Can farms produce enough food to feed us while still leaving space for wildlife? A new proposal says they can.



By setting aside one-fifth of farmland for nature, and tweaking everyday practices on the rest, we can help wildlife recover without sacrificing the food on our tables.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farming-with-wildlife-in-mind">Farming with wildlife in mind</h2>



The plan comes from ecologists at the <a href="https://www.ceh.ac.uk/">UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology</a> and the University of Alcalá in Spain. Study co-author Professor James Bullock elaborated on the importance of the research.



“Reversing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-report-calls-for-global-change-to-stop-biodiversity-loss/">biodiversity loss</a> and degradation of ecosystems is essential both for nature as well as long-term global food security. But there is no single silver bullet for nature recovery and so far it has been unclear how to integrate rewilding into agricultural landscapes," said Professor Bullock. 



“Our proposed approach moves beyond land sparing versus land sharing. We believe rewilding can be interwoven into agricultural landscapes and could be key to maintaining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/increasing-plant-based-food-production-would-have-extremely-positive-impact/">food production</a> in a way that is sustainable in the long term for people and the planet.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dedicating-land-to-nature-recovery">Dedicating land to nature recovery</h2>



According to the study, fostering rewilding approaches alongside farming could create agroecological landscapes that accommodate biodiversity while remaining resilient and functionally connected. Certain incentives would encourage farmers to adopt this approach.



“While setting aside land for nature recovery could potentially be made a legal requirement for farmers and landowners, there is more likely to be acceptance and success of rewilding if there are incentives in the form of payments for ecosystem services and tax deductions,” noted Professor José María Rey Benayas, lead author on the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-farming-needs-wildlife">Why farming needs wildlife</h2>



Modern farming has greatly increased food production since the 1940s. But this has often come at the expense of nature. 



Clearing land, using heavy fertilizers and pesticides, and removing natural features like hedgerows have pushed many plant and animal species to the edge.



This loss doesn’t just affect wildlife - it disrupts vital services that farms depend on, such as healthy soil, natural pest control, and water retention. As these services decline, the long-term productivity and resilience of farming systems are put at risk.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cost-of-declining-wildlife">The cost of declining wildlife</h2>



Across Europe and beyond, once-common species are disappearing from farmland. For example, the U.K. has lost over 40 million birds since 1970, and wild bee populations have declined in more than half of European countries, according to multiple long-term surveys.



These animals aren’t just part of the scenery - they’re key to food production. Birds eat crop pests. Bees and other insects pollinate the flowers that develop into fruits and vegetables. Their loss means greater reliance on artificial fertilisers, pesticides, and expensive manual labour.



Bringing wildlife back isn’t just a conservation goal - it’s a practical step toward more affordable and reliable <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mixed-cover-crops-may-be-the-future-of-sustainable-farming/">farming</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-steps-to-farming-alongside-wildlife">Steps to farming alongside wildlife </h2>



The researchers suggest a four-part plan that links nature conservation with everyday farming. 



First, they recommend reserving at least 20% of farmland for nature. This space would include large patches of woodland, wetlands, and species-rich grassland to form strong core habitats. 



Second, these patches should be connected by green corridors - such as hedgerows, ponds, and strips of scrubland - that allow wildlife to move, feed, and reproduce.



Third, they propose protecting small hotspots within working fields. This would involve setting aside about 10% of cropped land for flower strips, beetle banks, and bird perches, bringing the total to the 30% global restoration goal. 



Finally, they call for small changes in daily farming practices, like reducing chemical use, planting flowers for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-face-extinction-risk-due-to-climate-change/">pollinators</a>, and letting livestock graze more freely to help spread seeds and support healthy soil.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rewilding-has-benefits-for-farmers">Rewilding has benefits for farmers</h2>



Many European regions cannot host bears or bison. However, smaller species such as lynx, wildcat, or European hare can still boost ecosystem health. Choosing the right mix depends on local conditions.



Helping wildlife can pay off in more ways than one. When farms support natural habitats, they often see practical benefits in return. 



Better soil retains more water and nutrients, which supports stronger <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/farmers-can-help-make-crops-more-resilient/">crops</a>. Pollinators and natural predators of pests can help increase yields in nearby fields. 



Farmers may also spend less on fertilizers and pesticides, lowering overall input costs. In some places, governments might provide payments or tax breaks to reward efforts that support biodiversity and ecosystem services.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-making-room-for-wildlife">Making room for wildlife</h2>



Reaching the 20% target may be challenging for small farms, but collective action can make it achievable. At the same time, each region will need to adapt the plan to fit its local conditions. 



Areas with heavily degraded farmland have the most to gain, while places with traditional, low-impact farming may require fewer changes. 



The researchers emphasize that this is just a starting point - but the message is clear: making room for wildlife alongside farming can help secure both indigenous species and food for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2860">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>.



