gshc2020.com

In a post on X, Van Vliet attributed the issue to a failure of "a licensing service that sits outside of Xbox, but which Xbox depends upon." He did not name the service, but said it was "an internal service at Microsoft that is shared across multiple products, not some random system." He continued: "This caused some sign-in scenarios to fail, and it caused many scenarios that require an entitlement check to also fail, such as listing out your Full Library and launching games that you own," he continued. "It also affected several of our publishing and store partners who depend on those same systems which is why some of you saw issues in specific games and not others." He called it "an unacceptable situation" and that Xbox "must do better to support you."

To address the problem, the Xbox CTO said, "Our on-call teams caught the first signals overnight through automated monitoring and declared a major incident. Once we isolated the failing infrastructure, we shifted traffic onto the healthy parts of the system while the team continued to work towards a root cause. Service came back unevenly across regions which is why some of you recovered hours before others."

Van Vliet said that for the company's next step, "We're running a full post-incident review. I care less about the one-line root cause and more about the real questions: why a failure in one service was able to take down this much, why recovery took as long as it did, and what we change so a single point of failure can't ruin your night again. That means hardening the dependencies underneath sign in and game launch, improving how we detect and contain this class of failure, and being faster and clearer with you when something breaks."

He concluded by thanking Xbox gamers for their patience, and said, "We'll do better."

This incident follows PlayStation suffering its own prolonged system and service outage, while Xbox prepares for this week's wide launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved, the Unreal Engine 5-based remake and 25th anniversary celebration of the original Xbox's killer app. IGN gave Campaign Evolved a 7 out of 10 in our review.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan. %!s()

To relieve some of this built up tension — half of the American writers on the trip were from the Great Lakes region and more accustomed to, let's just say, a way more lenient view of speeding — Mercedes booked a small track out on the outskirts of Helsinki for us to put the C-Class EV through its paces. Following a professional driver, we finally got to throw it into the turns at speed and check out the nimbleness of its chassis. It was like that first smoke on your way home after a 12-hour shift at a daycare center.

In the woody outskirts of Helsinki, where the biting flies can leave welts the size of silver dollars (ask me how I know), we drove the C-Class bathed under a glaring 18 hours of sunlight. But the drive itself wasn't all sunshine. Like so many products with a strong following, Mercedes has crammed in a bit of generative AI, and while I may harbor a writer and editor's anti-AI basis, the new and "improved" generation of the automaker's MBUX Virtual Assistant would probably drive even the biggest AI booster a little crazy.

Full disclosure: Mercedes paid for my flight into and out to Helsinki, all my meals and a nice spot in a hotel. No smokes were provided.

What is it?

Mercedes-Benz

It's the C-Class, but electric. Jeeze, didn't you read the headline? Keep up. Since its launch in 1993 (when it replaced the 190 that had been around since 1982), the C-Class has been the tried and true starter luxury sedan that every upper middle class yuppie, DINK and ladder-climbing salaryman craves. It serves not only as a sign of having "made it," but winks that this is just the start of your climb up the Mercedes ladder.

The company is broadening the C-Class's horizons even further for its well-heeled customers despite it being a chaotic time in the EV market. The public may blow hot and cold on EVs, but the Earth is only blowing one way: hotter and hotter. EVs are still the future at Mercedes, and it may be one of the best companies to slide a whole new drivetrain into your safe and reliably classic sedan.

Electric, you say?

Erin Marquis

Instead of being based on the existing gas C-Class, the electric model rides on the same 800-volt MB.EA architecture as its GLC crossover sibling. In the C400 4Matic models that we drove, which will be the first ones to launch, two permanently excited synchronous motors give the electric C-Class 483 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. The lithium-ion battery comes with a DC fast-charging time of 10% to 80% in just 22 minutes, capable of adding 200 miles in just 10 minutes when charging at up to 330 kW. Accelerating from 0 to 60 mph requires just 3.9 seconds, which is quite a bit of scoot while driving in a Nordic country famously twitchy about speeders.

