Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy.



This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-yellowstone-aspens-and-elk">Yellowstone, aspens, and elk</h2>



In the 1920s, people <a href="https://www.yellowstone.org/wolf-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eliminated wolves in Yellowstone</a>. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right thing to do.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/from-wolves-to-dogs-did-domestication-begin-without-human-help/">Without wolves</a>, elk herds grew very large. Elk love to eat aspen shoots - the tender young growth is highly palatable to them.



For roughly 70 years, elk browsed aspen sprouts down to stub height, and the trees couldn't grow. 



If you had walked through Yellowstone in the 1980s, you would have seen many tiny aspen shoots covering the ground, but almost no young trees gaining height. 



The forest's regeneration was stalled. Old trees died, and no new ones replaced them.



In 1995 and 1996, park managers reintroduced wolves into the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption-study-sparks-new-debate-on-where-and-when-it-will-erupt/">Yellowstone Park ecosystem</a>. Scientists hoped and wondered whether this would change anything for the trees.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-aspen-matter-to-yellowstone">Why aspen matter to Yellowstone</h2>



Aspen groves provide habitat for many species. Birds nest in them. Beavers eat the bark and use the wood for dams. Butterflies and moths lay eggs on the leaves. 



Their canopy admits enough light for wildflowers and shrubs to grow beneath. When it rains, aspen groves hold water in the soil better than some other forest types.



In short, when aspen return, dozens of other species benefit. More trees support more insects, which in turn support more birds, enriching the ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-checking-the-trees-three-decades-later">Checking the trees three decades later</h2>



<a href="https://fwcs.oregonstate.edu/users/luke-painter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luke Painter</a>, an ecologist at <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Oregon State University</a>, sought clear answers. His team returned to 87 aspen stands across Yellowstone that scientists had previously surveyed. 



They measured thousands of young trees, looked for bite marks, and counted how many stems were tall enough that elk could no longer reach the tips.



About a third of these stands now have many tall young aspens pushing toward the canopy. 



"About 26 of the 87 aspen stands we examined had large numbers of tall saplings throughout, a remarkable change from the 1990s when surveys found none at all," Painter said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-wolves-matter-to-yellowstone-aspens">Why wolves matter to Yellowstone aspens</h2>



Breaking it all down, the conclusions of this study are pretty simple. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wolves-move-pups-across-mountains-to-adapt-to-climate-pressure/">Wolves hunt elk</a>. When wolves came back, two things happened. First, elk numbers declined from unusually high levels. Second, elk changed their behavior. They spent less time in the same areas feeding.



With fewer elk and shorter feeding bouts, more aspen shoots survived long enough to exceed the browsing zone - about six to seven feet high. 



Once a sapling reaches that height, elk cannot easily reach the growing tip. The tree continues to grow.



"The reintroduction of large carnivores has initiated a recovery process that had been shut down for decades," Painter explained.



Scientists call this a <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/trophic-cascades-across-diverse-plant-ecosystems-80060347/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trophic cascade</a> - when adding or removing one species causes changes that ripple through the whole system.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-places-recover-others-don-t">Some places recover, others don't</h2>



Unfortunately, not every aspen stand has recovered yet. Some valleys still have many short, heavily browsed shoots, because it's not only elk eating them anymore. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/yellowstones-iconic-bison-have-merged-into-a-single-herd/">Bison herds have grown</a>, and bison browse on aspen as well. They are strong enough to break young trees. 



"Increasing numbers of bison may be emerging as a new constraint to aspen in some areas," Painter confirmed.



Additionally, winter snow depth varies; droughts stress trees; bears and mountain lions also hunt elk; and hunting outside the park influences elk distribution. 



All of these factors interact, which is why some sites show strong recovery, others show moderate recovery, and a few have changed very little.



The key pattern is that places with many tall saplings experience little browsing, and aspen groves that remain popular eating grounds today stay short. 



This fact is the strongest indication that tree recovery is linked directly to wolf presence, not solely to weather or soil conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proof-in-the-measurements">Proof in the measurements</h2>



Painter's team did not rely on casual observation. They used the same methods as earlier researchers, measuring the same plots. 



They counted recruitment - when young trees surpass browsing height and begin progressing toward maturity. This measure is crucial. Sprouts are insufficient if they never grow; without recruitment, the forest cannot replace itself.



The results are robust. After being stalled for most of a century, Yellowstone's aspens are increasing in height. In recovering stands today, you will see saplings - six, eight, or ten feet tall - that were not present in the 1990s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-yellowstone-s-aspens">The future of Yellowstone's aspens</h2>



"This is a remarkable case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-viruses-found-in-yellowstones-hot-springs-may-be-near-the-root-of-all-life-on-earth/">ecological restoration</a>," Painter concluded. "Wolf reintroduction is yielding long-term ecological changes contributing to increased biodiversity and habitat diversity."



Trees grow slowly, so even with wolves restored, it will take decades for these young aspens to form a full-grown forest. 



Some areas might never fully recover if bison numbers continue to rise or if the climate becomes too hot and dry.



Thanks to the work of Painter and his team, scientists are now certain that restoring the Yellowstone predator has restarted aspen forest regeneration. Not everywhere and not perfectly, but enough to be measured, creating hope for the future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112725004499?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Ecology and Management</a>.



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Yellowstone's aspen trees are growing again thanks to the reintroduction of wolves

Young aspen trees in Yellowstone are doing something they have not done in almost 100 years. Rather than sprouting and being eaten back to nubs by elk and bison, they're actually growing into tall, adult forest trees rising up towards the canopy. This matters more than it might seem, because it shows what happens when a missing piece of an ecosystem returns. Yellowstone, aspens, and elk In the 1920s, people eliminated wolves in Yellowstone. At the time, with limited scientific knowledge, managers believed it was the right...

Much previous research has shown evidence linking childhood obesity to increased risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), particularly for children who are obese. U.S. data indicate that overweight children are 1.54 times as likely to have elevated blood pressure as children of average weight. For obese children, this prevalence ratio is 3.05 times.



However, the definition of what is normal weight for children is fairly broad. No information exists about the risks of hypertension for children whose body mass index (BMI) is on the high side of normal, but who are not defined as being overweight. Furthermore, there is no understanding of whether a child’s risk of hypertension changes if he or she gains extra weight (in addition to average expected increase) during childhood. A new study of over 800,000 youth between the ages of 3 and 17 has now addressed these gaps in knowledge.



