A new study from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> reveals what is going on inside of your <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gut-brain-interactions-have-an-influence-on-diseases/">brain</a> when you get lost in a fictional fantasy. The experts discovered that the more immersed we become in the lives of our favorite characters of fiction, the more our brain activity reflects how much we identify with them.
&#8220;When they think about a favorite fictional character, it appears similar in one part of the brain as when they are thinking about themselves,&#8221; said study lead author Timothy Broom.
The research was focused on self-described fans of the HBO series &#8220;Game of Thrones.&#8221; The individuals were instructed to think about themselves, nine of their friends, and nine characters from the drama series. The participants also reported on which character they felt closest to and liked the most.
According to Broom, Game of Thrones was ideal for this study because it attracted a devoted fan base and the large cast presented a variety of characters that people could become attached to.
One of the key findings involved participants who scored highest on &#8220;trait identification.&#8221; These individuals agreed most strongly with statements like &#8220;I really get involved in the feelings of the characters in a novel.&#8221;
&#8220;People who are high in trait identification not only get absorbed into a story, they also are really absorbed into a particular character,&#8221; said Broom. &#8220;They report matching the thoughts of the character, they are thinking what the character is thinking, they are feeling what the character is feeling. They are inhabiting the role of that character.&#8221;
The researchers used an fMRI machine to measure activity in various parts of the brain through small changes in blood flow. As the participants&#8217; brains were scanned, they were evaluating themselves, their friends, and Game of Thrones characters. 
A part of the brain called the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) is known to show increased activity when people think about themselves and, to a lesser extent, when they think about close friends.
While in the fMRI, the individuals were shown a series of names &#8211; including themselves, friends, or characters &#8211; along with a trait, such as lonely, sad, trustworthy, or smart. The participants simply said &#8220;yes&#8221; or &#8220;no&#8221; to imply whether the trait fit the person.
As expected, the vMPFC was most active when people were evaluating themselves, less active when they evaluated friends, and least active when they evaluated characters from Game of Thrones.
However, among those who were high in trait identification, the vMPFC was more active when they thought about the fictional characters than it was for participants who identified less with the characters. This region of the brain was particularly active when the individuals evaluated the character they identified with the most.
Study co-author Dylan Wanger said the findings help explain how fiction can have such a big impact on some people.
&#8220;For some people, fiction is a chance to take on new identities, to see worlds though others&#8217; eyes and return from those experiences changed,&#8221; said Wagner.
&#8220;What previous studies have found is that when people experience stories as if they were one of the characters, a connection is made with that character, and the character becomes intwined with the self. In our study, we see evidence of that in their brains.&#8221;
The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/scan">Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience</a>.
&#8211;&#8212;
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What happens in your brain while you're lost in fiction

The,Bee,With,The,Pollen,On,Its,Head,And,Legs

Honeybees and other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollutants-confuse-pollinators-and-reduce-food-production/">pollinators</a> often visit many species of plants, and new research shows that pollinators may be carrying viruses along with them. The study, which is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>, takes a look at how plant viruses can be carried on pollen grains.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Our understanding of viruses on pollen at large was nonexistent before this study,” said Professor <a href="https://www.biology.pitt.edu/person/tia-lynn-ashman">Tia-Lynn Ashman</a>, an expert in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts &amp; Sciences at the <a href="https://www.pitt.edu/">University of Pittsburgh</a>. “Most of what we know about plant viruses comes from agricultural species that are obviously sick. We just didn’t really have any idea what was out there."



In the past, most relevant studies were focused on a small number of plant viruses, so little was known about what the researchers could expect to uncover.



“That was one of our one of our questions,” said Professor Ashman. “Do we not know much about these viruses because there aren’t many out there, or we just don’t know how to look at them?"



The scientists sequenced genes of pollen grains collected from 24 plant species around the United States. They found evidence that some plant viruses already travel on pollen. Six new species of viruses were found, along with three new variants and partial remnants of over 200 species that have not been identified previously.&nbsp;



Pollen grains are perfect vessels for viruses to travel between hosts on, and also allow access to plant’s reproductive organs, which are vulnerable to infection.&nbsp;



“Pollinators are essentially the go-betweens for plant sex - since plants can’t get up and move to another plant, they rely on an intermediate. So you can relate this to a sexually transmitted disease," explained Professor Ashman.



Interestingly, the scientists discovered that plants with flowers that attract more pollinators had more viruses. This makes pollinators like honey bees essential for plants but also potentially dangerous.&nbsp;



“Honeybees have superspreader potential," said Professor Ashman. "People think that doing beekeeping at home is helping pollinators. But when we do an activity like bringing honeybees into the city, we’re bringing everything that comes with them.”



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Honeybees may be superspreaders of plant viruses

Honeybees and other pollinators often visit many species of plants,...

By combining tree-ring data with U.S. Forest Service inventory data on Arizona’s ponderosa pines, a recent study led by the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> has investigated the possible future effects of climate change on tree growth. The results suggest that global warming may cause a 56 to 91 percent decline in individual tree growth.



Forests <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-sinks-are-a-powerful-weapon-against-climate-change/">remove carbon dioxide</a> from the atmosphere, thus offsetting greenhouse gas emissions and helping to mitigate climate change. “It's a free service that forests provide, so forests have been touted as one of the many natural climate solutions that countries rely on to offset their emissions," said study lead author&nbsp;Kelly Heilman, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Arizona’s&nbsp;<a href="https://ltrr.arizona.edu/">Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research</a>.&nbsp;



“But competition between trees, droughts and disturbances can reduce forest carbon uptake. Knowing how much carbon forests take up globally is essential to addressing the climate crisis and planning for a resilient future.”



The massive declines in tree growth that Dr. Heilman and her colleagues are forecasting will mean less uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future by Arizona's forests. “While Arizona's forests are relatively small in terms of their contribution to the total U.S. carbon sequestration, our approach can be used to make the same predictions for forests around the world,” she explained.



The causes of tree size decline are complex and varied, but the main one seems to be global warming. Since trees have to work against gravity to get water to their top, if temperatures rise, the water-transport system will be under increasing pressure and most likely become damaged. Warming will make trees more drought stressed, and reduce their growth.&nbsp;



Although drought seems to make taller trees more vulnerable due to high temperatures, the scientists found that small trees will also suffer due to lack of water. Since their roots are smaller, they will need to struggle more to extract moisture from the soil.



Moreover, denser forests will likely fare worse during hotter and drier conditions, since there will be more competition between trees for increasingly rare resources such as water and nutrients. “Foresters can't influence the climate, but they can change forest density to reduce competition for the remaining trees,” said study co-author Margaret Evans, an assistant professor of Dendrochronology in the tree-ring lab. “If you have both an overly dense forest and climate warming happening at the same time, that's a double whammy. But if you thin the forests, you can remove one source of stress.”



In order to improve their tree growth predictions in future work, the scientists aim to include variables such as wildfires or insect disturbances into their analyses.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/gcb.16038">Global Change Biology</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Global warming will cause massive declines in tree growth

By combining tree-ring data with U.S. Forest Service inventory data...

Domestic dogs show more variation in body size than any other mammal on Earth. There is a 40-fold difference in size between the smallest and largest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breeding-practices-threaten-the-health-of-french-bulldogs/">breeds</a> of dogs. Variations in size have been selected for by humans, particularly in the past 200 years, while wolves, from which dogs originated, have maintained a constant size.



Since wolves are fairly large, people believed that ancestral dogs were also this size at the start of domestication. It is commonly understood that small dogs, such as Pomeranians and Chihuahuas, were selectively bred after domestication because humans wanted cute little companions.&nbsp;



However, scientists from the <a href="https://www.nih.gov/">National Institutes of Health</a> (NIH) have recently identified a mutation in a gene that regulates the production of growth hormone in dogs. The researchers found that this genetic mutation is present in the genes of dogs with small bodies, but was also present in wolves more than 50,000 years – long before domestication took place.&nbsp;



By analyzing 200 different breeds of dogs, the experts identified around 20 genes that are associated with the regulation of body size in dogs. These genes are involved in regulating skeletal development, insulin processing and fatty acid metabolism, among other functions. Of these genes, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) controls 15 percent of body size variation in different dog breeds and has a major role in determining body size.&nbsp;



However, after more than ten years of investigation, the researchers had not been able to identify a functional mutation associated with IGF-1. That was until Jocelyn Plassais, a postdoc student in geneticist Elaine Ostrander’s lab in Maryland, suggested that they search for sequences around the gene that were positioned backwards. She identified the mutated allele in this way and the researchers then analyzed the genomes of 1,431 individual canids from 13 different species, to track the history of this mutated form of the IGF1 gene.&nbsp;



The researchers also collaborated with evolutionary biologists Greger Larson, at Oxford University, and Laurent Franz, at Ludwig Maximilian University, to examine ancient wolf DNA to see when the&nbsp;IGF-1&nbsp;mutation first appeared. Scientists have theorized that dogs started out large and became smaller about 20,000 years ago, when they were domesticated, but this discovery presents the possibility of a new evolutionary narrative.



The analysis of ancient wolf DNA revealed that the mutated form of the IGF-1 gene was indeed present in the DNA of a 54,000-year-old Siberian wolf (Canis lupus campestris), long before domestication took place.&nbsp;



“It’s as though Nature had kept it tucked in her back pocket for tens of thousands of years until it was needed,” said Ostrander.



The mutated form was found not only in dogs and wolves, but also in other species of the canid family, including coyotes, jackals, and African hunting dogs.&nbsp;



“This is tying together so much about canine domestication and body size, and the things that we think are very modern are actually very ancient,” explained Ostrander.



It seems that the ancestral form of the gene is associated with small body size, while a derived form of the gene gave rise to larger body size and is currently commonly found in gray wolves and large dogs. The allele associated with small body size is thought to have almost become extinct during Pleistocene times when the wolves of the time vanished. But the allele made is reappearance more recently when humans began to selectively breed smaller dogs.&nbsp;



Ostrander and her team plan to continue to investigate the genes that regulate body size in dogs. “One of the things that is pretty cool about dogs is that because they have evolved so recently there aren’t actually a lot of body size genes."&nbsp;



Canids have only 25 known genes that regulate body size, compared to several hundred in humans. “I really want to understand the whole continuum - from Chihuahuas to Great Danes,” said Ostrander.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Small dogs have a gene mutation that existed in ancient wolves

Domestic dogs show more variation in body size than any...

