Author Archives: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

Underwater ‘Doorbell’ Camera Helps Researchers Catch Coral-Eating Fish

Posted on by March 18, 2025

Florida marine scientists have been working to help reverse a long-term decline in coral reefs by using doorbell-style surveillance cameras to catch fish in the act of eating coral laid as bait.

They found that three species — stoplight parrotfish, redband parrotfish and foureye butterflyfish — were responsible for eating over 97 percent of the corals.

“Intense fish predation on newly outplanted corals has emerged as a major restoration bottleneck. The main goal was to address our lack of knowledge of the fish species that target corals after outplanting,” said project leader Diego Lirman, an associate professor at University of Miami (UM)’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, as The Guardian reported.

The footage captured by the specialized cameras at an offshore reef close to Miami can be used to inform coral repopulation efforts. Coral cover in Florida has declined by 90 percent since the 1970s, with especially dire bleaching events due to human-caused global heating decimating corals over the past two summers.

“Identifying the fish species responsible for coral predation would allow practitioners to avoid reef sites or areas within sites with high abundances of those species and, similarly, select the right coral species for the right outplanting site,” Lirman said. “The coral-baited underwater cameras provide insight into corallivore behavior and preferences and allow documentation of predation at various sites rapidly and without incurring the cost of outplanting.”

The research team, funded by the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, designed and built the recording devices using waterproof-encased GoPro cameras that they attached to a frame made from PVC piping and lead weights for stability.

Once the retrofitted cameras were fine-tuned, divers secured them to the Paradise Reef seabed near Key Biscayne using cable ties and masonry nails.

They set the coral-baited remote underwater video station (C-BRUVS) so that it would record time-lapse video, the footage of which was collected first after periods of 24 and 48 hours, then weekly for six weeks.

Data collected during the study showed that redband parrotfish were the biggest coral bandits, responsible for 56.3 percent of bites on the fragments of nine coral species.

Foureye butterflyfish were the second-most voracious eaters of the corals with 36.9 percent, followed by stoplight parrotfish with just four percent.

Lirman said the three species “showed clear preferences” for two or three specific coral types, which received over 65 percent of all recorded bites.

“By identifying, for the first time, the main fish predators as well as their preferred diet, reef restoration practitioners can select sites and species that would minimize predation impacts and maximize restoration success before large-scale, costly outplanting is implemented,” Lirman said.

Lirman said similar research in the future could use elements of artificial intelligence (AI).

“Analyses of the videos were extremely time-consuming, requiring a constant rewinding and stopping of the footage to record and annotate coral/fish interactions,” Lirman explained. “It will be beneficial to explore AI software that can be trained to identify fish and their behaviors to automate the analysis process.”

UM marine scientist Erin Weisman presented the findings to a symposium of conservation leaders with Reef Florida last November at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami.

“Florida’s Coral Reef is facing one of its greatest challenges yet, and our team is committed to pioneering new approaches to ensure its survival,” said Andrew Baker, a marine biology and ecology professor and director of the Rosenstiel School’s Coral Reef Futures Lab, in a press release from UM.

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UN Report Calls for Reduction of Building and Construction Emissions Worldwide

Posted on by March 18, 2025

Building and construction consumes 32 percent of the world’s energy while contributing 34 percent of its carbon emissions. The sector depends on materials like steel and cement that are major contributors to construction waste and are also responsible for 18 percent of emissions worldwide.

While more countries are working toward decarbonizing their buildings, slow financing and progress is putting climate goals at risk, according to a new report published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC).

“The buildings where we work, shop and live account for a third of global emissions and a third of global waste,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, as AFP reported. “The good news is that government actions are working. But we must do more and do it faster.”

The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2024-2025 – Not just another brick in the wall highlights progress on global climate goals related to the sector. It calls for more ambition in six areas, including renewable energy, building financing and energy codes.

“I encourage all countries to include plans to rapidly cut emissions from buildings and construction in their new [Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)],” Inger said in a press release from UNEP.

Global initiatives and frameworks like the Intergovernmental Council for Buildings and Climate, the Declaration de Chaillot and Buildings Breakthrough are maintaining momentum toward the adoption of climate action plans for net-zero buildings in the lead up to the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil.