The C-Class we put through its paces at the track was a worthy entry into the C-Class family, and just as committed to comfort as its ICE sister. Now, if you want your C-Class gas-powered, the current W206 generation is sticking around, and it'll soon get styling updates to make it look more like the electric one (whether you're excited about that or not is up to you). Global CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group, Ola Källenius, told assembled journalists that while mass electrification is coming, it's certainly not worldwide any time soon.

"For the foreseeable future, the 150 or so markets we serve around the world not every single market is on the path for 0 emissions at the same time," Källenius said. "We are going to have to serve both streams minimum for the next 10 years, if not longer."

Put a star on it!

Erin Marquis

To me, the redesign has a bit of a bulbous look to it when compared with the sleekness of the outgoing C-Class, and that doesn't really snap my beans. It may be your thing, but it didn't inspire much "emotion" in myself. Mercedes says its front end has a "new iconic grille" — not to nitpick, but how can something be both new and iconic? — and it is a funky shape to my eyes, but the smoked glass element is unique and cool. There are a lot of elements I like, they could just be used more artfully.

There's an option to illuminate the glass grille with 1,050 individual lights that can play animations during activities like charging or opening and closing the trunk. And as with other new Benzes, the headlights and taillights have three-pointed stars in them. Mercedes' philosophy of "put a glowing star on it, make it pretty" still works, and I am still here for it.

A C-Class of another color

Mercedes-Benz

Its rear is rakish, which Mercedes says gives the C-Class a coupe-like or a GT feel, but it has a regular sedan trunk. The back window definitely dips in a coupe-like fashion, however even with the sleeker back end, the C-Class has plenty of headroom for back passengers. The electric C-Class is 3.8 inches longer than its gas-powered sister, and adds nearly an inch of headroom for the front-seat passengers and almost half an inch for your boys in the back. A generous trunk and frunk round out the car's hauling capabilities. Mercedes doesn't skimp on the comfort for your least valuable friends.

The C400 4Matics offered to journalists came in three colors: Sodalite Blue Metallic, Opalite White Bright and Lavender Silver Metallic. The last one I was pumped for, but I struggled to see the purple in it under the bright Nordic sun. At sunset, sunrise, and in shadow, however, the lilac came through clearly and was a very nice touch. It's a worthy successor to rose gold and is hopefully a sign more automakers are cautiously toe-dipping back into a more colorful palette for cars.

Like your childhood bedroom

Mercedes-Benz

The three-pointed stars aren't just in the headlights of the new C-Class. Mercedes has taken a page from Rolls-Royce's Starlight Headliner with an optional Sky Control panoramic roof, which has 162 illuminated stars embedded in the glass. Mercedes wanted the C-Class to have a "welcome home" vibe, but with the plush quilted seating and illuminated touches it wasn't like coming home, it was like house-sitting for someone with way better taste. The optional 39.1-inch seamless Hyperscreen is vivid and honestly gorgeous, of course, and the entire design of the interior has a fantastic flow with the neat little lighting elements folks have come to expect from luxury cars. They can shift colors with different moods and settings available with just a flick of your finger across the main screen. Using the touchscreen was ergonomically comfortable and fantastically responsive.

While the screen was honestly impressive, what you'll find with the screens is just as exciting: buttons. Real, honest-to-god buttons. Not just buttons, but a physical roller for volume control! It's enough to bring a tear to your eye. There are physical controls on the steering wheel as well, and they are more thoughtfully laid out. I was unreasonably excited that I didn't accidentally turn up the volume with my thumb on these Mercedes steering wheels. Hallelujah! The bullying worked, everyone!

Källenius told gathered journalists that he takes the UI development at Mercedes personally, spending hours with engineers to get it right, joking that it must be easy enough for a 5-year-old kid or a board member of Mercedes to be able to use it. This has resulted in more buttons coming to more models as new products come out.

