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August 18, 2025—Today we're covering a cholera outbreak, real-time 3D images of a human embryo implanting and microbes that can make any chocolate taste gourmet. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor | | Confocal microscopy image of a nine-day-old human embryo. Specific proteins and cellular structures have been coloured in the image: OCT4 (green), which is related to embryonic stem cells; GATA6 (magenta), which is associated with early tissue formation; DAPI (blue), which marks the DNA in the nuclei; and phalloidin (red), which reveals the actin cytoskeleton. The scale bar corresponds to 100 µm. Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) | | - For the first time, researchers have captured real-time 3D images of a human embryo implanting into uterine tissue—one of reproduction's most mysterious stages. | 3 min read
- A civil war in Sudan has forced millions of people to flee their homes and move to camps, where a lack of water and sanitation, along with heavy rains, are fueling a massive cholera outbreak. | 2 min read
- Observations of the bathroom habits of Streaked Shearwaters at sea reveal the surprising frequency of their contributions to nutrient movement in ecosystems. [Note: some readers might find the opening image a little disgusting.] | 3 min read
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| Chocolate Flavors in the Lab | Fermentation of harvested cocoa beans is one of the primary factors that contributes to the caramel, nutty, spicy, wine-like or otherwise delicious flavor profile of a premium chocolate. Now, researchers have figured out how to grow fermenting microbes in the lab that can reproduce the complex chocolate flavors associated with different cacao bean-growing regions. The finding could lead to the development of microbial "starters" that cacao-bean farmers could use to fine-tune fermentation and thus flavors, reports Scientific American editor Lauren J. Young.
| | How they did it: To gain insights into the flavors yielded in natural fermentation, the team studied cocoa beans grown by farmers in three distinct environments in Colombia. By tracing how specific yeasts and bacteria affected the production of and interactions among key metabolic molecules during fermentation, they got a handle on the chemistry driving a lot of the flavor compounds. Under controlled conditions, strains of key microbes were isolated and tested on unfermented beans. The resulting flavors matched those of premium cocoa—both in chemistry and in taste. | | What the experts say: "We've identified microbes that make the cocoa beans taste more like cheese or wine. Others, you can get a strong meat flavor. It's wild that you could get a range of totally different flavors by just changing the microbe combinations. Now, we don't want to eat cheesy chocolates, but I think, for other types of foods, there are possibilities," says study co-author David Gopaulchan. | | Cocoa beans undergoing fermentation on a cacao plantation in the Dominican Republic. Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images | | | | |
- It's not unusual nowadays for parents and caregivers to cue kids during melt-downs: "Use your words!" Decades of research shows that verbalizing one's feelings, especially about stressful experiences and events, can help improve mental and physical health, both in children and in adults. "'Use your words' is a tool, and like any tool it takes practice to use well," writes J. David Creswell, a Carnegie Mellon University psychologist who studies stress and resilience. So, once a tantrum subsides, Creswell and his wife try to help their children reflect later in the day and ask them to think about how they might want to respond in the future to such intense feelings. "These conversations build emotional vocabulary and give our kids a sense of choice about how to act," he writes. | 5 min read
—Andrea Tamayo, newsletter writer | | Yesterday in New York City, a weather station installed on my porch reported that 1.4 inches of rain fell within an hour. That's a lot. Area flood reports can follow such deluges. This rain event pales in comparison to recent climate change-induced flash flooding in Pakistan and Kashmir, where monsoon rains have killed at least 330 people. And July floods in Central Texas left more than 130 people dead (rain fell at 2 to 3 inches per hour, at some points). The latter event ranks as one of the deadliest U.S. flash floods (in contrast with river floods and storm surge floods) in recorded history. Flash flooding occurs in a short time frame, usually fewer than six hours, according to this essay, which also details ways that engineers are redesigning stormwater control systems to mitigate flood damage and deaths.
| | —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor
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