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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Early math instruction may unintentionally favor boys

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

For years, scientists have been trying to design cyborg insects – part insect, part <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/robot-flying-fish/">robot</a> – to help inspect hazardous areas or monitor the environment. In order for the use of such insects to be practical, handlers must be able to control them remotely for extended periods of time, by employing wireless controls of their leg segments powered by tiny, rechargeable batteries. Since keeping the battery charged for long is essential, the best solution is to include an on-board solar cell which can constantly recharge it.



Now, an international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.riken.jp/en/research/labs/cpr/">RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research</a> (CPR)&nbsp;has engineered a system for creating remote controlled cyborg cockroaches, which includes a tiny wireless control module powered by a rechargeable battery attached to a solar cell. To successfully integrate these devices into cockroaches with limited surface area, the scientists constructed a special backpack, ultrathin organic solar cell modules, and an adhesion system which keeps the machinery firmly attached for long periods of time, while also allowing for natural movements.&nbsp;



The team experimented with Madagascar cockroaches by attaching the wireless leg-control module and lithium polymer battery to the top of the insect’s thorax using a specially designed backpack modeled after the body plan of a model cockroach. This backpack was 3D printed with an elastic polymer and fit perfectly on the cockroach’s curved surface, allowing the rigid electronic device to remain stably mounted on the thorax for over a month. In addition, they mounted an ultrathin (0.004 millimeters thick) organic solar cell module on the dorsal side of insect’s abdomen.



“The body-mounted ultrathin organic solar cell module achieves a power output of 17.2 mW, which is more than 50 times larger than the power output of current state-of-the art energy harvesting devices on living insects,” said study lead author Kenjiro Fukuda, an expert in Applied Physics at RIKEN.



“Considering the deformation of the thorax and abdomen during basic locomotion, a hybrid electronic system of rigid and flexible elements in the thorax and ultrasoft devices in the abdomen appears to be an effective design for cyborg cockroaches,” he added. “Moreover, since abdominal deformation is not unique to cockroaches, our strategy can be adapted to other insects like beetles, or perhaps even flying insects like cicadas in the future.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41528-022-00207-2">npj Flexible Electronics</a>.



Image Credit: RIKEN



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

Remote-controlled cyborg cockroach is powered by a solar cell

For years, scientists have been trying to design cyborg insects...

A research team led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has developed a new metric called “sleep age” which they hope could help clinicians predict emerging health issues and even mortality. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-reduces-sleep-quality-elevates-disease-risk/">Sleep</a> age is a projected age which correlates to an individual health based on their chronological age and quality of sleep. 



According to the experts, people with older sleep ages compared to their actual age are at an increased risk of mortality, and often suffer from various diseases, including sleep apnea, neurodegeneration, obesity, and chronic pain. However, how poor sleep causes, exacerbates, or results from such health conditions remains unclear.



By analyzing the sleeping patterns of over 12,000 individuals and feeding the data into a machine learning algorithm, the scientists manage to develop a system that could reliably assign one’s sleep age and identify the variations in sleep more closely related to illness and mortality. They discovered that sleep fragmentation – waking up multiple times throughout the night for less than a minute without remembering it – was the strongest predictor of mortality. However, how this contributes to mortality is not yet clear.



Moreover, the researchers stressed that a person’s sleep age is not necessarily deterministic. “There is enormous variation. Even if you have an older sleep age&nbsp;than your chronological age, it doesn’t mean that your mortality risk is going to be higher. You see people chain smoking and drinking alcohol at 90 years old and you wonder, “How is this person surviving so long?” There is always huge natural variation,” explained study senior author Emmanuel Mignot, an expert in Sleep Medicine at Stanford.



According to Professor Mignot, going to bed and waking up at regular hours is key to improving sleep. In addition, “getting solid light exposure - preferably with outside light - during the day, keeping the sleep environment dark at night, exercising regularly but not too close to bedtime, not drinking alcohol and caffeine around bedtime, and avoiding heavy nighttime meals all contribute to healthy sleep. And, of course, make sure any sleep disorder is treated.”



In further research, the scientists aim to extend their cohort and refine their algorithms in order to use this newly developed metric to predict more accurately the future occurrence of illnesses such as heart disease, strokes, or Alzheimer’s. “Can you imagine if we could use sleep studies to predict a person's heart attack risk and then use that information to start early interventions? That would be a big deal,” Professor Mignot concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-022-00630-9">npj Digital Medicine</a>.



