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Tiny Diatoms Undergird the Food Chain Crucial for Indigenous Cultures Assorted diatoms as seen through an optical microscope. These specimens were living between crystals of annual sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Prof. Gordon T. Taylor, Stony Brook University /Wikipedia New research reveals that Arctic diatoms—microscopic algae—can actively move and survive in sea ice at temperatures as low as −15° C (5° F). This groundbreaking discovery means that these tiny organisms play a far more dynamic role in the Arctic food chain than previously thought and serve as a vital and active food source for marine life during the long, dark Arctic winter. This discovery not only reshapes scientists’ understanding of life in extreme environments but also underscores the delicate and interconnected balance that sustains both wildlife and human life in the Arctic. The Arctic food chain is uniquely dependent on sea ice algae. In the past, scientists believed these algae were mostly dormant and trapped within the ice, providing a limited food source. However, research from Stanford University, published on September 9, 2025, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , shows diatoms are not only surviving but also actively gliding through icy channels using actin filaments. This gliding movement persists at −15 °C (5 °F), the lowest temperature ever recorded for motility in a eukaryotic cell. This movement allows them to continue providing a crucial energy source  during a time of year when other food sources are scarce. Diatoms are consumed by zooplankton like copepods and krill, which are then eaten by Arctic cod and other small fish. These fish, in turn, are the primary food for marine mammals such as seals, walruses, and whales. At the top of this chain are polar bears, which rely on seals for survival. Essentially, the ability of these microscopic algae to remain active and available as a food source during the coldest months is a matter of life and death  for the Arctic’s largest predators. Mechanism and Observations The researchers, led by Manu Prakash, an associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford, collected ice cores from 12 stations throughout the Chukchi Sea during a 45-day Arctic expedition in summer 2023, aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq . Using custom microscopes onboard, they imaged inside the ice and observed the diatoms moving. They then created a winter environment by lowering the temperature of a “special sub-zero microscope” below freezing and by putting thin layers of frozen freshwater over very cold saltwater, mimicking natural micro-channels that form when sea ice expels salt. Even under these subzero conditions, the diatoms glided using a combination of mucus secretion (polymeric material) and molecular motor machinery (including actin filaments). Temperate diatoms , by contrast, do not show the same ability to glide within ice substrates at such low temperatures. Regarding the prevalence of algae in the Arctic food chain, Prakash noted that the team’s underwater drone revealed that, while “the Arctic is white on top … underneath it’s green—absolute pitch green because of the presence of algae.” Inuit fishermen in Uummannaq, Greenland, prepare longlines on dinghies to catch Greenland halibut and other Arctic fish, which are ultimately dependent on diatoms and other phytoplankton. Creative Commons Impact on Human Beings The health of the Arctic food chain directly affects Indigenous communities that depend on subsistence hunting. For example, the Inuit and other Arctic peoples hunt marine mammals like seals and whales, whose populations are sustained by the productivity of the lower food chain. The resilience of diatoms  in extreme cold ensures the continued health of the ecosystem that has supported these cultures for millennia.

Student-led Free Exchanges Changing Values, Consumer Habits By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe * Students are embracing swapping initiatives . istock Across international and US campuses, a new sustainability trend is taking root: “swap shops” and free stores, designed to reduce dorm-room waste while easing students’ financial burdens.   According to   the non-profit , PlanetAid , the average US student produces 640 pounds of trash every year. With approximately 60,781 enrolled students at New York University (NYU) , one of the US's largest private universities, that could amount to almost 40 million pounds of discarded waste annually. University College London (UCL), the UK’s largest in-person university, had   51,793 students during the 2024/2025 academic year , generating a potential 33 million pounds of unwanted items.   Meanwhile, Boston-based Tufts University has found that its students leave behind a collective average of 230 tons of garbage in May and June.   Swap Shops Address the Challenge Swap shop initiatives are helping to address this critical challenge. Students at New York City's NYU and The New School are turning discarded dorm essentials into stylish second-hand specialties. The New Yorker  recently described NYU’s swap shop initiative as a "dumpster-to-dorm boutiqu e" t hat challenges consumer culture while fostering community exchange. NBC News  noted that college swap programs “help undergrads and the environment” by  diverting massive amounts of waste from landfills while saving students money .   Outside the US, institutions like UCL have launched reuse and recycling initiatives that have been honored for their waste reduction initiatives . Ranking 100 global universities by their commitments to recycling and sustainability, the Times Higher Education   Impact Rankings  puts Korea University at the top of the list in part for its Zero Waste recycling station initiative, followed by Swansea University and the University of Exeter, which take joint second place.   Together, these global initiatives reflect a cultural shift on campus—where sustainability is no longer just about recycling but about rethinking consumption habits altogether.   Students Spearhead Change According to The New York Post ,  The New School student Shannon Hughes—inspired by a class on “Waste Injustice”—gathered friends in the spring of 2024 to go dorm to dorm and collect unwanted items. The idea for the university’s first swap shop was born, and ahead of the fall semester, in August 2025, the school held its second annual “Free Sale,” offering students the opportunity to take items left behind by other students.   NYU opened its temporary pop-up , NYU Swap Shop ,  to students from August 23-30, 2025. After showing their IDs, students could pick from over 5,000 discarded items retrieved from dorms at the end of the school year.   About 300 students reportedly attended the shop’s soft opening . Within the first few days,   around 1,800 items had been snapped up, including clothes, mirrors, lamps, and 155 microwaves .   A NYU video promoting its pop-up swap shop received  almost a million views on TikTok  and  over 43,000 likes on Instagram , leading to a long line of eager swappers.   A NYU video promoting its pop-up swap shop received almost a million views on TikTok and over 43,000 likes on Instagram, leading to a long line of eager swappers.   As the swapping movement grows globally, temporary shops are staying open for longer. The University of North Carolina has launched its first campus free store, Seahawk Swap Shop, which is open between August 25-November 25, 2025, from 11 am-4 pm.   One of the University of Exeter’s newest sustainability initiatives is its Gift it, Reuse it (GiRi) swap shop program. “Staff and students have long been aware of the amount of waste generated during move-out periods, much of it made up of perfectly good items, and our scheme aimed to tackle this directly,” Meg Haslam, who runs the University of Exeter’s Gift it Reuse scheme, told The Earth & I .   