In a review published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, researchers from Peking University offered practical suggestions and fresh insights into reconstructing ancient climates. They explored the challenges in understanding Earth's climatic history and described how combining paleoclimate proxies with Earth system models using advanced data assimilation methods can help. The review highlights the promise of these methods to improve research accuracy and guide future studies in paleoclimatology.

Using third-generation metagenomics, researchers overcame long-standing technical barriers to explore the full genomic diversity of unculturable marine bacteria that dominate the ocean surface waters. The study shows that SAR11 shares an almost identical genetic core, representing 81% of its genome. The remaining portion, known as the flexible genome, explains the ecological success of these bacteria in nutrient-poor marine environments like the Mediterranean.