Climate change will worsen conditions for people in the Global South, while conditions in large parts of the North will improve. Migration seems an effective adaptation strategy. However, making that a win-win for migrants and receiving communities requires revision of the food system, rules for mobility, and strategies for social integration.

One Earth is a Cell Press prime sustainability journal. It provides a home for high-quality research and perspectives that advance our ability to better understand and address today’s many challenges. We publish monthly thematic issues that aspire to break down barriers between the natural, social and applied sciences and the humanities, stimulate the cross-pollination of ideas, and encourage transformative research.

Moller, Tessa, et al. Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions are critical to limit climate tipping risks. Nature Communications.. 15/6192, 2024. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research scholars including Johan Rockstrom and Jonathon Donges apply systems theories to gain better understandings of dynamic, nonlinear world weather.

Under current emission trajectories, overshooting the Paris global warming limit of 1.5 °C is a distinct possibility and increases the chance of triggering climate tipping points. Here, we investigate several policy-relevant future emission scenarios using an Earth system model of four interconnected precarious elements. We show that following current policies would commit to a 45% tipping risk even if temperatures are brought back to below 1.5 °C. Our results further demand stringent emission reductions in the current decade for planetary stability.

Wordsworth, R., et al. Fermi Resonance and the Quantum Mechanical Basis of Global Warming. Planetary Science Journal. 5/3, 2024. An entry by Harvard University Earth systems scientist and a University of Reading Meteorologist which advances our planetary understandings of atmospheric carbon dioxide and then proceeds in 2024 to relate its properties all the way to subatomic realms. Might it just now be possible to view an overall scenario with an innate existence that can achieve its own retrospect description and our self-selected sustainability?

Although the scientific principles of anthropogenic climate change are well-established, existing calculations of the warming effect of carbon dioxide rely on spectral absorption databases. Here, we show how CO2 radiative forcing can be expressed via the molecule's key vibrational-rotational transitions. Our analysis cites its effectiveness as a greenhouse gas on the Fermi resonance between the symmetric stretch mode ν1 and bending mode ν2. It is remarkable that quantum resonance in a three-atom molecule has such a large impact on our planet's climate. (Excerpt)

Ahvenharju, Sanna, et al. Individual futures consciousness: Psychology behind the five-dimensional Futures Consciousness scale.. Futures. Volume 128, 2021. University of Turku, University of Kent, UK and University of Geneva scholars contend that a positive awareness of better days to come would provide a hopeful incentive. See also The seeds of tomorrow: Investigating adolescent perception with the Futures Consciousness scale by Fanny Lalot, et al in Futures (September 2024).

Future consciousness refers to the human capacity to understand, anticipate, prepare for, and embrace the future. A Futures Consciousness Scale has been developed based on a five-dimensional model: i) Time Perspective, ii) Agency Beliefs, iii) Openness to Alternatives, iv) Systems Perception, and v) Concern for Others. The present article reviews the psychological theories, concepts and constructs that underlie the FC Scale. It examines how the five dimensions could be manifested in individual behaviour, how they relate to each other and to other psychological phenomena.

Hisata, Yusei, et al. Hisata, Yusei, et al. In-silico-assisted derivatization of triarylboranes for the catalytic reductive functionalization of aniline-derived amino acids and peptides with H. Nature Communications. 15/3708, 2024. We cite this entry by Osaka University computational chemists for its intentional recognition and inclusion of nature’s self-making propensities into a facile biochemistry.

Cheminformatics-based machine learning (ML) has helped identify optimal reaction conditions, including catalyst structures, in the field of synthetic chemistry. However, such ML strategies have remained used for catalytic molecular transformations using Lewis-acidic main-group elements. Here, the construction of a triarylborane library for the catalytic reductive alkylation of aniline-derived amino acids and C-terminal-protected peptides is reported. A combined theoretical and experimental approach identified the optimal borane which exhibits remarkable functional-group compatibility.

Rojo-Francàs, Abel, et al. Anomalous quantum transport in fractal lattices.. Communications Physics. vol. 7/art. 259, 2024. We cite this paper by Donostia International Physics Center, Spain, Universitat de Barcelona, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology physicists for its self-similar structural content and as one more example of seemingly unlimited Earthuman technical abilities to range across these subatomic material frontiers on an intended course to initiate a new second, ecosmic cocreation.

Fractal lattices are self-similar structures with repeated patterns on different scales. Here, we study the dynamical properties of two fractal lattices, the Sierpiński gasket and the Sierpiński carpet. While the gasket exhibits sub-diffusive behavior, sub-ballistic transport occurs in the carpet, due to the systems’ spectral properties. As a technological application, we discuss a memory effect in the Sierpiński gasket which reads off the phase information of an initial state from the spatial distribution after long evolution times. (Excerpt)

In view of the computational complexity of quantum many-body physics and open quantum systems, we expect that quantum simulations with interacting particles on fractal lattices will be particularly useful and provide important new insights into exotic quantum phenomena. So far, theoretical attempts to study quantum many-body phases in fractal lattices include studies of quantum phase transitions and quantum criticality in interacting spin models, the study of interacting topological systems, in particular with respect to the fate of anyons. (6)

Wu, Xiaoling, et al.. Dissipative time crystal in a strongly interacting Rydberg gas. Nature Physics.. July, 2024. We cite this entry by nine Tsinghua University, China, Aarhus University, Denmark, Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences and Technical University Wien, Germany researchers for its content and to convey the extent that our collaborative planetary sapience seems presently able to delve into any depth and aspect of physical/organic material substance and its properties. By our philoSophia view, it might well appear, be worth our notice, that our prodigious Earthica is meant to take up and over a new, second, intentional, informed cocreation.

