Expedition to Hess Rise in the Northwest Pacific begins

SONNE expedition SO320/1 investigates one of the world’s largest oceanic plateaus

Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)

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Located in the middle of the North Pacific, between Japan and Canada, lies one of the world’s largest oceanic plateaus, the so-called Hess Rise. The plateau is roughly T-shaped and extends over a length of about 1,000 kilometers. Due to its distance from the nearest mainland, the research area at Hess Rise is difficult to access and has therefore been the destination of only a few expeditions to date. The last one took place in 1980. For the past two years, Hess Rise and its surroundings have once again become the focus of German and Japanese researchers.

Expedition SO320/1, led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, is now testing various models on the western and northern parts of the plateau that explain how Hess Rise might have formed. The SO320/1 expedition will be followed by the SO320/2 expedition, which will also address this question.

“The Hess Rise is so far from the mainland that we have scheduled eight days at sea just for the transit to the study area,” says expedition leader Dr. Anke Dannowski, a geophysicist at GEOMAR.

Focus on the Formation of the Hess Rise

Oceanic plateaus are found worldwide, both on land and in the oceans. They form as a result of extreme magmatic events in which lava repeatedly erupts in the form of massive lava flows that accumulate on top of one another. Individual lava flows extend over several hundred kilometers and are tens to several hundred meters thick. The Middle Cretaceous period (115–90 million years ago) in particular was marked by exceptionally intense volcanism, during which at least twelve of the world’s larger oceanic plateaus were formed. How exactly these structures came into being has not yet been fully clarified. “The investigation of Hess Rise will provide insights into the entire geotectonic evolution of the Pacific,” says Anke Dannowski.

Three models that could explain its formation are to be tested during the expedition: According to the first scenario, the plateau formed along the path of a migrating “Triple Junction,” that is, where three tectonic plates meet. The second model assumes that the Hess Rise formed directly at the former Pacific-Farallon spreading center—the zone where new oceanic crust was formed. The third scenario describes the Hess Rise as a so-called intraplate plateau that formed independently of plate boundaries, solely due to a mantle plume. Plumes are rising currents of hot material from the deep Earth’s mantle. The researchers also aim to investigate whether the same hotspot could have formed the neighboring Shatsky Rise some 30 million years earlier and later became active again at the Hess Rise in a second pulse

Multiple research instruments in use

For the investigations, up to 40 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) will be deployed on the seafloor at depths of 2,000 to 5,000 meters. These are deployed from the ship and sink to the seafloor in free fall. There, they operate autonomously and continuously record seafloor movements as well as pressure waves in the water. The measurements are supplemented by ship-based gravimetry, a magnetometer towed by the ship, and seafloor mapping using the ship’s own multibeam echo sounder. The data obtained in this way provides insights into the composition and deep structure of the Hess Rise. Based on the work of the expedition that has now begun, the subsequent SO320/2 cruise will specifically collect rock samples from the seafloor. Later, the geophysical results will be combined with the geological data, particularly regarding the age of the rocks.

Before the research vessel SONNE left the port of Yokohama, a reception hosted by the German Embassy provided Japanese and German scientists and technicians with the opportunity for an in-depth professional exchange on board. The following day, the German guests visited the Japanese marine research institute JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) in Yokosuka and its research vessel KAIMEI. In addition, students from the German School Tokyo/Yokohama came on board to get a sense of the work and life on a research vessel.

 

Expedition at a glance:

Name: SONNE Expedition SO320/1 “Hess Evolution”

Expedition Leader: Dr. Anke Dannowski (GEOMAR)

Duration: May 15, 2026–June 16, 2026

Start: Yokohama (Japan)

End: Honolulu (USA)

Expedition area: Northwest Pacific

 

Brazil’s protected areas are chronically underfunded — and the Amazon is paying the price

A new study published in the journal Environmental Conservation finds almost three-quarters of Brazil’s federal nature reserves lack adequate funding, with nearly all Amazon parks facing major financial shortfalls.

University of Miami

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Human development is driving numerous global species to the brink of extinction, threatening essential resources like water and soil, and contributing to climate change.  Conservationists have shown that putting critically threatened areas under protection is vital if nations are to slow or reverse these trends, and global frameworks such as the Convention on Biological Diversity have identified the creation and maintenance of protected areas as the cornerstone of such efforts.

Yet, a new study in Environmental Conservation focusing on protected areas in Brazil—one of the most biologically megadiverse countries on the planet—shows that shortfalls in funding are systematically undermining conservation goals.

