Monday, August 07, 2023

Exploring what happens in the brain under the influence of psychedelics, while meditating and during hypnosis

by Ingrid Fadelli , Medical Xpress

Changes in a person's "normal" mental state after taking drugs, while meditating, during hypnosis or due to specific medical conditions have been a topic of study for several years now. Some of these mental changes, which are known as altered states of consciousness, have been found to have potentially beneficial effects, reducing stress and fostering greater well-being.

Researchers at University of Zurich's Psychiatric Hospital have recently been exploring the potential of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for treating depression and other mental disorders. In a recent paper published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, they compared the brains of people who had taken psychedelics to those of others who were meditating or were hypnotized.

"Our group has plenty of experience studying altered states," Nathalie Rieser, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Medical Xpress. "We have been investigating the effects of psychedelics on the brain in various studies, given that altered states of consciousness are becoming increasingly relevant in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Anecdotally, people often report similarities in experiences induced by hypnosis, meditation, or psychedelics. However, our neurobiological understanding of these states is only just evolving."

While many studies looked at individual altered states of consciousness and how they manifest in the brain, comparisons between these states remain scarce. Rieser and her colleagues wished to fill this gap in the literature, by comparing the neural correlates of psychedelics, meditation and hypnosis.

"We did not know if the same neurobiological alterations give rise to the experience of all altered states or whether these states are different on a brain-level," Rieser said.

Rather than conducting a single experiment that collectively involved psychedelics, meditation and hypnosis, the researchers analyzed datasets conducted during four distinct experimental trials. The first two trials examined the effects of two different psychedelic drugs on the brain, namely psilocybin and LSD, while the last two focused on hypnosis and meditation.

"We combined four different datasets that were collected at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Zurich using the same MRI-scanner," Rieser explained. "For the psychedelic studies, we included healthy participants who subsequently received psilocybin, LSD, or a placebo, whereas the meditation and hypnosis studies were conducted with participants who were experts in the respective field to make sure they can reach the state in an MR environment."

During the team's four experimental trials, all participants were asked to simply lay inside an MRI scanner without completing any task or engaging in any activity. The MRI scanner recorded their brain activity both while they were in a normal state of consciousness and under the altered state of consciousness relevant to that trial (i.e., after taking psychedelics, while meditating or while under hypnosis).

"We analyzed the participants' brain activity throughout the whole brain and investigated whether different brain areas work together in a distinct way compared to the baseline scan," Rieser said. "Our findings showed that even though psilocybin, LSD, meditation and hypnosis induce overlapping subjective effects, the underlying brain changes are distinct."

The findings gathered by this team of researchers suggest that while some might report having similar experiences or feelings under these different states of consciousness, what is happening in their brain is actually very different. While psilocybin and LSD appeared to produce similar brain activity, the changes they induced were markedly different from those observed during meditation or hypnosis. This suggests that psychedelics, meditation and hypnosis have distinct underlying mechanisms of action and overall different effects on the brain.

Overall, these results suggest that these three distinct states may have synergistic therapeutic effects and may not therapeutically substitute each other. In the future, they could pave the way for further investigations of their unique strengths and benefits, potentially informing the development of new promising therapeutic strategies for psychiatric disorders.

"We are now simultaneously working on investigating mechanisms of action of psychedelics in healthy controls as well as their clinical application in the treatment of patients with alcohol use disorder and major depressive disorder," Rieser added. "We are assessing their efficacy and exploring brain, behavioral, and cognitive changes in response to psychedelic-assisted therapy. The current study is informing future investigations on optimizing psychedelic-assisted therapy."

More information: Flora F. Moujaes et al, Comparing neural correlates of consciousness: from psychedelics to hypnosis and meditation, Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.07.003

SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for LSD

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PSYCHEDELIC

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PSYCHEDELIC SASKATCHEWAN

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for MAGIC MUSHROOMS

Remains found in China may belong to third human lineage

A team of paleontologists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, working with colleagues from Xi'an Jiaotong University, the University of York, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Research Center on Human Evolution, has found evidence of a previously unknown human lineage. In their study, reported in Journal of Human Evolution, the group analyzed the fossilized jawbone, partial skull and some leg bones of a hominin dated to 300,000 years ago.

The fossils were excavated at a site in Hualongdong, in what is now a part of East China. They were subsequently subjected to both a morphological and a geometric assessment, with the initial focus on the jawbone, which exhibited unique features—a triangular lower edge and a unique bend.

