Beethoven's hair sheds light on the composer's health struggles.

New details about Beethoven's health problems are uncovered through an analysis of his hair.

I'll never forget the excitement I felt playing the legendary fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony along with my orchestra friends, as each note came together in a celebration of unity.

But every uplifting musical moment has its darker side, and Beethoven also poured his feelings of despair into his final symphony.

Beethoven started experiencing hearing loss in his 20s and was completely deaf by his 30s - but that didn't keep him from creating some of his most famous and lasting works.

It was Beethoven's wish for his health issues to be known and shared with the public. While his doctor's notes are lost in time, researchers were able to sequence Beethoven's genome from locks of his hair last year.

Now, scientists are a step closer to understanding the mysterious illnesses that plagued the brilliant composer.

Explorations

Analysis of Beethoven's hair has shown that the composer suffered from lead poisoning near the end of his life. He died at the age of 56 in 1827.

Tests revealed incredibly high levels of lead, as well as arsenic and mercury, in two of his locks, likely from drinking wine that was sweetened with lead.

Researchers don't believe lead poisoning would have been enough to kill him, but it could have contributed to the composer's well-known gastrointestinal issues and deafness.

Uncovering the causes of Beethoven's death due to kidney and liver diseases could also shed light on how the composer transformed his pain into music.

"People say, 'The music is the music, why do we need to know about this stuff?' But in Beethoven's life, his suffering is connected to the music," said William Meredith, a Beethoven scholar.

Solar update

An engraving shows German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven in 1805.

Awe-inspiring auroras may grace the skies over locations as far south as Alabama this weekend due to a rare surge in solar activity.

Scientists at the Space Weather Prediction Center have spotted several flares and coronal mass ejections. These large clouds of ionized gas, known as plasma, and dynamic magnetic fields are exploding from a group of sunspots that are 16 times the size of Earth.

The predicted solar storm has the potential to disrupt the power grid and communications on Earth, but experts maintain that there is no need for people to take any special precautions in preparation for space weather.

However, you may want to capture pictures of the sky with your phone, as your camera could capture the ethereal lights of the aurora borealis.

We are family

Millions of years ago, lava flows on Earth created a network of massive underground tunnels called lava tubes, providing a suitable refuge for our Neolithic ancestors from the intense heat and wind of the Arabian Peninsula.

During the Stone Age, as early as 7,000 years ago, the tunnels sheltered herders and their livestock from the scorching temperatures and relentless winds of the Arabian Peninsula.

Researchers in Saudi Arabia discovered engravings of figures representing people and animals such as dogs and sheep on the walls at Umm Jirsan. Artifacts found there have helped archaeologists reconstruct the story of the people who sought refuge in the lava tubes and adapt to these arid environments.

Once upon a planet

Strange creatures emerged on Earth over 500 million years ago - and scientists now believe they appeared due to Earth's protective magnetic field nearly collapsing.

The first life-forms were single-celled, microscopic organisms. But 591 million years ago, Earth's magnetic field weakened significantly, potentially allowing for an increase in oxygen in the atmosphere.

Researchers in Saudi Arabia studied Umm Jirsan, the longest lava tube system in the region.

After this event, animals with unusual fan, doughnut, and tube shapes appeared in the fossil record, representing the first complex animals on the planet.

Consequences

A rare occurrence is transforming the Great Barrier Reef, as well as reef systems around the world, into silent underwater cemeteries.

It's the fourth mass coral bleaching event, caused by rising ocean temperatures due to the climate crisis, since the late 1990s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Marine heat waves stress corals, causing them to expel algae and lose their color, with the die-off occurring at unprecedented levels, experts say.

"What's happening now in our oceans is like wildfires underwater," said Kate Quigley, principal research scientist at Australia's Minderoo Foundation. "We're going to have so much warming that we'll reach a tipping point, and we won't be able to recover from that."

Discoveries

Check out these recent findings:

— When faced with predators, a dice snake feigns its own death as a protective strategy - and it uses gory visual effects to create a convincing theatrical effect.

— The Dark Energy Camera snapped a stunning photo of the celestial phenomenon "God's Hand" that seems to reach out to a vulnerable galaxy - but it's actually a rarely seen cosmic occurrence.

— The inaugural crewed flight test of Boeing's Starling spacecraft has been rescheduled to no earlier than May 17 following a faulty valve halting a launch attempt on Monday.