Floating solar <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-increase-the-value-of-solar-panels/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">panels</a>, or floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems, are not just an innovative technology but a potential powerhouse that could meet the total electricity demands of some countries, according to a recent study.



Researchers from <a href="https://www.bangor.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bangor University</a>, <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lancaster University</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a> embarked on a global evaluation to determine the capabilities of these low-carbon solar arrays.



The team analyzed climate data across nearly 68,000 lakes and reservoirs worldwide, focusing on those within 10 kilometers of population centers, outside protected areas, and free from extreme drought or freeze conditions.



The researchers found that even by covering just 10% of these water bodies' surfaces, FPV systems could generate approximately 1302 terawatt hours annually - enough to quadruple the United Kingdom's yearly <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-electricity-europe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">electricity usage</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-floating-solar-panels">What are floating solar panels?</h2>



Floating solar panels are solar power installations mounted on buoyant platforms that float on the surface of water bodies such as lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. 



Unlike traditional land-based solar panels, FPV systems utilize the underused surface of water bodies, which can be particularly beneficial in regions where land is scarce or expensive.



These panels function similarly to conventional solar panels, converting sunlight into electricity. However, the unique aspect of FPVs is their placement on water. This positioning offers several advantages. 



The cooling effect of the water helps increase the efficiency of the solar panels, as solar cells operate more efficiently at lower temperatures. Additionally, placing panels on water bodies reduces the need for land, freeing up valuable space for agriculture or other purposes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-advantages-of-floating-solar-panels">Advantages of floating solar panels</h2>



One significant benefit of FPV systems is their dual utility: generating power while conserving land for other purposes. 



Additionally, the cooling effect of water increases the efficiency of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-increase-the-value-of-solar-panels/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">solar panels</a> compared to their land-based counterparts.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/which-is-better-planting-forests-or-building-solar-farms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Environmental benefits</a> also accompany this technology. By covering the surface of lakes, FPVs can reduce water evaporation and decrease the likelihood of algal blooms by blocking sunlight and restricting nutrient mixing.



However, the overarching environmental impact remains under review, with researchers calling for more comprehensive studies to ensure these systems do not disrupt aquatic ecosystems adversely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-global-solution-with-local-benefits">A global solution with local benefits</h2>



Dr. Iestyn Woolway, the study's lead author, emphasized the clear benefits in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/harvesting-electricity-with-nature-inspired-techniques/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy generation</a> that FPV offers.



"We still don’t know exactly how floating panels might affect the ecosystem within a natural lake, in different conditions and locations. But the potential gain in energy generation from FPV is clear, so we need to put that research in place so this technology can be safely adopted," he stated.



In terms of practical application, the study revealed that nations such as Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, and Rwanda could fully satisfy their electricity needs through FPV. 



Other countries like Bolivia and Tonga could nearly meet their demand, with FPV potentially supplying 87% and 92% of their needs, respectively. 



In total, many nations, particularly those in Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and Central Asia, could source between 40% to 70% of their annual electricity from floating solar panels. 



Even in less sunny locales like Finland and Denmark, FPVs could contribute to 17% and 7% of the electricity demands, respectively.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-strategic-deployment-of-floating-solar-panels">Strategic deployment of floating solar panels</h2>



Professor Alona Armstrong, co-author of the study, highlighted the strategic importance of FPV deployment. "Our work shows there is much potential for FPV around the world. But deployments need to be strategic, considering the consequences for energy security, nature, and society, as well as Net Zero objectives," she explained.



Currently, the UK has a modest footprint in the FPV market, with the largest installation being a 6.3MW floating solar farm near London. 



Despite this, the potential for expansion is significant, provided future installations are guided by thoughtful consideration of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/renewable-energy-is-the-latest-threat-to-bird-populations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">environmental</a> and societal impacts.



Floating solar technology presents a promising frontier in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/u-s-utilities-may-be-100-percent-renewable-energy-by-2060/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">renewable energy</a>. By leveraging underutilized water bodies, countries have the opportunity to significantly boost their renewable energy output while addressing environmental concerns. 



The continued research and strategic deployment of the innovative FPVs could play a crucial role in shaping a sustainable, low-carbon future.



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Floating solar panels could power entire countries

Floating solar panels, or floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems, are not just an innovative technology but a potential powerhouse that could meet the total electricity demands of some countries, according to a recent study. Researchers from Bangor University, Lancaster University, and the UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology embarked on a global evaluation to determine the capabilities of these low-carbon solar arrays. The team analyzed climate data across nearly 68,000 lakes and reservoirs worldwide, focusing on those within 10 kilometers of population centers, outside protected areas, and free...

A new study led by the <a href="http://www.icm.csic.es/ca">Institut de Ciències del Mar</a> (ICM-CSIC) has found that plastic pollution contributes to ocean acidification. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microplastics-found-on-water-trapped-on-plant-leaves/">Plastic</a> pollution and acidification are two of the biggest issues threatening the ocean today. 



