(Press-News.org)
Over the last 3,800 years, agro-pastoral activities have accelerated alpine soil erosion at a pace 4-10 times faster than their natural formation. The history of this erosion has just been revealed for the first time by a research team led by a CNRS scientist1. The team has shown that high-altitude soil was degraded first, under the combined effect of pastoralism and forest clearing to facilitate the movement of herds. Medium- and low-altitude soil was then eroded with the development of agriculture and new techniques such as the use of ploughs, from the late Roman period to the contemporary period. The study has also revealed that the acceleration of soil erosion in mountain environments by human activities did not begin everywhere in the world in synchronous fashion.
This research, which will be published in the journal PNAS during the week of 14 July, reinforces the conclusion of a previous study by the authors2. In a global context of soil degradation affecting soil fertility, biodiversity, and water and carbon cycles, the authors are calling for the implementation of global protection measures.
These conclusions were obtained by comparing the isotope signature of lithium in sediments from Lake Bourget with those sampled from the rocks and soil of today. The samples were taken from the largest catchment area in the French Alps3. The data obtained was then compared to that from other regions in the world4. The DNA content in the sediments was also studied to identify the mammals and plants present during each period.
Notes
1 – From the Environments, Dynamics, and Mountain Territories Laboratory (CNRS/Université Savoie Mont Blanc) and the Paris Institute of Planetary Physics (CNRS/Institut de physique du globe de Paris/Université Paris Cité). The Paris-Saclay Geosciences Laboratory (CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay) was also involved. Scientists from l’Université Paris-Saclay, l’Université Savoie Mont Blanc, and the Paris Institute of Planetary Physics also took part in the research.
2 - Human-triggered magnification of erosion rates in European Alps since the Bronze Age. Rapuc, W., Giguet-Covex, C., Bouchez, J., Sabatier, P., Gaillardet, J., Jacq, K., Genuite, K., Poulenard, J., Messager, E., Arnaud, F. Nature communications, published on 10 February 2024.
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45123-3
3 – The catchment area in question extends from the Chambéry basin to the peak of Mont Blanc.
4 – The Andes and North America.
END
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators from campus biotech spinoff Integrated Biosciences, as well as Harvard, MIT and genomics company Illumina Ventures are using optogenetics — the use of light to probe the functions of living tissue — to find compounds to help our bodies more effectively help themselves in times of physiological stress. Using an optogenetic platform developed in synthetic biologist Max Wilson’s lab at UCSB, they have already discovered dozens of molecules that can act as pan-antivirals and, specifically, two chemical scaffolds that could serve as promising development candidates ...
NIMS has developed a new theory that explains why tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) —used in magnetic memory and other technologies— oscillates with changes in the thickness of the insulating barrier within a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). This oscillation was clearly observed when NIMS recently recorded the world’s highest TMR ratio. Understanding the mechanisms behind this phenomenon is expected to significantly aid in further increasing TMR ratios. This research was published as a letter article in Physical ...
A new study led by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) found that early-life exposure to antibiotics can impair an infant's developing immune system, and that a naturally occurring metabolite may hold the key to reversing that damage.
Published in Cell, the study uncovered how antibiotic exposure during pregnancy and infancy may permanently weaken the immune system's ability to fight respiratory infections like the flu. By analyzing both mouse models and human infant lung tissue, the researchers discovered that early antibiotics disrupt the gut microbiome's ability to produce inosine, a molecule that serves as an important signal ...
Tumor cells carry specific genetic mutations that actively drive the growth and spread of cancer. When mutations in particular genes are present, standard treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation often become significantly less effective, requiring more targeted therapeutic approaches instead. One of these genes is called KEAP1.
Mutations in the E3-ligase KEAP1 are the focus of a new research project at Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg (JMU). José Pedro Friedmann Angeli, Professor of Translational Cell Biology at the Rudolf Virchow Center – Center for ...
Photo of U-M smart manufacturing lab
Aiming to overcome barriers that prevent digital twins from delivering on their promise to improve manufacturing, the University of Michigan and Arizona State University are inviting industrial partners to participate in a new Center for Digital Twins in Manufacturing.
"Everyone's building digital twins, but we're trying to build the glue or connectivity that enables digital twins to work together—to be composable, ...
An effective measure to fight nutrient deficiency is to increase the nutrient content of food, particularly staples that are cheap to produce and widely consumed. Scientists do this by breeding crop varieties that are higher in iron, zinc, vitamins and other nutrients, a process called biofortification.
But many factors must align for biofortified crops to be successful. They need to grow at least as well as conventional varieties, seeds need to be produced and distributed at scale, and producers require incentives to adopt new varieties. Most importantly, consumers need to actually want to eat the new ...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 14, 2025
CONTACT: Camille Jewell
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NASHVILLE — At the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) 22nd Annual Meeting today, researchers presented findings about how pregnancy can worsen the rupture risk for brain arteriovenous malformations, abnormal connections between arteries and veins whose rupture can result in serious brain injury or death.
During pregnancy, hormonal shifts and the increased demand ...
In the fall of 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the southeastern U.S., later downgrading to a tropical storm causing strong winds, flooding and major destruction throughout Appalachia. Now, researchers and public health officials in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters provide a debrief about how their mapping of key locations, including private wells, septic systems and service facilities, helped distribute disaster relief in North Carolina — a part of Appalachia hit particularly ...
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Prediabetes affects a third of people in the United States and most of them will develop Type 2 diabetes, yet effective dietary intervention strategies remain limited. Pistachios have shown promise in improving markers of diet quality, yet little is known about how they influence the gut microbiome — a key player in glucose regulation and inflammation.
A new study led by Kristina Petersen, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State, determined that nighttime pistachio ...
How does friendship affect the human brain and influence behavior? In a new JNeurosci paper, Jia Jin and colleagues, from Shanghai International Studies University, present their work examining how close relationships influence consumer behavior and neural activity. Through a combination of long-term behavioral experiments with 175 participants and neuroimaging data from 47 participants, the researchers shed light on how friendships promote neural and behavioral similarity.
Participants evaluated products more similarly to their friends than strangers. As friends grew closer over time, this similarity ...