Approach and Key Findings

Researchers, based at the Federal University of Amapá in Macapá, Brazil, Conservation International Brazil, and the University of Miami, closely examined the funding for 300 protected areas covering a total of 289,527 square miles (749,872 square kilometers). These were in three different ecological regions of the country: the Amazon, an adjacent belt of drylands and savannas, and the Atlantic coastal forest. They found that 72 percent of Brazil’s federal protected areas were underfunded, with a combined shortfall of about $958 million for 2023.

“In a country with high income inequality like Brazil, conservation investments can make a big difference in places with limited traditional economic output, but huge natural capital,” said José Maria Cardoso da Silva, professor and chair of the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of Miami, and one of the study’s authors. “If protected areas that are distant from urban centers are fully funded and resources are used locally, a conservation-based economy yoked to genuine social progress can be sparked.”

This analysis was sourced from financial data from 2014 to 2023, which indicated the cost of managing each protected area, including staff salaries and benefits, as well as operating costs. When they compared actual funding with costs, they noted that a majority of Brazil’s protected areas are funded far below the levels needed to adequately maintain them.

The analysis also revealed that:

• Despite a 30 percent increase in funding over the decade, spending did not keep pace with the expansion of land under protection.
• Amazon reserves faced the greatest funding gap, receiving only about 20 percent of what they needed to operate.
• By contrast, reserves in the highly urbanized and economically robust Atlantic Forest region received about 72 percent of what they needed. 

• Funding shrank significantly in 2020–2021 due to COVID-19 budget cuts and deliberate rollbacks of environmental policy, and only partly recovered in 2022–2023.
• Parks near cities and towns tended to receive more funding — likely because people in urban areas can more effectively lobby government for conservation investment.

Why It Matters

Brazil’s system of protected areas is among the largest on Earth. These reserves are central to global biodiversity conservation and to Brazil’s commitments under the international Convention on Biological Diversity. The study reveals a pattern in the underfunding: Parks that are larger, more remote, and farther from major population centers are consistently the least well-funded. This places the Amazon—arguably the world’s most ecologically important region—at an enormous disadvantage. A reserve without adequate staffing cannot be properly patrolled, monitored, or maintained, leaving it vulnerable to illegal deforestation, mining, and poaching. 

What the Researchers Recommend

The study puts forward several concrete recommendations for Brazilian policymakers:

1. Prioritize the Amazon. No national effort to close the conservation funding gap will succeed without dramatically increasing resources for Amazonian reserves. Existing programs like the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA) and Fundo Amazônia are valuable but insufficient on their own.

2.  Build stable, multi-year funding commitments. The study shows that short-term policy changes can cause lasting damage. Conservation funding should not be hostage to annual budget cycles or political shifts. Protected areas need reliable, long-term financial planning.

3.  Create a national protected area financing platform. Brazil should develop an open, publicly accessible database tracking investment in all protected areas — federal, state, and private. This would enable better decision-making, accountability, and reporting to international bodies.

4. Invest in remote and newly established parks. Newer and more isolated reserves lack the political networks, institutional support, and media attention that older, better-connected parks enjoy. Targeted support for these areas is essential to close the equity gap.

Helenilza Cunha, professor at the Federal University of Amapá and one of the article’s authors, concluded: “Protected areas are a linchpin not only of Brazil’s efforts to survive long-term climate change, but also of our future economic growth, meaning that they should be treated as strategic assets that deserve stable funding over time.”

 

About the Study

“Chronic underfunding of protected areas in a megadiverse country: spatial, temporal and socioeconomic patterns from Brazil” was authored by Helenilza Ferreira Albuquerque Cunha, Luís Cláudio Fernandes Barbosa, Alan Cavalcanti da Cunha, and José Maria Cardoso da Silva. It is published in Environmental Conservation (Cambridge University Press, 2026). DOI: 10.1017/S037689292610040X

The researchers used a decade of financial data from Brazil’s federal transparency portal, alongside advanced statistical methods, to identify not only direct funding drivers but also the ways in which wealth and population patterns in surrounding regions influence conservation spending across the country.

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Journal

Environmental Conservation

DOI

10.1017/S037689292610040X 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Chronic underfunding of protected areas in a megadiverse country: spatial, temporal and socioeconomic patterns from Brazil

Article Publication Date

15-May-2026

 

Teaching with food boosts preschoolers’ science knowledge and vocabulary

North Carolina State University

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Using food in the classroom can help preschoolers learn more about science and increase their vocabulary skills, according to new research from North Carolina State University and East Carolina University.