The increase in ocean acidity is making it difficult for organisms that calcify, such as corals, to maintain their skeletons. Every year, up to 13 million tons of plastic reach the sea, and it is estimated that there are around 250,000 more tons floating throughout the ocean. The study reveals that as sunlight degrades plastic, dissolved organic carbon compounds are released. These organic chemical compounds lead to a drop in pH levels.&nbsp;



"Thanks to this study we have been able to prove that in highly plastic-polluted ocean surface areas, plastic degradation will lead to a drop of up to 0.5 pH units, which is comparable to the pH drop estimated in the worst anthropogenic emissions scenarios for the end of the 21st century," said study first author Cristina Romera-Castillo.



The sun’s ultraviolet light leads to plastic degradation, causing the plastic to break into smaller pieces. Some of these particles, known as microplastics, are less than 5 millimeters in length.



When exposed to sunlight and erosion, the plastic is "aged." This exposure results in an increased release of chemical compounds into the water and causes a lowering of the water’s pH.



The chemical compounds released by plastic can come from the plastic itself or additives that give plastic color or resistance. Some of these compounds are organic acids, which is why they contribute to the pH drop.



For this study, the researchers exposed new and aged plastic to temperature and solar radiation. The water pH and the amount of dissolved organic carbon released by microplastics were also analyzed.



With only six days of exposure to sunlight, aged plastics released a large amount of dissolved organic carbon compounds - which led to a significant decrease in water pH. Experiments using new polystyrene, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and biodegradable plastic fragments did not show a substantial drop in pH.



"These results show that aged plastic affects acidification much more than new plastic, which is very worrying, since most of the plastic found in the sea, whatever type it is, is degraded," concluded Romera-Castillo.



The study is published this week in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722057825">Science of the Total Environment</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plastic pollution is making the ocean more acidic

A new study led by the Institut de Ciències del...

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are intense pulses of radio wave energy that usually last only a matter of milliseconds and come from somewhere deep in the cosmos. Astrophysicists detect these signals emanating mostly from faraway <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mysterious-radio-heartbeat-signal-detected-from-distant-galaxy/">galaxies</a>, but they do not yet understand the origin of the pulses. The bursts are extremely intense at their source, putting out as much energy in one millisecond as the Sun does in an entire day. However, by the time they reach earth they are very weak and difficult to detect.&nbsp;



A new study, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05071-8">Nature</a> and involving 74 co-authors from 30 different institutions, has now presented details of the largest sample of FRB data ever obtained from one single source. Unfortunately, rather than enhancing our understanding of this fascinating phenomenon, the observations have simply deepened its mystery.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The cosmic fast radio burst observations were made in late spring 2021 using the massive Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in China. The team, led by Heng Xu, Kejia Lee and Subo Dong from Peking University, and Weiwei Zhu from the National Astronomical Observatories of China, along with astrophysicist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unlv.edu/news/expert/bing-zhang">Bing Zhang</a> from the <a href="https://www.unlv.edu/">University of Nevada, Las Vegas</a>, detected 1,863 radio bursts in 82 hours over 54 days from an active source called FRB 20201124A.&nbsp;“This is the largest sample of FRB data with polarization information from one single source,” said Lee.



Some observations of FRBs from within our galaxy suggest that they originate from magnetars, which are dense, city-sized neutron stars with incredibly powerful magnetic fields and the ability to release vast amounts of energy. For example, in April 2020 astronomers detected an FRB coming from&nbsp;<a href="https://earthsky.org/space/fast-radio-burst-detected-within-milky-way/">inside our own Milky Way galaxy</a> and pinned its location down to a known magnetar,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGR_1935%2B2154">SGR 1935+2154</a>. However, the exact origin and cause of the FRBs from other, distant galaxies is still undecided, with various people suggesting rapidly rotating&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star">neutron star</a>s,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole">black hole</a>s, or even <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_intelligence">extraterrestrial intelligence</a>.&nbsp;



The latest observations leave scientists even more in the dark than they were before, questioning what they thought they knew about FRBs.&nbsp;“These observations brought us back to the drawing board,” said Zhang, who also serves as founding director of UNLV’s Nevada Center for Astrophysics. “It is clear that FRBs are more mysterious than what we have imagined. More multi-wavelength observational campaigns are needed to further unveil the nature of these objects.”



What makes the latest observations surprising to scientists is the irregular, short-time variations of the so-called “Faraday rotation measure,” which is a measure of the strength of the magnetic field and density of particles in the vicinity of the fast radio burst source. These measurements varied by increasing and decreasing during the first 36 days of observation, and then suddenly ceased to vary and became constant during the remaining 18 days before the source became silent.&nbsp;



“I equate it to filming a movie of the surroundings of an FRB source, and our film revealed a complex, dynamically evolving, magnetized environment that was never imagined before,” said Zhang. “Such an environment is not straightforwardly expected for an isolated magnetar. Something else might be in the vicinity of the FRB engine, possibly a binary companion,” hypothesized Zhang.