The study looked retrospectively at the electronic health records of 801,019 young people who were members of <a href="https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/">Kaiser Permanente</a> in Southern California between 2008 and 2015. The researchers considered the initial BMI and blood pressure of youths when they first joined the study, and monitored changes in these two variables during the 5-year follow-up period. They divided normal body weight into low (5th-39th percentiles), medium (40th-59th percentiles), and high (60th-84th percentiles) to provide insight into the risk of hypertension at a range of “normal” weights below the threshold for overweight.&nbsp;



The results of the analysis show that, in this cohort study of youths, high normal body weight (above the 60th percentile of BMI for age) was associated with increased risk of hypertension. In addition, extra weight gain was associated with further increases in hypertension risk. These findings are published in JAMA Network Open, and reveal the following:&nbsp;



<ul>
<li>Compared to youths in the medium range of average weight, the risk of developing hypertension within five years was 26 percent higher for youths at the high end of the average weight range.</li>



<li>Children gain weight over time. Every BMI unit gained per year increases their risk of hypertension by 4 percent.</li>



<li>The rate of hypertension was higher among boys than girls, and among youth on state-subsidized health plans in comparison to those not on state-subsidized health plans.</li>
</ul>



“Hypertension during youth tracks into adulthood and is associated with cardiac and vascular organ damage. Since the organ damage can be irreversible, preventing hypertension in our young people is critically important,” said study lead author Dr.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kp-scalresearch.org/investigator/corinna-koebnick-phd-msc/">Corinna Koebnick</a> of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research &amp; Evaluation. “The findings of this study of hypertension among a diverse population of children in Southern California show us the detrimental effects of even a few extra pounds on our young people.”



“This study underscores the need for medical professionals to re-evaluate how we correlate and educate about health risks across the spectrum of weight in growing children,” said study senior author Dr.&nbsp;<a href="https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/southern-california/physicians/poornima-kunani-2148147">Poornima Kunani</a>, a pediatrician and researcher at the <a href="https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/">Kaiser Permanente</a> Manhattan Beach Medical Office. “Obesity may be the most important risk factor for hypertension during childhood. Parents should talk to their pediatrician to see if their child might be at risk for hypertension and other preventable chronic medical conditions related to obesity. They can help you with strategies for developing habits to keep your child healthy through adulthood.”



—



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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Just a few extra pounds increases hypertension risk in kids 

Much previous research has shown evidence linking childhood obesity to...

In a new study from <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a>, experts have found that strong winds can increase the spread of pathogens at outdoor chicken farms. The research was focused on the prevalence of Campylobacter - the most common bacterial cause of foodborne illness - at chicken farms in the western United States.



Across farms that had experienced high winds the week before the samples were collected, the pathogen was found to be more widespread.&nbsp;



“Farmers need to be aware of the risk,” said study co-lead author Olivia Smith. “These environmental factors are influencing if the poultry are going to have foodborne pathogens, so farmers need to be aware of what's around them. If there's a lot of wind and if they're in really agricultural areas, that's a problem.”



For the investigation, the researchers collected samples of chicken feces at 27 farms in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. On most of the farms, samples were taken once a year for three years.&nbsp;



Overall, more than 85 percent of the farms had some instance of Campylobacter during the study period.&nbsp;



"We found that 26.0% of individual chicken fecal samples we tested were positive for Campylobacter spp.," wrote the study authors. "Our analyses suggest that Campylobacter spp. prevalence increases in poultry on farms with higher average wind speeds in the seven days preceding sampling; on farms embedded in more agricultural landscapes; and in flocks typified by younger birds, more rotations, higher flock densities, and the production of broilers."



Study senior author Jeb Owen, a WSU entomologist, said that farmers should set up a professional relationship with a veterinarian to get their flocks checked and monitored on a regular basis. “Whether for productivity or for animal welfare, you don't want your animals to be sick.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13030492">Animals</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



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Strong winds help pathogens spread on poultry farms

In a new study from Washington State University, experts have...

Moon,Surface,With,Dark,Side.,Earth,On,Background.,Elements,Of

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/">Brookhaven National Laboratory</a> are attempting to design and land a radio telescope on the dark side moon in the hopes of being the first to begin the exploration of the Dark Ages of the universe.



The Dark Ages started approximately 380,000 years after the Big Bang when no stars or planets existed. Radio waves on the moon’s dark side could give us insight into this mysterious period.



“Modeling the universe is easier before stars have formed. We can calculate almost everything exactly,” explained Brookhaven physicist Anže Slosar. “So far, we can only make predictions about earlier stages of the universe using a benchmark called the cosmic microwave background. The Dark Ages Signal would provide a new benchmark.”



The new project, the Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment-Night (LuSEE-Night), seeks to move beyond predictions by accessing the Dark Ages Signal for the first time.&nbsp;



The task is not simple due to environmental conditions. The dark side is in total darkness for 14 Earth days, followed by intense sunlight. This dramatic change means the area can go from -280 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Building a telescope that can sustain these temperature fluctuations presents many challenges.



“The moon is easier to reach than Mars, but everything else is more challenging,” said Paul O’Connor, a senior scientist in Brookhaven’s Instrumentation Division and LuSEE-Night Project Instrument Scientist. “There's a reason only one robotic rover has landed on the Moon in the last 50 years, while six went to Mars, which is 100 times farther away. It’s a vacuum environment, which makes removing heat difficult, and there’s a bunch of radiation."



Despite these challenges, the Brookhaven team feels confident that they can build a capable telescope.



“LuSEE-Night is not a standard radio telescope,” said Slosar. “The spectrometer is at the heart of it. Like a radio tuner, it can separate out radio frequencies. That’s where our expertise gives us a starting point. Even though nobody has built an instrument like this before, we know how to build the most crucial component - a very sensitive spectrometer.”



The LuSEE-Night’s primary goal is to test whether radio cosmology experiments are possible on the moon’s far side. The team is also designing the telescope to collect data for two years in the hopes that it will uncover some of our universe’s darkest mysteries.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lunar telescope may explore the Dark Ages of our universe 

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National...

Despite increased efforts to curb human activities that harm the world’s oceans – such as overfishing, marine litter, pollution, microplastics, ocean acidity, and climate change – there is still an urgent need to fundamentally change the human-ocean relationship for both ecological and human benefits.&nbsp;



Marine citizenship is a term currently used by scientists to refer to people actively involved in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/high-seas-treaty-will-help-protect-the-worlds-oceans/">ocean protective measures</a>. However, until recently, research has mainly focused on individuals changing their personal behaviors as an expression of responsibility towards the world’s oceans, including awareness raising, environmental attitudes research, or environmental education.



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> and the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> has argued that the government and political institutions should do more to make citizens feel empowered and participate in marine environmental decision-making processes as a critical part of marine citizenship. Such an approach would take into consideration the societal and political dimensions of the human-ocean relationship, rather than focus solely on individual behavioral change.



“Our research shows that marine citizenship is much more than individual pro-environmental behaviors, and government and political institutions have a responsibility to engage individuals and their views when it comes to marine environmental decisions,” said study lead author Pamela Buchan, a postdoctoral fellow in Marine Biology and Marine Social Science Research at Exeter.