Rising sea levels introduce salt water into coastal wetlands, and this has effects that can be seen well above the high-tide level. Although these effects have been studied for coastal salt <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marshes-protect-shorelines-against-inclement-weather/">marshes</a> with their salt-tolerant plant communities, the same cannot be said for coastal wetlands that lie further inland and are characterized by the presence of fresh water.&nbsp;



The Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula covers more than 2,000 square miles on the North Carolina coastal plain. It is a vast expanse of forested swamps and tea-colored creeks that lie in a location currently experiencing a sea level rise of 3–4 mm each year. Much of this area lies a few feet above sea level and is flooded by ocean surges that are driven by storm systems and rising sea levels.&nbsp;



The salinity of sea water is 400 times that of fresh water, and the salt that remains behind after an ocean intrusion recedes gradually increases the salinity to intolerable levels for the wetland plant species. This can lead to changes in plant communities as more salt-tolerant species become established.



In a recent study, researchers from <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a> and North Carolina State University surveyed the low-living plant communities that inhabit the waterlogged soils of the wetlands on this peninsula. The goal was to identify whether ground layer plants exhibit threshold responses to salinity exposure and whether this could provide early warning of salinity increases in other coastal wetlands.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The team was led by Professors&nbsp;Justin Wright&nbsp;and&nbsp;Emily Bernhardt&nbsp;of Duke and&nbsp;Marcelo Ardón&nbsp;of NC State. The researchers conducted two vegetation surveys throughout the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula.&nbsp;They focused on 112 species of understory plants that occur in the region and recorded where they were found and how abundant they were in relation to levels of salt in the soil.&nbsp;



“It's hard fieldwork,” said study co-author Steve Anderson. “It gets really dense and scratchy. That, plus the heat and humidity mixed with the smell of sulfur and the ticks and the poison ivy; it just kind of adds up.”



The researchers then used multidimensional scaling methods to identify the factors driving community composition change in these wetlands. They found that two factors, salinity and elevation, explained 64 percent of the variation in community composition. In addition, the team identified two salinity thresholds that were associated with major changes in plant community composition.&nbsp;



The researchers found a "tipping point," around 265 g sodium ions per g of soil, and another at 3,843 g Na+/g, where established plant communities could not tolerate further increases in salinity. Subsequent increases were associated with disproportionately large changes in the plant communities that were present.&nbsp;



For example, above the first critical threshold (265 g Na+/g), the plant community on the marsh floor suddenly shifts, as plants such as wax myrtle, swamp bay and pennywort are replaced by rushes, reeds and other plants that can better tolerate salty soils.



Overall, the results show that ground layer plants can be used as reliable indicators of salinity thresholds in coastal wetlands, said the study authors. These results can be used for monitoring salt exposure of ecosystems and for identifying areas at risk for undergoing future community shifts.



The hope is that monitoring indicator species like these could help researchers spot the early warning signs of salt stress, explained Anderson.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/11258">Plant Ecology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Coastal wetlands can become too salty for some resident plants

Rising sea levels introduce salt water into coastal wetlands, and...

How life adapts to extreme or demanding environments is a persistent question in evolutionary biology. Arid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/natural-environments-play-an-overlooked-role-in-public-health/">environments</a> such as the desert region of central Australia can be very harsh, especially for a fish.&nbsp;



New research from the Molecular Ecology Lab at <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> focused on Australia’s desert rainbow fish (Melanotaenia splendida tatei). The scientists showed that genetic adaptations to dry conditions can allow entire populations of fish to survive.&nbsp;



"How populations of aquatic fauna persist in extreme desert environments is an enigma," wrote the study authors. "Individuals often breed and disperse during favorable conditions. Theory predicts that adaptive capacity should be low in small populations, such as in desert fishes."



The experts compared variations in genetics from different populations of desert rainbow fish with satellite images showing water in central Australia. They found that populations of rainbow fish from drier areas were smaller but had a greater ability to adapt to dry conditions.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This turns on its head traditional thinking that small populations are evolutionary dead ends. Life finds a way, even in the most extreme and unpredictable environments on Earth,” said Professor Luciano Beheregaray.



A large gene pool is important for the survival of any species, novel genes are the raw material that evolution works with. This made the survival of small populations of fish living in dry, demanding environments that much more surprising.&nbsp;



“A small gene pool can lead to inbreeding and poor health, which is sometimes seen in endangered species,” explained study lead author Dr Catherine Attard. “However, we found that desert fish in Australia can hold on to life through adapting to harsh environments, then breeding and spreading during rare flooding events.”



Interestingly, even though the fish populations seem isolated, gene flow occurs when periodic flooding connects different populations. This seems to be a key to the survival of these small populations.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The Flinders team collaborated with experts from Laval University and the University of Canberra.&nbsp; The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15585646">Evolution</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How does a fish survive in the desert?

How life adapts to extreme or demanding environments is a...

Song sparrows are a widespread <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-song-of-the-east-african-sunbird-may-be-a-million-years-old/">songbird</a> in North America. Among them, only males sing in order to defend their territory and court mates. They usually have a “repertoire” of up to 12 different two-seconds songs, which can take nearly 30 minutes to get through, because they repeat the same song several times before starting another track. 



A new study led by <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a> and the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> has found that song sparrows deliberately shuffle and mix their song repertoire, probably as a way to keep it interesting for their female audiences.



The researchers recorded the songs of over 30 birds in the backwoods of northwest Pennsylvania and found that male sparrows can keep quite an accurate track of the order of their songs and how often each song is played for over half an hour, possibly in order to avoid repetition and build up hype and novelty.&nbsp;



The more a sparrow sang a particular song, the longer he took to get back to that song. For example, if Song A was played ten times in a row, the bird would sing more renditions of other songs before returning to Song A. However, if Song A was played just two or three times, the bird would usually recite a shorter rendition of the other songs in order to return faster to the relatively new and underplayed Song A.



These findings suggest that song sparrows are capable of “long-distance dependencies” – the ability to choose what to sing at a given point by taking into account what they sang up to half an hour before. According to the scientists, this is a 360 times larger memory capacity than the canary’s (the previous record holder), who can only juggle about five seconds of song information in this way, and makes male sparrow song much more similar to human language than any other animal’s vocal behavior.



Further research is needed to understand why this impressive trait emerged and evolved. The current hypothesis is that it may help keep females interested and less bored, much like shuffling a Spotify playlist keeps us entertained during a gym session. “You've got your playlist for running and the reason you've got that is because running is kind of boring,” said study senior author Stephen Nowicki, a professor of Biology at Duke University. “You know that these 10 songs are going to keep you motivated, but if you are going to run for 20 songs long, why not shuffle it so the next time you don't hear the same songs in the same order?”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.2473">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Song sparrows shuffle and mix their tunes

Song sparrows are a widespread songbird in North America. Among...

Many animals, such as salamanders, starfish, crabs, or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lizards-regenerate-perfect-tails-through-stem-cell-therapy/">lizards</a>, have the capacity of full regeneration of at least some of their limbs. Other creatures, such as flatworms, can even be cut into pieces, and each piece will soon reconstruct an entire organism. However, in humans and other mammals, the loss of a large and structurally complex limb, like an arm or a leg, cannot be restored by any natural process of regeneration.



A research team led by <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/">Tufts University</a> and <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a> has recently managed to trigger regrowth of a lost leg in adult frogs by using a five-drug cocktail sealed in a silicone wearable bioreactor dome which they applied over the frog’s stump for a period of 24 hours. This is a crucial first step towards helping not only amphibians, but also mammals (including humans) regenerate lost limbs.



Each of the drugs fulfilled a different purpose, such as diminishing inflammation, inhibiting collagen production which would lead to scarring, and encouraging the growth of new nerve fibers, blood vessels, and muscles. This mixture of drugs combined with the use of the sealed, amniotic-like bioreactor created a perfect environment to inhibit the natural tendency to close off the stump, while promoting the regenerative process.



The scientists noticed a rapid, extraordinary growth of tissue in many of the treated frogs, re-creating an almost fully functional leg.&nbsp;



“It’s exciting to see that the drugs we selected were helping to create an almost complete limb,” said study lead author Nirosha Murugan, a research affiliate at Tufts University.&nbsp;



“The fact that it required only a brief exposure to the drugs to set in motion a months-long regeneration process suggests that frogs and perhaps other animals may have dormant regenerative capabilities that can be triggered into action.”



Within the first few days after treatment, Professor Murugan and her colleagues detected the activation of molecular pathways that are normally used in a developing embryo to help the body form. Instead of requiring prolonged therapeutic interventions, the activation of these pathways could allow the burden of growth and organization to be handled by the limb itself.



“Covering the open wound with a liquid environment under the BioDome, with the right drug cocktail, could provide the necessary first signals to set the regenerative process in motion,” said study corresponding author Michael Levine, a professor of Biology at Tufts.&nbsp;



“It’s a strategy focused on triggering dormant, inherent anatomical patterning programs, not micromanaging complex growth, since adult animals still have the information needed to make their body structures.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.abj2164">Science Advances</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists can help frogs grow new limbs

Many animals, such as salamanders, starfish, crabs, or lizards, have...

Autoimmune diseases are chronic conditions that occur more frequently as people age. They occur when the body’s natural defense system mistakenly attacks its own, normal cells. Common autoimmune conditions include rheumatoid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yoga-pain-depression-arthritis/">arthritis</a>, psoriasis, polymyalgia rheumatica (pain and stiffness in the muscles around the shoulders, neck and hips) and thyroid diseases. These conditions affect people more frequently as they age.&nbsp;



There are no effective treatments for autoimmune diseases, and they represent a major social and economic burden to health systems. A new study tested whether taking daily supplements of vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acids from marine fish, or a combination of both, could reduce the incidence of autoimmune diseases among older adults in the United States.&nbsp;



The research, which was conducted over five years, provides the first direct evidence that taking daily supplements of vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of autoimmune disease among older adults.



Scientists from Harvard Medical School and from Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted a nationwide, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial using 25,871 volunteer participants (average age 67; 51 percent women; 71 percent non-Hispanic white people) from disparate locations throughout the US.&nbsp;



Upon joining the trial, participants gave information about their age, ethnicity, region of residence, income, education, lifestyle, weight, medical history, diet and supplement use. Blood levels of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids were also measured at this point.



Participants were then randomly selected to receive a supplement of vitamin D (2,000 IU/day) or a matched placebo, and/or a supplement of omega-3 fatty acids (1,000 mg/day) or matched placebo. The participants were asked to report any diagnosed autoimmune disease over the subsequent 5.3 years. Diagnosed cases were confirmed using medical records. There were also cases that had insufficient documentation for confirmed diagnosis, and these were classed as “probable” cases.



During the trial period, a confirmed disease was diagnosed in 123 participants in the vitamin D group, whereas 155 instances of autoimmune disease were diagnosed in the associated placebo group – a 22 percent lower relative rate.



