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NASA just picked a solar scientist to become the agency's science chief. Nicola Fox, the former top scientist on the Parker Solar Probe mission, has been named as NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. In her previous role, Fox lead groundbreaking research on the sun, including a better understanding of solar wind and how it affects planets and satellites. Now, she'll be leading the charge overseeing some of the agency's most exciting and high-profile missions.
But that's not all - Fox will also be heading up a NASA study group on UFOs (that’s Unidentified Flying Objects). NASA chief Bill Nelson praised Fox's appointment, saying that she has been instrumental in making the complex world of heliophysics accessible to the public. With an annual budget of roughly $7 billion, the Science Mission Directorate plays a vital role in NASA's efforts to explore the mysteries of the universe, from probing for past life on Mars to studying distant galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope.

Nicola Fox Just Became the First Female Head of Science at NASA

Science Alert

The days of insulin injections may soon be numbered.

Researchers in China have developed a topical insulin treatment that successfully lowers blood sugar through the skin — a breakthrough that could transform how millions of people with diabetes manage their condition.

Using a new kind of smart polymer, scientists at Zhejiang University have found a way to carry insulin molecules past the skin’s natural defenses and into the bloodstream. The method, tested on lab-grown human skin, diabetic mice, and minipigs, showed promising results: blood glucose levels dropped to normal and stayed there for up to 12 hours, all without a single needle.

That’s no small feat. While transdermal drug delivery has long been used for small-molecule medications — like nicotine or pain-relief patches — insulin has remained out of reach. The hormone is both large and water-loving, making it chemically incompatible with the skin’s outer layer, which is oily and tough by design.

“Relieving patients with diabetes from subcutaneous injections” is now within reach, the research team wrote in Nature. And not just for insulin — the technique may one day work for other protein- or peptide-based drugs that are currently only delivered via injection.

Here’s how they did it.

Cracking the skin barrier

The skin’s outer layer, called the stratum corneum, acts like a biological brick wall. It’s made up of dead skin cells held together by fats and oils, making it nearly impenetrable to large, hydrophilic molecules like insulin.

But scientists noticed that the skin also has a pH gradient — it’s slightly acidic at the surface and becomes more neutral deeper inside. That gave them an idea: what if a carrier molecule could stick to the skin at the surface, then change its properties as it moved through different pH zones?

Enter OP, short for poly[2-(N-oxide-N,N-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] — a polymer known to be safe and compatible with the body. At the skin’s surface, OP is positively charged and sticks to skin lipids. But as it moves deeper and encounters a neutral pH, it loses that charge, slips free of the lipids, and continues inward.

By binding insulin to OP, the team created a compound called OP-I, essentially allowing insulin to hitch a ride through the skin.

Proof it works

The team first tested OP-I on human skin models, where it significantly outperformed insulin alone and insulin mixed with a different polymer commonly used in medicine (PEG).

Then came live tests. In diabetic mice, OP-I brought blood glucose down to normal levels within an hour, with effects lasting 12 hours — comparable to standard insulin injections. In diabetic minipigs, whose biology is more similar to humans, results were nearly identical: blood sugar dropped to normal within two hours and stayed stable for half a day.

Once inside the body, OP-I traveled to key tissues like the liver, fat, and skeletal muscle. There, it triggered insulin receptors and promoted glucose metabolism, just like injected insulin does.

Even better: it did so gradually, with a smoother, more prolonged effect. That could mean better blood sugar control and fewer spikes or crashes.

No inflammation, no needles

Researchers also found no signs of inflammation in the treated animals, suggesting the method is safe — at least in early testing. More extensive human trials would be needed to confirm that.

Still, the implications are big. If successful in people, this approach could mean an end to frequent injections, a major quality-of-life improvement for many of the 500+ million people living with diabetes worldwide.

The researchers also believe the method has potential far beyond insulin. “The OP conjugation is versatile for transdermal delivery of biomacromolecules such as peptides, proteins and nucleic acids,” they wrote, “warranting further investigation in future studies.”

That could pave the way for needle-free delivery of other treatments currently locked behind syringes.

For now, the discovery offers a glimpse at a future where managing diabetes may be as simple as applying a patch or cream — and putting the needle away for good.

Insulin Through The Skin? Scientists Move Closer to Needle-Free Diabetes Treatment

Science Daily

Chameleons have always been a bit of a visual mystery. Their eyes seem to move wherever they please — each one scanning separately, then locking in sync when prey comes into view. For centuries, scientists puzzled over how that was even possible.

