scientificamerican--2020-09-28--Identical Quantum Particles Pass Practicality Test

Quantum particles are known to be strange or even “ spooky.
” But can those properties ever be useful ?
A new study proves that one type of wackiness—entanglement between identical particles—has practical value .
Ordinarily , two objects are never exactly alike .
They can only seem that way because scientists use imperfect instruments to try and tell them apart .
In quantum physics , however , true indistinguishability is possible .
For example , while two distinguishable electrons may seem to be the same , they can often be differentiated by measuring their respective spins .
For identical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analogous quantity that could be measured nor a more perfect measuring device that could discern some other difference between them .
Quantum particles can also be entangled .
This type of connection is so strong that nothing about one of the entangled particles can be described without having to reference the other .
Albert Einstein famously called quantum entanglement “ spooky action at a distance , ” because it somehow allows particles to always be “ in touch , ” no matter how far apart researchers locate them .
Combining these two properties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and entanglement—has so far only resulted in confusion among physicists .
Now researchers have mathematically quantified just how useful fully indistinguishable entangled particles can be .
Their preprint study , which in August was accepted for publication in Physical Review X , shows that identical-particle entanglement can be the secret ingredient for improving today ’ s best recipes for quantum information processing .
The finding could prove crucial for developing better materials , computers and telecommunications systems .
“ There ’ s been a long discussion about the nature of identical-particle entanglement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the University of Nottingham in England and co-lead author of the study .
In fact , some physicists have argued that such entanglement is nothing more than a quirk of mathematics .
According to the rules of quantum mechanics , Morris explains , particles that are exactly the same are only allowed to make up very specific states .
These states have a mathematical form equivalent to the one describing entangled particles that can be told apart through some measurement .
But unlike such distinguishable particles , truly identical particles are assigned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difference between them .
“ You could argue that these labels have no meaning , ” Morris admits .
Maciej Lewenstein , a physicist at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain , who was not involved with the study , illustrates this point with an extreme example : a system consisting of two identical quantum particles—one inside your body , and the other on the moon .
A mathematical description of their shared state suggests they are entangled .
This result is automatic—essentially given “ for free ” because of quantum rules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entangling protocol carried out by a researcher .
But the implied connection between the particles has no obvious practical value .
More commonly , physicists would take two particles that they know they can differentiate and purposefully entangle the pair .
Only then would the scientists take one particle to the moon , allowing Einstein ’ s spookiness to guarantee that measuring some physical property of the other particle on Earth would instantaneously reveal the value of the same measurement for its lunar partner .
But performing a measurement on one entangled identical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the other—the two are , after all , indistinguishable , on the moon or anywhere else .
Nevertheless , experimental physicists had noticed that systems of such particles could produce better results in certain experiments than their unentangled counterparts , notes Gerardo Adesso , a mathematical physicist at the University of Nottingham and a co-author of the new paper .
“ It seemed that this property was at least something useful , ” he says .
For example , using identical entangled particles led to better accuracy in quantum metrology , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the study , Adesso , Morris and their collaborators determined that such improvements were made explicitly because of entangled identical particles rather than some other property of quantum mechanics .
Morris offers an analogy : “ Let ’ s say you baked a loaf of bread , and you want to know ‘ What was it that made the bread rise ?
’ ” he says .
“ We showed that particle entanglement was the ‘ yeast.
’ ” The team ’ s result is the strongest evidence yet of identical particle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and not just a mathematical oddity .
The researchers ’ study relies on quantum resource theory .
This idea involves selecting some specific quantum property of a system—such as identical particle entanglement—then measuring how that property enhances the system ’ s performance in some task , says Eric Chitambar , a quantum information researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , who was not involved with the paper .
Accordingly , the team first identified a set of states that exhibit identical particle entanglement ( states containing “ yeast ” in Morris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of operations for manipulating them ( actions involved in “ bread making ” ) .
An important constraint , Chitambar notes , is that any operation generating additional identical particle entanglement is forbidden .
In the bread analogy , the researchers avoided operations akin to adding baking powder so that they could make clear statements about the importance of yeast already being in their dough .
By working out just how much yeast produces a certain amount of “ rise ” in the system , they were able to quantify the effects of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ step , they checked the validity of their bread-making analysis by using it on the results from a previously conducted investigation that relied on identical particles , finding good agreement between their theory and the actual experiment .
The team also proved that systems with entangled identical particles can be coaxed into having other forms of entanglement that are already widely used in quantum computing .
Jayne Thompson , a physicist at the Singapore-based company Horizon Quantum Computing , who was not affiliated with the study , explains this finding by likening identical-particle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that can be exchanged for other operationally useful physical properties .
As with any currency exchange , the precise exchange rate is important .
Adesso offers one example : “ The figure of merit that people use to quantify the advantages in metrology applications can actually be interpreted as a measure of the amount of [ identical ] particle entanglement , ” he says .
Because Adesso and his collaborators were able to produce concrete measures of the usefulness of identical-particle entanglement , they are optimistic their approach can be used to more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quantum-information-processing systems—an important development to combat hype in this rapidly expanding field .
Far from being mere artifacts of wacky math , identical quantum particles are proving to be real , valuable assets for the future of quantum technology .
“ We hope the impact of this paper is to make the [ physics ] community reassess the value of identical particles in quantum mechanics more generally , ” Adesso says .

Quantum particles are known to be strange or even “spooky.” But can those properties ever be useful? A new study proves that one type of wackiness—entanglement between identical particles—has practical value.
Ordinarily, two objects are never exactly alike. They can only seem that way because scientists use imperfect instruments to try and tell them apart. In quantum physics, however, true indistinguishability is possible. For example, while two distinguishable electrons may seem to be the same, they can often be differentiated by measuring their respective spins. For identical quantum particles, there is neither an analogous quantity that could be measured nor a more perfect measuring device that could discern some other difference between them.
Quantum particles can also be entangled. This type of connection is so strong that nothing about one of the entangled particles can be described without having to reference the other. Albert Einstein famously called quantum entanglement “spooky action at a distance,” because it somehow allows particles to always be “in touch,” no matter how far apart researchers locate them. Combining these two properties that are specific to quantum mechanics—true indistinguishability and entanglement—has so far only resulted in confusion among physicists.
Now researchers have mathematically quantified just how useful fully indistinguishable entangled particles can be. Their preprint study, which in August was accepted for publication in Physical Review X, shows that identical-particle entanglement can be the secret ingredient for improving today’s best recipes for quantum information processing. The finding could prove crucial for developing better materials, computers and telecommunications systems.
Real or Imaginary?
“There’s been a long discussion about the nature of identical-particle entanglement,” says Benjamin Morris, a physicist at the University of Nottingham in England and co-lead author of the study. In fact, some physicists have argued that such entanglement is nothing more than a quirk of mathematics. According to the rules of quantum mechanics, Morris explains, particles that are exactly the same are only allowed to make up very specific states. These states have a mathematical form equivalent to the one describing entangled particles that can be told apart through some measurement. But unlike such distinguishable particles, truly identical particles are assigned labels that do not reflect any physical difference between them. “You could argue that these labels have no meaning,” Morris admits.
Maciej Lewenstein, a physicist at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain, who was not involved with the study, illustrates this point with an extreme example: a system consisting of two identical quantum particles—one inside your body, and the other on the moon. A mathematical description of their shared state suggests they are entangled. This result is automatic—essentially given “for free” because of quantum rules for indistinguishability rather than arising from some entangling protocol carried out by a researcher. But the implied connection between the particles has no obvious practical value. More commonly, physicists would take two particles that they know they can differentiate and purposefully entangle the pair. Only then would the scientists take one particle to the moon, allowing Einstein’s spookiness to guarantee that measuring some physical property of the other particle on Earth would instantaneously reveal the value of the same measurement for its lunar partner. But performing a measurement on one entangled identical particle does not reveal anything physically new about the other—the two are, after all, indistinguishable, on the moon or anywhere else.
Nevertheless, experimental physicists had noticed that systems of such particles could produce better results in certain experiments than their unentangled counterparts, notes Gerardo Adesso, a mathematical physicist at the University of Nottingham and a co-author of the new paper. “It seemed that this property was at least something useful,” he says. For example, using identical entangled particles led to better accuracy in quantum metrology, the quantum science of very precise measurements. In the study, Adesso, Morris and their collaborators determined that such improvements were made explicitly because of entangled identical particles rather than some other property of quantum mechanics. Morris offers an analogy: “Let’s say you baked a loaf of bread, and you want to know ‘What was it that made the bread rise?’” he says. “We showed that particle entanglement was the ‘yeast.’” The team’s result is the strongest evidence yet of identical particle entanglement being a feature of physical reality and not just a mathematical oddity.
A Quantum Test Kitchen
The researchers’ study relies on quantum resource theory. This idea involves selecting some specific quantum property of a system—such as identical particle entanglement—then measuring how that property enhances the system’s performance in some task, says Eric Chitambar, a quantum information researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who was not involved with the paper. Accordingly, the team first identified a set of states that exhibit identical particle entanglement (states containing “yeast” in Morris’s metaphor) and a set of operations for manipulating them (actions involved in “bread making”). An important constraint, Chitambar notes, is that any operation generating additional identical particle entanglement is forbidden. In the bread analogy, the researchers avoided operations akin to adding baking powder so that they could make clear statements about the importance of yeast already being in their dough. By working out just how much yeast produces a certain amount of “rise” in the system, they were able to quantify the effects of identical particle entanglement. In a final step, they checked the validity of their bread-making analysis by using it on the results from a previously conducted investigation that relied on identical particles, finding good agreement between their theory and the actual experiment.
The team also proved that systems with entangled identical particles can be coaxed into having other forms of entanglement that are already widely used in quantum computing. Jayne Thompson, a physicist at the Singapore-based company Horizon Quantum Computing, who was not affiliated with the study, explains this finding by likening identical-particle entanglement to “a valid currency” that can be exchanged for other operationally useful physical properties. As with any currency exchange, the precise exchange rate is important. Adesso offers one example: “The figure of merit that people use to quantify the advantages in metrology applications can actually be interpreted as a measure of the amount of [identical] particle entanglement,” he says. Because Adesso and his collaborators were able to produce concrete measures of the usefulness of identical-particle entanglement, they are optimistic their approach can be used to more rigorously quantify the varying performance of myriad quantum-information-processing systems—an important development to combat hype in this rapidly expanding field.
Far from being mere artifacts of wacky math, identical quantum particles are proving to be real, valuable assets for the future of quantum technology. “We hope the impact of this paper is to make the [physics] community reassess the value of identical particles in quantum mechanics more generally,” Adesso says.


scientificamerican--2020-09-28--Could Exposure to the Common Cold Reduce the Severity of COVID-19 Infection?

