A newly published study reports that tropical cyclones were far more common during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age than many climate reconstructions have suggested. Led by Yan, Macarewich, Jiang, and colleagues, the work appears in Nature Communications (2026) and reframes how Earth’s cold interval coexisted with warm-water storm systems.
The researchers investigated geological signatures linked to extreme marine events, combining stratigraphic evidence with climate-model constraints. Their goal was to distinguish ordinary seasonal variability from the kind of widespread, repeated disturbances that characterize tropical cyclone belts.
A key technical advance in the study is the integration of paleoclimate boundary conditions with storm-resolving dynamical reasoning. Instead of treating cyclone activity as a simple function of temperature alone, the team considered large-scale patterns that govern where warm oceans can persist long enough to power rotating storms.
The results point to an expanded region of conditions favorable for cyclogenesis. Even though the planet was globally in an ice-age mode, ocean–atmosphere coupling—driven by uneven heat storage, changing circulation, and shifting storm tracks—likely enabled tropical systems to form across parts of the tropics more frequently than expected.
The authors describe “widespread” activity, implying that cyclone impacts were not limited to rare episodes. This interpretation aligns with the idea that cooling did not fully suppress tropical cyclone energetics; rather, it altered the geography and intensity distribution of storm-prone environments.
Using the preserved sedimentary record, the study connects storm activity to repeated depositional pulses. Those pulses, they argue, reflect basin-scale disturbance rather than local weather anomalies, strengthening the case for frequent tropical cyclone events during this interval.
From a broader perspective, the findings have implications for how we understand resilience and feedbacks in past climates. If cyclones continued to thrive under ice-age background states, then tropical extremes may persist through major global reorganizations.
The study’s viral potential is clear: it challenges an intuitive narrative that “ice ages mean calm tropics,” and replaces it with a more nuanced picture in which warm-water dynamics and circulation shifts can sustain storminess despite global cooling.
Below are the details available from the provided text:
Subject of Research: Tropical cyclone activity during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age.
Article Title: Widespread tropical cyclone activity during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age.
Article References: Yan, Q., Macarewich, S., Jiang, N. et al. Widespread tropical cyclone activity during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75609-1
A new UC Irvine–led poll released four months before Election Day suggests Orange County remains a rare political battleground, with the governor’s race hovering near statistical dead heat. In a June 9–12 field survey of 809 Orange County adults, likely-voter preferences put Republican Steve Hilton ahead of Democrat Xavier Becerra, 47% to 44%, well within a reported ±4.2 percentage-point margin of error.
The deeper story is turnout mechanics. Becerra performs best among groups that report lower voting certainty—Latino and Asian-American respondents, women, and Independents—while Republicans show higher levels of commitment. Only about half of Independents say they are absolutely certain to vote in November, compared with roughly three-quarters of Republicans and Democrats, raising the possibility that the election hinges more on who shows up than on who is preferred.
Orange County’s issue landscape narrows to a single dominant demand: housing costs. Sixty-one percent of residents name housing among the top problems facing California, and 37% identify it as the single most important issue—nearly double the next closest category. That cross-cutting salience persists despite demographic and partisan differences, making housing the campaign’s defining scalar variable.
The electorate also shows a structural shift. Independents now match Democrats as the county’s largest bloc, leaving Republicans virtually tied. The resulting near-perfect three-way split—34% Democrat, 34% Independent or other, 32% Republican—mirrors the March 2026 results and reinforces Orange County’s classification as a highly competitive electorate.
Generation appears to be the strongest cleavage dimension. Approval for President Donald Trump ranges from 14% among Gen Z to 53% among Baby Boomers, while voting certainty spans from 45% (Gen Z) to 87% (Boomers). Explanations for skipping the June primary cluster around forgetfulness, registration barriers, and skepticism about vote efficacy, especially among younger and Independent residents.
Racial and ethnic patterns complicate conventional realignment narratives. Although Latino and Asian-American groups are becoming more independent rather than simply shifting left or right, their head-to-head lean remains Democratic in candidate matchups. However, the turnout gap—about half of Latino residents and 59% of Asian-Americans reporting absolute voting certainty versus 82% for White respondents—may determine which coalition converts into votes.
Gender divides are consistent across the ballot. Men back Hilton by 14 points, while women support Becerra by 8 points, and approval of Trump and opposition to Governor Gavin Newsom track similarly by gender. Unlike generations, however, the gender gap does not translate into different turnout intentions, with roughly two-thirds of both men and women expressing absolute certainty to vote.
Finally, perceptions of institutional direction show persistent anxiety. Around two-thirds of respondents say the United States is headed in the wrong direction, while California fares only slightly better. Locally, optimism is more stable and surprisingly bipartisan, suggesting that residents may differentiate between county-level functioning and national or state governance.