Now, thanks to high-resolution CT imaging and a bit of scientific luck, researchers have finally found the answer: coiled optic nerves hidden deep behind each of the lizard's bulging eyes. It’s a discovery that’s never been documented in any other lizard species — and it may explain how chameleons pull off their signature gaze.

“Chameleon eyes are like security cameras, moving in all directions,” said Juan Daza, associate professor at Sam Houston State University and co-author of the new study. “They move their eyes independently while scanning their environment… and the moment they find their prey, their eyes coordinate.”

It all started in 2017, when Florida Museum of Natural History’s digital imaging lab director Edward Stanley noticed something odd in a CT scan of a tiny species known as the minute leaf chameleon. The nerves that connect the eyes to the brain weren’t straight. They were spiraled — tightly coiled in a shape no one had seen before.

Initially, Stanley and Daza assumed someone had to have reported this already. Chameleons have been studied for centuries, after all. But after a deep dive into centuries of anatomical texts — including some written in Latin, French, and Italian — they came up empty. The coiled structure had never been fully described.

Earlier scientists had tried. Aristotle thought chameleons didn’t have optic nerves at all. In the 1600s, Roman physician Domenico Panaroli correctly noted that they do have them, but wrongly claimed the nerves don’t cross like in most animals. Even Isaac Newton, in his 1704 work Optiks, weighed in, supporting Panaroli’s theory. But it was French anatomist Claude Perrault who came closest, illustrating the nerves crossing and continuing straight — though still missing the full coils.

The problem, it turns out, was the method. For most of history, anatomical studies relied on physical dissection, which tends to stretch or destroy delicate structures like optic nerves. “If you physically dissect the animal, you lose information that can tell the full story,” Stanley said.

That’s where modern CT scanning came in. Using digital imaging, Daza and Stanley could examine the preserved skulls of chameleons without touching them. Then, with help from the openVertebrate (oVert) project, they analyzed 3D brain models from over 30 lizards and snakes — and found the coiled nerves only in chameleons.

All three chameleon species studied had the same trait: long, spiraled optic nerves that allow their eyes to pivot dramatically without tugging or strain. No other reptile examined had anything like it.

To understand how the coils form, the researchers looked at embryos of veiled chameleons at various stages. The nerves start out straight, then gradually form loops before hatching. Even newborn chameleons have fully mobile, independent eyes.

But why evolve something so complex?

Most vertebrates with wide vision fields either turn their heads or use stretchy optic nerves. Humans rely on flexible nerve fibers. Owls rotate their entire heads. Chameleons can’t do either — they have stiff necks and don’t turn their heads much. So, the team believes the spiraled nerves evolved as a workaround: a built-in buffer that gives the eyes more freedom to roam.

“You can compare optic nerves with old phones,” Daza explained. “The first phones just had a straight cord, but then someone had the idea to coil the cord and give it more slack. That’s what these animals are doing.”

A few invertebrates, like stalk-eyed flies, show similar adaptations. But in vertebrates, this kind of solution is nearly unheard of.

The discovery opens new questions: Do other tree-dwelling reptiles have similar structures? Did this trait evolve once, or multiple times? Daza and Stanley plan to investigate.

“Even with all the giants who came before — Newton, Aristotle — there’s still so much left to find,” Stanley said. “It’s exciting to be the ones taking the next step.”

The full study was published in Scientific Reports.

Researchers Discover the Unique Coiled Optic Nerves Behind Chameleons' Extraordinary Eye Movements

A 110-million-year-old barf pile just gave paleontologists a prehistoric surprise: a brand new species of pterosaur.

The species, named Bakiribu waridza, was discovered in what scientists believe to be fossilized dinosaur vomit—officially called a regurgitalite—unearthed in Brazil. The remains included two pterosaurs and four fish, leading researchers to conclude that a predator, likely a spinosaurid dinosaur, had a rough meal and lost its lunch.

The name Bakiribu waridza means “comb mouth” in the Indigenous Kariri language, a nod to the pterosaur’s striking jaws, lined with bristle-like teeth used to filter-feed tiny creatures, much like modern-day baleen whales. It’s the first filter-feeding pterosaur ever discovered in Brazil.

Some of the bones were fractured, likely from the predator's teeth, but the spiny jaws of the pterosaur may have proved too uncomfortable to digest. The researchers believe the dinosaur likely ate the pterosaurs first, followed by the fish, before ejecting the mix due to “mechanical discomfort.”