In its first year, the GiRi scheme successfully prevented 8,554 items, weighing a total of 1,623 kg (3578 lbs), from entering waste streams. It prevented an estimated 18,016 kgs (20 tons) of CO₂ emissions— the amount that would have been released if these items had entered waste streams and been incinerated for energy. In its second year, the program received approximately 15,500 donations, weighing a total of 3,510 kg (7738 lbs)— nearly doubling the year one totals. Donation point for campus reuse items. ©Moye/University of Exeter Broadening Existing Sustainability Initiatives Swap shop initiatives build on broader “free store” and reuse programs already present on some campuses. NYU taps into its Green Apple Move Out (GAMO) program , which collects and donates would-be dorm throw-away items each year. Designed to cut down on waste, the initiative reports  20,000 pounds  of clothes, cleaning equipment, and household goods collected annually.   Kent State University’s textile reuse program has diverted   more than 221 tons of materials from landfills in just five years . At the University of Georgia, the campus “swap shop” offers a  peer-to-peer reuse model  for clothing and supplies. Over 100 members turned out for the University of Michigan’s lab-based swap shop  that opened in 2024, which diverted 563.4 pounds of material from landfills. The university found that in-person swap shop labs are almost 23.5 times more effective than online shopping when comparing average daily diversion rates.   Meanwhile, coming soon to the UK’s University of Exeter Repair Café is a new circular initiative aimed at extending the life of everyday items through repair rather than replacement.   “By encouraging repair over disposal, the café supports a more sustainable and circular approach to consumption,” Nicola Corrigan, Head of Sustainability Programmes within the Finance, Infrastructure and Commercial Services department at the University of Exeter, told The Earth & I.   “In many cases, repair offers greater environmental benefits than recycling, especially for electronics, which often require energy-intensive processes to break down,” Corrigan added. The first Repair Café session is planned for November 25, 2025.    Universities worldwide are putting collaboration, commitment, and action across the school network at the center of their initiatives. Alongside developing its new sustainability dashboard , for example, The New School is a member of  New York City’s long-standing Carbon Challenge  and the higher education-focused Second Nature Commitment .   The  Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (AASHE STARS)  enables universities to self-report their sustainability efforts via a comprehensive framework. There are currently 382 institutions with a STAR rating . Gold members NYU and silver members The New School and Kent State University are on the list.   Swap Shops Support Campus Environmental Efforts In September 2025, UCL said it was  reviewing its waste management services  after “falling short of our ambitious recycling targets set out in our Sustainability Strategy.” The British university aims to lower its overall waste by 10% by 2027 and reach an 85% recycling rate by 2034. UCL and the University of Exeter have deployed Warp It , a dedicated reuse platform, to facilitate the giving, getting, and loaning of surplus assets within the institution. In 2024, the UCL used Warp It to reuse over 7,000 items. The initiative  enabled the university to divert 26 tons from going to waste and save 17 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Today, the UCL’s swap shops are a firm part of the university’s reuse program, with free clothes exchange events held throughout the academic year.   The  initiative  enabled the university to divert 26 tons from going to waste and save 17 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).   The University of Exeter diverted 50.5 tons of waste from standard waste streams in 2023/24, increasing the amount to 138.42 tons in 2024/25. The university has recently implemented a new recycling scheme and has published its  Circular Economy Strategy 2024 – 2030 . As of October 2024, the university had saved over $671,366 through the redistribution of surplus items. Streatham Campus, University of Exeter. ©University of Exeter. Shaping Student Culture “Beyond the immediate benefits of waste reduction, we believe GiRi plays a transformative role in shaping campus culture by embedding values of inclusivity and community into everyday university life,” said Haslam.   In a 2022 study  on textile swapping, US researchers found  that swapping partners' and participants’ love for clothes are critical factors that determine overall swap satisfaction and success. Temporary swapping offers a transition to “sustainable consumption practices,” said the researchers, “because it provides a middle ground between product ownership and non-ownership and thus facilitates gradual dematerialization of consumer lifestyle.”   Researchers in 2024 found  that “formal clothing swapping has evolved into collaborative sharing practices, sometimes leading to circular social and economic developments.” Their results indicate that the cultural identity and motivations of the NextGen demographic (consumers aged 18-35) are spurring the growth of up-swapping systems, pushing leaders, in turn, to increase “sustainable efforts.” Environmental motives for swapping are stronger among those from “collectivist cultures,” they added.   Swap shop schemes also support incoming students in need and/or facing transport challenges. “With cost-of-living pressures growing for students, swap shops also offer a timely way to support those who may struggle to afford basic kitchenware or appliances when arriving at university,” said Corrigan.   “With cost-of-living pressures growing for students, swap shops also offer a timely way to support those who may struggle to afford basic kitchenware or appliances when arriving at university.”   Swap shops also assist international students, as they often arrive with few belongings and buy household items they can’t transport back home. Swap shops enable students to collect what they need at no cost, with programs like the University of Exeter’s GiRi collecting the same items at the end of the year for future students—at an estimated savings for students of around $20,000 - $27,000 during the initial Free Shops in September 2024.   Scaling Swap Shop Schemes In the future, swap shop programs could become standardized across major universities, similar to dining hall composting or recycling systems. Programs like GiRi already offer replicable approaches, including localized collection, asset tracking, and redistribution. “Its originality lies in its simplicity and practicality—by localizing donation points within student residences, the scheme removes common barriers to participation and makes it easy for students to donate items safely and conveniently,” said Haslam.   The swap shop model can also decrease the need for large-scale storage facilities, making the programs work for institutions with limited space or resources. Multiple localized donation sites within student residences are more manageable, safe, and space-efficient. They can also be designed to fit the academic calendar, with donation periods timed to match contract end dates. “That means staffing, sorting, PAT [electrical safety] testing, and cleaning can all be planned in a way that works for each institution,” said Corrigan.   “What we’re seeing is a generational shift in how students view ownership, waste, and value,” said Haslam. “As today’s students move into their careers and households, they will carry these habits forward, choosing reuse over single-use, community benefit over individual waste, and transparency from the organizations they support,” Haslam added. *Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe  is a freelance journalist and editor. Over the past 10 years, Natasha has reported for a host of publications, exploring the wider world and industries from environmental, scientific, business, legal, and sociological perspectives. Natasha has also been interviewed as an insight provider for research institutes and conferences. Editorial notes Sources: Interview with Meg Haslam, who runs the University of Exeter’s Gift it Reuse it Scheme Interview with Nicola Corrigan, Head of Sustainability Programmes within the Finance, Infrastructure and Commercial Services department at the University of Exeter.

