What the new pope means for the climate

The new pope, Leo XIV, is expected to continue his predecessor’s role as a voice for action on the climate.

While Leo settles into his role, historians point to his work as a missionary in Peru as a signal about how the health of the planet will inform his papacy.  Before he became pope, Leo spoke at meetings that discussed the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.  He has also urged for the need to move from “words to action” on climate.  Historians anticipate that Leo will continue the work of his predecessor, Pope Francis.  In his 2015 papal letter, or encyclical, Francis focussed on the injustice of the climate crisis and the need to link faith, climate science and social justice.  Francis is also credited with convincing some countries to sign the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

How the skunk cabbage gets its stink

A small tweak to a common plant enzyme gives the skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus renifolius) and several other stinky plants the ability to produce their stench.  The tweaked enzyme, called disulfide synthase, converts molecules containing sulfur into the compounds responsible for the flowers’ foul smells.  Researchers also found that scents such as faeces or rotting meat are surprisingly popular in the plant kingdom.  Species in one plant genus evolved the ability to make such smells repeatedly in less than 7 million years — a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms.

Geoengineers journey to the ocean floor

A number of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) companies are investigating whether they can lock up carbon in the deep ocean by sinking agricultural waste or the sequestered carbon sucked from power plants. But working at sea is hard, and the long-term consequences for ocean ecosystems — in particular the tiny microorganisms that thrive there — are unknown.   “I have not been impressed with any of the mCDR technologies that I’ve looked at,” says ocean-climate researcher James Kerry.  “Most of them I think won’t actually work under a full life cycle analysis, but they also carry with them a considerable amount of risk.”

Hospital superbug eats medical plastic

A strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa — a bacterium that often causes opportunistic infections in hospitals — can produce an enzyme that can break down medical-grade plastic.  Researchers found that the enzyme, dubbed Pap1, can break down a plastic called polycaprolactone that is commonly used in healthcare settings because it’s biodegradable.  The ability to break down plastic could explain why these microbes persist in hospital environments, as they can break through plastic-containing medical devices such as wound dressings and stents, says biomedical scientist and study co-author Ronan McCarthy.

Mysterious Taiwan fossil is Denisovan

A fossilized jawbone discovered more than 20 years ago belonged to an ancient group of humans called Denisovans.  Named Penghu 1, the jawbone was dredged up by fishing crews 25 kilometres off the west coast of Taiwan. The confirmation that the bone belonged to a Denisovan — the result of more than two years of work to extract ancient proteins from the fossil — expands the known geographical range of the group, from colder, high-altitude regions to warmer climates.  

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