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Farming for wildlife: How traditional practices can protect nature

Can farms produce enough food to feed us while still leaving space for wildlife? A new proposal says they can. By setting aside one-fifth of farmland for nature, and tweaking everyday practices on the rest, we can help wildlife recover without sacrificing the food on our tables. Farming with wildlife in mind The plan comes from ecologists at the UK Centre for Ecology &amp; Hydrology and the University of Alcalá in Spain. Study co-author Professor James Bullock elaborated on the importance of the research. “Reversing biodiversity loss...

The results of a new study modeling the effects of the world’s current emission reduction pledges has concluded that it’s no longer about whether we will overshoot the 1.5 degree Celsius warming target or not; it’s now about how much we will overshoot. This is a stark and sobering finding, against the backdrop of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/on-a-highway-to-climate-hell-cop27-begins-in-egypt/">COP27</a>) currently taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.



According to the study, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01508-0">Nature Climate Change</a>, it is now highly likely that the world is going to warm past the 1.5 degree rise in average temperature, set as a goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The world’s current climate pledges are simply insufficient&nbsp;to limit global warming to this level, say the researchers from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory(PNNL), the University of Maryland and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. However, the experts note there is still time to adopt mechanisms that can limit the extent of the overshoot.



Although exceeding the 1.5-degree target appears inevitable, the researchers say that countries can minimize the time spent in a warmer world by adopting more ambitious climate pledges and decarbonizing faster. Their study suggests various mechanisms whereby the overshoot period is shortened, in some cases by decades, and the researchers say this will be critical in reducing the extent of the damage.&nbsp;



“Let’s face it. We are going to breach the 1.5 degrees limit in the next couple of decades,” said corresponding author and PNNL scientist Haewon McJeon. “That means we’ll go up to 1.6 or 1.7 degrees or above, and we’ll need to bring it back down to 1.5. But how fast we can bring it down is key.”



According to the study, every second shaved off the overshoot translates to less time spent courting the most harmful consequences of global warming, from extreme weather to rising sea levels. Forgoing or delaying more ambitious goals could lead to “irreversible and adverse consequences for human and natural systems,” said lead author Gokul Iyer, a scientist alongside McJeon at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a partnership between PNNL and the University of Maryland.



“Moving fast means hitting net-zero pledges sooner, decarbonizing faster, and striking more ambitious emissions targets,” said Iyer. “Every little bit helps, and you need a combination of all of it. But our results show that the most important thing is doing it early. Doing it now, really.”



During COP26 in 2021, the same research team found that the then updated pledges could substantially increase the chance of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. In their new paper, the authors take an additional step in proposing how to move the needle from 2 to 1.5 degrees.



“The 2021 pledges don’t add up to anywhere near 1.5 degrees – we are forced to focus on the overshoot,” said PNNL scientist Yang Ou, who co-led the study. “Here, we’re trying to provide scientific support to help answer the question: What type of ratcheting mechanism would get us back down and below 1.5 degrees? That’s the motivation behind this paper.”



The researchers modelled the predicted consequences of 27 scenarios involving different levels of emissions and climate actions, from the least ambitious to the most. They tracked the effect on global warming if each of these pathways was followed, in order to identify particular approaches that could limit temperature rise or, indeed, return the world to the desired 1.5 degree average temperature rise after overshooting this goal.&nbsp;&nbsp;



As a starting point, the researchers assumed that countries will meet their emissions pledges and long-term strategies on schedule. If countries do uphold their nationally determined contributions through 2030 and follow a two percent minimum decarbonization rate, for example, global carbon dioxide levels would not reach net zero this century.



However, in the more ambitious scenarios, they model the extent to which warming is limited when countries decarbonize faster and advance the dates of their net-zero pledges. Their results underscore the significance of “ratcheting near-term ambition,” which entails rapid reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from all sectors of the energy system, immediately and through 2030.



Taking the most ambitious path outlined could even bring net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2057. Such a path, the authors write, is marked by “rapid transformations throughout the global energy system” along with the scaling up of “low-carbon technologies like renewables, nuclear energy, as well as carbon capture and storage.”



“The technologies that help us get to zero emissions include renewables, hydrogen, electric cars, and so on. Of course those are important players,” said Iyer. “Another important piece of the puzzle is the technologies that can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, like direct air capture or nature-based solutions.”



The most ambitious scenarios outlined in their work are meant to be illustrative of the pathways on offer. But the central takeaway remains clear throughout all modeled scenarios: if 1.5 degrees is to be re-attained sooner after we warm past it, more ambitious climate pledges must be adopted.



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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



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Global warming will exceed 1.5 degrees, but by how much?

The results of a new study modeling the effects of...

From April to May 2019, the coral reefs close to the French Polynesian island of Moorea in the central South Pacific Ocean suffered prolonged and severe thermal bleaching, despite the absence of El Niño conditions that year, a phenomenon which intrigued oceanologists around the world. 