The research team suggests that the unique features of the jawbone resemble those of both modern humans and Late Pleistocene hominids. But they also found that it did not have a chin, which suggests that it was more closely related to older species. They found other features that resemble hominins of the Middle Pleistocene, which, when taken together, suggested the individual most resembled a Homo erectus species. And that, they conclude, suggests a hybrid of modern human and ancient hominid.

The researchers note that the combination of features has never before been observed in hominids in East Asia, suggesting that traits found in modern humans began to appear as far back as 300,000 years ago.

In turning their attention to the skull, which a prior team had found to be the first-ever Middle Pleistocene human skull found in southeastern China, the new team found that the bones in its face were more similar to those in modern humans than was the case for the jawbone.

In an effort to determine a species for the remains, the team ruled out Denisovan. That left them with the likelihood that the fossils represent a third lineage—one that is not Denisovan or Homo erectus, and is closer to Homo sapiens. And if this is the case, the species would very likely have shared some evolutionary relationships with hominins of the Middle or Late Pleistocene, resulting in shared characteristics.

More information: Xiujie Wu et al, Morphological and morphometric analyses of a late Middle Pleistocene hominin mandible from Hualongdong, China, Journal of Human Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103411

Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Journal of Human Evolution

Indian lunar landing mission enters moon's orbit

An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket carrying the Chandrayaan-3 lifts off on July 14, 2023 — An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket carrying the Chandrayaan-3 lifts

India's latest space mission entered the moon's orbit on Saturday ahead of the country's second attempted lunar landing, as its cut-price space program seeks to reach new heights.

The world's most populous nation has a comparatively low-budget aerospace program that is rapidly closing in on the milestones set by global space powers.

Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed that Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, had been "successfully inserted into the lunar orbit", more than three weeks after its launch.

If the rest of the current mission goes to plan, the mission will safely touch down near the moon's little-explored south pole between August 23 and 24.

India's last attempt to do so ended in failure four years ago, when ground control lost contact moments before landing.

Developed by ISRO, Chandrayaan-3 includes a lander module named Vikram, which means "valor" in Sanskrit, and a rover named Pragyan, the Sanskrit word for wisdom.

The mission comes with a price tag of $74.6 million—far smaller than those of other countries, and a testament to India's frugal space engineering.

Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing space technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages.

India's space programme has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008 — India's space program has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a

'A moment of glory'

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has taken much longer to reach the moon than the manned Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days.

The Indian rocket used is much less powerful than the United States' Saturn V and instead the probe orbited the earth five or six times elliptically to gain speed, before being sent on a month-long lunar trajectory.

If the landing is successful the rover will roll off Vikram and explore the nearby lunar area, gathering images to be sent back to Earth for analysis.

The rover has a mission life of one lunar day or 14 Earth days.

ISRO chief S. Somanath has said his engineers carefully studied data from the last failed mission and tried their best to fix the glitches.

India's space program has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the moon in 2008.

In 2014, it became the first Asian nation to put a satellite into orbit around Mars, and three years later, the ISRO launched 104 satellites in a single mission.

The ISRO's Gaganyaan ("Skycraft") program is slated to launch a three-day manned mission into Earth's orbit by next year.

India is also working to boost its two percent share of the global commercial space market by sending private payloads into orbit for a fraction of the cost of competitors.

India launches cut-price mission to land on Moon

Ancient lake microbes caused global warming during ice age

Global warming is not just a modern issue, but has occurred numerous times over Earth's history, with one such event happening 304 million years ago during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (which spanned from 340 to 290 million years ago). Studies have discovered evidence of increased sea surface temperature, continental ice decline and oceanic environments flooding the land at the time.

Dr Liuwen Xia at Nanjing University, China, and collaborators researched the effect of a large injection of methane from alkaline lakes (pH 9 to 12) into the atmosphere, in work published in Geology.

Large quantities of atmospheric methane causes global warming as it is a potent greenhouse gas trapping heat 28 times more effectively than carbon dioxide over 100 years. Methane-producing microorganisms are responsible for 74% of global methane emissions, therefore defining the environmental conditions that encourage them to not only survive but thrive is important for understanding climate change.

The Junggar Basin in northwest China was investigated by assessing methane levels derived from microbial activity. The researchers took core samples from the lake bed and undertook chemical analyses of the rock to determine the type of carbon present based upon its source from aquatic green algae, cyanobacteria (photosynthesising microorganisms) and halophilic archaea (an extreme microorganisms that lives in high salt environments).

