Ozark National Forest, Arkansas

Today's Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features a stunning reflection nebula known as GN 04.32.8 in the constellation Taurus.



Reflection nebulae are cosmic clouds of fine dust that become visible not by producing their own light, but by reflecting the light of nearby stars.&nbsp;



Unlike emission <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/six-rogue-worlds-discovered-inside-a-young-star-forming-nebula/">nebulae</a>, which glow due to ionized gases radiating light, reflection nebulae shine more subtly.&nbsp;



The light from nearby stars strikes the dust particles within the cloud and scatters in many directions - especially shorter, bluer wavelengths. This scattering effect, similar to the way Earth’s sky appears blue, often gives reflection nebulae their characteristic bluish hue.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-taurus-molecular-cloud">The Taurus Molecular Cloud</h2>



“GN 04.32.8 is a small part of the stellar nursery known as the Taurus Molecular Cloud. At only roughly 480 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus, it's one of the best locations for studying newly forming stars,” noted <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images">ESA</a>.



The Taurus Molecular Cloud is one of the closest and most extensively studied regions for low-mass star formation.&nbsp;



Unlike larger star-forming regions like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orion-nebula-destroys-an-oceans-worth-of-water-every-month/">Orion</a> that produce many high-mass stars, the Taurus Molecular Cloud is dominated by the formation of Sun-like and smaller stars, making it a prime analog for understanding the conditions that led to the birth of our own solar system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-energetic-stars-in-the-constellation-taurus-nbsp">Energetic stars in the constellation Taurus&nbsp;</h2>



“This reflection nebula is illuminated by the system of three bright stars in the center of this image, mainly the variable star V1025 Tauri in the very center," ESA noted. 



“One of those stars overlaps with part of the nebula: this is another variable star that is named HP Tauri, but is classified as a T Tauri star, for its similarity to yet another variable star elsewhere in the Taurus Molecular Complex.”&nbsp;



T Tauri stars are young, energetic stars in the earliest stages of stellar evolution, just beginning their journey toward becoming stable main sequence stars like our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-sun-like-stars-with-secret-companions/">Sun</a>.&nbsp;



These stars are highly variable, often exhibiting strong stellar winds and flares as they settle into equilibrium. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-dynamic-star-system">A dynamic star system</h2>



In this case, the trio of T Tauri stars - named HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3 - are believed to be gravitationally bound, forming a dynamic triple star system.



“Eagle-eyed viewers might notice the small, squashed, orange spot, just left of center below the clouds of the nebula, that’s crossed by a dark line. This is a newly-formed protostar, hidden in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/planet-forming-disks-surrounding-stars-often-last-much-longer-than-expected/">protoplanetary disc</a> that obstructs some of its light,” explained ESA.



“Because the disc is edge-on to us, it’s an ideal candidate for study. Astronomers are using Hubble here to examine it closely, seeking to learn about the kinds of exoplanets that might be formed in discs like it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-light-of-hot-young-stars">The light of hot, young stars</h2>



Reflection nebulae are usually found in regions where new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/10-billion-white-dwarf-stars-in-milky-way-galaxy-might-have-habitable-planets/">stars</a> are forming, often near or within dense molecular clouds.&nbsp;



Some reflection nebulae can span light-years across and serve as markers of stellar nurseries - places where future generations of stars are taking shape.



Reflection nebulae offer astronomers a valuable glimpse into the structure and composition of the interstellar medium and help trace the life cycles of stars from birth to maturity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-examples-of-reflection-nebulae-nbsp">Examples of reflection nebulae&nbsp;</h2>



One well-known example is the reflection nebula surrounding the Pleiades star cluster, also called the Seven Sisters.&nbsp;



The Iris Nebula, located in the constellation Cepheus about 1,300 light-years from Earth, is a striking reflection nebula illuminated by the young star SAO 19158.



This nebula is a popular target for astrophotographers due to its vivid colors and intricate structure.



Found about 1,600 light-years away, M78 is the brightest reflection nebula in the Orion constellation and one of the easiest to observe with amateur telescopes. It’s illuminated by two young stars, HD 38563A and HD 38563B.&nbsp;



M78 is part of a larger complex of gas and dust that includes many other star-forming regions within the Orion Molecular Cloud.



Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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Young stars illuminate the constellation Taurus 

Today's Image of the Day from the European Space Agency...

Today's Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features a large phytoplankton bloom in the Gulf of Maine.



The image was captured on June 21, 2025, by the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) on NASA’s PACE satellite.&nbsp;



“In summer 2025, waters in the Gulf of Maine popped with vivid swirls of blue and green. The cause was a massive bloom of phytoplankton - microscopic plant-like organisms that often float near the ocean surface,” noted <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/154472/a-booming-bloom-returns-to-the-gulf-of-maine">NASA</a>.



“Scientists say it was one of the largest blooms of its kind to show up in the Gulf’s waters in recent years.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bloom-in-the-gulf-of-maine">Bloom in the Gulf of Maine </h2>



Catherine Mitchell is a satellite oceanographer at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. She noted that the Gulf of Maine bloom contained coccolithophores, a type of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-phytoplankton-that-feed-ocean-life-are-rapidly-disappearing/">phytoplankton</a> that makes the water appear milky blue.



“The tiny organisms, along with other types of phytoplankton, including diatoms that bloom here in spring, lie at the base of the marine food web,” explained NASA.



“Their presence - or absence - in Gulf of Maine waters can affect the entire ecosystem, from finfish to shellfish, and the region’s fisheries that depend on them.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shifting-conditions-and-plankton-communities-nbsp">Shifting conditions and plankton communities&nbsp;</h2>



Mitchell said that coccolithophore blooms like this one became less common in the Gulf’s waters starting around 2010. But in recent years, they’ve started to come back.&nbsp;



Scientists have also seen more dinoflagellates (a type of phytoplankton that move with tiny tails) and an overall drop in phytoplankton productivity over the past few decades.



These changes in plankton are linked to shifting ocean conditions. For instance, heavy rainfall from 2006 to 2009 made the Gulf’s waters fresher. Then, starting in 2008, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invisible-forest-of-phytoplankton-thrives-in-a-warming-climate/">warm water</a> from deep in the North Atlantic began heating the Gulf from the bottom up.&nbsp;



However, by spring 2025, bottom-water temperatures were cooler than they’ve been in 20 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ongoing-research-efforts">Ongoing research efforts</h2>



“The relationship between these changing water conditions and phytoplankton communities in the gulf remains unclear, but ongoing research could begin to provide some answers,” noted NASA.



“In fact, Mitchell and colleagues scrutinized this PACE image just days before heading out on a research expedition to study the bloom and other ocean properties up close. The cruise, the third so far this year, offers scientists the chance to validate ocean color data collected by PACE with real-world ocean samples.”



Mitchell pointed out that a major benefit of the PACE satellite is its ability to “see the rainbow,” which makes it easier for scientists to distinguish between groups of phytoplankton.



“With our continuing field measurements, we will validate ocean color observations from PACE, enabling satellite observations in the Gulf of Maine and supporting the region’s fisheries and aquaculture industries.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-vital-signs-of-ocean-health">Vital signs of ocean health</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dust-from-africa-sparked-a-massive-phytoplankton-bloom/">Phytoplankton blooms</a> like the one captured in the Gulf of Maine are vital signs of ocean health. These microscopic organisms form the foundation of marine food webs, feeding everything from tiny zooplankton to large fish, whales, and seabirds.&nbsp;



When conditions are right - such as warm temperatures, abundant sunlight, and available nutrients - phytoplankton populations can grow rapidly, creating colorful blooms that are visible from space.



The Gulf of Maine is particularly sensitive to environmental change. Located at the intersection of cold northern currents and warmer waters from the south, it’s a dynamic ecosystem where small shifts in temperature or salinity can have outsized effects.&nbsp;



This region is also one of the fastest-warming ocean areas on the planet, with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-temperatures-are-rising-faster-than-expected-and-likely-to-accelerate/">temperatures</a> rising more than three times the global ocean average in some years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forecasting-changes-with-ocean-monitoring-nbsp">Forecasting changes with ocean monitoring&nbsp;</h2>



Changes in water temperature and salinity have ripple effects across the food chain. Warmer waters can favor certain types of phytoplankton over others, shifting the balance of species in ways that affect what fish and shellfish are available to predators - and to the region’s fisheries.&nbsp;



For example, coccolithophores may thrive in clearer, warmer waters, while traditional spring-blooming diatoms do better in colder, more nutrient-rich conditions.



Long-term monitoring is essential to understand and predict these shifts. Satellites like PACE provide a global view of ocean color, which reflects the presence and composition of phytoplankton.&nbsp;



By combining these observations with ship-based sampling, scientists can get a more complete picture of how plankton communities are evolving and how that affects everything from carbon cycling to fisheries sustainability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-in-the-gulf-of-maine-nbsp">Warming in the Gulf of Maine&nbsp;</h2>



The Gulf’s warming trend has already caused noticeable ecological changes. Some species of fish have moved farther north or into deeper waters in search of cooler temperatures.&nbsp;



Lobsters, a key commercial species, have shifted their range as well. Meanwhile, harmful <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-algae-in-lake-erie-may-be-hiding-toxic-deadly-compounds/">algal blooms</a> - caused by certain types of phytoplankton - have become more frequent in some parts of the Gulf, threatening shellfish harvests and public health.



Scientists are working to better predict how blooms will respond to future climate conditions.&nbsp;



Understanding which species are likely to dominate under warmer, fresher, or more acidic conditions can help predict changes in fish stocks, shellfish safety, and ecosystem stability.&nbsp;



This kind of forecasting is especially important in the Gulf of Maine, where marine resources are closely tied to local economies.



Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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Giant bloom in the Gulf of Maine signals change

Today's Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features...

Today's Image of the Day from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope features the most detailed view to date of the planetary nebula NGC 1514.



