For decades, researchers have questioned whether boys and girls are born with the same natural ability in math. In 2005, cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Spelke took a firm stand, stating that there are no differences in overall intrinsic aptitude for science and mathematics among women and men.



Now, the evidence is even stronger. In a new study, researchers from <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harvard University</a> and several institutions across France examined math performance in more than 2.5 million French schoolchildren. 



The team found that at the very beginning of first grade, boys and girls start off nearly equal in math. But just four months into formal math instruction, a small gap appears - and it keeps growing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nationwide-study-tracks-the-math-gap">Nationwide study tracks the math gap</h2>



The research draws on a French government testing program that was launched in 2018. This nationwide effort tracked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reminiscing-can-boost-language-development-in-preschoolers/">language</a> and math skills of young students from first through sixth grade. 



Over five years and across four student cohorts, the program gave researchers an unmatched view of early math development.



At school entry, French girls scored slightly better than boys in language. Math scores, though, were essentially the same. 



"The headline conclusion is that the gender gap emerges when systematic instruction in mathematics begins," Spelke explained.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-looking-for-gender-differences">Looking for gender differences </h2>



Spelke had already spent decades studying how young children understand numbers and shapes. Back in 2005, she wrote a major review for American Psychologist. The piece challenged the notion that boys are biologically wired for better math performance than girls.



"My argument was, 'OK, if there really were biological differences, maybe we would see them in the infancy period,'" said Spelke. 



She and her team always tracked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/young-children-learn-gender-stereotypes-from-storybooks/">gender</a> in their studies, but they never found infant boys outperforming girls in math, or vice versa. Still, Spelke admitted that something could be happening later in development.



"The fact that there are no differences in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/conscious-awareness-when-does-our-sense-of-purpose-emerge/">infants</a> could be because the abilities that show gender effects actually emerge during preschool," she proposed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-math-instruction-for-boys-and-girls">Math instruction for boys and girls</h2>



In recent years, Spelke has turned her attention to how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-discover-a-better-way-for-kids-to-learn-math/">children learn counting</a> and numbers in real classrooms. 



Spelke partnered with Nobel Prize-winning MIT economist Esther Duflo to advise the Delhi office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). The team is helping four Indian states create and test math lessons for children in preschool through first grade.



In France, she works alongside her longtime collaborator, neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene. Together, they serve on the French Ministry of Education's Scientific Council, which helped develop the EvalAide testing program. 



The idea was simple: measure where every child stands in math and language and use that data to guide better teaching.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gender-gap-emerges-in-math">Gender gap emerges in math</h2>



For this study, the team analyzed data from four full cohorts of first-graders entering school between 2018 and 2021. 



What they found was consistent: no math gap at the time of school entry, a small but significant gap favoring boys after four months, and a steadily widening gap by second, fourth, and even sixth grade.



"It was even bigger in fourth grade," Spelke said. "And in sixth grade it was bigger still."



Interestingly, the gender gap in language shrank slightly after the first few months of school and stayed relatively stable in later years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ruling-out-old-explanations">Ruling out old explanations</h2>



So why does the math gap grow with time in school? The researchers ruled out several familiar theories.



"If there was really a pervasive social bias, and the parents were susceptible to it, we would expect boys to be more oriented toward spatial and numerical tasks when they first got to school," said Spelke.



But that didn’t happen. At school entry, there was no math gap. This points away from both biological and early social bias explanations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-experiment-during-the-pandemic">An experiment during the pandemic </h2>



The EvalAide dataset offered other insights. French first-graders can be nearly a year apart in age, depending on when their birthday falls. 



The team wondered if the older students were skewing results. They weren’t. The widening gender gap aligned more closely with time spent in school than with age.



Then came an unusual variable: COVID-19. The 2019 cohort missed the final 2.5 months of first grade due to lockdowns. That gap year created a natural experiment.



"With less time in school, the amount of the gender gap grew by less than it did in the other years where there wasn't a long school closure," said Spelke.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-confirming-the-math-gender-gap">Confirming the math gender gap</h2>



The cohort also began school just after a national education crisis. In early 2019, French students had scored <a href="https://www.polytechnique-insights.com/en/braincamps/society/how-to-improve-the-relationship-between-education-and-employment/maths-an-essential-subject-whose-level-is-falling-in-a-majority-of-countries/#:~:text=In%202003%2C%2015%25%20of%20French,European%20average%20of%20527%20points.">lowest</a> among 23 European countries in math, according to international rankings. 



In response, the French Education Ministry - guided by its Scientific Council - called for more math teaching in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-pandemic-setbacks-reduced-kindergarten-readiness/">kindergarten</a>.



Sure enough, a tiny math gender gap appeared in fall 2019 among new first-graders. That gap hadn’t shown up in 2018 but was still present in 2020 and 2021.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-problems-in-early-math-instruction">Problems in early math instruction </h2>



The study doesn't pinpoint a single cause, but its message is clear: differences in math achievement between boys and girls seem to grow as a result of what happens in early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/schools-are-in-a-battle-with-cell-phones-to-keep-students-engaged/">school</a> instruction.