An Emerging Science is Confirming the Healing Power of Nature By Julie Peterson* Mesmerized by a flower. istock In an era dominated by digital screens and fast-paced living, the therapeutic and healing powers of time spent in nature are becoming more recognized by medical professionals, parents, educators, and spiritual leaders.   Call it ecopsychology, green therapy, forest bathing, or just plain fresh air, the benefits of being in nature are astounding.   What is new is the growing body of research that links the experience of awe with enhanced well-being.   Awe can be triggered by music, art, nature, or witnessing acts of kindness or courage. But in nature, whether awe is sparked by a majestic waterfall or the intricate patterns of a small sunflower, researchers are finding it is a stimulus that fosters a deep sense of connection to the natural world.   They are further seeing evidence that nature-induced awe can transform mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. From reducing stress and anxiety to boosting immune function and promoting positive emotional states, the wonderment of nature is proving to be far more than just picturesque moments.   Nature’s Ability to Heal Time spent in nature boosts emotional and psychological well-being for people of all ages—even those who are too young to understand. Hundreds of studies  indicate that toddlers and children benefit significantly from being outside, showing improved physical health, motor skills, social-emotional well-being, sleep patterns, and cognitive development.   A 2021 study of almost 70,000 children in Longhua District, Shenzhen, China, found that “outdoor environments have a significant protective effect on children’s mental health, potentially alleviating anxiety symptoms through mechanisms such as promoting a sense of well-being, reducing stress, and encouraging social interaction.”   Results such as these have long been believed by many but studied by few.   “Outdoor environments have a significant protective effect on children’s mental health.”   Some 20 years ago, Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods , warned about “nature deficits” causing physical and mental health problems in children. A decade later, in 2015, paleontologist Scott Sampson encouraged adults to help kids fall in love with nature in How to Raise a Wild Child .   Fortunately, scientific research has increasingly supported these insights, providing evidence of nature’s wonderful benefits for children. Today, there are guides, such as 1000 Hours Outside   and I Love Dirt , that give people ample ideas for nature-based play and how to find the awe in all of it. Rejoicing in the rain after a long, hot drought. istock Researchers have reported  on the connection between living in greener urban areas and associated lower risks of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and mental distress among adults.   Intentional time in nature is also emerging as an important area of research to show that people have more control over their health outcomes than was previously thought—and it isn’t a time-consuming or rigorous task.   In a study involving 20,000 people , a team led by Mathew White at the University of Exeter in the UK measured direct nature exposure-response relationships. His article, “Spending at Least 120 Minutes a Week in Nature Is Associated with Good Health and Well-being,” states that participants who spent at least two hours per week in natural environments had an increase in self-reported good health and psychological well-being. There were even stronger positive associations for those who spent up to five hours in nature per week.   The physical benefits are extensive and go well beyond just feeling better.   There are important long-term health benefits that can decrease mortality. An article from UC Davis Health  points out that being in nature can reduce cortisol levels, muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure, and can increase vitamin D levels that boost blood cells, bones, and the immune system. These results are so astounding that some doctors prescribe time in nature  for their patients.   Awe in Nature While all nature exposure has healing capacity, awe-inspiring nature  can uniquely  reduce self-focus, increase feelings of connection, and boost life satisfaction, and it is linked to even more profound healing benefits, according to Dacher Keltner , professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life .   Awe-inspiring nature can uniquely  reduce self-focus, increase feelings of connection, and boost life satisfaction, and it is linked to even more profound healing benefits. The universal expression of awe.  Istock In 2015, research by Keltner found that people who experience awe in response to nature’s beauty have significantly lower levels of inflammation, reduced risk of depression, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses. In fact, the research found that the more often people experience awe, the lower their inflammation levels. In 2022, Keltner and colleague Maria Monroy published  “Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health,” noting that awe has been studied across cultures. Amazingly, awe is universally expressed in a pattern of facial muscle movements, including raised eyebrows, widened eyes, and an open drop-jawed mouth that are accompanied by vocalizations such as “Wow.” These facial, bodily, and vocal expressions of awe occur in similar contexts and are recognized across cultures. This means that awe isn’t a term that Western psychologists coined; it’s not something people made up. It’s part of human biology that is driven by specific brain structures and chemical messengers.   To that end, Monroy and Keltner reviewed studies on awe done by others and concluded that positive awe is marked by a distinct neurophysiological profile that includes reduced inflammation, elevated vagal tone, reduced sympathetic arousal, and increased oxytocin release. All these body processes benefit  mental and physical health.   The study of the physiological effects of awe in nature has only been researched for about 20 years. There may not yet be definitive proof supported by repeated studies, but recognizing awe is not new. In 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote :   In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life—no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground—my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental; to be brothers, to be acquaintances, master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty.   Perhaps the most astounding theory that has yet to be further researched came from Dr. Jane Goodall. More than 40 years ago, she wrote of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park in Tanzania experiencing a waterfall and seeming to express awe. Such behavior was later documented in a video . As with other human emotions and behaviors that have been observed in animals, such as affection, fear, loyalty, playfulness, etc., the sensation of awe may also exist in some form in animals.   