“Reviewing the decade since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the report finds 2023 was the first year when continued growth of building construction was decoupled from associated sector greenhouse gas emissions, which have previously plateaued,” UNEP said in the press release. “By adopting mandatory building energy codes aligned with net-zero emissions, mandatory performance standards and seizing energy efficiency investments, the sector’s energy intensity has reduced by almost 10% while the renewable energy share in final energy demand has increased by nearly 5%.”

Making the use of low-carbon building materials a priority, along with measures like circular construction practices, retrofitting existing buildings so that they are energy efficient and green leases can lower energy consumption, reduce overall emissions and enhance waste management.

“Given nearly half of the world’s buildings that will exist by 2050 have not yet been built, the adoption of ambitious energy building codes is critical. However, data points to a recent decline in highly effective measures like heat pump installations and over 50 per cent of newly constructed floorspace in emerging and developing economies is still not covered by building codes,” UNEP said.

The report challenged the biggest carbon-emitting nations to adopt zero-carbon energy codes for buildings by 2028, with all other countries to follow no later than 2035.

Integrating plans for building code reform into ongoing NDC submissions is crucial to achieving the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge agreed upon at COP28.

“[A]ll governments, financial institutions and businesses need to work together to double global building energy efficiency investment from USD 270 billion to USD 522 billion by 2030,” the press release said. “Adoption of Extended Producer Responsibility measures, and circular economy practices – including longer building lifespans, better material efficiency and reuse, recycling, passive design, and waste management – are key to help bridge gaps in financing, while workforce development programmes are essential to fill skill gaps in the sector.”

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Farmer in Peru Takes Major Germany Energy Firm to Court Over Emissions

Posted on by March 17, 2025

A lawsuit filed by a Peruvian farmer against major German energy company RWE began on Monday.

The claim, which argues that global heating fueled by the firm’s greenhouse gas emissions poses a risk to the farmer’s home, could set a new precedent for climate litigation, reported The Associated Press.

“We have waited 10 years for this day, this decisive day,” said Saúl Luciano Lliuya, as supporters cheered outside the courthouse. “I’m very excited; I hope that everything goes well.”

The lawsuit, filed in the Higher Regional Court in Hamm, western Germany, makes the case that RWE’s historical emissions have contributed to the global warming that has accelerated glacial melt near Lliuya’s hometown of Huaraz. This has caused Lake Palcacocha to rise to dangerous levels, raising the risk of disastrous flooding in the community.

Standing in front of photographs of glaciers shaped like mountains, Lliuya said that the lakes, glaciers and mountains “give us water, give us life,” as Euronews reported.

“[T]he glaciers are melting, are disappearing bit by bit. Some lakes, lakes like Palcacocha – it’s a risk to me, to more than 50,000 people who live in the zone at risk,” Lliuya said.

RWE does not operate in Peru and denied legal responsibility, saying there are many contributors to the global problem of climate change.

Lliuya first challenged RWE following a Carbon Majors Study from 2013 that said the company was responsible for 0.5 percent of post-industrialization climate change.

Huaraz is asking the energy company to pay roughly 0.5 percent of how much it will cost — an estimated $18,562 — to protect Huaraz from imminent flood risk and the overflow from the nearby lake.

“What I am asking is for the company to take responsibility for part of the construction costs, such as a dike in this case,” Lliuya told reporters in early March, as reported by Euronews.

Lliuya originally filed a lawsuit against RWE that was dismissed by an Essen court. An appeal to a higher court in 2017 led to the current hearing.

Roda Verheyen, lead lawyer in the case, said she was “calm but hopeful,” The Associated Press reported.

“[T]here is no time to be lost, because the glaciers are melting every day,” Verheyen said.

Saúl Luciano Lliuya visits the lake Palcacocha in Huaraz, Peru on May 23, 2022. Angela Ponce for The Washington Post via Getty Images

RWE said it has complied with government greenhouse gas emissions guidelines and has a target of being carbon-neutral by 2040. However, its historical contribution to global heating has brought attention to corporate responsibility for climate change in addition to cross-border legal accountability.