"We still don't know what that is exactly," Spelke said. "But now we have a chance to find out by randomized evaluations of changes to the curriculum."



The findings put pressure on education systems to ask hard questions about how math is taught in the early years - and what needs to change to make it fair for everyone.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09126-4">Nature</a>.



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Early math instruction may unintentionally favor boys

For decades, researchers have questioned whether boys and girls are born with the same natural ability in math. In 2005, cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Spelke took a firm stand, stating that there are no differences in overall intrinsic aptitude for science and mathematics among women and men. Now, the evidence is even stronger. In a new study, researchers from Harvard University and several institutions across France examined math performance in more than 2.5 million French schoolchildren. The team found that at the very beginning of first grade, boys...

The target of the United Nations Paris Agreement, signed by 196 parties in 2015, was to limit the global temperature rise to an average of between 1.5 and 2°C. Although some countries have made some progress towards reducing their greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-co2-emissions-hit-record-levels-in-2022/">emissions</a>, it is looking increasingly likely that we will overshoot this target. Unless urgent action is taken now, in the next decade, the planet is expected to continue heating rapidly, and to warm by more than the critical average of 2°C. 



Scientists envisage a period of higher temperatures in the middle of this century, as a result of our failure to reduce gas emissions. After this, however, it is hypothesized that the deployment of new, as yet unproven, technologies and techniques for removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere will eventually bring temperatures back down to a safer level. But what will be the consequences of exceeding 2°C of global warming, even if we do return to lower temperatures in future?



A new study from scientists at the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/home">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> (PIK), and their international colleagues, has concluded that temporarily overshooting the temperature target could increase the tipping risk of several Earth system elements by more than 70 percent, in comparison with the consequences of keeping global warming in line with the Paris Agreement range. This tipping risk increases even if, in the longer term, the global temperature stabilizes back within the Paris range.&nbsp;



“We show that the risk for some tipping events could increase very substantially under certain global warming overshoot scenarios,” explained Nico Wunderling, scientist at PIK and lead-author of the study published in&nbsp;Nature Climate Change. “Even if we would manage to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees after an overshoot of more than two degrees, this would not be enough as the risk of triggering one or more global tipping points would still be more than 50 percent. With more warming in the long-term, the risks increase dramatically.”



In&nbsp;terms of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatology">climate science</a>, a&nbsp;tipping point&nbsp;is a critical threshold that, when crossed, leads to large and often irreversible changes in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_system">climate system</a>. For example, an average global warming of 1.5°C is predicted to lead to melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This will cause disastrous rises in sea level which will impact human societies worldwide.&nbsp;Tipping points are found across the planet, in ecosystems, ice sheets, and the circulation of the ocean and atmosphere. One of the dangers of reaching tipping point in a system is that this could interact with other sensitive elements, causing a cascade of tipping events, in other systems, with severe impacts.



“To effectively prevent all tipping risks, the global mean temperature increase would need to be limited to no more than one degree – we are currently already at about 1.2 degrees,” said Jonathan Donges, co-lead of the FutureLab on Earth Resilience in the Anthropocene at PIK. “The latest IPCC report is showing that we’re most likely on a path to temporarily overshoot the 1.5°C temperature threshold.”



The PIK scientists, together with researchers from the Earth Commission used different global warming overshoot scenarios with peak temperatures of between two and four degrees, and applied these to a set of four interacting tipping elements: the Greenland Ice Sheet, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), and the Amazon rainforest.&nbsp;



The researchers applied a risk analysis approach based on millions of model simulations to reflect the uncertainties in relevant parameters such as the uncertainty in critical temperature thresholds as well as interaction strengths and interaction structure. Such a huge number of simulations would be computationally too expensive to do, based on fully coupled Earth System Model simulations.&nbsp;



For the different overshoot scenarios, the research team then analyzed the risk of crossing critical thresholds and the potential for triggering cascading interactions between the four elements, depending on the magnitude and duration of the overshoot.



“We found that the risk for the emergence of at least one tipping event increases with rising peak temperatures - already at a peak temperature of 3°C, more than one third of all simulations showed a tipping event, even when overshoot durations were limited strongly. At a 4°C peak temperature, this risk extended to more than half of all simulations,” explained Nico Wunderling.



“Especially the Greenland and the West Antarctic Ice Sheets are at risk of tipping, even for small overshoots, underlining that they are among the most vulnerable tipping elements. While it would take a long time for the ice loss to fully unfold, the temperature levels at which such changes are triggered could already be reached soon,” said Ricarda Winkelmann, Earth Commissioner and co-lead of the FutureLab on Earth Resilience in the Anthropocene.&nbsp;



“Our action in the coming years can thus decide the future trajectory of the ice sheets for centuries or even millennia to come,” she said.