Now, a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://hkust.edu.hk/">Hong Kong University of Science and Technology</a> has investigated this surprising and apparently paradoxical event, and discovered that it was related to passage of anti-cyclonic eddies which elevated sea levels and concentrated hot water over the coral reef, leading to a massive underwater marine heatwave that was invisible from the sea surface.



Most studies of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reef-fish-struggle-to-recognize-competitors-after-coral-bleaching/">coral bleaching</a> rely on sea-surface measurements of water temperatures, a method that cannot fully capture the threats from ocean heating to various ecosystems, including coral reefs. By analyzing data collected at Moorea over a period of 15 years (from 2005 to 2019) through a combination of remotely sensed sea-surface temperatures and high-resolution, long-term in-situ temperatures and sea level anomalies, the Hong Kong experts found that the passage of anti-cyclonic eddies in the open ocean near the island raised sea levels, pushing internal waves down into deeper water. As a result, internal wave cooling was shut down in early 2019, leading to unexpected heating over the reef and large-scale coral bleaching and mortality.



Interestingly, in contrast with the situation in 2019, the reefs near Moorea did not undergo significant bleaching mortality in 2016, regardless of the prevailing El Niño conditions which decimated many shallow reefs worldwide. Since relying solely on sea-surface temperature data would have predicted only moderate bleaching in both 2016 and 2019, the new findings stress the importance of collecting temperatures across the whole range of depths that coral reefs occupy.&nbsp;



“The present study highlights the need to consider environmental dynamics across depths relevant to threatened ecosystems, including those due to the passage of underwater ocean weather events.&nbsp;This kind of analysis depends on long-term, in situ data measured across ocean depths, but such data is generally lacking,” said study lead author Alex Wyatt, an expert in Ocean Science at Hong Kong.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Our paper provides a valuable mechanistic example for assessing the future of coastal ecosystems in the context of changing ocean dynamics and climates.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35550-5">Nature Communications</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



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Hidden heatwave led to massive coral bleaching event

From April to May 2019, the coral reefs close to...

Although raindrops, evaporating water, or even air moisture are all potential sources of decentralized clean electricity generation, most of the technologies that take advantage of these widespread sources of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-could-be-powered-entirely-by-renewable-energy/">energy</a> remain at the lab-bench stage. To provide a comprehensive map of these developments and their possible future, a recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NRE.2023.9120042">Nano Research Energy</a> has surveyed the opportunities and challenges this young field currently faces.



Huge hydroelectric dams, large tidal barrages, or wave-energy converters on the sea surface are some of the first things one thinks of when considering sustainable energy generation. However, these options depend upon heavy, bulky, and above all centralized forms of harvesting energy from water. According to the scientists leading this new study though, there are myriad of other technological pathways that could take advantage of the ubiquitous presence of water on our planet.



“Water is everywhere. It is ambiently available like no other entity. So all this clean energy is just sitting there, unused and waiting for us to take advantage of it,” said study senior author Zuankai Wang, a mechanical engineer at the <a href="https://www.cityu.edu.hk/">City University of Hong Kong</a>. “It makes sense for us to tap into this vast reservoir of energy not just for bulk electricity production, but for a range of applications such as sensors and wearable devices where a micro-scale of energy harvesting is much more appropriate to the use it is being put to.”



Unfortunately, the development of such distributed water-energy technologies remains very much in its infancy, with many of the current concepts for water-energy harvesting techniques suffering from poor durability, scalability, and low energy conversion. “And yet the rest of nature has figured out thousands of different ways to do exactly this. Evolution has basically perfected the process of extracting energy from ambient hydrologic processes in ways that are extremely efficient,” Wang explained.



For instance, the lotus leaf allows droplets of water to roll across its surface with extremely low resistance, the Araucaria leaves cause liquids with varying surface tensions to flow in different directions, while some carnivorous plants (the so-called “nepenthes” or pitcher plants) are able to direct liquid through their surface structure. These natural phenomena inspired scientists to develop superhydrophobic surfaces or “slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces” that can repel liquid extremely efficiently, allowing for constant electrical output from droplets in harsh environments with high humidity, high salt concentrations, and low temperatures.



Besides plants, animals such as electric eels inspired researchers to develop artificial electric organs making use of hydrogel arrays (highly absorbent polymers which don’t dissolve in water) that function like eel membrane components.



Unfortunately, much of the design of such bio-inspired water-driven electricity generators remains at a lab-bench stage, and the devices currently constructed have a very short lifespan. Further theoretical and experimental research is needed to better understand the underlying structures of water-driven electricity generation in order to manage to efficiently construct durable and scalable bionics that could mimic nature’s capacities.



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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



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Harvesting electricity with nature-inspired techniques

Although raindrops, evaporating water, or even air moisture are all...