The nebula sits about 1,500 light-years away in the Taurus constellation. Webb’s latest <a href="https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-118#section-id-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">observation</a> reveals two dusty rings wrapped around a fading star system, surrounded by orange arcs and glowing gas. 



This scene isn’t new - it’s been evolving for at least 4,000 years. Until now, much of its structure remained hidden. Thanks to Webb’s powerful mid-infrared camera, scientists can finally see the full extent of the nebula’s complexity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dust-rings-and-broken-shells">Dust rings and broken shells</h2>



At the center of NGC 1514, two stars locked in a tight nine-year orbit are driving this dramatic display. One of them - formerly several times the mass of our Sun - has shed its outer layers as it reached the end of its life.&nbsp;



What’s left is a hot, compact white dwarf star blasting out faster, weaker winds that may have swept earlier material into thin, fragile shells.



What Webb has <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/webb-telescope-may-have-just-found-its-first-planet/">uncovered</a> is a tangled mess of dust, much of which was invisible to previous telescopes. The rings now appear fuzzy and uneven, like clumps floating through space.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-material-ejected-from-a-dying-star">Material ejected from a dying star</h2>



Some areas show distinct holes near the center, marking where faster material appears to have punched through the older gas. The telescope also picked up signs of oxygen in the nebula’s pink core, especially around the edges of the holes.



“Before Webb, we weren’t able to detect most of this material, let alone observe it so clearly,” said Mike Ressler, a project scientist for Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.&nbsp;



Ressler first spotted the rings in 2010 using an earlier infrared mission, but they were faint and hard to analyze. “With MIRI’s data, we can now comprehensively examine the turbulent nature of this nebula,” he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-nebula-s-unusual-shape">The nebula’s unusual shape</h2>



Unlike the perfectly round shapes many might expect, NGC 1514 isn’t a sphere. Webb’s observations show that the whole formation is tilted at about 60 degrees - like a can being tipped over - but its true shape is more like an hourglass with the ends sliced off.&nbsp;



Subtle pinches of dust in shallow V-shapes give clues to this structure, particularly near the top left and bottom right of the image.



The bizarre shape may be due to the interaction between the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-map-twin-stars-to-discover-hidden-planets-with-unprecedented-accuracy/">two stars</a>. During the period when the larger star was losing its outer layers, its companion may have drifted extremely close.&nbsp;



“That interaction can lead to shapes that you wouldn’t expect,” said David Jones, a senior scientist who confirmed the central binary system in 2017. “Instead of producing a sphere, this interaction might have formed these rings.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-patchy-rings-with-a-fuzzy-appearance-nbsp">Patchy rings with a fuzzy appearance&nbsp;</h2>



Between the rings, dim and semi-transparent clouds stretch through the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/six-rogue-worlds-discovered-inside-a-young-star-forming-nebula/">nebula</a>, adding body and giving hints at the object’s full three-dimensional shape.&nbsp;



The rings themselves aren’t evenly lit - they fade out toward the top right and bottom left. This patchiness, along with their fuzzy appearance, points to their makeup: very small dust grains.



“We think the rings are primarily made up of very small dust grains,” Ressler explained. “When those grains are hit by ultraviolet light from the white dwarf star, they heat up ever so slightly, which we think makes them just warm enough to be detected by Webb in mid-infrared light.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-simple-mix-of-ingredients">A simple mix of ingredients</h2>



Notably, the nebula lacks something usually seen in similar objects: carbon and its more complex molecules.&nbsp;



Most planetary nebulae contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - carbon-rich compounds that resemble soot. But <a href="https://webbtelescope.org/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Webb</a> didn’t find any trace of them in NGC 1514.



The absence of the molecules could be due to the swirling motion of the two central stars, which may have prevented more complex molecules from forming. This also allows more light from the stars to escape, helping to illuminate the faint, outer rings.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-glowing-shells-of-dying-stars">Glowing shells of dying stars</h2>



Astronomers have been studying NGC 1514 for centuries. Back in 1790, William Herschel described it as the first deep-sky object he saw that looked truly cloudy - not just a collection of stars. He couldn’t resolve it into individual points of light the way he could with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trio-of-star-clusters-may-be-the-same-system-at-different-ages/">star clusters</a>. 



That cloudy impression was one of the earliest clues pointing toward the existence of planetary nebulae - the glowing shells of gas that dying stars leave behind.



Now, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/webb-telescope-uncovers-secrets-of-dark-matter-in-cosmic-collision-zone/">Webb</a> has revealed the full extent of the cloud Herschel saw. NGC 1514 has turned out to be a complex, dynamic structure still shifting over time.



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Michael Ressler (NASA-JPL), Dave Jones (IAC)



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Stellar farewell: The fading legacy of a dying star

Today's Image of the Day from NASA’s James Webb Space...

Today's Image of the Day from the European Space Agency showcases the striking beauty of the planetary nebula NGC 2899, which resembles a moth in flight. The photo was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.



“The planetary nebula NGC 2899 is shaped like a single macaroni noodle, with its edges pointed up, but its edge-on central torus is semi-transparent in the middle,” noted <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESA</a>.



“The top and bottom edges are thick and orange. The center is semi-transparent blue and green. The wider central region looks roughly like a moth, also filled with semi-transparent blue and green.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-defining-features-of-the-planetary-nebula">Defining features of the planetary nebula</h2>



According to ESA, the nebula features a bipolar, cylindrical outflow of gas extending diagonally. The gas is driven by intense radiation and stellar winds from a central <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/white-dwarf-planets-are-more-habitable-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">white dwarf</a> with a scorching temperature of nearly 22,000 degrees Celsius. 



“In fact, there may be two companion stars that are interacting and sculpting the nebula, which is pinched in the middle by a fragmented ring or torus - looking like a half-eaten donut,” said ESA.



Streams of gaseous “pillars” extend outward, all pointing back toward the central source of energy. The vibrant colors in the image come from glowing hydrogen and oxygen gases.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-discovery-and-significance-of-ngc-2899">Discovery and significance of NGC 2899</h2>



NGC 2899 was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on March 2, 1835, during his survey of the southern skies from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. 



Herschel cataloged many deep-sky objects in the southern hemisphere, contributing significantly to the New General Catalogue (NGC) compiled later by John Louis Emil Dreyer.



NGC 2899 is located approximately 4,500 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Vela, which is part of the larger Vela-Puppis-Carina region of the Milky Way known for its rich <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fluffy-molecular-clouds-may-change-our-understanding-of-star-formation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">star-forming activity</a> and remnants of past stellar explosions.&nbsp;



Vela, whose name means "sails" in Latin, represents the sails of the ancient Greek mythological ship Argo Navis. This region of the sky is particularly abundant in nebulae, star clusters, and other deep-sky objects, making it a focal point for astronomical observations.&nbsp;



The nebula’s distance places it well within our galaxy, offering astronomers a valuable glimpse into the later stages of stellar evolution and the processes that sculpt and illuminate planetary nebulae.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-a-planetary-nebula">What is a planetary nebula?</h2>



Nebulae are vast clouds of gas and dust in space, often serving as the birthplaces or remnants of stars.&nbsp;



They come in various types, including emission nebulae that glow due to ionized gases energized by nearby stars, reflection nebulae that shine by scattering starlight, and dark nebulae that obscure light from background <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/runaway-star-may-be-dragging-a-planet-along-with-it/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stars</a>.&nbsp;



Planetary nebulae form when dying stars shed their outer layers, creating colorful, often symmetrical shapes. Nebulae can span light-years across and are key to understanding the life cycles of stars and the structure of galaxies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-fate-of-dying-stars">The fate of dying stars</h2>



Not all dying stars become planetary nebulae. In fact, stars much more massive than the Sun follow a very different and far more violent path.&nbsp;



These massive stars end their lives in dramatic supernova explosions, releasing tremendous energy and scattering heavy elements into space, which enriches the interstellar medium.&nbsp;



What remains after the explosion depends on the star’s mass. The collapsed core can form a neutron star - an incredibly dense object composed mostly of neutrons. Or, if the star was even more massive, it may create a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astronomers-confirm-lone-black-hole-wandering-through-our-galaxy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">black hole</a>, where gravity is so intense that not even light can escape.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-examples-of-winged-nebulae-nbsp">Examples of “winged” nebulae&nbsp;</h2>



Several well-known nebulae are noted for their "winged" or symmetrical, wing-like appearances, often earning them evocative nicknames.&nbsp;



One of the most famous is the Butterfly Nebula, located in the constellation Scorpius. This planetary <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dragons-egg-nebula-is-a-truly-stunning-sight-to-behold/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nebula</a> displays two expansive lobes that resemble butterfly wings, shaped by fast stellar winds from a dying star.



The Omega Nebula (also known as the Swan Nebula) in the constellation Sagittarius is a bright star-forming region that has been said to resemble a swan in flight. It has broad, glowing "wings" formed by clouds of ionized hydrogen gas.&nbsp;



Similarly, the Eagle Nebula has an overall shape reminiscent of a bird with outstretched wings, which inspired its name. It is located in the constellation Serpens and home to the iconic "Pillars of Creation."



Image Credit: ESA



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Planetary nebula with ethereal wings captured by Hubble

Today's Image of the Day from the <a href="https://www.eso.org/public/">European Southern Observatory</a> (ESO) features a stunning view of the Sculptor Galaxy, one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible from Earth.



The ultra-detailed image, which was captured using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, reveals features in the Sculptor Galaxy that have never been seen before.&nbsp;



ESO researcher Enrico Congiu led a new study on the Sculptor Galaxy that is published in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-galaxy-wide-view-of-sculptor-nbsp">A galaxy-wide view of Sculptor&nbsp;</h2>



The team observed the galaxy in thousands of wavelengths at once, collecting an immense amount of data from every point across its structure. This allowed them to build a comprehensive, galaxy-wide view of how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/white-dwarf-stars-may-be-billions-of-years-older-than-estimated/">stars</a> live and evolve within Sculptor.



