It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, July 02, 2026
Science Special Collection: American science at 250
Summary author: Walter Beckwith
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, a special collection in Science highlights the roots and evolution of the nation’s science and research enterprise.
Across three Policy Forums, authors illustrate how the United States’ scientific and technological progress has been driven not only by major discoveries and innovations, but also by the policies and institutions that supported them. These articles highlight the historical changes in government, universities, and industry that have shaped the U.S. research and science enterprise and emphasize that continued collaboration among these sectors is essential to advancing scientific research and technological development.
For much of U.S. history, the federal government played only a limited role in funding scientific research. However, in a Policy Forum by Daniel Gross and Bhaven Sampat, the authors discuss how that changed dramatically during World War II, when the government forged unprecedented partnerships with universities and industry to accelerate innovation for the war effort. This success ultimately laid the foundation for the modern American research enterprise as well as the establishment of the diverse network of federal science-focused agencies, such as the NIH, NSF, and NASA. The system that arose post-WWII has become globally influential and continues to fuel technological progress, economic growth, and public health.
In another Policy Forum, Johns Hopkins University President Ronald Daniels highlights the role of U.S. universities in U.S. research. According to Daniels, much of the modern American research enterprise can trace its roots to the late 19th century transformation of U.S. universities. The rise in advanced research through graduate-level education, which was sustained by federal investment, quickly made the U.S. a global leader in science. The author argues that the core principles of open competition, scientific merit, and academic freedom remain essential and should be strengthened rather than abandoned.
The final Policy Forum underscores how American industry has helped build American science and innovation. According to Ashish Arora and Sharon Belenzon, the organization of American innovation has evolved from the lone inventor to a collaborative ecosystem linking universities, start-ups, and established companies. Early industrial research laboratories, pioneered by innovators like Thomas Edison and later expanded by major corporations, integrated scientific discovery with product development and helped fuel many of the twentieth century’s greatest technological advances. Over time, however, universities became the primary engines of basic research, while venture-backed start-ups increasingly translated discoveries into commercial applications and larger firms focused on scaling them.
The package also includes a selection of six short essays from various authors that highlight the nation’s scientific legacy – both its extraordinary achievements, such as the space program, and its profound harms, like the eugenics movement. Together, the essays offer perspective on how science has shaped – and been shaped by – democracy, equity, public investment, and the U.S.’s evolving values.
In an Editorial, Science Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp reflects on whether the promise of knowledge and education envisioned by the founders is still alive in America today. “Rather than continuing to discuss the problem of public trust in higher education and science, the Semiquincentennial is an opportunity for both institutions to acknowledge that Americans can be disappointed in the impact of higher education and science on society but still believe that both can be better,” Thorp writes. “The scientific community can recognize this by committing to what it says it can do and living up to those aspirations in a way that is rigorously documented and provides benefits to all.”
Study reveals how giant trees in tropical forests transport water to their uppermost branches
The study published in Science helps us understand the role of this little-studied type of vegetation in climate change. One percent of the tallest trees store more than half of the carbon in tropical forest ecosystems.
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
The authors of the article standing in front of a dipterocarp. From left to right: Arne Scheire, Palasiah Jotan, Martin Svátek, David Burslem, and Paulo Bittencourt
Credit: Lindsay Banin/UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Edinburgh
The giant trees of tropical forests are important allies in the fight against climate change due to their ability to store carbon, yet they are still poorly understood by science. However, a study published July 2, 2026, in the journal Science reveals a crucial survival mechanism: these trees, which exceed 70 meters in height, have no difficulty transporting water to their tops and are no more vulnerable than smaller trees.
They have developed internal adaptations that compensate for the challenges of transporting water to the highest branches. Furthermore, tests conducted during severe droughts showed that they did not experience a more pronounced decline in growth compared to smaller trees. This contradicts the hypothesis that very tall trees would be more susceptible to water stress.
