Some Alaska cruises are to this year after a landslide-generated tsunami barreled through the narrow channel during peak season last August. A new analysis of the event from researchers at the University of Calgary and the 天美影院, , describes how glacial retreat caused by global warming primed the fjord for the colossal wave and what, if any, warning signs preceded it.

At 5:26 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2025, a piece of the mountainside one kilometer tall and 200 meters thick collapsed into the Tracy Arm Fjord, a scenic waterway south of Juneau. Rock crashed into the water, taking with it chunks of the South Sawyer glacier and producing a 481-meter high tsunami so powerful that it scraped surrounding hillsides bare.

The event would have been “unsurvivable for any ship of any size,鈥� said co-author a 天美影院professor of Earth and space sciences, but fortunately the tsunami occurred too early for tours and no one was harmed.

Later that day, as many as 20 boats, including large cruise ships, may have visited the fjord. Tourist vessels often draw near the fjord wall to get the best vantage point for photographs of towering glaciers and mountains. The slope that failed was only recently exposed to the water below it due to glacial retreat.

鈥淚t was only in the last few years that the glacier retreated back past the bottom of where the hillside failed,鈥� Roe said.

Tracy Arm Fjord hosts two glaciers, the Sawyer and South Sawyer, which both stem from the , a frozen expanse spanning the Alaska-British Columbia border. The larger South Sawyer glacier terminates in the water, making it a tidewater glacier, while the Sawyer retreated onto land in 2023.

Satellite observations indicate that the ice has retreated nearly 10 kilometers since the beginning of the industrial era, with the pace accelerating after 2000.

Mapping the change in position and mass of a tidewater glacier can be difficult because they shrink in multiple directions. Exposed ice melts in the sun and chunks break off and fall into the water at the glacial front. Glaciers around the world have been retreating in response to global warming, but tidewater glaciers don鈥檛 always follow general trends.

To understand the link between global warming and the 2025 tsunami, researchers used a computational method developed by Roe and , a 天美影院research scientist in Earth and space sciences. Their approach combines hundreds of simulations from various computer models to estimate how different certain climates would look without human influence.

鈥淲ith these data, we can quantify how unusual the observations are compared to the expected natural variability in the climate had we not been burning fossil fuels,鈥� Berdahl said.

In the study, they conclude that 100% of the industrial-era warming in this region of Alaska is human-caused. As it gets warmer, less snow accumulates and the ice retreats.

鈥淪nowline elevations are rising, ice is thinning, and the ice cap is shrinking. Even though tidewater glaciers can be more complicated to study, we are fully confident that the retreat is primarily due to the changing environment, and we are the cause of the changing environment,鈥� Roe said.

It is possible that glacial retreat destabilized the slope that failed, but specific landslide triggers are notoriously difficult to discern. Either way, if the surface beneath the slope had been glacial ice, the slide wouldn鈥檛 have produced such a massive tsunami.

Although no one was harmed by the wave, those nearby raised the alarm. Kayakers awoke early in the morning to water flowing past their tents and carrying away some of their gear. A cruise ship anchored near the mouth of the fjord described large waves rolling through and shifting currents. These reports allowed researchers to triangulate the landslide, but the authors say there were very few advance warning signs.

鈥淣ormally with these gigantic rock avalanches, they often give some sort of warning signs in the weeks, months or years prior when the slope is slowly moving down the mountain. It鈥檚 sagging and then it catastrophically gives way in a rock avalanche,鈥� said lead author , associate professor of Earth, energy and environment at the University of Calgary. 鈥淚n this case, that didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�

The researchers did note an increase in low frequency seismic noise before the landslide.

鈥淭he long precursory phase of seismic activity before the landslide is fascinating, and to my knowledge, rarely observed,鈥� said , a 天美影院professor of Earth and space sciences. 鈥淕iven its duration and the relative ease of detection, this type of signal could conceivably provide advance warning of large slides if enough seismic monitoring can be deployed.鈥�

Until that happens though, it will be difficult to predict the behavior of changing terrain.

The unexpected event presents challenges when it comes to disaster reduction in high-risk areas, Shugar said. Cruise ship companies, captains and other stakeholders should pay close attention, particularly in areas on the West Coast and in polar regions where glaciers are thinning due to the changing climate.

This study was funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Alberta Innovates, Canadian Space Agency, U.S. Geological Survey Landslide Hazards Program, the U.S. National Science Foundation, NERC, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Foundation, and the Carlsberg Foundation.