Beyond the comedy of the discovery method, Bakiribu offers important clues into the evolution of filter-feeding among flying reptiles, and provides a rare snapshot of ancient food chain interactions: predator, prey, and the aftermath.

The study was published in Scientific Reports.

Scientists Uncover Bizarre New Flying Reptile Species in Fossilized Dinosaur Barf

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A sleek, black snake discovered in the remote Nicobar Islands has been named in honor of late wildlife icon Steve Irwin — a tribute from researchers whose own love for reptiles was shaped by his legacy.

The newly identified species, Lycodon irwini, is a nonvenomous wolf snake native to the Nicobar Archipelago, a biodiverse chain of islands in the Bay of Bengal. Researchers R.S. Naveen, S.R. Chandramouli, and Zeeshan A. Mirza announced the discovery in a study published in Evolutionary Systematics.

Measuring up to 3.3 feet in length, the glossy, dark-colored snake was found slithering through the moist evergreen forests of Great Nicobar Island, a UNESCO biosphere reserve known for its fragile and unique ecosystems. The snake is believed to feed on reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals — and to live only in this isolated region.

Given its limited range and the threats of habitat loss, the researchers recommend that the species be listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Naming it after Irwin, they said, felt like the perfect tribute.

“His passion and dedication to wildlife education and conservation have inspired naturalists and conservationists worldwide, including the authors of the paper,” they wrote.

Steve Irwin, known globally as The Crocodile Hunter, was one of the most beloved wildlife educators of his time. Through his TV show and tireless conservation work, he changed the way millions of people viewed reptiles and other misunderstood creatures. Since his passing in 2006, his family — wife Terri, daughter Bindi, and son Robert — have continued his mission through Australia Zoo and the Wildlife Warriors foundation.

Lycodon irwini is not the first species to bear his name. A turtle (Elseya irwini), a parasitic koala bloodworm (Haemoproteus irwini), and even a snail have all been named in his honor.

This latest namesake is not just a nod to Irwin’s reptile expertise, but a reminder that there is still so much left to discover — and protect — in the natural world.

“New species continue to be discovered,” the researchers noted, “highlighting the ongoing progress in taxonomy and the incomplete understanding of herpetofaunal diversity and distribution in the region.”

And for those who grew up watching Irwin cradle crocodiles and beam with excitement over every animal encounter, it’s a fitting legacy: the Crocodile Hunter’s name now lives on in the forests of the Nicobar Islands, wrapped around the branches of conservation.

Scientists Name Newly Discovered Black Snake Species After Steve Irwin

CTV News

Jerry Stephenson didn’t pick up a paintbrush until he was 85. Now, as he turns 100, he’s surrounded by his own artwork — and no shortage of wisdom.

Living in an assisted living community in Overland Park, Kansas, Stephenson is the embodiment of the phrase he lives by: It’s never too late to try something new.

“My bucket list is getting lower and lower, and I’ve had a pretty exciting life, really,” he said.

That exciting life took a creative turn after he and his wife moved into a retirement facility. She envisioned a slower pace. He had other plans.

“Art in the purest form is hard to resist,” Stephenson said.

A fellow resident encouraged him to give painting a shot. He did — and never looked back.

“I’d wear out just painting,” he said. “But because you get so involved and concentrated…”

Fifteen years later, he’s not just a hobbyist. He’s an artist with a collection of vibrant, personal pieces — including one that means more than the rest.

“My favorite, though, right here,” he said, pointing to a portrait. “That’s my wife.”

He doesn’t regret starting late. In fact, he says the timing was perfect.

“I don’t,” he said when asked if he wished he’d discovered painting earlier. “That’s my life’s history now.”

Stephenson credits his outlook with helping him reach 100 — he thinks young, stays curious, and believes in the power of saying yes.

“I had no idea I had such talent and ability,” he said. “It goes to show we have unknown capability.”

As for the secret to a long, fulfilling life?

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret,” he said with a smile.

But Jerry Stephenson doesn’t need to say it. He’s painting it — one brushstroke at a time.

100-Year-Old Discovers Artistic Talent, Proves It's Never Too Late to Start Something New

In the winter of 2023, Chris Hyde was feeling what he calls “borderline depressed.” Retired and spending long days alone in his Olympia, Washington home, the cold and gray Pacific Northwest skies only made things worse.

Then, one day, he had what he describes as an epiphany — not a fleeting idea, but a full-body sensation that stopped him in his tracks.

“Giving soup away for free to your community is going to really do something,” he recalled thinking.