Dull interiors are a bright spot

Mercedes-Benz

"I think the industry as a whole might have gone a little too far. We were super proud that we were the first ones in the world to introduce a digital steering wheel. You'd think the engineers would want a Nobel Prize for that one," Källenius said, with all the exhaustion of a man who really had spent thousands of hours talking to engineers about UI. "But sometimes you get ahead of yourself and you start using technology for the sake of technology and forget a little bit about the customer."

That statement from the CEO would prove to be foreshadowing for the UI troubles I'd experience in the C-Class. But back to the interior. There are matte-finish surfaces that are nice and smooth to the touch, and some components are made of recycled materials, which I really appreciate. It seems every time I'm in a new car lately I'm getting suddenly blinded by polished metal or piano black. Instead, we get compressed paper and recycled plastics that give the interior an organic if not immediately identifiable appearance. It also goes a long way towards that "welcome home" feeling Mercedes is trying to promote in this interior. I certainly don't have piano black all over my home, after all.

Green and comfy

Mercedes-Benz

Buyers also have the option of a fully vegan interior. The C-Class is the second automotive interior in the world to be independently verified as vegan by the oldest vegan organization in the world, The Vegan Society. The first was the electric GLC, naturally. Mercedes also used low-carbon materials in the body of the C-Class, reducing the CO2 burden of building the car by 23%.

The climate control system is intensely efficient. Mercedes noted in the press release that the interior can heat up twice as fast as a gas-powered car, as you don't have to wait for an engine to warm up. To test it out I blasted the AC and then the heat. This test proved absolutely nothing besides how quickly I could give myself a headache. It did act quickly to turn the oven of my own making into a cooler and vice versa. The ventilated, quilted seats are lush and inviting, and actually certified by a German organization that promotes healthy back, which is just so German. They come with massage and heating options that are perfect any time of year for all the lower backs out there approaching or beyond age 40.

Drive time

Mercedes-Benz

The lower center of gravity made for a grippy and easy-to-control car, even while speeding through the apex of turns. I am always thrilled to drive an electric car on a track, because of the torque surge and low center of gravity, and the C-Class was no different. I will say the optional Airmatic air suspension, straight off the top-of-the-line S-Class, certainly provides the feel of a luxury vehicle. A little too squishy to feel anything like the Sport mode indicator's promise, but the buttery soft handling is undeniably high-end. The Airmatic system also comes with intelligent predictive damping that pulls data from the cloud provided by other Mercedes-Benz cars on road conditions to deliver the smoothest ride possible. It also controls ride height to increase range by keeping the car as low as possible for as long as possible.

While soft in the turns, that luxury experience was dimmed a little by the harshness of road noise in the cabin. Despite noise-deadening laminated safety glass the few times we were able to get above 70 mph on public roadways, the whirling of the tires took the place of awkward silence between colleagues from different publications. Not as luxury-oriented as I expected, but without the sound of any engine up front it seems like any road sound is heightened. Is steering was tight and numb, as you'd expect from a modern EV's power-steering setup.

Safety stop

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes' safety suite worked as intended, which is no shock from the best in the biz to do it. During our track time, Mercedes set up some scenarios that caused the C-Class to emergency brake hard. One was a little old lady–style mannequin that jumped in front of the car, causing a sudden and hard brake. The pretensioned seatbelts did their job, and both myself and robo-granny made it out of the scenario unscathed. I certainly didn't see the old lady, but the Mercedes did. We got an uncomfortably up close demonstration of the same technology when a car nearly ran a red and straight into a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van taking journalists to our 7 a.m. flights. It was a close call, but some of the best minds in automotive made it out unscathed. Level 2 adaptive cruise control systems continue to have their benefits and drawbacks, even on a car as advanced as the C-Class. I got several alerts to keep my hands on the wheel and eyes on the road while doing basic things like opening a water bottle. And that wasn't the only overly vigilant technology in the C-Class. 