This story was adapted from

For more information, contact Roe at groe@uw.edu.听

Biodiversity loss is directly threatening human health and welfare, according to new research by a multi-institution team including the 天美影院. The study, , reveals for the first time how the decline of insect pollinators undermines essential ecosystem services that support human nutrition and livelihoods.

It鈥檚 been long known that insect pollinators are vital for producing many of the fruits, vegetables and legumes that supply essential vitamins and minerals in our diets, yet clear evidence of how their decline affects people has been limited.

Working in 10 smallholder farming villages and their surrounding landscapes in Nepal, researchers traced the full chain of connections between wild pollinators, crop yields and the nutrients families rely on. By tracking diets, crop nutrients and the insects visiting those crops over a year, the research team showed how pollinators directly support both nutrition and livelihoods.

鈥淭his study directly connects the crops that local pollinators visit with people鈥檚 diets, nutrition and income,鈥� said , a research scientist in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the UW. 鈥淚t was a real collaborative effort across many partners to collect and analyze a large body of data, making it possible to explore these links.鈥�

The study found insect pollinators were responsible for 44% of people鈥檚 farming income and contributed more than 20% of their intake of vitamin A, folate and vitamin E. When pollinators decline, families risk poorer nutrition leading to higher vulnerability to illness and infections, and deeper cycles of poverty and poor health. One quarter of the global population currently suffer from this 鈥渉idden hunger.鈥�

The research shows there is real potential for positive change 鈥� nutrition and income can improve when communities support pollinators. Simple steps like planting wildflowers, using fewer pesticides or keeping native bees can help boost pollinator numbers, strengthening both nature and people鈥檚 wellbeing.

Even though smallholder farmers are highly vulnerable to biodiversity loss, these practical local actions could enhance their food security and economic resilience. The findings could also help improve the health and livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers around the world.

鈥淥ur study shows that biodiversity is not a luxury 鈥� it is fundamental to our health, nutrition and livelihoods,鈥� said lead author who completed the research while at the University of Bristol and is now a postdoctoral research associate at the University of York, both in the United Kingdom. 鈥淏y revealing how species like pollinators support the food we eat, we highlight both the risks of biodiversity loss for human health and the powerful opportunities to improve human lives by working with nature.鈥�

The research shows that human health is deeply tied to the health of nature. By tracking how pollinators support food production and diets, the study reveals that biodiversity loss isn鈥檛 just an environmental problem, it threatens public health and economic stability 鈥� as highlighted in the recent U.K. government.

With around 2 billion people relying on smallholder farming and with many facing vitamin deficiencies, protecting the ecosystems that support nutritious food is essential and crucial for sustainable development.

The study鈥檚 findings offer a practical framework to help policymakers and farmers design more nature鈥憄ositive farming systems. Although the research is focused on Nepal, the same connections shape food systems everywhere. Diets, even in industrialized countries, still depend on the pollinators and ecosystems that sustain global agriculture.

The researchers 鈥� spanning universities and non-governmental organizations across Nepal, the U.K., the U.S. and Finland 鈥� are now putting their findings into action across Nepal to tackle pollinator declines and repair the pollination systems that support food production. Working with farmers, local organizations, researchers and government partners, they are helping people understand the value of pollinators and how to support them in everyday farming.

By demonstrating why pollinators matter, and sharing simple, practical techniques to support them, the researchers are already seeing farmers adopt changes that boost crop yields, nutrition and income.

鈥淎 鈥榳in-win鈥� scenario exists where we can simultaneously improve conditions for both biodiversity and people,鈥� said co-author , professor of ecology at the University of Bristol. 鈥淚t takes ecological understanding, but it costs remarkably little and there are significant gains for both parties.鈥�

This story was adapted from a

For more information or to contact the researchers, email Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

Discovery Days returns!

On April 30 and May 1, thousands of elementary and middle school students from across Washington state will arrive on the 天美影院鈥檚 Seattle campus to explore more than . Hosted by the 天美影院College of Engineering, Discovery Days gives students a chance to experience science and engineering concepts for themselves by building batteries, designing videogames, firing air vortex cannons and controlling plasma with their fingertips.听

This year, more than 9,000 students from 109 schools registered to attend.

For more information, contact William Poor at wpoor@uw.edu.