The other two tipping elements considered in the study - the AMOC that could collapse, and the Amazon rainforest dieback - have higher critical temperature thresholds, but will react much faster once the tipping process has started. In the case of these events, damage would arrive fast and recovery would be very slow if temperatures decreased again. It is far more difficult to stop the tipping process of these events, once initiated by a temporary global warming overshoot.&nbsp;



Current mitigation policies and actions are expected to lead to a mean of between 2 and 3.6°C of global warming by the end of this century. “This is not enough. Even though a temporary temperature overshoot would definitely be better than reaching a peak temperature and remaining there, some of the overshoot impacts may lead to irreversible damages in a high climate risk zone and this is why low-temperature overshoots are key here,” explained Jonathan Donges.&nbsp;



The results of this study show that even temporary overshoots in mean global temperatures can increase tipping risks by up to 72 percent, compared with non-overshoot scenarios, even if the temperature in the long-term stabilizes back within the Paris range. The authors state that avoiding high-end climate risks is only possible if the temperature overshoot is kept in the low range. However, even if the mean global warming goes above 2°C for a few decades before being brought back down, this could transform the world’s most important ecosystems.



“Every tenth of a degree counts. We must do what we can to limit global warming as quickly as possible," said Winkelmann.



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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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Temporary warming over 2°C may cause cascading tipping events

The target of the United Nations Paris Agreement, signed by...

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects and facilitates data exchange among a multitude of smart objects of various dimensions and shapes over the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/internet-based-drinking-interventions/">internet</a> and other sensing and communications networks. Such smart objects include self-driving cars equipped with sensors to detect road obstacles, remote-controlled home security systems, and temperature-controlled factory equipment.&nbsp;



By the next decade, scientists estimate that this burgeoning hypernetwork may reach trillions of devices and have a major impact on both daily life and various industries. However, current approaches to power sensor nodes rely mostly on battery technology, which is expensive and environmentally harmful. Moreover, the global production of lithium for battery materials may fail to keep up with the increasing energy demand from the nearly exponential rise in the number of sensors.



Now, a team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en">King Abdullah University of Science &amp; Technology</a> in Saudi Arabia (KAUST) has argued that emerging forms of thin-film device technologies relying on alternative semiconductor materials – such as printable organics, metal oxides, or nanocarbon allotropes – could lead to a more economically and environmentally sustainable IoT.



By drawing energy from the environment using so-called energy harvesters, such as photovoltaic cells and radio-frequency (RF) energy harvesters, wirelessly powered sensor nodes could help achieve a more sustainable IoT. Moreover, the emergence of large-area electronics as a better alternative to conventional silicon-based technologies is also an important step forward in this process. Since they can be produced at low temperatures and on biodegradable substrates like paper, such devices are more ecofriendly than their silicon-based counterparts.



Over the past years, the KAUST researchers have developed a variety of RF electronic components, such as metal-oxide and organic polymer-based semiconductor devices known as Schottky diodes. “These devices are crucial components in wireless energy harvesters and ultimately dictate the performance and cost of the sensor nodes,” said study co-author Kalaivanan Loganathan.



Another major contribution from the research team includes scalable methods for manufacturing RF diodes to harvest energy reaching the 5G/6G frequency range. “Such technologies provide the needed building blocks toward a more sustainable way to power the billions of sensor nodes in the near future,” concluded corresponding author Professor Thomas Anthopoulos.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41928-022-00898-5">Nature Electronics</a>.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Greener energy is needed for the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects and facilitates data exchange...

Mammoth,In,The,Middle,Of,Mountains,.,This,Is,A

Recently, several international experts have started to raise alarms about attempts made by a team of Russian scientists to “reawaken” and study in their laboratory ancient viruses found in the carcasses of frozen mammals, such as woolly mammoths, trapped in the Siberian permafrost. Much like in the case of SARS-CoV-2 at the beginning of the pandemic, humans are immunologically naïve to such prehistoric viruses buried in the permafrost and, although most of them may not be able to infect us, a handful that potentially could may spark new outbreaks or even another <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/china-may-trigger-the-deadliest-wave-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/">pandemic</a>.



In an article published at the beginning of December on <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.10.515937v1.full">bioRxiv</a>, a team of researchers led by Jean-Michel Claverie (an emeritus professor of Virology at the <a href="https://www.univ-amu.fr/en">Aix-Marseille University</a> in France) has described their discovery of a virus that had been stranded under a frozen Siberian lake more than 48,500 years ago. While this virus seemed to be infectious only to amoebas, the scientists stressed that many other types of viruses could lurk in similar locations, and that some of them may be able to infect humans and other animals.



“Every time we look, we will find a virus. It’s a done deal. We know that every time we’re going to look for viruses, infectious viruses in permafrost, we are going to find some,” Claverie said.



While climate change and subsequent permafrost thawing holds significant risks for releasing some of these viruses from the places in which they had been trapped for thousands of years, human intervention could be an even more worrisome factor in these viruses’ (re)emergence.