When the lake contains more dissolved inorganic carbon (a form that doesn't have carbon and hydrogen bonds) the algae, cyanobacteria and archaea preferentially take up the lighter form (carbon-12) meaning the heavier carbon-13 remains in the lake water and is deposited, leading to distinct differences in the measurements taken from the rock.

The researchers found one particular type, alkalophilic methanogenic archaea, took a competitive advantage in the low sulfate anoxic environmental conditions of the lake, preserving the heaviest carbon-13 values in the rock. This species thrived by obtaining the energy required for growth by producing large quantities of methane in the lake water, which was then released into the atmosphere. Methane emissions from microbial activity alone are suggested to have been up to 2.1 gigatons.

Carbon dioxide derived from volcanic activity and hydrothermal processes transported to the lake was converted into bicarbonate and carbonate (forms of dissolved inorganic carbon), which increased the alkalinity of the lake and is noted to enhance the creation of methane as it promotes microbial activity. Dissolved inorganic carbon provides an almost limitless supply of carbon to the algae, cyanobacteria and archaea for their metabolic processes.

Therefore, linking this increased and consistent supply of methane to the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, which had a peak in atmospheric methane 304 million years ago, may suggest that the combined contribution from numerous alkaline lakes globally could have had a significant impact on global greenhouse gas levels. The researchers suggest that, taking the lakes in northwest China alone, methane emissions could have reached 109 gigatonnes, which is equivalent to the greenhouse forcing power of up to 7521 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide.

Clearly this highlights the potency of methane in affecting our climate, and specifically the importance of identifying alkaline lakes globally to monitor their current emissions and find solutions to help combat their activity. This can include reducing the pH of the lakes so that they become more acidic, adding certain types of clay or even dredging the lake bottom, but all of these solutions naturally introduce a host of their own effects on the environment. As such, there may not yet be a clear solution to reducing methane emissions from lakes and abating their global warming potential.

More information: Liuwen Xia et al, Effects on global warming by microbial methanogenesis in alkaline lakes during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA), Geology (2023). DOI: 10.1130/G51286.1

Journal information: Geology

Hartshorn salt and 'baking' may solve a serious environmental problem, scientists believe

by University of Copenhagen

Hartshorn salt and "baking" solves a serious environmental problem — Depolymerized plastic from the polyester fabric. Credit: University of Copenhagen

Polyester is the second most used textile in the world and an environmental menace, especially because most of it never gets recycled. The fabric, a blend of plastic and cotton, has been difficult for the industry to separate and therefore recycle.

Now, a group of chemists from the University of Copenhagen has invented a green and surprisingly simple solution using a single household ingredient. The study is published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

From clothes to sofas to curtains, polyester dominates our everyday lives, with a staggering 60 million metric tons of this popular fabric produced annually. However, polyester production takes a toll on the climate and the environment, as only a mere 15% of it is recycled, while the rest ends up in landfills or incinerated, being responsible of more carbon emission.

Recycling polyester poses a significant challenge, particularly in separating the plastic and cotton fibers that the blend fabric is made of without losing either of them in the process. Conventional recycling methods often prioritize preserving the plastic component, resulting in a loss of cotton fibers. Moreover, these methods are costly, complex, and generate metal waste due to the use of metal catalysts, which can be cytotoxic and contaminate the process.

In a remarkable breakthrough, a group of young chemists has unveiled a surprisingly simple solution to this pressing problem, potentially revolutionizing the sustainability of the textile industry.

"The textile industry urgently requires a better solution to handle blended fabrics like polyester/cotton. Currently, there are very few practical methods capable of recycling both cotton and plastic—it's typically an either-or scenario," says postdoc Yang Yang of the Jiwoong Lee group at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Chemistry, who serves as the lead author of the scientific research article.

"However, with our newly discovered technique, we can depolymerize polyester into its monomers while simultaneously recovering cotton on a scale of hundreds of grams, using an incredibly straightforward and environmentally friendly approach. This traceless catalytic methodology could be the game-changer."

Hartshorn salt and 24 hours in the 'oven'

The new method requires no special equipment—just heat, a non-toxic solvent, and an ordinary household ingredient.

"For example, we can take a polyester dress, cut it up into small pieces and place it in a container. Then, add a bit of mild solvent, and thereafter hartshorn salt, which many people know as a leavening agent in baked goods. We then heat it all up to 160° Celsius and leave it for 24 hours. The result is a liquid in which the plastic and cotton fibers settle into distinct layers. It's a simple and cost-effective process," explains Shriaya Sharma, a doctoral student of the Jiwoong Lee group at the Department of Chemistry and study co-author.