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

“Sleep age” could predict health and lifespan

A research team led by Stanford University has developed a...

Due to global climate change, sea ice levels in the Arctic ocean are decreasing quickly. However, monitoring sea ice has been difficult due to environmental conditions such as high winds and shifting distribution.&nbsp;



An international team of researchers led by Japanese scientists has compiled data collected during the <a href="https://mosaic-expedition.org/">MOSAiC</a> observational expedition to analyze the ice-ocean boundary layer (IOBL) as it melted and refroze. With this data, they were able to calculate the rate of growth and decline of sea ice.&nbsp;



“Owing to the complex patterns of heat and energy transfer, the physics of the cold oceans is complicated," said study lead author Dr. Yusuke Kawaguchi of <a href="https://www.aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/english/">The Atmospheric and Ocean Research</a> Institute at The University of Tokyo.



"Our objective was to quantify the thermodynamic growth and decay of the sea ice while incorporating effects of heat and salt exchange with near-surface water due to turbulent forces.”



By observing the sea from various angles and using data from the <a href="https://mosaic-expedition.org/">MOSAiC</a>, they determined that more ice was melting in the summer.&nbsp;



“Our first discovery was that in the summer, strong winds cause the mixing of water where the ice and ocean meet. We were able to show that enhanced heat transfer occurs right below the sea ice," explained Dr. Kawaguchi.



The experts also found that due to more ice melting, there was a drop in oceanic salinity, which caused changes in the point when ice refroze.



“As melt water accumulates beneath the sea ice, salinity of sea water decreases and then the freezing temperature increases. This terminates the melting of sea ice at an earlier timing because water gets easier to freeze," said Dr. Kawaguchi.



The team is looking forward to continuing their work with the hopes of creating an instrument that will simultaneously measure sea ice movement and salinity at the IOBL. With that simultaneous data, researchers will have a more accurate view of what the ice is doing.&nbsp;



“The extent of the Arctic sea ice may affect the regional climate in distant places, like Japan, via atmospheric disturbances. We believe that studying the sea ice will allow us to better predict future changes in the Earth’s climate.”



This study is published in the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021JC017975">Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans</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

Meltwater profiling can help predict Arctic sea ice changes

Due to global climate change, sea ice levels in the...

Vertebrate evolution took a crucial turn about 320 million years ago, when early tetrapods transitioned from water to land, eventually giving rise to three major clades: the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/past-climate-change-drove-the-rapid-evolution-of-reptiles/">reptiles</a>, the birds (an evolutionary offshoot of reptiles), and the mammals. Due to their common ancestry, the brains of all tetrapods share a similar basal architecture established early in evolution. However, how variations in this common architecture contributed to clade-specific attributes remained a mystery for a long time.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://brain.mpg.de/home">Max Plank Institute for Brain Research</a> in Frankfurt, Germany, has attempted to clarify these issues by generating a molecular atlas of the brain of the Australian bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) and comparing it with that of mice. 



The widespread belief was that mammalian brains consist of ancient reptilian brains supplemented with new mammalian features. However, the study revealed that both mammalian and reptilian brains developed their own clade-specific neuron types and circuits, from a common ancestral set.



“Neurons are the most diverse cell types in the body. Their evolutionary diversification reflects alterations in the developmental processes that produce them and may drive changes in the neural circuits they belong to,” explained study senior author Gilles Laurent, the director at the Max Planck Institute.



“For example, distinct brain areas do not work in isolation, suggesting that the evolution of interconnected regions, such as the thalamus and cerebral cortex, might in some way be correlated. Also, a brain area in reptiles and mammals that derived from a common ancestral structure might have evolved in such a way that it remains ancestral in one clade today, while it is “modern” in the other. Conversely, it could be that both clades now contain a mix of common (ancient) and specific (novel) neuron types. These are the sorts of questions that our experiments tried to address.”



By using a cellular transcriptomic approach that employs single-cell RNA sequencing to detect large fractions of the RNA molecules – or “transcriptomes” – present in single cells, the scientists mapped and compared the brains of P. vitticeps with that of mice. 



“We profiled over 280,000 cells from the brain of Pogona and identified 233 distinct types of neurons,” said study first author David Hain, a graduate student in Professor Laurent’s lab. “Computational integration of our data with mouse data revealed that these neurons can be grouped transcriptomically in common families, that probably represent ancestral neuron types.”