RWE “is still one of the biggest emitters of CO2 in all of Europe,” Verheyen said. “This is only a very first step — a trampoline for further cases of this kind.”

According to nonprofit research group Zero Carbon Analytics, there are more than 40 ongoing climate damage cases worldwide.

Flood risk from Lake Palcacocha is a real concern for the residents of Huaraz, reported NPR. A 1970 earthquake in the valley triggered a deadly landslide that took the lives of approximately 25,000 people.

In addition to the risk of flash flooding, avalanches and landslides, glacial melt is also interfering with the availability of drinking water for many communities. As ice sheets melt away, local streams have become toxic and discolored from recently exposed rocks containing heavy metals.

The region’s seasons are also affected, hindering agriculture.

“It is scary, the risk from climate change. For example, it has been raining. Even the rivers that pass through the city have risen,” Lliuya told NPR. “There is a lot of fear and the lake’s levels have risen. People are very worried.”

The case is being litigated near the head offices of RWE in Hamm and is expected to last several weeks.

“We want Saúl and the people of Huaraz to live in safety. No one should live in fear of losing their home due to the climate crisis. Polluters have to step up and pay the true price of their business model,” said Francesca Mascha Klein, a Germanwatch lawyer who is working with Lliuya on the case, as NPR reported.

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Whales Support Ecosystems by Transporting Nutrients Thousands of Miles in Their Urine: Study

Posted on by March 15, 2025

Whales are important for healthy oceans. They move tons of deep-water nutrients to the surface when they poop, and, according to new research, they also transport massive amounts of nutrients from Alaska to Hawaii in their urine.

Fifteen years ago, scientists discovered that whale poop provided a crucial resource for the growth of plankton, contributing to ocean productivity, a press release from the University of Vermont (UVM) said.

Now, a new UVM-led study has found that whales carry large amounts of nutrients across entire ocean basins — from the cold waters of their feeding grounds to the warm seas where they mate and birth their calves near the equator. Most of the nutrients are transported through their urine, with carcasses, sloughed skin, placentas and calf feces also contributing.

“These coastal areas often have clear waters, a sign of low nitrogen, and many have coral reef ecosystems,” said co-author of the study Joe Roman, a biologist at UVM, in the press release. “The movement of nitrogen and other nutrients can be important to the growth of phytoplankton, or microscopic algae, and provide food for sharks and other fish and many invertebrates.”

The researchers calculated that, throughout the world’s oceans, great whales — including gray whales, humpbacks and right whales — move roughly 4,000 tons of nitrogen annually to tropical and subtropical low-nutrient coastal areas.

These massive whales also bring over 45,000 tons of biomass. Before whaling by humans decimated whale populations, at least three times more nutrients might have been transported these incredible distances.

“We call it the ‘great whale conveyor belt,’” Roman said, “or it can also be thought of as a funnel because whales feed over large areas, but they need to be in a relatively confined space to find a mate, breed, and give birth. At first, the calves don’t have the energy to travel long distances like the moms can.”

The whales also likely stay in sandy, shallow waters to muffle their sounds.

“Moms and newborns are calling all the time, staying in communication, and they don’t want predators, like killer whales, or breeding humpback males, to pick up on that,” Roman said.

This means the nutrients that are spread throughout the ocean are concentrated in much smaller coral and coastal ecosystems, “like collecting leaves to make compost for your garden,” Roman said.

During the summer months, adult whales feed in northern latitudes like Iceland, Alaska and Antarctica, eating herring and krill to put on tons of fat. Recent research has found that North Pacific humpbacks gain approximately 30 pounds a day from spring to fall.

“They need this energy for an amazing journey: baleen whales migrate thousands of miles to their winter breeding grounds in the tropics — without eating. For example, gray whales travel nearly 7000 miles between feeding grounds off Russia and breeding areas along Baja California. And humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere migrate more than 5000 miles from foraging areas near Antarctica to mating sites off Costa Rica, where they burn off about 200 pounds each day, while urinating vast amounts of nitrogen-rich urea,” the press release said. “One study in Iceland suggests that fin whales produce more than 250 gallons of urine per day when they are feeding. Humans pee less than half a gallon daily.”