The notion of spontaneous symmetry breaking defines classical and quantum phase transitions of matter, such as in condensation, crystallization or quantum magnetism. Generalizations to the time dimension can lead to a time crystal phase, which breaks its time translation symmetry. Here, we report the experimental observation of a dissipative time crystalline order in an atomic gas, where ground-state atoms are continuously driven to Rydberg states. The emergent time crystal is revealed by persistent oscillations of the photon transmission which arise from the coexistence and competition between distinct Rydberg components. The autocorrelation of the oscillation indicate a long-range temporal order and realization of a continuous time crystal. (Excerpt)

Gorb, Stanislav and Wencke Krings. Editorial: Composite materials in biological and bioinspired systems: Part II, Biological and bioinspired composites. Interface Focus. June, 2024. Stanislav and Wencke Krings

Nature has been a source of inspiration for scientists seeking to understand and replicate its remarkable structures for stronger, lighter, resilient materials. Organisms have perfected them through their evolution, resulting in biological composites across the six kingdoms of life. One of the key features is their hierarchical structure, which spans multiple length scales. At the nanoscale, they consist of molecular building blocks arranged in patterns to optimize mechanical strength and flexibility. They then assemble into larger structures, such as fibres, lamellae, compartments, which enhance properties through reinforcement. As highlighted in this theme issue, the collaborative synergy between biology and materials science not only drives technological advancement but also enriches our comprehension of organisms shaped by biological evolution.

Hartmann, Jonas and Roberto Mayor. Self-organized collective cell behaviors as design principles for synthetic developmental biology. Seminars in Cell and Development Biology. 141/63, 2024. We cite this paper by University College London system biologists as a leading edge instance of an intentional turn to and inclusion of life’s inherent vitality as much due to this implicate domain of generative agencies. That is, a recognition that much more is going on beyond than just cellular metabolisms.

Over the past two decades, molecular cell biology has graduated from a mostly analytic science to one with substantial synthetic capability. This success is built on a deep understanding of the structure and function of biomolecules and molecular mechanisms. Here, we review some of the central concepts and recent progress in tissue patterning, morphogenesis and collective cell migration and discuss their value for synthetic developmental biology, emphasizing in particular the power of (guided) self-organization and the role of theoretical advances in making developmental insights applicable in synthesis.

Su, Manu and Javier Perez-Ramiriz.. Embracing data science in catalysis research. Nature Catalysis. 7/624, 2024.. Nature Catalysis. 7/624, 2024. We note this work by ETH Zurich scientists as an exemplary recognition of the natural presence and basic importance of nature’s self-making propensities and agencies as radical new phase of synthetic methods gets going forward.

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Accelerating catalyst discovery and development is vital to addressing global energy, sustainability and healthcare demands. The past decade has witnessed an application of computational concepts in catalysis research in this regard. Here we review how researchers have been to solve complex challenges across heterogeneous, homogeneous and enzymatic catalysis. We discuss the prevalence of catalytic tasks, model reactions and choice of algorithms along with frontiers in knowledge transfer opportunities among the catalysis subdisciplines. We advocate their adoption into routine experimental workflows to spur future research in digital catalysis. (Excerpt)

, . Ermann, Leonardo and Dima Shepelyansky. Confrontation of capitalism and socialism in Wikipedia networks. arXiv:2408.07606.. arXiv:2408.07606. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Argentina and Université de Toulouse, France physicists (search DS & website) distill a distinct theory of a mathematical complexity as an insistent tendency that drives human activities to divide into these generic, polar options.

We introduce the Ising Network Opinion Formation (INOF) model and apply it for the analysis of networks of 6 Wikipedia language editions. In the model, Ising spins are placed at network nodes/articles and the steady-state opinion polarization of spins is determined from the Monte Carlo iterations in which a given spin orientation is determined by in-going links from other spins. The main consideration is done for opinion confrontation between capitalism, imperialism and socialism, communism. We find that the global network opinion favors socialism, communism for all 6 editions. We also present results for opinion competition between Christianity and Islam, and USA Democratic and Republican parties. We argue that the INOF approach can find numerous applications for directed complex networks. (Excerpt)

Ising Models consist of discrete variables that represent magnetic dipole moments of atomic "spins" that can be in one of two states. The spins are arranged in a graph, usually a lattice where the local structure repeats periodically in all directions, allowing each spin to interact with its neighbors.

Peng, Daiyin and Xianchun Peng. Application of network pharmacology in synergistic action of Chinese herbal compounds.. Theory in Biosciences.. June, 2024. We note this entry by Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei pharmacists because it spans millennia between original wisdom and 21st century complexity science. In specific regard, the paper reports a unique version of nature’s network anatomy and physiology as a better appreciation of traditional medicine within our worldwise modernity.

Herbal medicines are blended in multi-drug combinations based on medicinal compatibility to treat diseases. However, due inappropriate techniques of Chinese medicine compounding, it is tough to explain how the drugs interact with each other. Cyber pharmacology is a new approach which uses holistic and systematic “network targets” via computer technology, bioinformatics, and multi-disciplines. It can screen the active ingredients of traditional formulations, enhance their effective utility, and elucidate drug action. We review the principles of Chinese medicine, the methods and software of network pharmacology of compounded Chinese medicines by way of a modern integral science to better avail and apply. (Abstract)

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