So he started cooking.

From a Pot of Soup to a Movement

That moment of inspiration turned into Souper Sunday, a grassroots food-sharing initiative that has grown into a network of community-run meal groups across three states. The concept is simple: make soup, give it away.

Hyde began by preparing 25 to 35 portions of soup every day, five days a week. He’d then post in a Facebook group, letting his neighbors know what was available. People responded to claim a portion and arranged pick-up directly with him. No sign-up forms. No income verification. No judgment.

Today, that original Facebook group has nearly 6,000 members. And Souper Sunday has expanded to include 11 similar groups across Washington, California, and Montana — all volunteer-powered, all focused on the same principle: free meals, for anyone, no questions asked.

“The Sacred Circle of Giving and Receiving”

“We believe in ‘the sacred circle of giving and receiving,’ in which accepting a meal is as important as making a meal,” Hyde explains in the group’s mission. “Neighbor helping neighbor.”

It’s this inclusive approach that sets Souper Sunday apart. Meals aren’t just for those in dire straits. They’re for the overworked parent, the college student, the artist, the underpaid employee — anyone who could use the gift of a hot, nourishing meal.

“There are countless situations where community members can benefit from a free meal,” Hyde writes. “Not everyone who struggles qualifies for assistance.”

That last point stuck with him — and inspired him to launch a second nonprofit: The Food Source Foundation.

Filling the Gaps Where Government Can’t

According to local data, 44% of food-insecure households in Thurston County, where Hyde lives, make too much to qualify for federal SNAP benefits but still can’t afford their grocery bills. The Food Source Foundation was created to help fill that gap.

“As the group developed, I began to see a need above and beyond soup,” Hyde wrote. “I was surprised at how many of the people coming to me for food support were fully employed. They’ve been priced out of their basic needs by high rent, a car payment, insurance, and basic bills.”

The nonprofit now distributes free groceries throughout Olympia and surrounding areas — no application, no paperwork, just food for people who need it.

“At The Food Source Foundation, we believe that access to nourishing food is a basic human right — not a privilege,” Hyde says.

There’s only one rule: “As long as you’re, you know, a fairly nice person,” you’re welcome.

Soup as a Form of Connection

More than just a meal, Souper Sunday has become a way to connect people who might otherwise remain strangers. The act of sharing food, Hyde says, “transcends the powers that work to divide us.”

What started as a coping mechanism for one man’s difficult winter has become a lifeline for thousands. And in a world that often divides and disconnects, soup — and the generosity behind it — has turned out to be a surprisingly powerful force.

Those who want to support the movement can donate to Souper Sunday or The Food Source Foundation, or even start a group of their own.

As Hyde puts it, “The soup may be free, but the connection is priceless.”

Retired and Feeling Low, He Started Giving Away Soup — and Ended Up Feeding Thousands

People

In the middle of devastation, a Missouri couple has found a glimmer of hope — their wedding rings and photo albums, miraculously intact among the ashes.

Danielle and her husband, residents of Herculaneum, were forced to flee their home in the early hours of November 12 when a fire broke out in their garage. Danielle said she woke up to the smell of smoke and, upon opening the garage door, quickly grabbed her two young children and evacuated before calling 911.

The fire spread fast. Flames engulfed not only their house but also their neighbor’s. Firefighters arrived quickly and were able to contain the blaze within an hour. All residents were safely evacuated without injury, but the fire claimed the lives of three of the family’s cats. Two others remain missing.

“It’s really been miraculous what things have survived,” Danielle told First Alert 4, standing in the charred remains of their home. “Because when you look at this, it looks like nothing. It looks like there would be absolutely nothing.”

Among the soot and ash, the couple recovered their wedding rings and photo albums — small treasures that have taken on enormous emotional weight after the loss of their home.

“We were lucky,” Danielle said.

The fire’s cause is still under investigation, according to Herculaneum Fire Chief Kevin Baker, who praised the swift response from firefighters and local police, including their quick action in helping nearby residents.

But in the days following the fire, the family faced another cruel blow. Danielle said looters had attempted to steal items left in the rubble.

“If it wasn’t bad enough, we’ve got people trying to take what little we have left,” she said. “It’s just putting salt in wounds.”

Despite the heartbreak, the couple is holding onto the keepsakes that made it through the fire — and the fact that their children made it out safely.

“We lost so much,” Danielle said. “But we’re here. And we’ve still got each other.”