The ongoing tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic afflicts every corner of the world .
Vaccines may be our best hope for a safe return to workplaces , parties , stores and schools , but even if all leading vaccine candidates are protective , the British charity Oxfam estimates that nearly two thirds of the world ’ s population will not have access until at least 2022 .
We suggest a scalable alternative that may prevent morbidity and mortality from Covid-19 in the meantime : the common cold .
Many different studies have shown that infection with one of the seasonal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ common colds confers a cross-reactive T-cell immune response to SARS-CoV-2 , and on September 17 , the British Medical Journal published an editorial speculating that “ preexisting immunity ” to SARS-Cov-2 may result from T cell cross-reactivity .
Might common colds explain a great deal of preexisting immunity , and if so , could the responsible virus help save lives during the current pandemic ?
We currently lack direct evidence that exposure to any of the four “ common cold ” coronaviruses protects against severe COVID-19 .
However , searching for that evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Efiguredward Jenner observed that cowpox exposure seemed to protect against smallpox and leveraged that discovery to save lives , future studies demonstrating even a small reduction in clinical severity of COVID-19 could enable safe , highly scalable , community-driven shCoV transmission programs ( Fig .
1 ) .
Many people would welcome common cold symptoms from a virus they have previously endured in exchange for even a 10–20 percent reduction in the risk of severe illness or death .
Several key findings build the case for testing clinical protection .
First , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , allowing them to infect us again and again , it can protect against related coronaviruses .
Second , hundreds of shCoV components detected by T cells are similar to those of SARS-CoV-2 .
Indeed , studies by immunologists such as Daniela Weiskopf colleagues Alessandro Sette and Shane Crotty , the Karolinska COVID-19 study group and many others have identified T cells that react to SARS-CoV-2 in samples from people never exposed to the virus ; many of these respond to components matching shCoVs .
Third , the strength of T cell reactivity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be inversely proportional to disease severity ; while there are exceptions , most people with a strong T cell response experience mild symptoms or none at all .
Finally , common cold shCoVs are considered among the safest of viruses ; as annoying as a stuffy nose can be , reports of serious complications appear rare , even though just about everyone has been infected .
While deliberate shCoV transmission programs would be highly premature , there are several ways for scientists to better determine whether common cold exposure could help save lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ First , samples from large numbers of COVID-19 cases of varying severity could be tested for recent exposure to the four shCoVs .
Second , scientists could test participants in vaccine trials for recent shCoV exposure ; this should arguably be done in any case because protection might otherwise confound the results of the vaccine study .
Third and more ambitiously , a field trial could deliberately expose thousands of people to one of the shCoVs or to a common-cold rhinovirus as a control , then analyze the severity of COVID-19 in those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like a vaccine trial .
People with comorbidities that put them at risk of a more serious disease course from shCOV or rhinovirus exposure , as well as anyone with household members who are similarly vulnerable , would need to be excluded .
Finally , and most controversially , healthy volunteers could be exposed to one of the four shCoVs or an unrelated mild rhinovirus causing similar symptoms , then challenged with SARS-CoV-2 a few weeks later to measure the extent of protection .
Volunteers would need to be young with no comorbidities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to be covered and a minimum wage provided .
Much of our case for studying the impact of shCoV exposure on COVID-19 severity relies on the premise that deliberate transmission of a protective common cold would be safe and rapidly scalable .
To support this premise , we lay out one possible deliberate shCoV transmission program .
Communities encouraging person-to-person common cold transmission during a pandemic would need to ensure that donors do not have SARS-COV-2 .
Unfortunately , tests alone are n't sensitive enough , especially early during infection .
Isolating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infection would limit their potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and ensure that testing is as sensitive as possible .
In one implementation , shCoV donors could complete a 14-day ( or longer ) isolation during which they would be exposed to the common cold virus via Q-tip by another donor who has repeatedly tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 ( Fig .
2 ) .
Assuming that the typical donor can inoculate 100 recipients ( 10 of whom become next-generation donors ) and that protection lasts for a year , the total material cost of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SARS-CoV-2 tests plus Q-tips and plastic bags per thousand people ( Fig .
2 ) .
For comparison , India is currently performing about 80 tests per thousand residents per year .
Most nations could protect their most vulnerable with shCoVs within weeks and establish clinical protection across their populations within months , buying time until a more protective vaccine is available .
Importantly , deliberate shCoV transmission should face few if any regulatory delays .
The ubiquity of common- cold coronaviruses combined with the dearth of reportedly serious complications attests to their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ occurring viruses are unlikely to suffer from regulatory delays .
Before the chickenpox vaccine was introduced in the United States in 1995 , there was no effort to regulate the deliberate transmission of chickenpox to children .
National agencies , international NGOs or local clinics helping to coordinate safe person-to-person shCoV transmission would be performing testing to prevent accidental transmission of SARS-CoV-2 , not manufacturing , distributing or administering a drug .
Once initiated by a community , common-cold transmission could scale rapidly : given the assumptions above , a single initial donor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ severe COVID-19 in 34 days .
Today , we know that recent exposure to common-cold coronaviruses confers T cell cross-reactivity against components of SARS-CoV-2 , and that people with stronger T cell responses tend to experience fewer COVID-19 symptoms .
To repeat , we lack direct evidence that recent shCoV exposure can reduce disease severity .
We believe the scientific , ethical , and historical case for determining whether the common cold could save lives merits swift and thorough investigation .