It also might get preschoolers to taste, or at least touch, the green vegetables on their dinner plates.

Food-based learning is defined as the use of food as a tool to improve children’s dietary behaviors and academic learning related to knowledge (e.g., science, mathematics and literacy) and skills (e.g., gross motor, fine and physical).

Researchers explored whether putting food at the center of learning could spark young children’s interest in science while also learning about nutritious foods grown in North Carolina. They also looked at whether this approach could help teachers explain science concepts more effectively.

“We want to encourage kids to get excited about science and be curious about the world around them. We saw food as a way to get kids excited about learning, because you can also use food as a way to teach so many different concepts, like science, mathematics and language.” said Virginia Stage, an associate professor of agricultural and human sciences at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the study.

“Our work also teaches teachers how you can build those positive experiences with food while you’re also meeting the other learning standards that have to be addressed to get preschoolers ready for kindergarten,” Stage added. “In the meantime, we are also teaching kids about nutritious foods by giving them opportunities to explore food as they learn more about where it comes from, how it looks, smells, feels, tastes, and sometimes, even how it grows, before ever having to eat the food. This method can be particularly helpful for foods that young children are often hesitant to try, like fruits and vegetables.”

After conceiving and implementing an innovative food-based-learning program – called “More PEAS Please!” – for Head Start children in three North Carolina counties, the team examined the program using both quantitative and qualitative methods. It compared more than 125 students who received the intervention with almost 150 who did not.

One of the classroom units for the intervention was learning about seeds, the building blocks of fruits and vegetables. Children looked at and played with different seeds, examined how a seed germinates, tested how seeds grow in different environments – with and without sun and water, for example – and then made a “seed salsa” recipe made with tomatoes and corn.

The results were positive, showing that children receiving the food-based learning intervention increased their understanding of scientific concepts four times more than the group without the intervention. Their vocabulary increased, too, by almost 20% at the end of the school year, while the group without the intervention increased their vocabulary by 6%.

Moreover, the qualitative portion of the study showed that teachers learned a lot about communicating science and nutrition through food.

“We feel like teacher perspectives are critical, because we could be missing something really important about what teachers need to be successful. If we don’t have that context to understand what’s happening in the classroom, we won’t really know how to make the program more effective in the future. We’re investing in the teachers so that they can practice those skills and invest in their kids,” Stage said.

Intervention teachers attend an all-day workshop early in the school year and then receive supplemental resources throughout the year. YouTube whiteboard videos provide additional training. One example: how to talk about science with a four-year-old.

Study co-author Jocelyn Dixon, assistant director and research project coordinator for the Feeding & Eating Education Lab in NC State’s Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences, said that non-pressuring exposures to healthy foods outside of mealtime are an important aspect of the “More PEAS Please!” project.

“We try to reframe what success looks like in this field of working with healthy foods in the preschool space,” she said. “Because we often trap ourselves into thinking that success means that a child ends up eating some broccoli or spinach. But if the last time you did an activity, the child only touched the spinach with a fork, and today the child is open to touching it and tearing it with their fingers – that’s a huge win.

“That’s really the crux of what ‘More PEAS Please!’ is all about. I’m at lunch, and there’s an expectation that I need to eat this spinach, but rather, how can I explore spinach like a scientist as something that we grow in our garden or as an example of a living thing?”

Qiang Wu, Tammy D. Lee and Archana V. Hegde from East Carolina University co-authored the paper, as did Savannah Baldwin and Ashleigh Schmitt from Telamon Corporation Head Start. The paper is open access and is published in the Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior.

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

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Journal

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

DOI

10.1016/j.jneb.2026.04.004 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

More PEAS Please! Improves Preschool Children’s Science Knowledge and Language Development Through Food-Based Learning

Article Publication Date

16-May-2026

 

Global North drains resources and labour from Latin America through unequal exchange in international trade

Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

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More than 900 million tonnes of materials, 4 million km2 of land, and 53 billion hours of labour. This is the scale of resources that the Global North net appropriated from Latin America through international trade in 2020 alone, according to a new study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) which analyses ecologically unequal exchange and economic dependency. 