Subject of Research:
Political science / Public opinion (elections; social surveys)
Article Title:
Orange County’s governor race remains a statistical toss-up as housing dominates public priorities
News Publication Date:
Today (June 9–12 field dates; exact publication date not specified)
Web References:
https://sites.uci.edu/ocpoll/
References:
UC Irvine School of Social Ecology “UCI-OC Poll” (fielded June 9–12 among 809 Orange County adults)
Image Credits:
Not provided
Keywords:
public opinion, elections, housing affordability, voter turnout certainty, political polarization, Independents, generational gap, gender gap, Orange County
The symptoms: The girl arrived at an emergency department after waking up with sudden, severe pain in her upper back. Within hours of the pain emerging, she developed rapidly worsening weakness in all four limbs, making it impossible for her to stand or walk.
She also reported painful tingling and loss of sensation in her hands, and doctors discovered that she had diminished reflexes and sensory changes beginning at her upper chest and moving down her body. In multiple instances at the hospital, she lost control of her bladder and bowels.
The combination of acute paralysis, severe back pain and incontinence suggested damage to the spinal cord, but the cause wasn't immediately clear, her doctors wrote in a report of the case.
What happened next: The medical team launched an extensive search for the underlying cause. An MRI of her neck and torso showed evidence of extensive inflammation or injury that stretched from her lower neck to the middle of her back. The scan also showed a small tear in one of the disks in her lower neck, with a small amount of disk material pushing outward.
However, the girl and her parents did not report any recent falls or injuries, and the MRI alone couldn't determine what had caused this apparent damage.
The girl's medical team then performed blood tests, a spinal fluid analysis and more imaging to look for signs of infections, autoimmune diseases or other inflammatory conditions that can trigger acute paralysis in children. These tests all came back negative.
While clinicians continued investigating, the girl was treated with intravenous steroids and underwent a procedure called plasmapheresis, during which blood is drawn from the patient into a machine which separates blood plasma (the liquid portion of blood) from blood cells and then returns the blood cells to the patient mixed with fresh plasma from donors. This process helps to filter out harmful antibodies and abnormal proteins that can be present in people with autoimmune or blood disorders.
Over the following days, the girl gradually regained her ability to feel, walk and control her bladder. However, repeat MRI scans showed worsening inflammation, which didn't seem to match the girl's improving condition.
The cause of the girl's symptoms was not immediately clear when she arrived at the emergency department. (Image credit: Douglas Sacha via Getty Images)
The diagnosis: Throughout her hospital stay, the medical team suspected a diagnosis of transverse myelitis, which is a rare neurological disorder that involves swelling in the spinal cord. However, as infectious and autoimmune causes became increasingly unlikely, the physicians changed their minds.
They instead concluded that the girl had experienced a spinal cord infarction, or essentially a stroke affecting the spinal cord. This blood-flow blockage was most likely caused by an exceptionally rare condition called fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE).
In FCE, a small piece of jelly-like material from the soft center of an intervertebral disk breaks off, enters the bloodstream and blocks one of the arteries supplying the spinal cord. The resulting loss of blood flow can cause sudden paralysis, sensory loss and bowel and bladder dysfunction.
It's unknown exactly how many people experience FCE, as it's difficult to diagnose and frequently underreported. One literature review found only 30 suspected cases and 41 confirmed cases of FCE that had been documented in the U.S.
The case study notes that FCE is most common in children and young adults ages 10 to 20, and that rate also jumps up later in adulthood, around ages 40 to 60. It is slightly more common among female patients than male. While slightly younger than the most commonly affected demographic, the 8-year-old patient in this case otherwise fit this description.
FCE is difficult to diagnose because there is no definitive laboratory or imaging test for it. Instead, physicians must rule out more common causes of spinal cord injury while looking for imaging findings and clinical signs and symptoms that might fit the diagnosis of FCE.
The treatment: There isn't a specific treatment for FCE; instead, care focuses on managing the symptoms caused by the spinal stroke.
The patient was treated with corticosteroids to reduce inflammation, medications to manage pain and plasmapheresis. After a few weeks, and with extensive rehabilitation therapy, the girl regained nearly all of her strength and functional abilities. Her only lingering symptom was weakness in her hands.
What makes the case unique: The case study notes that FCE is often linked to minor trauma to the spine, such as that caused by heavy lifting or other activities that briefly increase pressure inside the spinal disks. In this case, however, the medical team was unable to identify a clear triggering event, and the girl was otherwise healthy and had no reported history of physical trauma. The girl simply woke up with symptoms, which made the diagnosis even more unexpected.
The case also highlights that, although FCE is rare and often carries a poor prognosis — as many patients experience long-term disability and some may even die from complications — meaningful recovery is also possible. The case report authors concluded that, with early recognition and supportive treatment, patients with FCE may achieve improved outcomes and a return to their normal activities.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.
Kakadiya, J., Lakhani, D. A., Gaddamanugu, S., Goncalves, F. G., & Mullen, A. J. (2026). Presumed fibrocartilaginous embolism causing spinal cord infarct in 8-year-old female: A case report. Radiology Case Reports.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radcr.2026.03.047
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