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Scientists Locate Source of Solar Energetic Particles for 1st Time

A NASA photo shows a solar flare erupting on the Sun resulting in the strongest solar radiaton storm hitting the Earth in more than six years. NASA/AP.
A NASA photo shows a solar flare erupting on the Sun resulting in the strongest solar radiaton storm hitting the Earth in more than six years. NASA/AP.
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Scientists Locate Source of Solar Energetic Particles for 1st Time

A NASA photo shows a solar flare erupting on the Sun resulting in the strongest solar radiaton storm hitting the Earth in more than six years. NASA/AP.
A NASA photo shows a solar flare erupting on the Sun resulting in the strongest solar radiaton storm hitting the Earth in more than six years. NASA/AP.

Scientists have identified the source in the sun which produces solar energetic particles that threaten crewed spaceflight, near-Earth satellites and airplanes.

According to The Daily Mail, a team of US researchers analyzed the composition of particles that flew towards Earth in 2014 and found the same 'fingerprint' of plasma that is located low in the sun's chromosphere - its second most outer layer.

The solar energetic particles are released from the sun at high speed during storms in its atmosphere and for the first time scientists have identified their source.

The team behind the new study said this new information can be used to better predict when a major solar storm will hit and act faster to mitigate the risks.

"We need to understand and characterize the processes that form and heat the solar atmosphere and accelerate the solar wind into the heliosphere," reads the study published in the Science Advances journal.

"From a space weather perspective, we must elucidate the mechanisms that drive solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and solar energetic particles (SEPs)," the researchers explain.

In the study, researchers used measurements from NASA's Wind satellite, located between the sun and Earth, to analyze a series of solar energetic particle streams, each lasting at least a day, in January 2014.

These results were then compared to spectroscopy data from the Hinode spacecraft, which explores the magnetic fields of the sun to uncover what powers the solar atmosphere and sparks solar eruptions.

The 2014 high-energy particles came for a highly active region of the sun that frequently gives off solar flares and CMEs, and an extremely strong magnetic field.

"These energetic particles, once released, are then accelerated by eruptions that travel at a speed of a few thousand kilometers a second," said Stephanie Yardley from the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory.

The area, dubbed 11944, was one of the largest active regions on the Sun at the time and was visible to observers on Earth as a sunspot—a dark spot on the surface of the sun.

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Storm Jangmi Dumps Torrential Rain on Tokyo

People commute in heavy rain brought by severe tropical storm Jangmi in Tokyo on June 3, 2026. (AFP)
People commute in heavy rain brought by severe tropical storm Jangmi in Tokyo on June 3, 2026. (AFP)
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Storm Jangmi Dumps Torrential Rain on Tokyo

People commute in heavy rain brought by severe tropical storm Jangmi in Tokyo on June 3, 2026. (AFP)
People commute in heavy rain brought by severe tropical storm Jangmi in Tokyo on June 3, 2026. (AFP)

A severe tropical storm brought torrential rain to Tokyo on Wednesday, swelling rivers, grounding flights and sparking calls to evacuate for hundreds of thousands of people across wide swathes of Japan.

Many trains were largely deserted in and around Tokyo, as commuters in the usually bustling megacity stayed home to escape Storm Jangmi's deluge.

Some railway services were delayed or cancelled in the country whose public transport system prides itself on on-the-dot punctuality.

The storm also forced school closures.

As Jangmi rolled in from southern Japan, authorities urged around 370,000 people from Tokyo to western Shikoku island to evacuate.

"Please continue to pay close attention to evacuation information from your local authorities, and if you feel even the slightest sense of danger, do not hesitate to take early action to protect your life," top government spokesman Minoru Kihara told a news conference Wednesday.

The storm has flooded streets, toppled trees, triggered landslides and closed some expressways, Kihara said, adding "approximately 60,000" power outages have been confirmed.

"Even in areas where the rain has subsided, the ground may have been loosened by previous rainfall and the risk of landslides remains," he cautioned.