The ongoing tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic afflicts every corner of the world. Vaccines may be our best hope for a safe return to workplaces, parties, stores and schools, but even if all leading vaccine candidates are protective, the British charity Oxfam estimates that nearly two thirds of the world’s population will not have access until at least 2022. We suggest a scalable alternative that may prevent morbidity and mortality from Covid-19 in the meantime: the common cold.
Many different studies have shown that infection with one of the seasonal human coronaviruses (shCoVs) responsible for common colds confers a cross-reactive T-cell immune response to SARS-CoV-2, and on September 17, the British Medical Journal published an editorial speculating that “preexisting immunity” to SARS-Cov-2 may result from T cell cross-reactivity.
Might common colds explain a great deal of preexisting immunity, and if so, could the responsible virus help save lives during the current pandemic?
We currently lack direct evidence that exposure to any of the four “common cold” coronaviruses protects against severe COVID-19. However, searching for that evidence should be a high priority. Just as Edward Jenner observed that cowpox exposure seemed to protect against smallpox and leveraged that discovery to save lives, future studies demonstrating even a small reduction in clinical severity of COVID-19 could enable safe, highly scalable, community-driven shCoV transmission programs (Fig. 1). Many people would welcome common cold symptoms from a virus they have previously endured in exchange for even a 10–20 percent reduction in the risk of severe illness or death.
Figure 1: Recent exposure to shCoVs can induce T cell cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2. This may or may not provide protection from severe COVID-19. Credit: Kevin M. Esvelt
Several key findings build the case for testing clinical protection. First, while acquired immunity to shCoVs is short-lived, allowing them to infect us again and again, it can protect against related coronaviruses. Second, hundreds of shCoV components detected by T cells are similar to those of SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, studies by immunologists such as Daniela Weiskopf and colleagues Alessandro Sette and Shane Crotty, the Karolinska COVID-19 study group and many others have identified T cells that react to SARS-CoV-2 in samples from people never exposed to the virus; many of these respond to components matching shCoVs. Third, the strength of T cell reactivity in people recovering from COVID-19 appears to be inversely proportional to disease severity; while there are exceptions, most people with a strong T cell response experience mild symptoms or none at all. Finally, common cold shCoVs are considered among the safest of viruses; as annoying as a stuffy nose can be, reports of serious complications appear rare, even though just about everyone has been infected.
While deliberate shCoV transmission programs would be highly premature, there are several ways for scientists to better determine whether common cold exposure could help save lives that merit serious consideration and debate.
First, samples from large numbers of COVID-19 cases of varying severity could be tested for recent exposure to the four shCoVs. Second, scientists could test participants in vaccine trials for recent shCoV exposure; this should arguably be done in any case because protection might otherwise confound the results of the vaccine study. Third and more ambitiously, a field trial could deliberately expose thousands of people to one of the shCoVs or to a common-cold rhinovirus as a control, then analyze the severity of COVID-19 in those participants who naturally become infected, just like a vaccine trial. People with comorbidities that put them at risk of a more serious disease course from shCOV or rhinovirus exposure, as well as anyone with household members who are similarly vulnerable, would need to be excluded.
Finally, and most controversially, healthy volunteers could be exposed to one of the four shCoVs or an unrelated mild rhinovirus causing similar symptoms, then challenged with SARS-CoV-2 a few weeks later to measure the extent of protection. Volunteers would need to be young with no comorbidities; their expenses and medical costs would need to be covered and a minimum wage provided.
Much of our case for studying the impact of shCoV exposure on COVID-19 severity relies on the premise that deliberate transmission of a protective common cold would be safe and rapidly scalable. To support this premise, we lay out one possible deliberate shCoV transmission program.
Communities encouraging person-to-person common cold transmission during a pandemic would need to ensure that donors do not have SARS-COV-2. Unfortunately, tests alone aren't sensitive enough, especially early during infection. Isolating future donors before and after deliberate shCoV infection would limit their potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and ensure that testing is as sensitive as possible. In one implementation, shCoV donors could complete a 14-day (or longer) isolation during which they would be exposed to the common cold virus via Q-tip by another donor who has repeatedly tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 (Fig. 2).
Figure 2: If shCoV exposure is shown to confer COVID-19 resistance, even communities with few resources might inoculate the vulnerable by using nasal swabs to transmit the protective common cold virus from donor to donor, and eventually to very large numbers of recipients. To ensure that SARS-CoV-2 is not inadvertently transmitted, donors could be inoculated partway through a 14-day isolation, with repeated testing of current and previous donors taking place before the next step. The risk could be reduced to an arbitrarily low level by increasing the number of tests. Credit: Kevin M. Esvelt
Assuming that the typical donor can inoculate 100 recipients (10 of whom become next-generation donors) and that protection lasts for a year, the total material cost of our example approach would sum to approximately 26 SARS-CoV-2 tests plus Q-tips and plastic bags per thousand people (Fig. 2). For comparison, India is currently performing about 80 tests per thousand residents per year. Most nations could protect their most vulnerable with shCoVs within weeks and establish clinical protection across their populations within months, buying time until a more protective vaccine is available.
Importantly, deliberate shCoV transmission should face few if any regulatory delays. The ubiquity of common- cold coronaviruses combined with the dearth of reportedly serious complications attests to their safety; just as importantly, naturally occurring viruses are unlikely to suffer from regulatory delays. Before the chickenpox vaccine was introduced in the United States in 1995, there was no effort to regulate the deliberate transmission of chickenpox to children.
National agencies, international NGOs or local clinics helping to coordinate safe person-to-person shCoV transmission would be performing testing to prevent accidental transmission of SARS-CoV-2, not manufacturing, distributing or administering a drug. Once initiated by a community, common-cold transmission could scale rapidly: given the assumptions above, a single initial donor could help shield a million people from severe COVID-19 in 34 days.
Today, we know that recent exposure to common-cold coronaviruses confers T cell cross-reactivity against components of SARS-CoV-2, and that people with stronger T cell responses tend to experience fewer COVID-19 symptoms. To repeat, we lack direct evidence that recent shCoV exposure can reduce disease severity. We believe the scientific, ethical, and historical case for determining whether the common cold could save lives merits swift and thorough investigation.


scientificamerican--2020-09-28--Study Sequences 100 Tomato Varieties

Study Sequences 100 Tomato Varieties

Tomatoes come in a dizzying array of shapes , sizes and flavors—and a new study uses state-of-the-art DNA-sequencing technology to finally trace the genetic underpinnings of these differences .
The comparison of 100 tomato varieties ' genetic sequences reveals more than 230,000 variations within their DNA .
Understanding how these mutations modify tomatoes will give breeders and scientists new tools to refine this crop and others , says Zachary Lippman , a plant biologist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and a senior author on the study , published in July in Cell .
The scientists sequenced and compared the genomes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including wild and vintage heirloom varieties as well as more modern ones .
They used a technique called long-read sequencing to track down large stretches of tomato DNA that had been copied , deleted or moved .
These structural variations , which significantly change the genome , were impossible to pinpoint using previous technologies that allowed scientists to read only small snippets at a time .
Scientists had known the DNA of a given species can have significant structural variations , but this is the first comprehensive determination of their extent and nature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jim Giovannoni , who was not involved in the study .
Once the researchers identified the numerous mutations , they examined how these variations influence tomato characteristics .
They focused on three particular traits—flavor , size and ease of harvesting .
In one test , the team identified a gene that infuses a smoky flavor , presenting breeders with a target attribute to enhance or eliminate at will .
In another experiment , the scientists used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to modify the DNA structure and changed fruit size by making more copies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they investigated how variations influence a trait that makes tomatoes grow in an easier-to-harvest formation but results in lowered fruit production .
The researchers showed how four structural variations together can tune relevant genes that maintain the trait without reducing fruit productivity , establishing a protocol to breed for that balance .
The study “ reveals thousands of other gene-associated structural variations that may explain many important tomato traits—disease response , stress tolerance , yield , performance and quality—that can now be accessed , ” Giovannoni says .
Knowing which gene to mutate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ holy grail ” for agricultural plant breeders and geneticists , Lippman says , noting that studies like these can set the stage to improve crops using predictable , accurate breeding .

Tomatoes come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes and flavors—and a new study uses state-of-the-art DNA-sequencing technology to finally trace the genetic underpinnings of these differences. The comparison of 100 tomato varieties' genetic sequences reveals more than 230,000 variations within their DNA.
Understanding how these mutations modify tomatoes will give breeders and scientists new tools to refine this crop and others, says Zachary Lippman, a plant biologist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and a senior author on the study, published in July in Cell. The scientists sequenced and compared the genomes of a wide range of tomatoes, including wild and vintage heirloom varieties as well as more modern ones. They used a technique called long-read sequencing to track down large stretches of tomato DNA that had been copied, deleted or moved. These structural variations, which significantly change the genome, were impossible to pinpoint using previous technologies that allowed scientists to read only small snippets at a time.
Scientists had known the DNA of a given species can have significant structural variations, but this is the first comprehensive determination of their extent and nature, says Boyce Thompson Institute plant biologist Jim Giovannoni, who was not involved in the study.
Once the researchers identified the numerous mutations, they examined how these variations influence tomato characteristics. They focused on three particular traits—flavor, size and ease of harvesting. In one test, the team identified a gene that infuses a smoky flavor, presenting breeders with a target attribute to enhance or eliminate at will. In another experiment, the scientists used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to modify the DNA structure and changed fruit size by making more copies of a particular gene. Finally, they investigated how variations influence a trait that makes tomatoes grow in an easier-to-harvest formation but results in lowered fruit production. The researchers showed how four structural variations together can tune relevant genes that maintain the trait without reducing fruit productivity, establishing a protocol to breed for that balance.
The study “reveals thousands of other gene-associated structural variations that may explain many important tomato traits—disease response, stress tolerance, yield, performance and quality—that can now be accessed,” Giovannoni says. Knowing which gene to mutate for tuning a particular trait is a “holy grail” for agricultural plant breeders and geneticists, Lippman says, noting that studies like these can set the stage to improve crops using predictable, accurate breeding.


scientificamerican--2020-09-29--Dinosaurs Got Cancer Too

Dinosaurs Got Cancer Too

“ Given that hundreds of thousands of dinosaur bones have been dug up , is there any evidence that dinosaurs got cancer there ?
” David Evans , senior curator of Paleontology at the Royal Museum of Ontario in Toronto , at a recent museum fundraising event .
“ There had been a few studies that had kind of suggested based on gross anatomy that dinosaurs might have gotten cancer , but there was nothing compelling from a medical standpoint , and from that point on we decided to go on a hunt for rare dinosaur diseases , in particular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and colleagues went digging through a collection of dinosaur bones at the Royal Tyrell Museum of paleontology in Alberta—a hotbed of dinosaur fossils .
“ And out of the hundreds of dinosaur bones that we looked at , we found one that was a candidate for bone cancer.
” The bone specimen Evans and his colleagues found comes from a dinosaur that roamed Western Canada between 70 and 75 million years ago .
The creature is called a Centrosaurus .
“ Centrosaurus is a horned dinosaur .
It ’ s about the size @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a close cousin of the famous triceratops , so it looked very similar .
It would have a parrot beak at the end of its large skull .
It had a neck shield similar to triceratops and walked around on four feet and ate plants.
” Its apparent cancer is a particularly aggressive type .
“ And this would have made it more vulnerable to the top predators at the time , which were the cousins of T. rex .
But we actually don ’ t think it ’ s the cancer that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would have been allowed to run its course , it certainly could have been fatal The tumorous bone was discovered among thousands of other bones from the same species .
All these animals appeared to have died in a coastal flood .
“ And this flood looked like it killed a herd of these horned dinosaurs , Centrosaurus , which are known for living in these social groups .
And we suspect , although we can ’ t prove , that the cancer could get to such an advanced state because this animal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of numbers of being in a herd .
Whereas if it was out on its own , with this devastating disease , it would certainly have had a good chance of being picked off before the cancer progressed this far.
” The study is in the journal Lancet Oncology .
[ Seper Ekhtiari et al , First case of osteosarcoma in a dinosaur : a multimodal diagnosis ] Evans says the research introduces a new way to study paleopathology in the fossil record .
“ This discovery definitely takes dinosaurs , which we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powerful creatures , and i think it shows that they were real animals .
And it ’ s really unique and sobering that they got diseases similar to the ones that humans get today .
And they would have suffered greatly from these diseases , and so it brings them to life in a really unusual way .
”