Whale migrations are the longest of any mammal on the planet.

“Because of their size, whales are able to do things that no other animal does. They’re living life on a different scale,” said co-author of the study Andrew Pershing, an oceanographer at nonprofit Climate Central, in the press release. “Nutrients are coming in from outside — and not from a river, but by these migrating animals. It’s super-cool, and changes how we think about ecosystems in the ocean. We don’t think of animals other than humans having an impact on a planetary scale, but the whales really do.”

Before industrial whaling in the 19th century, whales’ nutrient inputs would have “been much bigger and this effect would’ve been much bigger,” Pershing added.

Nutrient inputs for Earth’s largest animal ever, the blue whale, are unknown, so they were not included in the study’s primary calculations. Population numbers for blue whales who live in the Southern Ocean are still much lower than they once were after being decimated by hunting in the 20th century.

“There’s basic things that we don’t know about them, like where their breeding areas are,’’ Pershing said, “so that’s an effect that’s harder for us to capture.”

Humpbacks and blue whales were both depleted by whaling, but some humpback populations are rebounding after decades of conservation efforts.

“Lots of people think of plants as the lungs of the planet, taking in carbon dioxide, and expelling oxygen,” Roman said. “For their part, animals play an important role in moving nutrients. Seabirds transport nitrogen and phosphorus from the ocean to the land in their poop, increasing the density of plants on islands. Animals form the circulatory system of the planet — and whales are the extreme example.”

The study, “Migrating baleen whales transport high-latitude nutrients to tropical and subtropical ecosystems,” was published in the journal Nature Communications.

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UK Carbon Emissions Reach Lowest Level Since 1872

Posted on by March 14, 2025

According to a new analysis by Carbon Brief, the United Kingdom’s 2024 emissions fell to 409 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), based on preliminary energy data. That’s a 3.6 percent drop and the lowest level since 1872.

The country’s coal use was also the lowest it’s been since the mid-1600s.

“The largest factor in emissions falling last year… was a massive 54% drop in UK coal demand,” the Carbon Brief analysis said. “The UK used just 2.1Mt of coal in 2024… this is the lowest amount since 1666, when the UK’s capital city was engulfed in the Great Fire of London.”

While UK emissions are currently 54 percent below 1990 levels, the country’s gross domestic product has increased by 84 percent.

Some of the major contributors to the reduction in coal use were the closure of the country’s last coal-fired power plant in Nottinghamshire, as well as Wales’ Port Talbot steelworks, one of the UK’s last blast furnaces.

An almost 40 percent increase in electric vehicles (EV) on UK roads was another contributing factor, along with above-average temperatures and electricity in the UK being the “cleanest ever” last year.

Greenhouse gas emissions within the UK’s borders have fallen in 26 out of the last 35 years.

“Apart from brief rebounds after the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 lockdowns, UK emissions have fallen every year for the past two decades,” the analysis said. “This is the lowest since 1872 and on par with 1926, when there was a general strike… In 1872, Queen Victoria was on the throne.”

The analysis found that coal demand had fallen at power stations, which accounted for a third of the overall reduction in use of the dirty fuel. Two-thirds of the coal consumption drop came from heavy industry using less coal.

In addition to falling coal use, another one-third of the drop in emissions was due to lower demand for oil and gas.

Oil demand fell by 1.4 percent even with an increase in road traffic. This was mostly because of rising EV numbers. The 1.4 million EVs, 76,000 electric vans and 800,000 plug-in hybrids reduced oil-related emissions, which were slightly offset by higher electricity demand.

Smart Charge ultra-rapid EV charging points in a supermarket carpark in Whitechapel, East London, UK on June 12, 2024. Mike Kemp / In Pictures via Getty Images

“The UK’s right-leaning newspapers have been busy finding new driving-related wordplay for what they have misleadingly described as a ‘stalling’ market for EVs, which is apparently ‘going into reverse’,” the analysis said. “The reality is that the number of EVs on the UK’s road rose from 1m in 2023 to 1.4m in 2024, an increase of 39% in just one year. The number of plug-in hybrids was up 28% to 0.8m.”