Further analyses revealed that neurons in the thalamus can be grouped into two transcriptomic and anatomical domains, defined by their connectivity to other regions of the brain. These connected regions have different fates in mammals and reptiles, one of them being highly divergent. Comparing the thalamic transcriptomes of the two domains revealed that transcriptomic divergence matched that of the target regions.



“This suggests that neuronal transcriptomic identity somewhat reflects, at least in part, the long-range connectivity of a region to its targets. Since we do not have the brains of ancient vertebrates, reconstructing the evolution of the brain over the past half billion years will require connecting together very complex molecular, developmental, anatomical and functional data in a way that is self-consistent. We live in very exciting times, because this is becoming possible,” Professor Laurent concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abp8202">Science</a>.



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

Differences in the mammalian and reptilian brain revealed

Vertebrate evolution took a crucial turn about 320 million years...

An international team of scientists from France, China, and Egypt has recently found evidence that the Khufu branch of the Nile River once ran so close to Giza that it could have been used to carry the enormous blocks of stones needed to construct the massive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/great-pyramid-electromagnetic-energy/">pyramids</a> which constitute one of the world’s most iconic cultural artefacts.



The researchers collected core sediment samples from several sites in and around Giza and analyzed the fossilized pollen grains trapped in them for millennia. The investigation revealed that the pollen grain fossils were mostly from flowering grasses similar to the ones that line the Nile River today. In addition, they found evidence of a few marsh plants which typically grow on the edges of lakes, indicating that the Khufu branch remained at high levels for an extended period of time.



Together with the results from previous studies of the rock layers surrounding the pyramids, these findings helped them reconstruct the history of the Khufu branch as it flowed and ebb in the area over the past 8,000 years. The analysis showed that its levels were most likely high enough that it reached nearly all the way to Giza – now located seven kilometers from the Nile – during the times when three of the major pyramids (Menkaure, Khafre, and Khufu) were constructed.&nbsp;



“The Khufu branch remained at a high-water level (∼40 precent of its Holocene maximum) during the reigns of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, facilitating the transportation of construction materials to the Giza Pyramid Complex,” the study author reported.



“From the third to the fifth dynasties, the Khufu branch clearly offered an environment conducive to the emergence and development of the pyramid construction site, helping builders to plan the transport of stone and materials by boat.”&nbsp;



Not long after the reign of King Tutankhamun though, the levels of the Khufu branch began to drop, leading to a much more arid environment – a fundamental change that other studies of oxygen levels in the bones and teeth from the mummies of that time period has also confirmed, suggesting a period of low water access and consumption. By the time Alexander the Great conquered Egypt (332 BCE), the Khufu branch remained just a small channel.



These techniques could be used in further studies to better understand how changing river flow impacted other ancient civilizations, and thus shed new light on the role of natural factors in the development of humanity.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2202530119">Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



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

Lost branch of the Nile was used to build Giza pyramids

An international team of scientists from France, China, and Egypt...

A new study led by Department of Energy’s <a href="https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/">SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory</a> has found that “diamond rain” – a long-hypothesized exotic type of precipitation occurring on giant icy planets such as Uranus and Neptune – could be more common than previously thought. The analysis revealed that the presence of oxygen could make <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diamonds-found-buried/">diamond</a> formation more likely, allowing them to form and grow in many conditions throughout a variety of planets. These findings could help scientists fabricate nanodiamonds more efficiently, which would have a major impacts and applications in drug delivery, medical sensors, noninvasive surgery, sustainable manufacturing, and quantum electronics.



In an earlier <a href="https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2017-08-21-scientists-create-diamond-rain-forms-interior-icy-giant-planets.aspx">study</a>, the team mimicked the extreme temperatures and pressures from deep inside icy giants to observe diamonds as they formed. “The earlier paper was the first time that we directly saw diamond formation from any mixtures,” said co-author Siegfried Glenzer, the director of the High Energy Density Division at SLAC. “Since then, there have been quite a lot of experiments with different pure materials. But inside planets, it’s much more complicated; there are a lot more chemicals in the mix. And so, what we wanted to figure out here was what sort of effect these additional chemicals have.”