Full Transcript
“Given that hundreds of thousands of dinosaur bones have been dug up, is there any evidence that dinosaurs got cancer there?”
David Evans, senior curator of paleontology at the Royal Museum of Ontario in Toronto, at a recent museum fundraising event.
“There had been a few studies that had kind of suggested, based on gross anatomy, that dinosaurs might have gotten cancer. But there was nothing compelling from a medical standpoint. And from that point on, we decided to go on a hunt for rare dinosaur diseases, in particular cancer.”
So in 2017, Evans and colleagues went digging through a collection of dinosaur bones at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Alberta—a hotbed of dinosaur fossils.
“And out of the hundreds of dinosaur bones that we looked at, we found one that was a candidate for bone cancer.”
The bone specimen Evans and his colleagues found comes from a dinosaur that roamed western Canada between 70 and 75 million years ago. The creature is called a Centrosaurus.
“Centrosaurus is a horned dinosaur. It’s about the size of a rhinoceros, and it’s a close cousin of the famous triceratops, so it looked very similar. It would have a parrot beak at the end of its large skull. It had a neck shield similar to triceratops and walked around on four feet and ate plants.”
Its apparent cancer is a particularly aggressive type.
“And this would have made it more vulnerable to the top predators at the time, which were the cousins of T. rex. But we actually don’t think it’s the cancer that killed this animal—which, if it would have been allowed to run its course, it certainly could have been fatal
The tumorous bone was discovered among thousands of other bones from the same species. All these animals appeared to have died in a coastal flood.
“And this flood looked like it killed a herd of these horned dinosaurs, Centrosaurus, which are known for living in these social groups. And we suspect, although we can’t prove, that the cancer could get to such an advanced state because this animal was able to benefit from the safety of numbers of being in a herd. Whereas if it was out on its own, with this devastating disease, it would certainly have had a good chance of being picked off before the cancer progressed this far.”
The study is in the journal Lancet Oncology. [Seper Ekhtiari et al., First case of osteosarcoma in a dinosaur: A multimodal diagnosis]
Evans says the research introduces a new way to study paleopathology in the fossil record.
“This discovery definitely takes dinosaurs, which we often think of as almost mythical, powerful creatures, and, I think, it shows that they were real animals. And it’s really unique and sobering that they got diseases similar to the ones that humans get today. And they would have suffered greatly from these diseases, and so it brings them to life in a really unusual way.”
—Emily Schwing
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]


scientificamerican--2020-09-28--'Apocalyptic' Fires Are Ravaging the World's Largest Tropical Wetland

When Luciana Leite arrived in the Pantanal on 2 September , she thought she would be celebrating her wedding anniversary .
Instead , the biologist and her husband spent their eight-day planned holiday aiding volunteers and firefighters struggling to extinguish the burning landscape .
A common destination for ecotourists , the Pantanal is the world ’ s largest tropical wetland , home to Indigenous peoples and a high concentration of rare or endangered species , such as jaguars and giant armadillos .
Small fires occur every year in the region , which sprawls over parts of western Brazil and extends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s fires have been unprecedented in extent and duration , researchers say .
So far , 22 % of the vast floodplain—around 3.2 million hectares—has succumbed to the flames , according to Renata Libonati , a remote-sensing specialist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , whose data are being used by firefighters to plan containment .
That ’ s more than twice the area that has burnt in the record-breaking fires in California this year .
Scientists worry that the extreme blazes will profoundly alter the already fragile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ research programmes investigating the region ’ s ecology and biodiversity will never recover .
“ It ’ s apocalyptic , ” says Leite , who studies humanity ’ s relationship with nature at the Federal University of Bahia in Salvador , Brazil .
“ It is a tragedy of colossal proportions.
” Unlike in the nearby Amazon Rainforest , vegetation in the Pantanal has evolved to coexist with fire — many plant species there require the heat from fires to germinate .
Often caused by lightning strikes , those natural fires tend to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dry season , in September .
They run out of fuel quickly , and the surrounding floodplains prevent them from spreading .
What ’ s different this season is that the region is facing its worst drought in 47 years , says Luisa Diele-Vegas , a Brazilian ecologist at the University of Maryland in College Park .
And 2019 ’ s fires were also intense , contributing even further to the unusually dry conditions and exacerbating the fire risk this year .
The desiccated vegetation was perfect tinder for fires intentionally set by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But some of those fires got out of control , adding to the wildfire damage , says Diele-Vegas .
In July , Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced a 120-day moratorium on setting fires in the Amazon and the Pantanal .
However , those regulations were not strictly enforced , says José Marengo , a climatologist at the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters in São Paulo .
According to news reports , the Bolsonaro government , which has a reputation for being unfriendly towards environmental regulations , reduced the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for fire prevention this year .
What worries scientists further is that this year ’ s fire season might not be an isolated incident .
Climate modelling suggests that the Pantanal could become hotter and drier , with a rise in temperature of up to 7 ºC by the end of the century .
Unpublished data from Diele-Vegas project an even grimmer outlook : by 2050 , if climate-change trends continue , annual mean temperatures in the Pantanal could increase by 10.5 % , and the annual volume of rain could decrease by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these changes could lead to a collapse of the Pantanal ’ s current vegetation , making it even more susceptible to fires , and could push the region to transform into a different type of ecosystem .
One of the biggest losses in this year ’ s fires is the region ’ s wildlife , says Douglas Morton , a remote-sensing specialist at NASA ’ s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt , Maryland , who has studied fires and deforestation across Brazil for two decades .
Many creatures thrive in the mosaic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flooded areas , grasslands , lakes and forests .
Scientists have so far documented more than 580 species of bird , 271 of fish , 174 mammals , 131 reptiles and 57 amphibians in the region .
“ My lasting memory from being in the Pantanal is the cacophony of life , ” Morton says .
“ To me , that ’ s what ’ s so heart wrenching about seeing the extent of fires.
” The flames have also breached five territories in the Pantanal where Indigenous communities live .
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the three most affected—Baía dos Guató , Perigara and Tereza Cristina—has been consumed by fire .
A number of locals have jumped in to rescue as many animals as possible from the flames and smoke .
Eduarda Fernandes Amaral , who works as a guide in the Encontro das Águas State Park , is among them .
As of 20 September , more than 83 % of the park , which is home to a large number of jaguars , capybaras and alligators , had been destroyed .
In the past month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rescued more than 20 animals , although some had to be euthanized .
To deal with the situation , Fernandes Amaral and her colleagues have adopted a mantra .
“ When we see an animal dying , we have to look at it , be sad for two minutes and understand that there is another in need of help , ” she says .
As the blazes advance , animal research in the Pantanal might also suffer .
Two years ago , Diele-Vegas started a project to study the distribution of frogs , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and how it might shift owing to land-use change and climate variations .
But she doesn ’ t know whether the amphibian populations she ’ s monitoring will even survive the blazes .
“ We are seeing our fauna and flora burning .
And there ’ s a lot of this fauna and flora that we haven ’ t had time to study yet , ” she says .
“ We are trying to race against time , but the fire is coming and taking everything down.
” After her initial trip @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t leave it behind .
She returned a few days ago to keep helping the locals .
What she ’ s seen has convinced her that the wetlands will be forever changed .
“ If climate trends , land-management trends and the current anti-environment politics persist , ” says Leite , “ the Pantanal as we know it will cease to exist.
” This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on September 25 2020 .