To reach its 2035 climate goal, as well as its target of net-zero by 2050, the UK’s emissions would need to be cut more each year than they were in 2024.

“The 14MtCO2e drop in emissions in 2024 can be compared with the trajectory needed to reach the UK’s national and international climate pledges for 2035 and 2050,” Carbon Brief said. “If emissions fell by the same amount every year as they did in 2024, then the UK would miss both targets… In other words, annual emissions cuts would need to accelerate in the short- to medium-term, but could start to ease off later on. This is consistent with the cost-effective pathway to net-zero set out last month by the Climate Change Committee in its latest advice to the government.”

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Trump’s EPA Plans to Reconsider Finding That Climate Pollution Harms Public Health

Posted on by March 14, 2025

The Trump administration plans to reconsider an official finding by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 that greenhouse gases harm public health.

The “endangerment finding” for greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act forms the foundation of the country’s climate regulations.

“I’ve been told the endangerment finding is considered the holy grail of the climate change religion,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, as Inside Climate News reported. “For me, the U.S. Constitution and the laws of this nation will be strictly interpreted and followed, no exceptions. Today, the green new scam ends.”

During his confirmation hearing, Zeldin acknowledged the threats caused by sea level rise and climate change, but has been viewed as backtracking on his promise to “respect the science and listen to the experts.”

The announcement was part of dozens of environmental regulation rollbacks made public by Zeldin on Wednesday.

The 2009 endangerment finding followed a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that the EPA had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases and is the basis for all pollution reduction rules, reported The Guardian.

Zeldin said the EPA would reconsider the finding over concerns that it had resulted in “an agenda that throttles our industries, our mobility, and our consumer choice while benefiting adversaries overseas.”

Since its creation in 1970, the EPA’s main mission has been to protect public health and the environment.

Zeldin is rewriting that mission, saying the aim of the rollbacks is to “lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home and running a business.”

Zeldin called it the “most consequential day of deregulation in American history,” adding that “we are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age.”

Environmentalists denounced the EPA’s plans and promised to defend scientific findings, as well as the country’s ability to tackle climate change through the court system.

“The Trump administration’s ignorance is trumped only by its malice toward the planet,” said Jason Rylander, legal director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity, as The Guardian reported. “Come hell or high water, raging fires and deadly heatwaves, Trump and his cronies are bent on putting polluter profits ahead of people’s lives. This move won’t stand up in court. We’re going to fight it every step of the way.”

Pollution from cars, power plants and industry causes many health problems, while greenhouse gases are responsible for the global heating that fuels disastrous heat waves, wildfires, storms and flooding, among other impacts.

“Zeldin’s EPA is dragging America back to the days before the Clean Air Act, when people were dying from pollution,” said Dominique Browning, director of Moms Clean Air Force. “This is unacceptable. And shameful. We will oppose with all our hearts to protect our children from this cruel, monstrous action.”

Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator during the Obama administration, called Wednesday “the most disastrous day in EPA history.”

“Rolling these rules back is not just a disgrace, it’s a threat to all of us. The agency has fully abdicated its mission to protect Americans’ health and wellbeing,” McCarthy said.

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‘The Day Trump’s Big Oil Megadonors Paid for’: EPA Chief Zeldin Announces Rollback of 31 Landmark Environmental Regulations

Posted on by March 13, 2025

In what United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin called the “most consequential day of deregulation in American history,” on Wednesday the EPA chief announced 31 deregulation actions that will roll back Biden-era environmental rules, including those concerning climate change, electric vehicles (EVs) and pollution limits for coal-fired power plants, reported The Associated Press.

If approved, Zeldin said the actions will lower prices for common expenses like home heat, purchasing a car and operating a business by eliminating trillions in “regulatory costs and hidden ‘taxes’.”

“Today is the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen. We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more,” Zeldin said in a press release from the EPA. “Alongside President Trump, we are living up to our promises to unleash American energy, lower costs for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, and work hand-in-hand with our state partners to advance our shared mission.”