This is the first study to jointly quantify the unequal exchanges of embodied labour and natural resources between Latin America and the Global North, as well as to situate these flows within the overall functioning of the global economy. From this perspective, the research shows that the Global North continues to appropriate enormous quantities of natural resources and labour from Latin America through international trade, reinforcing an increasingly unequal global economic structure. 

The study finds that, over the entire period analysed, Latin America experienced a substantial drain of resources to the richest economies. During the 1995-2020 period, the Global North net appropriated 935 million tonnes of materials from the region, including biomass, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels. This was accompanied by 4 million km2 of land and 53 billion hours of human labour, valued at €816 billion in terms of Northern wages. This enables high levels of consumption in the Global North. Over this period, 13.5% of all metals destined for final consumption in the Global North were appropriated from Latin America. 

This unequal exchange occurs because of major power imbalances in the global economy. Richer countries intervene to artificially compress the prices for resources and labour in the Global South, gaining access to cheap inputs for production and increasing their own profits. These dynamics enable wealth accumulation in the Global North while depriving the periphery of resources and the ability to use domestic productive capacity towards sovereign development. 

The research further highlights that Latin America experiences levels of appropriation far higher than the rest of the Global South in per capita terms. In 2020, Northern appropriation of land from Latin America was 1909% higher than from the rest of the Global South; for metals the difference reached 2164%, and for biomass it was 660% higher. While these figures have declined since 1995 in China and other peripheral regions, they have continued to increase in Latin America. 

According to the authors, these results show that Latin America’s position in the world economy is increasingly “peripheral” in character. The region remains specialised in the export of raw materials and natural resources that are subsequently consumed in the Global North in the form of manufactured goods and higher value-added services. 

The study concludes that, without a fundamental restructuring of international trade relations and a rebalancing of power between the Global North and South, Latin America’s economic dependence and the core–periphery structure of the global economy are likely to persist. 

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Journal

Ecological Economics

DOI

10.1016/j.ecolecon.2026.109055 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Article Title

Open veins: Drain from Latin America through ecologically unequal exchange.

Article Publication Date

8-May-2026

FOR PROFIT HEALTHCARE

Study finds payments to Medicare Advantage brokers potentially reached $10 billion annually

The analysis by Brown University researchers offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the Medicare Advantage insurance broker market, drawing on data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Brown University

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — New research offers one of the clearest pictures yet on just how large the Medicare Advantage insurance broker market has become.

Published as a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine, the study from health policy scholars at the Brown University School of Public Health found that payments to Medicare Advantage brokers more than doubled between 2014 and 2022, rising from about $3.9 billion to roughly $10 billion a year.

Led by health economist David Meyers, the team said the work represents the first national quantitative analysis of how often brokers are used and how much private insurers spend on their commissions.

“At the end of the day, this is money that is coming from the U.S. taxpayer,” said Meyers, an associate professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown. “While insurance companies are spending a ton of money on brokers, we don’t know if it’s actually in the beneficiary’s best interest, since brokers are beholden to the companies. This study doesn’t answer every question, but it’s a first step in better understanding the role brokers are playing, how many people are being enrolled through brokers and how much money is flowing into this market.”

In the U.S., millions of older Americans use brokers to help them choose Medicare Advantage plans, which are offered by private insurance companies as alternatives to traditional Medicare. Brokers compare options, explain benefits and enroll seniors in coverage. They are paid commissions by the insurance companies.

The analysis conducted by the research team at Brown’s Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at this market, drawing on data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The study found that broker involvement is both common and growing. In 2014, 36% of first-time Medicare Advantage enrollees used a broker, a figure that rose to 44% by 2022.

One of the most surprising findings, according to Meyers, is that renewals rather than new enrollments were the primary driver of broker spending. Brokers receive an initial commission upon enrollment and additional annual payments for as long as a beneficiary remains in the plan. By 2022, 70% of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries generated a renewal, accounting for 74% of all broker commissions.

“A lot of brokers are getting paid not for helping a beneficiary make an active choice of what plan to enroll in, but just collecting on that choice after the fact,” Meyers said. “We didn't expect that number to be so high, and it's been increasing pretty dramatically over the time period we can observe.”

The findings add to growing questions about incentives in the broker market, including the possibility that brokers could steer people toward plans offering higher commissions rather than plans that best meet their health needs, Meyers said.

The researchers cautioned that the data does not show the exact amounts each plan paid to brokers. As a result, the $10 billion estimate could be an overestimate if some plans paid less than the federal maximum commission. At the same time, the total may be an undercount because the data doesn’t include potentially large bonus payments tied to enrollment targets.