When Luciana Leite arrived in the Pantanal on 2 September, she thought she would be celebrating her wedding anniversary. Instead, the biologist and her husband spent their eight-day planned holiday aiding volunteers and firefighters struggling to extinguish the burning landscape.
A common destination for ecotourists, the Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland, home to Indigenous peoples and a high concentration of rare or endangered species, such as jaguars and giant armadillos. Small fires occur every year in the region, which sprawls over parts of western Brazil and extends into Bolivia and Paraguay.
But 2020’s fires have been unprecedented in extent and duration, researchers say. So far, 22% of the vast floodplain—around 3.2 million hectares—has succumbed to the flames, according to Renata Libonati, a remote-sensing specialist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, whose data are being used by firefighters to plan containment. That’s more than twice the area that has burnt in the record-breaking fires in California this year.
Scientists worry that the extreme blazes will profoundly alter the already fragile ecosystem of the Pantanal, and that research programmes investigating the region’s ecology and biodiversity will never recover.
“It’s apocalyptic,” says Leite, who studies humanity’s relationship with nature at the Federal University of Bahia in Salvador, Brazil. “It is a tragedy of colossal proportions.”
Scorched earth
Unlike in the nearby Amazon Rainforest, vegetation in the Pantanal has evolved to coexist with fire — many plant species there require the heat from fires to germinate. Often caused by lightning strikes, those natural fires tend to spring up at the end of the dry season, in September. They run out of fuel quickly, and the surrounding floodplains prevent them from spreading.
What’s different this season is that the region is facing its worst drought in 47 years, says Luisa Diele-Vegas, a Brazilian ecologist at the University of Maryland in College Park. And 2019’s fires were also intense, contributing even further to the unusually dry conditions and exacerbating the fire risk this year.
The desiccated vegetation was perfect tinder for fires intentionally set by ranchers clearing land for their cattle. But some of those fires got out of control, adding to the wildfire damage, says Diele-Vegas.
In July, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced a 120-day moratorium on setting fires in the Amazon and the Pantanal. However, those regulations were not strictly enforced, says José Marengo, a climatologist at the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters in São Paulo. According to news reports, the Bolsonaro government, which has a reputation for being unfriendly towards environmental regulations, reduced the number of environmental inspectors and blocked funding for fire prevention this year.
What worries scientists further is that this year’s fire season might not be an isolated incident. Climate modelling suggests that the Pantanal could become hotter and drier, with a rise in temperature of up to 7 ºC by the end of the century. Unpublished data from Diele-Vegas project an even grimmer outlook: by 2050, if climate-change trends continue, annual mean temperatures in the Pantanal could increase by 10.5%, and the annual volume of rain could decrease by 3%.
According to Marengo, these changes could lead to a collapse of the Pantanal’s current vegetation, making it even more susceptible to fires, and could push the region to transform into a different type of ecosystem.
A race against the flames
One of the biggest losses in this year’s fires is the region’s wildlife, says Douglas Morton, a remote-sensing specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who has studied fires and deforestation across Brazil for two decades. Many creatures thrive in the mosaic landscape of the Pantanal, which includes flooded areas, grasslands, lakes and forests. Scientists have so far documented more than 580 species of bird, 271 of fish, 174 mammals, 131 reptiles and 57 amphibians in the region. “My lasting memory from being in the Pantanal is the cacophony of life,” Morton says. “To me, that’s what’s so heart wrenching about seeing the extent of fires.”
The flames have also breached five territories in the Pantanal where Indigenous communities live. More than 80% of the land in each of the three most affected—Baía dos Guató, Perigara and Tereza Cristina—has been consumed by fire.
A number of locals have jumped in to rescue as many animals as possible from the flames and smoke. Eduarda Fernandes Amaral, who works as a guide in the Encontro das Águas State Park, is among them. As of 20 September, more than 83% of the park, which is home to a large number of jaguars, capybaras and alligators, had been destroyed.
In the past month, a team including Fernandes Amaral has rescued more than 20 animals, although some had to be euthanized. To deal with the situation, Fernandes Amaral and her colleagues have adopted a mantra. “When we see an animal dying, we have to look at it, be sad for two minutes and understand that there is another in need of help,” she says.
As the blazes advance, animal research in the Pantanal might also suffer. Two years ago, Diele-Vegas started a project to study the distribution of frogs, tree frogs and toads across the Pantanal, and how it might shift owing to land-use change and climate variations. But she doesn’t know whether the amphibian populations she’s monitoring will even survive the blazes.
“We are seeing our fauna and flora burning. And there’s a lot of this fauna and flora that we haven’t had time to study yet,” she says. “We are trying to race against time, but the fire is coming and taking everything down.”
After her initial trip to the Pantanal, Leite couldn’t leave it behind. She returned a few days ago to keep helping the locals. What she’s seen has convinced her that the wetlands will be forever changed.
“If climate trends, land-management trends and the current anti-environment politics persist,” says Leite, “the Pantanal as we know it will cease to exist.”
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on September 25 2020.


scientificamerican--2020-09-28--How a More Conservative Supreme Court Could Impact Environmental Laws

With Judge Amy Coney Barrett poised to become the sixth Republican-nominated justice on the nation ’ s highest bench , environmental law experts see her influence tipping the scales on energy and climate rules .
President Trump tapped Barrett on Saturday , and Trump—with the help of a Republican-led Senate—is intent on swiftly filling the position left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , who was nominated in 1993 by President Clinton , a Democrat ( Greenwire , Sept. 26 ) .
Barrett , who currently serves on the 7th U.S .
Circuit Court of Appeals , has a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matters .
But if she is confirmed to the high court , Barrett , 48 , likely would lock up a conservative coalition there , legal experts said .
That bloc could smooth the path for future environmental rollbacks or make it more difficult to expand emissions regulations through a broad reading of statutory authority .
“ I view Barrett being added to the court as taking it even further in the direction it was already going , ” said Jody Freeman , founding director of the Environmental & Energy Law Program at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was already headed in the direction of [ being ] much more skeptical of broad efforts to regulate new problems , to interpret statutes that may be older , to deal with new risks , ” she added .
That momentum could be a boon for Trump ’ s legacy of relaxing environmental standards , as a conservative high court likely would be more amenable to his viewpoint in legal challenges to those efforts .
Trump has pushed to roll back regulations on vehicle , power plant and industry emissions .
“ If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on NEPA regulations , ACE , WOTUS , they are doing rulemakings that don ’ t push the envelope , [ they are ] narrow interpretations of law that I think the court would actually be sympathetic to , ” said Brett Hartl , government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity , referring to the National Environmental Policy Act , EPA ’ s Affordable Clean Energy rule and the “ Waters of the U.S. ” rule .
Even if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the White House , Brookings Institution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the high court ’ s new makeup would set up a questionable future for aggressive Biden administration environmental policies .
“ I think it likely dials back ambition for any future president to try to achieve a major environmental policy reform through unilateral executive action , ” Rabe said .
The addition of Trump ’ s third Supreme Court nominee may not have major implications for pending environmental cases .
But Barrett would give the right-leaning side of the bench more flexibility to form coalitions on certain environmental issues—even if some conservative justices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standing or statutory interpretation , said Joseph Goffman , executive director of the Environmental & Energy Law Program .
“ If you think about majorities being coalitions like in any other body that votes , having more generally like-minded people on the court will increase coalition-forming opportunities to end up with anti-regulatory results , ” he said .
A more conservative Supreme Court also has the potential to “ chip away ” at standing to bring cases to court , which could make appeals more difficult for environmental plaintiffs , said Kym Hunter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Environmental Law Center .
SELC is representing conservation groups challenging the Trump administration ’ s newly finalized NEPA implementing regulations in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia .
The case is among those in federal court that could find their way before the justices .
Under Trump , Barrett has quickly advanced through the judicial ranks .
The president first appointed her to the 7th U.S .
Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 ( E & E Daily , Oct. 6 , 2017 ) .
Sen. Dianne Feinstein ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the time , noting that she had only served on one trial before becoming a professor at Notre Dame Law School .
Barrett later appeared on a short list of potential replacements for Justice Anthony Kennedy , whose seat was later filled by Justice Brett Kavanaugh .
On Saturday , Trump announced her nomination to replace Ginsburg , who died just over a week ago from pancreatic cancer .
“ I looked and I studied , and you are very eminently qualified for this job , ” Trump said to Barrett in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You are going to be fantastic.
” Court watchers have little to go on from Barrett ’ s limited record on the 7th Circuit to gauge how she may rule on environmental and energy issues , but she shares a propensity for textualism similar to that of the late Justice Antonin Scalia .
Trump highlighted that fact when he said Barrett would “ decide cases based on the text of the Constitution as written.
” The approach contrasts to that of judges who read the law and Constitution in the context of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take .
“ Like [ Scalia ] , I suspect she ’ ll have doubts about big , novel regulatory programs under very old statutes , ” Adam White , executive director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University ’ s Antonin Scalia Law School , wrote in an email .
This could come into play as justices see appeals on the Trump administration ’ s Affordable Clean Energy rule , controls on methane emissions from oil and gas , and implementing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , not all those challenges could be smooth sailing for the Trump administration , especially when faced with a court less apt to grant wide agency powers .
Rabe from Brookings said Trump ’ s overhaul of methane regulations for the oil and gas sector could be one such place for surprise if courts don ’ t see the administration ’ s interpretations on supply chains and methane as an air contaminant as adhering closely enough to statute .
Goffman noted that justices may also scrutinize the “ squirrely analysis ” in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tailpipe emissions rule , which is targeted by critics who claim the new rule is built on shaky math and legal justifications .
But the administration was careful to insulate its rules with legal interpretations that a new three-vote majority will likely be amenable to , Goffman added .
“ If the crux of the contest is statutory interpretation , then I think there ’ s a chance of the rules [ getting ] a much friendlier reception if the rules go to the Supreme Court , ” he said .
“ And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the central question that would be contested would be questions of statutory interpretation.
” There is a real risk that sweeping climate and environmental regulations under Biden , the Democratic presidential nominee , could be halted by a more conservative court , say experts—especially if a new administration broadly interprets regulatory powers .
“ By and large , the Republican appointees on the court have made it clear that they believe that regulatory agencies need to stay within the statutory scheme , ” said Bracewell LLP partner Jeff Holmstead .
“ They are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deal of latitude when it comes to developing whole new regulatory programs out of some obscure statutory language.
” A Biden administration could do well to craft environmental regulations that rely on a more straightforward reading of existing environmental statutes and that don ’ t seek to compromise on strict standards , said Hartl from the Center for Biological Diversity .
That could mean , for example , crafting climate regulations under Section 115 of the Clean Air Act , which addresses international emissions .
Or the new administration could also use the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greenhouse gas emissions .
“ You don ’ t want to do convoluted language with a 6-3 majority court ; you want plain language that is easier to understand , ” Hartl said .
If the Supreme Court ends up deferring to the Trump administration ’ s authority to change its policy , that could prove beneficial to a Biden administration , which may get similar deference for its choices , said SELC ’ s Hunter .
But Holmstead also noted that a more conservative-leaning court shouldn ’ t be construed as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t think it ’ s fair to say that this means , you know , business is going to win more often or environmentalists are going to lose in the courts , but I do think that we ’ ll see much more constrained readings of these statutes , ” he said .
More skepticism of agencies also could push the court to be more probing of an agency ’ s reasoning in its rulemaking , which can reveal a weak rationale for a regulatory change .
“ Sometimes you have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Hartl .
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E & E News .
E & E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news at www.eenews.net .