In the process, the hartshorn salt, also called ammonium bicarbonate, is broken down into ammonia, CO2 and water. The combination of ammonia and CO2 acts as a catalyst, triggering a selective depolymerization reaction that breaks down the polyester while preserving the cotton fibers. Although ammonia is toxic in isolation, when combined with CO2, it becomes both environmentally friendly and safe for use. Due to the mild nature of the chemicals involved, the cotton fibers remain intact and in excellent condition.

Previously, the same research group demonstrated that CO2 could serve as a catalyst for breaking down nylon, among other things, without leaving any trace. This discovery inspired them to explore the use of hartshorn salt. Nevertheless, the researchers were pleasantly surprised when their simple recipe yielded successful results.

"At first, we were excited to see it work so well on the PET bottles alone. Then, when we discovered that it worked on polyester fabric as well, we were just ecstatic. It was indescribable. That it was so simple to perform was nearly too good to be true," says Carlo Di Bernardo, doctoral student and study co-author.

While the method has only been tested at the laboratory level thus far, the researchers point to its scalability and are now in contact with companies to test the method on an industrial scale.

"We're hoping to commercialize this technology that harbors such great potential. Keeping this knowledge behind the walls of the university would be a huge waste," concludes Yang Yang.

More information: Yang Yang et al, Catalytic Fabric Recycling: Glycolysis of Blended PET with Carbon Dioxide and Ammonia, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c03114

Provided by University of Copenhagen Researchers separate cotton from polyester in blended fabric

Exploring the self-organizing origins of life

by Max Planck Society

Exploring the origins of life — *A new model describes the self-organization of catalysts involved in metabolic cycles.*

Catalytic molecules can form metabolically active clusters by creating and following concentration gradients—this is the result of a new study by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS). Their model predicts the self-organization of molecules involved in metabolic pathways, adding a possible new mechanism to the theory of the origin of life.

The results can help to better understand how molecules participating in complex biological networks can form dynamic functional structures, and provide a platform for experiments on the origins of life.

One possible scenario for the origin of life is the spontaneous organization of interacting molecules into cell-like droplets. These molecular species would form the first self-replicating metabolic cycles, which are ubiquitous in biology and common throughout all organisms. According to this paradigm, the first biomolecules would need to cluster together through slow and overall inefficient processes.

Such slow cluster formation seems incompatible with how quickly life has appeared. Scientists from the department of Living Matter Physics from MPI-DS have now proposed an alternative model that explains such cluster formation and thus the fast onset of the chemical reactions required to form life.

"For this, we considered different molecules, in a simple metabolic cycle, where each species produces a chemical used by the next one," says Vincent Ouazan-Reboul, the first author of the study. "The only elements in the model are the catalytic activity of the molecules, their ability to follow concentration gradients of the chemicals they produce and consume, as well as the information on the order of molecules in the cycle," he continues.

Consequently, the model showed the formation of catalytic clusters including various molecular species. Furthermore, the growth of clusters happens exponentially fast. Molecules hence can assemble very quickly and in large numbers into dynamic structures.

"In addition, the number of molecule species which participate in the metabolic cycle plays a key role in the structure of the formed clusters," Ramin Golestanian, director at MPI-DS, summarizes, "Our model leads to a plethora of complex scenarios for self-organization and makes specific predictions about functional advantages that arise for odd or even number of participating species. It is remarkable that non-reciprocal interactions as required for our newly proposed scenario are generically present in all metabolic cycles."

In another study, the authors found that self-attraction is not required for clustering in a small metabolic network. Instead, network effects can cause even self-repelling catalysts to aggregate. With this, the researchers demonstrate new conditions in which complex interactions can create self-organized structures.

Overall, the new insights of both studies add another mechanism to the theory of how complex life once emerged from simple molecules, and more generally uncover how catalysts involved in metabolic networks can form structures.

The paper is published in the journal Nature Communications.

More information: Vincent Ouazan-Reboul et al, Self-organization of primitive metabolic cycles due to non-reciprocal interactions, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40241-w

Journal information: Nature Communications

Provided by Max Planck Society

Enzymatic reactions: Researchers reveal a regulatory mechanism by which life controls and organizes itself

Mathematical theory predicts self-organized learning in real neurons

by RIKEN

An international collaboration between researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) in Japan, the University of Tokyo, and University College London has demonstrated that self-organization of neurons as they learn follows a mathematical theory called the free energy principle.