"Galaxies are incredibly complex systems that we are still struggling to understand," said Congiu.



“The Sculptor Galaxy is in a sweet spot. It is close enough that we can resolve its internal structure and study its building blocks with incredible detail, but at the same time, big enough that we can still see it as a whole system.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-thousands-of-distinct-colors-nbsp">Thousands of distinct colors&nbsp;</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oxygen-detected-in-the-most-distant-and-primitive-galaxy-ever-analyzed/">Galaxies</a> span hundreds of thousands of light-years, yet their evolution is shaped by processes unfolding on much smaller scales.&nbsp;



The fundamental components of a galaxy - stars, gas, and dust - each emit light in distinct colors. The more shades of color captured in an image, the deeper the insight into a galaxy’s internal structure.&nbsp;



Traditional images typically contain only a few colors, but the new map of the Sculptor Galaxy includes thousands.&nbsp;



This rich spectrum provides astronomers with detailed information about the galaxy’s stars, gas, and dust - from their ages and chemical makeup to how they’re moving through space.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-the-sculptor-galaxy-nbsp">Mapping the Sculptor Galaxy&nbsp;</h2>



The research team spent more than 50 hours observing the Sculptor Galaxy using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope.&nbsp;



To capture the full view - spanning roughly 65,000 light-years - they combined over 100 separate exposures into a single, detailed mosaic.&nbsp;



According to study co-author Kathryn Kreckel from Heidelberg University, Germany, this makes the map a potent tool.&nbsp;



“We can zoom in to study individual regions where stars form at nearly the scale of individual stars, but we can also zoom out to study the galaxy as a whole,” said Kreckel.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hundreds-of-planetary-nebulae-nbsp">Hundreds of planetary nebulae&nbsp;</h2>



In their initial analysis of the data, the team identified around 500 planetary <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orion-nebula-destroys-an-oceans-worth-of-water-every-month/">nebulae</a> scattered throughout the Sculptor Galaxy.



Study co-author Fabian Scheuermann, a doctoral student at Heidelberg University, emphasized the significance of the discovery.&nbsp;



Scheuermann noted that when astronomers study galaxies outside of our own cosmic neighborhood, they normally detect fewer than 100 planetary nebulae in each one.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-galaxy-of-extremes">A galaxy of extremes</h2>



The Sculptor Galaxy, also known as NGC 253, is located about 11.4 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. It’s classified as a starburst galaxy, meaning it’s undergoing an exceptionally high rate of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fluffy-molecular-clouds-may-change-our-understanding-of-star-formation/">star formation</a>.&nbsp;



This vigorous star-making activity is especially intense in its central regions, where dense clouds of gas and dust feed the birth of new stars.&nbsp;



The galaxy is tilted at a steep angle from our perspective, which gives it a striking, elongated appearance when viewed through telescopes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-notable-features-of-the-sculptor-galaxy-nbsp">Notable features of the Sculptor Galaxy&nbsp;</h2>



Discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel, the Sculptor Galaxy has become a popular target for both professional astronomers and amateur skywatchers due to its brightness and relative proximity.&nbsp;



It’s part of the Sculptor Group, one of the nearest groups of galaxies to our Local Group. Despite being rich in star-forming regions, much of its inner structure is veiled by thick dust lanes.&nbsp;



However, infrared and X-ray observations have helped scientists peer through the obscuring material to study the galaxy’s core, revealing a wealth of activity including supernova remnants and a possible central <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/largest-ultramassive-black-hole-ever-seen-cosmic-horseshoe-lrg-3-757/">black hole</a>.



The Sculptor Galaxy is also notable for its extended halo of stars and gas, which suggests past interactions or mergers with smaller galaxies.&nbsp;



This halo, along with its active central region, makes NGC 253 a valuable subject for understanding how galaxies evolve, form stars, and recycle gas over time. Its combination of beauty and scientific richness continues to make it a focus of galactic studies.



Image Credit: European Southern Observatory&nbsp;



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Thousands of colors in the Sculptor Galaxy

Today's Image of the Day from the European Southern Observatory...

Today's Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features a dazzling view of the globular cluster NGC 1786, which was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.&nbsp;



Unlike open <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trio-of-star-clusters-may-be-the-same-system-at-different-ages/">clusters</a>, which are younger and more loosely arranged, globular clusters are tightly concentrated and typically located in a galaxy’s halo.



The globular cluster NGC 1786 is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) - a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way about 160,000 light-years from Earth.&nbsp;



“NGC 1786 itself is in the constellation Dorado. It was discovered in the year 1835 by John Herschel,” noted <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images">ESA</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-observing-globular-clusters-nbsp">Observing globular clusters&nbsp;</h2>



Globular clusters are densely packed, spherical groups of stars that orbit the cores of galaxies like satellites.&nbsp;



Each cluster can contain tens of thousands to millions of stars, all bound tightly together by gravity. These stars are generally very old - often over 10 billion years - making globular clusters some of the oldest known structures in the universe.



The image of NGC 1786 is part of a broader observing program aimed at comparing old globular clusters in nearby dwarf galaxies with those found in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/milky-way-galaxy-may-be-inside-a-giant-void-in-the-universe-explains-hubble-tension/">Milky Way</a>.&nbsp;



“Our galaxy contains over 150 of these old, spherical collections of tightly-bound stars, which have been studied in depth - especially with Hubble Space Telescope images like this one, which show them in previously-unattainable detail,” said ESA.



“Being very stable and long-lived, they act as galactic time capsules, preserving stars from the earliest stages of a galaxy’s formation.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-stars-in-globular-clusters">Stars in globular clusters</h2>



For many years, astronomers believed that the stars in globular clusters all formed at roughly the same time. However, studies of Milky Way clusters have revealed multiple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/zhulong-spiral-galaxy-like-milky-way-discovered-at-edge-of-universe-should-not-exist/">stellar populations</a> of different ages.&nbsp;



To better understand how globular clusters form - and how they can be used to trace galactic evolution - researchers are now investigating whether clusters like NGC 1786 in external galaxies also show signs of multiple stellar generations.&nbsp;



This research sheds light on the origins and development of the Large Magellanic Cloud. It also helps scientists study the formation history of the Milky Way itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-large-magellanic-cloud-nbsp">Large Magellanic Cloud&nbsp;</h2>



The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is one of the most prominent and intriguing galaxies in our cosmic neighborhood. It is the largest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way and is visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.&nbsp;



A <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dozens-of-ghost-galaxies-may-be-orbiting-the-milky-way/">satellite galaxy</a> is a smaller galaxy that orbits a larger one due to gravitational attraction. Just as the Moon orbits the Earth, satellite galaxies are bound to larger galaxies and can slowly orbit them over billions of years. 



These satellites can range in size from relatively massive dwarf galaxies to tiny, faint collections of stars.



Though classified as a dwarf galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud spans roughly 14,000 light-years across and contains billions of stars, nebulae, and star clusters.&nbsp;



One of its most famous features is the Tarantula Nebula - the most active star-forming region in the entire Local Group of galaxies. This stellar nursery is so intense that it's forming some of the most massive stars ever observed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dynamic-interaction-with-the-milky-way-nbsp">Dynamic interaction with the Milky Way&nbsp;</h2>



The Large Magellanic Cloud is also of great interest to astronomers because of its dynamic relationship with the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-solar-systems-journey-through-the-milky-way-may-have-altered-earths-climate/">Milky Way</a>. It’s not just a passive companion - it’s interacting gravitationally with both the Milky Way and the Small Magellanic Cloud, another nearby dwarf galaxy.&nbsp;



These interactions have created long streams of gas, such as the Magellanic Stream, that arc across the sky. In fact, recent studies suggest the Large Magellanic Cloud may be on its first infall into the Milky Way’s halo, rather than orbiting it for billions of years as once thought.&nbsp;



This motion could have significant effects on the structure of our galaxy, possibly even perturbing the Milky Way’s dark matter halo.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-the-research">Significance of the research </h2>



The detailed observations of NGC 1786 not only showcase the stunning capabilities of the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/">Hubble Space Telescope</a> but also deepen our understanding of how galaxies like the Milky Way and the LMC evolve over time.&nbsp;



By examining ancient globular clusters in both the Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies, astronomers are uncovering vital clues about star formation and the processes that shaped our universe.



Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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Glittering cluster is home to some of the oldest known stars

Today's Image of the Day from NASA features the spiral galaxy NGC 2566, which is located 76 million light-years away in the constellation Puppis. The image was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.



“A prominent bar of stars stretches across the center of this galaxy, and spiral arms emerge from each end of the bar. Because NGC 2566 appears tilted from our perspective, its disk takes on an almond shape, giving the galaxy the appearance of a cosmic eye,” said <a href="https://phys.org/news/2024-12-hubble-spies-spiral-galaxy-ngc.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>.



“As NGC 2566 appears to gaze at us, astronomers gaze right back, using Hubble to survey the galaxy's star clusters and star-forming regions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-complex-appearance-of-ngc-2566">Complex appearance of NGC 2566</h2>



NGC 2566 lies at a considerable distance from Earth, making it a challenging object for amateur astronomers to observe in detail without powerful telescopes.&nbsp;



It can be seen in the Southern Hemisphere sky and is better observed from locations with minimal <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-light-pollution-influences-interest-in-astronomy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">light pollution</a>.&nbsp;



The galaxy's arms are populated with young, bright stars, regions of active star formation, and interstellar gas and dust - giving it a dynamic and complex appearance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-measuring-the-ages-of-stars">Measuring the ages of stars</h2>



According to NASA, data from Hubble is especially valuable for studying stars that are just a few million years old. “These stars are bright at the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths to which Hubble is sensitive.”