With Judge Amy Coney Barrett poised to become the sixth Republican-nominated justice on the nation’s highest bench, environmental law experts see her influence tipping the scales on energy and climate rules.
President Trump tapped Barrett on Saturday, and Trump—with the help of a Republican-led Senate—is intent on swiftly filling the position left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was nominated in 1993 by President Clinton, a Democrat (Greenwire, Sept. 26).
Barrett, who currently serves on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has a relatively slim record on climate and environmental matters. But if she is confirmed to the high court, Barrett, 48, likely would lock up a conservative coalition there, legal experts said. That bloc could smooth the path for future environmental rollbacks or make it more difficult to expand emissions regulations through a broad reading of statutory authority.
“I view Barrett being added to the court as taking it even further in the direction it was already going,” said Jody Freeman, founding director of the Environmental & Energy Law Program at Harvard Law School.
The court “was already headed in the direction of [being] much more skeptical of broad efforts to regulate new problems, to interpret statutes that may be older, to deal with new risks,” she added.
That momentum could be a boon for Trump’s legacy of relaxing environmental standards, as a conservative high court likely would be more amenable to his viewpoint in legal challenges to those efforts. Trump has pushed to roll back regulations on vehicle, power plant and industry emissions.
“If you look at what Trump has done on NEPA regulations, ACE, WOTUS, they are doing rulemakings that don’t push the envelope, [they are] narrow interpretations of law that I think the court would actually be sympathetic to,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, referring to the National Environmental Policy Act, EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy rule and the “Waters of the U.S.” rule.
Even if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the White House, Brookings Institution Nonresident Senior Fellow Barry Rabe said, the high court’s new makeup would set up a questionable future for aggressive Biden administration environmental policies.
“I think it likely dials back ambition for any future president to try to achieve a major environmental policy reform through unilateral executive action,” Rabe said.
Coalition-building
The addition of Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee may not have major implications for pending environmental cases.
But Barrett would give the right-leaning side of the bench more flexibility to form coalitions on certain environmental issues—even if some conservative justices may not always agree on issues of standing or statutory interpretation, said Joseph Goffman, executive director of the Environmental & Energy Law Program.
“If you think about majorities being coalitions like in any other body that votes, having more generally like-minded people on the court will increase coalition-forming opportunities to end up with anti-regulatory results,” he said.
A more conservative Supreme Court also has the potential to “chip away” at standing to bring cases to court, which could make appeals more difficult for environmental plaintiffs, said Kym Hunter, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
SELC is representing conservation groups challenging the Trump administration’s newly finalized NEPA implementing regulations in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. The case is among those in federal court that could find their way before the justices.
Under Trump, Barrett has quickly advanced through the judicial ranks. The president first appointed her to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 (E&E Daily, Oct. 6, 2017). Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) questioned her lack of experience at the time, noting that she had only served on one trial before becoming a professor at Notre Dame Law School.
Barrett later appeared on a short list of potential replacements for Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose seat was later filled by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. On Saturday, Trump announced her nomination to replace Ginsburg, who died just over a week ago from pancreatic cancer.
“I looked and I studied, and you are very eminently qualified for this job,” Trump said to Barrett in his announcement of her nomination. “You are going to be fantastic.”
Court watchers have little to go on from Barrett’s limited record on the 7th Circuit to gauge how she may rule on environmental and energy issues, but she shares a propensity for textualism similar to that of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Trump highlighted that fact when he said Barrett would “decide cases based on the text of the Constitution as written.”
The approach contrasts to that of judges who read the law and Constitution in the context of the present day—a strategy Ginsburg was more inclined to take.
“Like [Scalia], I suspect she’ll have doubts about big, novel regulatory programs under very old statutes,” Adam White, executive director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, wrote in an email.
This could come into play as justices see appeals on the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule, controls on methane emissions from oil and gas, and implementing NEPA regulations, among others.
That said, not all those challenges could be smooth sailing for the Trump administration, especially when faced with a court less apt to grant wide agency powers.
Rabe from Brookings said Trump’s overhaul of methane regulations for the oil and gas sector could be one such place for surprise if courts don’t see the administration’s interpretations on supply chains and methane as an air contaminant as adhering closely enough to statute.
Goffman noted that justices may also scrutinize the “squirrely analysis” in the second part of Trump’s tailpipe emissions rule, which is targeted by critics who claim the new rule is built on shaky math and legal justifications.
But the administration was careful to insulate its rules with legal interpretations that a new three-vote majority will likely be amenable to, Goffman added.
“If the crux of the contest is statutory interpretation, then I think there’s a chance of the rules [getting] a much friendlier reception if the rules go to the Supreme Court,” he said. “And the agency crafted the rules so that the central question that would be contested would be questions of statutory interpretation.”
A Biden strategy
There is a real risk that sweeping climate and environmental regulations under Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, could be halted by a more conservative court, say experts—especially if a new administration broadly interprets regulatory powers.
“By and large, the Republican appointees on the court have made it clear that they believe that regulatory agencies need to stay within the statutory scheme,” said Bracewell LLP partner Jeff Holmstead. “They are not inclined to give agencies a great deal of latitude when it comes to developing whole new regulatory programs out of some obscure statutory language.”
A Biden administration could do well to craft environmental regulations that rely on a more straightforward reading of existing environmental statutes and that don’t seek to compromise on strict standards, said Hartl from the Center for Biological Diversity.
That could mean, for example, crafting climate regulations under Section 115 of the Clean Air Act, which addresses international emissions. Or the new administration could also use the National Ambient Air Quality Standards to address greenhouse gas emissions.
“You don’t want to do convoluted language with a 6-3 majority court; you want plain language that is easier to understand,” Hartl said.
If the Supreme Court ends up deferring to the Trump administration’s authority to change its policy, that could prove beneficial to a Biden administration, which may get similar deference for its choices, said SELC’s Hunter.
But Holmstead also noted that a more conservative-leaning court shouldn’t be construed as a total loss for environmentalists. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that this means, you know, business is going to win more often or environmentalists are going to lose in the courts, but I do think that we’ll see much more constrained readings of these statutes,” he said.
More skepticism of agencies also could push the court to be more probing of an agency’s reasoning in its rulemaking, which can reveal a weak rationale for a regulatory change.
“Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for,” said Hartl.
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News. E&E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news at www.eenews.net.


scientificamerican--2020-09-28--Water on Mars: Discovery of Three Buried Lakes Intrigues Scientists

Two years ago , planetary scientists reported the discovery of a large saltwater lake under the ice at Mars ’ s south pole , a finding that was met with excitement and some scepticism .
Now , researchers say they ’ ve confirmed the presence of that lake—and found three more .
The discovery , reported on 28 September in Nature Astronomy , was made using radar data from the European Space Agency ’ s ( ESA ) orbiting Mars Express spacecraft .
It follows the detection of a single subsurface lake in the same region in 2018—which , if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of liquid water ever detected on the red planet and a possible habitat for life .
But that finding was based on just 29 observations made from 2012 to 2015 , and many researchers said they needed more evidence to support the claim .
The latest study used a broader data set comprising 134 observations from between 2012 and 2019 .
“ We identified the same body of water , but we also found three other bodies of water around the main one , ” says planetary scientist Elena Pettinelli at the University @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the paper ’ s co-authors .
“ It ’ s a complex system.
” The team used a radar instrument on Mars Express called the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding ( MARSIS ) to probe the planet ’ s southern polar region .
MARSIS sends out radio waves that bounce off layers of material in the planet ’ s surface and subsurface .
The way the signal is reflected back indicates the kind of material that is present at a particular location—rock , ice or water , for example .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ subsurface glacial lakes on Earth .
The team detected some areas of high reflectivity that they say indicate bodies of liquid water trapped under more than one kilometre of Martian ice .
The lakes are spread over about 75,000 square kilometres—an area roughly one-fifth the size of Germany .
The largest , central lake measures 30 kilometres across , and is surrounded by three smaller lakes , each a few kilometres wide .
On the surface of Mars , the low pressure that results from the planet ’ s lack of a substantial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scientists have long thought that there could be water trapped under Mars ’ s surface , perhaps a remnant of when the planet once had seas and lakes billions of years ago .
If such reservoirs exist , they could be potential habitats for Martian life .
On Earth , life is able to survive in subglacial lakes in places such as Antarctica .
But the amount of salt present could pose problems .
It ’ s thought that any underground lakes on Mars must have a reasonably high salt content for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far beneath the surface there may be a small amount of heat from the interior of Mars , this alone would not be enough to melt the ice into water .
“ From a thermal point of view it has to be salty , ” says Pettinelli .
Lakes with a salt content about five times that of seawater can support life , but as you approach 20 times that of seawater life is no longer present , says John Priscu , an environmental scientist at Montana State University .
“ There ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ briny pools in Antarctica , ” says Priscu , whose group studies microbiology in icy environments .
“ They ’ re just pickled .
And that might be the case [ on Mars ] .
” The presence of the Martian lakes themselves is also still debated .
After the 2018 discovery , researchers raised concerns such as the lack of an adequate heat source to turn the ice into water .
And although the latest finding supports the 2018 observation and involves much more data , not everyone is yet convinced that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ If the bright material really is liquid water , I think it ’ s more likely to represent some sort of slush or sludge , ” says Mike Sori , a planetary geophysicist at from Purdue University , in West Lafayette , Indiana .
Jack Holt , a planetarty scientist at the University of Arizonasays that while he thinks the latest data are fine , he isn ’ t sure about the interpretation .
“ I do not think there are lakes , ” says Holt , who is on the science @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( SHARAD ) on NASA ’ s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ( MRO ) .
“ There is not enough heat flow to support a brine here , even under the ice cap.
” A Chinese mission that is on its way to Mars might offer one way to check the claims .
The Tianwen-1 mission will enter orbit in February 2021 , and as well as deploying a rover onto the surface , the orbiter will carry a suite of scientific instruments .
These include radar equipment that could be used to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar to MARSIS and SHARAD , ” says David Flannery from the Queensland University of Technology .
For the time being , the prospect that these lakes are remnants of Mars ’ s wet past remains an exciting possibility .
“ There may have been a lot of water on Mars , ” says Pettinelli .
“ And if there was water , there was the possibility of life.
” This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on September 28 2020 .