For instance, Russia’s <a href="http://www.vector.nsc.ru/">State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology</a> (known as Vector) is now aiming to extract cellular material containing the viruses that killed ancient mammoths discovered in the permafrost, and take it back to the lab for experimentation. According to Claverie – and various other scientists worldwide - such experiments are highly dangerous and should not be performed.



“[Vector's research] is terrible. I’m totally against it. [It] is very, very risky. Our immune systems have never encountered these types of viruses. Some of them could be 200,000 or even 400,000 years old. But ancient viruses that infected animals or humans could still be infectious,” he warned.&nbsp;



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Unearthing ancient viruses could spark a new pandemic

Recently, several international experts have started to raise alarms about...

In the United States, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-breaking-wildfire-years-are-just-getting-started/">wildfires</a> pose a major risk to entire communities (particularly in Western states), frequently destroying homes, businesses, and lives. When wildfires sweep through a region, they usually affect the economy as a whole, decreasing U.S. firms’ values to stakeholders, especially when businesses incur physical damage and supply chain issues, or lose employees. However, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a>, these firms rarely report their wildfire risks in required federal filings, and choose instead to hide such risks in nonspecific risk disclosures.



By examining over 80,000 10-K reports – annual reports filled by all publicly traded companies, including disclosures and exhibits – between 1996 and 2018, the researchers found that, on average, only 6.1 percent of firms with wildfires in their headquarters counties mention wildfire information in their required federal filings.



“Despite a growing awareness of the strategic importance of climate change, firm-level disclosures of extreme weather and climate-related risks and events remain the exception rather than the norm,” said study lead author Paul Griffin, a professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.&nbsp;



“Disclosure is a sign that the firm is taking these events seriously and will take action itself to mitigate the risk. Disclosure leads to real action,” he added.



The analysis revealed that the number of wildfire days in a company’s headquarters county&nbsp;is a key factor in determining whether the company will disclose wildfire risks. Largely, only firms previously affected by wildfires directly, such as utility and banking industries with tangible assets, report these risks. Thus, the most disclosure-sensitive companies appear to be those that experienced wildfires which disrupted their past operations, while the most disclosure-insensitive ones are those whose 10-K disclosures related to forward-looking risk factors only. The latter are also more likely to use limited, imprecise language to describe their wildfire risk.



Although wildfire disclosure sensitivity started to increase after 2010 – in line with the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/">Security and Exchange Commission</a> (SEC) guidance pressing companies to consider extreme weather as a material risk factor – there is still an unacceptably large number of firms hiding wildfire risk in their areas of operations.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12674">Journal of Business Finance &amp; Accounting</a>.&nbsp;



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Wildfire risks not commonly disclosed by U.S. companies

In the United States, wildfires pose a major risk to...

Young babies never lie still. They move continuously, giving kicks and wriggles, and reaching out with their arms. Right from birth - and even in the womb - babies start to make movements that are seemingly random and have no purpose. New research conducted by scientists from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/">University of Tokyo</a>, Japan, has now found that these “spontaneous movements” have an important role in the development of the sensorimotor system that enables us to control our muscles, movements and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cows-are-getting-high-from-industrial-hemp/">coordination</a>.



Whole-body coordination involves large-scale sensorimotor interaction, and the ability to make the desired movements. When these bodily movements are made in the early stages of a baby’s life, they may potentially help the baby acquire this complex coordinated behavior. It is as though the baby is practicing this behavior and, thereby, preparing his or her muscles and joints, as well as stimulating neuronal development.



Currently, there is limited knowledge about how newborns and infants learn to move their bodies in a coordinated fashion. “Previous research into sensorimotor development has focused on kinematic properties, muscle activities which cause movement in a joint or a part of the body,” said Project Assistant Professor Hoshinori Kanazawa from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology. “However, our study focused on muscle activity and sensory input signals for the whole body. By combining a musculoskeletal model and neuroscientific method, we found that spontaneous movements, which seem to have no explicit task or purpose, contribute to coordinated sensorimotor development.”



For their study, the researchers recruited 12 healthy neonates (&lt; 10 days old) and 10 young infants of around 3 months in age. None of them or their first-degree relatives had neurological impairments.&nbsp;The team recorded the joint movements of the babies in the absence of external stimulation for 60 s, while they were awake, active and in a happy state. In addition, they recorded the three-dimensional positions of 51 markers on the muscles and joints of the babies, using 12 infrared cameras.&nbsp;



The researchers then placed a set of three markers to define the relative positions of each body link connected through the joint. The target joints were the shoulder, elbow, hand, hip, knee, and ankle. The body links connected through the joints included the head, trunk, upper arm, forearm, hand, pelvis, thigh, calf, and foot. In this way, they mapped the exact movements of these elements.



