war: Explaining the delayed rise of plants, animals on land
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1069756
INTRO: If you like the smell of spring roses, the sounds of summer birdsong, and the colors of fall foliage, you have the stabilization of the ozone layer to thank for it. Located in the stratosphere, where it shields the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, the ozone layer plays a key role in preserving the planet’s biodiversity.
And now we may have a better idea of why that took so long — more than 2 billion years — to happen.
According to a new, Yale-led study, Earth’s early atmosphere hosted a battle royale between iodine and oxygen — effectively delaying the creation of a stable ozone layer that would shield complex life from much of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation (UVR).
The new theory, described in a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, may solve a mystery that has puzzled scientists for hundreds of years.
“The origin and diversification of complex life on Earth remains one of the most profound and enduring questions in natural science,” said Jingjun Liu, a doctoral student in Earth and planetary sciences at Yale and first and corresponding author of the new study.
Indeed, scientists have long wondered why land plants did not emerge on Earth until 450 million years ago, even though their progenitors, cyanobacteria, had been in existence for 2.7 billion years. Likewise, there are no fossils for complex land animals or plants before the Cambrian era (541 to 485 million years ago) despite the evidence of much older microfossils.
“The only existing explanation states that this delay is an intrinsic characteristic of evolution — that an enormous amount of time is required,” said Noah Planavsky, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences, faculty member of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, and senior author of the new study. “Yet that notion fails to explain how and why complex life originated and diversified.”
The new study suggests that something beyond the need for time was responsible: the delayed stabilization of Earth’s ozone layer, caused by elevated marine iodine concentrations that prevented a protective UVR shield from forming in the atmosphere... (MORE - details, no ads)
Can you steam away prostate cancer?
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068867
INTRO: Steam eliminates wrinkles and germs, but can it destroy cancer cells too?
Keck Medicine of USC is participating in a national, multisite clinical trial examining if a water vapor system that uses small, targeted amounts of steam to kill cancer cells is a safe and effective treatment for prostate cancer.
Researchers hope that steam may offer patients a less invasive way of controlling or curing cancer than currently exists.
“The most common therapies for prostate cancer often cause life-altering side effects, and we are investigating if this new treatment may not only treat the cancer, but offer our patients overall better quality-of-life outcomes,” said Andre Abreu, MD, a Keck Medicine urologist and lead investigator of the Keck Medicine clinical trial site. Abreu also leads focal therapy and artificial intelligence efforts for prostate cancer with USC Urology... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1069756
INTRO: If you like the smell of spring roses, the sounds of summer birdsong, and the colors of fall foliage, you have the stabilization of the ozone layer to thank for it. Located in the stratosphere, where it shields the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, the ozone layer plays a key role in preserving the planet’s biodiversity.
And now we may have a better idea of why that took so long — more than 2 billion years — to happen.
According to a new, Yale-led study, Earth’s early atmosphere hosted a battle royale between iodine and oxygen — effectively delaying the creation of a stable ozone layer that would shield complex life from much of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation (UVR).
The new theory, described in a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, may solve a mystery that has puzzled scientists for hundreds of years.
“The origin and diversification of complex life on Earth remains one of the most profound and enduring questions in natural science,” said Jingjun Liu, a doctoral student in Earth and planetary sciences at Yale and first and corresponding author of the new study.
Indeed, scientists have long wondered why land plants did not emerge on Earth until 450 million years ago, even though their progenitors, cyanobacteria, had been in existence for 2.7 billion years. Likewise, there are no fossils for complex land animals or plants before the Cambrian era (541 to 485 million years ago) despite the evidence of much older microfossils.
“The only existing explanation states that this delay is an intrinsic characteristic of evolution — that an enormous amount of time is required,” said Noah Planavsky, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences, faculty member of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, and senior author of the new study. “Yet that notion fails to explain how and why complex life originated and diversified.”
The new study suggests that something beyond the need for time was responsible: the delayed stabilization of Earth’s ozone layer, caused by elevated marine iodine concentrations that prevented a protective UVR shield from forming in the atmosphere... (MORE - details, no ads)
Can you steam away prostate cancer?
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068867
INTRO: Steam eliminates wrinkles and germs, but can it destroy cancer cells too?
Keck Medicine of USC is participating in a national, multisite clinical trial examining if a water vapor system that uses small, targeted amounts of steam to kill cancer cells is a safe and effective treatment for prostate cancer.
Researchers hope that steam may offer patients a less invasive way of controlling or curing cancer than currently exists.
“The most common therapies for prostate cancer often cause life-altering side effects, and we are investigating if this new treatment may not only treat the cancer, but offer our patients overall better quality-of-life outcomes,” said Andre Abreu, MD, a Keck Medicine urologist and lead investigator of the Keck Medicine clinical trial site. Abreu also leads focal therapy and artificial intelligence efforts for prostate cancer with USC Urology... (MORE - missing details, no ads)