Two years ago, planetary scientists reported the discovery of a large saltwater lake under the ice at Mars’s south pole, a finding that was met with excitement and some scepticism. Now, researchers say they’ve confirmed the presence of that lake—and found three more.
The discovery, reported on 28 September in Nature Astronomy, was made using radar data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) orbiting Mars Express spacecraft. It follows the detection of a single subsurface lake in the same region in 2018—which, if confirmed, would be the first body of liquid water ever detected on the red planet and a possible habitat for life. But that finding was based on just 29 observations made from 2012 to 2015, and many researchers said they needed more evidence to support the claim. The latest study used a broader data set comprising 134 observations from between 2012 and 2019.
“We identified the same body of water, but we also found three other bodies of water around the main one,” says planetary scientist Elena Pettinelli at the University of Rome, who is one of the paper’s co-authors. “It’s a complex system.”
The team used a radar instrument on Mars Express called the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) to probe the planet’s southern polar region. MARSIS sends out radio waves that bounce off layers of material in the planet’s surface and subsurface. The way the signal is reflected back indicates the kind of material that is present at a particular location—rock, ice or water, for example. A similar method is used to identify subsurface glacial lakes on Earth. The team detected some areas of high reflectivity that they say indicate bodies of liquid water trapped under more than one kilometre of Martian ice.
The lakes are spread over about 75,000 square kilometres—an area roughly one-fifth the size of Germany. The largest, central lake measures 30 kilometres across, and is surrounded by three smaller lakes, each a few kilometres wide.
Salty lakes
On the surface of Mars, the low pressure that results from the planet’s lack of a substantial atmosphere makes liquid water impossible. But scientists have long thought that there could be water trapped under Mars’s surface, perhaps a remnant of when the planet once had seas and lakes billions of years ago. If such reservoirs exist, they could be potential habitats for Martian life. On Earth, life is able to survive in subglacial lakes in places such as Antarctica.
But the amount of salt present could pose problems. It’s thought that any underground lakes on Mars must have a reasonably high salt content for the water to remain liquid. Although this far beneath the surface there may be a small amount of heat from the interior of Mars, this alone would not be enough to melt the ice into water. “From a thermal point of view it has to be salty,” says Pettinelli.
Lakes with a salt content about five times that of seawater can support life, but as you approach 20 times that of seawater life is no longer present, says John Priscu, an environmental scientist at Montana State University.
“There’s not much active life in these briny pools in Antarctica,” says Priscu, whose group studies microbiology in icy environments. “They’re just pickled. And that might be the case [on Mars].”
Heated debate
The presence of the Martian lakes themselves is also still debated. After the 2018 discovery, researchers raised concerns such as the lack of an adequate heat source to turn the ice into water. And although the latest finding supports the 2018 observation and involves much more data, not everyone is yet convinced that the regions identified are liquid water.
“If the bright material really is liquid water, I think it’s more likely to represent some sort of slush or sludge,” says Mike Sori, a planetary geophysicist at from Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Jack Holt, a planetarty scientist at the University of Arizonasays that while he thinks the latest data are fine, he isn’t sure about the interpretation. “I do not think there are lakes,” says Holt, who is on the science team for the Mars Shallow Radar sounder (SHARAD) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). “There is not enough heat flow to support a brine here, even under the ice cap.”
A Chinese mission that is on its way to Mars might offer one way to check the claims. The Tianwen-1 mission will enter orbit in February 2021, and as well as deploying a rover onto the surface, the orbiter will carry a suite of scientific instruments. These include radar equipment that could be used to make similar observations. “Its capabilities are similar to MARSIS and SHARAD,” says David Flannery from the Queensland University of Technology.
For the time being, the prospect that these lakes are remnants of Mars’s wet past remains an exciting possibility. “There may have been a lot of water on Mars,” says Pettinelli. “And if there was water, there was the possibility of life.”
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on September 28 2020.


scientificamerican--2020-09-28--Deadly Spread of Some Cancers May Be Driven by a Common Mouth Microbe

When people hear that they might have cancer , perhaps the only thing more frightening than the C word is the M word .
Metastatic disease—in which the malignancy has traveled beyond its primary site to other spots in the body—is responsible for nine out of every 10 cancer deaths .
Recently an unexpected player in this process has emerged : a common bacterium .
Fusobacterium nucleatum , which normally lives harmlessly in the gums , appears to have a role in the spread of some cancers of the colon , esophagus , pancreas and—possibly—breast .
Laboratory studies and evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel through the blood and infect tumor cells by attaching to a sugar molecule on their surface .
There it provokes a range of signals and immune responses known to cause tumor cells to migrate .
If further confirmed , the work with F. nucleatum could add to a growing understanding of how the microbiome influences cancer progression and may even point the way to fresh approaches to treatment .
In a healthy human mouth , F. nucleatum is a law-abiding member of the microbial community .
With poor dental hygiene , uncontrolled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it can go rogue and cause periodontitis , tonsillitis , appendicitis and even preterm labor .
A connection to colorectal cancer was first hinted at about nine years ago , when two research groups discovered that the bacterium 's DNA was overrepresented in colon tumor tissue compared with normal tissue .
Dozens of studies have since found that the infection in tumor cells is a sign of trouble : it is linked to a poorer prognosis in patients with pancreatic , esophageal or colorectal cancer ; resistance to chemotherapy in the latter two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is the world 's third most common and second most deadly malignancy .
Still , the question remained : Is this bug merely a warning sign , or is it an active participant in cancer progression ?
This year at least three studies of colon cancer , by separate teams , pointed to an active role .
“ We reached the same conclusion through different pathways , ” says biochemist Daniel Slade of Virginia Tech .
Slade and his colleagues found that when cultured human colon tumor cells were invaded by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proteins called cytokines—specifically , interleukin-8 and CXCL1—that have been shown to promote the migration of malignant cells , a step in metastasis .
A second paper reported that the bacterium induces changes in gene regulation that boost metastasis to the lungs in mice .
A third study determined that the abundance of F. nucleatum in human colon cancer tissue correlates with the amount of metastases and , in mice , identified additional signals by which the microbe may “ orchestrate ” metastasis .
Slade and others have also demonstrated that the bacterium incites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aimed at controlling the infection but that ultimately exacerbates the cancer .
“ It 's like throwing gas on an already lit fire , ” Slade says .
Something similar may be going on in some breast tumors .
In June a team led by microbiologist Gilad Bachrach of Hebrew University reported finding F. nucleatum DNA in 30 percent of the human breast cancer tissue examined ; the bacterium was most common in cancer cells that expressed a lot of the surface sugar molecule Gal/GalNAc .
Researchers also showed that the infection promotes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in mouse models of breast cancer .
“ The data imply that fusobacterium is not a cause of cancer , but it can accelerate progression , ” Bachrach says .
How much this is happening in humans is , of course , a critical question .
“ The findings are intriguing , and it makes sense , ” says Joan Massagué of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , who is a leading investigator of metastasis .
Inflammation is invariably part of the metastatic process , he says , so an infection that incites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will have a consequence : “ it helps cancer cells engage in mobile , invasive behavior.
” The discoveries about fusobacterium are part of a fast-moving field that is illuminating the way the microbiome both promotes and battles cancer .
Many modern immunotherapy drugs , for instance , work best in the presence of beneficent microbes—as do some older chemotherapies .
Some scientists envision that fusobacterium eventually could be turned into a cancer fighter .
Given the microbe 's attraction to a sugar on tumor cells , they suggest , perhaps it could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bound to cancer drugs and carrying them straight to a malignant target .