The optional Burmester 4D surround-sound system is excellent. Two body sound transducers in the seats reverberate music through your whole body. If I had that sort of thing at home I'd certainly never leave. But it was through testing the speakers that I first encountered some strangeness with the MBUX Virtual Assistant.

The AI Assistant

Mercedes-Benz

The first time I chatted with this latest version of Mercedes' virtual assistant was when I drove the CLA over a year prior, and it seemed a friendly, if constantly befuddled character. A glowing Mercedes-Benz emblem able to find and navigate to the closest recharging station or coffee shop, but not really reliable for much else. Now, through updates to its programming, it was an entirely different experience, but not one that was much better.

"Hey Mercedes, what is the meaning of life?" a Mercedes infotainment engineer asked during a demonstration in a parked C-Class. The AI had blipped out a few times when he asked about parking at a nearby restaurant and tried to make a plan to get there and find an open charger. Poor service in the Finnish wilds was blamed. My host had apparently lost his appetite during the glitch and got metaphysical instead.

"I don't know, what do you think?" a calming woman's voice asked. The icon that pulses on the Hyperscreen is now also customizable. Instead of just a Mercedes-Benz star, you can choose a glowing faceless human bust or a little anime robot. The engineer described his meaning of life to the car — good friends and family — and the C-Class agreed.

Any computer that says the meaning of life is anything other than 42 is suspect, because the very asking of an AI, a language model with no experience of actual life, the meaning of life, feels like a joke and so the answer should be one. I'm not interested in hearing what an unliving thing thinks about life. Then I had a weird experience with the MBUX that really set me on edge.

I doubt the sincerity of the AI Assistant's concern

Erin Marquis

Ever just sit in the car all alone, watch the view roll by and talk to yourself? Happens to me all the time, especially when I'm in a new car. My recording app is usually running for driving impressions and notes. While in this mindless self-yap mode, I said to myself "Oh there are so many pretty roads in Finland!"

"Yes," the AI Assistant chimed in. "There are many scenic routes outside of Helsinki. Would you like me to navigate to one?"

"No... no thanks," I said. The map already contained a scenic drive, plus I hadn't addressed the AI at all, so I wasn't sure why it was taking my solitary yammerings as instructional. Unfazed for the moment, I decided to test out the speakers and, once I'd assessed the sound quality (excellent), started singing my little heart out. I asked the AI assistant to play music from Jalopnik's official band, The Mountain Goats. It had a hard time finding a specific song request — "Cry For Judas" — but could play a list of their top songs, which included that song, so why not? I can listen to their overplayed hits as well, which lead to this exchange during the song "No Children."

"I hope I die! I hope we both die!"

"It sounds like you are in emotional distress. Would you like me to play some calming music? It's important to talk about strong feelings."

I'm not deranged, I'm just a fan

Mercedes-Benz

This was very weird. I thought that all complex commands needed to be prefaced with "Hey Mercedes" to activate the assistant, with some simpler ones like "next" or "louder" requiring just the command. But this was the MBUX AI listening in on something that did not concern it in the least. I'd never addressed the system at all.

"No, Mercedes. I'm just singing along. Everything is fine."

I continued on with the song and counted five interruptions before I finally shouted down my AI Assistant like it was a guidance counselor who'd told me to "smile more." The MBUX in the CLA was a friend who was just happy for the ride and didn't comment on the choice of tunes. This AI was no friend of mine.

It was during the song "Heel Turn 2" from the album "Beat The Champ," perhaps my favorite The Mountain Goats album of all time. Every song is about wrestlers. This particular song is about the moment a wrestler, who plays a good guy character known as a "face," decides he has had enough and wants to preserve his dignity and life more than his kayfabe and turns into a bad guy character, or "heel." The lyrics are pretty dramatic, and once again death was on the radio.