Research one day may explain this phenomenon.      Boosting Pro-Environmental Behavior Awe-some time in nature not only heals the body and mind, but it also nurtures the heart-centered relationships between people and nature that have been shown to promote environmental stewardship.   Paul Piff, associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues reviewed studies on awe  and concluded that it causes people to become more invested in the greater good, which can lead to giving more to charity, volunteering, or lessening their impact on the environment.    According to a recent study  in Current Opinion in Psychology , when people feel connected to other natural things, good things happen—for individuals, groups, and the planet. Feeling connected to a resplendent sunset, the crash of ocean waves on the shore, the fragrance of pine needles, or the furrowed bark of an ancient tree could be a “reliable predictor of a broad range of pro-environmental behaviors,” wrote the researchers. “‘How can the closeness of our relationship with nature be improved?” they asked. Separation dissolves in the midst of a sunset. istock Connectedness reveals itself in the presence of camouflage.  Istock Perception shifts at the sight of awe-inspiring beauty. istock Nature-based spiritual practitioners may have diverse views on the divine, but they are often associated with organizations that follow the idea that the divine is connected to or part of the natural world. This oneness in spiritual practices in and with nature , as explored in a June 2025 article in The Earth & I , fosters empathy and environmental activism that helps to make societal changes and inspires people to live sustainably.   Awaken the Awe Individuals and communities can create opportunities for awe-inspiring experiences in nature  to enhance collective well-being , mental health, and environmental stewardship. Schools, community centers, senior organizations, and local recreation departments may provide trips to natural features such as ponds, rivers, lakes, forests, hiking trails, bird sanctuaries, and other places. But it isn’t necessary to travel far or climb a mountain to experience awe. Anyone anywhere can look closely at the structure of a flower, listen to birds singing, watch clouds forming and dissipating, touch flowing water, walk in the rain … there is awe to be found in everyday things.   While immersing oneself in nature may be the most effective option for health, there is also great benefit associated with meditating. If going out isn’t an option, one can try an eight-minute meditation break  led by Keltner to feel the serenity and wonder of nature, no matter one’s location.   People can find a sense of awe in everything that exists around them. By honing their ability to perceive beauty, they can more regularly rec ognize the splendor in their midst. Then they can focus on the things that speak to them and calm them; they can create their own healing and awesome meditations, be healthier and happier, and change the world—one awesome moment at a time.  *Julie Peterson   writes science-based articles about holistic health, environmental issues, and sustainable living from her small farm in Wisconsin.

California Firm Competes to Recover Rare-Earth Minerals—without Disturbing Habitats  By Mark Smith* Impossible Metals cofounders Jason Gillham and Oliver Gunasekara, with the Eureka II deep-sea mining vehicle.   Photo   courtesy of Impossible Metals It was Captain Nemo in Jules Verne’s classic novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,  who called the ocean “the vast reservoir of nature.” While people may be used to the notions of fishing for food and drilling for oil and gas, another marine resource has increasingly caught the attention of governments and companies: metals and rare-earth minerals. Since oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth, there are not yet estimates of how many millions—or more—tons of rare-earth minerals may be harvestable from seabeds. However, in January 2026, the Japanese Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology is sending a scientific vessel to collect such materials. “The crew will lower a pipe 5,500 meters [3.4 miles] to the seabed to retrieve 35 metric tons of mud, which is estimated to contain 2 kilograms [4.4 pounds] of rare earth elements per ton,” said an article by RawMaterials.net , citing a July news report in Nikkei Asia . More than a decade ago, researchers with this same Japanese agency reported that a sampling of 78 Pacific Ocean seabed sites revealed that a third held a bounty of metals and rare-earth minerals. “We estimate that an area of just 1 square kilometer surrounding one of the sampling sites could provide one-fifth of the current annual world consumption of these elements,” researcher Yasuhiro Kato wrote in a July 2011 article in Nature GeoScience  . While the world scrambles to grasp the opportunities for seabed mining for rare-earth minerals and metals, what is not in doubt is the immense and growing demand for these materials. The rare-earth metals market was pegged at $15.3 billion in 2023 and projected to virtually double to $30.1 billion by 2032, according to Global Market Insights.   According to Adamas Inside, the electric vehicle industry alone required 2.2 million tons of nickel, manganese, lithium, iron, graphite, and cobalt to launch “newly sold” EV batteries onto global roadways in 2024, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) projecting  the demand from that sector could grow by a factor of 30 by 2040. It should be noted that the IEA does project a slowdown and gradual decline in cobalt demand and mining requirements starting from around 2030 to 2040. The Quest for Minerals These vital resources have mostly been found on land until now, with trees, soil, and whole communities sometimes upended to make way for exploration and mining. Mine locations have also led to geopolitical concerns, with the US government especially worried about how much of these operations are controlled by China. And so, it is to the ocean depths that stakeholders are turning. A bountiful hunting ground it is, with potato-sized polymetallic rocks or ”nodules” littering the ocean floor in places. They contain precious resources such as nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. Investigating the impact that potential manganese nodule mining in the deep sea would have on ecosystems there. The image shows "nodule frames" for a “recolonization” experiment. ROV-Team/GEOMAR/ Wikimedia CC A 4.0 International The race is on to harvest them, so much so that a bill  was recently introduced in the US Senate—the Revitalizing America's Offshore Critical Minerals Dominance Act of 2025—that seeks to speed up mining by expediting licenses and partnership agreements and increasing mapping operations of the seabed to source new mineral deposits. This desire to delve into the depths is leading to a