Medicare Advantage plans now cover more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently attempted to impose guardrails on broker compensation, but the rule was struck down in a federal court in 2024.

The researchers say more evidence is needed to determine whether broker-assisted enrollments lead to better outcomes or satisfaction for beneficiaries.

“We’re spending so much money on this, and it’s really not clear what we’re buying,” Meyers said. “We need to pay more attention to what’s happening here.”

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Journal

JAMA Internal Medicine

DOI

10.1001/jamainternmed.2026.0864 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Article Title

Trends in Broker Enrollment and Spending in Medicare Advantage

Article Publication Date

18-May-2026

 

Leucovorin prescriptions for children with autism surged after public attention

National study found use of the drug rose sharply following major media coverage and later White House promotion, despite limited large-scale evidence for autism treatment

University of California - San Diego

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Leucovorin prescriptions for children with autism rose more than 2,000% by late 2025.

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Credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences

Researchers from the University of California San Diego found that prescriptions for leucovorin, a drug sometimes used off-label for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), rose sharply among children after widespread media attention and public statements from White House officials. The study, published May 18, 2026 in JAMA Network Open, analyzed national electronic health record data and found prescribing rates increased more than 2,000% compared with prior years.

“Families of children with autism are often searching for therapies that might improve communication and quality of life, especially when treatment options are limited,” said Joshua Rothman, MD, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and first author of the study. “What this study shows is how quickly information shared through news coverage, social media and public figures can influence real-world prescribing patterns, even before large clinical trials establish whether a treatment is truly safe and effective for broad use.”

Leucovorin, also known as folinic acid, is a biologically active form of folic acid. Small clinical trials have suggested that some children with autism and folate-related deficiencies may experience improvements in verbal communication after taking the medication. However, researchers note that large-scale studies confirming the drug’s effectiveness and long-term safety for children with ASD have not yet been completed.

To better understand prescribing trends, the researchers analyzed records from the Epic Cosmos database, which includes more than 300 million patient records from over 1,800 hospitals and 41,500 clinics across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The study focused on 838,801 children with autism who accounted for more than 11.9 million outpatient encounters between January 2023 and January 2026.

For roughly two years, leucovorin prescribing rates remained relatively stable, averaging about 34 prescriptions per 100,000 outpatient encounters among children with autism. Rates then began climbing steadily in early 2025 before surging later that year. By August 2025, prescribing rates had risen to 335 prescriptions per 100,000 encounters. In November 2025, rates climbed again to more than 835 prescriptions per 100,000 encounters.

The researchers observed that the initial rise in prescribing coincided with a February 2025 national television news segment featuring a family who reported dramatic language improvements in their child after treatment with leucovorin. Interest in the medication expanded further after White House officials publicly promoted leucovorin in September 2025 as part of broader autism-related initiatives.

“The timing was striking,” Rothman said. “The increases began after a widely viewed media story and accelerated again after federal officials publicly discussed the medication. It highlights how rapidly clinical practice can shift when a treatment captures public attention.”

The study does not determine whether leucovorin improves symptoms of autism, nor does it evaluate patient outcomes after treatment. Researchers also cautioned that prescriptions recorded in the database could not always be linked to a confirmed medical indication.

Still, the authors say the rapid increase in use raises important questions for clinicians, policymakers and families. In March 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved leucovorin for cerebral folate transport deficiency, an ultra-rare genetic neurological disease associated with specific genetic changes, but the drug was not approved for autism spectrum disorder.

Researchers say the findings underscore the need for continued monitoring of prescribing trends and for larger randomized clinical trials evaluating whether leucovorin is beneficial for specific groups of children with autism.

“We now have a real-world example of how public attention can accelerate adoption of a therapy before the evidence fully catches up,” Rothman said. “The next step is making sure we generate the rigorous data needed to help families and clinicians make informed decisions.”

Link to full study: Rates of Leucovorin Prescriptions for Children With Autism 

Additional co-authors on the study include: Brian Kwan, MD, and Christopher Longhurst, MD, from UC San Diego; Anupam Jena, MD, PhD, from Harvard. 

Study received no outside funding.

Jena reported receiving personal fees from Analysis Group, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Freakonomics MD, Doubleday Books, and Harry Walker Agency; and serving as an unpaid board member of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

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Journal

JAMA Network Open