When people hear that they might have cancer, perhaps the only thing more frightening than the C word is the M word. Metastatic disease—in which the malignancy has traveled beyond its primary site to other spots in the body—is responsible for nine out of every 10 cancer deaths.
Recently an unexpected player in this process has emerged: a common bacterium. Fusobacterium nucleatum, which normally lives harmlessly in the gums, appears to have a role in the spread of some cancers of the colon, esophagus, pancreas and—possibly—breast. Laboratory studies and evidence in patients indicate that the microbe can travel through the blood and infect tumor cells by attaching to a sugar molecule on their surface. There it provokes a range of signals and immune responses known to cause tumor cells to migrate. If further confirmed, the work with F. nucleatum could add to a growing understanding of how the microbiome influences cancer progression and may even point the way to fresh approaches to treatment.
In a healthy human mouth, F. nucleatum is a law-abiding member of the microbial community. With poor dental hygiene, uncontrolled diabetes and other conditions, however, it can go rogue and cause periodontitis, tonsillitis, appendicitis and even preterm labor. A connection to colorectal cancer was first hinted at about nine years ago, when two research groups discovered that the bacterium's DNA was overrepresented in colon tumor tissue compared with normal tissue. Dozens of studies have since found that the infection in tumor cells is a sign of trouble: it is linked to a poorer prognosis in patients with pancreatic, esophageal or colorectal cancer; resistance to chemotherapy in the latter two groups; and metastasis in colorectal cancer, which is the world's third most common and second most deadly malignancy.
Still, the question remained: Is this bug merely a warning sign, or is it an active participant in cancer progression? This year at least three studies of colon cancer, by separate teams, pointed to an active role. “We reached the same conclusion through different pathways,” says biochemist Daniel Slade of Virginia Tech. Slade and his colleagues found that when cultured human colon tumor cells were invaded by the bacterium, they produced two inflammatory proteins called cytokines—specifically, interleukin-8 and CXCL1—that have been shown to promote the migration of malignant cells, a step in metastasis. A second paper reported that the bacterium induces changes in gene regulation that boost metastasis to the lungs in mice. A third study determined that the abundance of F. nucleatum in human colon cancer tissue correlates with the amount of metastases and, in mice, identified additional signals by which the microbe may “orchestrate” metastasis. Slade and others have also demonstrated that the bacterium incites a kind of cytokine storm that is aimed at controlling the infection but that ultimately exacerbates the cancer. “It's like throwing gas on an already lit fire,” Slade says.
Something similar may be going on in some breast tumors. In June a team led by microbiologist Gilad Bachrach of Hebrew University reported finding F. nucleatum DNA in 30 percent of the human breast cancer tissue examined; the bacterium was most common in cancer cells that expressed a lot of the surface sugar molecule Gal/GalNAc. Researchers also showed that the infection promotes growth of both primary tumors and metastases in mouse models of breast cancer. “The data imply that fusobacterium is not a cause of cancer, but it can accelerate progression,” Bachrach says.
How much this is happening in humans is, of course, a critical question. “The findings are intriguing, and it makes sense,” says Joan Massagué of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who is a leading investigator of metastasis. Inflammation is invariably part of the metastatic process, he says, so an infection that incites a dramatic inflammatory reaction in a tumor will have a consequence: “it helps cancer cells engage in mobile, invasive behavior.”
The discoveries about fusobacterium are part of a fast-moving field that is illuminating the way the microbiome both promotes and battles cancer. Many modern immunotherapy drugs, for instance, work best in the presence of beneficent microbes—as do some older chemotherapies. Some scientists envision that fusobacterium eventually could be turned into a cancer fighter. Given the microbe's attraction to a sugar on tumor cells, they suggest, perhaps it could be deployed as a Trojan horse, bound to cancer drugs and carrying them straight to a malignant target.


scientificamerican--2020-09-26--Is there Really Life on Venus? There's Only One Way to Know for Sure

Most people tend to think of Venus as completely uninhabitable , given that its surface temperature hovers around 900 degrees Fahrenheit ( 480 degrees Celsius ) , which doesn ’ t seem very inviting .
But I have long championed the idea that life could exist in the thick cloud decks that shroud the planet .
In my 1997 book Venus Revealed , I pointed out that our then-new view of Venus from the Magellan radar orbiter showed that our next-door solar system neighbor had a geologically active surface that must be interacting chemically with the cool clouds above , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ encourage and nourish high-altitude organisms .
It has not been a popular view .
In the 1960s , atmospheric chemist James Lovelock was consulting for NASA in designing life detection instruments for Mars .
He concluded that the best way to search was to simply study its atmosphere with spectrometers and look for the disequilibrium gases that life must produce .
NASA ignored him and sent the billion-dollar Viking Lander , which in 1976 succeeded in landing on Mars and sending back revelatory photographs of the surface , crucial atmospheric measurements , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s hard to search for life without assuming very specific and somewhat Earth-centric definitions of life ’ s qualities and needs .
But the exoplanet revolution has revived a focus on remote detection of biosignatures—the telltale indicators of life .
This assumes nothing about alien metabolisms other than that they would exchange gases with their environments and alter their entropy state—in other words that they would be alive as best we can define it .
A coming generation of space telescopes should allow us to determine the composition of many exoplanet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studying which gases are likely to be most characteristic of life—the obvious candidates are oxygen and methane—and also the possible false positives that might fool us .
Wisps of methane on Mars can be seen as a possible biosignature , although geologic sources have also been proposed .
Another gas at the top of the list is phosphine , a phosphorous atom bound to three hydrogens .
On Earth it ’ s almost exclusively a product of biology .
It ’ s also expected , and seen , on hydrogen-rich planets like Jupiter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for rocky planets like ours , it ’ s frequently seen as a sure sign of life .
Now Greaves , et al.
, have reported the detection of phosphine on the closest planet in the universe to ours .
No matter what , the report of finding this stinky , toxic , perhaps biogenic gas on our neighbor Venus will advance the science of atmospheric biosignature detection .
If it ’ s not really phosphine , we will learn something about the difficulty of this kind of observation and the need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does exist on Venus in the quantity reported ( concentrations up to 20 parts per billion ) , we stand to learn something more profound .
Clever chemists will now be trying to come up with alternative , nonbiological sources that produce phosphine in sufficient amounts .
If they succeed , we learn something new , perhaps something important , about Venus and other planets .
And we learn about the limitations of using atmospheric biosignatures to infer life .
If they fail , it doesn ’ t give proof of life but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Venus and study it ’ s atmosphere in situ with 21st-century instruments ( the last entry probe the U.S. launched was in 1978 ) .
Maybe there really are creatures inhabiting the clouds .
Confirming this would surely be one of the most profoundly transformative discoveries ever made .
What else would instantly reveal as much about the nature of life , the universe and everything ?
These are early days of our living with this announcement , and the possibilities are wide open .
It could be a false alarm—but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to search for company , either on the planet next door or on planets out among the stars , the question of atmospheric biosignatures is not going away .
And with Venus , unlike with exoplanets that are tens or hundreds or thousands of light-years away , we can seek context .
We can go and have a look with a journey lasting months instead of centuries .
As the poet e e cummings wrote : `` listen : there 's a hell of a good universe next door ; let 's go @ @

Most people tend to think of Venus as completely uninhabitable, given that its surface temperature hovers around 900 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius), which doesn’t seem very inviting.
But I have long championed the idea that life could exist in the thick cloud decks that shroud the planet. In my 1997 book Venus Revealed, I pointed out that our then-new view of Venus from the Magellan radar orbiter showed that our next-door solar system neighbor had a geologically active surface that must be interacting chemically with the cool clouds above, and possibly even biogeochemical flows that could encourage and nourish high-altitude organisms.
It has not been a popular view.
In the 1960s, atmospheric chemist James Lovelock was consulting for NASA in designing life detection instruments for Mars. He concluded that the best way to search was to simply study its atmosphere with spectrometers and look for the disequilibrium gases that life must produce. NASA ignored him and sent the billion-dollar Viking Lander, which in 1976 succeeded in landing on Mars and sending back revelatory photographs of the surface, crucial atmospheric measurements, and confusing and ambiguous biology results demonstrating that it’s hard to search for life without assuming very specific and somewhat Earth-centric definitions of life’s qualities and needs.
But the exoplanet revolution has revived a focus on remote detection of biosignatures—the telltale indicators of life. This assumes nothing about alien metabolisms other than that they would exchange gases with their environments and alter their entropy state—in other words that they would be alive as best we can define it. A coming generation of space telescopes should allow us to determine the composition of many exoplanet atmospheres.
Much work has gone into studying which gases are likely to be most characteristic of life—the obvious candidates are oxygen and methane—and also the possible false positives that might fool us. Wisps of methane on Mars can be seen as a possible biosignature, although geologic sources have also been proposed. Another gas at the top of the list is phosphine, a phosphorous atom bound to three hydrogens. On Earth it’s almost exclusively a product of biology. It’s also expected, and seen, on hydrogen-rich planets like Jupiter as the result of inorganic chemical processes—but for rocky planets like ours, it’s frequently seen as a sure sign of life.
Now Greaves, et al., have reported the detection of phosphine on the closest planet in the universe to ours. No matter what, the report of finding this stinky, toxic, perhaps biogenic gas on our neighbor Venus will advance the science of atmospheric biosignature detection. If it’s not really phosphine, we will learn something about the difficulty of this kind of observation and the need to proceed with caution. If phosphine really does exist on Venus in the quantity reported (concentrations up to 20 parts per billion), we stand to learn something more profound. Clever chemists will now be trying to come up with alternative, nonbiological sources that produce phosphine in sufficient amounts. If they succeed, we learn something new, perhaps something important, about Venus and other planets. And we learn about the limitations of using atmospheric biosignatures to infer life.
If they fail, it doesn’t give proof of life but increases our already high motivation to go to Venus and study it’s atmosphere in situ with 21st-century instruments (the last entry probe the U.S. launched was in 1978).
Maybe there really are creatures inhabiting the clouds. Confirming this would surely be one of the most profoundly transformative discoveries ever made. What else would instantly reveal as much about the nature of life, the universe and everything?
These are early days of our living with this announcement, and the possibilities are wide open. It could be a false alarm—but it is an alarm. As humanity continues to search for company, either on the planet next door or on planets out among the stars, the question of atmospheric biosignatures is not going away. And with Venus, unlike with exoplanets that are tens or hundreds or thousands of light-years away, we can seek context. We can go and have a look with a journey lasting months instead of centuries.
As the poet e e cummings wrote: "listen: there's a hell of a good universe next door; let's go."