The babies’ muscle activity and sensory input signals were estimated with the help of a whole-body, infant-scale musculoskeletal computer model which had been developed by the researchers. Finally, they used computer algorithms to analyze the ways in which the input signals and muscle activity interacted, spatially and temporally, during the babies’ open-ended movements.&nbsp;



The results of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that the spontaneous, whole-body movements that neonates and infants exhibit could contribute to the structure of sensorimotor interactions, such as walking or reaching for something, later in life. Even though the movements appear to have no pattern or purpose, and are akin to “sensorimotor wandering,” they could contribute to the self-organizing sensorimotor interactions in the future. It was as though the movements are a form of practicing for the future and are certainly not simply random.



“We were surprised that during spontaneous movement, infants’ movements “wandered” and they pursued various sensorimotor interactions. We named this phenomenon ‘sensorimotor wandering,’” said Kanazawa. “It has been commonly assumed that sensorimotor system development generally depends on the occurrence of repeated sensorimotor interactions, meaning the more you do the same action the more likely you are to learn and remember it.”



“However, our results implied that infants develop their own sensorimotor system based on explorational behavior or curiosity,” he continued, “so they are not just repeating the same action but a variety of actions. In addition to this, our findings provide a conceptual linkage between early spontaneous movements and spontaneous neuronal activity.”



Previous studies on humans and animals have shown that motor behavior (movement) involves a small set of primitive muscular control patterns. These are patterns that can typically be seen in task-specific or cyclic movements, like walking or reaching. The results of this latest study supports the theory that newborns and infants can acquire sensorimotor modules, i.e., synchronized muscle activities and sensory inputs, through spontaneous whole-body movements without an explicit purpose or task.&nbsp;



Through sensorimotor wandering, the babies showed an increase in coordinated whole-body movements and in anticipatory movements. The movements performed by the infant group showed more common patterns and sequential movements, compared to the more random movements of the newborn group.



The researchers believe that a better understanding of these movements and their role in later functions, will help us to understand how they are involved in early human development. We may also be able to identify early indicators of certain developmental disorders, such as cerebral palsy.&nbsp;



Next, Kanazawa wants to look at how sensorimotor wandering affects later development, such as walking and reaching, along with more complex behaviors and higher cognitive functions. “My original background is in infant rehabilitation. My big goal through my research is to understand the underlying mechanisms of early motor development and to find knowledge that will help to promote baby development.”



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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

Baby movements seem random, but help with coordination

Young babies never lie still. They move continuously, giving kicks...

For many people, skiing holidays are as much a part of the end of the year as Christmas trees and fireworks. However, as global warming intensifies, white slopes are becoming increasingly rare. Now, a team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.unibas.ch/en.html">University of Basel</a> has calculated how well the Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis - one of Switzerland’s largest ski resorts - will remain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snow-cover-has-decreased-in-recent-decades/">snow</a> reliable with technical snowmaking by the end of the century, and how much water this snow will require to be produced.



Current climate models predict that although there will be more precipitation during the next decades, it will be largely in the form of rain rather than snow. Thus, for ski resorts such as the Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis, technical snowmaking will become a necessity. By collecting data on the aspects of this resorts’ slopes, and on where and when the snow is produced and with how much water, and then applying the latest climate change scenarios (CH2018) combined with the SkiSim 2.0 simulation software for projections of snow conditions with and without technical snowmaking, the experts discovered that the use of technical snow could guarantee a 100-day ski season, at least in the higher parts of the resort.



However, if greenhouse emissions will continue unabated, the business may be tight during the Christmas period, and regions such as Sedrun, for instance, will no longer be able to guarantee snow over Christmas in the long term. While new snow guns may alleviate the situation to a certain degree, they will not be able to solve the issue completely.



“Many people don’t realize that you also need certain weather conditions for snowmaking,” said study senior author Erika Hiltbrunner. “It must not be too warm or too humid, otherwise there will not be enough evaporation cooling for the sprayed water to freeze in the air and come down as snow.”&nbsp;In addition, since warm air absorbs more moisture, it will be increasingly difficult to produce snow technically. “Here, the laws of physics set clear limits for snowmaking,” Hiltbrunner added.



According to the scientists, if technical snowmaking will continue to be used as a way of keeping the resort operating, water consumption for snowmaking will increase by 80 percent. Thus, in an average winter towards the end of the century, consumption would amount to over 540 million liters of water (from about 300 million currently). Moreover, since some of the water used for snowmaking now comes from the Oberalpsee – which can provide a maximum of 200 million liters per year – by mid-century new sources will necessarily need to be exploited.



“The Oberalpsee is also used to produce hydroelectric power. Here, we are likely to see a conflict between the water demands for the ski resort and those for hydropower generation,” concluded lead author Maria Vorkauf, a scientist at the <a href="https://www.agroscope.admin.ch/agroscope/en/home/about-us/agroscope.html">Agroscope</a> research station.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02394-z">International Journal of Biometeorology</a>.&nbsp;



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Christmas skiing not guaranteed by the end of the century

For many people, skiing holidays are as much a part...

The,Groom,Plays,The,Piano,,Fingers,On,The,Keys

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/">University of Bath</a> has found that learning to play a musical instrument increases the brain’s ability to process sights and sounds, while at the time helps improving mental health. The experts showed that beginners who undertook piano lessons for just one hour per week for a period of 11 weeks reported not only significant improvements in recognizing audio-visual changes in their environment, but also less stress, depression, and anxiety.