“Access for citizens to participate in environmental decisions is commonly via charities and conservation groups, however, this is criticized because individuals are unable to give a direct contribution. Our research shows that citizens feel that individuals have the least influence over discussions about the future of our oceans.”



According to Buchan and her colleagues, marine citizenship should be redefined in a way that recognizes rights as well as responsibilities. At the same time, governments and political institutions should challenge the public and scientific community to further examine the potential of marine citizenship to create transformative change.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280518">PLoS ONE</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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Citizens should help determine the future of our oceans

Despite increased efforts to curb human activities that harm the...

It seems that spinning around in order to get dizzy is a universal human phenomenon. Children do it on swings, merry-go-rounds and carousels, while adults whirl during dances, circus acts and trances. In fact, some people earn their living by performing pirouettes, such as ballet dancers and suspended rope acts, while Ukrainian hopak dancers and Sufi whirling dervishes attest to the cultural and religious significance of spinning around.



Thanks to the structure of our inner ears, spinning around leads to the perception of a spinning world, light-headedness, head rushes, elation and altered states of mind, mood and consciousness. And, after scientists from the University of Warwick and the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a> became aware of a viral video of a male gorilla spinning in a pool, they wondered whether the universal human enjoyment of twirling might have ancient roots in our ancestors and whether they perhaps also sought the altered mental states induced by spinning.&nbsp;



“Every culture has found a way of evading reality through dedicated and special rituals, practices, or ceremonies," said co-lead author Dr. Adriano Lameira. "This human trait of seeking altered states is so universal, historically and culturally, that it raises the intriguing possibility that this is something that has been potentially inherited from our evolutionary ancestors.&nbsp;If this was indeed the case, it would carry huge consequences for how we think about modern human cognition capacities and emotional needs.”&nbsp;



The scientists searched for YouTube videos showing apes spinning voluntarily. They identified 40 such videos that showed chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas or orangutans spinning around on the end of a rope. The footage showed a total of 132 bouts of spinning, composed of a total of 709 revolutions. The longest bout of spinning involved 28 revolutions, and the fastest revolution was measured at 5 rps.&nbsp;



The researchers found that on average, the primates in the videos revolved 5.5 times per spinning episode, with an average speed of 1.5 revolutions per second. The primates carried out three consecutive spins, on average. When compared with the spinning speeds of professional dancers and circus artists, the apes managed to rotate just as fast. But did they also suffer the consequences of dizziness and light headedness?



“Spinning alters our state of consciousness, it messes with our body-mind responsiveness and coordination, which make us feel sick, lightheaded, and even elated as in the case on children playing on merry-go-rounds, spinner-wheels, and carousels," explained Dr. Lameira.



“What we wanted to try to understand through this study is whether spinning can be studied as a primordial behavior that human ancestors would have been able to autonomously engage in and tap into other states of consciousness. If all great apes seek dizziness, then our ancestors are also highly likely to have done so."



“We asked ourselves what role these behaviors play when it comes to the origins of the human mind.&nbsp;The apes were doing this purposefully, almost as if they were dancing – a known mechanism in humans that universally facilitates mood regulation, social bonding and heightens the senses&nbsp;and&nbsp;is based on rotation movements. The parallel between what the apes were doing and what humans do was beyond coincidental."



The results showed that, when apes spun for a higher number of revolutions, they were more likely to let go of the rope or let it go slack at the end of the bout, suggesting that they experienced dizziness. “Closer inspection of the 43 cases when individuals released the rope revealed further evidence of dizziness: in 30 of the bouts, the animal immediately sat or laid down; in seven of the bouts, the animal moved a short distance and then sat or laid down; and in only six bouts did the animal keep its balance and remain on its feet," said the researchers.



When the team members self-experimented by spinning at these speeds and durations, they found it difficult to achieve the third bout of spins that the apes succeeded at, due to the induced dizziness. The researchers concluded that the apes continued spinning until they reach a state of dizziness.



“This would indicate that the primates deliberately keep spinning, despite starting to feel the effects of dizziness, until they are unable to keep their balance any longer,” explained study co-lead author Dr. Marcus Perlman.



Although the spinning apes could not verify this, the dizziness was likely to be accompanied by an altered state of mind. Previous studies which attempted to understand human motivation for self-inducing dizziness focused on the use of substances, such as alcohol or drugs. It is not known whether these substances were available to our human ancestors, but it is possible that they used spinning and induced dizziness to achieve alternative views of the world. The scientists say this new study could be more relevant to explain the role of altered states on the evolution of the human mind.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The further back in human history you look, the less certain we can be about the role that substance-induced experiences played in our evolution. It’s not clear whether our ancestors had access to mind altering substances, or if they had the tools and knowledge to create the substance,” explained Dr. Lameira. “For example, people may have had access to grapes, but you cannot assume they have the tools or the knowledge to create wine.”&nbsp;



The experts say that further research is needed to understand primates’ motivations for engaging in these behaviors, to understand why our own ancestors might also have been driven to seek out these spinning and mind-altering experiences. &nbsp;



“There could be a link to mental health here, as the primates we observed engaging in this behavior were mostly captive individuals, who may be bored and trying to stimulate their senses in some way.&nbsp;But it could also be a play behaviour. If you think about a child’s playground, almost all the playground apparatus – swings, slides, seesaws and roundabouts or merry-go-rounds – they are all designed to challenge your balance or disrupt the body-mind responses," said Dr. Lameira.



"There are some interesting parallels that should be investigated further, in order to understand why people are motivated to engage in these behaviors. It could very well be that we have been seeking and engaging in mind-altering experiences before we were even modern humans.”&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10329-023-01056-x">Primates</a>.



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



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Great apes spin to experience altered states of mind

It seems that spinning around in order to get dizzy...

While it is well known that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-patients-experience-changes-in-heart-tissue/">Covid-19</a> can cause a wide range of neurological problems, such as the loss of taste and smell, as well as impairments in memory, attention, speech, and language – commonly referred to as “brain fog” – a new study led by <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a> has recently found that it could also cause prosopagnosia, or “face blindness,” a condition characterized by difficulty in recognizing familiar faces and navigational problems.&nbsp;



The experts worked with Annie, a 28-year-old woman who was diagnosed with Covid-19 in March 2020 and experienced a symptom relapse two months later. Shortly after, she started having difficulties with recognizing the faces of her family members, as well as spatial navigation issues, including problems remembering where particular sections in her grocery store were located or where she parked her car.



“The combination of prosopagnosia and navigational deficits that Annie had is something that caught our attention because the two deficits often go hand in hand after somebody either has had brain damage or developmental deficits,” explained study senior author&nbsp;Brad Duchaine, a professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth. “That co-occurrence is probably due to the two abilities depending on neighboring brain regions in the temporal lobe.”