Sunbirds may look similar to hummingbirds 鈥� small, iridescent birds with thin bills 鈥� but it turns out the two are only distantly related. Sunbirds live primarily in Africa, Asia and Australia, and have a unique way to slurp up nectar. Unlike hummingbirds, which use minute movements in their bills to sip nectar, sunbirds use their tongues as a straw. published in Current Biology, a team led by researchers at the 天美影院 showed that these long-billed birds can change the pressure at the base of their tongues to create suction that moves nectar through their tongues and into their mouths, a novel mechanism never before seen in vertebrates. The researchers used multiple techniques 鈥� including high-speed video of sunbirds drinking red-dyed nectar from transparent artificial flowers 鈥� to demonstrate this phenomenon across multiple sunbird species as well as build a mathematical model that describes how it works. Sunbirds pollinate the flowers they drink from, and researchers are interested in understanding how different sunbird species’ plant preferences affect the plant-pollinator networks across continents.

For more information, contact lead author , who completed this research as a 天美影院doctoral student in biology, at david_cuban@brown.edu.听听

The other 天美影院co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included . Related stories in and .听

Seattle Fault gets 5,000 more years of sleep听

Just over 1,100 years ago an on the Seattle fault rocked 鈥� and reshaped 鈥� the Puget Sound region. It lifted the sea floor and sent a powerful tsunami through the sound. Researchers have estimated that this fault, which runs east to west beneath the middle of the city, will produce a large earthquake every 5,000 years or so. However, , recently published in Geology, pushes that estimate back to 11,000 years. The researchers extended this window by scouring submerged shorelines for evidence of significant elevation changes. The geological record at these sites dates back 11,000 years, but they only found evidence of one major earthquake. This information could be useful to those making seismic hazard maps, which help people understand the risks associated with different regions. Although other regional faults and the imposing pose more imminent risks to residents, the main Seattle fault doesn鈥檛 appear to be ready for rupture anytime soon.

For more information, contact lead author , 天美影院research scientist of Earth and space sciences, at edav@uw.edu.

The other 天美影院co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included in the paper. Related story in .

The PNW has many rivers, but no system for gauging landslide dam risk

Scientists have a new tool for estimating lesser known hazards in the Pacific Northwest: and outburst floods. Landslides along rivers can block the flow of water downstream, creating a lake just above the slide area. Most landslide dams fail within 10 days, releasing trapped water in an outburst flood, which can be devastating. Last fall, 20 people died after in Taiwan. published in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 天美影院researchers debut a mathematical approach to mapping landslide dam hazards based on valley width and projected slide size. When they applied the tool to a mountain range in Oregon, they found that roughly one-third of rivers in the study area were susceptible to landslide dams, with risk increasing in mountainous areas. If a landslide dam does form, alleviating pressure by for water to escape can help prevent flooding. Identifying high risk areas can help guide emergency response efforts following storms, earthquakes and other events that increase landslide risk.

For more information, contact lead author , 天美影院doctoral student of Earth and space sciences, at pmmorgan@uw.edu.

The other 天美影院co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Rubin observatory expected to spot many 鈥榠mminent impactor鈥� asteroids

Small asteroids 鈥� those 1 to 20 meters in diameter 鈥斕� hit the Earth 35-40 times per year, though they鈥檙e very rarely spotted by telescopes before impact. That could soon change: published in The Astrophysical Journal, 天美影院astronomers calculate that the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory could discover one to two Earth-impacting asteroids annually , roughly doubling the number currently logged. The researchers expect Rubin to discover these asteroids an average of 1.5 days before impact, which is more warning time than ever before. Advance notice is extremely valuable in the case of larger asteroids that could be a threat to people or infrastructure. Because the Rubin Observatory is located in the Southern Hemisphere, it will likely discover many Earth impactors that existing asteroid surveys 鈥� concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere 鈥� miss.

For more information, contact lead author Ian Chow, a 天美影院graduate student of astronomy, at chowian@uw.edu.

Other 天美影院co-authors are Mario Juri膰, Joachim Moeyens, Aren N. Heinze and Jacob A. Kurlander. A full list of co-authors is included .