In the omega-3 fatty acid group, 130 confirmed cases were diagnosed compared with 148 in the placebo group (representing a 15 percent reduction), but this was not a statistically significant result. However, when probable cases were included, omega-3 fatty acid supplements did significantly reduce the rate by 18 percent compared with the placebo group. The effects of supplementation with these two substances were stronger the longer a patient had been taking the supplements.&nbsp;



The researchers say the findings have far-reaching implications, “given that these are well-tolerated, non-toxic supplements, and that there are no other known effective therapies to reduce rates of autoimmune diseases.”



Similar results were found when data from only the last three years of the trial were analyzed. The vitamin D group had 39 percent fewer confirmed cases than the placebo group, while the omega-3 fatty acid group had 10 percent fewer confirmed cases than were recorded in the placebo group. Both vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid supplements decreased autoimmune disease by about 30 percent when compared to results recorded from participants that received the placebo alone.&nbsp;



According to the study authors, this is the first direct evidence that daily supplementation with either agent – or a combination of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids – for five years among older US adults reduces autoimmune disease incidence, with more pronounced effect after two years of supplementation.



“We are continuing to follow participants for two years in an extension study to test the time course of this autoimmune disease reduction effect,” wrote the researchers. “Further trials could test these interventions in younger populations, and those with high autoimmune disease risk."



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.bmj.com/">British Medical Journal</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Vitamin D reduces the risk of autoimmune disease

Autoimmune diseases are chronic conditions that occur more frequently as...

The <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a>, in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health, has published its most recent report giving up-to-date statistics related to heart <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/retinal-scans-can-reveal-early-signs-of-heart-disease/">disease</a>, stroke, cardiovascular risk factors and other factors that contribute to cardiovascular health. 



The statistical update presents the latest data on a range of major clinical heart and circulatory disease conditions and is available for use by the public, policymakers, media professionals, clinicians, health care administrators, researchers, health advocates, and others seeking the best available data on these factors and conditions.



One of the stand-out findings in the report relates to the&nbsp;rising global prevalence of brain disease, including stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The global death rate from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias has increased considerably – even more than the rate of death from heart disease.&nbsp;



The following statistics are given in the report, in support of this finding:



<ul><li>Globally, more than 54 million people had Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in 2020, that’s a 37% increase since 2010 and a 144% increase over the past 30 years (1990-2020).</li><li>More than 1.89 million deaths were attributed to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias worldwide in 2020, compared to nearly 9 million deaths from heart disease.</li><li>Global deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias increased more than 44% from 2010 to 2020, compared to a 21% increase in deaths from heart disease.</li><li>Deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias increased 184% over the past 30 years (1990-2020), compared to a 66% increase in heart disease deaths during that same time.</li></ul>



Dr. Mitchell S.V. Elkind is the immediate past president of the American Heart Association, a professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.



“The global rate of brain disease is quickly outpacing heart disease. The rate of deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias rose more than twice as much in the past decade compared to the rate of deaths from heart disease, and that is something we must address,” said Dr. Elkind.



Studies show that maintaining good vascular health is associated with healthy aging and retention of cognitive function. This implies that the steps we take to maintain a healthy heart may also help maintain brain health and cognitive functionality. Optimal brain health includes the functional ability to perform all the diverse tasks for which the brain is responsible, including movement, perception, learning and memory, communication, problem solving, judgment, decision making and emotion.&nbsp;



“We are learning more about how some types of dementia are related to the aging, and how some types are due to poor vascular health. Many studies show that the same healthy lifestyle behaviors that can help improve a person’s heart health can also preserve or even improve their brain health. It’s becoming more evident that reducing vascular disease risk factors can make a real difference in helping people live longer, healthier lives, free of heart disease and brain disease,” says Dr. Elkind.



The 2022 Statistical Update highlights some of these studies:



<ul><li>In a meta-analysis of 139 studies, people with midlife hypertension were five times more likely to experience impairment on global cognition and about twice as likely to experience reduced executive function, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.</li><li>Nearly half of all adults (47% or 121.5 million) in the U.S. have elevated blood pressure, based on 2015 to 2018 data.</li><li>In a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies with up to 42 years of follow-up, people with obesity had three times the risk of dementia.</li><li>Current smoking was associated with a 30%-40% increased risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, based on a meta-analysis of 37 prospective studies.</li></ul>



Having cardiovascular disease also increases the chances of developing brain disease:



<ul><li>In a meta-analysis of four longitudinal studies, the risk for dementia associated with heart failure was nearly two-fold.</li><li>In the ARIC Neurocognitive study (12,515 participants, average age of 57 years, 24% Black participants, 56% women), atrial fibrillation was associated with greater cognitive decline and dementia over 20 years.</li><li>A meta-analysis of 10 prospective studies (including 24,801 participants) found that coronary heart disease was associated with a 40% increased risk of poor cognitive outcomes including dementia, cognitive impairment or cognitive decline.</li></ul>



According to the report, there are also significant differences in the gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status of people who are more likely to develop brain disease and dementia, an indication that social determinants of health also play a role:



<ul><li>Of the more than 54 million cases of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias worldwide in 2020, almost 20 million were among men, compared to nearly 35 million women. More than twice as many women as men died from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.</li><li>A retrospective analysis of the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data found significant differences in subjective cognitive decline across non-white racial and ethnic groups when compared to white adults in the 20,843 respondents who reported being diagnosed with stroke.&nbsp;</li></ul>



In addition, the statistical report tracks the costs involved in treating and caring for patients with dementia. Estimated US spending on dementias more than doubled from $38.6 billion in 1996 to $79.2 billion in 2016. Spending on dementias was among the top 10 health care costs in the United States in 2016.



“Like cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other cognitive ailments are a tremendous emotional and economic burden across the globe,” said&nbsp;



Dr. Connie W. Tsao is chair of the Statistical Update writing group and an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and attending staff cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.



“This new chapter on brain health was a critical one to add,” said Dr. Tsan. “The data we’ve collected brings to light the strong correlations between heart health and brain health and makes it an easy story to tell – what’s good for the heart is good for the brain.”



Along with new information on brain health, the 2022 Statistical Update provides the latest available data on key factors related to heart disease and stroke:



<ul><li>On average, someone dies of cardiovascular disease (CVD) every 36 seconds in the U.S. There are 2,396 deaths from CVD each day, based on 2019 data.</li><li>On average, someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds. There are about 795,000 new or recurrent strokes each year, based on 1999 data.</li><li>On average, someone dies of a stroke every 3 minutes and 30 seconds in the U.S. There are about 411 deaths from stroke each day, based on 2019 data.</li><li>Approximately 1 in 4 (24%) U.S. adults reported achieving adequate leisure-time aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities to meet the physical activity guidelines, based on 2018 data.</li><li>1 in 7 male adults and 1 in 8 female adults in the U.S. are current smokers, based on 2019 data.</li></ul>



Tracking such trends is one of the reasons the American Heart Association publishes the definitive statistical update annually, providing a comprehensive resource of the most current data, relevant scientific findings and assessment of the impact of cardiovascular disease nationally and globally.



“Advancing brain science through innovative research will help scientists shed new light on the causes and contributors to cognitive impairment and dementia, particularly as it relates to heart and vascular health. This is an important step in the Association’s ongoing commitment to better understand how our brains age and how vascular health impacts brain health and overall well-being,” said Dr. Elkind, who is a member of the Statistical Update writing committee.



“Additionally, it’s critical that as a society and as individuals we understand and make the changes needed to improve health outcomes from brain disease and, more importantly, prevent them to begin with."



The report is published in the AHA journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/circ">Circulation</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Study finds strong correlation between heart and brain health

The American Heart Association, in conjunction with the National Institutes...

Closeup,Of,Coffee,Fruit,In,Coffee,Farm,And,Plantations,In

Coffee, cashew and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/avocado-linked-to-overall-healthier-diets/">avocado</a> crops are of high economic importance in many tropical and subtropical areas around the world. These crops are often grown by individual farmers on small-holdings and provide much needed cash income in many poor countries. Trees that produce these crops are, however, long-lived and often take years to become mature. The effects of climate change could have devastating effects for crop farmers as the Earth warms and conditions become unsuitable in many growing regions.



A new analysis, conducted by Roman Grüter and colleagues at Zurich University of Applied Sciences, combines the predictions of 14 different climate change models. Based on three different levels of greenhouse gas emissions, the team modeled the possible impacts on crop growing regions by 2050. The analysis investigates the impacts both on a global scale and on the scale of the individual countries that are currently major producers of these crops.



Previous research has predicted that most of the current areas in which coffee arabica (the dominant coffee species) is grown will become unsuitable as climate change progresses, but there have been no studies on the possible consequences for the production of cashew nuts or avocados. These are important crops for consumers all over the world, as well as for tropical small-scale farmers, and long-term planning for the establishment of plantations of these trees is essential.&nbsp;



The results of previous research have predicted that by mid-century, there will be significant reductions in climate suitability across growing regions for coffee arabica. According to these studies, however, some regions in higher latitudes or at higher altitudes will benefit from increases in temperature and will become more suitable. None of these studies has taken into account the soil characteristics, such as pH, slope or soil texture, and so their identification of newly suitable areas may be overestimated.&nbsp;



To address this shortcoming, Grüter and colleagues incorporated these land and soil requirements for the different crops into their modeling scenarios. They considered land and soil parameters such as protected areas, areas covered by artificial surfaces, soil texture, coarse fragments, pH, organic carbon content and salinity in identifying future areas suitable for growing these crops. In addition, the climate parameters they considered in determining suitability included temperature maxima and minima, precipitation, humidity and the length of the dry season.



The findings of this analysis suggest that most areas where coffee, cashews and avocados are currently grown will become unsuitable by 2050. Coffee turns out to be the most vulnerable of the three crops to climate change because of its sensitivity to increased temperature. Suitable coffee growing areas will decrease significantly in all of the major production regions, including Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Colombia.&nbsp;



Cashews and avocados were predicted to be less affected by the changes associated with global warming. For cashews, highly suitable regions are predicted to decrease slightly in some major producing countries, including India, Côte d’Ivoire, and Benin. However, new suitable areas would increase by 17 percent globally, and would include regions in the USA, East Africa, southern Africa, Vietnam, China and Australia.



Both negative and positive effects of climate change were predicted for avocado production. Suitable areas for growing avocados will decline for some major producers, such as the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Indonesia. The parameters most important for the cultivation of this crop were the minimum temperature in the coldest month, and the amount of precipitation. As the climate warms, the minimum temperature will increase and many new areas will become suitable.



Overall, areas suitable for growing all three crops may expand at higher altitudes and latitudes, especially for cashews and avocados. Areas with greater future suitability are located in regions such as the United States, Argentina, China, and East Africa.