Of the dozens of environmental regulations set to be rolled back is an EPA finding from 2009 that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and welfare. The Clean Air Act determination is the basis for a large number of climate regulations for power plants, automobiles and other sources of pollution.

Climate scientists and environmentalists consider the Obama-era endangerment finding a cornerstone of U.S. law, saying any attempt to reverse it is not likely to succeed.

“In the face of overwhelming science, it’s impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding that would stand up in court,” said David Doniger, senior attorney and strategist with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), in an NRDC Expert Blog post. “Indeed, the courts have repeatedly rejected attacks on the finding. Even Trump’s first-term EPA administrators understood that reversing it was ‘a fool’s errand,’ in the words of one conservative former agency official.”

Among the other regulations set to be “reconsidered” by the EPA are “regulations throttling the oil and gas industry”; mercury standards that the agency said “improperly targeted coal-fired power plants”; the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program; and regulations for wastewater from coal plants.

“From the campaign trail to Day 1 and beyond, President Trump has delivered on his promise to unleash energy dominance and lower the cost of living,” Zeldin said in a video. “We at E.P.A. will do our part to power the great American comeback.”

Zeldin spoke of the changes without mentioning the EPA’s guiding principles: to protect the environment and public health.

In an explanation of the EPA’s mission, the first Administrator of the EPA William D. Ruckelshaus said the agency has “no obligation to promote agriculture or commerce; only the critical obligation to protect and enhance the environment.”

Weeks following the creation of the EPA by former President Richard M. Nixon in 1970, Ruckelshaus said its focus would be on research, as well as five areas of standards and enforcements: air and water pollution, pesticides, waste disposal and radiation, The New York Times reported.

Zeldin said limits on smokestacks linked to respiratory issues and premature deaths would be overturned, along with the Clean Air Act’s “Good Neighbor” provision requiring states to be responsible for their own pollution when it is blown into neighboring states. The EPA would also do away with enforcement efforts prioritizing the safety of predominantly poor and minority communities.

When environmental policy is created by the agency, Zeldin said it will no longer take into consideration the societal costs of storms, wildfires, droughts and other disasters that could be worsened by pollution connected to the policy.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attends a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on March 13, 2025. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

The EPA’s announcements are not legally binding, and in nearly every case the agency would need to undergo a lengthy public comment process, as well as formulate economic and environmental justifications for each revision.

Environmentalists and democrats accused Zeldin of deserting the responsibility of the EPA to safeguard the environment and human health.

“Today is the day Trump’s Big Oil megadonors paid for,” said Democratic Senator from Rhode Island Sheldon Whitehouse, as reported by The New York Times. “Administrator Zeldin clearly lied when he told us that he would respect the science and listen to the experts.”

Jackie Wong, NRDC’s senior vice president for climate change and energy, said weakening the rules would result in increases in health problems like heart attacks and asthma.

“At a time when millions of Americans are trying to rebuild after horrific wildfires and climate-fueled hurricanes, it’s nonsensical to try to deny that climate change harms our health and welfare,” Wong said.

Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator during the Obama administration, called it “the most disastrous day in EPA history. Rolling these rules back is not just a disgrace, it’s a threat to all of us. The agency has fully abdicated its mission to protect Americans’ health and well being.”

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Mice Exhibit ‘First Responder-Like Behavior’ to Revive Unconscious Friends

Posted on by March 12, 2025

Like humans, mice come to the physical aid of their friends when they are hurt, according to new research by scientists at University of Southern California (USC)’s Keck School of Medicine.

The reasons why social mammals seem to help other members of their species when they are injured is something scientists have been exploring.

“[T]his study is the first time we’re seeing a first responder-like behavior in mice,” said Li Zhang, the study’s lead researcher, who is a physiology and neuroscience professor at Keck School of Medicine, in a press release from USC.

The researchers found that mice have a tendency to assist other mice that they know are unconscious. Responses ranged from gentle grooming and sniffing to more forceful actions like biting their peer’s mouth or tongue. As a last resort, the “helper mice” pulled on the tongue of their unconscious friend to dislodge it from their throat and free up their airway.