While in their previous research, the scientists studied a plastic material consisting of a mixture of hydrogen and carbon – which are key components of Uranus and Neptune’s chemical make-up – in more recent experiments they included other critical elements present in icy giants, such as oxygen, by using PET plastics. “PET has a good balance between carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen to simulate the activity in ice planets,” said study lead author Dominik Kraus, a professor of Physics at the <a href="https://www.uni-rostock.de/">University of Rostock</a>.



Using high-power optical lasers and innovative methods such as X-ray diffraction and small-angle scattering, the experts investigated how the atoms of the material rearranged into small diamond regions, and measured how fast these regions grew. They discovered that, when oxygen was present, the nanodiamonds were able to grow at lower temperatures and pressures than previously thought. “The effect of the oxygen was to accelerate the splitting of the carbon and hydrogen and thus encourage the formation of nanodiamonds,” Kraus explained. “It meant the carbon atoms could combine more easily and form diamonds.”



According to the scientists, diamonds on Neptune and Uranus would become much larger that those produced in these experiments and, over thousands of years, they might slowly sink through the planets’ ice layers, assembling into a thick layer of bling around the solid planetary core.



In future studies, the team aims to include liquid samples containing ethanol, water, and ammonia – what icy giants are largely made of – to better understand how diamond rain forms on such planets. “The fact that we can recreate these extreme conditions to see how these processes play out on very fast, very small scales is exciting,” said co-author and SLAC scientists Nicholas Hartley.&nbsp;



“Adding oxygen brings us closer than ever to seeing the full picture of these planetary processes, but there’s still more work to be done. It’s a step on the road towards getting the most realistic mixture and seeing how these materials truly behave on other planets,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo0617">Science Advances</a>.&nbsp;



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

Diamond rain may be common on giant icy planets

A new study led by Department of Energy’s SLAC National...

A second attempt to launch the Artemis moon rocket was canceled today after the the massive spacecraft sprang a new fuel leak. According to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/astronomy-space-launches-exploration-science-9a89bb77af17be3e3b5891a0b224ac69">Associated Press</a>,  a two-week launch blackout period kicks in after Tuesday. This means that the rocket may be hauled off the pad and back into its hangar, which could push the flight into October.



Before <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> can send astronauts back to the moon, they need a successful test light of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html">Space Launch System</a> (SLS), a giant rocket measuring 322 feet in height and weighing 5.5 million pounds when filled with propellants. If weather conditions allow, this massive rocket will start its journey to the moon – this time with no astronauts on board - on Monday, August 29, 2022 at 8:33 a.m. Eastern time, in a space mission called Artemis I. 



SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA constructed since Saturn V took astronauts to the moon in the historical missions from the 1960s and 1970s. After lift-off, several events will occur in fast succession. Two minutes after leaving the ground, the two thinner side boosters attached to the rocket’s massive core stage will exhaust their solid rocket fuel and fall into the Atlantic Ocean, while eight minutes into flight, the four engines of the core stage will shut down, the stage will drop away, leaving the rocket’s second stage and the Orion capsule – which will carry astronauts in the future – to start their trek through outer space.&nbsp;



Approximately two hours after take-off, in a phenomenon called a “trans-lunar injection,” the second stage will fire again for about 18 minutes and will push Orion on a course to the moon, separating it from the second stage. On the sixth day, Orion will begin its orbit of the moon, and on the 24th day it will start its return trip to Earth.



“We’re going to stress it and test it. We’re going to make it do things that we would never do with a crew on it in order to try to make it as safe as possible,”&nbsp;said NASA administrator and former space shuttle astronaut Bill Nelson. If everything goes well, a second mission is scheduled for May 2024, carrying a team of four astronauts to the moon and back – the first such event since Apollo 17 reached the moon in December 1972.



“This is now the Artemis generation. We were in the Apollo generation. This is a new generation. This is a new type of astronaut,” Nelson added. &nbsp;“To all of us who gaze up at the moon, dreaming of the day humankind returns to the lunar surface … folks, we’re here.”



<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg">NASA Television</a>’s online coverage of the Artemis I launch is set to begin at midnight as the process of filling the rocket’s propellant tanks starts, while the agency’s full coverage will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Monday.



Image Credit: NASA



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

Artemis rocket launch called off due to fuel leak

 A second attempt to launch the Artemis moon rocket was...