new “gold rush.” But if it is not managed correctly, many experts fear untold and perhaps irreversible damage could be done to underwater habitats, with unfathomable consequences for all. Dangers of Deep-Sea Mining To extract nodules, undersea vehicles usually dredge the seabed to harvest them, disturbing the seafloor and its delicate ecosystem. One recent study  by the University of Hawaii raised fears that deep-sea mining could also harm the abyssal benthic boundary layer—a habitat that lives just a few meters above the ocean floor. One recent study  by the University of Hawaii raised fears that deep-sea mining could also harm the abyssal benthic boundary layer—a habitat that lives just a few meters above the ocean floor. Professor Lisa Levin. Photo courtesy of Lisa Levin Concerns have also been raised by experts such as Lisa Levin, a Distinguished Professor Emerita of biological oceanography and marine ecology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego. In an exclusive interview, she told The Earth & I  that the survival of much of the biodiversity at those depths depends on the nodules. “Around 50% of the biodiversity in nodule zones depends on the nodules,” she said, “and nodules take millions of years to form.” And she warned that even if ecosystem recovery occurred after a disturbance, it would take many years to do so. “Many deep-sea animals grow slowly and live a long time, so recovery will be slow,” she added. There are also many unknowns about life at those depths. “Most of the biodiversity in the targeted system remains undescribed, with unknown functions,” she said. “Those species known show some limited spatial distributions, so loss of connectivity or even functional extinction is possible.” Pollution from disturbing the ocean floor is also a concern, with plumes of waste and sediment traveling distances of up to hundreds of kilometers. “Plumes can smother animals on the seafloor and harm plankton,” Levin added. “It may clog filtering apparatus, contain harmful metals or radioactivity released from the seafloor.” She said the spread of plumes to coastal states could also harm shallow-water ecosystems and fisheries. Conscientious Seabed Mining  With concerns increasingly being raised over the dangers of this type of mining, efforts are increasing to try and find safer but still effective ways to do it. One company trying to innovate in the field is Impossible Metals , headquartered in San Jose, California. Impossible Metals’ robotics team with Eureka I. Photo courtesy of Impossible Metals Describing its mission as “seabed collecting without destroying the habitat,” Impossible Metals is developing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that “hover” over the seabed rather than dredging it. The vehicles also use AI-enabled vision to spot larger life forms and avoid them, while removing the nodules with robotic arms and hauling them up to a surface vessel. The vehicles also use AI-enabled vision to spot larger life forms and avoid them, while removing the nodules with robotic arms and hauling them up to a surface vessel. Having developed its proof of concept   Eureka vehicle, the company tested Eureka II in November last year and will test Eureka III next year. This scaled-up version of Eureka II will have an increased payload, rising from 100 kg (220 lbs) to 4,000 kg (8,818 lbs), and has an improved battery. Eventually, the company hopes to deploy multiple Eureka vehicles at the same time. Testing Eureka II at sea. Photo courtesy of Impossible Metals Co-founder Oliver Gunasekara told The Earth and I : “Because it has a very powerful Nvidia GPU on board, it will detect life and effectively quarantine that area and not disturb it.” A GPU, or graphics processing unit, is an electronic circuit that allows visualization of digital images. But while its cameras can detect larger creatures, they cannot spot microbial or tiny life—which has been a criticism from some quarters. He said the company’s approach is to ensure disturbance of the seabed is kept to a minimum.  Oliver Gunasekara. Photo courtesy of Impossible Metals  Gunasekara—who said he was inspired to get into the decarbonization struggle after seeing the impact of the 2020 California wildfires—added: “The vehicle is hovering. It doesn’t land. We decide to take, say, 40% of the nodules, leaving 60% behind. “That's a threshold we can program in software but that preserves all of the biodiversity and life of the microscopic type that lives both on the nodules and on the seabed.” Governments and regulatory bodies have shown interest in Impossible Metals’ approach. The company announced in a press briefing  this September that Impossible Metals Bahrain, sponsored by the Kingdom of Bahrain, has submitted an application with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for an exploration license for polymetallic nodules in international waters.  ISA Secretary General Leticia Carvalho stated in the briefing that “this partnership champions a forward-looking vision that is leveraging the technological leaps and bounds that can help overcome environmental challenges and power deep-sea pursuits that are anchored in the principles of sustainability.” A Delicate Balancing Act One of the major ironies of the deep-sea mining conundrum is that a lot of the metals and minerals involved are needed to power green technologies such as wind and solar power, but the miners run the risk of helping the world above the waves at the expense of the one below. The damage done could have repercussions that even the best experts are not yet aware of. Time will tell if unique solutions via technology can mitigate as much of the disruption as possible.  *Mark Smith  is a journalist and author from the UK. He has written on subjects ranging from business and technology to world affairs, history, and popular culture for the Guardian, BBC, Telegraph, and magazines in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Will Tackle Its 92 Million Tons of Annual Waste   “Egret,” a woodcut print by environmental artist Pippin Frisbie-Calder. Wikimedia In recent years, the art world has begun a significant shift toward environmental responsibility. Artists, institutions, collectors, and consumers are aligning creativity with elements like reducing waste, integrating renewable energy, and eco-friendly policies. Here are some of the gains being made, according to Gitnux’s Sustainability in the Art Industry Statistics, 2025 . The global art market’s carbon footprint is estimated at 8.4 million tons of CO₂ annually.  The global art industry produces about 92 million tons of waste each year. Much of it is non-biodegradable. Digital art exhibitions typically have about a 25% lower carbon footprint than traditional brick-and-mortar exhibitions. For the past five years, solar-powered lighting has increased by 150% in outdoor art installations. The trend toward digital catalogs and virtual exhibitions saves approximately 2,000 tons of paper per year. Textile waste from art and exhibition manufacturing has declined by about 40% due to environmentally conscious practices. Artworks made with sustainable materials have an average carbon footprint that is about 30% lower than those made with conventional materials. The use of biodegradable pigments in art production has grown by 50%. Approximately 60% of art institutions report implementing some form of eco-friendly policies in the past five years. The number of green-certified art galleries worldwide reached about 200 in 2023, growing at roughly 20% annually. Seventy percent of art collectors say they are willing to pay a premium for eco-friendly artworks. Between 2018 and 2022, eco-friendly art supply companies increased by 45%.   Source: https://gitnux.org/sustainability-in-the-art-industry-statistics/