Sensing a theme here

Mercedes-Benz

"I don't want to die in here! I don't want to die in here!" I sang poorly, but with feeling and that's what counts. The music dimmed just as it was getting going for the AI Assistant to butt in once again.

"You seem in distress. Would some calming music help? It's important to talk about strong feelings that may upset–"

"I wasn't talking to you, Mercedes. Be quiet." I could sense my own heel turn on the horizon.

"If you need–"

"SHUT UP!"

Finally, the assistant blipped out and stayed quiet for the rest of the drive to the hotel. I couldn't help wondering what other music might upset the AI assistant to the point of constant mental health check-ins. My husband is a metal fan, would his mid-traffic thrash sessions send the AI into 9-1-1 mode?

You might think hey, maybe the assistant was responding like this because I was alone in the car, so it must have assumed I'd been talking to it. But the very next day, the assistant once again chimed in while my driving partner and I had a conversation. I mentioned "some British guy" and the AI chimed in (quite incorrectly) "It sounds like you have a strong connection to this Some British Guy–"

"I don't even remember his name. Shut up, Mercedes!"

The AI Assistant did shut up the first time it was asked, at least. I get that you can customize almost everything involving the Mercedes-Benz infotainment system. When I brought my concerns to the AI engineer he just pointed out that I could always turn the AI interactions down or off "if I didn't like it." But I need to test everything about a car. If you offer an AI assistant, the AI assistant stays on. Me not engaging with it doesn't make it any less miserable for the customer. It's not that I didn't like the AI, it's that the AI wasn't working as intended.

I'm sorry Erin, I'm afraid I can't do that

Mercedes-Benz

The AI assistant also cannot turn itself off if you ask it to do so. You have to navigate touchscreen menus until you find the option to turn off "Voice barge-in," which says a lot about how the AI operates. Barge in, indeed. No one likes someone who barges in on conversations, especially the one-sided ones, and especially the kind of one-sided conversations where the asinine platitudes of a soulless machine are particularly useless and infuriating. I'm sure this is considered a safety feature, similar to cars that suggest taking a break when you yawn too often, but if I'm screaming "I HOPE YOU DIE" in my car in a non-Mountain Goats scenario, the sound of a computer that's never known heartbreak or pain or getting cut off in traffic chiming in is more likely to send me into a ditch, not less.

On Mercedes' website, it says that most inquiries need to start with "Hey Mercedes" or some sort of address like that. Engineers on hand at the track confirmed that order of operations. Owners can change the AI assistant's settings via the infotainment system so that some simple commands, such as "next track" or "louder," don't require directly addressing your own car. But this means, of course, that the car is always listening even when you don't expect it, and it is ready to interrupt and add its two cents to any conversation.

On my third drive the assistant was much more quiet, but still I asked it to turn itself off. "You can do that in the settings menu, but I'll always be here for you."

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

Over-engineered but thoughtful is the Mercedes way

Mercedes-Benz

Part of mass adoption is the normalization of electric vehicles. These aren't some billionaire's toy, or a car for the upper class costal types. An electric car can be your everyday car. You don't have to be techie or making a political statement; an EV can just another choice you make to fit your unique lifestyle. The C-Class is a fun, comfortable ride with interesting features and charm that is unmistakably Mercedes. It doesn't need to resort to gimmicks, whether its touchscreens in the steering wheel or AI in the UI.

The new electric C-Class is little over-engineered but filled with thoughtful interior design touches and a fascia that pushes the boundary of what you think of as Mercedes. And that's before you get to the world class suite of safety features. That's what Mercedes means, and that's what the C-Class delivers here, just in electric form. What happens when the driver is the one doing the shouting, whether along to loud folk rock, at the idiot who nearly sideswiped them on the 405, or at the car's own virtual assistant, is another matter entirely. With the 2027 C-Class' launch in the U.S. set for early 2027, we'll find out soon enough. %!s()

“The Houthis want to copy the Iranian model , and this will shut down two main straits, the gateways into the ⁠Gulf and Red Sea,” the foreign minister-designate for the internationally recognised Yemeni government, Afrah al-Zouba, told journalists on Monday.