Couple Finds Precious Wedding Keepsakes in Rubble After Devastating Fire Tore Through Their Home: 'Miraculous'

Artnet

**Ronnie Wood Marks 50 Years With the Rolling Stones by Painting the Band That Made Him a Legend**

Five decades ago, Ronnie Wood officially joined the Rolling Stones. This year, he’s marking that milestone not with a guitar riff, but with a brushstroke.

To celebrate his 50th anniversary with the band, Wood has released a new set of artworks titled *Paint It Black*, now on view at Redhouse Gallery in Harrogate, U.K. Each piece captures his iconic bandmates in bold, expressive portraits — Mick Jagger in full swagger, Keith Richards caught mid-balance with his guitar, and Wood himself leaning toward an unseen audience. Charlie Watts is there too, frozen in motion with a drumstick in hand.

The images are high-energy, rendered in a loose, almost improvisational style against black backdrops. It’s a fitting visual metaphor for the music that’s defined Wood’s life for half a century.

Signed and personalized prints of the series are available in limited editions of 100, each priced at £1,250 (about $1,630). In a statement, Wood described how his art echoes his music: “I apply musical theory to my art. I build limited editions in much the same way as studio overdubs; the more defined ones are things that stand out in the mix.”

The release coincides with the reissue of *Black and Blue* (1976), the first Stones album on which Wood played as an official member. At the time, he was in competition for the job after Mick Taylor’s departure in 1974. What clinched it, Wood says, was “the ancient art of weaving,” referring to the famously seamless interplay between his and Keith Richards’s guitars. That, and, as he put it, his “musical versatility and bonhomie.”

Wood’s creative career, though, didn’t begin with music. He’s been painting since childhood — longer than he’s played guitar — and attended Ealing Art College before fully diving into the rock world. Raised in a West London home where music and design coexisted, he was immersed in the arts from an early age. His website hosts works dating back to the 1970s, covering everything from trees and racehorses to nudes, guitars, flowers, and celebrity portraits, including Robert De Niro.

Wood’s range doesn’t stop at the canvas. He’s also worked in bronze, sculpting torsos, horses, and even a rhinoceros. In 2020, a major show of his paintings and sculptures in Hertfordshire raised funds for the U.K.’s National Health Service.

Not all critics have been kind. When Wood reimagined Picasso’s *Guernica* with the Stones at its center, *The Guardian*’s Jonathan Jones called it a mix of fascination and horror. “The Rolling Stones are the sexiest and most demonic rock band in history,” Jones wrote. “And Ronnie Wood seems as entranced and appalled by their devilish antics as any bystander.”

Still, Wood has never shied away from putting his band on canvas. For the man who helped write the wistful lyrics to *Ooh La La* at 26 — “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger” — 50 years of perspective seems to have only deepened his need to document.

Now 76, Wood continues to balance his dual roles as rock star and visual artist, still finding new ways to express the legacy he helped shape — this time, with paint instead of sound.

Ronnie Wood Marks 50 Years With the Rolling Stones by Painting the Band That Made Him a Legend

NBC News

Jack Carlin looks like any other 4-year-old boy — full of energy and obsessed with monster trucks. But just over a year ago, his life nearly ended in the back seat of his mother’s car.

In July 2024, what began as a routine trip to the hospital turned into a nightmare when Jack suddenly stopped breathing on the way to Huntington Hospital in Suffolk County. By the time he arrived, his lips were turning blue. He had no pulse.

“I brought in a dead child,” said his mother, Maria Carlin. “And they brought him back to life.”

Maria, a nurse, had recognized the signs of what she thought was croup, something she'd seen before. But during the 10-minute drive from their home in Lloyd Harbor, Jack’s condition rapidly worsened. At the halfway point, he went limp.

“None of my choices at the time were ideal,” she said, her voice breaking. “They were terrible, but I had to decide.”

On a dark road, with no good options, she chose to keep driving.

“It was horrible making this decision,” she said, recalling the terrifying ride.

When she pulled up to the hospital, ER doctor Jennifer Gibb and her team were waiting. Within minutes, they had revived Jack.

“This is exactly why I do what I do,” said Gibb. But even for experienced staff, the moment hit hard.

“The mom started cheering him on, saying, ‘C’mon Jack,’ and then it hit me — that human emotion,” Gibb said. “I got choked up because my own son’s name is Jack.”

Jack was quickly transferred to Cohen Children’s Hospital, where doctors discovered the cause of his cardiac arrest: a rare and serious separation between his trachea and esophagus. He underwent surgery, made a full recovery, and went back to being a kid — racing trucks and asking big questions.