Many marine microbes share a genetic toolbox for fixing supper at sea

Researchers have now identified a set of genes that allow some bacteria to process a compound, called homarine, that is abundant in the ocean and appears to play a key role in nutrient cycling. Phytoplankton produce loads of homarine, but scientists weren鈥檛 sure what became of it until now. In a recent study published in Nature Microbiology, researchers found a set of genes present in common and far-flung bacteria that convert homarine into glutamic acid, an essential building block for life. This suggests that homarine may be a vital and overlooked resource and highlights the importance of bacteria in stabilizing marine ecosystems. Previous studies also found that homarine serves as and helps small crabs . The 天美影院team will continue studying homarine to better understand how it fits into the broader ecological landscape.

For more information, contact senior author , a 天美影院professor of oceanography, at aingalls@uw.edu.听

The other 天美影院co-authors are , , , , , and 听 A full list of co-authors and funding is

Mammals and dinosaurs coexisted on Earth until . Despite the devastation, some animals survived, including rodent-like mammals in the Cimolodon genus. These creatures are part of , a group that arose during the Jurassic Period and survived over 100 million years before going extinct. Studying these animals helps researchers better understand how mammals survived the mass extinction event and then diversified into the variety of mammals around today.

A research team led by the 天美影院 has identified a new species in the Cimolodon genus from a fossil the team discovered at a research site in Baja California. The researchers estimate that this fossil is about 75 million years old. The new species, named Cimolodon desosai, was about the size of a golden hamster, the researchers said. It likely scampered on the ground and in trees and ate fruits and insects.

The researchers April 22 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

“The genus Cimolodon was a pretty common mammal during the Late Cretaceous, the last epoch of the Age of Dinosaurs. Cimolodon fossils have been found throughout western North America, from western Canada down through Mexico,” said senior author , a 天美影院professor of biology and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum. “This new species, Cimolodon desosai, was ancestral to the species that survived the extinction event. It and its descendants were relatively small and omnivorous 鈥� two traits that were advantageous for surviving.”

When Wilson Mantilla and his team discovered the fossil in 2009, they found teeth, a skull, jaws and parts of the skeleton, including a femur and an ulna.

“It’s very hard to find fossils at this site compared to other areas,” Wilson Mantilla said. “At first, my field assistant found just a little tooth poking out. If he had just found that, I would have been over the moon. But then when we looked inside the crack of the rock, we could see there was more bone.”

The fact that the researchers uncovered more than just teeth for C. desosai means that they can better understand its size and shape and how it likely moved. It also helps fill out the picture of this genus and the habitat in which it lived, and contributes to a better understanding of the multituberculate group in general.

The researchers used digital imaging and a tool called micro-computed tomography, or micro-CT, to get high resolution images of the fossil. Then the team compared the teeth of C. desosai to those of its cousins in the Cimolodon genus to establish it as a new species.

“That far back in time everything is named based on their tooth characteristics,” Wilson Mantilla said. “If you find a skeleton that’s missing teeth, sometimes it’s hard to attach it to a name.”

The team named this species after Michael de Sosa VI, the field assistant who first found it, because de Sosa died while they were still analyzing the fossil.

“He was a great field assistant, and he was like a little brother to me,” Wilson Mantilla said. “It’s a great specimen to be associated with.”

Additional co-authors are , 天美影院doctoral student in biology, at the University of Rhode Island; Yue Zhang, who completed this research as a 天美影院postdoctoral fellow in biology; Meng Chen, who completed this research as a 天美影院doctoral student in biology; and and at the Universidad Nacional Aut贸noma de M茅xico.

This research was funded by UC MEXUS-CONACYT, Direcci贸n General de Asuntos del Personal Acad茅mico PAPIIT IN111209-2, the 天美影院College of Arts and Sciences, the 天美影院Department of Biology and the American Philosophical Society.

For more information, contact Wilson Mantilla at gpwilson@uw.edu.

As far as research subjects go, it鈥檚 not always easy to find common ground with a single-celled bacterium. Yet the more studies his model bacteria, , the more he sees surprising commonalities between their behavior and our own as humans.

鈥淚t was mortifying to be stumped for so long by what appeared to be completely counterintuitive behavior only to realize that I engage in exactly the same behavior everyday,鈥� said Wiggins, an associate professor of both physics and bioengineering at the 天美影院.听

Scientists in use experiments and modeling to understand the global principles that govern gene expression, and protein abundance in particular. In in Science Advances, Wiggins鈥� team discovered that A. baylyi cells amass huge surpluses of essential proteins, rather than taking the seemingly more efficient approach of making just enough to survive. 天美影院News chatted with Wiggins to learn about the remarkably relatable reason for this puzzling behavior.