The end-Permian <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-sixth-mass-extinction-is-currently-in-progress/">mass extinction</a> from 250 million years ago is the most severe of the five mass extinctions our planet faced, decimating over 80 percent of marine and terrestrial plant and animal species. This catastrophic loss of biodiversity was triggered by the emplacement of a continental-scale volcanic eruption covering much of modern-day Siberia, which released massive amounts of carbon from the Earth’s interior into the atmosphere, generating a devastating global warming event that led to the collapse of the ozone layer.



Now, an international team of scientists has discovered that pollen preserved in rocks dating from that period contained compounds that function like sunscreen and were produced by plants to protect them from harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV-B). These findings suggest that a pulse of UV-B may have played an important role in the end-Permian mass extinction.



“Plants require sunlight for photosynthesis but need to protect themselves and particularly their pollen against the harmful effects of UV-B radiation. To do so, plants load the outer walls of pollen grains with compounds that function like sunscreen to protect the vulnerable cells to ensure successful reproduction,” explained Barry Lomax, a professor of Plant Paleobiology at the <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/">University of Nottingham</a>. &nbsp;



“We have developed a method to detect these phenolic compounds in fossil pollen grains (Alisporites-type) recovered from southern Tibet and detected much higher concentrations in those grains that were produced during the end-Permian mass extinction and peak phase of volcanic activity,” added Liu Feng, a paleontologist at the <a href="http://english.nigpas.cas.cn/">Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology</a>.



The researchers discovered an increase in UV-B-absorbing compounds (UACs)&nbsp;which coincided with a massive rise in mercury concentration and a decrease in carbon isotopes in the latest Permian deposits, suggesting a close temporal link between large-scale volcanic eruptions, worldwide carbon- and mercury-cycle perturbations, and disruptions of the ozone layer. Thus, elevated UV-B levels most likely exerted far-reaching and long-lasting impacts on the entire planet, reducing plant biomass and terrestrial carbon storage and exacerbating global warming. Moreover, increased concentrations of phenolic compounds made plant tissue harder to digest, making an already hostile environment even more challenging for herbivores.



“Volcanism on such a cataclysmic scale influences all aspects of the Earth system, from direct chemical changes in the atmosphere, through changes in carbon sequestration rates, to reducing the volume of nutritious food sources available for animals,” concluded Wes Fraser, an expert in Organic Geochemistry at <a href="https://www.brookes.ac.uk/">Oxford Brookes University</a>.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo6102">Science Advances</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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UV radiation played a role in Earth's largest mass extinction

The end-Permian mass extinction from 250 million years ago is...

It is accepted that birds evolved from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/past-climate-change-drove-the-rapid-evolution-of-reptiles/">reptiles</a>, and particularly from small, carnivorous theropod dinosaurs, and that this process did not take place in one burst of evolution. Rather, the huge morphological changes happened in steps, over tens of millions of years, with the typical bird features evolving at different rates, for distinct purposes, and ending up giving the characteristic modern bird body plan. However, paleontologists still wonder how it was that all these dramatic transformations took place.&nbsp;



A new bird fossil, found in the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning Province in China, has now been analyzed by paleontologists from the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> in Beijing, and has shown to be a bizarre mixture of dinosaur and bird features. It is dated at around 120 million years and combines a typical bird body with a reptilian skull that is similar in morphology to the skull of Tyranosaurus rex. This finding supports the idea that evolutionary changes in morphology did not take place at the same rate in all body structures during early bird diversification.&nbsp;



“The Cretaceous period is a critical time interval that encompasses explosive diversifications of terrestrial vertebrates, particularly the period when the earliest-branching birds, after divergence from their theropod ancestors, evolved the characteristic avian bauplan that led eventually to their global radiation,” said Dr. WANG Min, a researcher with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology and the Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.



Named Cratonavis zhui, this new species is positioned on the avian evolutionary tree, somewhere between the more reptile-like, long-tailed&nbsp;Archaeopteryx&nbsp;and the Ornithothoraces (which include modern birds and their closest ancestors). Its features include wings, feathers, claws on the wings, conical teeth, and the absence of a long, bony tail. In addition, the fossil bird has unusually elongated scapulae and first metatarsal bones, features that are, so far, unique to this species alone.



The researchers used high-resolution computed tomography (CT)-scanning to analyze the fossilized bones, and then they “removed” these, digitally, from their rocky tomb, repositioned them and reconstructed the original shape of the post-cranial skeleton and skull. They found that, while the skeleton was typically bird-like, the skull retained small, conical teeth, along with the feature known as akinesis, which is characteristic of dinosaurs and other reptiles, but not of modern birds.&nbsp;



“The primitive cranial features speak to the fact that most Cretaceous birds, such as&nbsp;Cratonavis,&nbsp;could not move their upper bill independently with respect to the braincase and lower jaw, a functional innovation widely distributed among living birds that contributes to their enormous ecological diversity,” said Dr. LI Zhiheng, a lead author of the study.