The principle accurately predicted how real neural networks spontaneously reorganize to distinguish incoming information, as well as how altering neural excitability can disrupt the process. The findings thus have implications for building animal-like artificial intelligences and for understanding cases of impaired learning. The study was published August 7 in Nature Communications.

When we learn to tell the difference between voices, faces, or smells, networks of neurons in our brains automatically organize themselves so that they can distinguish between the different sources of incoming information. This process involves changing the strength of connections between neurons, and is the basis of all learning in the brain.

Takuya Isomura from RIKEN CBS and his international colleagues recently predicted that this type of network self-organization follows the mathematical rules that define the free energy principle. In the new study, they put this hypothesis to the test in neurons taken from the brains of rat embryos and grown in a culture dish on top of a grid of tiny electrodes.

Once you can distinguish two sensations, like voices, you will find that some of your neurons respond to one of the voices, while other neurons respond to the other voice. This is the result of neural network reorganization, which we call learning. In their culture experiment, the researchers mimicked this process by using the grid of electrodes beneath the neural network to stimulate the neurons in a specific pattern that mixed two separate hidden sources.

After 100 training sessions, the neurons automatically became selective—some responding very strongly to source #1 and very weakly to source #2, and others responding in the reverse. Drugs that either raise or lower neuron excitability disrupted the learning process when added to the culture beforehand. This shows that the cultured neurons do just what neurons are thought to do in the working brain.

The free energy principle states that this type of self-organization will follow a pattern that always minimizes the free energy in the system. To determine whether this principle is the guiding force behind neural network learning, the team used the real neural data to reverse engineer a predictive model based on it. Then, they fed the data from the first 10 electrode training sessions into the model and used it to make predictions about the next 90 sessions.

At each step, the model accurately predicted the responses of neurons and the strength of connectivity between neurons. This means that simply knowing the initial state of the neurons is enough to determine how the network would change over time as learning occurred.

"Our results suggest that the free-energy principle is the self-organizing principle of biological neural networks," says Isomura. "It predicted how learning occurred upon receiving particular sensory inputs and how it was disrupted by alterations in network excitability induced by drugs."

"Although it will take some time, ultimately, our technique will allow modeling the circuit mechanisms of psychiatric disorders and the effects of drugs such as anxiolytics and psychedelics," says Isomura. "Generic mechanisms for acquiring the predictive models can also be used to create next-generation artificial intelligences that learn as real neural networks do."

More information: Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40141-z

Journal information: Nature Communications

Provided by RIKEN

The free-energy principle explains the brain

Physicists synthesize single-crystalline iron in the form likely found in Earth's core

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

Physicists synthesize single-crystalline iron in the form that it likely has in Earth's core — *By compressing a specific crystalline orientation of iron in a diamond-anvil cell, researchers*

A team of physicists and geologists at CEA DAM-DIF and Universit´e Paris-Saclay, working with a colleague from ESRF, BP220, F-38043 Grenoble Cedex and another from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, has succeeded in synthesizing a single-crystalline iron in a form that iron has in the Earth's core.

In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes how they used an experimental approach to synthesize pure single-crystalline ε-iron and possible uses for the material

In trying to understand Earth's internal composition, scientists have had to rely mostly on seismological data. Such studies have led scientists to believe that the core is solid and that it is surrounded by liquid. But questions have remained. For example, back in the 1980s, studies revealed that seismic waves travel faster through the Earth when traveling pole to pole versed equator to equator, and no one could explain why.

Most theories have suggested it is likely because of the way the iron in the core is structured. Most in the field agree that if the type of iron that exists in the core could be made and tested at the surface, such questions could be answered with a reasonable degree of certainty. But doing so has proven to be challenging due to fracturing during synthesis. In this new effort, the research team has found a way around such problems and in so doing have found a way to synthesize a type of iron that can be used for testing the properties of iron in Earth's core.

The work by the team involved compressing a sample of α-iron at 7GPa. Doing so caused its temperature to rise to approximately 800 Kelvin. That led to the transformation of its structure into γ-iron crystals. More pressure pushed the γ-iron to form into ε-structure iron—single crystals that are believed to be the same types as those in the iron at Earth's core.

The research team conducted experiments that showed the directionally-dependent elasticity of their ε-iron behaving as iron does in the Earth's core, with vibrations traveled faster along one axis of a sphere than along the other. They suggest their approach can be used for generating iron samples for testing theories regarding the makeup of Earth's core.