Include Sharks, Bamboo Corals, Sponges, Shrimp, Crabs, Sea Spiders, Brittle Stars A rare leafy sea dragon in South Australia. Katieleeosborne / Wikimedia The Ocean Census, founded by the Nippon Foundation and Nekton, seeks to add to the list of known marine species. In a September 2025 press release, the group announced that they had identified over 800  previously unknown marine species since their first expedition in November 2023. Official Ocean Census video .   Highlights: An estimated 1 million to 2 million marine species live in the ocean. Before 2023, around 240,000 marine species had been discovered and named. The Ocean Census has now registered 866 new species to the  Ocean Census Biodiversity Data Platform , which is accessible to both researchers and the public. The new species include types of shark, bamboo coral, sponge, shrimp, crab, sea spiders, and brittle stars—spanning dozens of taxonomic groups. Identifying and officially registering a new species can take up to 13.5 years, but the group says it has increased “global, annual marine discovery rates by 38%.” Besides relying on expedition divers, the Ocean Census collaborators use Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), high-resolution imaging, environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to identify new species at depths of 1 meter to 4,990 meters. The organization also offers Discovery Workshops and Ocean Census Species Discovery Awards of up to $20,000 to support “outstanding taxonomists and community scientists involved in marine species discovery.” More than 800 scientists from over 400 institutions across the globe collaborated on the census.  Future plans include scaling and speeding up species discovery through partnering with more marine research institutes, as well as “unlocking Legacy Collections” that include over 175,000 undocumented species “within museums and institutes.”   We are laying the groundwork to make large-scale species discovery a reality, but our impact will ultimately be determined by how this knowledge is used to support marine protection, climate adaptation, and biodiversity conservation. Oliver Steeds, Director of the Ocean Census Sources: https://oceancensus.org/press-release-the-ocean-census-discovers-over-800-new-marine-species/ https://oceancensus.org/ocean-census-year-2-impact-report/ https://oceancensus.org/species-discovery-awards/

‘Spogomi’ World Cup 2025 Spurs Action, Awareness “Road to 2025” promotional Spogomi video   Dubbing itself “the most Earth-friendly sport,” Spogomi is an environmental competition originating in Japan in which teams collect and sort the most litter within a designated area and timeframe. The Nippon Foundation’s Spogomi World Cup 2025 , to be held October 27–31, 2025, in Japan, promotes litter-cleanup as a sport for all people. Here are some numbers surrounding this global initiative: Spogomi—a word combining “spo” and “gomi,” meaning sport and trash in Japanese—was invented in 2008 by Mamitsuka Kenichi of the Nippon Foundation’s Social Sports Initiative.   Teams of three have one hour to collect trash and 20 more minutes for sorting. Points are awarded based on the amount and types of trash collected. A British team won the inaugural Spogomi World Cup in 2023 after collecting and sorting around 60 kg (132 lbs) of Tokyo trash. Between 2008 and November 2024, 193,120 kg (425,750 lbs) of litter have been collected via all Spogomi events. Some 165,321 people have participated. Some of the countries that have already held or are scheduled to hold qualifier Spogomi events include: Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Namibia, Palau, Pakistan, the Philippines, Senegal, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tunisia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the UK. National-level winners receive free flights to Japan plus accommodations. The winning team in 2023 won a cash prize of 1 million yen (roughly $6,800). Source: en.nf-spogomiwc.com

Novel Model Uses UK Data to Give Forecasting a Try Doctors keep meticulous details on their patients’ health. iStock Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to help doctors understand disease risk, progression, and treatments. In a September study in Nature , researchers report using an AI model called Delphi-2M to identify patterns of progression in over 1,000 diseases, based on hundreds of thousands of medical records. The AI model was found to reliably track and predict outcomes both in the short term and 20 years out. Study highlights include: Delphi-2M was trained on data from about 402,800 individuals in the UK Biobank, validated internally on nearly 100,600 UK individuals, and tested externally on around 1.93 million Danish individuals.   The model predicted rates for more than 1,000 diseases and included death as an outcome. In the UK internal validation, AI predictions were above average, at about  0.76  in a statistical measure known as “area under curve,” or AUC. AUC dropped to roughly 0.70 when examining prediction horizons of 10 years. External validation on Danish data showed somewhat lower but correlated performance (average AUC ≈ 0.67). Delphi-2M can sample entire future health trajectories based on past health up to a given age (e.g., age 60), and these synthetic trajectories show disease incidence patterns that come close to observed real-world data for ages 70–75.  Using SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations)—a method that aids in understanding how different health factors influenced the final prediction—the study showed how disease diagnoses cluster. For example, cancers raise long-term mortality risk. Modeling was limited for older age groups (especially over 80 years) because of lack of data. Researchers suggested that advancements in this field could support precision medicine by tailoring screening or diagnostic interventions based on an individual's predicted trajectory.  Caution: Predictions are probabilistic, not deterministic; multiple future health trajectories are possible for any given individual. Clusters or associations in predictions do not imply causation.    Source : Learning the natural history of human disease with generative transformers. Nature .  17 September 2025.

