Key message This eight-founder MAGIC population represents a powerful resource for dissecting complex traits in maize, assessing the utility of drought proxy traits, and optimizing low-coverage whole-genome sequencing approaches. Abstract Securing sustainable crop production requires the genetic improvement of abiotic stress tolerance. Due to the broad range of environmental factors causing abiotic stress and complex genotype-...

The Kulanaokuaiki Tephra Unit 3 (900 C.E.) was a subplinian basaltic scoria eruption, the largest known to have occurred at Kīlauea’s summit. The initiation mechanism and cause(s) of this highly hazardous eruption remain poorly understood, particularly as this style of activity has not been observed in the modern period. We use olivine diffusion timescales from Fe-Mg and lithium zoning to assess magma storage timescales and ev...

The official 2024/25 Australian summer monsoon (ASM) onset occurred on 7 February, more than two weeks later than the previous record. Defined using Darwin winds, the official ASM typically arrives between mid-December and mid-January. Here, we investigate (1) why the ASM onset was record late, despite La Niña-like conditions, and (2) if the late ASM onset was consistent with other unofficial monsoon and rainy season onset def...