The authors suggest that climate change adaptation measures will be necessary in the major producing regions of all three crops. These could include breeding varieties that are tolerant of higher temperatures or changes in precipitation. In addition, farmers may have to change their management strategies or even consider planting a different crop, such as the robusta species of coffee.&nbsp;



The study also cautions that new policies will be required to mitigate potential consequences of moving production activities to new areas. These would need to&nbsp; include policies to conserve biodiversity, prevent habitat destruction and protect ecosystem services in the new farming areas.&nbsp;



“The study presents the first global assessment of climate change impacts on cashew and avocado suitability," said the researchers. "For both cashew and avocado, areas suitable for cultivation are expected to expand globally while in most main producing countries, the areas of highest suitability may decrease.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Major crop growing regions are shifting as the climate warms

Coffee, cashew and avocado crops are of high economic importance...

Weight gain is often the result of overeating, a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sedentary-behavior-is-not-always-bad-for-the-brain/">sedentary</a> lifestyle, or genetics. Now, a new study from the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Science and Technology</a> (NTNU) has linked weight gain and obesity to chemicals found in plastic packaging.



Anyone who lives in the modern world knows plastics and plastic packaging are ubiquitous. Plastics contain thousands of chemicals, and the new research shows that some of these chemicals may impact your metabolism and cause weight gain.&nbsp;



The experts looked at 34 different plastic products such as yogurt containers and water bottles. The team found a startling 55,000 chemicals in these plastics, only 629 of which they were able to identify. Eleven of the chemicals are known to disrupt metabolism in humans.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Unfortunately, the researchers were able to demonstrate that many of these chemicals, which were thought to remain in the plastics, can actually leach out of them and enter the human body. Previous studies have shown that some of the chemicals found in plastics can disrupt development and fertility. Now, it seems that these chemicals may play a role in weight gain as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Our experiments show that ordinary plastic products contain a mix of substances that can be a relevant and underestimated factor behind overweight and obesity,” said Martin Wagner, an associate professor in the NTNU Department of Biology.



Chemicals found in one third of the plastic products were shown to contribute to fat cell growth in laboratory studies. Even some plastics without known metabolism disrupting chemicals were shown to contribute to fat cell development.&nbsp;



“It’s very likely that it is not the usual suspects, such as Bisphenol A, causing these metabolic disturbances," said study first author Johannes Völker. "This means that other plastic chemicals than the ones we already know could be contributing to overweight and obesity,”



The scientists point out that overweight and obesity contribute to leading causes of death such as heart disease, making this research quite important. The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag">Environmental Science &amp; Technology</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Chemicals in plastic packaging contribute to weight gain

Weight gain is often the result of overeating, a sedentary...

Bats are the only group of mammals capable of powered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/butterflies-habitat-influences-their-flight-behavior/">flight</a>. They are extremely diverse, with about 1,440 species which make up over 20 percent of all known mammal species. Bats also have a very unique way of navigating the world. They use echolocation – emitting high-pitched sounds and then listening for the returning echo – to orient themselves in space, avoid obstacles while flying, and forage for food.



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a>, the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a>, and the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> has found that two major group of bats have different anatomical structures for connecting the inner ear to the brain. These findings confirm previously discovered genetic evidence that bats belong to two different evolutionary lineages, known as Yinpterochiroptera, or “Yin," and Yangochiroptera, or “Yang.”



“Biologists have speculated that the two major groups of bats have different ways of seeing the world through sound,” said study lead author Benjamin Sulser. “This is the first time we found different neuroanatomies in the inner ear, which give these bats different ways of processing the echolocating signal.”



Sulser and his colleagues discovered that Yins rely more heavily on constant frequency sounds for echolocation, while Yangs employ a more complex, modulated frequency. 



The researchers performed a large number of CT scans of the skulls of specimens from 39 species of bats. They found that, just like most other mammals, Yin bats’ inner ear consists of a thick canal wall packed with small openings for the nerve fibers. On the other hand, the Yang bats have an open canal with no wall, which allows for more evolutionary variations of the neurons in the ganglion.



“We hypothesize that by developing this new configuration, without the space constraint on the inner ear ganglion, the Yang bats have a greater capacity for the ganglion cells to multiply and different ways to connect to the brain, unlike most other mammals,” said study senior author Professor Zhe-Xi Luo. 



“A greater size of a ganglion and a greater number of neurons may have contributed to this big evolutionary diversification of bats relying more on frequency modulating echolocation.”



According to Professor Luo, both methods of echolocation contributed to the amazing evolutionary success of bats. “These are different ways of achieving the same goal. It’s like these two types of bats are speaking different dialects of a language."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bats use different inner ear structures to navigate

Bats are the only group of mammals capable of powered...

The body composition and inflammatory benefits associated with a high-protein and high-fiber <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-balanced-diet-improves-bumblebee-health/">diet</a> has been mostly applied to humans. A healthy and balanced diet, when combined with exercise, is the best way to help humans lose weight.&nbsp;A new study from the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a> has confirmed that this is the case for dogs, as well. 



The researchers investigated changes in the fecal microbiota of dogs over the course of feeding them a high-protein and high-fiber diet for 24 weeks. This diet was found to affect body composition and inflammatory markers in a way which was parallel to the positive changes that humans saw while eating similar foods.



Ultimately, this meant that the dogs managed to lose weight while reducing their serum triglycerides, insulin and inflammatory markers, in addition to maintaining their muscle mass.



“Some of the problems we see in humans with obesity also occur in pet dogs,” said study lead author Kelly Swanson. “There’s added stress on the joints, there’s an intolerance to exercise and heat; there’s also glucose intolerance, insulin resistance. And if you look at pet insurance claims, obesity is a big factor there.”



Despite these similarities, dogs and humans differ in terms of the species of microbes that inhabit their gut. However, all of these microbes serve similar purposes: metabolizing proteins and other nutritious molecules, breaking down fiber to regulate glucose and appetite, providing energy to the colon and bolstering the immune system.



The dogs were found to have lower levels of ammonia in their feces, along with increased proportions of a bacteria named Allobaculum. The presence of this type of bacteria correlates with an increase in fecal butyrate, a process which ultimately uses dietary fiber to provide anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic benefits to the gut.



Despite the increase in these organic and helpful acids, there was no observable change in concentrations of short-chain fatty acids. It is assumed that this is due to the fact that most of these acids are absorbed as opposed to excreted, and therefore were not present in the animal feces.



According to the study authors, the results suggest that restricted feeding of a high-protein, high-fiber diet and weight loss promotes fat mass loss, minimizes lean mass loss, reduces inflammatory marker and triglyceride concentrations, and modulates fecal microbiota phylogeny and activity in overweight dogs. Swanson said that more research is needed to clarify the findings.



The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jas">Journal of Animal Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer&nbsp;

A diet rich in fiber and protein can help overweight dogs

The body composition and inflammatory benefits associated with a high-protein...

Bumblebees are important <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollutants-confuse-pollinators-and-reduce-food-production/">pollinators</a> for many plants. They can fly in colder temperatures than many insects and they’re very hardy. Despite these traits, bumblebees along with many other insects are in a state of decline that is largely associated with human activities.&nbsp;



Now, new research from the <a href="https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/1.html">University of Göttingen</a> shows that a diverse diet is important for bumblebee reproduction. The study suggests that a diverse diet of pollen fed to young bumblebees can possibly even help with infestations of parasitic wax moth larvae.  



"Our study shows that it is not individual habitats, such as flower-rich gardens, or semi-natural habitats (such as hedgerows or flower strips), that contribute to reproductive success for the large earth bumblebee Bombus terrestris. In fact, it is rather the diversity of habitats across the entire study landscape that is important," said first author Sandra Schweiger, a researcher in Functional Agrobiodiversity.



"So a wide variety of flower-rich landscape elements must be present. In addition, a diverse pollen diet can contribute to better colony growth and more offspring, especially for young queens."&nbsp;



According to study co-author Professor Catrin Westphal, a balanced pollen diet also reduces the negative effects of parasitic wax moth larvae infestations, which can severely harm the reproductive success of the bumblebees.



For the investigation, the scientists established bumblebee colonies in two regions of Germany and collected pollen samples from bees returning to their hives. The samples were used to research the importance of habitat diversity and thus pollen nutrition in agricultural landscapes as it relates to reproduction. 



Monoculture blooms that provide steady unvaried nutrition as well as landscapes with diverse flowers were both analyzed. The upshot of the research shows that bumblebee bees fare better in diverse landscapes providing a variety of pollen to feed their colonies rather than typical monoculture agricultural fields.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



"Our study showed that high landscape diversity and diverse pollen diets can enhance the reproductive success of bumblebees," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"A diverse diet even mitigated depredation by wax moths. To sustain vital bumblebee populations and their pollination services, diverse and floral rich habitat types should be conserved or restored in agricultural landscapes."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment">Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A balanced diet improves bumblebee health

Bumblebees are important pollinators for many plants. They can fly...

In the mid-1990s, scientists discovered the deep seafloor biosphere - a surprisingly varied population of microorganisms that thrive in the isolated and generally food-deprived environments from the depths of seas and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-heat-reached-a-record-high-for-the-sixth-straight-year/">oceans</a>. Two decades later, in 2016, an international team of scientists embarked on the Japanese scientific drillship Chikyu to collect sediment samples from a drill hole cutting through the geological subduction zone of the Nankai Trough on the coast of Japan, in order to investigate the temperature limit of the deep seafloor biosphere.



At this site, the researchers were amazed to discover a very small, but active microbial community thriving at temperatures occasionally reaching even 120°C. By using highly sensitive radiotracer measurements of methane production and sulfate reduction, the scientists assessed the metabolic rates of these organisms and were surprised to find that they were extraordinarily high for such an unfriendly environment.



"We propose that the organisms are forced to maintain a high metabolic turnover, which approaches the activity of microbes living in surface sediments and in laboratory cultures, to provide the energy required to repair thermal cell damage," said study lead author Felix Beulig, an ecological microbiologist at the <a href="https://uni-bayreuth.de/en">University of Bayreuth</a>.



"The energy required to repair thermal damage to cellular components increases steeply with temperature, and most of this energy is likely necessary to counteract the continuous alteration of amino acids and loss of protein function," added study senior author Tina Treunde, a professor of Marine Geomicrobiology at the <a href="https://www.ucla.edu/">University of California, Los Angeles</a>.



This high per-cell activity of sulfate reducers and methanogens in the deep, hot sediment appears to be fueled by hydrogen and acetate from the sediment porewater. Acetate, a small organic molecule which is also present in vinegar, is of particular interest as a potential food source, according to co-chief scientists of the expedition Verena Heuer, a researcher at MARUM in Germany. “Acetate reaches concentrations of more than 10 mmol per liter in the sediment porewater, which is exceptionally high for marine sediments,” she explained.



The detection of high metabolic rates in the deep seafloor biosphere is a fascinating, surprising discovery. "We always found that microbes in the deep biosphere are an extremely sluggish community that slowly nibbles on the last remains of million-year-old, buried organic matter. But the deep biosphere is full of surprises,” said Bo Barker Jørgensen, a pioneer of deep biosphere research from <a href="https://international.au.dk/">Aarhus University</a>.