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Speaking at the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, al-Zouba said the Iran-backed Houthis have been emboldened due to the insufficient international response to their activities in the region.

Bab al-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean, and – much like the Strait of Hormuz – a significant portion of the global economy depends on the unimpeded flow of maritime traffic through it.

Approximately 30 percent of global container traffic passes through the Red Sea, and 12 to 15 percent of overall global trade.

Yemen’s geography gives whoever controls the country’s west a commanding influence over traffic through Bab al-Mandeb.

Data suggests that shipping through the Red Sea is already declining, with just 11 commodity vessels passing through it on Sunday.

Al-Zouba’s comments come as tensions between the Houthis on one side and Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government on the other escalate.

Earlier in July, the Houthis declared a maritime siege on Red Sea shipping to and from Saudi Arabia, and launched missiles and drones at the kingdom.

Riyadh has since launched air strikes on Yemen’s key port city of Hodeidah, held by the Houthis.

July’s escalation is the biggest since a truce was agreed to in 2022 and came amid a resurgence of US attacks on Iran.

Al-Zouba said Yemen’s government, which Saudi Arabia backs, is prepared for an escalation, and that fire was being exchanged along the front line where Houthi-controlled territory meets government-controlled areas, but that no offensive had been launched.

Nearly 20 fighters from both sides died earlier this month during clashes between the Houthis and government forces around Hodeidah.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died in Yemen since war broke out in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi eventually fled to Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition in a campaign to dislodge the Houthis from 2015 up to the 2022 truce.

As of 2026, the Houthis remain in power in the capital and other parts of Yemen. Meanwhile, tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which Riyadh accuses of backing a southern separatist group in Yemen, have affected developments on the ground.

Yemeni civilians have paid the heaviest price, with an estimated 377,000 dying between 2015 and the beginning of 2022, most of them from war’s knock-on impacts, such as famine and disease. %!s()

In a new study published in The ISME Journal, WHOI scientists combine chemistry, biology and ocean physics to examine how dissolved molecules, microorganisms and water movement interact across coral reefs and a nearby seagrass meadow in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The findings show that each sample site has its own distinct chemical and microbial signature and that ocean currents play a major role in shaping those patterns on timescales as short as a few hours.

"Coral reefs are incredibly dynamic ecosystems," said Amy Apprill, a co-author of the study in WHOI's Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department and inaugural director of the WHOI Schiller Center for Reef Solutions. "When we first looked at the data, some of the patterns didn't make sense. Bringing ocean physics into the study helped explain how water movement was shaping the chemistry and microbes at each reef. That kind of interdisciplinary approach gives us a much more complete picture of reef health."

Researchers collected seawater from two neighboring coral reefs and a nearby seagrass meadow over four days, sampling at dawn and midday. They measured dissolved compounds known as metabolites, or small molecules produced and consumed by marine organisms, alongside microbial communities. They combined those data with a high-resolution computer model that tracked where the water had traveled before reaching each site and how and when it traveled between the sites.

Nearby sites, different signatures

Although the sites were separated by less than a quarter mile (less than 0.4 kilometer), they behaved very differently. The sheltered seagrass meadow maintained relatively stable water conditions and accumulated a unique suite of dissolved compounds, while one reef experienced a daily influx of offshore water that reshaped both its chemistry and microbial community.

"If you don't understand the physics of how water moves through a coastal ecosystem, you're missing a huge part of the story," said Elizabeth Kujawinski, a senior scientist at WHOI and a co-author of the study. "The chemistry and microbes in seawater provide a snapshot of everything happening within the reef. By combining those measurements with computer-generated ocean circulation, we're beginning to understand the hidden processes that drive ecosystem health."