The scientists conducted a series of tests with Annie to assess her deficits. In one of them, after being presented with 60 images of celebrity faces, she managed to correctly identify 29 percent of those she was familiar with, compared to people in a control group who managed to identify 84 percent of the familiar celebrities. In another, she was shown a celebrity’s name and was asked to identify that celebrity’s face from an image of the celebrity and one of someone similar, and succeeded in 69 percent of the cases, compared to the 87 percent success rate in the control group. Finally, after she was asked to learn six men’s faces and then distinguish between them and other faces – in a so-called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2005.07.001">Cambridge Face Memory Test</a> – she managed to do this in only 56 percent of the cases, compared to the 80 percent success rate of people without prosopagnosia.&nbsp;



“Our results from the test with unfamiliar faces show that it wasn’t just that Annie couldn’t recall the name or biographical information of a famous person that she was familiar with, but she really has trouble learning new identities,”&nbsp;said lead author Marie-Loise Kieseler, a graduate student in Psychology and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth.



To assess whether other people who had Covid-19 experienced similar problems, the researchers obtained data from nearly 100 individuals with long Covid. “Most respondents with long Covid reported that their cognitive and perceptual abilities had decreased since they had Covid, which was not surprising, but what was really fascinating was how many respondents reported deficits,” Kieseler said. “It was not just a small concentration of really impaired cases but a broad majority of people in the long Covid group reported noticeable difficulties doing things that they were able to do before contracting Covid-19 without any problems.”



Although none of these respondents seemed to have the severity of Annie’s symptoms, the scientists are sure that similar cases must exist, and urge individuals experiencing perceptual or vision problems possibly caused by Covid to contact them.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2023.01.012">Cortex</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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Covid-19 can impair face recognition capacities

While it is well known that Covid-19 can cause a...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a>, researchers have investigated whether mental fatigue can impair physical performance. The experts confirmed that after performing a mentally challenging task, an individual will find physical exercise to be more difficult.



For the study, a team of researchers in Birmingham’s School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences assigned cognitive tasks to a group of 16 men and women. The goal was to examine how the effects of mental fatigue may change the perception of physical exertion, or how hard it feels to perform a task.



The participants completed a 90-minute mental exercise before performing a series of weight lifting repetitions. A control group was assigned to watch neutral videos before exercising.&nbsp;



A second experiment involved a series of resistance training exercises, followed by cognitive tasks and then a 20-minute cycling trial.



In both experiments, the experts found that mentally fatigued participants had an increased sense of exertion during physical exercise. While cycling, the individuals who had also performed mental exercises had less power and covered less distance



According to the results, it would be beneficial for athletes to take the effects of mental fatigue into account during training.



In particular, the study authors recommend that coaches reduce an athlete's exposure to mentally challenging tasks, such as smartphone use, before and during training and competitions. In the long term, coaches should consider "brain endurance training" to increase resilience to mental fatigue, said the researchers.



“We know that the brain plays a part in physical performance, but the specific effects of mental fatigue have not been well understood," said study lead author Dr. Chris Ring.



“We know that athletes will often be browsing on their smartphones in rests between competing and training. All of that requires mental effort and our results strongly suggest that athletes and coaches need to better understand the effects of these activities on overall performance.”



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2022-0356">International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance</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



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Mental fatigue impairs athletic performance 

In a new study from the University of Birmingham, researchers...

When an invasive animal species arrives in a previously uncolonized territory, it may outcompete local species by breeding more successfully, growing faster, dispersing more easily or having better defenses against predators or diseases. It is not often that a new arrival becomes established because it eats the local residents. But this is what appears to be happening with brown widow spiders (Latrodectus geometricus) in the southern states of the U.S.&nbsp;



Brown widows are thought to have evolved in Africa, although they were first described in the 1800s from specimens identified in South America. Today, they have a cosmopolitan tropical and subtropical distribution, with established populations in Hawaii, Florida, some Caribbean Islands, parts of Australia, South Africa, Japan, and Cyprus.&nbsp;In the U.S., the spiders remained restricted to the Florida peninsula for decades, but after 2000 they began to show up in other Gulf Coast states. Brown widows are now known from South Carolina to Texas, and are also well-established in California.



The problem with the arrival of brown widow spiders in these states is that they are rapidly replacing the indigenous black widows (Latrodectus hesperus). The two species of spiders appear to have very similar ecological niches, feeding on the same types of prey – insects and small vertebrates such as lizards and mammals. It is possible that prey resources are limited and that competition between the two species occurs, with the brown widows winning out.&nbsp;



However, a new research study, conducted by scientists at the University of Southern Florida (USF), suggests that this is not a simple case of one species being better at hunting or at occupying the habitat. Instead, the brown widows appear to be targeting the indigenous black widows and killing them out.&nbsp;



“We have established brown widow behavior as being highly aggressive towards the southern black widows, yet much more tolerant of other spiders within the same family,” said Louis Coticchio, who led the study as part of his undergraduate research at USF.



Coticchio spent the first part of his career as a zookeeper specializing in venomous animals in California and returned to Florida to earn a degree in biology, channeling a passion for spiders into his research projects. While collecting wild spiders in Florida, he noticed brown widows displacing black widows but not other, related species.&nbsp;



“I had a sneaking suspicion that Florida in particular provided plenty of food and habitat for both the brown and black widow, and that there was possibly some other area such as behavioral differences that were playing a role,” said Coticchio. “My observations in the field showed that brown widows appeared to be much more tolerant of other species outside of their genus, and so if resources were the main factor, then we should have seen the same behavior with other spiders competing for the same resources, but that did not seem to be that case.”



Coticchio devised a three-part study to investigate the reasons why brown widows were able to displace black widows. He collaborated with spider expert Richard Vetter of UC Riverside and Dr. Deby Cassill, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at USF.



Initially, the researchers used mathematical modeling to evaluate the risk factors that spiders face in terms of their survival. They found that both brown and black widows are far more likely to die by predation than by starvation. In other words, “competition for scarce resources is not a significant cause of mortality among spiderlings for either species."



Next, the experts compared rates of growth and fertility between brown and black widows, finding that brown widow females were 9.5 percent larger than black widow females, and reached reproductive maturity 16 percent earlier. Male brown widows also reached reproductive maturity earlier (21 percent) than male black widows, but the brown males were considerably smaller (25 percent) than the black males. One consequence of these differences in life history patterns is that brown widow females are about twice as fertile as black widow females, with brown widows often producing multiple egg sacs in comparison with black widows that produce just one.



Finally, the researchers placed captive female brown widow spiders in close proximity with other species of spiders and monitored what happened. When brown widows were paired with red house spider (Nesticodes rufipes) females, peaceful cohabitation occurred in 50 percent of instances, while in 40 percent the brown widows were killed and eaten by the red house spider females. Brown widows cohabitated with triangulate cobweb spiders (Steatoda triangulosa) in 80 percent of pairings and were killed in just 10 percent.&nbsp;



But the situation was totally different when brown and black widow females were paired. In the case of sub-adult spiders, brown widows killed and consumed the black widows in 80 percent of pairings. In pairings of adults, black widows were killed in 40 percent of trials, while they defensively killed brown widows in 30 percent of trials and cohabitated in the remaining 30 percent.



Throughout the experiments, brown widow spiders regularly ventured into black widow webs, the researchers say. Red house spiders and triangulate cobweb spiders also showed such “bold” behavior, but black widows were never observed as aggressors. Stereotyping black widow spiders as fearsome and aggressive is clearly not appropriate.&nbsp;



However, characterizing brown widows as “aggressive” is also somewhat misleading. They may be the aggressors against black widow spiders but humans have no need to fear them. Their venom is less dangerous than that of a black widow and they life peacefully in close proximity with humans. In fact, they tend to be “very shy when harassed by humans or larger animals that are not considered prey," according to Coticchio. “They will run or roll up into a ball and play dead when being attacked or harassed by most other animals outside of their prey range.”&nbsp;



It is not yet understood why brown widow spiders behave in this way towards black widows. Certainly, it is of concern because this may lead to a shift in species composition – already, the increased incidence of brown widows in the southern U.S. is matched by noticeable declines in the numbers of black widows, potentially threatening the status of the indigenous black widows in their normal range.&nbsp;



“One question I would love to answer is how brown widows interact with other species of spiders, more specifically black widows, in Africa, where brown widows are believed to have originated,” said Coticchio. “I would love to see if their behavior and displacement of black widows is something that they have adapted here in North America, or if this behavior is something they exhibit naturally, even in areas where they have coevolved with black widows for much longer periods of time.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saad003">Annals of the Entomological Society of America</a>.



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



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Black widows are being targeted by invasive brown widows

When an invasive animal species arrives in a previously uncolonized...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a> has recently analyzed fragments of a variety of stone tools used by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in the Phang Nga National Park in Thailand to crack open hard-shelled nuts. Since these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aging-female-monkeys-focus-more-on-meaningful-relationships/">monkeys</a> frequently break their hammerstones and anvils, the assemblage of broken stones is quite significant and widespread in many parts of the landscape.&nbsp;



To their surprise, the experts found that many of these artifacts have features that are similar to some of the earliest hominin stone artifacts currently known. Thus, in the absence of behavioral observations, the macaque tools would have likely been identified as anthropogenic in origin and interpreted as evidence of intentional tool production.



“The ability to intentionally make sharp stone flakes is seen as a crucial point in the evolution of hominins, and understanding how and when this occurred is a huge question that is typically investigated through the study of past artefacts and fossils. Our study shows that stone tool production is not unique to humans and our ancestors,”&nbsp;explained lead author Tomos Proffitt, a Paleolithic archeologist at Max Planck.&nbsp;



“The fact that these macaques use stone tools to process nuts is not surprising, as they also use tools to gain access to various shellfish as well. What is interesting is that, in doing so they accidently produce a substantial archaeological record of their own that is partly indistinguishable from some hominin artifacts.”



By comparing these accidentally produced stone fragments to those produced by early hominins, the experts showed that many of the artefacts produced by macaques are virtually indistinguishable from the human-made ones. These findings shed new light on how one of the first known technologies may have emerged, suggesting that its origins could in fact be significantly older than previously thought and related to similar nut cracking behaviors.



“Cracking nuts using stone hammers and anvils, similar to what some primates do today, has been suggested by some as a possible precursor to intentional stone tool production. This study, along with previous ones published by our group, opens the door to being able to identify such an archaeological signature in the future,”&nbsp;said senior author Lydia Luncz, the head of the Technological Primates Research Group at Max Planck.



“This discovery shows how living primates can help researchers investigate the origin and evolution of tool use in our own lineage.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade8159">Science Advances</a>.



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



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Monkey stone tools look like early human artifacts

A team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute...

On Monday, March 13, 2023, President Joe Biden is expected to announce sweeping protections for over 16 million acres of federal lands and waters in Alaska that would put the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean off limits to future <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drilling-oil-fracking-problems/">oil and gas drilling</a>. However, this announcement comes at the same time that the administration is preparing to approve one of the largest oil developments ever on federal land – ConocoPhillips multibillion-dollar drilling project “Willow.”&nbsp;



The Arctic protections are set to extend to the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay - which are important habitats for a wide variety of wildlife, including grizzly and polar bears, caribou, and migratory birds – as well as over three million acres in the Arctic Ocean.



“It’s a place that is critically important for the wildlife,” said White House climate adviser John D. Podesta. “From the president’s perspective, conserving the natural resources, particularly in the special areas for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, are top-of-mind issues.”&nbsp;



However, according to many environmental organizations, the move to protect these areas is insufficient to offset the damage the Willow project will likely cause by allowing the construction of hundreds of miles of roads and pipelines, multiple airstrips, as well as a gravel mine and a processing facility. This massive industrial venture is estimated to produce between 576 and 614 million barrels of oil over the next three decades, releasing 9.2 million metric tons of CO2 per year (the equivalent to adding two million gas-powered cars to the roads).&nbsp;



Moreover, the region around Nuiqsut, where the project will begin, is already one of the fastest-warming places on Earth and is located in the vicinity of Teshekpuk Lake, which is home to thousands of migrating caribou, 600,000 shorebirds, 78,000 molting geese, and various other species. Due to its setting, the Willow project will most likely have a market negative impact on this species, while contributing to further warming.



“These conservation decisions by the Biden administration are positive steps, but not nearly sufficient to blunt the impact of any version of the Willow oil and gas project,” said Karlin Itchoak, the Alaska senior regional director for the <a href="https://www.wilderness.org/">Wilderness Society</a>.



“It’s lipstick on a pig,” added Jamal Raad, the co-founder and senior adviser of the climate group <a href="https://www.evergreenaction.com/">Evergreen Action</a>. “This does not negate or discount the climate impacts of the Willow project in any way, shape or form.”



While the approval of the Willow project is seen as an important victory for Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation, as well as for a coalition of Alaska native tribes and groups who consider the drilling venture as an important new source of revenue and jobs for this region, whether its economic and social benefits can offset the damage to the environment that it will most likely cause remains a matter of heated debate.



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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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Alaska oil project may offset new Arctic protections

On Monday, March 13, 2023, President Joe Biden is expected...

In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gbb.12843">Genes Brain &amp; Behavior</a>, experts have identified genetic variants that appear to be strongly correlated with math skills in children. The genetic study is one of the first of its kind to focus on mathematics abilities in different categories.



"Mathematical ability is moderately heritable, and it is a complex trait which can be evaluated in several different categories. A few genetic studies have been published on general mathematical ability. However, no genetic study focused on specific mathematical ability categories," wrote study lead author Liming Zhang of Shaanxi Normal University, and colleagues.



For the investigation, the researchers performed genome-wide association studies involving 1,146 students from Chinese elementary schools. The studies were focused on 11 mathematical ability categories, such as calculation ability, logical reasoning, spatial ability and applied mathematics.



The experts identified seven single nucleotide genetic variants that were strongly linked to math and reasoning abilities.&nbsp;



Upon further analysis, the researchers found three genes that significantly correlated with three specific mathematical ability categories. For example, variants in LINGO2 were associated with subtraction ability.



According to the researchers, they also found genes or gene sets significantly associated with addition, division, magnitude perception and spatial conception ability.



"The most significant variant associated with mathematical reasoning ability was rs34034296. This single nucleotide polymorphism is located in the desert region of genome. The nearest gene to this locus is CSMD3. Researchers have reported copy number variants (CNVs) of CSMD3 in patients with schizophrenia and autism," wrote the researchers.



"Autism and developmental dyscalculia are neurodevelopmental disorders, and they have comorbidities. We for the first time show that these genes are directly associated with mathematical ability."



Study co-author Professor Jingjing Zhao said the results of the research provide evidence that different mathematical abilities may have a different genetic basis. "This study not only refined genome-wide association studies of mathematical ability but also added some population diversity to the literature by testing Chinese children."



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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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Math skills linked to specific genetic variants in children

In a new study published in the journal Genes Brain...

Debashis Chanda, a researcher with the University of Central Florida’s <a href="https://www.nanoscience.ucf.edu/">NanoScience Technology Center</a>, recently created an environmentally friendly way to produce paints that could aid in the fight against <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-transforming-arctic-rivers-in-unexpected-ways/">climate change</a>. He used nature as an inspiration.&nbsp;



“The range of colors and hues in the natural world are astonishing - from colorful flowers, birds and butterflies to underwater creatures like fish and cephalopods,” said Chanda.&nbsp;



The research team created a plasmonic paint using two non-pigmented materials: aluminum and aluminum oxide. Instead of relying on light absorption, Chanda’s paint relies on the structural arrangements of these materials to create color.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Structural color serves as the primary color-generating mechanism in several extremely vivid species where geometrical arrangement of typically two colorless materials produces all colors. On the other hand, with manmade pigment, new molecules are needed for every color present,” explained Chanda.



The paint is considered more environmentally friendly because, unlike pigment-based paint, it does not require artificially synthesized molecules.



Moreover, plasmonic paint is lighter and longer lasting, which could lead to less consumer consumption. For example, just three pounds of paint could cover an entire Boeing 747.



“Normal color fades because pigment loses its ability to absorb photons," said Chanda. "Here, we’re not limited by that phenomenon. Once we paint something with structural color, it should stay for centuries.”



Also, plasmonic paint creates more insulation than pigmented paints by reflecting heat. The research team determined that their paint can keep a structure 25 to 30 degrees cooler than pigmented paints.



“Over 10% of total electricity in the U.S. goes toward air conditioner usage. The temperature difference plasmonic paint promises would lead to significant energy savings. Using less electricity for cooling would also cut down carbon dioxide emissions, lessening global warming.”



Future research will focus on making the paint more accessible in the hopes that more people will embrace this eco-friendly alternative.



“The conventional pigment paint is made in big facilities where they can make hundreds of gallons of paint,” said Chanda. “At this moment, unless we go through the scale-up process, it is still expensive to produce at an academic lab.”



“We need to bring something different like, non-toxicity, cooling effect, ultralight weight, to the table that other conventional paints can’t."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adf7207?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D81323850695560564783101049967960360104%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1678379454">Science Advances</a>.



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



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Nature inspires the world’s first energy-saving paint

Debashis Chanda, a researcher with the University of Central Florida’s...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that scientists never expected.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-waters-beneath-ancient-craters">Hidden waters beneath ancient craters</h2>



Scientists have made a startling discovery that challenges everything we thought we knew about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/saturn-moon-mimas-has-remarkably-young-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn's moon Mimas</a>. Beneath the heavily cratered surface that earned it the nickname "Death Star" lies a global ocean that formed just 5 to 15 million years ago—a remarkably young age by cosmic standards.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cassini-data-reveals-orbital-secrets">Cassini data reveals orbital secrets</h2>



The discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the <a href="https://observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Observatoire de Paris</a>, emerged from careful analysis of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA</a>'s Cassini spacecraft data. By studying subtle irregularities in Mimas's orbit around Saturn, researchers detected the gravitational signature of liquid water hidden 20 to 30 kilometers beneath the moon's icy shell.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-unlikely-ocean-world">An unlikely ocean world</h2>



At only 400 kilometers in diameter, Mimas seemed like the least likely candidate to harbor a subsurface ocean. Unlike other ocean moons such as Europa and Enceladus, which show clear surface signs of internal activity, Mimas displays no obvious hints of the liquid water beneath its ancient, crater-scarred exterior.



"Mimas is a small moon, and its heavily cratered surface gave no hint of the hidden ocean beneath," explained Dr. Nick Cooper from <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Queen Mary University of London</a>, a study co-author.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-astrobiology">Implications for astrobiology</h2>



The ocean's recent formation makes Mimas a prime target for studying how oceans develop and potentially support life. This discovery adds another member to the exclusive club of ocean worlds in our solar system, each offering unique insights into the conditions necessary for habitability.



The research, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a> journal, demonstrates how advanced orbital analysis can reveal hidden features of celestial bodies, opening new possibilities for understanding ocean formation throughout the cosmos.



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Scientists discover unexpected young ocean on Saturn's cratered moon Mimas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0mn5mTvhQ 'Death Star' moon Mimas conceals a 15-million-year-old ocean that...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE
</div></figure>



On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop and sunlight barely penetrates through the polar winter. It was here, however, that an international team of scientists found <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predatory-worms-were-terror-beasts-half-a-billion-years-ago/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evidence of sea monsters</a> that would change our understanding of ocean life in the past.



This video captures the discovery of Timorebestia fossils that had been hidden for more than 500 million years in the Sirius Passet formation. The "terror beasts," as they are called, are a hidden chapter in the evolutionary history of <a href="https://www.earth.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth</a>, showing that sophisticated predator-prey interactions occurred much earlier than previously envisioned.



Dr. Jakob Vinther and his research team at the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Bristol</a>, in collaboration with researchers at the <a href="https://eng.kopri.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Korean Polar Research Institute</a>, braved extreme weather conditions at 82.5 north latitude to locate these giant creatures. Using sophisticated electron microprobe analysis, they revealed the detailed anatomy of the animals, including their muscle and nerve tissues.



The find upsets the traditional timeline of sea predators. Although we've long appreciated that Cambrian oceans were at one time ruled by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWI3-UgA3_o&amp;list=PL1QLQMW9MWDwpkFOnvgAmu7wT6rZmYqdJ&amp;index=19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arthropods</a>, these discoveries indicate that relatives of arrow worms were first to dominate the seas. These worms were building sophisticated food webs several million years before other predator groups arose.



Each fossil is a story of ancient hunger, with fossil stomach contents revealing these meter-long beasts dined on heavily armored arthropods regularly, cementing their place as the ocean's first apex predators.



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Worms dominated seas before dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y4eLFNYrKE On the unforgiving landscape of North Greenland, temperatures drop...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New York is the site of the world's oldest forest.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-385-million-year-old-trees-discovered">385-million-year-old trees discovered</h2>



Scientists have uncovered something extraordinary just two hours north of New York City. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/worlds-oldest-forest-discovered-close-to-new-york-city/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world's oldest forest</a>, dating back 385 million years, offers a window into how Earth's first complex forests shaped our planet's atmosphere.



Located near <a href="https://townofcairo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cairo, New York</a>, in Greene County, these weren't merely primitive plants struggling to survive. These were sophisticated trees with root systems remarkably similar to modern forests. This ancient woodland predates dinosaurs by 140 million years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-cairo-forest-discovery">The Cairo forest discovery</h2>



385 million years ago, upstate New York was a tropical paradise near the equator. Thanks to continental drift, this ancient forest has traveled thousands of miles to its current location.



The fossil forest sits in an abandoned quarry, roughly half the size of a football field. This represents just a slice of what was likely a massive forest system stretching from New York into Pennsylvania.



Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the <a href="https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York State Museum</a>, made the discovery in 2009. While scouting the former highway department property, his trained eye spotted wandering patterns in the stone that looked like marine features.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revolutionary-age-and-preservation">Revolutionary age and preservation</h2>



The site contains 385-million-year-old rocks with fossilized woody roots forming horizontal patterns up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide. As Christopher Berry, a paleobotanist at Cardiff University, explains: "You are walking through the roots of ancient trees."



This discovery pushes back advanced tree evolution by millions of years. The research, published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a> in December 2019, fundamentally changes our understanding of when complex forests first emerged.



Researchers believe a massive flood buried the forest floor, creating perfect fossilization conditions. Over millions of years, sediment hardened into rock, preserving these root patterns like nature's time capsule.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meet-archaeopteris-the-first-modern-tree">Meet Archaeopteris: the first modern tree</h2>



The star of this ancient forest is Archaeopteris – not to be confused with the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx. This tree was far older and more revolutionary.



William Stein from <a href="https://www.binghamton.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binghamton University</a> describes the roots as "strikingly modern, essentially what you'd see outside in my yard right now." These weren't simple root systems you'd expect from ancient plants.



Some fossilized roots are six inches (15 centimeters) in diameter, forming 36-foot-wide (11-meter) patterns. These giants grew up to 65 feet (20 meters) tall with five-foot-diameter (1.5-meter) trunks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climate-changing-impact">Climate-changing impact</h2>



These trees fundamentally changed Earth's environment. Kevin Boyce, a Stanford University geoscientist, explains how their deep roots triggered "weathering," chemical reactions that pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.



This process dropped atmospheric CO2 levels from 10-15 times higher than today to roughly modern concentrations. These ancient trees helped create atmospheric conditions that made complex life possible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-forest-ecosystem">Ancient forest ecosystem</h2>



The forest was remarkably diverse. Scientists identified Eospermatopteris, palm tree-like plants with short roots that reached 30 feet (9 meters) tall but lacked woody structure. The forest also housed cladoxylopsids and a mysterious third species still being studied.



All reproduced through spores rather than seeds – millions of years before seeds evolved. This tropical environment had no grass, flowers, or flying insects, just towering trees creating Earth's first complex forest canopy.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-scientific-significance">Scientific significance</h2>



Before this finding, the Gilboa forest, located 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, held the "oldest forest" title. Cairo's trees are 2-3 million years older, showing that complex forest ecosystems developed much faster than scientists believed possible.



Patricia Gensel, a <a href="https://www.unc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of North Carolina</a> paleobotanist, notes: "The size of those root systems is really changing the picture. Even 20 years ago, researchers assumed trees with such complex root systems didn't evolve so early."



The Cairo site presents three unique root systems, suggesting Devonian period forests were diverse ecosystems with different trees occupying different environmental niches, much like today's forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-preservation-efforts">Modern preservation efforts</h2>



In 2022, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey secured a $170,000 grant for the town of Cairo to construct specialized fencing around the fossil forest site. The town plans to conduct a feasibility study exploring the possibility of creating an educational center and working lab on-site.



Joe Hasenkopf, chair of the Cairo Planning Board, hopes to partner with educational institutions to create a research facility serving scientists, students, and the public.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-today-s-climate">Lessons for today's climate</h2>



Why does a 385-million-year-old forest matter today? It shows how dramatically forests can change Earth's climate. These ancient woodlands created the atmospheric conditions supporting complex life.



Understanding how prehistoric forests transformed the planet helps us appreciate modern forests' critical role in addressing climate change. Forests remain Earth's most effective carbon capture systems.



These prehistoric trees changed Earth's atmosphere by pulling massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. As we face modern climate challenges, this ancient forest reminds us of trees' incredible power to transform our planet's environment.



The next time you walk through a forest, remember you're experiencing an ecosystem whose blueprint was established 385 million years ago in upstate New York. These ancient pioneers didn't just survive – they thrived and changed the world forever.



The full study was published in the journal Current Biology.



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Earth's oldest forest found in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3JH03PqEQ New York is the site of the world's oldest...

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acid rain and a crisis solved.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-don-t-we-ever-hear-about-acid-rain-anymore-the-environmental-crisis-that-was-solved">Why don't we ever hear about "acid rain" anymore? The environmental crisis that was solved</h2>



Remember the 1980s when acid rain dominated headlines? Dire warnings about rain eating buildings, killing fish, and destroying forests filled every news cycle. Then, almost like magic, acid rain vanished from public discourse. What happened? Did we actually solve one of the late 20th century's most pressing environmental challenges?



The answer might surprise you. Unlike many environmental issues that drag on indefinitely, acid rain represents one of modern history's most successful ecological recovery stories. It's a tale of science, politics, and technology working together to tackle what seemed impossible.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What was acid rain?</h2>



Acid rain isn't regular rain having a bad day – it's precipitation that became significantly more acidic due to air pollution. When power plants, factories, and vehicles burn fossil fuels, they release sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The science behind it</h2>



Think of acid rain as nature's chemistry experiment gone wrong. These compounds react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids. When mixed with water vapor in clouds, they create precipitation with dangerously low pH levels.



While clean rain has a pH of about 5.6, acid rain could drop as low as 4.2 to 4.4 – roughly as acidic as tomato juice or coffee. According to US Geological Survey documentation, Scottish chemist Angus Smith first coined "acid rain" in 1872, but it didn't become a household phrase until the 1960s and 1970s when Swedish scientist Svante Odén documented its devastating effects on Scandinavian lakes and European forests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The crisis at its peak</h2>



During the height of public concern, environmental damage was both widespread and visible. This wasn't some abstract future threat – people could see destruction happening in real-time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Environmental devastation</h2>



The most dramatic impacts were impossible to ignore. Research documented by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation shows that in the Adirondack Mountains, more than 200 lakes became so acidic they couldn't support fish life. The Adirondack Council reports that 409 lakes once supported brook trout, but many lost their fish populations due to acid rain.



By 1976, when scientists cataloged all acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, researchers found that half of the lakes over 2,000 feet above sea level had no fish, according to studies published in environmental journals. The acidification process worked like a slow-motion disaster. As acid rain fell into watersheds, it gradually lowered pH levels. Fish couldn't survive in acidic water, and their food sources died off too.



Trees at high elevations showed stress directly linked to acid rain. It weakened them by leaching nutrients and making them susceptible to disease. Historical records show Germany's Black Forest saw nearly half its trees damaged by the mid-1980s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Economic impact</h2>



Acid rain wasn't just environmental – it was expensive. Acidic precipitation corroded infrastructure, buildings, and monuments. Historic stone structures deteriorated at accelerated rates. Tourism suffered as lakes became fishless and forests declined. EPA economic analyses from the period documented repair costs mounting into billions annually.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The solution: government action and technology</h2>



Transformation from crisis to success required unprecedented cooperation between governments, industries, and environmental groups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Clean Air Act of 1990</h2>



The turning point came with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush. This represented a fundamentally new approach to environmental regulation, as documented in EPA historical records.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cap-and-trade success</h2>



Instead of mandating specific technologies, the 1990 amendments introduced something revolutionary: a cap-and-trade system for sulfur dioxide emissions. EPA program documentation shows this market-based approach set overall limits but allowed companies to trade emission allowances.



The genius was harnessing market forces to find cost-effective pollution reduction. Companies reducing emissions cheaply could sell excess allowances to those facing higher costs. Research published in environmental economics journals and EPA progress reports shows this resulted in dramatic SO2 reduction at a fraction of projected costs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Technology advances</h2>



Policy provided the framework, but technology made reductions possible. Studies in atmospheric science journals document the widespread adoption of flue gas desulfurization systems ("scrubbers") that removed sulfur dioxide before it reached the atmosphere. By the 2000s, new installations could remove over 95% of SO2 emissions, according to EPA technical reports.



The push coincided with cleaner energy development. Natural gas produces fewer sulfur compounds than coal. Wind and solar, emerging in the 1990s, captured growing market share, reducing reliance on high-sulfur coal.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-we-don-t-hear-about-it-today">Why we don't hear about it today</h2>



Why did acid rain disappear from headlines? Simple: the problem was largely solved.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Success doesn't make news</h2>



There's an old journalism saying: "If it bleeds, it leads." Environmental success stories don't generate urgency like crisis reporting. Media attention shifted to other challenges: climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. There's only so much environmental anxiety the public can absorb, and newer concerns replaced acid rain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mission accomplished</h2>



The primary reason is beautifully simple: interventions worked. EPA monitoring data shows sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990. Academic research published in environmental science journals confirms pH levels in formerly affected areas returned closer to normal. This represents one of history's most dramatic environmental recoveries. Studies by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation show fishless lakes now support healthy populations. Forests recovered, and building damage slowed dramatically.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-really-gone">Is it really gone?</h2>



The crisis is largely resolved, but monitoring data shows the problem isn't completely eliminated – it's managed to acceptable levels. Some areas still experience occasional events during high pollution periods. International environmental research indicates that rapidly industrializing Asian countries face similar problems to what we experienced decades ago, though they're implementing successful strategies.



EPA research shows nitrogen oxide emissions proved more challenging than sulfur dioxide, coming from vehicles and mobile sources. Climate science studies suggest changing weather patterns add complexity to how acid rain forms and falls.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What this teaches us</h2>



The acid rain experience proves that seemingly intractable environmental problems can be solved with scientific understanding, political will, and technological innovation. Environmental monitoring data shows recovery speed was remarkable – within a decade, measurable improvements appeared in air quality and ecosystem health.



Success came from bipartisan support across party lines. Policy analysis studies show the market-based approach appealed to those preferring economic incentives while achieving environmental goals. This support created lasting policy surviving political changes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



Acid rain's disappearance from public consciousness represents environmental science's greatest success stories. Through effective regulation, technological innovation, and international cooperation, we transformed an overwhelming crisis into a manageable challenge.



Today's silence isn't because we forgot – it's because we solved it. The 1990 Clean Air Act, combined with technology and energy market changes, reduced acid rain emissions over 90%, according to comprehensive EPA data analysis.



This success offers hope for current challenges. It proves complex problems can be solved when science, policy, and technology work together. As we face climate change and plastic pollution, acid rain reminds us that dramatic positive change is possible.



Next time someone asks whether environmental regulations work, remember acid rain. It's proof that sometimes, we get it right.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Sources: This article draws from EPA official documentation and progress reports, peer-reviewed research published in environmental and atmospheric science journals, historical data from the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation records, US Geological Survey publications, policy analysis studies, and environmental monitoring data collected over three decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



1. Is acid rain completely gone? No, but EPA monitoring shows it's reduced to manageable levels. US sulfur dioxide emissions dropped over 90% since 1990, making acid rain much less severe than the 1980s crisis.



2. How long did solving take? Environmental monitoring data shows significant improvements began within 5-10 years of 1990s emission controls. Full ecosystem recovery took longer – some areas need 20-30 years for complete recovery.



3. What made the solution successful? Clear scientific understanding, visible damage motivating action, bipartisan support, available technology, and innovative market-based policies like cap-and-trade.



4. Do other countries have acid rain problems? Yes, particularly rapidly industrializing Asian countries. However, international environmental research shows many implement similar successful control strategies.



5. Could acid rain return? Potentially, if regulations weaken or we return to high-sulfur coal without controls, though effects would take years to become severe according to environmental projections.



6. Can you recommend any teaching tools on the subject of "acid rain"? The United States Environmental Protection Agency produced a wonderful teacher's guide for ages 14 and under that you can find on the EPA website here: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03/documents/teachersguide.pdf</a>



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The environmental problem we actually solved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrq8Ql81zk Acid rain and a crisis solved. Why don't we...

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

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</div></figure>







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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



-----



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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https://youtu.be/XYgiPzmNBTU?si=eFYY7gPHU1JznLvU
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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