To observe the galaxy that was host to the source of the FRBs in the current study, the team also made use of the 10-m Keck telescopes located at Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Zhang says that young magnetars are believed to reside in the active star-forming regions of a star-forming host galaxy. But when the researchers investigated the optical image of the host galaxy for the current FRB signals it showed, unexpectedly, that the host galaxy is a metal-rich, barred spiral galaxy, like our Milky Way, that has no significant region with star-forming activity.&nbsp;



“This location is inconsistent with a young magnetar central engine formed during an extreme explosion, such as a long gamma-ray burst or a superluminous supernova, widely speculated progenitors of active FRB engines,”&nbsp;said Dong.



So, for now at least, FRBs remain enigmatic signals of some process occurring in distant galaxies, and their cause or source continues to be both mysterious and perplexing.



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

Fast radio bursts are even more mysterious than we thought

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are intense pulses of radio wave...

According to new research led by the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/">British Antarctic Survey</a> (BAS), the Pine Island <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-ice-shelves-are-likely-melting-faster-than-expected/">Ice Shelf</a> in West Antarctica – which holds enough ice to raise sea levels by 0.5 meters if melted – could be much more vulnerable to disintegration than previously thought. The experts showed that two processes – melting and calving – may interact in a dangerous feedback loop, threatening the stability of the shelf and increasing the likelihood of its collapse.



This huge ice shelf controls the flow of ice from the Pine Island Glacier – one of the world’s largest and fastest changing glaciers - into the Amundsen Sea. Currently, the shelf is becoming increasingly fragile due to two processes: enhanced thinning caused by an increase in ice shelf melting into the sea, and a rise in calving events, in which masses of ice break off into icebergs.



“This study highlights the extreme sensitivity of ice shelves to climate change. It shows the interplay between calving and melting can promote disintegration of the Pine Island Ice Shelf, which we already thought was vulnerable to collapse,” explained study lead author Alexander Bradley, an ocean modeler at BAS.



Together with his colleagues, Bradley used advanced ocean modelling techniques to simulate the effects of calving events on melt rate. The analyses revealed that calving events will most likely result in further thinning of the ice shelf, which will in turn make the shelf more vulnerable to calving. The feedback loop between these two processes could lead to the complete disintegration of the ice shelf, which would reduce its ability to stem the flow of ice from the Pine Island Glacier into the sea and cause devastating sea-level rises.



“Complete disintegration of the Pine Island Ice Shelf will have profound consequences not only for the glacier but all of West Antarctica as it is thought to play an integral role in maintaining the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet,” Bradley concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2022JC018621">Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans</a>.&nbsp;



Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Pine Island Ice Sheet is more vulnerable than previously thought

According to new research led by the British Antarctic Survey...

Everyone knows that Alaskan brown bears are big. Still, different brown bear populations survive on varying diets, so how do these populations achieve similar body weights despite various <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-diet-quality-has-not-improved-in-the-past-30-years/">diets</a>? A team of researchers led by North Carolina State University studied 51 bears in 3 Alaskan National Parks, and found that the secret may lie in the bears' gut microbiome.&nbsp;



"We think of bears as having simple digestive tracts, so it's easy to slip into thinking that they therefore have simple gut microbiomes," said co-author Erin McKenney. "But this study shows there can be tremendous diversity in the gut microbiomes between individual bears, and that this variation can be very important to the physical condition of these animals."



"For example, the amount of fat that bears are able to store is absolutely critical to the health of wild populations," said study co-author Grant Hilderbrand. "If female bears are able to reach levels where 19-20% of their body mass in the autumn is fat, they'll reproduce. And knowing that they can take different dietary paths to reach those fat levels is a valuable insight."



"The fact that these populations have distinct diets is valuable, because it allows us to understand the role that the gut microbiome plays in helping bears extract nutrition from very different food sources," explained study co-author Sarah Trujillo.



"We found that bears benefit from having diverse dietary niches, and the gut microbiome does play a role in extracting nutrition from those diets. Ultimately, that means that the bears in these parks were able to achieve very similar body conditions, despite eating very different things."



The information gathered from this study is crucial for brown bear preservation. According to Diana Lafferty, the findings can serve as a baseline for future research.



"This study is also important because it gives us a snapshot of bears and their diet in these parks," said Hilderbrand. "Knowing what bears are eating, and that these diverse diets can all be used to reach similar body conditions, can help us spot emerging challenges for these animals. It can also help us understand how many bears these ecosystems are capable of supporting, even as those ecosystems change."



"In short, this study has given us significant insights into both the park ecosystems that these bears inhabit, and the microbial ecosystems that help these bears thrive," said McKenney.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Gut microbes help bears gain weight regardless of diet

Everyone knows that Alaskan brown bears are big. Still, different...

Lignin is a complex organic polymer which forms key structural materials in the support tissues of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-much-energy-do-plants-use-to-lift-water-from-the-soil/">plants</a>. This substance allows plants to conduct water and stand upright, and plays a fundamental role in the formation of cell walls, particularly in wood and bark.&nbsp;



According to a new study led by <a href="https://www.su.se/cmlink/stockholm-university">Stockholm University</a>, it is possible to create and/or select plants that can better recover from droughts without affecting the plants’ size or seed yield by genetically modifying their lignin chemistry. These findings could be applied in both agriculture and forestry to tackle climate change-related challenges.