As for the bizarre scapula and first metatarsal bone in Cratonavis, Dr. WANG Min, a lead and corresponding author of this study, said: “The scapula is functionally vital to avian flight, and it conveys stability and flexibility. We trace changes of the scapula across the theropod-bird transition, and posit that the elongate scapula could augment the mechanical advantage of muscle for humerus retraction/rotation, which compensates for the overall underdeveloped flight apparatus in this early bird, and these differences represent morphological experimentation in volant behaviour, early in bird diversification.”



In their report, published in&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01921-w">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>, the paleontologists conclude that the elongated first metatarsals in the fossil bird’s feet were subjected to selection pressure during the dinosaur-bird transition, and ended up becoming shorter. They then lost their evolutionary lability (changeability) once they reached their optimal size, less than a quarter of the length of the second metatarsal.&nbsp;



“However, increased evolutionary lability was present among Mesozoic birds and their dinosaur kins, which may have resulted from conflicting demands associated with its direct employment of the hallux [innermost digit of the hind foot] in locomotion and feeding,” said co-author Dr. Thomas Stidham. For&nbsp;Cratonavis, such an elongated hallux may have been advantageous while hunting for prey.



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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



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Puzzling fossil has the body of a bird, skull of a dinosaur

It is accepted that birds evolved from reptiles, and particularly...

The,Queen,(apis,Mellifera),Marked,With,Dot,And,Bee,Workers

The <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> (USDA) has recently granted a conditional license for a vaccine aiming to protect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/honey-bees-cannot-fly-straight-after-ingesting-pesticides/">honey bees</a> from American foulbrood disease, an infection caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae that weakens and kills honey bee colonies and currently has no treatment. This vaccine – developed by the U.S. biotech company <a href="https://www.dalan.com/">Dalan Animal Health</a> – raises hopes for a new and powerful weapon against a disease that routinely ravage colonies that are highly important for food pollination.



“Our vaccine is a breakthrough in protecting honey bees,” said Annette Kleiser, the chief executive of Dalan. “We are ready to change how we care for insects, impacting food production on a global scale.”



In parts of the U.S., the foulbrood disease has been found in over a quarter of honey bee hives. Since there is no cure for this disease available yet, beekeepers usually destroy and burn infected colonies and administer antibiotics to stop further spread.



“It’s something that beekeepers can easily recognize because it reduces the larvae to this brown goo that has a rancid stink to it,” explained Keith Delaplane, an entomologist at the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a> who worked together with Dalan for the vaccine’s development.



This groundbreaking vaccine works by incorporating some of the bacteria into the royal jelly fed by worker bees to the queen. After ingesting the vaccine-laced jelly, the queen will gain some of the vaccine in its ovaries and the developing bee larvae will have immunity to foulbrood as they hatch.



“In a perfect scenario, the queens could be fed a cocktail within a queen candy – the soft, pasty sugar that queen bees eat while in transit. Queen breeders could advertise ‘fully vaccinated queens,” Delapane said.



Since the U.S. is highly dependent upon managed honey bee colonies to assist food pollination – with bee hives frequently transported around the country to help pollinating a variety of crops, ranging from almonds to blueberries – the development of this vaccine is a major step forward for boosting agricultural production. Scientists hope that this medical breakthrough could be used to create vaccines for other bee-related diseases, such as the European strain of foulbrood.



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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



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World’s first honeybee vaccine approved by the USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently granted a...

While most mammals are covered in fur, some have significantly less body <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-body-parts-hair/">hair</a> - including rhinos, elephants, naked mole rats, dolphins, and humans. Until recently, the reasons for this have remained a mystery. To shed more light on this issue, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> and the <a href="https://www.pitt.edu/">University of Pittsburgh</a> has now compared the genetic codes of 62 animal species.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that a set of genes and regulatory regions of the genome which seem to be essential for producing hair have been disabled during evolution in several mammalian species, particularly in those that evolved at faster rates.&nbsp;



“We have taken the creative approach of using biological diversity to learn about our own genetics,” said study senior author Nathan Clark, a geneticist at the University of Utah. “This is helping us to pinpoint regions of our genome that contribute to something important to us.”



According to the scientists, being hairless has its own evolutionary benefits. For instance, without dense hair, elephants cool off more easily in hotter climates and walruses glide effortlessly in water. 



However, despite these various reasons, the analysis of 19,149 genes and 343,598 regulatory regions that were conserved across dozens of mammalian species suggested that hairless mammals seem to have accumulated mutations in many of the same genes, including those that code for keratin and other elements that facilitate hair growth. In addition, regulatory regions of the genome – which rather than coding directly for structures that produce hair, influence the process indirectly, by guiding when and where specific genes are activated - appear equally important.&nbsp;



Another major finding of the study was that hairless mammals evolved at faster rates than their hairy counterparts. “As animals are under evolutionary pressure to lose hair, the genes encoding hair become less important. That’s why they speed up the rate of genetic changes that are permitted by natural selection. Some genetic changes might be responsible for loss of hair. Others could be collateral damage after hair stops growing,” Clark explained.