Japan's two biggest airlines All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines cancelled a combined 616 flights -- including 92 international flights -- scheduled for Wednesday.

At Tokyo's Haneda airport, large screens showed most international flights bound for cities like Sydney, Singapore, London and Bangkok had been either cancelled or delayed, an AFP reporter saw.

Torrential rain filled rivers in western and eastern Japan including in the Tokyo area, although the Japan Meteorological Agency lifted many of the flood warnings in place earlier in the day.

Around 0645 GMT, the storm appeared to be moving away from Japan, on an eastern trajectory towards the Pacific Ocean.

On Tuesday, the storm injured 15 people in the south of the country.

Varieties

Indian Stars Push to End Elephants in Bollywood

A mahout rides an elephant along a street in Ahmedabad on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Shammi MEHRA / AFP)
A mahout rides an elephant along a street in Ahmedabad on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Shammi MEHRA / AFP)
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Indian Stars Push to End Elephants in Bollywood

A mahout rides an elephant along a street in Ahmedabad on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Shammi MEHRA / AFP)
A mahout rides an elephant along a street in Ahmedabad on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Shammi MEHRA / AFP)

Bollywood stars are campaigning to end the use of elephants in Indian films, saying that life-size robot replicas and AI-generated images do the job without cruelty.

Top directors, producers and actors have backed the campaign by animal rights group PETA India, which this month highlighted how the rise of slick AI images provide even less reason to use real animals.

"Elephants shouldn't suffer for our entertainment," said A-list actor and producer John Abraham, describing why he and more than two dozen stars were supporting the campaign.

"With today's technology, we can bring elephants to life beautifully through CGI (computer-generated imagery) and mechanical artistry, without confinement or cruelty."

There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund -- the majority in India, with others in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

There are more than 2,600 captive elephants in India, according to environment ministry estimates. They are used for tourism, entertainment, and in temples.

PETA told AFP captive elephants are "separated from their families, kept near-constantly chained and are controlled with weapons".

India's Animal Welfare Board must give permission for elephants to be used in films.

The number of real elephants being used have dropped dramatically since its 2021 order that it was "advisable" that special effects or animatronics be prioritized "to prevent unnecessary pain and suffering to animals".

Now PETA campaigners are highlighting how AI-generated images, showcased in a social media campaign this month, provide increasingly lifelike images.

"Elephants are highly intelligent, emotional animals who require living free in lush jungle homes for their mental and physical wellbeing," it said.

"In contrast, elephants used in films, shows and advertisements face extreme loneliness and severe cruelties."

Campaigners point to the use of CGI imagery by Richie Mehta in the 2024 series "Poacher", a Malayalam-language crime drama about ivory smuggling, and to a robotic elephant with flapping ears used in a dance routine for an advertisement by clothing company Ramraj Cotton.

Other high-profile hits who used CGI for elephants include 2020 historical action movie "Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior" and the 2006 superhero film "Krrish".

That compares to times past when movies, such as 1971 hit "Haathi Mere Saathi" used multiple real elephants -- alongside tigers and lions -- in dance scenes.

Last month, the Malayalam-language film "Kattalan" -- about ivory-smuggling gangsters -- featured real elephants, producers told Indian media.

PETA has long campaigned for the end of elephants in Hindu temple ceremonies, where the animals are paraded through packed crowds with flashing lights, thumping drums and ear-splitting music.

It has donated more than 25 life-size robot elephants -- made of fibreglass and rubber -- to temples across India.

The models are motorised, so that they flap their ears, move tails and even spray water from rubber trunks.

In May, PETA and Shriya Saran -- one of the stars of 2022 hit "RRR", which won the Oscar for best original song -- gifted one to a Hindu temple in Kanpur, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Many followers of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesh see the animals as sacred, and they have traditionally played an important role in ceremonies.

Saran said the mechanical version would "allow the temple to continue age-old traditions while allowing elephants, earthly representatives of Lord Ganesha, to thrive in their natural habitats".

Other Bollywood names, on a list of more than two dozen stars, include Richa Chadha, Farah Khan and Dia Mirza.