This work grew out of a mystery you and your team uncovered. Tell us about that mystery.

Paul Wiggins: Genes are the blueprints for proteins 鈥� we say they 鈥渃ode for proteins.鈥� A. baylyi has a number of genes that code for proteins that we know are essential for cell growth. But we didn’t know exactly what each of these proteins do. In 2016, we were attempting to uncover these proteins’ specific functions in collaboration with the . To do this we disrupted each gene so that the cells couldn’t make any more protein 鈥� they were left with a now dwindling supply of whatever they鈥檇 previously made. Then we would watch the cells under a microscope to determine when and how cellular processes would fail.听

As an example, we knocked out a gene that coded for a protein that we found was responsible for cell wall synthesis 鈥� it makes the protein-sugar chainmail that prevents the cells from rupturing, or lysing. And you can watch the video we recorded to see what happened: The cells grew and divided for a while, but then all of a sudden they inflated and just popped.

In that example, something strange happened. We would expect the cell walls to start to fail almost immediately after the disruption happened because every time the cells divide, the remaining protein is divided among the offspring cells, so pretty quickly there wouldn鈥檛 be enough to sustain the new cell walls. However, growth continued, one generation after another, before the cells finally failed after four rounds of division!

Why did it take so long? Gene after gene showed the same pattern. We realized that each cell must have made a ton of extra proteins 鈥� far more than it needed. So after we knocked out that essential gene, the cell was able to run on fumes for a while 鈥� and was even able to pass stores of that protein on to its offspring. That finding was initially a huge surprise. We all expected, naively, that if a cell only needed a few copies of a protein to function, it would only make a few 鈥� anything more would be a waste of resources and energy. It鈥檇 be like taking a seven-day trip and packing 30 pairs of socks. And yet, this behavior seemed to be common for lots of essential genes.听

What do you think is the cause of this protein overabundance?

PW: Baking is a good analogy. If you want to make an apple pie, you probably only buy as many apples as you need for that recipe. But you keep a large quantity of salt in your pantry. You might only need a teaspoon of salt to make any given meal, but none of us go to the store and buy salt a teaspoon at a time. Salt is so cheap and easy to store that, relative to the cost of other ingredients in your meal, it鈥檚 basically free to keep in large quantities. And critically, you don鈥檛 want to run out of salt when you鈥檙e cooking.听

We demonstrated that something analogous is happening in A. baylyi cells for most of the essential genes. Only about 30% of a cell鈥檚 essential genes code for proteins that are “expensive” in that the cells need these proteins in large numbers. It would be very costly to, say, double an already large number. These are the apples in our apple pie analogy 鈥� the cell makes just enough of those proteins to get by.听

The remaining 70% of essential genes, however, code for proteins that the cell does not need in large numbers. In fact, relative to that other 30%, the cell needs so few of these proteins that it鈥檚 basically free to produce a bunch of extras. Doubling the production of those proteins, say from 30 to 60 copies, is a drop in the bucket if the cell鈥檚 overall budget is three million proteins. So the cell says, 鈥淪crew it, it鈥檚 virtually free. Let鈥檚 make extra so we don鈥檛 run out.鈥� In some cases a cell might make 10 times more protein than it will ever need.

Why is this strategy useful for the cells?

PW: This overabundance strategy is important because otherwise a cell might fail to produce enough of something critical. Protein synthesis is an imprecise process 鈥� cells sometimes make a little more or a little less of things than they鈥檙e programmed to make. Some essential proteins are made at such low numbers that any deviation from the plan could leave a cell with zero copies of that protein. This is less of a problem for essential proteins that are made in much higher numbers.听

How do these findings support or challenge previous ideas about how cells function?

PW: Depending on who you talk to, this is either definitely wrong or completely obvious. On the one hand, it鈥檚 a really ingrained idea that organisms are always optimizing everything, which would naively suggest that cells should make exactly what they need 鈥� no more, no less. However, this is clearly not the case. Other studies have observed these kinds of protein surpluses in cells before, but it wasn鈥檛 appreciated quite how wide-spread this phenomenon was. Previously researchers proposed that overabundance might be a hedge against changing conditions 鈥� maybe cells are stockpiling proteins in case times get tough. We鈥檙e suggesting that it鈥檚 a hedge against the cells failing to make the right number of essential proteins.