By answering fundamental questions about the mechanisms shaping this rather rare feature in mammals, the scientists hope to find new ways to recover hair after balding or chemotherapy, as well as in people with disorders that cause hair loss.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.76911">eLife</a>.&nbsp;



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Hairless mammals evolved at a faster pace

While most mammals are covered in fur, some have significantly...

The role of the gut <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dog-microbiomes-around-the-world-are-functionally-similar/">microbiome</a> in respiratory viral infections in general, and in COVID-19 patients, in particular, is only just beginning to be understood. Previous reports have shown that COVID-19 is often accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms and that persistent microbiome changes are found in people with long-term COVID-19. Furthermore, investigations have shown that all COVID-19 patients manifest differences in gut bacterial populations when compared to healthy controls, and that infected patients treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics while in hospital have an increased risk of developing multi-drug resistant secondary infections and of dying from septic shock.



Despite these earlier findings, the causal direction of the relationship between disrupted gut microbiome and infection by coronavirus has remained unclear. Does coronavirus infection result in a disrupted gut microbiome, or does an already weakened or dysfunctional gut microbiome make the body more vulnerable to infection by the virus?



A recent study, led by researchers from <a href="https://med.nyu.edu/our-community/about-us">NYU Grossman School of Medicine</a>, has now set out to elucidate this relationship. Initially, the researchers tested the changes in gut microbes found in laboratory mice that had been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and found that the diversity of different bacterial species in the gut decreased dramatically within the first few days of infection. Some families of important bacteria disappeared from the gut, while other families proliferated. These results led the researchers to suspect that the virus would also disrupt the microbiome in human patients.&nbsp;



They then investigated changes to gut microbes in 96 men and women who were hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020, in New York City and in New Haven, Conn. The researchers analyzed the microbe communities present in stool samples taken throughout each patient’s hospital stay.&nbsp;



The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33395-6">Nature Communications</a>, showed that the majority of patients had low gut microbiome diversity, as was found in the experimental mice, with around a quarter of the patients showing a microbiome dominated by a single type of bacteria. At the same time, populations of several microbes known to include antibiotic-resistant species increased, possibly due to widespread antibiotic use early in the pandemic. Antibiotics kill off species that are susceptible to the drugs but leave, in their place, different species that are resistant to the drugs.&nbsp;



These antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in the gut were also observed to have migrated into the bloodstream in 20 percent of patients. In the bloodstream, they cause infections that can be life-threatening to patients. The study authors note that further research is needed to uncover why this group was at higher risk for a secondary infection while other patients remained protected.&nbsp;



“Our findings suggest that coronavirus infection directly interferes with the healthy balance of microbes in the gut, further endangering patients in the process,” says study co-senior author and microbiologist Dr. Ken Cadwell. “Now that we have uncovered the source of this bacterial imbalance, physicians can better identify those coronavirus patients most at risk of a secondary bloodstream infection."



Under normal circumstances, microbes are not able to migrate between the gut and the bloodstream unless the intestinal barrier is damaged. In fact, the researchers found gut epithelial cell alterations in the mice infected with SARS-CoV-2, implying that the virus in some way also changes the permeability of the intestine lining.&nbsp; In previous research, the influenza virus was also shown to disrupt the intestinal barrier in mice by damaging the gut microbiota.&nbsp;



In the current study, the patients who were shown to have a microbiome dominated by one type of bacteria often suffered the migration of this drug-resistant species from the gut into the blood, indicating some compromise to the intestinal barrier. This caused a secondary infection in these patients that proved fatal, in some instances.&nbsp;



“Our results highlight how the gut microbiome and different parts of the body’s immune system are closely interconnected,” says study senior author Dr. Jonas Schluter. “An infection in one can lead to major disruptions in the other.” Schluter cautions that since the patients received different kinds of treatments for their illness, the investigation could not entirely account for all factors that may have contributed to the disruption of their microbiome and worsen their disease.&nbsp;



Taken together, these research findings support a scenario in which gut-to-blood migration of microorganisms occurs in COVID-19 patients due to the virus causing disruption to the normal gut microbiome. This migration leads to bloodstream infections that can be dangerous complications of the disease. According to Schluter, the study team next plans to examine why certain microbial species are more likely to escape the gut during COVID-19. The researchers say they also intend to explore how different microbes interact, which may contribute to this migration into the bloodstream. &nbsp;



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

COVID disrupts gut health, increasing risk of other infections

The role of the gut microbiome in respiratory viral infections...

Drying soils will likely host an increasing number of pathogenic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-shed-their-flowers-quickly-for-protection-from-microbes/">microbes</a> which pose a threat to public health, according to a new study. The research will be presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the <a href="https://www.esa.org/">Ecological Society of America</a>.