“Using these data, researchers can measure the ages of NGC 2566's stars, which helps piece together the timeline of the galaxy's star formation and the exchange of gas between star-forming clouds and the stars themselves.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-star-formation-in-galaxies">Star formation in galaxies</h2>



Star formation in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shapes-of-one-million-galaxies-hint-at-the-universes-origins/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxies</a> is a fascinating and complex process that unfolds over millions of years. It begins in vast clouds of gas and dust, known as molecular clouds, which are often found in the spiral arms of galaxies or in regions of irregular or starburst galaxies.&nbsp;



These clouds provide the raw material for star formation, consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium, with trace amounts of heavier elements.



As the molecular clouds collapse under their own gravity, regions within them begin to condense and fragment, forming dense clumps. Within these clumps, protostars emerge. Their formation is driven by the gravitational pull drawing in surrounding gas.&nbsp;



During this process, the gas heats up due to increasing pressure, eventually igniting nuclear fusion in the core, signaling the birth of a new star.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rates-of-star-formation">Rates of star formation</h2>



The rate of star formation varies across galaxies is influenced by numerous factors. In spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, star formation is most active in the spiral arms, where density waves compress gas and dust, triggering the collapse of molecular clouds.&nbsp;



Elliptical galaxies, which often have little cold gas and dust, typically exhibit low rates of star formation or none at all.



On the other hand, starburst galaxies experience episodes of exceptionally high star formation, often triggered by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/webb-captures-a-galaxy-collision-with-a-radiant-smile/">galactic collisions</a> or interactions.



These events can funnel large amounts of gas into central regions, leading to intense star-forming activity. However, such bursts are usually short-lived on cosmic timescales, exhausting the available gas quickly.



The environment within a galaxy also plays a significant role. Stellar winds and supernova explosions from existing stars can both inhibit and promote star formation. They may disperse gas, preventing further collapse, or compress nearby clouds, triggering new star formation.&nbsp;



As galaxies evolve over time, the availability of gas diminishes, leading to a gradual decline in star formation activity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-puppis-constellation-nbsp">The Puppis constellation&nbsp;</h2>



The Puppis constellation in the southern sky represents the stern of a ship. It was once part of a larger constellation known as Argo Navis, which depicted the mythical ship of Jason and the Argonauts.&nbsp;



However, Argo Navis was later divided into three separate constellations: Puppis, Carina (the keel), and Vela (the sails). Puppis is the largest of these three and contains many notable celestial objects.



This constellation is home to several bright stars, including Naos (Zeta Puppis), a hot, massive star that emits intense ultraviolet radiation. Puppis also hosts a wide variety of deep-sky objects, such as open <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stunning-star-clusters-captured-in-the-extreme-outskirts-of-the-milky-way/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">star clusters</a> and nebulae.&nbsp;



Among these, Messier 46 and Messier 47 stand out. Both are beautiful star clusters that are visible through binoculars or small telescopes. The region is dense with stars because it lies along the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/milky-way-collision-may-change-everything-we-know-about-our-galaxy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Milky Way</a>, making it a prime area for stargazing and astrophotography. 



Image Credit: NASA



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Eye in the sky: A galaxy that appears to be gazing back

Today's Image of the Day from NASA features the spiral...

Today's Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features the galaxy I Zwicky 18, which was captured in remarkable detail by the James Webb Space Telescope.



I Zwicky 18 is a blue compact dwarf <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/newly-discovered-stars-milky-way-are-old-as-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxy</a> located approximately 59 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-star-formation-in-i-zwicky-18">Star formation in I Zwicky 18</h2>



The galaxy is notable for its relatively young appearance and the fact that it contains very few heavy elements. These characteristics indicate that it has experienced little <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baby-stars-release-sneezes-of-gas-and-dust-as-they-develop/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">star formation</a> compared to other galaxies of similar age.



“The galaxy was first identified by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in the 1930’s and resides roughly 59 million light-years from Earth,” noted <a href="https://www.esa.int/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESA</a>. “This galaxy has gone through several sudden bursts of star formation.”&nbsp;



According to ESA, I Zwicky 18 is typical of the kinds of galaxies that inhabited the early universe and is much smaller than our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/runaway-star-j1249-36-spotted-trying-to-escape-our-milky-way-galaxy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Milky Way</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-webb-telescope-image-of-the-galaxy">Webb telescope image of the galaxy</h2>



“Two major starburst regions are embedded in the heart of the galaxy. The wispy brown filaments surrounding the central starburst region are bubbles of gas that have been heated by stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation unleashed by hot, young stars,” said ESA.



“A companion galaxy resides nearby to the dwarf galaxy, which can be seen at the bottom of the wider-field image. The companion may be interacting with the dwarf galaxy and may have triggered that galaxy's recent star formation.”&nbsp;



ESA explained that the “orange blobs” surrounding the galaxy are the dim glow from ancient fully formed galaxies at much larger distances.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-characteristics-of-i-zwicky-18">Key characteristics of I Zwicky 18</h2>



As previously mentioned, the galaxy has a very low abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, suggesting that it has not undergone significant stellar processing.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-young-stellar-population-nbsp">Young stellar population&nbsp;</h3>



Despite its old age, I Zwicky 18 contains many young, hot stars. This suggests that it might have experienced a burst of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hubble-detects-awe-inspiring-newborn-star/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">star formation</a> relatively recently in its history.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interstellar-medium-nbsp">Interstellar medium&nbsp;</h3>



The galaxy has a high density of gas, which is a prime ingredient for star formation. This gas is mostly in the form of hydrogen.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unusual-characteristics">Unusual characteristics</h3>



Its characteristics are more typical of primordial galaxies found in the early universe, making it a valuable object of study for understanding galaxy formation and evolution.



Ultimately, I Zwicky 18 provides insights into the conditions and processes that might have been prevalent in the early universe.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-life-cycles-of-stars-and-dust">Life cycles of stars and dust</h3>



The image was captured as part of a Webb program to study the life cycle of dust in I Zw 18.&nbsp;



“Scientists are now building off of previous research with Hubble obtained at optical wavelengths, studying individual dusty stars in detail with Webb’s equivalent spatial resolution and sensitivity at infrared wavelengths.”&nbsp;



ESA noted that this galaxy is of particular interest as its content of elements heavier than helium is one of the lowest of all known <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-galaxy-formation-occurred-much-faster-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxies</a> in the local universe.&nbsp;



“Such conditions are thought to be similar to those in some of the first star-forming galaxies at high redshift, so the Webb study of I Zw 18 should shed light on the life-cycle of stars and dust in the early universe.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-constellation-ursa-major">The constellation Ursa Major </h2>



Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, is one of the most prominent and easily recognizable constellations in the northern sky. 



Its name, "Ursa Major," means "Great Bear" in Latin, and it has been a significant part of various mythologies and star lore across cultures for thousands of years. 



One of the most famous asterisms within Ursa Major is the Big Dipper, a group of seven bright stars that form a shape resembling a ladle or dipper. The Big Dipper is often used as a navigation tool because it points to Polaris, the North Star, located in the nearby constellation Ursa Minor.



Ursa Major is best viewed in the northern hemisphere and is circumpolar, meaning it is visible year-round for much of the Northern Hemisphere. Its position changes with the seasons, rotating around Polaris, the North Star.



Image Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope



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Dwarf galaxy provides a window into the early universe

The MODIS instrument, short for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, is a key instrument aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites. MODIS is playing a vital role in the development of Earth ecosystem models, able to predict global changes, which then assist policy makers in making informed decisions about the protection of the global environment.

Heavy snow and cloud cover in the Alps are seen in this Image of the day&nbsp;from the <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> and features a look at heavy snow and low clouds in the Alps. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as Edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.

Heavy snow and cloud cover in the Alps

Monitoring Earth Changes with MODIS

Aqua is a NASA scientific research satellite that studies precipitation, evaporation, and water cycles. Terra and Aura make up the Earth Observing System. It's the second component of the system.

A frozen Lake Erie in February Today’s Image of the Day comes from the <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> and features a look at a frozen <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/icy-lake-erie/">Lake Erie</a>, which is currently 93.3 percent iced over. A frozen Lake Erie in February
This false-color image was created using data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the Aqua satellite to differentiate between snow, ice, and clouds.
Lake Erie /ˈɪəri/ (French: Lac Érié) is the fourth-largest lake (by surface area) of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the eleventh-largest globally if measured in terms of surface area.It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. At its deepest point Lake Erie is 210 feet (64 metres) deep. 
Situated on the International Boundary between Canada and the United States, Lake Erie&#8217;s northern shore is the Canadian province of Ontario, specifically the Ontario Peninsula, with the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York on its western, southern, and eastern shores. These jurisdictions divide the surface area of the lake with water boundaries. 
The lake was named by the Erie people, a Native American people who lived along its southern shore. The tribal name &#8220;erie&#8221; is a shortened form of the Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning long tail
&#8212;
By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Rory Arnold</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Image Credit: <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a>

A frozen Lake Erie in February

Aqua Earth Observing Satellite

This beautiful photo gallery contains 50 incredible images of Earth from Space. These images were taken by astronauts onboard the International Space Station, as well as by a multitude of NASA satellites orbiting the earth.

Today’s Image of the Day comes thanks to the <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=90654&amp;eocn=home&amp;eoci=iotd_readmore">NASA Earth Observatory</a> and features a look at Super Typhoon Noru in the Pacific Ocean just south of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-blue-chrysanthemums-created/">Japan</a>.
This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on July 31, 2017. 
At the time the photo was taken, Typhoon Noru was located just 250 kilometers south of Iwo Jima. Maximum sustained winds hit 150 miles per hour.
The storm briefly became a category 5 on July 30, before being downgraded to a category 4 one day later.
&#8211;
By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Rory Arnold</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Source: <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=90654&amp;eocn=home&amp;eoci=iotd_readmore">NASA Earth Observatory</a>

Super Typhoon Noru in the Pacific Ocean

Incredible Images of Earth from Space

Photos from the International Space Station are found in this awesome Earth.com image gallery. Flat-earthers won't agree, but these incredible photos of the Earth were taken by astronauts onboard the International Space Station. The International Space Station is a modular space station in low Earth orbit.

