Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

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To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcult.co.

.jp. That's Y-A-K-U-L-T.C-O.J-P. When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacult.

This is Scientific American 60-second science. I'm Julia Rosen. Got a minute? The Northwest is famous for its microbrews, but the region's bubbles aren't just for beer. Scientists have found plumes of the potent greenhouse gas methane bubbling up from the seafloor off the coast of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

The methane comes from rotting organic matter, that is, the waste and dead bodies of land and marine organisms.

They fall into the sediments and they decompose. It's like a compost pile.

Paul Johnson, a marine geologist at the University of Washington.

Methane leaks out of this great compost pile all along the continental

margin. But Johnson says some plumes may originate in vast layers of frozen methane called hydrates.

Scientists worry that rising ocean temperatures may destabilize these deposits, freeing up even more

methane. And Johnson thinks he already sees evidence that it's happening. Over the past few years, Johnson's

team compiled a map of more than 100 northwest methane seeps. In a new study in the journal

Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems, the researchers report a spike in the number of plumes

emanating from depths of about 500 meters. That's the shallowest depth where frozen methane is

stable, and the first

place scientists expect it to start bubbling out. But Johnson says we're not facing a climate

catastrophe just yet. Most of the methane released at the seafloor gets consumed by bacteria

before it can escape into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, that's still bad news for Northwest

ecosystems. When bacteria feast on methane, they also consume precious oxygen and produce carbon dioxide,

which makes seawater more acidic.

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