“To find life thriving with high metabolic rates at these high temperatures in the deep seabed nourishes our imagination of how life could evolve or survive in similar environments on planetary bodies beyond Earth.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.



&nbsp;---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Organisms can thrive on the seafloor in extreme heat

In the mid-1990s, scientists discovered the deep seafloor biosphere -...

Great,White,Shark,Fin,Above,Water

According to data recently published by Florida Museum of Natural History’s <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/">International Shark Attack File</a> (ISAF), 2021 marked the first increase in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-attacks-linked-to-phases-of-the-moon/">shark attacks</a> after three consecutive years of global decline. Overall, there were 73 unprovoked shark bites, 39 provoked bites, and nine fatalities recorded.



The number of unprovoked shark bites aligns with the five-year global annual average of 72, yet is significantly larger than the 52 bites recorded in 2020 (the lowest number in over a decade). In ISAF manager Tyler Bowling’s view, the beach closures associated to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-booster-shots-are-highly-effective-against-hospitalization/">COVID-19</a> pandemic may have played a large role in the decline in shark attacks in 2020.



“Shark bites dropped drastically in 2020 due to the pandemic. This past year was much more typical, with average bite numbers from an assortment of species and fatalities from white sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks,” said Bowling.



In 2021, the United States continued to be the world leader, with a total of 47 attacks (64 percent of the global cases), all but five taking place along the Atlantic Seaboard. Australia had the second-highest number of bites (12), representing a decrease from its five-year annual average of 16. Brazil and New Zealand each had three recorded attacks, while Canada, Ecuador, and St. Kitts and Nevis followed with a single incident each.



Although last year saw a marked increase in shark attacks as more people flocked to beaches after the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, deaths seem to become less frequent in the long run.



“The overall decline in mortalities from shark bites is likely due to a combination of improved beach safety protocols around the world and a diminishment in the number of sharks of various species in coastal waters,” said Gavin Naylor, the director of the Florida Museum’s<a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/sharks/">&nbsp;shark research program</a>.&nbsp;



“The spike in 2020 and 2021 is almost certainly because of the expanding numbers of white sharks, which have been increasing in various localities likely in response to a boom in the seal populations they feed on.”



Most of the people bitten by sharks were surfers or boarders, who usually spend a large amount of time on the water in and around surf zones. According to ISAF’s <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/reduce-risk/">guidance</a> on how to decrease the risk of shark bites, people should avoid splashing in open water, which sharks may mistake for struggling fish, as well as refrain from wearing reflective jewelry, which may glint in the sunshine, resembling fish scales.&nbsp;



The ISAF 2021 shark attack report can be read <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/">here</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shark attacks are rising, after a three-year decline

According to data recently published by Florida Museum of Natural...

In a new study led by scientists from <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/">Simon Fraser University</a>, the relationship between productivity in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and water flow in the Nicola River watershed has been investigated. This river is a tributary of the Thompson River, which flows into the Fraser River in British Columbia. The team used an advanced time-series model to understand 22 years (1992 to 2013) of variation in stream-type Chinook salmon productivity, as measured by the number of adult offspring per reproducing parent. 



River systems are being affected by climate change and human activities worldwide. The flow cycles of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-dissolved-in-rivers-is-damaging-our-planet/">rivers</a> are influenced by increased temperatures, changes in precipitation, removal of water for land use, and transformation of catchment areas. These changes have potentially serious impacts on freshwater biodiversity, but the consequences of past, present and future changes in flow regimes for river ecosystems and fish remain uncertain. 



Stream-type Chinook salmon are likely to be especially affected by flow changes because the offspring are reared in fresh water and the adults spend more time in river systems than do their ocean-type counterparts. It has, however, been difficult to isolate the effects of changing flow regimes from other processes, such as ocean survival, fishing mortality and interactions with hatchery-origin salmon.



In the Nicola watershed area, Chinook salmon support indigenous, commercial and recreational fisheries and are prey for endangered southern resident killer whales. However, the average August flow of the Nicola river has decreased by 26 percent, on average, over the past 100 years and recruitment into the Chinook salmon population has been below replacement level for more than half the cohorts since 1992. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is currently assessing whether to recommend Nicola Chinook salmon for listing under the&nbsp;Species at Risk Act.&nbsp;



“These long-term changes are probably the cumulative effect of climate change, water withdrawals for agricultural and other uses, and land use such as forestry,” said study co-author Professor Jonathan Moore.



The researchers examined how changing flow regimes and other variables influenced the productivity of the Chinook salmon population. The experts considered variables such as average August flow, fall flooding, and duration of winter ice cover. The analysis also took into account variable ocean survival, mortality from fishing and hatchery demographics.&nbsp;



The results indicated that the river flow during August, when Chinook are rearing as juveniles, was the most important predictor of productivity. Higher August flows during adult spawning and migration also likely boost productivity, while lower flows during this time are linked to decline. Although other factors, such as the extent of ice cover and salmon density also had an effect, river flow in August explained most of the variation in salmon productivity.



“We found that August flows during juvenile rearing had the greatest impact on Chinook productivity out of any factor; the effect was very large,” said study lead author Luke Warkentin, who carried out the project as part of his masters research in SFU’s Salmon Watersheds Lab. “If there isn’t enough water during the summer, Chinook populations tend to decline.”&nbsp;



On average, cohorts that experienced 50 percent below average flows in the August of spawning and rearing had 29 percent lower productivity.



The researchers feel that these results could help to inform water management in the Nicola watershed. From their model, they calculate that mean August flow during rearing would need to be 17.2 m3s−1&nbsp;to allow a harvest of 30 percent of the salmon for fisheries each year. This would help to protect this culturally and economically important species in the face of the numerous pressures it now faces.



“This data is helping to inform ongoing watershed planning and on-the-ground action in the Nicola by the five Nicola Bands and the Province,” said Leona Antoine who helps lead the Nicola Watershed Governance Project, and is associated with the Scw'exmx Tribal Council, but was not involved in the study. “Science such as this, as well as traditional knowledge and other sources of expertise, are guiding real change on the ground to steward this watershed.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26888319">Ecological Solutions and Evidence</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

River flow affects imperiled Chinook salmon population

In a new study led by scientists from Simon Fraser...

In a new collaborative study between <a href="https://www.tcd.ie/">Trinity College Dublin</a> and Hokkaido University, experts have found that predators help protect the biodiversity of ecosystems against the negative impacts of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-has-a-delayed-response-to-climate-change/">climate</a> change.



"Amidst the global extinction crisis, climate change will expose ecosystems to more frequent and intense extreme climatic events, such as heatwaves. Yet, whether predator species loss - a prevailing characteristic of the extinction crisis - will exacerbate the ecological consequences of extreme climatic events remains largely unknown," wrote the study authors.



For the investigation, the researchers observed communities of freshwater organisms in an experimental stream at the Tomakomai Experimental Forest in Northern Japan. The purpose of this experiment was to expose the animals to weather extremities similar to those produced by climate change in an attempt to understand how biodiversity would be affected.



Some of the stream communities included sculpin fish, a prime example of a dominant predator, while others did not include a predator. All of the communities were exposed to realistic heatwave conditions.



Ultimately, the team discovered that communities which included a predator were buffered against the extreme heat conditions more than those that did not include a predator. The heatwaves destabilized algal (plant) communities in the streams which resulted in biodiversity losses, but this was only the case when predators were absent.



“We found that predator extinctions can interact with heatwaves to further undermine the stability of ecosystems,” explained lead researcher Dr. Samuel Ross. “This highlights how the climate and biodiversity crises are completely intertwined, really just two sides of the same coin.”



“Taken together, our results show how the ecological consequences of heatwaves can amplify over time as their impacts propagate through ecological communities. However, predator species help to buffer such impacts, acting as allies in the fight against climate change.”&nbsp;



Algal communities provide the energy base for all other organisms, so the lack of predators which led to reduced algal biodiversity would ultimately result in less energy and biodiversity for other organisms. The researchers also found that these cascading effects were not apparent until long after the heatwave had passed.



"Taken together, our results suggest that the ecological consequences of heatwaves can amplify over time as their impacts propagate through biological interaction networks, but the presence of predators can help to buffer such impacts," wrote the study authors.



"These findings underscore the importance of conserving trophic structure, and highlight the potential for species extinctions to amplify the effects of climate change and extreme events."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486">Global Change Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Predators help prevent biodiversity loss

In a new collaborative study between Trinity College Dublin and...

Humans have a highly complex culture that enables them to transmit knowledge and learn various types of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-exhibit-behaviors-similar-to-human-adhd/" data-type="news" data-id="1897151">behaviors</a> from others. Thus, since skills and technologies tend to accumulate over generations and become increasingly intricate and efficient, human culture can be described as cumulative.&nbsp;



Until recently, scientists thought that non-human primates are very different and need to reinvent cultural behaviors individually. However, new field research led by the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a> has found that chimpanzees may be more similar to humans than previously thought in terms of their ability of transmitting and learning cultural behaviors.



To explore this problem, a team of primatologists carried out a series of field experiments in the Nimba Mountains of Guinea in order to assess whether chimps can invent by themselves a complex behavior such as nut cracking independently. 



First, the chimps were shown oil palm nuts and stones. Next, the scientists added a palm fruit to the experimental setup. Afterwards, the nuts were cracked open and placed above the stones. And finally, the chimps were presented with another, easier-to-crack type of nuts (Coula) together with stones.



A total of 35 chimpanzee groups visited the experiments, of which 11 parties investigated closely and attentively the experimental items. However, even after years of exposure to these materials, the chimpanzees were unable to learn how to use the stones in order to crack nuts, no matter how much interest they shown in investigating the experimental items. These results suggest that, without a model to teach them how to open the nuts, the chimps are unable to learn by themselves such behaviors.



“Our findings suggest that chimpanzees acquire cultural behaviors more like humans and do not simply invent a complex tool use behavior like nut cracking on their own,” said study lead author Kathelijne Koops, a professor of Anthropology at the University of Zurich.



“Our findings on wild chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, help to shed light on what it is (and isn’t!) that makes human culture unique. Specifically, they suggest greater continuity between chimpanzee and human cultural evolution than is normally assumed and that the human capacity for cumulative culture may have a shared evolutionary origin with chimpanzees,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01272-9">Nature Human Behavior</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Chimpanzees seem to acquire cultural behaviors like humans

Humans have a highly complex culture that enables them to...