Northern Italy from the space station is seen here in this Image of the Day from the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> (ESA). The view includes the top half of the Italian Peninsula, along with <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/wildfires-burn-northern-corsica/">Corsica</a> and Sardinia off the coast. This image was captured by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli on his third and final mission to the Space Station.

Northern Italy from the Space Station

Photos from the International Space Station

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is nearly 80 miles wide, making it the largest glacier in the world by width. If it collapses entirely, the resulting changes could raise global sea levels. Scientists are racing to understand the forces at work before it’s too late.



To better understand how this could unfold, researchers developed a new way to study the cracks - or fractures - that weaken the massive ice shelves connected to glaciers. 



These shelves float on the ocean, but they’re anchored to land. When they fracture and collapse, they speed up the melting of the glacier behind them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-antarctic-glacier-nears-its-breaking-point">Antarctic glacier nears its breaking point</h2>



Using years of NASA satellite data, the team focused on vertical fractures in the Antarctic ice sheet - the largest on the planet, even though it’s losing about 136 billion tons of ice each year. 



Their attention was on the Thwaites Ice Shelf, a critical extension of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predicting-the-future-behavior-of-thwaites-the-doomsday-glacier/">Thwaites</a> Glacier in West Antarctica.



Often called the “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/doomsday-glacier-may-collapse-sooner-than-we-thought/">Doomsday Glacier</a>” for its potential to raise sea levels by up to 11 feet, Thwaites is especially vulnerable. The ice shelf acts like a stopper, slowing the glacier’s flow into the ocean. If that shelf collapses, it could trigger a chain reaction of rapid ice loss.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-how-fractures-form">Rethinking how fractures form</h2>



The new method was developed by a research team at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Penn State University</a>. Their findings zero in on how fractures form and evolve in ice shelves - and why existing models aren’t enough.



Shujie Wang is an assistant professor of geography, a faculty associate in the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State, and a co-author of the study.



“We know little about fractures, and their behavior is much more complex than conventional models suggest,” she said. “Conventional models depend largely on simplified models and scarce, hard-to-obtain field observations.”



The Thwaites Ice Shelf is particularly unstable. It changes quickly, its surface is heavily fractured, and the ice flows at a fast pace. 



Researchers describe it as a final barrier that keeps the rest of the glacier from disintegrating.



Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State and co-author of the study, offered this analogy: “We’ve seen ice shelves break off, but we’ve never seen one grow back."



"This new research indicates we can predict better the point at which these will break off. It’s helping to establish the early-warning signals.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-high-resolution-views-of-ice-breaking">High-resolution views of ice breaking</h2>



To capture the changes in the ice shelf’s structure, the research team used data from NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite. It collected measurements between 2018 and 2024.



This satellite tracks ice elevation, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-much-will-antarctica-contribute-to-sea-level-rise/">sea level</a>, and other Earth features with remarkable precision.



The team built a new two-step process to analyze the satellite data. It lets them create high-resolution elevation profiles and visual cross-sections of fractures in the ice. 



Building on a previous algorithm Wang had designed to detect individual cracks, the new method gives researchers a better view of how different types of fractures form and evolve over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-antarctica-s-glacier-instability-feeds-on-itself">Antarctica’s glacier instability feeds on itself</h2>



The findings showed that the eastern section of the Thwaites Ice Shelf has more aggressive fracturing, while the western side appears more stable. The cause of that difference isn’t clear yet.



But the researchers pointed to several possible factors. These included warmer winter temperatures, less sea ice, and shifting ocean currents beneath the shelf. Further research is needed to know for sure.



As fractures spread, the ice flows faster. In Antarctica, that creates more cracks, which leads to more instability - a feedback loop that can push parts of the glacier past the point of no return.



“We believe that if the Thwaites Glacier gets very unstable, it will have catastrophic consequences,” Wang said. “It’s an important area to be studied, to say what’s going to change next.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-from-a-glacier-lost">Lessons from a glacier lost</h2>



This latest work builds on a 2023 study led by Wang that looked at the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/evidence-of-massive-ancient-icebergs-found-off-the-coast-of-britain/">Larsen B</a> Ice Shelf, which collapsed in 2002. 



That shelf, about 1,250 square miles in size, broke apart over just five weeks after years of weakening due to warmer air and ocean temperatures.



Back then, models didn’t catch the warning signs. Now, with this new method, researchers have better tools to predict when and where these breaks might happen.



While older approaches relied heavily on theory, the new system offers observations and data that can feed into more accurate models. Over time, the researchers hope this will lead to stronger predictions about how Antarctic ice is changing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tool-to-predict-ice-collapse">A tool to predict ice collapse</h2>



To support ongoing and future research, Zhengrui Huang, a doctoral candidate in geography and co-author of the paper, pulled together satellite data from more than 40 Antarctic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hidden-threat-lurking-in-antarcticas-ice-shelves/">ice shelves</a>. 



That dataset includes 3D information about fracture locations and depths - a potential goldmine for scientists working to understand ice dynamics.



“We expect this will be a key observational dataset of fractures for researchers who study and model Antarctic ice-shelf dynamics,” Huang said.



By sharing this data as an open resource, the team hopes to accelerate discoveries and sharpen predictions. The researchers also aim to help the world better understand what's at stake if massive glaciers like Thwaites keep crumbling.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JF008118" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface</a>.



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Glacier in Antarctica that could drown cities is breaking apart

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is nearly 80 miles...

A fossil dug up during the Civil War has spent more than a century mislabeled. Once thought to be a seaworm, it turns out the creature is something entirely different - and far more important.



It’s called Palaeocampa anthrax. And according to scientists at the <a href="https://umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a>, it may be the first known member of its group to make the jump from sea to land.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossil-sitting-in-a-museum-drawer">Fossil sitting in a museum drawer</h2>



The fossil was sitting in a drawer at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Richard J. Knecht, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Michigan, decided to take a closer look. 



What Knecht saw didn’t match the label. The creature wasn’t a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millipede-legs-grow-in-an-unexpected-way/">millipede</a>, or a caterpillar, or even a worm. It was a lobopod.



Lobopods are soft-bodied invertebrates that look like worms with legs. They’re considered ancestors of all arthropods - insects, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rethinking-arachnid-evolution-the-surprising-history-of-spiders/">spiders</a>, and crustaceans. Until now, they were believed to be purely marine animals that lived over 500 million years ago.



But this fossil tells a different story. "This is the first evidence that we have that this group actually did leave the ocean," Knecht said. "Transitioning from a saltwater environment, even to a freshwater environment, is a major evolutionary step." 



"Any time you find a group that made this transition, it's not just insightful, it's really important evolutionarily to try to understand how this happened." 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-misidentified-for-over-a-century">Misidentified for over a century</h2>



Since it was first discovered, this lobopod fossil has been misclassified multiple times. Photos of it have appeared in scientific studies, but no one realized what it truly was.



"When the specimen was first discovered, lobopods didn't even exist as a group," said Knecht. "This is an example of why revisiting older specimens can be of real value." 



"Even specimens that are iconic and super well known provide an opportunity to make big discoveries just by viewing them with new techniques and fresh perspectives." 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-all-came-down-to-the-spines">It all came down to the spines</h2>



This particular lobopod doesn’t look like much at first glance. It resembles a fuzzy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baby-caterpillars-defend-their-territory-without-a-fight/">caterpillar</a>, with tiny spines and bristles running down its body.



But when examined more closely, it stands apart from other lobopods. Most lobopodian spines grow in a pattern like stacked cones. Palaeocampa anthrax’s spines don’t. They’re segmented like bamboo, each one ending in a flat, turret-like tip.



Then came the real surprise: orange halos around the tips of the spines. That unusual feature led the team to ask a new question - was this lobopod fossil leaving behind a chemical clue?



To answer that, Knecht teamed up with Nanfang Yu, a physicist at Columbia University. Using infrared spectroscopy, they found fossilized molecules at the tips of the spines. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-defense-strategy-suits-dry-ground">Defense strategy suits dry ground</h2>



These molecules weren’t found anywhere else on the lobopod fossil or the surrounding rock. This pointed to a startling possibility: the creature might have secreted chemicals from the tips of its spines - possibly for defense.



"If I were to place a chip on the table, I'd say this organism was probably more terrestrial or amphibious, specifically because of that tip. It makes more sense in an aerial rather than a subaqueous environment," Knecht said.



Most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/divers-discovered-tiny-sea-creatures-clavelina-that-resemble-swimming-panda-bear-skeletons/">sea creatures</a> with spines use them to inject toxins. But if a defense mechanism simply leaks from the tip, it wouldn't work well underwater. It would just wash away. That kind of system makes a lot more sense on land or near land.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-long-shot-fossil-find">A long shot fossil find</h2>



Finding a soft-bodied fossil like this is rare. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-noise-can-be-fatal-to-marine-invertebrates/">Invertebrates</a> don’t have bones, and their bodies decompose fast. To preserve one, it must die in just the right conditions - usually in oxygen-poor water with fine sediment that covers the body almost immediately.



That’s what makes sites like Mazon Creek in Illinois and Montceau-les-Mines in France so valuable. These sites, known as Lagerstätten, preserve fossils in exceptional detail. And that’s where Palaeocampa anthrax was found.



The fossil is one of only two lobopods from the Carboniferous period. It's also the youngest known example of its kind - and potentially the first to show evidence of life outside the sea.