One of those questions is something his mother says she’ll never forget.

“He turned to me and he said, ‘Mommy, why didn’t you want me to go to heaven?’”

Now healthy, Jack returned to Huntington Hospital on Wednesday to say thank you to the team that saved him.

“Thank you so much,” he said shyly, prompting smiles and applause from the room.

His father remembers the first thing Jack said after waking up in the hospital.

“He just looked up at me and was just like, ‘Dad, can I have a hug?’” he said. “It was like he never missed a beat.”

For the Carlins, the reunion was a celebration — but also a powerful reminder of just how close they came to losing their son.

And for the medical team, it was a rare chance to witness the impact of what they do.

Jack is now back to being a regular kid with a second chance — and a monster truck collection to prove it.

‘I Brought in a Dead Child’: Long Island Mom Reunites With Medical Team That Saved Her Son’s Life

For all we know about galaxies billions of light-years away, one of nature’s most dramatic displays — lightning — remains a mystery much closer to home. Now, a curious accident in an Austrian lab might have nudged science a step closer to solving it.

When physicist Andrea Stöllner at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria set out to study how light-based tweezers charge tiny particles, she didn’t expect her work to touch on the origins of lightning. But when things didn’t go quite as planned, she stumbled into something bigger: an ultra-precise method to study how particles charge and discharge — possibly mimicking what happens in the early stages of a lightning strike.

One of Science’s Big Unsolved Puzzles

Despite decades of research and millions of lightning bolts striking Earth every day, scientists still don’t fully understand how lightning begins. The basic setup is clear: inside thunderclouds, ice crystals and soft hail (called graupel) collide, separating positive and negative charges and creating electric fields. But the catch is that the fields measured inside clouds are much weaker than what should be needed to make lightning happen.

“This suggests that there is either something wrong with our measurements,” wrote lightning experts Joseph Dwyer and Martin Uman in 2014, “or there is something wrong with our understanding of how electrical discharges occur in the thunderstorm environment.”

That gap in understanding has fueled theories involving high-energy cosmic rays, hidden charge pockets, or the idea that ice crystals might act as the first trigger for the massive electrical cascade that follows.

Tiny Particle, Big Potential

Enter Stöllner, a PhD student working with physicist Scott Waitukaitis and climate scientist Caroline Muller. In a new study, her team used laser tweezers to trap a microscopic silica particle — smaller than a speck of dust — and study how it builds up electric charge.

As they increased the laser’s intensity, the particle began to shake inside the electric field. That movement gave them a precise way to measure its charge. It turns out that the particle likely absorbs two photons from the laser, kicking off electrons and becoming positively charged.

But then came the surprise: after days of stable measurements, the particle would suddenly discharge — a rapid, spontaneous drop in charge. It wasn’t supposed to happen, and it was eerily similar, on a vastly smaller scale, to what might trigger lightning.

“We don’t know how it happens,” Stöllner said. “But basically, the charge just drops very quickly.”

That mystery discharge became the team’s new focus.

Why This Matters for Lightning Science

Lightning is complex. Most lab experiments to simulate it use strong electric fields and metal electrodes — a setup far removed from the messy reality of a cloud. What makes Stöllner’s method different is its precision and realism. The particle hovers in air, not attached to wires. The electric fields are weaker, more like the ones measured inside actual clouds. And the system is small enough to pick up subtle effects missed in larger experiments.

“This is exactly the level of precision needed,” said Dan Daniel, a physicist at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, who was not involved in the study. “It’s a step toward a truly microscopic understanding of lightning.”

He added that the technique could help scientists study how water droplets or ice crystals — key players in thunderclouds — get charged.

More Than Just Lightning

While the link to lightning is still speculative, the implications stretch far beyond weather. The way particles get charged or discharged is also a factor in atmospheric science, planetary research, and even space exploration. Lunar dust, for example, gets charged under ultraviolet light and solar winds, causing it to levitate and interfere with equipment — a real problem for future Moon missions.

Stöllner’s system could help probe that phenomenon too.

For now, she’s continuing to study what causes the spontaneous discharges. Could it be the size of the particle? The humidity or pressure in the chamber? She’s testing them all.

“In one way, it’s a limitation,” she admits. “Ten electrons doesn’t make lightning. But it’s a very high-resolution way to probe this charging and discharging of a single particle.”

And sometimes, in science, that’s all it takes — one particle, one idea, one spark — to light the way.

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