Because hippopotamuses are vocal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-with-strong-site-fidelity-face-an-uncertain-future/">animals</a> whose wheezy, honking voices carry over long distances, scientists suspected that vocalizations might be an important part of their lives. A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, shows that hippos can recognize each other’s voices. The research also shows that hippos respond more aggressively to the calls of strangers than to their neighbors.&nbsp;



“We found that the vocalizations of a stranger individual induced a stronger behavioral response than those produced by individuals from either the same or a neighboring group,” said Nicolas Mathevon, a professor at the University of Saint-Etienne in France.&nbsp;



“In addition to showing that hippos are able to identify conspecifics based on vocal signatures, our study highlights that hippo groups are territorial entities that behave less aggressively toward their neighbors than toward strangers.”



Professor Mathevon and colleagues studied hippos in Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique, an area with several groups of hippopotamuses inhabiting different lakes. First, they recorded calls from all hippo groups. Next, they played back all the calls to each group to see how they’d react.&nbsp;



The researchers specifically wanted to see if the hippos would react differently to recordings of neighbors as opposed to strangers. The hippopotamuses responded by vocalizing, spraying dung (a territorial display), or approaching.



It turns out the hippos responded more strongly to the voices of strangers than to those of animals they were familiar with. This result has important conservation implications. Hippos are often relocated to maintain healthy populations,&nbsp;



“Before relocating a group of hippos to a new location, one precaution might be to broadcast their voices from a loudspeaker to the groups already present so that they become accustomed to them and their aggression gradually decreases,” explained Professor Mathevon. “Reciprocity, in which the animals to be moved become accustomed to the voices of their new neighbors before they arrive, could also be considered.”



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hippos can recognize the voices of their friends

Because hippopotamuses are vocal animals whose wheezy, honking voices carry...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> and the National Administration of Parks in Argentina has investigated the sarcoptic mange outbreak which decimated the vicuña and guanaco populations in Argentina’s San Guillermo National Park.&nbsp;



The findings suggest that domestic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/llama-antibodies-have-potential-to-treat-coronavirus-variants/">llamas</a> introduced to the site may have been the source of the outbreak which began in 2014 and wiped out 95 percent of the guanacos and 98 percent of the vicuñas by 2017, and all the remaining ones in the following two years.



Vicuñas and guanacos&nbsp;are species of wild camelids native to South American countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. These animals provide an important source of income for indigenous communities, who shear the animals for their soft, valuable fur. Moreover, by being preyed upon by animals such as mountain lions and condors, these camelids play a crucial role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem in the high Andes plateau.



According to researchers, the introduction of domestic llamas to areas near the San Guillermo National Park in 2009 was the cause of the devastating mange outbreak that destroyed most of the park’s vicuñas and guanacos.&nbsp;



Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious disease in which mites burrow under the skin of an animal, causing it to become itchy, crusty, thick, and cracked. This leads to debilitating pain. While mange is rarely fatal for llamas, it makes many vicuñas and guanacos almost unable to move or forage when infected, and they become easy prey or even starve to death.



“Several factors combined to create the perfect storm of this epidemic at a high cost to the ecosystem of San Guillermo National Park,” said study lead author Hebe del Valle Ferreyra, a wildlife veterinarian at the National Administration of Parks in Argentina. “Animal health management, conservation, and agriculture should not be regarded as opposing, incompatible and disconnected activities. A change of approach is needed that recognizes the links between all these sectors.”



According to the researchers, the decimation of these camelids will likely have cascading consequences for their predators and scavengers, such as mountain lions or condors. In the absence of vicuñas and guanacos, mountain lions could turn to livestock for their meals, while condors may need to search food outside the park, where they can be exposed to risks such as poisoning by pesticides or lead from hunting ammunition.



“Hopefully, within a few years, the animals will slowly return,” said study corresponding author Marcela Uhart, the director of the <a href="https://whc.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/latin-america-program">Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center’s Latin America Program</a> at UC Davis. “But in the meantime, we don’t know what will happen with the predators and scavengers because there is basically nothing left for them to eat.”



The study, published in the journal PLoS One, suggests that a better, ongoing communication between the conservation and livestock sectors is necessary for warding off future outbreaks.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Vicuñas and guanacos decimated by mange outbreak

A new study led by the University of California, Davis...

Blue,Wildebeest,Stands,Eyeing,Camera,In,Grassland

Important human traits such as large brains emerged in Homo erectus about two million years ago. According to the widespread “meat made us human” hypothesis in Paleoanthropology, the evolutionary transition to modern humans is often linked to a major dietary shift involving an increase in meat consumption.&nbsp;



However, new research led by the <a href="https://www.gwu.edu/">George Washington University</a> calls into question this hypothesis, by arguing that the increase in archeological evidence for meat eating can largely be explained by greater research attention to that time period rather than fundamental shifts in hominid behavior.



“Generations of paleoanthropologists have gone to famously well-preserved sites in places like Olduvai Gorge looking for - and finding - breathtaking direct evidence of early humans eating meat, furthering this viewpoint that there was an explosion of meat eating after two million years ago,”&nbsp;said study lead author W. Andrew Barr, an assistant professor of Anthropology at the George Washington University.



“However, when you quantitatively synthesize the data from numerous sites across eastern Africa to test this hypothesis, as we did here, that ‘meat made us human’ evolutionary narrative starts to unravel.”



By compiling and analyzing data from nine major research areas in eastern Africa, including 59 sites dating between 2.6 and 1.2 million years ago, Professor Barr and his colleagues have found no sustained increase in the relative amount of evidence for a major shift to meat eating with the emergence of Homo erectus. These results suggest that previous intensive archeological sampling of places where meat eating played a large role, rather than overall changes in human behavior, could explain the prevalence of the “meat made us human” hypothesis in Anthropology.



“I’ve excavated and studied cut marked fossils for over 20 years, and our findings were still a big surprise to me,”&nbsp;said study co-author Briana Pobiner, a research scientist in the <a href="https://humanorigins.si.edu/">Human Origins Program</a> at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.&nbsp;



“This study changes our understanding of what the zooarchaeological record tells us about the earliest prehistoric meat-eating. It also shows how important it is that we continue to ask big questions about our evolution, while we also continue to uncover and analyze new evidence about our past.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



“I would think this study and its findings would be of interest not just to the paleoanthropology community but to all the people currently basing their dieting decisions around some version of this meat-eating narrative. Our study undermines the idea that eating large quantities of meat drove evolutionary changes in our early ancestors,” concluded Professor Barr.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115540119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What role did meat eating play in human evolution?

Important human traits such as large brains emerged in Homo...

Diplodocus,Dinosaur,Scene,From,The,Jurassic,Era,3d,Illustration

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> has recently reconstructed the limb musculature of Thecodontosaurus&nbsp;antiquus, a wolf-sized Triassic-period <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-dinosaur-species-discovered-in-brazil/">dinosaur</a> considered to be an early ancestor of the iconic long-necked, quadruped Diplodocus, and found that this magnificent creature ran on its two back legs and used its shorter forelimbs to grasp food.



“The University of Bristol houses a huge collection of beautifully preserved Thecodontosaurus fossils that were discovered around Bristol,” said study lead author Antonio Ballell, a paleobiologist at this university.&nbsp;



“The amazing thing about these fossilized bones is that many preserve the scars and rugosities that the limb musculature left on them with its attachment.” If they are well-preserved, these features - in tandem with an understanding of the musculature of closely-related, modern animal species - can be used to infer the shape and direction of dinosaur limb muscles, and shed more light on the way such dinosaurs looked and moved.&nbsp;



“In the case of dinosaurs, we have to look at modern crocodilians and birds, that form a group that we call archosaurs, meaning 'ruling reptiles.'&nbsp;Dinosaurs are extinct members of this lineage,” said Dr. Ballell. “Due to evolutionary resemblance, we can compare the muscle anatomy in crocodiles and birds and study the scars that they leave on bones to identify and reconstruct the position of those muscles in dinosaurs.”



By employing this methodology, Dr. Ballell and his colleagues inferred the orientation and size of Thecodontosaurus' limb muscles, and found that this dinosaur was able to run quite fast on its hind legs and likely used its forelimbs not to walk but rather to grasp various objects, such as food items.&nbsp;



These features are surprisingly different from Thecodontosaurus' giant sauropod relatives such as Diplodocus, who were slow, massive quadrupeds. However, according to the scientists, the muscular anatomy of Thecodontosaurus did show signs of having developed many of the structural features which will allow its descendants to switch to quadrupedalism and reach such colossal dimensions.



“From an evolutionary perspective, our study adds more pieces to the puzzle of how locomotion and posture changed during the evolution of dinosaurs and in the line to the giant sauropods,” said study senior author Michael Benton, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol.



A better understanding the anatomy of dinosaurs such as Thecodontosaurus will likely help scientists clarify how limb muscles modified in the evolution of multi-ton quadrupeds from tiny bipeds. “Reconstructing the limb muscles of Thecodontosaurus gives us new information of the early stages of that important evolutionary transition,” concluded Professor Benton.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211356">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Thecodontosaurus could run fast on its hind legs

A team of researchers from the University of Bristol has...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> has found that black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) can dive up to 62 feet (19 meters) into the sea in pursuit of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/killer-whales-are-not-short-of-prey-in-southwestern-canada/">prey</a>, and can stay under water for up to 52 seconds – three times the maxima previously recorded for this species.



“Albatrosses are the iconic aerial wanderers of the oceans, supremely adapted for long-distance dynamic soaring flight. Perhaps because of this they are considered poorly adapted for diving in contrast to many smaller shearwater and petrel relatives, despite having amphibious eyes, and an&nbsp;a priori&nbsp;mass advantage for oxygen-storage tolerance,” wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



“Modern biologging studies have largely confirmed this view,&nbsp;casting doubt on earlier observations using capillary tube maximum depth gauges, which may exaggerate depths, and emphasizing albatrosses’ reliance on near-surface feeding.”



By using accelerometers, depth sensors, and GPS technology, the researchers studied the diving behavior of the albatross population of New Island (one of the Falkland Islands), and found that they can reach much more impressive depths in pursuit of prey than previously estimated.



Clarifying these issues is highly important for the conservation of these magnificent seabirds. According to the scientists, 15 of the 22 albatross species are currently at risk of extinction. One of the key drivers of their decline is <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lighted-nets-help-protect-endangered-marine-wildlife/">accidental catch</a> in the hooked, baited fishing longlines used by commercial fisheries to trap large oceanic species such as tuna.&nbsp;



Since albatrosses were previously considered to be surface feeders, traditional approaches to protect them have only paid attention to the initial sinking of the fishing lines, without taking into consideration their possible bycatch during their deep dives.



“A better understanding of the unobserved behavior of the albatross and other endangered seabirds is essential to conservation efforts,” said study co-author Dr.&nbsp;Oliver Padget, a zoologist at the University of Oxford. “That black-browed albatrosses are physically capable of such deep dives will now need to be considered when thinking about the effectiveness of mitigation strategies that rely on the species being restricted to the surface.”