European Union Aiming for 25% Organic Land by 2030 Organic farming in Virginia, US. USDA/ Flickr Global organic farming is experiencing steady expansion, with both acreage and adoption rates rising in key regions. While the United States remains among the top producers, other countries have surged ahead in both acreage and share of total agricultural land under organic management. Here are highlights from the USDA’s Organic Situation Report 2025 Edition , citing data from 2022: Worldwide organic and transitioning farmland reached nearly 240 million acres in 2022, marking a 543% increase since 2000. About 2% of global agricultural land is now certified organic. The European Union’s Farm to Fork Strategy aims for 25% organic land by 2030. Australia leads the world with 131 million acres dedicated to organic production. The next nine leading nations are India, Argentina, China, France, Uruguay, Spain, Italy, the US, and Germany. The US ranking fell to ninth in 2022 (it was eighth in 2021 and third in 2015). Regional growth is strongest in Oceania, with 48% (largest absolute growth). Asia and Latin America are second and third, with 36% and 11% growth, respectively. Africa grew its organic acreage by 5%, Europe by 1% and North America by 0.6%.   Source: https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/110884/EIB-281.pdf?v=54268

Used Clothing Sales Expected to Grow 9% a Year through 2029 Thrifting has gone mainstream. Unaihuiziphotography/ iStock In recent years, thrifting—buying secondhand clothing, furniture, and goods—has shifted from fringe to mainstream behavior in the US and worldwide. A recent report from Capital One Shopping, Thrifting Statistics (2025): Industry Size, Revenue & Growth Rate, tracks the size of the thrifting market, who is participating in it, and where the sector is headed. The US secondhand market, currently worth about $56 billion as of 2025, is up 14.3% from 2024. Since 2018, the U.S. secondhand market has grown by about 143.5%, with resale alone growing a massive 650% over that period. Traditional thrift and donation operations represent roughly $26 billion (46.4%) of this market; resale (commercial consignment or secondhand) accounts for the remaining $30 billion (53.6%). Apparel is a big part of this shift: Secondhand apparel sales are projected to keep growing about 9% annually through 2029. About 16–18% of Americans shop at thrift stores each year; 12–15% shop at resale or consignment stores. In 2024, 58% of US shoppers purchased secondhand apparel. Additionally, about 75% have either purchased or say they’re open to purchasing secondhand. Younger generations are leading the charge. For example, 83% of Gen Z consumers have either bought or are interested in secondhand apparel; 34% always shop thrift stores first; many look at the resale value before buying. Online resale is becoming especially important: In 2024, US fashion resale platforms generated $16.8 billion in sales, up 18.5% from 2023. Purchasing secondhand instead of new saves on average 8.41 pounds of carbon emissions, 16.48 kWh of energy, and 88.89 gallons of water per item. Even so, only around 14.7% of textile waste is recycled, while a large share ends up in landfills.   Source: Capital One Shopping

Insect Carries a Fungus That Ravages Forests and Threatens Avocado Industry Two redbay ambrosia beetles on a US dime. Kelsea Young, Clemson University Discovered near the port of Savannah, Georgia, in 2002, the invasive redbay ambrosia beetle  and its symbiotic laurel wilt fungus have already destroyed an estimated 500 million redbay , sassafras , spicebush, camphor, and swamp bay trees. The beetle–fungus duo also poses an imminent threat to the US and Mexican avocado industries because the fungus is deadly to all plants in the laurel family, which includes avocado trees. “Laurel wilt has caused widespread and severe levels of redbay mortality in the Southeastern coastal plain,” said the Mississippi Forestry Commission . The ambrosia beetle is “believed to have been introduced in wooden crating material imported through the shipment of goods from its native range in southeast Asia,” the agency noted. Redbays are small trees that are common in forest understories in the US and worldwide. According to a Clemson University factsheet  on ambrosia beetles, researchers have recently confirmed the beetle's presence as far north as New York’s Long Island, with one expert noting that it “can spread like a fire.” The US Forest Service , which tracks laurel wilt damage , says 312 US counties are currently affected. The fungus clogs the trees’ water-conducting tissues, causing the trees to dehydrate, wilt, and die within a few weeks. The spread of the fungus is particularly alarming, as 90% of the US avocado supply comes from Mexico, and a significant number of avocado orchards are in California and Florida. Ramping Up a Response A typical redbay tree. Santafesandy/iNaturalist In response to the growing danger, scientists are working on solutions. A team from the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) recently secured  a $5 million grant to combat the disease. And researchers are looking in Mexico and Guatemala for avocado trees that are naturally resistant to laurel wilt. These initiatives are crucial for protecting the lucrative avocado industry, which fuels long-term economic growth for both the US and Mexico. With the beetle continuing its march and threatening one of the world’s most popular fruits, the fight against the laurel wilt fungus is more important than ever.

A Simple Aluminum–Water Process Could Deliver Green Hydrogen without Greenhouse Gases By Rick Laezman* Aly Kombargi (left) and Niko Tsakiris of MIT work on a reactor setup that generates hydrogen gas by mixing aluminum pellets, seawater, and caffeine. Tony Pulsone, courtesy of Aly Kombargi What if the world’s clean energy revolution could be powered by its garbage?    A team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers has unveiled a deceptively simple process that extracts hydrogen—one of the cleanest fuels on earth—by mixing seawater, coffee grounds, and scrap aluminum.     Currently, the extraction of hydrogen from its natural state often involves the use of fossil fuels that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases . But the MIT process produces no emissions—and might just unlock hydrogen’s long-awaited promise as a fuel source.     Why Hydrogen?   Hydrogen,  the most abundant element in the universe , is found in nature as a trace atmospheric gas (H 2 ) or tightly chemically combined with other elements.    It is used as a fuel in two ways : It can be burned in an internal combustion engine, just like gasoline in a car. It can also be used in a fuel cell, which generates an electrical current by combining hydrogen with oxygen electrochemically, without combustion. The fuel cell is the cleaner method of the two because its only by-product is water.   A prototype electric car at MIT powered by an aluminum-seawater hydrogen generator. Courtesy of Aly Kombargi In either case, hydrogen first must be extracted from various compounds and captured  before it can be consumed as a fuel source. The most common and efficient large-scale production methods create what’s called gray hydrogen  because they rely on the burning of fossil fuels, which generate emissions. For example, the most common of these, the steam–methane reforming method, generates hydrogen by combining steam with the methane contained in natural gas. While it is the most cost-effective method for separating hydrogen, it also produces carbon dioxide, the most prevalent of greenhouse gases. MIT’s aluminum–seawater hydrogen generator is built into a prototype electric bike. Courtesy of Aly Kombargi In contrast, green hydrogen  captures the full potential of hydrogen as a clean fuel by separating the gas through processes generated by other clean resources. For example, electrolysis uses an electrical current to separate hydrogen from water molecules. When the electricity that it uses is itself generated by renewable sources, like the sun or the wind, the process is sustainable and completely emissions-free throughout its life cycle (excluding, of course, emissions generated by the construction of solar panels and wind turbines and the mining of the materials that compose them). Of course, green hydrogen has become a highly prized resource  as society pursues emissions-free energy generation. These methods are especially valuable when they can be done at large, commercial scale. Capturing large volumes of hydrogen for consumption without generating any greenhouse gases represents the ideal solution to the dual challenge of rising global energy demand and rising atmospheric and oceanic temperatures.   