The study leverages a chemical-tagging method developed at WHOI that allows researchers to quantify the composition of biologically available small molecules released by marine microorganisms. Originally used to better understand ocean chemistry, the technique is now helping researchers identify potential indicators of reef condition and ecosystem change.

Borrowing tools from medicine

The study's lead author, Brianna Garcia, a postdoctoral investigator in WHOI's Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, says the project illustrates the value of bringing expertise from outside traditional coral reef science to tackle complex environmental questions.

Garcia joined WHOI with a background in analytical chemistry and human health, where researchers use chemical markers in blood and other samples to diagnose disease. She saw an opportunity to apply similar approaches to marine ecosystems.

"In human medicine, we use minimally invasive tests to look for early warning signs of disease," Garcia said. "We're beginning to think about reef water in much the same way. Instead of waiting until corals show obvious signs of stress, we can look for subtle chemical and microbial changes in the surrounding water that may signal that something is changing. It's an exciting example of how ideas from human health research can help us better understand, and eventually protect, ocean ecosystems."

Building a baseline for reef change

More work is needed before these measurements can become routine monitoring tools, but the consistency of the chemical and microbial patterns observed over several days suggests they may provide a reliable baseline against which future disturbances, such as disease outbreaks, pollution or heat stress, could be detected.

The study showcases the interdisciplinary research approach that the newly launched WHOI Schiller Center for Reef Solutions will bring to threatened coral reef ecosystems. By combining expertise in analytical chemistry and ocean physics, researchers were able to develop a more complete picture of reef health than any one field could provide on its own.

"Healthy coral reefs are essential to both ocean life and the people who depend on them," said Apprill. "Meeting the challenges they face requires bold thinking across disciplines. The Schiller Center creates opportunities for scientists and engineers to pursue high-risk, high-reward research that can lead to entirely new approaches for protecting and restoring reefs."

Publication details

Brianna M Garcia et al, Spatiotemporal and hydrodynamic influences on microbial and exometabolite dynamics in coral reef and seagrass ecosystems, The ISME Journal (2026). DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrag177

Who's behind this story?

Lisa Lock

BA art history, MA material culture. Former museum editor, paramedic, and transplant coordinator. Editing for Science X since 2021. Full profile →

Robert Egan

Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →

Citation: Seawater samples may offer early clues to changing reef health (2026, July 27) retrieved 28 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-seawater-samples-early-clues-reef.html

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Truck drivers said they had spent up to eight days stuck in one spot after more than three meters (10 feet) of snowfall blocked roads and shuttered the Puente del Inca border crossing into Chile.

The key entry point into Argentina's neighbor is located in the western Mendoza province, where around 110 people have been evacuated since the snow began falling more than a week ago.

The bad weather broke over the weekend, deputy local police commissioner Oscar Fernandez said, but the region was bracing for another storm.

"We took advantage of a small window of good weather to reach the (border) outpost" of Puente del Inca, he told AFP, adding that "we have almost two meters (of snow) on top of the roofs."

With a fresh storm arriving Wednesday, he said, "conditions in the high mountains could become difficult again."

In the town of Uspallata, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Puente del Inca, almost 1,000 trucks were waiting for conditions to clear so they could cross into Chile with their cargo.

"We've been here for eight days now. It's a bit cold, but we're handling it well, always smiling," said Brazilian driver Fernando Roberto.

It will take "five or six" days for the trucks to move along, even after the border crossing reopens, Mendoza's deputy logistics minister Alberto Marengo told a press conference.

Several more border crossings closed in the provinces of Catamarca, Rio Negro, Neuquén and Chubut.

The airport in Rio Negro's tourist town of Bariloche closed due to the storm Monday, and hundreds of passengers had their flights rerouted to the nearby Neuquén province.

Who's behind this story?

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

© 2026 AFP

Citation: Border crossings shut as heavy snow coats Argentine Andes (2026, July 27) retrieved 28 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-border-heavy-coats-argentine-andes.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. %!s()