“The behavior was especially unique due to its similarity to how humans behave in emergency responses,” said Wenjian Sun, lead author of the findings and a research associate at the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute at Keck School of Medicine. “I had never seen this behavior from mice before.”

During the study, the neuroscientists put one of the mice under anesthesia to observe how the other mouse would respond. They found that the conscious mouse would spend most of their time at the side of their unconscious cage mate, trying to revive them with what looked like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, reported USC Annenberg Media.

“Actually, we found this phenomena accidentally,” Sun said. “[The] anesthetized animals’ tongue was protruding out so we started to want to know what’s the meaning of this behavior.”

In over half the cases, the reviver mouse would use the tongue-pulling method, which had an 80 percent success rate.

“We know that humans can do CPR, trying to maintain airways during surgery or any kind of stuff,” Zhang said. “So we interpret the observation as they’re trying to help or trying to revive their group members.”

Co-author of the study Huizhong Tao, a physiology and neuroscience professor at Keck, said the tongue-pulling gestures could not be seen as aggressive, since they were much more pronounced among mice who were familiar with each other and were rarely observed when one of the mice was sleeping or active. Once the mouse who had been unconscious was revived, they also had full use of their tongue.

The researchers found that friendship was important in how the mice handled the situation. Active mice came to the aid of unconscious mice who they had been companions with more often than they did strangers.

According to neuroscientist James Burkett, who was not part of the research team, the resuscitation behaviors stem from neurons that release oxytocin into the brain and show mice’s “altruistic impulse.”

“In this study, we found the oxytocin system plays a great, important role in this behavior,” Sun said. “How the whole oxytocin signaling pathway works in this behavior I think that will be the next step.”

Zhang said the study was the first to show that oxytocin could be a primary factor in social bonding in mice.

“The study’s findings not only enhance our understanding of animal behavior but also highlight the critical role of the oxytocin system, which may also inform social behaviors across vertebrate species,” the press release said.

Tao believes the discovery opens the door to new ways of studying prosocial behaviors’ biological functions, including empathy. The research team has plans for longer experiments to find out if the behaviors of mice toward their unconscious peers are even more complex.

“This research suggests many social animals, including humans, might have evolved to help each other in critical situations, improving survival chances and strengthening social bonds,” the press release said.

The study, “Reviving-like prosocial behavior in response to unconscious or dead conspecifics in rodents,” was published in the journal Science.

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Trump’s EPA Cancels $20 Billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Grants

Posted on by March 12, 2025

United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has cut $20 billion in grants awarded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) through a “green bank.”

Zeldin notified recipients of the National Clean Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator that their grants awarded under the former Biden administration’s “gold bar” program were being terminated, a press release from the EPA said.

The EPA said the termination was based on “substantial concerns” regarding the integrity of the GGRF program, including “the award process, programmatic fraud, waste, and abuse, and misalignment with agency’s priorities, which collectively undermine the fundamental goals and statutory objectives of the award.”

Over the last month, Zeldin has criticized the program’s spending and made unsubstantiated claims that the program was riddled with fraud, reported Politico. The latest action came the day before a hearing in federal court over a lawsuit by one of the grant’s recipients who is seeking to access funds frozen by the Trump administration.

“The days of ‘throwing gold bars off the Titanic’ are over. The well documented incidents of misconduct, conflicts of interest, and potential fraud raise significant concerns and pose unacceptable risk. I have taken action to terminate these grants riddled with self-dealing and wasteful spending. EPA will be an exceptional steward of taxpayer dollars dedicated to our core mission of protecting human health and the environment, not a frivolous spender in the name of ‘climate equity,’” Zeldin said in the press release.

Established under the Inflation Reduction Act, the GGRF was created to fast-track clean energy technology deployment and lower greenhouse gas emissions, especially in disadvantaged and low-income communities, Inside Climate News reported.

The three main components of the GGRF are the National Clean Investment Fund, which makes available $14 billion in grants for climate projects; the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator with $6 billion in funds for community lenders to make sure clean energy funding reaches underserved and low-income areas; and the Solar for All program that offers $7 billion to expand solar access, lower energy costs and make renewable power more affordable.