Previous studies have shown that soil microbes are vulnerable to environmental degradation and climate change. Soil bacterial communities are crucial for fertile soils and plant growth, and the expected loss of microbial diversity in drying soils could have severe consequences when it comes to global food security.



The new research reveals that soil-borne pathogens are resilient to stressful environmental conditions. This means that disease-causing bacteria are more likely than non-pathogenic microbes to survive the persistent droughts that are expected to coincide with climate change and global warming.&nbsp;



A team of researchers at New Mexico State University led by Professor Adriana Romero-Olivares investigated the complex relationships between global change and soil fungi. The study was focused on soil fungal communities in the southwestern United States.



In collaboration with experts at ETH Zürich and the U.S. Geological Survey, the researchers extracted fungal DNA from soils to compare the effects of local environmental conditions on microbial communities.



The results suggest that spore-producing fungi will thrive and become more prevalent in increasingly dry soils. Pathogenic fungi release spores that spread easily through airborne dispersal, and these species may be able to endure dust storms and droughts that non-pathogenic species are unable to tolerate, explained the study authors.



“It’s not only about the fungi that we know are pathogenic, but also about the fungi that have the potential to become pathogenic. We have no idea if global climate change may trigger pathogenicity and we really need to start looking into that to prevent future pandemics,” said Romero-Olivares.



The research will be used to inform policy makers on the public health threat potential that climate change has on soil fungal communities.



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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



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Drying soils pose a major threat to public health

Drying soils will likely host an increasing number of pathogenic...

As glaciers melt and lose mass, they will contribute to sea-level rise. It is already estimated that meltwater from all glacial land ice (excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets) has contributed 21 percent of the sea-level rise recorded between 2000 and 2019. In addition, melting glaciers will change available water resources for around 1.9 billion people, altering annual and seasonal runoff for personal use and agriculture, and contributing to water insecurity.&nbsp;



Melting glaciers will also increase the frequency and magnitude of glacier-related hazards, such as landslides and outburst floods, over the next century. For all these reasons, it is critical to predict and understand the magnitude, spatial pattern, and timing of glacier mass loss.



In a new study that represents “a substantial step forward in predictive modeling”&nbsp;of glacier response to climate change, a team of international researchers has developed a model predicting the fate of all 215,547 of the world’s mountain glaciers (excluding those on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets) under various different warming scenarios. Their findings emphasize that, even if warming is limited to the target 1.5oC, all glaciers will be under threat by the end of 2100.



The study uses new and more detailed data sets on glacier mass balance and rates of ablation, and represents glacier dynamics with a flowline model. The researchers also consider important physical processes that have not been incorporated in previous models, and provide model predictions for global warming at 1.5oC, 2oC, 3oC and 4oC above pre-industrial levels, all the way to the year 2100. In a related perspective of the research, a commentator referred to this model as the “most comprehensive so far.”



The findings, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abo1324">Science</a>, predict that, globally, glaciers will lose between 26 percent (+1.5°C) and 41 percent (+4°C) of their mass by 2100, relative to a 2015 baseline. This mass loss would increase mean sea level by between 90 (+1.5°C) and 154 (+4°C) mm SLE, representing a 71 percent increase between the +1.5°C and +4°C scenarios.



The researchers report that, even in the most optimistic scenario of limiting global warming to 1.5 oC above pre-industrial levels, their model predicts that nearly 60 percent of the world’s glaciers will be lost by 2100. Within 2°C, the agreed warming limit of the Paris Agreement, about 70 percent of the smaller glaciers and 20 percent of the larger ones will melt completely. Considering that estimates from COP26 predict a global mean temperature increase of around 2.7°C by 2100, even the very largest glaciers in the Polar Regions will be under threat.&nbsp;



And the consequences do not stop at 2100. Even if temperature is stabilized at any level, the glaciers that remain will continue to lose mass beyond the model’s 2100 end point. These dire predictions highlight the need to act now in order to prevent substantial glacier loss.



“Every increase in temperature has significant consequences with respect to glacier contribution to sea level rise, the loss of glaciers around the world, and changes to hydrology, ecology, and natural hazards," wrote the study authors, led by David Rounce of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.



In&nbsp;a related Perspective (also published in Science), Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir and Timothy James say it is important to frame these findings in a positive light in order to motivate the public to support climate change policies. They say the authors of this study, “. . . while issuing a stark warning about the consequences of insufficient action, achieve this framing with an important message: Although it is too late to avoid losing many glaciers, any effort to limit global mean temperature rise will have a direct effect on reducing how many glaciers will be lost.”



The new model reveals a strong linear relationship between global mean temperature increase and glacier mass loss, meaning that, no matter how small the increase in global mean temperature, it will lead to increased glacier loss and added sea-level rise. And if temperatures were to increase by +2.7°C, as predicted at COP26, Earth will likely experience a near-complete deglaciation of entire mid-latitude regions by 2100, including Central Europe, Western Canada and United States, and New Zealand, which will add more to sea-level rise than is currently estimated.



In conclusion, the researchers stress the urgency of establishing more ambitious climate pledges to preserve the glaciers in the mountainous regions of the world. It may be too late to prevent the loss of many glaciers, but because of the linear relationship between temperature rise and ice mass loss, any action that is taken to limit warming will have a direct effect on reducing the number of glaciers lost.



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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

Half of the world’s glaciers will melt by 2100

As glaciers melt and lose mass, they will contribute to...

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health has identified two specific air pollutants that cause asthma attacks in urban <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/children-connect-with-the-environment-through-story-writing/">children</a>. The experts report that moderate levels of ozone and fine particulate matter are linked to asthma attacks among adolescents who live in low-income urban areas.



The research was focused on non-viral asthma attacks that are not caused by respiratory viruses. The team examined the relationship between air pollutant levels and non-viral asthma attacks among more than 200 children who lived in low-income neighborhoods in one of nine U.S. cities.&nbsp;



The researchers found that asthma attacks had a non-viral cause in nearly 30 percent of the urban children. This rate is two to three times higher than that of children who do not live in a city, according to previous evidence.&nbsp;



“The strong association this study demonstrates between specific air pollutants among children in impoverished urban communities and non-viral asthma attacks further augments the evidence that reducing air pollution would improve human health,” said Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, director of the <a href="https://www.niaid.nih.gov/">National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases</a> (NIAID).&nbsp;



The study also revealed that exposure to ozone and fine particulate matter is associated with molecular changes in the children’s airways during non-viral asthma attacks. These molecular changes could possibly be the underlying cause of the exacerbations.



"We identified that increased air quality index values, driven predominantly by increased PM2·5 and O3 concentrations, were significantly associated with asthma exacerbations and decreases in pulmonary function that occurred in the absence of a provoking viral infection," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"Moreover, individual pollutants were significantly associated with altered gene expression in coordinated inflammatory pathways, including PM2·5 with increased epithelial induction of tissue kallikreins, mucus hypersecretion, and barrier functions and O3 with increased type-2 inflammation."



"Our findings suggest that air pollution is an important independent risk factor for asthma exacerbations in children living in urban areas and is potentially linked to exacerbations through specific inflammatory pathways in the airway. Further investigation of these potential mechanistic pathways could inform asthma prevention and management approaches."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00302-3/fulltext">The Lancet Planetary Health</a>.



Image Credit: UN Photo/Kibae Park



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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



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Specific air pollutants linked to asthma attacks in urban children

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health has...

Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus)&nbsp;is a species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-breaking-macroalgae-blooms/">macroalgae</a> common to the Baltic Sea that is known to act as an important carbon sink, sequestering a major amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, by measuring the fluxes of greenhouse gases between surface waters and the atmosphere over several seasons, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.su.se/stockholm-university-baltic-sea-centre/infrastructure/ask%C3%B6-laboratory">Askö Laboratory</a> in Sweden has found that these algae also emit significant amounts of methane – a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 - and thus potentially offset the uptake of atmospheric CO2.&nbsp;



“It was a bit surprising that methane was emitted from the bladderwrack, since this algae grows on hard substrates and not on soft sediments, where methane is produced normally,” said study co-author Christoph Humborg, the scientific director of the <a href="https://www.su.se/stockholm-university-baltic-sea-centre/infrastructure/ask%C3%B6-laboratory">Stockholm University Baltic Sea Center</a>. “But what we found was that these algae form pockets of sediment where methane forming microorganisms, archaea, could be detected. We found these archaea also on floating filamentous algae and organic matter debris associated with dense stands of bladderwrack.”



By&nbsp;continuously measuring greenhouse gas fluxes between the water surface and atmosphere outside the Askö Laboratory in Trosa during an entire year, the scientists confirmed that mixed vegetation and bladderwrack forests in coastal areas do take up significant amounts of atmospheric CO2. However, this uptake was offset by methane fluxes from the water to the atmosphere.



“Caring for and restoring macroalgae habitats could still be important from a climate perspective. Our study shows that these environments are net carbon sinks, just not as large as has sometimes been suggested,” Humborg explained.



According to the researchers, it is important to clarify whether methane production in the macroalgae habitats is influenced by their health status. “Our measurements were done in situ in the Baltic Sea, which is affected by eutrophication. A less eutrophic ecosystem with less organic matter accumulation and less filamentous algae growth could likely produce less methane. If so, taking measures to help the Baltic Sea recover from eutrophication would substantially improve the blue carbon potential of these habitats and contribute to mitigating climate change,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35673-9">Nature Communications</a>.



Image Credit: Stockholm University Baltic Sea Centre



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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



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Methane emissions offset carbon uptake by macroalgae

Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus)&nbsp;is a species of macroalgae common to the...

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.



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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

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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



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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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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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



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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



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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



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Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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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 



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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

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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



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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



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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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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