"Good cinema requires empathy," said actor Pooja Bhatt. "We can tell wonderful stories on screen without exploiting animals."

Varieties

Scientists Find Yeast in Ancient Iceman's Guts -- and Make Bread

(FILES) A statue representing an iceman named Oetzi. (Photo by Andrea Solero / AFP)
(FILES) A statue representing an iceman named Oetzi. (Photo by Andrea Solero / AFP)
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Scientists Find Yeast in Ancient Iceman's Guts -- and Make Bread

(FILES) A statue representing an iceman named Oetzi. (Photo by Andrea Solero / AFP)
(FILES) A statue representing an iceman named Oetzi. (Photo by Andrea Solero / AFP)

Yeast has been growing in the guts of a frozen mummy called Oetzi the Iceman for thousands of years, scientists have discovered, telling AFP they used it to make a tasty sourdough bread.

More than 5,300 years ago -- before the Egyptian pyramids were built -- Oezti was strolling through the Alps on the border of Austria and Italy when he was killed by an arrow in the back.

He remained frozen in the ice until two German hikers stumbled across his mummified remains in 1991 in the northern Italian region of South Tyrol.

Since then, his stunningly well-preserved remains have been kept at the same temperature -- minus six degrees Celsius -- as his icy tomb.

This has allowed scientists to carefully study Oetzi, who offers an incredibly rare window into ancient human life.

For the latest research, published in the Microbiome journal on Wednesday, an Italy-based team found evidence that both ancient and modern microbial life remain active in the frozen body.

"What we didn't expect to find was yeast," lead study author Mohamed Sarhan of the Eurac Research institute in the Italian city of Bolzano told AFP.

The scientists discovered four different yeasts that can survive sub-zero temperatures in Oetzi's guts, skin and "brownish" water that melted off his body when he was partially unfrozen.

These kinds of yeast only live in very cold conditions such as Antarctica, so are believed to have entered Oetzi's body at some point after he died.

Genetic analysis revealed "DNA damage levels very comparable to the original microbes" in the Iceman's guts, suggesting the yeast entered his body soon after death, Sarhan said.

"These yeasts have accompanied Oetzi on his long journey through the millennia," study co-author Frank Maixner said in a statement.

The scientists then reproduced the gut yeast in a fridge.

"If you tell anyone you have yeast, they immediately ask: can we use it for bread?" Sarhan said.

So they tried to make a sourdough loaf.

"Initially it didn't work," the microbiologist admitted.

But after three months of effort "we had a very, very good sourdough," Sarhan said with a laugh.

The study contained more serious possible uses for the yeast.

When the mummy was found in 1991, it was initially treated as a normal cadaver. A chemical called phenol was used to stop fungus from growing in the body.

However, the strange yeast was able to eat the phenol, meaning that in the future it could help break down the chemical in contaminated environments, the scientists said.

The yeast was not the only surprising discovery in Oetzi's body.

An analysis of his microbiome revealed a particular kind of a gut bacteria that is almost non-existent among modern humans.

Though gone from the stomachs of people in the industrialized world, the bacteria has been detected among tribes in Africa and South America, Sarhan said.

It has also been found in 3,000-year-old feces preserved in a salt mine in Hallstatt, Austria -- which serves as one of the only other available views into the ancient human microbiome.

Oetzi and these Bronze Age salt miners ate more fiber and whole grain than modern-day people, Sarhan explained.

The study said it "reveals that the Iceman is not a biologically 'frozen' time-capsule but rather a complex ecosystem.”

It is too early to say whether the yeast is harming the mummy, Sarhan said, calling for more research.

Nikolay Oskolkov, a researcher at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis not involved in the study, told AFP it was interesting that "the Iceman's microbiome is not 'frozen'.”

However Oskolkov, who previously discovered ancient fungus in the mummy's guts, cautioned that the yeast samples were only taken in 2010 and 2019.

This provides "very little evidence that the yeasts have been multiplying over millennia," he said, adding that he believed they were "relatively recent colonists of the mummy's body.”