To date, the scientific literature suggests that as trees grow taller, their ability to move water upward is impaired by the greater distance between roots and leaves, as well as by the effects of gravity. This would reduce photosynthesis, limit growth, and increase vulnerability to drought.
The research found that adjustments to the xylem conduits (microscopic “tubes” that the plant uses to transport water and nutrients to the leaves) – which increase in diameter as the tree grows taller – compensate for the increased resistance to water flow along the way. In practice, it’s as if a larger hose were needed to carry water farther. These complex adaptations reduce the likelihood of water transport failure when the plant is in drought conditions.
In the case of leaves, gravity forces them to function with lower hydration, or a more negative water potential. This causes them to wilt and close their stomata, or microscopic “pores,” earlier, thereby reducing their photosynthesis. However, the study shows that these trees increase their tolerance to these conditions without compromising their function.
These findings advance our understanding of the biology of giant trees. They help explain how these trees overcome physical and physiological limitations to transport water and continue growing. The findings also enhance our understanding of the role of forests in climate change. Additionally, they provide evidence to guide conservation efforts aimed at maintaining the balance of the carbon cycle, rainfall, and biodiversity.
“There’s little data on how a plant’s hydraulic functions change as it grows. It’s generally accepted that larger trees have difficulty transporting water and are therefore more likely to die during droughts. We were very surprised by the results of our study, which showed that they have an internal adjustment mechanism,” Paulo Bittencourt, the corresponding author of the article and a professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Cardiff University (United Kingdom), as well as a collaborating researcher at the Institute of Biology at the State University of Campinas (IB-UNICAMP) in Brazil, tells Agência FAPESP.
According to the ecologist, 1% of the largest trees on the planet store more than half of the carbon in tropical forest ecosystems. They also contribute to the rainfall cycle through evapotranspiration.
The study was supported through a Young Investigator grant from FAPESP, awarded to biologist Peter Groenendijk, who is a co-author of the article alongside Rafael Oliveira. Both are from the Center for Integrative Ecology at IB-UNICAMP.
‘Climbing the forest’
To conduct the study, which took more than two years, the group used a sample of 38 Dipterocarpaceae trees representing five species located in the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve in Malaysia on the Asian island of Borneo. The reserve is world-renowned for its conservation centers, including the world’s first center dedicated to orangutan rehabilitation.
These trees range from 7.1 to 71 meters in height, equivalent to a building with more than 20 stories, and are considered the tallest flowering trees in the tropics.
The fieldwork was made possible by the contribution of climbers trained by Jamiludding Jami, an arborist affiliated with the Southeast Asian Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARPP). In 2018, Jami climbed and measured a 100.8-meter-tall dipterocarp (yellow meranti, <i>Shorea faguetiana</i>), considered the tallest tropical tree found to date.
“Climbing a tree over 70 meters tall is a very special job that very few people in the world do. These are people who, in the middle of the forest, can thread a rope through a tree as tall as a 20- to 30-story building, climb it, and collect branches, for example. Some collections had to be done at night, without sunlight. It isn’t just about knowing how to thread the rope and being physically fit. You have to check for wasp nests, know if a branch is suitable, if the wood is strong – it isn’t a trivial matter,” says Bittencourt.
This expertise was shared with climbers in the Brazilian Amazon – specifically, members of riverside communities in the state of Amapá. After receiving training, these climbers helped collect materials for similar research in the Amazon rainforest. Some of these results are expected to be released by the end of 2026.
For several years, this group of scientists has been studying Amazonian giants in the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park and the Amapá National Forest regions, where several expeditions have already taken place. The project aims to understand how the Amazon rainforest physiologically responds to climate change. It is led by British ecologist Lucy Rowland of the University of Exeter. Bittencourt worked directly with Rowland while at the institution, and Rowland is also an author of the study published in Science.