"It's like winning the lottery not once, but three times. First, that the site existed at all; second, to have this level of preservation; and third, to then find it over 300 million years later," Knecht said. "It's a series of statistical miracles."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-this-fossil-matters">Why this fossil matters</h2>



This fossil does more than correct a case of mistaken identity. It shows that lobopods - some of the earliest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frozen-worm-comes-back-to-life-after-46000-years/">ancestors</a> of insects and spiders - may have begun exploring land far earlier than anyone thought.



It also proves the value of looking at old things in new ways. A mislabeled fossil, sitting in a drawer for 150 years, just rewrote a chapter of life’s story on Earth.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08483-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Biology</a>.



Image Credit: Richard J. Knecht



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Forgotten fossil is reshaping the theory of evolution on land

A fossil dug up during the Civil War has spent...

Lightning jolts the sky and the ground around eight million times daily, but the quiet deaths it causes in forests remain mostly out of sight. A recent study now estimates that about 320 million individual trees succumb to direct lightning damage every single year.



“We’re now able not only to estimate how many trees die from lightning strikes annually, but also to identify the regions most affected and assess the implications for global carbon storage and forest structure,” said Andreas Krause from the Technical University of Munich (<a href="https://www.tum.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TUM</a>).



The team calculated that these silent strikes account for roughly 2 to 3 percent of all <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lightning-is-zapping-forests-harder-than-we-thought/">plant</a> biomass lost annually, and end up causing the emission of up to 1.09 billion tons of carbon dioxide as the dead wood decays.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightning-kills-trees-silently">Lightning kills trees silently</h2>



Forest pathologists often miss a lightning hit because the bark scars fade fast or never appear at all. Ground surveys in Central Panama were among the first to reveal how often a single bolt can kill multiple neighbors, especially among the biggest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tree-species-face-unprecedented-climate-shifts-across-their-ranges/">trunks</a>.



The follow-up work at the same site showed lightning is responsible for about 40 percent of large-tree deaths, which is more than those caused by storms or insects in that forest. This finding hinted that global numbers could be far larger than the few local case studies suggested.



Direct counts alone could not scale to the whole planet, so the Munich group turned to modeling. They stitched satellite maps of lightning frequency with on-the-ground mortality rates and fed the mix into a dynamic global vegetation model that tracks how simulated trees grow and die.



Technicians now fly drones fitted with thermal sensors above tree-fall zones, watching for lingering heat that betrays an invisible bolt. These surveys confirm that many lightning deaths would go uncounted by ground crews alone.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-and-how-lightning-kills-trees">Where and how lightning kills trees</h2>



The model, LPJ-GUESS, already simulates the impacts of fires, droughts, and logging. By adding a lightning module, the researchers let virtual strikes hit the tallest simulated stems first, mirroring the real preference of bolts for sky-piercing crowns.



The team ran the system with two independent lightning data sets, one from NASA satellites and another from a worldwide sensor network, to check robustness. The two runs agreed within about ten percent, landing on the headline figure of 320 million tree deaths in a year.



To test realism, they compared the virtual Panama plot with years of tagged trees and found the model killed roughly three trees per strike, close to field counts. That match gave the team confidence to push the simulation out to every half-degree grid square on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-are-part-of-the-climate-solution-but-not-the-whole-answer/">Earth</a>.



In the output maps, the hottest kill zones stretch across the Congo Basin, northern South America, and Indonesia, where warm, moist air fires up thunderstorms almost year-round. Temperate forests mattered less for now, but the model hints that their share could climb as the climate warms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tall-trees-die-more-often">Tall trees die more often</h2>



The risk rises with height because taller trunks act like living lightning rods. Among trees wider than two feet (0.6 meters) across, lightning can account for one in 20 deaths worldwide, and nearly one in ten inside some African rainforests.



Losing a big canopy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smarter-forest-design-can-help-fight-climate-change/">tree</a> does more than thin the skyline. Each one packs about as much carbon as dozens of saplings, and shapes the light and humidity for everything growing beneath.



In tropical forests thick with lianas, the vines can even conduct electricity between neighboring trunks, which widens the kill radius. Such botanical wiring partly explains why a single discharge can fell clusters rather than lone stems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lightning-and-global-carbon-emissions">Lightning and global carbon emissions</h2>



Forests hold around 870 billion tons of carbon in their wood and soil. Each year, living trees pull another 2.4 billion tons out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis. 



Losing even two to three percent of that <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2024/nrs_2024_pan_001.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon</a> stock every year is no minor loss - it matches the emissions released by burning live vegetation in wildfires.



The model calculates that lightning-killed wood releases as much carbon each year as the entire aviation industry. Most of that release happens slowly, as fungi and insects break down trunks that never burned.



Carbon accountants therefore need to track these non-fire disturbances, as well as considering the megafires that make headlines. Skipping them could underestimate natural greenhouse-gas sources as weather patterns shift.



Lightning does not always burn its victims, so the carbon flows into the atmosphere mostly as slow respiration, not smoke. That timeline complicates satellite assessments that rely on sudden fire scars.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-change-may-increase-lightning">Climate change may increase lightning </h2>



Warmer air holds more moisture and energy, and climate <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1259100" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">models</a> suggest United States lightning strikes may jump about 12 percent for every degree of global warming. 



Translated across the century, that projection means roughly 50 percent more flashes over mid-latitude lands.



Other research predicts fewer bolts in some tropical zones, showing the uncertainty that scientists still face. Even so, the new study underlines that any regional upswing could slice into forest carbon budgets that policymakers count on.



More strikes also raise the chance of wildfires, compounding the direct kills tallied here. Lightning already sparks most remote boreal fires, and an increase in strikes would lengthen the northern burning season.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-trees-with-better-tools">Tracking trees with better tools</h2>



The authors note that their numbers omit hidden knock-on effects, such as insects invading scarred trunks or delayed deaths that follow partial damage. 



Field crews armed with drones and lightning sensors could fill that data gap and sharpen future models.



“Most climate models project an increase in lightning frequency in the coming decades, so it’s worth paying closer attention to this largely overlooked disturbance,” said Krause. For now, the modeling exercise offers a first global baseline that forest managers can incorporate into planning.&nbsp;



From carbon budgets to conservation goals, adding silent lightning mortality changes the arithmetic. Knowing how many trees fall from lightning makes it easier to keep the planet’s living green ledger in the black.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70312">Global Change Biology</a>.



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Lightning-struck trees release as much carbon as the aviation industry

Lightning jolts the sky and the ground around eight million...

The Arctic winter has changed. A season once defined by deep freeze and solid snow is now marked by rain, melting ice, and even patches of green.



On a research trip to the high-Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in February 2025, scientists were not met by deep snow and biting cold - but by puddles, blooming tundra, and rain. This isn’t just a freak event - it’s a sign of something bigger.



The researchers, affiliated with <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a> and several European institutions, have published a commentary that describes what they witnessed during their latest winter field campaign.



The findings confirm what climate models have warned about for years: Arctic winters are warming fast, and the shift is reshaping the entire environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-warming-disrupts-arctic-winter">Warming disrupts Arctic winter</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/image/svalbard-melts-into-the-arctic-ocean/">Svalbard</a> is warming six to seven times faster than the global average. Winter temperatures in the region are rising nearly twice as fast as those in other seasons.



This means the deep freeze once expected in January and February is giving way to strange, disruptive thaws.



“Standing in pools of water at the snout of the glacier, or on bare, green <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-will-changing-tundra-landscapes-affect-earths-climate/">tundra</a>, was shocking and surreal,” said Dr. James Bradley. "The thick snowpack covering the landscape vanished within days. The gear I packed felt like a relic from another climate.”



His team had prepared for subzero temperatures. They packed heavy gloves, insulated clothing, and snowmobiles. But they ended up working barehanded in the rain, on a glacier.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-snow-replaced-by-rain">Snow replaced by rain</h2>



Laura Molares Moncayo, a Ph.D. student at Queen Mary and the Natural History Museum, had was on a mission to study freshly fallen snow.



“But over a two-week period, we were only able to collect fresh <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/secrets-of-snow-complexity-can-improve-winter-safety/">snow</a> once, as most of the precipitation fell as rain,” she said. 



"The unexpected melt not only disrupted our sampling plan, but also made us question how safe or feasible winter fieldwork really is under such rapidly changing conditions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-thaw-is-now-routine">Arctic thaw is now routine</h2>



Scientists have long predicted that the Arctic would <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00498-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warm faster</a> than the rest of the planet. What shocked this team was how quickly those predictions are turning into everyday reality.



When air temperatures rise above 0°C (32°F), even briefly, it changes everything. Meltwater pools form on top of frozen ground. Temporary lakes spread. Snow cover vanishes. Once-barren tundra starts blooming weeks or months too early. 



These changes don’t just make it harder to do science - they trigger a ripple effect across entire ecosystems.



Microbial carbon cycling is disrupted. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-is-no-longer-permanent-arctic-communities-in-danger/">Permafrost</a> starts to thaw. Greenhouse gases that were once locked underground begin to escape. Some of these effects reinforce warming, and set off feedback loops that could speed things up even more.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-winter-matters-for-everyone">Arctic winter matters for everyone</h2>



The team’s commentary doesn’t just describe strange weather. It calls attention to the broader risks - especially for Indigenous Arctic communities, whose infrastructure and emergency systems were never built for rain and floods in mid-winter.



It also warns that climate research itself is at risk. Equipment designed for snow and ice can fail when surrounded by slush and water.



Snowmobiles can’t get through to field sites. Emergency escape plans rely on frozen terrain. And researchers, already under pressure to capture rare seasonal data, may be forced to pause fieldwork or pull out entirely.



“Climate policy must catch up to the reality that the Arctic is changing much faster than expected, and winter is at the heart of that shift,” said Dr. Bradley.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-arctic-change-demands-readiness">Arctic change demands readiness</h2>



The authors stress that more investment is needed in Arctic monitoring during winter. Right now, there's a dangerous gap in both data and understanding of what’s happening during this fast-changing season.