Amber is formed when plant resin fossilizes, and sometimes this process preserves evidence of small animals that were trapped in the sticky substance as it oozed out of the plant, millions of years ago. In the past, most ants captured in amber have come from the northern hemisphere, giving rise to the assumption that ants evolved originally in North America or South Asia. But now scientists have analyzed and described an extinct ant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eight-new-species-of-gecko-discovered-in-madagascar/">species</a> that is new to science and that was trapped in amber of African origin.



The amber that was found in northwest Ethiopia is estimated to date from the early Miocene, and is between 16 and 23 million years old. &nbsp;Among the organisms trapped inside are 13 ants of a previously unknown extinct species. Using the X-ray light source PETRA III at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg, researchers led by <a href="https://www.uni-jena.de/">Friedrich Schiller University Jena</a> examined these fossil remains and have now named and described the insect, which represents a brand new genus and species.&nbsp;



The name given to the new species and genus is †Desyopone hereon gen. et sp. nov. With this name, the scientists honor the two research institutions involved – DESY and Hereon – that contributed significantly to this find with the help of modern imaging techniques. Ultimately, it was only possible to identify the new species and genus through the combination of extensive phenotype data from scans, and recent findings from genome analyses of living ants.



Initially, the anatomical structures of the preserved ants led the scientists to place them in the subfamily known as Aneuretinae. This group currently consists mostly of extinct ants known only from fossils, although there is one living species that is found in Sri Lanka. However, after detailed and high-resolution images were obtained using synchrotron micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scanning, the researchers revised their identification and decided the new species was more appropriately placed in the ant subfamily Ponerinae.&nbsp;



“The complex waist segment and the large but rudimentary mandibles – the mouthparts – are more familiar to us from the Ponerinae, a dominant group of predatory ants,” said Brendon Boudinot, who is currently working at the University of Jena on a Humboldt Research Fellowship. “For this reason, we’ve assigned the new species and genus to this subfamily, even though it has a unique appearance, as the long waist and otherwise unconstricted abdomen are more reminiscent of the Aneuretinae.”



According to the research report, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects13090796">Insects</a>, this piece of amber is exceptional in several ways. “The piece with these ants is from the only amber deposit in Africa, so far, that has featured fossil organisms in inclusions. Altogether, there are only a few fossil insects from this continent,” explained Vincent Perrichot from the University of Rennes. “Although amber has long been used as jewelry by locals in the region, its scientific significance has only become clear to researchers in the last 10 years or so.”



It was a complicated process to date the amber, and thereby the fossils enclosed within. Initial dating techniques gave an age of 95 million years, but this was revised to between 16 and 23 million years by determining the age of the fossil pollen and spores captured in the amber alongside the ants. According to Perrichot, “The specimen therefore offers what is currently a unique insight into an ancient forest ecosystem in Africa.”&nbsp;



The present research results also contribute to putting male ants more under the spotlight of evolutionary research. “Because they have such a different body shape compared to the worker ants, all of whom are female, research has neglected them for a long time. This is because males are simply too often overlooked because they cannot be properly classified,” said Boudinot.



“Our results not only update the literature on identifying male ants, but also show that by understanding male-specific features, such as the sex-specific shape of the mandible, we can learn more about the evolutionary patterns of female ants.” This is because in the present study, the researchers have identified a fundamental pattern that occurs in all ants, namely that male and female mandibles follow the same developmental pattern in most species, even if they look very different.



The analysis of these extinct and ancient ants was only possible with the use of state-of-the-art technology. Images of the external and internal anatomy of the ants were obtained using high-resolution imaging techniques, such as micro-CT, in which X-rays are used to look through all layers of the preserved ant bodies. This was particularly important as the genetic material of the ants could not be analyzed due to the fact that their bodies were embedded in rock-hard amber.&nbsp;



“Since the ants enclosed in amber that are to be examined are very small and only show a very weak contrast in classical CT, we carried out the CT at our measuring station, which specializes in such micro-tomography,” explained Jörg Hammel from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. “This provided the researchers with a stack of images that basically showed the sample that was being studied, slice by slice.”



Put together, these layered images produced detailed three-dimensional images of the internal structure of the animals, which the researchers could use to reconstruct the anatomy with precision. In this way, modern technology helped the researchers to look back into the distant past and identify the details that ultimately led to the identification of the new species and its genus.&nbsp;



&nbsp;---



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

New ant species discovered in ancient amber

Amber is formed when plant resin fossilizes, and sometimes this...