Toward that end, the researchers at MIT are confident that they have advanced a viable method for extracting green hydrogen.   How Does It Work? Aly Kombargi is a recent graduate from MIT with a PhD in mechanical engineering and the lead author of the study in the August 2024 issue of Cell Reports Physical Science , which first described the MIT research. He partnered with fellow MIT students Brooke Bao and Enoch Ellis, and MIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering Douglas Hart.   Kombargi was looking for “a way to make hydrogen that could be generated on demand and consumed close to where it is needed.” A illustration of MIT's aluminum–water reaction that produces hydrogen gas (H–H or H 2 ) and is catalyzed by caffeine (imidazole). Courtesy of Aly Kombargi Kombargi told The Earth & I  that the project appealed to him because he was looking for “a way to make hydrogen that could be generated on demand and consumed close to where it is needed.” This distributed approach to hydrogen, much like rooftop solar panels and small, residential wind turbines, would make the resource more easily dispatched in remote and off-grid locations by avoiding the costly, energy-intensive limitations of bulk hydrogen generation, such as high-pressure storage, cryogenics, and the need for a large supply of electricity. If their project proved to be successful, added Kombargi, they would have “a compact, dispatchable ‘solid hydrogen carrier’ that works even off-grid or at sea.”   The process he and his colleagues employed relies on the aluminum–water reaction  (AWR). Aluminum is a highly reactive metal that aggressively grabs the oxygen atom in water (H 2 O), releasing hydrogen gas (H 2 ) and forming aluminum oxide , a highly versatile industrial compound, while generating heat. The AWR is not a new concept. In fact, it is more than 100 years old. The concept of producing hydrogen from the reaction of metals with water was first proposed by American chemist G.F. Barker in his paper entitled “On Alloys of Gallium and Aluminum,” which was published in 1880 in the American Journal of Science.  It has remained a subject of study ever since.   To make their scrap aluminum reactable with water, however, the MIT researchers had to overcome a significant hurdle. Because of aluminum’s reactivity, it bonds with oxygen in the air, creating a superthin shield of aluminum oxide on the metal’s surface.   To break the oxide shield, Kombargi and his team used gallium–indium , a rare-metal alloy that effectively scrubs aluminum of its oxide. Similar to mercury, the alloy has a very low melting point, often below room temperature, so that it can be used as a liquid metal that can adhere easily to other surfaces. Unlike toxic mercury, the alloy is considered a safer alternative  in many applications.   For their research, the MIT engineers treated aluminum with gallium–indium to prepare it for the AWR. For the H 2 O component, they used seawater instead of freshwater, which added another positive element to their experiment. They discovered that the salt in the water helped to recapture the gallium–indium, which could be reused to generate yet more hydrogen, lowering the cost of the process and making the cycle more sustainable.   With a low concentration of imidazole, a structural component of caffeine, they could produce the same amount of hydrogen in just five minutes, compared with two hours without it.   Not satisfied with the initial results of their experiment, the MIT researchers made an additional refinement. After testing out different kitchen and laundry products, they discovered  that Dunkin’s coffee sped up the process. They determined that, with a low concentration of imidazole, a structural component of caffeine, they could produce the same amount of hydrogen in just five minutes, compared with two hours without it. Comparing Emissions Because the appeal of hydrogen as a fuel lies in its lack of carbon emissions as well as in its abundance, the MIT researchers set out to conduct a “life cycle study” to determine how emissions-free their process really is.   Depending on the emissions produced during the extraction–transportation–consumption life cycles of hydrogen produced by various means, the gas is denoted by the colors  green, gray, blue, black, brown, yellow, white, pink, and even turquoise. Only green hydrogen is completely life-cycle emissions-free. A video   showing the process for producing hydrogen gas from aluminum and seawater. The engineers performed their analysis using Earthster , an online life cycle assessment tool that draws data from a large repository of products and processes to determine their associated carbon emissions. They found  that the most cost-effective scenario consists of generating 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of hydrogen—which can drive a car 60 to 100 kilometers (about 40 to 60 miles)—using recycled aluminum (instead of mined aluminum) combined with seawater (rather than freshwater). This process emits about 1.45 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilogram of hydrogen produced. They note that by comparison, fossil-fuel-based processes emit 11 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of hydrogen generated. They add that their process is also “on par” with other green hydrogen technologies powered by solar and wind energy.   The process is also cost effective. The researchers’ analysis calculated the cost of the fuel produced at about $9 per kilogram, which they point out is comparable to the price of hydrogen that would be generated with other green technologies. (By comparison, gray hydrogen (from natural gas) costs $1.50–$2.50 per kilogram to produce.)   Scaling Up   Eventually, the researchers hope their process could be scaled up to generate hydrogen in large volumes, thereby lowering the cost for consumers. For example, Kombargi envisions  a production chain starting with scrap aluminum sourced from a recycling center. The aluminum would be shredded into pellets and treated with gallium–indium. Capitalizing on the stored energy potential of the treated aluminum, drivers could transport the pretreated pellets as aluminum “fuel,” rather than directly transporting hydrogen, which is highly flammable.   The pellets would be transported to a fuel station, ideally situated near a source of seawater, which could then be mixed with the aluminum to produce hydrogen. As study author Kombargi told The Earth & I , “Aluminum is energy-dense, stable to transport as a solid, and globally available, including as scrap.” This makes it an ideal candidate to transport as stored hydrogen energy to remote locations where generating hydrogen would otherwise be difficult, impractical, or impossible using conventional methods. Consumers could pump the gas into their cars powered by either an internal combustion engine or a fuel cell.   Along those lines, Kombargi and his team are developing  a small reactor that could run on a marine vessel or underwater vehicle. If successful, the technology offers a promising method to provide reliable energy for remote communities and disaster relief, and it can make use of recycled aluminum while reducing the need for other, more harmful methods of energy production. As society strives to find plentiful and practical sources of fuel for increased energy production while also reducing carbon emissions, hydrogen deserves all the attention it receives. Methods like the aluminum–water reactor could be the right approach to bring hydrogen into the mainstream. *Richard Laezman  is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, California. He has a passion for energy efficiency and innovation. He has been covering renewable power and other related subjects for more than 10 years.