They argue that policymakers need to shift from reacting to events after they happen to planning for them ahead of time.



Even well-funded research stations are struggling to operate in these new conditions. If that’s the case, what happens to small, remote communities that rely on snow roads, frozen rivers, or ice-based hunting grounds?



“We are still unaware of the consequences that these recurring events are bringing to Arctic ecosystems, especially during the winter period,” said Donato Giovannelli, a geomicrobiologist at the University of Naples Federico II.



“We might have been too cautious with our messages. Irreversible changes to the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-climate-will-permanently-change-by-2050-scientists-warn/">Arctic climate</a> are happening in front of our own eyes.”



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60926-8">Nature Communications</a>.



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Arctic winters are starting to look more like spring

The Arctic winter has changed. A season once defined by...

Up to now, scientists have followed sharks, turtles, and even albatrosses by strapping recorders to their bodies, yet most rays have slipped through that technological net. 



Biologging - attaching tiny sensors that record movement, sound, and surroundings - has thrived in other species, but rays’ smooth skin and fin-like bodies limited most attempts to just a few hours.



The whitespotted eagle ray, a six and a half foot wide coastal predator, is listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/42564343/2924463" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN</a>). 



Dr. Matt Ajemian of Florida Atlantic University’s <a href="https://www.fau.edu/hboi/">Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute</a> led a team that finally built a tag that can track rays for up to 60 hours.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-eagle-rays-are-hard-to-track">Why eagle rays are hard to track</h2>



Studying rays in the wild is tougher than tracking sharks. Their flat bodies lack a sturdy dorsal fin for clamps, and their skin feels almost velvety, so adhesives and darts fail fast.



Many species migrate across reefs, lagoons, and shipping lanes, meaning any tag must survive swift turns and strong cross currents.



Fieldwork is further hampered by conservation rules that limit handling time, leaving researchers mere seconds to attach equipment.



Because of these hurdles, less than ten published studies have reported fine scale behavior of pelagic rays, compared with hundreds of sharks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-new-tag-works">How the new tag works</h2>



The Harbor Branch team nested a camera, motion sensors, <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/hydrophone.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hydrophone</a>, satellite pinger, and acoustic beacon inside a package smaller than a paperback and lighter than one pound.



Silicone suction cups hold the tag to the ray’s head, but the breakthrough was a soft strap that loops through the animal’s spiracles, the small breathing holes behind each eye, adding grip without piercing skin.



“Our goal was to create a system that could be applied in seconds, stay on during natural behaviors, and collect rich, multi dimensional data,” said Ajemian. Attachment now takes about eight seconds on a gently restrained ray.&nbsp;



In sea trials off Bermuda, ten tagged rays kept their devices for an average of 21 hours, and one individual carried it 59.2 hours, three times longer than previous ray tags.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-eagle-rays-do-underwater">What eagle rays do underwater</h2>



Video showed the fish cruising over seagrass, coral rubble, sand flats, and reef ledges - dives that matched depth readings down to 72 feet.



“We’ve shown that complex behaviors, like the crunching of clams, can be identified using sound and movement data alone, even without video,” noted doctoral researcher Cecilia Hampton. 



Audio captured the distinct crack of crushed clams, confirming feeding bouts even when the camera switched off to save battery. Motion logs revealed rhythmic wingbeats while swimming and chaotic bursts during bottom digging before prey capture.



The tag also filmed brief meetings with other eagle rays and a curious barracuda, hinting at social and predator prey links that surface observers rarely see.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-reads-ray-movements">AI reads ray movements</h2>



Every second, the tag’s accelerometer and gyroscope, parts of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), recorded 50 data points per axis.



A supervised Random Forest model trained on one ray’s footage correctly labeled “swimming” 99.6 percent of the time and picked out “browsing” and “digging” behaviors with useful accuracy.



Similar machine learning approaches already classify accelerometer data in cattle and narwhals, showing the method scales across species.



As training libraries grow, future tags may drop the camera entirely, extending battery life while still logging every clam crunch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saving-endangered-eagle-rays">Saving endangered eagle rays</h2>



Eagle rays help control conch and clam populations, yet bycatch, coastal construction, and targeted fisheries have pushed <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/19/2024-08340/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the-whitespotted-eagle-ray" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">numbers</a> down 50 to 79 percent in three decades.



Knowing where and when rays feed lets managers draw smarter no take zones and adjust dredging schedules to avoid peak foraging periods.



The new tags revealed long stays around inlet passes, data that could guide boat speed limits in those hotspots.



They also showed night time visits to shellfish farms, backing earlier acoustic surveys that hinted at after dark foraging on cultured clams.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-tracking-eagle-rays">What’s next for tracking eagle rays</h2>



Slimmer sensor suites and longer life releases could turn rays into mobile habitat monitors, sampling noise, temperature, and water quality across coastal grids.



Other smooth skinned species, such as cownose rays and manta rays, share similar spiracle shapes, so minor tweaks may spread the method throughout the family and even to small sandbar skates.



Biologging on <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-80744-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bluefin tuna</a> recently recorded a dramatic orca attack, proving that tags can chronicle entire food web interactions.



Combining these broader community insights with the new ray data could finally reveal how predators, prey, and habitats interact along tropical coastlines.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://animalbiotelemetry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40317-025-00416-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Animal Biotelemetry</a>.



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Tracking endangered rays: A new chapter in marine conservation

Up to now, scientists have followed sharks, turtles, and even...

Scientists have mapped the human genome for a quarter century, yet millions of DNA letters are still unresolved. A new study now reports the most complete reference to date, covering those difficult sections.



The international team sequenced 65 ancestry diverse genomes and closed 92 percent of the gaps left by earlier projects, providing a resource that lets clinicians zoom all the way into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/babies-born-healthy-with-dna-from-a-third-parent/">regions</a> long considered unreadable.



The project was led by Christine Beck of The Jackson Laboratory and the University of Connecticut Health Center (<a href="https://health.uconn.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UConnHC</a>).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-decoding-critical-dna-regions">Decoding critical DNA regions</h2>



Beck noted that the missing pieces often carry variants influencing digestion, immunity, and muscle control. Without them, risk models for many conditions have been blind to entire classes of DNA changes.



Clinicians felt that blindness whenever genetic tests ruled out mutations yet patients still developed disease. The new assemblies bring those stretches into view, letting variant calling software finally flag complex rearrangements that older methods skipped.



The most important areas that were finally decoded include a stretch of DNA related to spinal muscular atrophy, a serious genetic disease. Another key region is the major histocompatibility complex, a crowded section tied to over 100 different health conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-refining-the-human-genome">Refining the human genome</h2>



The team used a newer type of sequencing that reads much longer pieces of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-dna-test-can-tell-your-exact-age-from-just-a-tiny-blood-sample/">DNA</a> than older methods. They combined two types of reads: one that’s very accurate and another that’s extra long, so they could capture big and tricky sections. 



The experts stitched those reads together to build complete sets of DNA from each person, including both their mother’s and father’s versions.



This approach allowed the researchers to finish some chromosomes from end to end in about 4 out of every 10 cases, which is a major improvement over earlier attempts. They also shared their method so that other scientists can now do the same without having to start from scratch.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-team-found-in-the-dna">What the team found in the DNA</h2>



The researchers uncovered nearly 2,000 complicated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-dna-reveals-37000-years-of-hidden-human-infections/">DNA</a> changes that were too hard to find before. They also identified over 12,000 pieces of jumping DNA, which are bits that can move around and change how genes work.&nbsp;



On top of that, the team fully mapped more than 1,200 centromeres, which are the central parts of chromosomes that help them divide properly. Many of these turned out to have two possible "connection points" instead of one, something that may change how scientists understand genetic stability.



The researchers saw up to 30 fold differences in α satellite repeat length at centromere cores, variation that could affect fertility or cancer risk once paired with clinical records. Those comparisons were impossible before the gaps were filled.



The experts also mapped the notoriously variable amylase gene cluster, which influences how well people digest starch. Such detailed mapping lets anthropologists match genes with regional culinary traditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diverse-genomes-improved-the-map">Diverse genomes improved the map</h2>



Earlier references were built mostly from European <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/airborne-dna-can-track-wildlife-diseases-and-even-drugs/">genomes</a>, a limitation that has skewed risk scores and drug studies for decades. Clinicians in Africa, South America, and Asia have repeatedly reported mismatches between test results and patient outcomes.



Nearly 60 percent of the newly found insertions and 14 percent of deletions occur in fewer than one in 100 people, making them perfect markers for rare disease diagnosis. 



Short read pipelines that once flagged tens of thousands of candidate changes can now shrink the list to a few hundred, speeding answers for families.



This inclusive strategy follows the draft <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05896-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pangenome</a> published in 2023, which wove 47 genomes into a graph based reference. The new work extends that concept by adding depth as well as breadth, delivering a finished quality sequence where the pangenome merely outlined possibilities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sequencing-complete-genomes">Sequencing complete genomes</h2>



“It's only been in the last three years that technology finally got to the point where we can sequence complete genomes,” noted Charles Lee of the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine. He considers 65 complete genomes to be a starting point, not a finish line.



“There’s more and more realization that these sequences are not junk,” added Jan Korbel, interim head of <a href="https://www.embl.org/sites/heidelberg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EMBL Heidelberg</a>, referring to the repetitive DNA now decoded. Korbel highlighted that the resource is open for anyone to explore.



Both scientists see the data as a launchpad for large health care projects, from newborn screening to predictive polygenic tools, that work equally well for every community. Those applications are already being piloted by regional health systems.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-the-genome-map">What’s next for the genome map</h2>



The consortium is already feeding its assemblies into graph based tools so routine short read data can benefit from the richer reference. Early tests push per genome variant detection past 26,000 structural changes, roughly double earlier counts.