Edible seaweed is a superfood that contains a large variety of vitamins, minerals and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/olive-varieties-contain-different-levels-of-antioxidants/">antioxidants</a>. Now scientists at <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a> are exploring ways to enrich seaweed and use it as a global, sustainable food crop.&nbsp;



Led by PhD student Doron Ashkenazi, the team has been carrying out research on a local algae, Ulva gracilaria. The researchers are growing the seaweed near fish farming operations where it becomes "enriched" and especially nutritious.&nbsp;



“Seaweed can be regarded as a natural superfood, more abundant in the necessary components of the human diet than other food sources,” said Ashkenazi. “Through the technological approach we developed, a farm owner or entrepreneur will be able to plan in advance a production line of seaweed rich in the substances in which they are interested, which can be used as health foods or nutritional supplements; for example, seaweed with a particularly high level of protein, seaweed rich in minerals such as iron, iodine, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, or in special pigments or antioxidants."&nbsp;



"The enriched seaweed can be used to help populations suffering from malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies, for example disadvantaged populations around the world, as well as supplements to a vegetarian or vegan diet.”



Seaweed farming has advantages over traditional crops when it comes to growing as well. Unlike most agriculture, the aquaculture of seaweed requires no large amounts of land and no freshwater inputs. Seaweed grown near coasts also acts as a buffer, reducing nutrient loading, often due to fertilizer runoff.&nbsp;



Overall, seaweed is a “green” crop that lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it could be the perfect crop to feed a growing world population in a time of environmental crises.&nbsp;



“Technologies of this type are undoubtedly a model for a better future for humanity, a future where humans live in idyll and in health in their environment," said Ashkenazi.



This research was published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1466856422001527">Innovative Food Science &amp; Emerging Technologies</a>.



---



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

Seaweed “superfood” could help ease global food crisis

Edible seaweed is a superfood that contains a large variety...

Hydroquinine is an organic compound, closely related to quinine, that has proven anti-malarial and anti-arrhythmia properties. It occurs naturally in the bark of some tree species and has been the focus of attention by researchers recently because they thought it may have the potential to fight against antibiotic resistant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-can-jump-between-healthy-pets-and-owners/">bacteria</a>. The phenomenon of multi-drug resistant microbes has become a global health burden in the past few decades, and there is a pressing need for the development of new antimicrobial drugs to combat infections.



When bacteria are exposed to an antibiotic multiple times, new strains of the bacteria evolve that are resistant to the drug. This means that the resistant bacteria are no longer controlled or killed by the antibiotics. In fact, they survive and are even able to multiply in the presence of an antibiotic to which they have developed resistance. As a consequence of this, the treatment of bacterial infections has become more complex and less effective. Researchers are constantly searching for new types of antimicrobial drugs to take the place of those that no longer work against the resistant strains.



Scientists from the <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/">University of Portsmouth</a> and the Naresuan and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat Universities in Thailand have now investigated whether hydroquinine is effective at inhibiting the growth or reproduction of eight different strains of bacteria, including Streptococcus aureus,&nbsp;Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae. These pathogens are commonly resistant to multiple drugs and cause infections in patients with burn wounds, cystic fibrosis, skin lesions and pneumonia, both in hospital settings and in communities. Although hydroquinine is a tried and tested remedy against malaria, its antibacterial properties have not yet been determined.



In the findings of this research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed7080156">Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease</a>, the scientists show that hydroquinine inhibited all the strains of bacteria tested, and even killed them if the concentration of the compound was high enough. &nbsp;



“Using bacterial killing experiments, we found that hydroquinine was able to kill several microorganisms, including the common multidrug-resistant pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa," said <a href="https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/persons/robbie-baldock">Dr. Robert Baldock</a>&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/organisational-structure/our-academic-structure/faculty-of-science-and-health/school-of-pharmacy-and-biomedical-sciences">School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences</a>&nbsp;at the University of Portsmouth.



"Characteristically, we also discovered that one of the main mechanisms used by these bacteria to escape killing activity of the drug was upregulated with treatment – indicating a robust response from the bacteria.”