“Plants are made of many different cells, some of them are reinforced with lignin and assemble to each other to form a pipe that conducts water, like a straw to drink your cocktail,” said study lead author Delphine Ménard, an expert in Plant Sciences at Stockholm University.&nbsp;



For a long time, scientists believed that lignin does not have a “code” like DNA or proteins. However, Dr. Ménard and her colleagues have now challenged this old paradigm, by showing that each plant cell uses a chemical code to adjust their lignin to function optimally and cope with environmental stressors. This important finding could have major applications in agriculture and forestry.



“It takes only one simple chemical change, just one hydrogen atom apart from alcohol to aldehyde to make plants highly resilient to drought in conditions where alcohol-rich plants would all die,” said study senior author Edouard Pesquet, an associate professor of Molecular Plant Physiology at Stockholm.



Interestingly, such large increases of lignin aldehydes can also occur naturally in the wild. For instance, mulberries with the highest lignin aldehyde levels are more frequently used by silk caterpillars across Japan.&nbsp;



“These results revise our understanding of lignin and plant water conduction, but also open great possibilities to use the lignin code to improve crops and trees to face water availability problems. The modification of lignin chemistry at the single cell level is ultimately the mechanism enabling plants to grow, hydrate, and resist climate change stresses,” Professor Pesquet concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac284">The Plant Cell</a>.&nbsp;



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

Plants adjust a “chemical code” to cope with climate change

Lignin is a complex organic polymer which forms key structural...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/3d-printed-lungs-lives/">3D printing</a> is currently gaining significant momentum in the construction industry, with static and mobile robots printing materials used in construction projects, such as steel or concrete structures. Now, inspired by natural builders such as bees or wasps, who work together to create intricate structures, a research team led by <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> (ICL) has devised a new technology that uses drones for manufacturing and building in dangerous or difficult-to-access locations, such as high buildings or areas affected by natural disasters.



These drones - known collectively as Aerial Additive Manufacturing (Aerial-AM) – work together from a single blueprint, adapting their methods as they go. Although they are fully autonomous while flying, they are monitored by a human controller who checks their progress and intervenes if necessary, based on the information provided by the drones themselves.



“We’ve proved that drones can work autonomously and in tandem to construct and repair buildings, at least in the lab. Our solution is scalable and could help us to construct and repair building in difficult-to-reach areas in the future,” said study senior author Mirko Kovac, a professor of Aerial Robotics at ICL.



In order to help the drones adapt to variations in the geometry of the structure as the construction progresses, Aerial-AM uses both a 3D printing and path-planning framework, which help them assess the printed geometry in real time and adapt their behavior to ensure they meet the build specifications. The fleet of drones consists of “BuilDrones” that deposit materials during flight and quality-controlling “ScanDrones” which measure the output of the BuilDrones in order to inform their next manufacturing moves.



This groundbreaking technology may offer future possibilities for building or repairing structures in hard-to-access locations. As a next step, the researchers aim to collaborate with construction companies to validate these solutions and provide repair and manufacturing capabilities.



“We believe our fleet of drones could help reduce the costs and risks of construction in the future, compared to traditional manual methods,” Professor Kovac concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04988-4">Nature</a>.



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

3D printing drones work like bees to build structures

3D printing is currently gaining significant momentum in the construction...

A research team with Durham University's Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab used 4D ultrasound scans to study the facial reactions of fetuses as they responded to the flavors of food their mothers consumed.&nbsp;



The experts looked specifically at babies' faces after their mothers consumed carrot and kale flavors. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollution-alters-gut-microbes-in-babies-in-dangerous-ways/">babies</a> demonstrated more "laughter-faces" when exposed to carrot flavor and more "cry-faces" when exposed to kale flavor.&nbsp;



"A number of studies have suggested that babies can taste and smell in the womb, but they are based on post-birth outcomes while our study is the first to see these reactions prior to birth," said lead researcher Beyza Ustun.



"As a result, we think that this repeated exposure to flavours before birth could help to establish food preferences post-birth, which could be important when thinking about messaging around healthy eating and the potential for avoiding 'food-fussiness' when weaning.”



"It was really amazing to see unborn babies' reaction to kale or carrot flavors during the scans and share those moments with their parents."



"This latest study could have important implications for understanding the earliest evidence for fetal abilities to sense and discriminate different flavors and smells from the foods ingested by their mothers."



Study co-author Professor Benoist Schaal explained how this research could help us better to comprehend the development of smell and taste receptors. "Looking at fetuses' facial reactions we can assume that a range of chemical stimuli pass through maternal diet into the fetal environment.”



"This could have important implications for our understanding of the development of our taste and smell receptors, and related perception and memory," saps Professor Schaal.



Perhaps, exposing babies to healthy food in utero could help them develop a liking for more nutritious foods as they grow. The researchers are currently conducting a post-birth follow-up study with the same babies.&nbsp;



"It could be argued that repeated prenatal flavour exposures may lead to preferences for those flavours experienced postnatally. In other words, exposing the fetus to less 'liked' flavours, such as kale, might mean they get used to those flavors in utero.”



"The next step is to examine whether fetuses show less 'negative' responses to these flavors over time, resulting in greater acceptance of those flavours when babies first taste them outside of the womb."



This study appears in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pss">Psychological Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Babies respond to taste and smell in the womb

A research team with Durham University's Fetal and Neonatal Research...

New research published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058286">BMJ Open</a> suggests that brief exposure to air pollution could lead to hospitalization among children with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-autism-related-to-pollution-and-stress-during-pregnancy/">autism</a>. Boys were found to be more at risk than girls. The study also suggests that hospitalizations could be prevented by reducing exposure to air pollution.&nbsp;



Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a range of symptoms. It is often accompanied by neuroinflammation and systemic inflammation.&nbsp;



Short-term exposure to air pollution can induce systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation, potentially increasing the risk of hospital admission in autistic people.&nbsp;



A child’s developing nervous system is more susceptible to environmental exposures than adults. This led researchers to investigate whether short-term exposure could aggravate ASD symptoms among school-aged children.



The study was focused on data from hospital admissions of autistic children in 16 regions in the Republic of Korea between 2011 and 2015. Information was collected on national daily levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) for up to six days.



During the study period, the average daily number of hospital admissions for autism was 8.5 for autistic children. This rate was higher for boys, at 7, than for girls at 1.6. Short-term exposure to PM2.5, NO2, and O3 was associated with a heightened risk of hospital admission for autism.



Small increases in PM2.5 levels were associated with a 17 percent higher risk of hospital admission for autism, and a 10 parts per billion increase in NO2, and O3 was associated with a 9&nbsp; and 3 percent greater risk, respectively.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"These results emphasize that reduction of air pollution exposure should be considered for ASD symptom management, with important implications for the quality of life and economic costs," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



The use of regional air pollution levels could have affected these findings. It was also acknowledged that autistic children with mild symptoms could be less likely to receive psychiatric treatment and may not have been included.&nbsp;



This is the first study to assess the effects of short-term exposure to air pollution on ASD-related health outcomes.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Air pollution linked to hospital visits among autistic children

New research published in the journal BMJ Open suggests that...

Symphony is a digital tool using GIS data to help marine planners along the coast of Sweden. The tool shows different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wooden-shipwrecks-have-become-diverse-microbial-habitats/">marine habitats</a> and how they might be impacted by something like pollution or water traffic. One thing Symphony doesn’t take into account, however, is climate change.



Scientists with the ClimeMarine project modified the tool to see how things changed when they accounted for rising levels of temperature and salinity.



“It showed that the anticipated climate changes will increase the total environmental impact by at least fifty percent, and in some areas, as much as several hundred per cent,” explained study co-author Per Jonsson, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg.



The different ecosystems recorded on the GIS maps react differently to these changes, as Symphony shows.&nbsp;



“It’s a clear sign that we may need to reduce other impacts to lower the total rate of impact in some areas. For example, in areas with valuable eelgrass meadows, we might consider rerouting a shipping line or slowing the expansion of marinas and leisure boating,” said Jonsson.



Some areas experience upwellings of cold water, creating islands of protection for otherwise embattled species. “Marine reserves may be considered to protect these areas, where we ‘remove’ other factors that have an impact," said Jonsson. "Sweden has committed to establishing several new protected marine areas, and Symphony can help identify where they should be located.”



Per Jonsson acknowledges that these types of tools have limitations, with their modeling being only so predictive, explaining that more research is needed,&nbsp;



“We also need to better understand how sensitive different ecosystems and species are to climate change. We need experimental studies that show what happens when the temperature rises and salt content decreases.”



“What we present in the study can be viewed as informed guesses based on the information we currently have. But the effects of a changed climate clearly must be incorporated into marine planning.”



This study was published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16312">Global Change Biology</a>.&nbsp;



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

Climate change may be the ocean's biggest enemy

Symphony is a digital tool using GIS data to help...

Our earliest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hominins-appeared-europe-africa/">hominin</a> ancestors used a variety of tools to interact with, and modify their environment. Such tools would have given them access to more sources of food and improved their chances of survival. Studies of early hominin tool use have been focused mostly on the production and diversity of stone flakes as cutting tools, rather than on the use of pounding tools. This is despite the fact that percussive artefacts have been identified at several Plio-Pleistocene archaeological sites and even form a component of the archaeological assemblages into the Later Stone Age.&nbsp;



In a new study led by Tomos Proffitt from the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/">Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology</a>,&nbsp;the use of stone tools for pounding has been investigated in a group of wild chimpanzees from the&nbsp;Taï Forest National Park in Cote d'Ivoire. These primates&nbsp;have long been known to use percussive stone tools to crack open edible nuts; the tools take the form of hammer stones with which to bash a nut, and anvils upon which the nut is initially placed. The researchers felt that an improved understanding of the characteristics of these types of tools may cast light on the tool artefacts found at early hominin archaeological sites.&nbsp;&nbsp;



For their study, the researchers analyzed a total of 11 hammerstones and seven stone anvils, each one selected because it showed signs of being actively used.&nbsp; All hammerstones were found in close association with an active anvil (either wooden or stone) and freshly cracked nut debris. All anvils were found in association with an active hammerstone and freshly cracked nut debris within a radius of 50 cm to the anvil. By using a techno-typological analysis, along with two- and three-dimensional quantifiable measures of percussive damage patterns, the researchers characterized the features of these stone tools.&nbsp;



The experts then compared the findings with those derived from a similar study of stone percussive tools in another group of wild chimpanzees, this time in the forest of Bossou in Guinea. In this way, the researchers hoped to develop a better understanding of the variation within and between assemblages of chimpanzee stone tools used for nut-cracking.&nbsp;



The researchers found that the chimpanzees of the Taï Forest regularly use stone and wooden tools to crack open nuts from five different species. These include coula nuts (Coula edulis), panda (Panda oleosa), parinari (Parinari excelsa) saccaglottis (Sacoglottis gabonensis) and, more rarely, detarium nuts (Detarium senegalense). The chimpanzees use only hammers made of stone, but were found to use both stone anvils (for example exposed boulders) and wooden anvils, usually in the form of living tree roots that were often part of the nut tree itself.&nbsp;&nbsp;



All of the hammerstones and stone anvils showed evidence of use wear, mostly in the form of pitting and depressions on the surface. There were also places where the surface grain had been crushed, flakes had been accidentally detached and nut residue was present. The hammerstones and anvils were made of different types of rock, reflecting what was present in the local environment, and the hammers were of different sizes, reflecting the fact that some of the nuts are easier to crack open than others.&nbsp;



When the hammerstones and anvils used by the Taï Forest chimpanzees were compared with those used by chimpanzees from the Bossou Forest in Guinea, there were several noticeable differences. The Taï Forest tools were larger in size overall and showed different patterns of wear. The researchers feel that, although this represents a clear pattern of difference between chimpanzee groups, this may be driven by a combination of stone choice, stone availability, and the nut species eaten.



As a result of their use of stone tools, chimpanzees have doubtless left a durable archaeological record of their own. Previous research has shown that, for some groups of chimpanzees this record may date back at least 4,300 years. This means that the assemblages may represent a useful comparative model for early hominin tool use, specifically when it involves tools for pounding.



“The ability to identify regional differences in stone tool material culture in primates opens up a range of possibilities for future primate archaeological studies,” said Proffitt.



It has been hypothesized that a simple technology, like nut cracking, was a precursor to more complex stone technologies during the early stages of our own evolution more than three million years ago. “By understanding what this simple stone tool technology looks like, and how it varies between groups, we can start to understand how to better identify this signature in the earliest hominin archaeological record," said Proffitt.



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220826">Royal Society Open Science</a>.



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

Did early hominins use stone tools like chimpanzees do today?

Our earliest hominin ancestors used a variety of tools to...

Researchers from the <a href="https://icahn.mssm.edu/">Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai</a> have discovered that consistently losing 90 minutes of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lack-of-sleep-makes-people-more-selfish-and-less-generous/">sleep</a> can alter the structure of immune stem cell DNA in humans, leading to inflammation and disease. Study lead author Dr. Filip Swirski is the director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Icahn Mount Sinai.



"This study begins to identify the biological mechanisms that link sleep and immunological health over the long-term," explained Dr. Swirski. "It shows that in humans and mice, disrupted sleep has a profound influence on the programming of immune cells and rate of their production, causing them to lose their protective effects and actually make infections worse - and these changes are long-lasting. This is important because it is yet another key observation that sleep reduces inflammation and, conversely, that sleep interruption increases inflammation."&nbsp;



"This work emphasizes the importance of adults consistently sleeping seven to eight hours a day to help prevent inflammation and disease, especially for those with underlying medical conditions."



The study had a human and mouse element. For each species, the researchers took blood samples and analyzed the DNA of white blood cells before and during sleep restriction.&nbsp;



The experts found that when mice and humans were subjected to restricted sleep, they produced more immune cells, and the DNA of those cells was altered. However, in mice, researchers also noticed that even once they were permitted to return to their unrestricted sleep schedule, their immune stem cells continued to express an altered structure, and they were likely to exhibit inflammation and disease.



"Our findings suggest that sleep recovery is not able to fully reverse the effects of poor-quality sleep. We can detect a molecular imprint of insufficient sleep in immune stem cells, even after weeks of recovery sleep. This molecular imprint can cause the cells to respond in inappropriate ways leading to inflammation and disease," said Dr. Cameron McAlpine, the study’s co-lead investigator.



"It was surprising to find that not all clusters of stem cells responded to insufficient sleep in the same way. There were some stem cell clusters that proliferated and grew in number, while other clusters became smaller. This reduction in overall diversity and aging of the immune stem cell population is an important contributor to inflammatory diseases and cardiovascular disease."



The study appears in the <a href="https://rupress.org/jem">Journal of Experimental Medicine</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lack of sleep causes structural changes in immune stem cells

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai...

Infant and maternal mortality rates in the United States are some of the highest among wealthy countries, with large racial and ethnic disparities. In order to develop a unifying plan for proper policies, and systems to improve the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-have-nutritional-wisdom-we-eat-what-our-body-needs/">nutritional</a> security and well-being of vulnerable families, the <a href="https://www.fhi360.org/partner-us/fhi360-family">FHI Solutions</a> – a nonprofit organization aiming to improve nutritional outcomes on a global scale – has created the “<a href="https://thousanddays.org/">1,000 Days</a>” Initiative.



The new initiative is based on the assumption that the 1,000 days between pregnancy and a child’s second birthday are crucial and set the foundations for the rest of an individual’s life, and aims to provide support for improving maternal health and optimal growth and development for children.



In a special series of scientific articles which will be published in the <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/">American Journal of Public Health</a> (AJPH) on October 26, 2022, an international team of experts will present the state of science, research needs, and a policy agenda for optimal maternal and child nutrition in the U.S.&nbsp;



For instance, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307028">study</a> authored by Heather Hamner, a health scientist at the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC), reveals the multiple gaps between the dietary intake of pregnant women, infants, and toddlers and the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf">Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025</a>. According to Dr. Hamner, the average consumption of saturated fats, sugars, and sodium are higher than recommended, 75 percent of infants are not exclusively fed human milk in the first six months of their lives, and most children aged 12-23 months do not eat the recommended amounts of vegetables, fruits, and dairy.



“Advancing efforts related to research and surveillance, programs and communication, and dissemination could help positively, and equitably, influence the health and well-being of mothers and children,” Dr. Hamner wrote.&nbsp;



Another <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307063">study</a>, authored by Blythe Thomas, the director of the 1,000 Days Initiative, sets out a plan unifying maternal and early childhood nutrition policy and systems, by emphasizing four sectors where immediate action should be taken – early child development, health care, philanthropy, and U.S. government relations.&nbsp;



“Achieving nutrition security during the first 1,000 days will ultimately require multisector collaboration, advocacy, and action to fully support families where they live, learn, work, play, and gather,” Thomas explained.



In a third <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306999">paper</a>, Dr. Kofi Essel, a community pediatrician at the <a href="https://childrensnational.org/">Children’s National Hospital</a>, argues that a paradigm shift on the importance of nutrition and nutrition guidance is crucial for enhancing clinical care.&nbsp;



“This shift requires a collective effort that activates pediatricians to work in cross-sector collaboratives to influence change alongside industry, researchers, and even early childhood educators. It requires pediatricians to use their voices to support local policy that shifts the food landscape, supports national policy that enhances nutrition security for our families, and transforms medical education for current and future providers,” Dr. Essel advised.



More information about this forthcoming special series can be found <a href="https://thousanddays.org/updates/ajph-series/">here</a>.



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

Proper nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life is crucial

Infant and maternal mortality rates in the United States are...

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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

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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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Lake Trasimeno, which is located west of Perugia in central Italy. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. While Trasimeno’s water level varies, it has a maximum depth of approximately six meters.&nbsp;



"In this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured on 6 August 2022, the lake’s emerald green colour is likely due to the presence of phytoplankton. Streaks in the water, particularly visible in the west, indicate the presence of soil and sediments which have been stirred up by winds. Dark colored waters in the southern part of the lake indicate a presence of submerged and floating macrophytes (aquatic plants) as well as algae," says ESA.



"Surrounded by hills on three sides, Trasimeno is subject to heavy storms created by winds, especially from the north and west. There are three islets in the lake: Maggiore, Minore and Polvese (the largest). The lake’s shores are sparsely inhabited with only two popular villages: Castiglione del Lago and Passignano sul Trasimeno."



"Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years which has affected drinking water supplies, hydroelectric power and agricultural production. High temperatures, hot winds and lack of rainfall are the main causes of drought in the Umbrian region which saw Lake Trasimeno’s drop 1.3 m, reaching the limit of the hydrometric zero in July 2022."



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> describes a new self-powered nanosensor that can instantly detect mercury contamination with the tap of a finger.&nbsp;



The oxidized form of mercury can be harmful when it is ingested through contaminated water or food. This makes it necessary for experts to develop sensors that can quickly and accurately detect the presence of mercury.&nbsp;



Zong-Hong Lin and colleagues have now created a triboelectric nanosensor (TENS) that can detect mercury by simply by touching a sample. According to the researchers, their TENS could serve as the basis for similar devices to safely and remotely monitor other pollutants.



Video 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.

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" 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> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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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.

How does salt makes things taste better?

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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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.

Santiago, Chile in South America

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Spiral,Galaxy,,Illustration,Of,Milky,Way

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Astronomers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> have created an interactive map of the universe, including the actual position and real colors of 200,000 galaxies. The map allows the public to access data that was previously only available to scientists.



The map was developed using data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. For over two decades, a telescope in New Mexico was aimed at slightly different locations to capture the night sky.&nbsp;



"Growing up I was very inspired by astronomy pictures, stars, nebulae and galaxies, and now it's our time to create a new type of picture to inspire people," said map creator Brice Ménard, a professor at Johns Hopkins. "Astrophysicists around the world have been analyzing this data for years, leading to thousands of scientific papers and discoveries. But nobody took the time to create a map that is beautiful, scientifically accurate, and accessible to people who are not scientists. Our goal here is to show everybody what the universe really looks like."



"In this map, we are just a speck at the very bottom, just one pixel. And when I say we, I mean our galaxy, the Milky Way which has billions of stars and planets. We are used to seeing astronomical pictures showing one galaxy here, one galaxy there or perhaps a group of galaxies. But what this map shows is a very, very different scale."



"From this speck at the bottom, we are able to map out galaxies across the entire universe, and that says something about the power of science."



The <a href="https://mapoftheuniverse.net/">interactive map</a> is available online, where it can be downloaded for free.



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&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.

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&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> Staff Writer 



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.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland. Beyond its pub culture, Dublin is known as a modern culinary destination and a UNESCO City of Literature.



"Dublin is located near the midpoint of Ireland’s east coast in the province of Leinster. The city, which covers an area of around 115 square kilometers, is bordered by the Dublin Mountains, a low mountain range to the south, and is surrounded by flat farmland to the north and west," says ESA.



"The city straddles the River Liffey, which rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows around 80 kilometers eastwards through the city of Dublin, in which it is canalised and bordered with quays. It then empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea."



Dublin has an abundance of green spaces, including one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital city. Phoenix Park, which was originally formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s, includes 707 hectares of green space.



Video Credit: ESA&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.

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain. The image was captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.



"Together with the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, Zaragoza formed the old kingdom of Aragon. Its capital, also called Zaragoza (not visible in this image) is home to around half of Aragon’s population," says ESA.



"The Ebro River can be seen winding its way through the province from west to east in this image. Between its source in the Cantabrian Mountains in the northwest and its delta on the Mediterranean coast, the Ebro River is fed by more than 200 tributaries as it flows 910 km across much of northern Spain."



Since rainfall is very scarce in this region, irrigation in the Ebro basin is critically important. In the valleys surrounding the Ebro River, many fields are used for growing crops such as corn, wheat, and barley.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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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.

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> reveals the evolution of the Columbia Glacier in southeastern Alaska. Columbia is among the fastest shrinking glaciers in the world, and the video documents its rapid retreat over the years.&nbsp;



Columbia Glacier is a large, multi-branched calving glacier that flows out of the Chugach Mountains to the Prince William Sound.&nbsp;



According to USGS, Columbia had a long history of stability prior to 1980, with a length 41 miles, and small, short-lived advances or retreats.



In the years since 1980, however, satellite images have captured Columbia’s alarming retreat. By using false-color images, scientists can distinguish between snow and ice, open water, vegetation, and rocky debris on the glacier’s surface.



The series of false-color images featured in today's video were acquired over the span of 35 years. You can see that by 2021, the glacier’s main branch had retreated about 15 miles from its initial position.



The Columbia Glacier has also lost more than 50 percent of its volume, mostly due to calving. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/nasa-reveals-3d-visual-of-an-atmospheric-river/">NASA</a> reports that while climate change likely started the retreat, mechanical processes kept the disintegration going.



The NASA images are provided by Jesse Allen, Robert Simmon, Joshua Stevens, and Lauren Dauphin using data from Landsat satellites, from the U.S. Geological Survey, and data from MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. The structure of Columbia’s moraine played a large role in the stability of the glacier before 1980. 



Like other tidewater glaciers, the Columbia built up a moraine over time, and the mixture of ice and rock functioned like a dam keeping out the sea. It was supported on one end by the shoreline and by the underwater terminal moraine at the other.



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/&nbsp; NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio



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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.

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



The mountain range is 430 kilometers in length. It stretches from the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Atlantic Ocean on the west.



At an elevation of 3404 meters, Pico de Aneto is the highest mountain peak in the Pyrenees, and the third-highest peak in Spain. Pico de Aneto is located in the Posets-Maladeta Natural Park, which spans more than 82,000 acres.&nbsp;



"Geological studies have revealed that the Pyrenees Mountains have been around for longer than the Alps, with their sediments first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras," reports ESA.



"The entire mountain range formed due to the upwelling of large sedimentary rocks by the collision of the Iberian and the Eurasian plate around 100 to 150 million years ago, followed by intense erosion from ice and water."



The western Pyrenees receive more precipitation due to moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. The mountain range contains many lakes, several small glaciers, and some of the highest waterfalls in Europe.



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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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.

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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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.

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&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.

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



Video Credit: ESA&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.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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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.

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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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.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&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.

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...