Zeldin on February 12 said he would take action to immediately claw back GGRF funds and ordered the EPA to cancel its Citibank agreement for disbursement of the funding.

Zeldin said the grants had been rushed with “no real accountability,” citing “hidden-camera video” from Project Veritas, a right-wing group, that allegedly demonstrated mismanagement.

However, former high-level EPA officials say those claims are false.

Zealan Hoover, EPA’s former implementation director, said the U.S. Treasury Department has long used private banks as its financial agents. Hoover told Inside Climate News in an interview that Citibank had been chosen for the GGRF because it was seen as the best institution for handling the financial structure of the program.

EPA said in correspondence to the Climate United Fund that termination of the funds was based on concerns about the GGRF program’s structure, reported Politico. The agency said GGRF did not have “adequate” fund oversight and that it was concerned about “improper or speculative allocation of funds.”

“EPA has determined that these deficiencies pose an unacceptable risk to the efficient and lawful execution of this grant that cannot be remedied by imposing specific conditions, necessitating immediate termination to safeguard taxpayer funds and ensure compliance with federal financial assistance regulations,” the EPA wrote to Climate United, with similar letters sent to other recipients of the grant, according to the agency.

EPA has the authority to cancel contracts under legally defined and specific examples of fraud, waste and abuse by the grant’s recipients. However, one grantee said the agency had not identified any such instances.

“Their claims (of abuse) simply aren’t true,” the person said, wishing to remain anonymous. “[T]here is nothing that they can use from our terms and conditions — so our grant agreement — that can terminate the contract based on the claims that they are making.”

Democratic Senator from Massachusetts Ed Markey accused the Trump administration of using political ploys to do away with a program created by Congress.

“Zeldin and Trump are spreading lies in a last-ditch effort to terminate the climate bank because the truth is it will help households save money and deploy clean energy — exactly what Big Oil is afraid of,” Markey wrote in a post on X.

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NASA Firings Under Trump Suggest ‘We Won’t Recognize It in a Year,’ Experts Warn

Posted on by March 12, 2025

NASA has laid off 23 employees, including its chief scientist Katherine Calvin, a climate expert appointed by former President Joe Biden.

The United States space agency abruptly closed Calvin’s office, as well as two others on March 10, reported Nature. This means NASA no longer has the ability to provide its top leaders with independent science advice.

“This is shortsighted and hugely alarming,” said Democrat Zoe Lofgren, U.S. representative from California and the House Committee’s ranking member on Science, Space and Technology, in a statement, as The New York Times reported. “Trump’s assault on science continues. If you wanted a playbook on how to lose to China in every technological race, this is it.”

In an agency-wide email, acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro said, “We’re viewing this as an opportunity to reshape our workforce,” reported Nature.

The layoffs are part of extensive cuts to the federal government by President Donald Trump, his Senior Advisor Elon Musk and the recently formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The firings are the administration’s first at NASA and make the agency the only one thus far to preemptively terminate career employees, rather than those still working under a probationary period.

NASA offices that were shuttered by DOGE include the Office of the Chief Scientists; the Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy; and the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity’s branch of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

The last was closed in compliance with Trump’s January 20 executive order to cut diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout the federal government.

“To optimize our [workforce], and in compliance with an executive order, NASA is beginning its phased approach to a reduction in force, known as a RIF,” NASA spokesperson Cheryl Warner said in an email, as The New York Times reported. “A small number of individuals received notification Monday they are a part of NASA’s RIF.”

The other two offices that were closed offered ways to connect strategy across the agency’s departments and divisions, while giving advice on matters of science and technology to NASA’s chief administrator.

By closing these offices, “you will lose strategic thinking,” said a NASA staff member familiar with the offices’ structure who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, as reported by Nature.

Grant Tremblay, external relations lead at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, criticized the moves in a post on X, “NASA is small, but it is arguably the most legendary and globally beloved agency in American history. Its gutting has begun, & the cuts to come are so massive that we won’t recognize it in a year.”

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