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Estimates from another study led by Robson Borges de Lima of the State University of Amapá, in which Bittencourt and Groenendijk participated, indicate that the Brazilian Amazon has approximately 55.5 million giant trees. However, their geographic distribution is uneven. Just 1% of the forest area accounts for 14% of these trees, half of which are located in approximately 11% of the biome. The trees are mainly found in Roraima state and the Guiana Shield (a geological formation that includes part of Amapá), where water availability is high (<i>read the article here: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.70634#</i>).
Impacts of climate change
To analyze how dipterocarps react to water stress, the researchers measured their trunk growth rates before, during, and after the severe drought associated with the 2023–2024 El Niño event. The 2023–2024 El Niño, a climate phenomenon characterized by abnormal warming of the surface waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, was considered one of the five most intense ever recorded. Classified at the threshold of the “very strong” category, it raised temperatures by about 2 °C above average, impacting the climate of several countries in different ways.
In the study, no decline in growth rate associated with tree height was observed during the severe drought. In other words, the tallest trees were affected just as much as the shorter ones, experiencing similar impacts from climate change.
“Our findings demonstrate that the hydraulic systems of very tall dipterocarps have evolved to be perfectly adapted to their height and should not suffer more than smaller trees exposed to the same drought conditions,” Rowland states in a press release.
In this regard, the research suggests that differences in the ability of trees to prevent air bubbles (embolisms) that disrupt internal water circulation during droughts may be more closely related to canopy microclimate and shading than to height.
For Oliveira, the results highlight the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms that determine tree mortality during extreme droughts. “Rather than assuming that height alone increases hydraulic vulnerability, the findings suggest that other physiological and anatomical mechanisms may be equally or more important in explaining the survival of these trees in the face of climate change. This new perspective can help us develop more realistic models of how forests function and respond to increasingly dry climates,” Oliveira tells Agência FAPESP.
Groenendijk emphasizes the importance of understanding the growth rates of these species. “Understanding how old these giants get, how they grow, and how they behave in the face of climate variability are crucial questions we’re trying to answer using automated sensors and growth ring analysis,” he added.
In Brazil, an international group of scientists is collecting data at the Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve in Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, to quantify and map the causes and factors leading to the death of tall tropical trees. The “Giant Project” is being developed by members of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook in the United States in cooperation with Brazil’s National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA).
Oliveira points out that a mechanism compensating for drought resistance is likely linked to the ability of the uppermost leaves to absorb dew and fog. “Previous research we’ve conducted has shown that atmospheric sources can be important for maintaining hydration in plants in general, even those with very large leaves,” he concludes.
About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe
Bottom view of a 61-meter-tall dipterocarp with a tree climber at the top
The world’s tallest tropical trees have no trouble pumping water to their topmost branches, new research reveals.
Conventional scientific theory suggests that as trees grow, it becomes harder to transport water from roots to leaves – limiting growth and making trees more vulnerable to drought.
But the new study – led by the University of Exeter and Cardiff University and published in the journal Science – finds that adjustments to water transport inside giant Dipterocarp trees “fully compensated” for the challenges of drawing water to the top.
As a result, the height of these trees does not make their water systems more vulnerable to drought compared to shorter trees, and separate testing found they suffered no height-related loss in growth (compared to smaller trees) during a severe drought.
“Trees contain lots of thin, hollow vessels and they suck water upwards by creating low pressure at the top,” said Professor Lucy Rowland, from the University of Exeter.
“These vessels have evolved intricate adaptations that can maintain the water in liquid form, even under the extreme low pressures required to move to the top of trees which can reach over 80 metres.
“However, a widely accepted theory suggests that in tall trees, the sheer length of vessels and the effects of gravity limit water transport, photosynthesis and growth.
“Our results challenge this by showing that the hydraulic systems of very tall Dipterocarp trees are perfectly evolved for their height, and should not suffer more than small Dipterocarp trees exposed to the same drought conditions.”
Dipterocarp species are the tallest flowering trees in the world and dominate Asian rain forests.
The researchers examined Dipterocarp trees ranging from 7 to 71 metres tall in Malaysian Borneo, and measured a variety of traits at multiple positions along each tree.
They found that taller trees compensate for their height in various ways, including water-carrying vessels that grow wider nearer the ground and leaves which have adapted to withstand greater water stress before wilting. They also measured trunk growth rates before, during and after the strong El Niño drought period of 2023-2024.
“Understanding tall trees is vital because the tallest 1% of trees store more than half of above-ground carbon in forests,” said Dr Paulo Bittencourt, now at Cardiff University.
“These trees are rare and important, and existing predictions suggest a weaker hydraulic system places them at higher risk of dying due to drought.
“That prediction is included in some models of climate-change impacts, and our study suggests this may not be correct.
“More research is now needed to investigate the hydraulic systems and drought resilience of other tall trees.”
Co-author Palasiah Jotan, a Malaysian PhD student studying in The Czech University of Life Sciences, said: "Dipterocarp trees dominate the rain forests of Malaysian Borneo and are central to the region's ecology and biodiversity.
“As a Malaysian researcher co-authoring this study, showing that even the tallest of these trees are hydraulically resilient to drought is a finding I hope will strengthen the case for protecting these forests under a changing climate."
The research team included Sabah Forestry Department (Malaysia), the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Aberdeen, as well as institutions from the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Brazil and the USA.
The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.
The paper is entitled: “Height does not impair the hydraulic system of the tallest tropical Dipterocarp trees.”
Antarctic ice meets the rocky coastline. Researchers traced landscape features from the two-kilometre-high coastal escarpment of Dronning Maud Land to the subglacial Gamburtsev Mountains, buried beneath 1–3 km of ice
Scientists have uncovered why Antarctica became engulfed by ice millions of years before the Arctic.
The international research, published today in Science, helps to solve one of climate science’s longest-standing puzzles: how a vast ice sheet could form when Earth was around 5ºC warmer than today.
The study shows that the formation of an escarpment, plateau, and mountain region in East Antarctica created the high ground needed for snow and ice to accumulate.
Triggered when Antarctica and Africa began to break apart during the Jurassic Period 201-143 million years ago, powerful processes deep within the Earth drove much of East Antarctica’s land surface to be uplifted over 100 million years, initiating ice sheet formation 34 million years ago.
Scientists at the University of Southampton led the study, working with colleagues at Durham University, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Germany, the University of Potsdam in Germany, Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and the University of Florence in Italy.
Lead author Thomas Gernon, Professor of Earth Science at the University of Southampton, explained: “Antarctica’s land surface was gradually lifted to the point where ice could gain a permanent foothold, even while the surrounding polar oceans as well as global temperatures remained surprisingly warm.”
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest on Earth, storing enough frozen water to raise global sea levels by around 52 metres if it were to melt completely.
Retracing landscape change through simulations
The researchers used computational models to reconstruct how East Antarctica's surface evolved over 100 million years.
They found that ‘mantle waves’ explain how the surface of East Antarctica gradually rose.
Mantle waves are a recently discovered phenomenon by Prof Gernon’s team. They spread under continents when tectonic plates break apart and have been shown to cause the eruption of diamond volcanoes and mysterious phases of uplift within continents.
When these slow-moving waves moved under East Antarctica, they formed a vast high plateau crowned by the Gamburtsev Mountains. It is the recent discovery of mantle waves that allowed the team to solve the mystery of why Antarctica froze.
The team’s simulations revealed that by about 45 million years ago, much of the East Antarctic landscape had risen above the critical elevation – about 2 km – needed for mountain glaciers to form and expand, eventually merging into the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Dr Thea Hincks, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Southampton who co-led the study, said: “We found that our models can realistically capture the evolution of the two kilometre-high coastal escarpment, elevated plateau and inland mountains, eventually seeding the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.”
The research helps to explain the striking asymmetry in polar ice in the past. Antarctica became glaciated about 34 million years ago, but large Northern Hemisphere ice sheets did not assemble until approximately the past five million years.
While declining levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is widely seen as the trigger for Antarctic glaciation, the first ice sheets began to form when the climate was still relatively mild.