More information: Agnès Dewaele et al, Synthesis of Single Crystals of ε -Iron and Direct Measurements of Its Elastic Constants, Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.034101

Journal information: Physical Review Letters

Reproducing core conditions suggests Earth's outer core less dense than liquid iron

It survived 'Stumptown.' Now an ancient redwood may finally be protected for good

by Cari Spencer, Los Angeles Times

In Sonoma County, near a community once called Stumptown because of the sprawling graveyard of cleaved trees left in the wake of California's early logging boom, one ancient redwood has repeatedly escaped the ax.

And now, after years of uncertainty, the behemoth known as the Clar Tree may be able to live out the rest of its lengthy life without fear of being felled.

The tree persevered, even as an estimated 95% of California's original redwood forest was chopped or burned in the centuries following European colonization. Named after a man who lived in the area in the late 19th century, the Clar Tree today stands resolute at 278 feet. It's one of the tallest trees in the county even after last winter's storms sheared off 30 feet.

The giant coast redwood, thought to be about 2,000 years old, is the last old-growth redwood remaining on a 394-acre property above the Russian River in Guerneville.

On Tuesday, Save the Redwoods League announced a plan to raise $6.5 million to buy the property from RMB Revocable Family Trust—which owns the acreage and planned to log a portion of it this year. The league says the landowner has given them a Sept. 30 deadline to complete the purchase.

It's a "short timeline and a significant lift," but there's no shortage of hope, said Sam Hodder, president and chief executive of the nonprofit conservation group. Since 1918, the league has secured protection for more than 216,000 acres of redwood forest.

"With 394 acres, we're not going to save the world. But the redwoods are such an iconic species, they're such a charismatic species, and if we can work to set this young redwood forest on our trajectory … then we can set a model for how we collectively steward our forests in a time of changing climate," Hodder said.

According to the league, if the deal closes, the land will be transferred to Sonoma County for long-term preservation and restoration with the support of the county's Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.

The county could also work to make the area around the Clar Tree more accessible for visitors, as well as create a landing along the river to serve as a shady stopover for those traveling by kayak or canoe among the younger redwood groves. The proposed land deal would include one mile of Russian River frontage near Guerneville.

As the forest of coast redwoods and Douglas firs is housed in the ancestral lands of the Southern Pomo people, Haddon said, the league has met with representatives from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria to ensure their cultural interests are protected.

News of the potential sale comes as a relief to local community members who have been fighting for years to stop logging near the Russian River, Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said.

Late last fall, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection approved a contentious 224-acre logging plan submitted by Redwood Empire Sawmill to cut down about one-third of the trees on the property. Although the timber company acknowledged the Clar Tree's unique legacy, surrounding it with a 75-foot "no harvest" radius, many opponents asserted the buffer was not enough to protect the tree's expansive root system.

In the two years it took for the harvest plan to get approved, it drew hundreds of public comments in opposition. Objectors raised concerns with the destruction of wildlife habitat, as well as the potential for heightened risks of landslides and wildfires from the removal of more fire-resistant trees.

After the plan was approved, the Guerneville Forest Coalition filed a legal complaint against Cal Fire and Redwood Empire Sawmill, alleging the plan would cause irreparable harm to the Russian River ecosystem. The coalition also alleged that the public outcry had been largely disregarded, as if "thrown down a black hole," said one of its members, Colin Baptie.

Logging in the area has yet to proceed and the lawsuit is ongoing. Baptie said members of the coalition will meet with their attorney to decide what to do next.

But with the news of the possible purchase, Baptie said the coalition is "over the moon."

The property has come to represent hope for a state already racked by the impacts of a changing climate and the repercussions of human incursion into once-wild areas.

Ancient redwood forests are known to capture more carbon dioxide per acre than any other forest in the world. Just one acre can store up to 890 metric tons of carbon—the equivalent of pulling about 700 cars off the road for a year, according to research from Save the Redwoods League and Cal Poly Humboldt.

Younger forests have proved an impressive ally too. Recent research suggests that with 150 years of growth, regenerating redwood forests can store 30% as much carbon as their ancestors.

Above the Russian River, where the Clar Tree stands sentry over younger trees and stems sprouting from ancient tree stumps, the intergenerational forest provides a glimpse of what the future may one day hold.

"There's something very mystical of a forest growing out of the skeleton of the forest that once stood, that speaks to the resilience of nature and the will to live and survive and grow back," Hodder said. "It plants a seed of hope of how, together, we can protect and heal the young redwood forest and help it grow to be the old growth of the future."

Redwoods and climate change: Vulnerability, resilience, and hopeful potential in world's tallest trees