To address the urgent need for advanced ocean health monitoring, a research team at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and MIT, led by Wyss Founding Core Faculty member James Collins, Ph.D. and Wyss Senior Scientist Peter Nguyen, Ph.D., has developed an inexpensive, laboratory-free and CRISPR-based approach to be used by many to rapidly quantify marine species and their physiological states on-site. Housed in highly portable, easy-to-handle device, the biosensing platform has potential to enable the prediction of outbreaks in marine communities, and routine monitoring of critically threatened species.

Big Earth Data Journal is calling for papers for a Special Issue on 10th Anniversary Special Issue of Big Earth Data. The journal has published pioneering research that leverages Earth observations, big data analytics, and interdisciplinary collaboration to address global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainable urbanization, disaster monitoring, etc. To celebrate the journal’s 10th anniversary, we invite submissions to a special issue that reflects on the journal’s decade-long impact, showcases cutting-edge advancements in Big Earth Data research, and defines future directions for the field. This special issue will not only honor the progress made but also encourage the community to tackle emerging challenges and seize opportunities in the next era of data-driven Earth science. Welcome to submit!

New research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has uncovered chemical signatures in zircons, the planet’s oldest minerals, that are consistent with subduction and extensive continental crust during the Hadean Eon, more than 4 billion years ago. The findings challenge models that have long considered Earth's earliest times as dominated by a rigid, unmoving “stagnant lid” and no continental crust, with potential implications for the timing of the origin of life on the planet.