The researchers assigned 31 participants with no prior musical experience into either a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-physical-task-brain-structure/">music</a> training, music listening, or control group. While the intervention groups played music, the control groups either listened to music or engaged in reading or studying.



The investigation revealed that, within a few weeks of starting piano lessons, participants’ ability to process multisensory information was significantly enhanced. These multisensory improvements – which have benefits for nearly every activity that we engage in, ranging from driving a car or crossing a road to finding someone in a crowd or watching TV – extended well beyond musical activities.&nbsp;



With musical training, participants’ audio-visual skills became more accurate across a variety of tasks, including tests where people were asked to determine whether auditory or visual events occurred at the same time. This happened for both simple displays of flashes and beeps, and for more complex situations, such as observing a person talking. Such an enhancement of individuals’ cognitive abilities was not present for the music listening group, where participants listened to the same music as the one played by the music group, or for the non-music group, where members read or studied.



Moreover, the scientists discovered that participants also had reduced depression, stress, and anxiety after the musical training, suggesting that learning to play an instrument could be beneficial for people with mental health issues.



“We know that playing and listening to music often brings joy to our lives, but with this study we were interested in learning more about the direct effects a short period of music learning can have on our cognitive abilities,” explained study senior author Karin Petrini, a cognitive psychologist and music expert at Bath.



“Learning to play an instrument like the piano is a complex task: it requires a musician to read a score, generate movements, and monitor the auditory and tactile feedback to adjust their further actions. In scientific terms, the process couples visual with auditory cues and results in a multisensory training for individuals. The findings from our study suggest that this has a significant, positive impact on how the brain processes audio-visual information even in adulthood when brain plasticity is reduced,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23340-4">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.



—-



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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Learning to play piano boosts cognitive abilities

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

In 2009, nineteen-year-old Taylor Mitchell was killed by coyotes while hiking a trail at a national park in Nova Scotia. This is the only documented case of a fatal coyote attack on an adult in North America.



Now, researchers at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> may have solved the mystery of why the deadly, unprovoked attack ever occurred in the first place. The experts determined that the coyotes had been forced to rely on moose (instead of smaller mammals) for the majority of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-ability-to-adapt-to-new-diets-may-explain-their-success/">diet</a>. As a result, the lone hiker was perceived as potential prey.



The team analyzed the diets and behavior of coyotes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, where the attack took place. The results showed that heavy snowfall, extreme temperatures, and high winds had created unsuitable conditions for small mammals to survive.



"The lines of evidence suggest that this was a resource-poor area with really extreme environments that forced these very adaptable animals to expand their behavior," explained study lead author Professor Stan Gehrt.



"We're describing these animals expanding their niche to basically rely on moose. And we're also taking a step forward and saying it's not just scavenging that they were doing, but they were actually killing moose when they could. It's hard for them to do that, but because they had very little if anything else to eat, that was their prey. And that leads to conflicts with people that you wouldn't normally see."



Professor Gehrt leads the Urban Coyote Research Project which has monitored coyotes living in Chicago since 2000. He was contacted by media outlets for his insights after the fatal attack on Taylor Mitchell.



"We had been telling communities and cities that the relative risk that coyotes pose is pretty low, and even when you do have a conflict where a person is bitten, it's pretty minor," said Professor Gehrt. "The fatality was tragic, and completely off the charts. I was shocked by it - just absolutely shocked.



"A lot of people began wondering if we were at the front edge of a new trend, and if coyotes were changing their behavior. And we didn't have good answers."



Between 2011 and 2013, the Ohio State researchers conducted a detailed field study, tagging 23 adult and juvenile coyotes living in the Cape Breton park. The team fitted the animals with tracking devices and snipped their whiskers. These samples were also collected from the bodies of coyotes that were involved in the fatal attack and in other human conflicts.



The analysis of the whisker samples showed that between half and two-thirds of the animals' diets consisted of moose.



"This dietary evidence was the critical piece to it," said Professor Gehrt. "Their diets changed because they're taking advantage of whatever different food items are available at the time. We're used to seeing big oscillations across the segments of whiskers depending on the season. But in this system, for these coyotes, we don't see that - they flat line at the moose end, so there's very little variation in their diet."



Furthermore, samples from the coyotes involved in the fatal attack on Taylor Mitchell showed they had been eating only moose, "and their diet wasn't changing."



Professor Gehrt concluded that in most areas where coyotes live, food of all types is plentiful - suggesting only areas low on natural prey, like islands and remote northern climates, would pose a similar risk for coyote-human interactions. Their survival in Cape Breton, he said, is attributable to their ability to adjust to their environment.



The research is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.14333">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.



---



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.