Moreover, the scientists noticed that black-browed albatrosses did not dive at night, suggesting that they rely on vision to track shoals of fish in the depths of the sea. “We found that deep diving was restricted to daylight hours,” said Dr. Padget. “So one potential mitigation could be for pelagic long lines to be set at night when albatross might be less likely, or able, to chase baits and become caught.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.036">Current Biology</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Albatrosses can dive much deeper than previously thought

A new study led by the University of Oxford has...

New research published in the journal <a href="about:blank">Current Biology</a> has found that using LED illuminated nets greatly reduced <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dynamic-ocean-closures-offer-protection-from-accidental-catch/">accidental catch</a> of sharks, rays, sea turtles or other unwanted fish. This leads to a win-win situation for commercial fisheries and marine wildlife.



Gillnets are one of the most widely used fishing gear in coastal areas of the world’s oceans. However, using them often results in the bycatch of animals not targeted by fishers, including endangered, threatened, or protected species such as sharks, rays, sea turtles, or seabirds. This incidental catching of non-target species has contributed to declines in endangered species and has negatively impacted coastal ecosystems.&nbsp;



Luckily, during the last decade, increasingly more LED illuminated gillnets have been manufactured, which proved to be a highly effective solution to the problems entailed by accidental catch. A research team led by <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) and the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> attached green LED lights every ten meters on gillnets along the Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico to assess to what extent could this method reduce bycatch.



The scientists were amazed to find that using this gear reduced total fisheries bycatch by 63 percent, including a 95 percent reduction in the accidental catch of sharks, skates, and rays, an 81 percent reduction in incidental trapping of Humboldt squids, and a 48 percent reduction in catching unwanted finfish. Fortunately for fishers, this technology still allowed continued catches of targeted species, while significantly reducing bycatch.



“These results demonstrate that the potential benefits of illuminated nets extend well beyond sea turtles, while demonstrating the strong promise for net illumination to mitigate discarded bycatch in similar coastal gillnet fisheries throughout the world’s oceans,” said study lead author Jesse Senko, an expert in animal behavior and fisheries management at ASU.



“Making life easier for fishers by reducing the amount of time untangling bycatch is equally essential as reducing the bycatch biomass in nets,” added study co-author John Wang, a fisheries ecologist at the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/pacific-islands-fisheries-science-center">Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center</a>.



“It is important for fishers to know that there are tangible benefits for them. This is critical for the adoption of such technologies by the fishing industry,” he concluded.



---



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lighted nets help protect endangered marine wildlife

New research published in the journal Current Biology has found...

Portrait,Of,White,â??,Haired,Senior,Woman,Relaxing,At,Home

Pope Francis has recently come under fire for his comments about human parenting and companion animals. In a statement made on January 5, the Catholic leader suggested that not having children and living with cats and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tens-of-thousands-of-rescue-dogs-impacted-by-cdc-ban/">dogs</a> are selfish acts.



“Many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one – but they have two dogs, two cats," the Pope said. "And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity... a man or woman who does not develop the sense of fatherhood or motherhood, they are lacking something, something fundamental, something important.”



The Pope’s statement was criticized by In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition and the <a href="https://www.compassionconsortium.org/">Compassion Consortium</a>. Reverend Sarah Bowen is the animal chaplain and co-founder of the Compassion Consortium.



“Animal lovers around the world gasped, yet Pope Francis’ words offer us all an opportunity to deeply consider our relationships with other species," said Reverend Bowen.&nbsp;



"With all due respect to the pope, in a time of climate crisis, economic pressure, war, poverty, hunger, and anthropogenic violence, some of us are lacking nothing by choosing not to have children."&nbsp;



"Rather we are gaining something: true respect and reverence for the complexities of living in an interspecies world where the needs of human animals and other-than-human animals are often in conflict and always entangled.”



For some, the Pope’s words came as a surprise considering that in the past he’s celebrated non-human life and called for respect for the environment we all depend on. In “Laudato Si” his 2015 encyclical on the environment he wrote: “Because all creatures are connected, each must be cherished with love and respect.”



Many animal advocates and environmentalists see the Pope’s most recent comments as a move in the wrong direction - away from meaningful connection with the non-human world.&nbsp;



“Many of our most pressing problems today, including the sixth mass extinction of wild animals, have resulted from human beings’ disconnection of and fear of nature," said Judy Carman, co-founder of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition. "For many, a family dog, cat or bunny may be their only connection to the world of interspecies communication.”&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pope criticized for comments on companion animals

Pope Francis has recently come under fire for his comments...

Since rapid eye movement (REM) <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sleep-improves-memory-formation-and-recall/">sleep</a> brings about brief, period awakenings, scientists such as Dr. Frederick Snyder in the 1960s have assumed that this type of sleep could have a “sentinel” function, helping animals prepare a fight or flight response at the approach of predators. Until recently though, there has been no experimental evidence for this hypothesis. A new study led by the <a href="http://english.siat.cas.cn/">Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology</a> (SIAT) in China could be the first to offer such empirical proof.



By exposing sleeping mice to a trimethylthiazoline (TMT) odor, a stimulus indicating the presence of a predator, the researchers discovered a common brain circuit regulating both REM sleep and innate fear mechanisms.&nbsp;



"TMT triggered rapid arousal from REM sleep but not from non-rapid-eye-movement sleep. This suggests that REM sleep has specific properties that allow rapid arousal in response to predatory stimuli," said study lead author Dr. Liping Wang, a neuroscientist at SIAT.



Dr. Wang and his colleagues discovered that the brain circuits activated during REM sleep consist of the medial subthalamic nucleus (mSTN), a region that contains a high density of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons, which have a crucial role in initiating and structuring stress responses.&nbsp;



By combining in vivo neural activity recording and cell-type specific manipulations, the scientists found that the mSTN-CRH neurons were responsible for a lowered arousal threshold during REM sleep, and increased defensive responses after awakening. Moreover, repeated exposures to predator cues induced an increase in total REM sleep time, but shorter duration of REM sleep episodes and a higher fragmentation of sleep architecture.



These findings show how evolutionary processes can lead to two distinct but related functions for the same group of neurons. "We may hypothesize that natural selection favors optimizing existing neural circuitry for efficiency in signal transduction and energy usage over metabolically more expensive solutions,"&nbsp;explained Dr. Wang.



Since the co-occurrence of increased REM sleep and stress-related mood disorders has already been observed in clinical studies, this new study could be a step forward in designing novel therapeutic frameworks.&nbsp;



“Our study raises the question of whether it is possible to treat mood disorders by targeting the common regulatory circuit of sleep and fear. We will continue working on this question,"&nbsp;concluded Dr. Wang.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.12.033">Neuron</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

REM sleep may help protect against predator attacks

Since rapid eye movement (REM) sleep brings about brief, period...

While many animal species, including minks, dogs, cats, hamsters, or lions, can become ill when exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cambodian-bats-have-coronaviruses-related-to-sars-cov-2/">SARS-CoV-2</a>, pigs seem to be quasi-immune. Even if they can be infected by the virus when exposed to high doses, the infection is most of the times self-limited and they neither show any clinical symptoms, nor transmit the virus to other animals or to humans. A research team led by <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a> set out to find why are pigs so resistant to infection with the new coronavirus.



By introducing the virus to cultured porcine and human respiratory epithelial cells, the researchers found that pig cells underwent “apoptosis” (or controlled cell death) in response to infection at a much higher rate than human respiratory cells.&nbsp;



“When we looked under the microscope there was an interesting phenomenon going on inside the cells,” said study lead author Rahul Nelli, a research assistant professor of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine at Iowa State University. “The nuclei of the infected pig cells were starting to shred into fragments, but not those of the uninfected pig cells.”



According to the scientists, this shredding of the nucleus of infected cells (a telltale sign of apoptosis) soon after the coronavirus entered the cells causes minimal tissue damage and confines viral replication, thus significantly limiting severe illness.&nbsp;



While human cells can also undergo apoptosis in response to coronavirus infection, they are roughly 100 times less likely to do this than porcine cells. Instead, human cells more often go through necrosis, another form of cell death that is less controlled than apoptosis and can trigger dangerous hyperimmune reactions.



“We don’t want to over-conclude, but apoptosis is probably something intrinsic to the pig immune system that is innate and not acquired,” explained study co-author Luis Giménez-Lirola, an associate professor of Veterinary Diagnostic at Iowa State University. “The idea is to kill the virus subtly but fast enough so there’s not an excessive immune response triggered.”



Further research could lead to therapies designed to trigger apoptosis in human cells, and thus help patients avoid severe illness. A first step in this direction would be to identify all the genes activated during the infection process and compare them to those of animal species that appear to be more resistant to COVID-19.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41420-021-00781-w">Cell Death Discovery</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pigs are highly resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infection

While many animal species, including minks, dogs, cats, hamsters, or...

Anthropogenic climate change has caused major disturbances to marine ecosystems worldwide. Marine heatwaves have been particularly damaging, leading to mass mortalities of organisms and other deleterious effects. Prolonged rises in ocean temperature (for a few days or weeks) have devastating effects on habitat-forming species, including reef-building corals, sponges, gorgonians, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/" data-type="news" data-id="1899672">seagrasses</a> and kelps. These organisms are major contributors to ecosystem structure and functioning, mostly through the provision of habitat, food, and shelter for other, associated reef species.&nbsp;



In the summer of 2003, a severe marine heatwave (MHW) impacted the NW Mediterranean Sea with temperatures up to 3°C above the average. During this event, several populations of&nbsp;red gorgonian&nbsp;(Paramuricea clavate)&nbsp;and the red coral&nbsp;(Corallium rubrum)&nbsp;suffered mass mortality. Scientists in the region initiated research to monitor the recovery of five impacted populations of these coral reef species from Scandola marine protected area in Corsica, France.&nbsp;



The 15-year study, led by researchers from the University of Barcelona, has revealed that populations of P. clavata and C. rubrum - species that are essential for creating complex habitats on coral reefs - have failed to recover after successive marine heatwaves. The biomass of these species declined by between 80 and 90 percent during the study period.&nbsp;



This is the first study to assess the long-term recovery capacity of populations of these two important species of Mediterranean coral. Initially, the research focused on changes in density, biomass and size structure of these species in the highly protected Scandola marine reserve, as the scientists aimed to provide insights into the recovery capacity of these important reef species.&nbsp;



These are long-lived species that can survive for more than a hundred years in some cases. Their population dynamics are characterized by slow growth and recruitment rates, and individuals take a long time (sometimes up to 10 years) to reach sexual maturity. These statistics indicate that populations of the species may take a long time to recover from ecological disturbances, especially when mortality of adult reproductive colonies across populations is high.