Prof Gernon explained: “If falling levels of CO2 acted alone, you would expect the poles to respond more symmetrically. Instead, Antarctica gained a major head start because geological processes had raised land to higher elevations, making it colder.”
The mountains’ role
Small rises in the height of a mountain range can be the difference between snow melting in summer or surviving and accumulating year-on-year.
Before 50 million years ago, most of the Gamburtsev Mountains lay below 1.5 km in elevation. But by 34 million years ago almost half of the range stood above 2 km – high enough for snow and ice to persist year-round until it has built up into an ice cap.
Dr Guy Paxman, Royal Society University Research Fellow at Durham University and study co-author, explained: “Topography is fundamentally important for glaciation. Air temperatures can drop by up to 1ºC for every 100 metres of altitude gained.”
Dr Philip Goodwin, climate physicist at the University of Southampton and study co-author, added: “As the ice sheet expanded, its bright surface reflected more sunlight back into space, cooling the region further.”
The team estimates that this feedback, called the ‘ice-albedo effect’, lowered global temperatures by about 1ºC. But that was not enough for ice sheets to form in the Northern Hemisphere and so the landmasses in the Arctic region remained largely ice-free due to their lower elevations.
Once Antarctic cooling started, it triggered a further climate feedback: colder air holds less water vapour, which usually wraps the Earth like a warm blanket. As the air dried, this insulating effect weakened, allowing temperatures to fall further still.
“Together, these feedbacks allowed the Antarctic ice sheet to spread from the mountains across the continent, eventually reaching the coast,” added Dr Goodwin.
The study may change how we think about the origins of ice ages.
“Our findings reveal that the Earth’s interior preconditions landscapes to glaciation, determining when and where major climate transitions like the glaciation of Antarctica become possible,” explained Prof Gernon. “That’s incredibly important for understanding Earth’s ancient ice ages as well as future tipping points in the climate system.”
The research was made possible by the support of the WoodNext Foundation, a fund of a donor-advised fund program.
Continental breakup-driven uplift instigated East Antarctic Ice Sheet formation
Article Publication Date
2-Jul-2026
Antarctica’s fast-moving Byrd Glacier courses through the Transantarctic Mountains, flowing from the polar plateau (left) to the Ross Ice Shelf (right). In this colour infrared satellite image, red patches mark exposed rock. The researchers propose that mountain uplift seeded ice sheet formation
Credit
United States Geological Survey
Beyond the 24-hour day: How employee biological clocks and beliefs drive workplace cooperation
Employees’ biological clocks do more than determine when they reach for coffee; they fundamentally shape how, when, and why people help each other at work. A groundbreaking new study published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes introduces the concept of "Time-Extension Self-Efficacy" (TESE) — an individual's belief in their ability to successfully wake up earlier or stay up later than usual.
Across multiple studies, the research demonstrates that an employee's chronotype (whether they are a morning person or a night owl) predicts their TESE. In turn, this specific confidence predicts when employees are most likely to go the extra mile and engage in helping behaviors at work.
Importantly, while a person’s biological clock is stable, the researchers discovered that TESE is surprisingly malleable. A simple, brief recall exercise — asking individuals to think about past successful attempts to extend their day — significantly boosted their TESE. This suggests that organizations can actively influence these beliefs to encourage greater collaboration and flexibility.
"Most people assume that time is experienced the same way by everyone. We all have 24 hours," said June Ryu, assistant professor of management at Portland State University and lead researcher. "But this research shows that morning people and night owls actually perceive their available time differently, and that difference drives when they choose to help others at work. What I find most exciting is that while your chronotype is biologically grounded and hard to change, your beliefs about how far you can push the boundaries of your day are not. Those beliefs can be shifted, which suggests there is more room for people to act beyond their biological tendencies than we previously thought."
For organizations looking to foster a more adaptable and supportive workforce, the study offers actionable strategies to unlock employee potential regardless of the time on the clock.
Journal
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