Co-authors include , a 天美影院postdoctoral researcher of physics; Teresa W. Lo and , former 天美影院doctoral students of physics; , a 天美影院graduate student of physics; and , a 天美影院postdoctoral researcher of laboratory medicine and pathology.

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

For more information, contact Wiggins at pwiggins@uw.edu.听

天美影院 professor of physics and 天美影院research professor emeritus are part of an international team that won the 2026 . The $3 million award is shared among roughly 400 scientists, including 18 other researchers from the 天美影院team. It celebrates decades of work to better understand the muon 鈥� a subatomic particle with anomalous properties. This collaborative effort could ultimately lead to the discovery of entirely new particles.

鈥淎 remarkable aspect of these experiments is that it took the collective talents and experience of scientists and engineers from particle, nuclear, atomic, optical, accelerator and theoretical physics communities to work coherently toward one single goal,鈥� Hertzog said. 鈥淭ogether, we measured a property of the muon that encapsulates almost everything we know about modern physics from relativity to quantum mechanics to the zoo of particles that govern the fundamental forces that shape our world.鈥�

The were established in 2012 to recognize research achievements in life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics.听

Muons, short-lived subatomic particles, are created for experiments by particle accelerators. They exist for a fraction of a second before decaying into electrons and even tinier particles called neutrinos. During their short life, muons exhibit magnetic properties that deviate slightly from the 鈥� the leading theory that describes the particles and forces that make up the universe, along with anything that exists that has not yet been discovered.

The experiments recognized by the Breakthrough Prize represent 60-plus years of work to find out exactly how far the muon鈥檚 magnetism strays from Standard Model predictions. The first experiments began in 1959 at the, also called CERN.听

Hertzog鈥檚 group at the University of Illinois was involved in a later experiment at the in the mid-1990s. He joined the faculty at 天美影院in 2010 and helped develop a new experiment at (Fermilab) that in 2025 with record-setting precision.听

While Hertzog and others have now completed their experimental measurements, theorists听 continue to refine the predictions of the Standard Model. In time, the gap between theory and experiment 鈥� where the muon currently hovers 鈥� may vanish or persist. If the muon鈥檚 properties never fit the Standard Model, physicists may need to explore entirely new theories.听

鈥淣o matter where the final theory settles, the comparison with our experiment will have important consequences and give us deep insight into the heart of matter,鈥� Hertzog said.

Many 天美影院physicists have been recognized by Breakthrough Prizes since the prizes鈥� inception, including a banner year in 2021 that also featured a win in the life sciences category by Nobel Prize laureate , a 天美影院professor of biochemistry.

鈥淭he Breakthrough Prize has previously recognized 天美影院physicists for work that deepened our understanding of gravity, dark energy and dark matter,鈥� said , 天美影院divisional dean of natural sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. 鈥淭his latest recognition is a testament to the value of large-scale collaborative physics research and we are very proud of the accomplishments of all of the 天美影院faculty, postdocs and students who contributed to this effort.鈥�

A full list of current 天美影院researchers recognized by the 2026 prize . Learn about other 天美影院wins at the Breakthrough Prize here.听

For more information, contact Victor Balta at balta@uw.edu.

The Ecological Society of America on Wednesday awards. , a 天美影院 assistant professor of environmental and forest science, was named an Early Career Fellow, which recognizes scientists for contributions to advancing and applying ecological knowledge within eight years of completing a doctorate.

Willing studies how microbes respond, and help plants cope with, environmental change. focuses on fungi and other microbes living near plant roots. Much like the gut microbiome, these communities play a critical role in plant nutrition, immune function and overall forest health.

Willing鈥檚 lab focuses on understanding these communities and how they are shifting with climate change. Her research integrates methods from various scientific disciplines to gain insight into the ecosystem-wide impact of fungi.

鈥淚 work across pretty diverse fields, from fungal ecology to plant and forest ecology,鈥� Willing said. 鈥淚ntegrating everything together is challenging, but I think it’s a critical intersection to study right now and this award is a nice acknowledgement of that.鈥�

As a Faculty Fellow, Willing also collaborates with federal, state and tribal agencies to incorporate fungi into climate adaptation planning.

Many of her lab鈥檚 projects examine responses to climate change. For example, one of Willing鈥檚 current grad students is studying fungi in post-fire ecosystems.

Some fungal groups are fire-adapted, meaning that they can withstand wildfire better than others. After wildfire, the soil often becomes hydrophobic, which causes water to run off the surface instead of soaking in. This increases the risk of erosion, among other consequences. Fungi help seedlings to establish and stabilize the soil by helping it retain water.

Early findings from her lab indicate that prolonged fire suppression, a stewardship strategy intended to minimize wildfire impacts, can limit microorganisms fire tolerance, which then exacerbates the damage caused by a fire.

鈥淭here are lots of different nuances that we鈥檙e really just starting to understand,鈥� Willing said.

She hopes this work can help inform future forest management practices. Although there are many mushroom enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest, Willing is one of few scientists in the region studying how these organisms fold into broader ecosystems.

Most of the data on microbial communities was collected within the past 20 years or so, which makes it difficult to gauge how these organisms are responding to climate change. Another project in Willing鈥檚 lab involves conducting genetic analyses on preserved plant specimens to establish a baseline for fungal health.

鈥淥ur understanding of what fungal and bacterial communities were like before the onset of rapid warming is really limited,鈥� Willing said.

Building this baseline will help researchers see how microbial communities are evolving and reveal management opportunities.

Without fungi, life on Earth couldn鈥檛 exist as we know it. Dead logs and fallen leaves would simply accumulate, with nothing to break them down and return their nutrients to the soil.

鈥淔ungi are involved in everything,鈥� Willing said. 鈥淚n the cycle of life, they are at the beginning, helping plants to take root across every ecosystem on Earth, and at the end, helping to create lush soils for future life to flourish.鈥�

ESA will acknowledge and celebrate fellows during a ceremony on July 27 at the annual meeting in Salt Lake City. Early Career Fellows are elected for five years.

For more information about her work, contact Willing at willingc@uw.edu.

Unfortunately for science fiction fans, desert worlds outside our solar system are unlikely to host life, according to new research from 天美影院. Scientists show that an Earth-sized planet needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth鈥檚 oceans to maintain a critical natural cycle that keeps water on the surface.

Scientists believe that there are billions of planets outside our solar system. More than are confirmed, but only some of them are candidates for life. The search for life has focused on planets in the 鈥�,鈥� a sweet spot that is neither too close nor too far from a central star. Planets in this zone are considered viable because they can maintain liquid surface water.

鈥淲hen you are searching for life in the broad landscape of the universe with limited resources, you have to filter out some planets,鈥� said lead author , a 天美影院doctoral student of Earth and space sciences.

Water, although essential, does not guarantee the existence of life. With this study, researchers worked to further narrow the search by investigating planets with just a small amount of water.

鈥淲e were interested in arid planets with very limited surface water inventory 鈥� far less than one Earth ocean. Many of these planets are in the habitable zone of their star, but we weren’t sure if they could actually be habitable,鈥� White-Gianella said.

The team鈥檚 results, , show that habitability hinges on the geologic carbon cycle 鈥� a water-driven process that exchanges carbon between the atmosphere and interior over millions of years, stabilizing surface temperatures.

Carbon dioxide, which comes from volcanoes in a natural system, accumulates in the atmosphere before falling back to Earth dissolved in rainwater. Rain erodes and chemically reacts with rocks on the Earth鈥檚 surface and runoff transports carbon to the ocean, where it sinks to the seafloor. Plate tectonics drives carbon-rich oceanic plates below continental land. Millions of years later, carbon resurfaces as mountains form.

If water levels drop too low for rainfall, carbon removal 鈥� from weathering 鈥� can鈥檛 keep up with emissions from volcanic eruptions and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere spike, trapping water. Rising temperatures evaporate the remaining surface water, initiating runaway warming that makes the planet too hot to support life.

鈥淪o that unfortunately makes these arid planets within habitable zones unlikely to be good candidates for life,鈥� White-Gianella said.

Although scientists have instruments that can measure surface water, rocky exoplanets are difficult to observe directly. In this study, the researchers ran a series of complex simulations to better understand how water might behave in these desert worlds.

Previous efforts to model the carbon cycle focused on cooler, perhaps wetter planets. The models factored in evaporation from sunlight, but didn鈥檛 include other drivers, such as wind. White-Gianella adapted existing models to drier planets by refining evaporation and precipitation estimates.

鈥淭hese sophisticated, mechanistic models of the carbon cycle have emerged from people trying to understand how Earth鈥檚 thermostat has worked 鈥� or hasn鈥檛 鈥� to regulate temperature through time,鈥� said senior author , a 天美影院assistant professor of Earth and space sciences.

However, the function of the geologic carbon cycle on arid planets was largely unexplored. The results show that even planets that form with surface water could lose it, transitioning from potentially habitable to uninhabitable due to carbon cycle disruption.

One such planet exists far closer to home: Venus. The planet of love is roughly the same size as Earth, likely formed around the same time and may have started with a similar amount of water.

Yet today, the surface of Venus rivals the temperature of a wood-fired pizza oven. Standing on the surface would feel like being crushed by 10 blue whales, White-Gianella said.

Many theories attempt to explain why Earth and Venus are so different. White-Gianella and Krissanen-Totton propose that Venus, being closer to the sun, may have formed with slightly less water than Earth, which imbalanced the geologic carbon cycle. As surface temperatures rose with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, Venus lost its water 鈥� and any life it may have hosted.

Upcoming missions to Venus will attempt to understand what happened to the planet and whether it ever hosted life. The findings could also offer insight into planets much farther away.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very unlikely that we will land something on the surface of an exoplanet in our lifetime, but Venus 鈥� our nextdoor neighbor 鈥� is arguably the best exoplanet analog,鈥� White-Gianella said.

The researchers hope that results from future missions will help validate the results of their modeling.

鈥淭his has implications for a lot of the potentially habitable real estate out there,鈥� Krissanen-Totton said.

This study was funded by the National Science Foundation, the NASA Astrobiology Program and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

For more information, contact White-Gianella at hasktw@uw.edu or Krissanen-Totton at joshkt@uw.edu.听

Weasels are small carnivores with a long body and short legs. They also have a stout skull and sharp teeth. These creatures, along with ferrets and minks, make up the Mustelinae subfamily.

Until now, researchers believed that the oldest fossils from this family were from Poland and Germany, dating back to about 3.5 million years ago in the . But a fossil discovered in Teruel, Spain, has doubled that estimate, dating back to the late , around 6.5 million years ago.

The research team, including , a 天美影院 principal research scientist in the biology department, has identified this fossil as belonging to a new species, named Galanthis baskini. The researchers estimate that this creature was about 5 ounces, comparable in size to the smallest living carnivoran today, the or Mustela nivalis. Much like the modern weasel, G. baskini was also likely a carnivore, based on its teeth.

The team in Palaeontology.

“This study begins to uncover the evolutionary history of modern weasels, specifically, why do they have unique small, elongated bodies compared to all other mammals?” said Law, who is also an affiliate curator at the 天美影院Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. “We had hypothesized that events during the mid- to late-Miocene 鈥� both the expansion of open habitats, such as grasslands, and the diversification of rodents 鈥� would have allowed weasels to evolve bodies that were small and flexible enough to chase rodent prey in small crevices underground. G. baskini is exciting because it confirms that weasels were present in the Late Miocene. And it’s pretty cool that G. baskini was the size of the least weasel 鈥� that means small weasels were already around more than 6 million years ago.”

To compare this fossil to other weasel family members, the researchers used a combination of classical comparative anatomy with advanced analytical techniques, such as micro-computed tomography, or micro-CT. Micro-CT allowed the team to three-dimensionally reconstruct the internal structure of teeth and jaws as well as observe anatomical features that were not externally visible.

“The new genus, Galanthis, is named after a figure from Greek mythology who was transformed into a weasel, symbolizing the fossil鈥檚 significance as representing the origin of the weasel family and the lineage leading to modern species,” said senior author , assistant professor of paleontology at Complutense University of Madrid.

The fossils come from excavations carried out in the 1990s in the Teruel area of Arag贸n, Spain.

“This research is a clear example of the remarkable richness of Arag贸n鈥檚 fossil record of mammals, recognized worldwide,” said co-author , professor at the University of Zaragoza. “Our team has been contributing for decades to excavations and the study of fossil mammals.”

The study also revises the classification of another fossil of a similar age discovered in China. This fossil has now been assigned to the genus Zdanskyictis.

The next step, the researchers said, will be to find new fossils that help reconstruct in greater detail the early evolution of weasels and their relatives.

“Ideally, we will find an entire skeleton of a fossil weasel,” Law said. “That way we can actually quantify just how elongate these ancient weasels were and when body elongation actually evolved.”

A full list of co-authors and funding .

For more information, contact Law at cjlaw@uw.edu.听

Adapted from a release from Complutense University of Madrid.