“By studying this compound further, our hope is that it may in future offer another line of treatment in combatting bacterial infections,” he added.&nbsp;



Drug-resistant bacteria occur in more than 2.8 million infections and are responsible for 35,000 deaths per year. Common antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” cause diseases including sepsis, urinary tract infections, and pneumonia. Statistics show bloodstream infections by the bacterium P. aeruginosa can be associated with high mortality rates of between 30 and 50 percent.&nbsp;



The experts conclude that hydroquinine has antibacterial properties and can inhibit and kill several strains of clinically important bacteria. However, the researchers emphasize that further research is necessary in order to understand the mechanism by which the compound acts in order to have the observed effect on the pathogens. They also recommend that future studies address the potential side effects of using hydroquinine.&nbsp;



Dr Jirapas Jongjitwimol from the Department of Medical Technology at Naresuan University added: “Our future research aims to uncover the molecular target of hydroquinine. This would help our understanding of how the compound works against pathogenic bacteria and how it could potentially be used in a clinical setting.”



---



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

Tree compound can kill drug-resistant bacteria

Hydroquinine is an organic compound, closely related to quinine, that...

A research team led by scientists at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a> has made a discovery that contests the long-held belief that changes in DNA sequences which occur in non-reproductive cells cannot be passed to offspring. For the first time, the researchers have determined that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dental-scanning-equipment-helps-monitor-young-corals/">corals</a> can pass mutations acquired during their lifetimes to their offspring,



"For a trait, such as growth rate, to evolve, the genetic basis of that trait must be passed from generation to generation. For most animals, a new genetic mutation can only contribute to evolutionary change if it occurs in a germline or reproductive cell, for example in an egg or sperm cell. Mutations that occur in the rest of the body, in the somatic cells, were thought to be evolutionarily irrelevant because they do not get passed on to offspring. However, corals appear to have a way around this barrier that seems to allow them to break this evolutionary rule," explained Professor Iliana Baums, who led the research.



Study co-author Kate Vasquez Kuntz explained how this might be possible: "In most animals, reproductive cells are segregated from body cells early in development. So only genetic mutations that occur in the reproductive cells have the potential to contribute to the evolution of the species. However, for some organisms, like corals, the segregation of reproductive cells from all other cells may occur later in development or may never occur at all, allowing a path for genetic mutations to travel from a parent's body to its offspring."



Because corals can reproduce asexually via budding and colony fragmentation, they were the ideal organisms for the study.



"This single-parent reproduction allowed us to more easily search for potential somatic mutations from the parent coral and track them into the offspring by simplifying the total number of genetic possibilities that could occur in the offspring." said study co-author Sheila Kitchen.



The researchers hope that with the ability of parent corals to pass on potentially advantageous mutations, their offspring will have a better chance of survival.&nbsp;



"If these mutations can then be passed on to offspring – as we have now demonstrated – it means that corals have an additional tool that might be able to speed up their adaptation to climate change," said Professor Baums.



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



---



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

Corals boost their own genetic diversity by passing on mutations

A research team led by scientists at Penn State has...

An international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.uni-halle.de/?lang=en">Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg</a> (MLU) has&nbsp;recently conducted an analysis of worldwide patterns of plant species richness, based on the largest collection of global vegetation-plot data ever compiled. The results have been published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32063-z">Nature Communications</a>&nbsp;and could be used to focus conservation efforts in areas where the diversity of plant species is the highest.&nbsp;



The experts analyzed species richness of vascular plants counted in around 170,000 vegetation plots from all of the Earth’s climate zones. The data included information on all of the vascular plant species found at a location and the coordinates of the respective area under study. The data was taken from the globally unique vegetation database called “sPlot,” which is located at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Centre_for_Integrative_Biodiversity_Research_(iDiv)">iDiv</a>, and species richness in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/past-variability-may-help-forests-cope-with-climate-change/">forests</a> and non-forests were considered separately. 



“Most studies on global biodiversity are conducted on a relatively large scale, for example at a state or provincial scale. We wanted to find out how much results differ when smaller areas are examined,” explained Professor Helge Bruelheide from MLU. The team used artificial intelligence to investigate, among other things, the relationship between the number of plant species and the size of the area under study.&nbsp;They considered species richness in plots of 400m2, 1,000m2, and 1ha (10,000m2) in area, with the aim of identifying areas where species richness is consistently high at all these scales, and areas where species richness varies depending on the scale of sampling.&nbsp;



The results showed that some forest areas - such as in Borneo, New Guinea, Madagascar, eastern South Africa and the Andean-Amazonian foothills - are hotspots for plant biodiversity irrespective of the size of the sample plots. