A new study examines nickel and urea in early microbial habitats, showing how ancient cyanobacteria adapted to their chemical surroundings. By recreating Archean conditions in the lab, researchers uncovered clues about the delicate balances that shaped early cyanobacterial life. These findings hint at the unseen factors that may have set the stage for Earth’s first oxygen surge, providing a fresh perspective on the environmental and chemical conditions that allowed oxygen to accumulate in the atmosphere.

A Tulane University-led study published in Nature Geoscience reveals that melting North American ice sheets were the primary driver of dramatic sea-level rise at the end of the last ice age, overturning long-held assumptions that Antarctica played the larger role. Between 8,000 and 9,000 years ago, retreating North American ice sheets caused more than 30 feet (10 meters) of global sea-level rise, reshaping scientists’ understanding of Earth’s climate history.

Researchers from Kunming University of Science and Technology have discovered that certain soil minerals can trap dissolved organic matter released from biochar, keeping more carbon in the soil and potentially enhancing its long-term storage. Their study, published in Biochar, reveals that low-intensity rainfall helps retain this dissolved carbon within mineral-rich soils, limiting its downward movement and loss.

Researchers from Princeton engineering drove a moble lab across the country and found that emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, powerful greenhouse gases, are twice as high as national estimates.