Fatal coyote attack linked to extreme weather conditions

In 2009, nineteen-year-old Taylor Mitchell was killed by coyotes while...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lightning-map-reveals-weather-patterns-in-the-british-isles/">Lightning</a> during thunderstorms reminds us of the charged nature of earth’s atmosphere. However, static electricity is present in the air at all times, even during fair weather and away from thunderstorms. Electric fields in the atmosphere influence the movements of biologically relevant ions (e.g., nitrate, sulfate, radon) as well as dust particles. They are also known to facilitate animal dispersal and navigation. However, their origin has usually been thought to be abiotic and to involve local atmospheric electrical processes such as cloud electrification, lightning initiation, precipitation, aerosol charging, and radioactivity.&nbsp;



A new study, published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105241">iScience</a>, contends that living organisms can also have an impact on atmospheric electricity and may even help us to understand hither-to unexplained spatio-temporal variations in the lower atmosphere’s electrical fields. In particular, the researchers focus on flying insects that form swarms and undertake mass movements, such as locusts, honeybees, and migratory species of butterflies.&nbsp;



“We always looked at how physics influenced biology, but at some point, we realized that biology might also be influencing physics,” said study first author Ellard Hunting, a biologist at the University of Bristol. “We’re interested in how different organisms use the static electric fields that are virtually everywhere in the environment.”



Insects such as honeybees gain a positive charge due to friction with air molecules as they fly along. This is a well-known phenomenon and has been proposed as a mechanism that helps pollen stick to a bee’s body as it forages from flower to flower. Given that bees form dense swarms at times of the year when they are looking for new locations to set up home, the researchers set out to measure the changes in electric field associated with the movement of these swarms.



The experts found that, as a swarm flew over their electric field monitor, there was a density dependent change in atmospheric electric charge of around 100Vm-1. The denser the swarm, the greater the increase in electric field force around ground level. This evidence suggests that a honeybee swarm contains enough charge to affect the atmospheric potential gradient, and that this source of electricity can represent an appreciable perturbing influence on the local electrical environment.



“How insect swarms influence atmospheric electricity depends on their density and size,” explained study co-author Liam O’Reilly, a biologist at the University of Bristol. “We also calculated the influence of locusts on atmospheric electricity, as locusts swarm on biblical scales, sizing 460 square miles with 80 million locusts in less than a square mile; their influence is likely much greater than honeybees.”



The researchers measured the electrical charge on individual desert locusts Schistocerca gregaria (805 + 295 Picocoulombs) and multiplied this by published estimates of swarm numbers to determine the possible effect of swarming locusts on local atmospheric electric fields. 



The results revealed that locust swarms have the potential to alter their local electrical environment to an extent that is comparable with meteorological events such as thunderstorms. Butterflies, on the other hand, were found to have far less of an effect on electric fields due to their tendency to move around at much lower densities. 



“We only recently discovered that biology and static electric fields are intimately linked and that there are many unsuspected links that can exist over different spatial scales, ranging from microbes in the soil and plant-pollinator interactions to insect swarms and perhaps the global electric circuit,” said Hunting.



“Interdisciplinarity is valuable here - electric charge can seem like it lives solely in physics, but it is important to know how aware the whole natural world is of electricity in the atmosphere,” explained study co-author Giles Harrison, an atmospheric physicist from the University of Reading.



"As atmospheric space charge enhances the aggregation and movement of aerial particles, it is conceivable that insect-derived space charges will also contribute to spatial changes in aerial particles," wrote the researchers. "For example, it could be speculated that insect-driven charged particle collection and transport could contribute to long-range transport of desert dust, providing alternative explanations for the transport of large particles, which cannot be explained by physical processes alone.”



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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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Insect swarms charge the atmosphere with static electricity

Lightning during thunderstorms reminds us of the charged nature of...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska–Lincoln</a> has found that over the course of one day, in the placid waters of a single pond, a million <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/viruses-have-eyes-and-ears-on-their-hosts/">virus</a> particles might enter a single-celled organism known for its minuscule hairs (called “cilia”) that helps it propel through the water. According to the experts, those virus particles are far from being just a source of infection: they may in fact be a crucial part of the nutrition of these microscopic ciliates.



By collecting and analyzing samples of water from a pond in Nebraska, the scientists discovered that a species of Halteria – a microscopic ciliate populating freshwater worldwide – can eat enormous numbers of infectious chloroviruses which share their aquatic habitats. Thus, a virus-only diet – dubbed by the researchers “virovory” – is often enough to fuel the physiological and even population growth of an organism.



Chloroviruses have long been known to infect microscopic green algae, bursting them like balloons and spilling carbon and other life-sustaining elements into the open water. That carbon, instead of going to the predators of these tiny creatures, gets vacuumed up by other microorganism, in a rather grim – and perpetual – recycling program.



“That’s really just keeping carbon down in this sort of microbial soup layer, keeping grazers from taking energy up the food chain,” said study lead author John DeLong, an associate professor of Biological Sciences at Nebraska.



However, if ciliates eat those same viruses, then virovory could be counterbalancing the carbon recycling which the viruses are known to perpetuate. Thus, virovory may be aiding and abetting carbon’s escape from the dregs of the food web, granting it an upward mobility that viruses otherwise suppress.



“If you multiply a crude estimate of how many viruses there are, how many ciliates there are and how much water there is, it comes out to this massive amount of energy movement (up the food chain). If this is happening at the scale that we think it could be, it should completely change our view on global carbon cycling,” DeLong explained.



Further research is needed to clarify how this fascinating process shapes the structure of aquatic food webs, which other species are involved in similar activities, and how virovory may help some species of microorganisms escape extinction.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2215000120">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



—



By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Some pond organisms feed solely on viruses

A team of researchers led by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln...

Women with obesity may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/smartphone-app-can-detect-covid-19-infection-in-your-voice/">infection</a>, according to a study led by Katherine Lee of the <a href="https://www.wvu.edu/">West Virginia University</a> School of Medicine. The researchers used a mouse model to explore how obesity and gender may influence COVID-19 outcomes. The results showed that obese female mice experienced the worst symptoms.



According to the researchers, obesity substantially increases the risk of being hospitalized, placed on a ventilator, or dying from COVID-19.&nbsp;



“No human is 100% healthy in every respect,” said Lee. “There are always going to be little differences in the way our bodies function and those changes can ultimately affect the ways we respond to everything. So, I think as soon as we start incorporating those differences and changes - metabolic diseases and preexisting conditions - into our work, we can learn more about how vaccines and therapeutics might be more or less effective in these people.”&nbsp;



For the investigation, two groups of mice were exposed to SARS-CoV-2. One group had been consuming a high-fat diet, while the other had been consuming a normal diet and maintained a healthy weight.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The results showed that overall, the mice that developed obesity experienced more severe disease and exhibited symptoms sooner. Severe infection was found to be most prevalent among female mice in the obesity group, who developed high viral burdens and the most inflammation in their lungs.&nbsp;



“Clinically, a lot of data shows that men are more predisposed to severe COVID-19 than women,” said Lee. “While we can’t translate our findings from female mice directly to female humans, they do indicate an area for future study. Why does sex play a role in outcomes of COVID-19? And how is obesity a confounding factor?”&nbsp;



“These mice are a new preclinical model we developed to be used as another tool to measure the protection of vaccines and other therapeutics the Vaccine Development Center has in development."&nbsp;



"What we see with SARS-CoV-2 in a host with metabolic disease here is potentially relevant to respiratory pathogens and diseases. Preexisting conditions and comorbidities are going to be really important to consider moving forward.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2022.105038">iScience</a>.



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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.

Obesity dramatically increases risk of severe COVID-19

Women with obesity may be more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection,...

Although a nearly limitless supply of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/less-fresh-water/">fresh water</a> exists in the form of water vapor above Earth’s oceans, it currently remains untapped. According to a new study led by the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a>, an investment in new infrastructure capable of harvesting oceanic water vapor could be a feasible and sustainable solution to limited supplies of fresh water in various locations around the globe.



The scientists evaluated 14 water-stressed locations across the world for the feasibility of a hypothetical structure that could capture water vapor from above the ocean and condense it into fresh water.&nbsp;



“Water scarcity is a global problem and hits close to home here in the U.S. regarding the sinking water levels in the Colorado River basin, which affects the whole Western U.S.,” said study corresponding author Praveen Kumar, an expert in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois. “However, in subtropical regions, like the Western U.S., nearby oceans are continuously evaporating water because there is enough solar radiation due to the very little cloud coverage throughout the year.”



Previous wastewater recycling, cloud seeding, and desalination methods were only partly successful. For instance, desalination plants face sustainability issues due to the brine and heavy metal-laden wastewater produced.&nbsp;



“Eventually, we will need to find a way to increase the supply of fresh water as conservation and recycled water from existing sources, albeit essential, will not be sufficient to meet human needs. We think our newly proposed method can do that at large scales,” Kumar said.



By performing atmospheric and economic analyses of the placement of hypothetical offshore structures 210 meters wide and 100 meters high, the researchers concluded that capturing moisture over ocean surfaces could be feasible for many water-stressed regions worldwide, and provide fresh water for large subtropical population centers.&nbsp;



“The climate projections show that the oceanic vapor flux will only increase over time, providing even more fresh water supply,” said study lead author Afeefa Rahman, a PhD student at the University of Illinois. “So, the idea we are proposing will be feasible under climate change. This provides a much needed and effective approach for adaptation to climate change, particularly to vulnerable populations living in arid and semi-arid regions of the world.”



Interestingly, one of the most elegant features of this proposed technique is that it works in a similar way to the natural water cycle. “The difference is that we can guide where the evaporated water from the ocean goes,” concluded senior author Francina Dominguez, an atmospheric scientist at the same university.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24314-2">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.



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By Andrei Ionescu, Earth.com Staff Writer



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Could water vapor become a reliable source of fresh water?

Although a nearly limitless supply of fresh water exists in...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
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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

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" 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> 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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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.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



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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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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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"

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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



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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