Far from recording recovery, the researchers monitoring populations of P. clavata and C. rubrum witnessed the slow collapse of these species. Fifteen years after the 2003 MHW event, these populations are considered to be practically extinct from a functional perspective.



“We observed an average biomass loss regarding the initial biomass of 80% in populations of red gorgonian, and up to a 93% regarding the studied population of red coral,”&nbsp;noted Daniel Gómez, researcher at ICM-CSIC.



“These data are worrying for the conservation of these emblematic species, and it indicates that the effects of the climate crisis are speeding up, with obvious consequences for the submarine landscapes, where the loss of coral equals the loss of trees in forests,”&nbsp;said Joaquim Garrabou, also member of ICM-CSIC.



Unfortunately, the initial heatwave in 2003 was followed by subsequent warm water events in at least four of the years in the study period: 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2018. These marine heatwaves are clearly becoming more frequent and this is not helping the recovery of the long-lived reef species under investigation.



“We believe one of the main reasons why we observed these collapse trajectories is the potential recurrent exposure to heatwaves, incompatible with the slow populational dynamics of these species," said Cristina Linares, a professor at the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences.



“During these heatwaves, the temperature conditions in the studied area reached extreme levels which are incompatible with the life of these corals, which probably caused new mortality events to the decimated populations and made the recovery impossible.”



As the effects of climate change intensify, the frequency and strength of marine heatwaves is set to increase, which could spell disaster for may coral populations, both in the Mediterranean and on reefs worldwide.&nbsp;



“However, there will probably be some areas in the Mediterranean in which, due to several factors, the recurrence of such climate impacts may be lower. This makes it especially relevant to keep – regarding other potential impacts – these climate refuges where the trajectories of coral populations could be more positive than those observed in this study,”&nbsp;noted the study authors.



“Nevertheless, there is an urgent need for stronger measures to be implemented against the climate crisis before the loss of biodiversity becomes irreplaceable."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mediterranean coral populations collapse after repeated heatwaves

Anthropogenic climate change has caused major disturbances to marine ecosystems...

Thecodontosaurus was one of the first <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jaws-of-predatory-dinosaurs-grew-stronger-as-they-evolved/">dinosaurs</a> to evolve (around 205 million years ago) and one of the first to be discovered and formally described by scientists. Despite this long history, the small, bipedal dinosaur is still subject to exciting new research.&nbsp;



Part of the mystery of Thecodontosaurus is that this diminutive, bipedal dinosaur is the ancestor of the massive, quadrupedal sauropods. In a new paper published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos">Royal Society Open Science</a>, researchers reconstructed Thecodontosaurus’ limb muscles. In reconstructing the muscle structure, the scientists were able to unlock the mystery of how small dinosaurs evolved into massive behemoths.&nbsp;



"The <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> houses a huge collection of beautifully preserved Thecodontosaurus fossils that were discovered around Bristol," said study lead author Antonio Ballell, a PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences. "The amazing thing about these fossilized bones is that many preserve the scars and rugosities that the limb musculature left on them with its attachment."



Not only is especially good fossil preservation needed for musculature reconstruction, a close study on the muscle structure of living relatives is needed as well.&nbsp;



"In the case of dinosaurs, we have to look at modern crocodilians and birds, that form a group that we call archosaurs, meaning 'ruling reptiles,' said Ballell. "Dinosaurs are extinct members of this lineage, and due to evolutionary resemblance, we can compare the muscle anatomy in crocodiles and birds and study the scars that they leave on bones to identify and reconstruct the position of those muscles in dinosaurs."



"These kinds of muscular reconstructions are fundamental to understand functional aspects of the life of extinct organisms," said study co-author Professor Emily Rayfield. "We can use this information to simulate how these animals walked and ran with computational tools."



The reconstruction of Thecodontosaurus paints the image of an agile dinosaur that used its forelimbs for grasping rather than walking. There are also hints of the musculature necessary for the massive sauropods that evolved later, even in this early dinosaur.&nbsp;



"From an evolutionary perspective, our study adds more pieces to the puzzle of how the locomotion and posture changed during the evolution of dinosaurs and in the line to the giant sauropods," said study co-author Professor Mike Benton.



"How were limb muscles modified in the evolution of multi-ton quadrupeds from tiny bipeds? Reconstructing the limb muscles of Thecodontosaurus gives us new information of the early stages of that important evolutionary transition."



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Muscular reconstruction shows how dinosaurs moved

Thecodontosaurus was one of the first dinosaurs to evolve (around...

Mammals have a pharynx, or throat, that starts at the back of the nose and ends below the back of the mouth. Although the pharynx is a single tube, it leads into two separate tubes - the windpipe, through which air reaches the lungs, and the esophagus, through which food reaches the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lizard-preserved-stomach-microraptor/">stomach</a>. The separation of the respiratory and digestive tracts at the base of the pharynx is critical for survival; air must be directed from the pharynx into the lungs, but food must be directed towards the stomach and must not enter the lungs.



This anatomical arrangement presents problems for mammals, who must avoid inhaling their food when they try to swallow it. This is the cause of choking and can be fatal. The situation is even more complicated for baleen whales, which feed while underwater. They open their mouths wide and lunge through a shoal of fish or small invertebrates, taking in numerous small prey items along with thousands of liters of water that must not flow into the windpipe.



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Colombia</a> in Vancouver have recently published a study that shows how baleen whales, also known as rorquals, achieve the separation of respiratory and digestive tracts while their mouths experience these extreme physical forces. They identified an anatomical mechanism that protects the whale’s airway as tons of water gushes into its mouth - they term this bulbous region of the soft palate the “oral plug.”



“We discovered a structure in fin whales, which likely exists in all lunge-feeding whales, or rorquals,” said Kelsey Gil of the UBC Zoology Department. “We’ve termed it the ‘oral plug’ and found that it blocks the channel between mouth and pharynx. It means that when a whale lunges, the entrance to the pharynx and thus the respiratory tract is protected.”



Although the mechanics of lunge feeding by whales was well understood, not much was known about how prey such as krill are manipulated and swallowed after a lunge. In addition, the general anatomy of the larynx was also well known. This is a hollow organ in the upper airway that is also the location of the vocal cords and has been investigated in connection with whale vocalizations. However, not much was known about the structure of the rest of the pharynx, the critical junction between respiratory and digestive tracts.&nbsp;



“It’s impossible to study this in a living whale, so we rely on tissue from deceased whales and use functional morphology to assess the relationship between a structure and its function,” said Gil.&nbsp;



By examining and dissecting adult and fetal fin whales, the researchers found that a musculo-fatty structure, the oral plug, seals the back of the mouth and pharynx when the whales feed. They manipulated the various structures to see how they could move. They also looked at the direction of muscle fibers to understand how they would move when muscles contracted and shortened.



“The oral plug is a part of the soft palate, so simply considering the gross anatomy, there is only one direction it should move,” explained Gil. “When the oral plug moves backward and upward to block the nasal cavities, it means that no other structure can be in that same spot below the nasal cavities. This forced us to then examine the larynx, since that spot is where we would expect to see the larynx during breathing, but it cannot be in that position during swallowing.”



During swallowing, the oral plug is lifted and this allows food to pass from the mouth into the pharynx. At the same time, the lifted plug protects the upper airways from food entry. The larynx is positioned at the floor of the pharynx, where laryngeal cartilages close to protect it. A muscular sac attached to the bottom of the larynx is forced upwards into the laryngeal cavity to completely block the lower respiratory tract.



The findings, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>, also show that the pharynx in fin whales - and likely all rorquals - can only be used by either the respiratory or the digestive tract at any one time. This protects the animals from choking while feeding.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, no structure like the oral plug has been reported in any other animals. “There are very few animals with lungs that feed by engulfing prey and water, so the oral plug is likely a protective structure specific to rorquals that is necessary to enable lunge feeding,” said Gil.



The study authors conclude that these adaptations to facilitate swallowing in lunge-feeding whales were a critical development in the evolution of large body size. The largest animal species ever to have lived is thought to be the blue whale, which feeds in precisely this way.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

"Oral plug" prevents whales from drowning while they eat

Mammals have a pharynx, or throat, that starts at the...

When ground squirrels <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-food-bears-hibernate-age-faster/">hibernate</a> in the winter, they stop eating and survive solely on the fat reserves they have stored in their bodies. Such a prolonged period of fasting and inactivity should significantly reduce muscle mass and function. However, this is surprisingly not happening: the animals usually emerge from hibernation in the spring in a very good shape, ready for the intense physical activity associated with their mating season. Until recently, this phenomenon has been a mystery for scientists.&nbsp;



According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.umontreal.ca/en/">University of Montreal</a>, hibernators harness a metabolic trick of their gut microbiome to recycle the nitrogen from urea (a waste compound eliminated as urine during periods of non-hibernation) and use it to build new tissue proteins.&nbsp;



By studying the urea salvage process in 13-lined ground squirrels, the scientists found that the incorporation of urea nitrogen into their tissue protein was highest during late winter - unlike most physiological processes during hibernation, which tend to be significantly reduced. Moreover, the gut microbes themselves seemed to be using the urea nitrogen to build their own proteins, thus making the relationship between squirrels and their microbiome a truly symbiotic one.



These findings have important potential implications for space travel. Since astronauts currently face muscle-loss problems caused by microgravity-induced suppression of protein synthesis, this discovery could open ways of augmenting their muscle protein synthesis processes using urea nitrogen salvage.



“Because we know which muscle proteins are suppressed during spaceflight, we can compare these proteins with those that are enhanced by urea nitrogen salvage during hibernation,” said study lead author Matthew Regan, an assistant professor of Animal Physiology at the University of Montreal. “If there is an overlap between the proteins in spaceflight and the ones from hibernation, then it suggests this process may have benefits to muscle health during spaceflight.”



Moreover, these discoveries could also help solve more pressing Earth-bound problems, such as muscle mass decline caused by starvation in underdeveloped countries or old age. “The mechanisms that mammals like the 13-lined ground squirrel have naturally evolved to maintain protein balance in their own nitrogen-limited situations may inform strategies for maximizing the health of other nitrogen-limited animals, including humans,” said Regan.&nbsp;



A possible solution would be the development of pre- or probiotic pills to promote a gut microbiome such as that of hibernating animals.



“To be clear, these applications, though theoretically possible, are a long way from delivery, and a lot of additional work is needed to translate this naturally evolved mechanism safely and effectively to humans. But one thing I find encouraging is that&nbsp;a study&nbsp;from the early 1990s provided some evidence that humans are capable of recycling small amounts of urea nitrogen via this same process. This suggests that the necessary machinery is in place. It just needs to be optimized,” Regan&nbsp;concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abh2950">Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What hibernating squirrels can teach space travelers

When ground squirrels hibernate in the winter, they stop eating...

species in Zerotulidae