Sequencing costs are falling so quickly that fully phased, telomere-to-telomere genomes may soon be routine in diagnostic labs, ending the era in which physicians worked with partial maps and educated guesses. A single clinical genome that once cost millions now slips below $10,000 in some centers.



According to Beck, understanding health requires the full genetic blueprint, and this study finally hands clinicians most of the missing pages. The remaining gaps may close as long-read sequencing becomes more common in everyday medicine.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09140-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Missing parts of the human genome have finally been decoded

Scientists have mapped the human genome for a quarter century,...

Cutting back on meat has become mainstream, but eggs have mostly held their ground at the American breakfast table. That could be about to change. A new study tackles a surprisingly simple question: What will it take for consumers to embrace plant-based eggs?



The research uses a vignette design to test how price, setting, and recipe shape buying intent, inviting volunteers to picture either scrambled eggs or pancakes made with vegan <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/many-people-are-willing-to-switch-to-plant-based-food-to-save-the-climate/">substitutes</a> at home and in restaurants. 



The findings, and the voices behind them, make clear that breakfast economics still trumps curiosity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pricing-plant-based-eggs">Pricing plant-based eggs </h2>



Retail trackers say plant-based foods pulled in $8.1 billion in U.S. grocery sales last year. Egg alternatives claimed just $71.1 million of that total in 2024.



Study participants rated the vegan choice higher when it cost less than the chicken-egg version - a pattern that matches models finding a 3 percent jump in market share for every 1 percent price drop on plant-based burgers. 



“We wanted to measure the consumer's perception about plant-based eggs,” said Da Eun Kim of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (<a href="https://illinois.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UIUC</a>). 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-familiar-foods-work-better">Familiar foods work better</h2>



The strongest single nudge was not price but recipe, volunteers preferred pancakes over a solo scramble when the batter hid the new ingredient. 



“Introducing them as an ingredient, especially in a product that consumers are comfortable with, is a way to get people over any ‘mental hurdles’ associated with trying plant-based eggs,” said Brenna Ellison of <a href="https://agribusiness.purdue.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Purdue University</a>. 



Consumer research across several countries shows purchase intent rises sharply once shoppers have tasted similar meat-free foods, and familiarity predicts acceptance more reliably than age, income, or even stated ethics. 



That same dynamic surfaced here, as people who had tried vegan eggs before were the most eager to buy again.



Curiously, eating in a restaurant did not boost enthusiasm the way the authors expected, hinting that home cooks feel safe experimenting when the recipe is foolproof. 



Ellison noted that setting “didn't have as much of an effect as we imagined,” demonstrating the power of a trusted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-are-suffering-from-declining-plant-quality/">dish</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-based-eggs-win-on-fat-nbsp-content">Plant-based eggs win on fat&nbsp;content</h2>



Beyond ethics, health looms large, and the nutrition panels back it up, a hard-boiled vegan egg lists 0 milligrams of cholesterol compared with 186 milligrams in a large hen egg.



Study participants ranked traditional eggs higher for taste but favored the plant version on fat and cholesterol, echoing broader surveys that link plant-based eating to lower LDL levels.



Nutritionists caution that some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fertilizer-reduces-plant-damage-caused-by-droughts/">formulations</a> use coconut oil, so saturated fat can creep back in. Still, the cholesterol-free claim gives marketers a clear badge to display.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-good-for-the-planet-and-prices">Good for the planet and prices</h2>



Animal-based eggs carry a carbon cost of roughly 2.2 to 2.66 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions per dozen. 



Feed production drives most of those emissions, so removing the chicken from the equation slashes the footprint at the start of the supply chain.



The past two years of avian influenza pushed shell-egg prices to nearly $5 per dozen in January of 2025, reminding consumers of the fragility of livestock supply chains. Plant-based eggs suffered no such shortages, giving them a timely window to win trials.



Environmental appeal and supply resilience combine into a story that resonates with shoppers who rate ethics and stability as highly as flavor. That story, however, still needs to be told in a way that feels personal rather than preachy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-is-most-likely-to-buy">Who is most likely to buy?</h2>



Generation Z and younger Millennials show the highest willingness to buy alternative proteins, a trend confirmed in surveys where age under 34 predicts frequent plant-based meat consumption. 



The researchers found a similar age gradient, with older participants least impressed by the vegan option.



Urban residence and liberal politics also correlated with purchase intent, mirroring patterns seen in earlier work on meat substitutes. For marketers, that means early wins will <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lanthanides-common-metal-in-plant-fertilizer-key-to-boosting-global-crop-food-supplies/">cluster</a> in cities and college towns before spreading outward.



Most striking, though, was experience, people who had already cracked a vegan egg were far more likely to buy again. Familiarity does more than any demographic trait to dissolve skepticism.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-based-eggs-still-need-improvement">Plant-based eggs still need improvement </h2>



Put price, familiarity, and health front and center, the authors suggest, and the category can break out of its niche. That could mean café pancakes with stealthy swaps, grocery bundles that pair the liquid mix with a trusted recipe card, and clear labels flagging cholesterol-free credentials.



Ongoing work to improve taste and texture is crucial - no bargain can make up for a rubbery scramble. But if plant-based eggs can match the feel of the real thing, their ethical and environmental benefits become a compelling bonus.



With global demand for alternative proteins climbing, even a small share of the egg market represents millions of hens spared and tons of CO2 emissions avoided. The next big test is whether consumers will keep buying once novelty fades.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/10/1742" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Foods</a>.



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Plant-based eggs gain acceptance when hidden in comfort foods

Cutting back on meat has become mainstream, but eggs have...

Hands,Of,Little,African,Child,Girl,And,Father,Holding,Soil

Transform bad garden soil into black gold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnGVGFtkRrY Successful food gardening begins beneath the surface, where proper...

Fresh,Radish,Harvest,On,Soil,In,Garden.

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Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving fall garden, and this guide lays out the best vegetables and herbs to plant now for a fruitful autumn harvest. 



Fast-growing leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, and arugula perform especially well in the waning summer heat, with harvests beginning as soon as 30 days. 



These cool-season crops relish the transition into fall, offering repeated yields with cut-and-come-again methods.



Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, and beets also excel during this period. Radishes deliver satisfaction in under a month, while carrots and beets mature in about two months. Employing succession planting ensures a continuous stream of produce deep into the cooler months. 



For a boost of fresh flavor, herbs like cilantro, basil, dill, and chervil are excellent picks. These heat-loving varieties flourish in July’s warmth and are harvest-ready in about 30 days, especially when sown continuously.



Gardeners in zones 6 through 9 can benefit from planting bush beans and snap peas, which don’t require trellising and are ideal for compact plots. 



Maturing in 50–60 days, they’re a smart choice for quick, protein-rich harvests. For those in hotter regions, heat-tolerant crops such as okra and southern peas provide reliable yields and thrive in scorching conditions.



This guide emphasizes more than crop selection—it highlights the importance of timing, soil preparation, and ongoing sowing techniques. 



With thoughtful planning and attention to regional climate needs, even late-summer gardeners can enjoy fresh salads, hearty stews, and the satisfaction of a robust, homegrown harvest well into fall.



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

https://youtu.be/Fi2OeEwuzRM?si=vTyd2m9FMmtyWkex Mid-July is an opportune time to kick-start a thriving...

Green,Ecoduct,Over,An,Empty,Highway,During,Sunset.

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that wildlife tunnels significantly reduce amphibian road mortality during seasonal migrations. 



Frogs and salamanders often cross roads to reach breeding ponds each spring, but many are killed by vehicles. 



Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Vermont</a>, in collaboration with local citizens and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, installed two underpass tunnels in 2015. 



Over a 12-year monitoring period, they observed an 80.2% reduction in amphibian deaths, and up to 94% for non-climbing species like salamanders. 



The study used a before-after-control-impact design and documented more than 5,200 amphibians, highlighting the tunnels’ effectiveness even in nearby buffer zones.



Funded at $342,397 - far cheaper than wildlife crossings for large mammals - the project showcased the power of community-led conservation.



Local groups initiated the effort after observing mass amphibian deaths. Wildlife cameras later captured over 2,200 amphibians using a tunnel in just one spring, along with other species like raccoons and bobcats, indicating wider ecosystem benefits.



This marks the first peer-reviewed, long-term data set in the northeastern U.S. confirming amphibian-specific underpasses work. 



The study urges transportation departments to incorporate these designs into road planning and highlights how community action, thoughtful infrastructure, and persistence can make a real difference for biodiversity.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1617138125000780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal for Nature Conservation</a>.



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU A new long-term study in Monkton, Vermont, reveals that...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Nushagak Bay, a large estuary in southwest Alaska. Nushagak runs mainly north to south and exits in Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the Bering Sea.



"The bay is primarily fed by the Nushagak River, which begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest approximately 450 km. The bay is also fed by several additional rivers including the Wood, Igushik, Snake and Weary rivers," says ESA.



"The dark colors of the Nushagak River are most likely due to tannins or lignins (chemical substances found in plants). Tannins and lignins from roots, leaves, seeds, bark and soil can leach into the water and give it a brown or even black colour. The sediments then flow southwards where it is mixed with the bluer waters of the bay."



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> (ACS) reveals that proteins on flu viruses are actually flexible, tilting and waving in a “breath-like” motion. According to the experts, these proteins could be used to better defend against the flu.



"The main antigenic targets of influenza virus are two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Whereas the structural and dynamical properties of both glycoproteins have been studied previously, the understanding of their plasticity in the whole-virion context is fragmented," wrote the researchers.



To investigate, the team conducted detailed simulations of the influenza A H1N1 virion, or the swine flu. The experts concluded that the visualizations show many new vulnerable states of flu viruses, which could improve future vaccines and antiviral drugs.



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Editor



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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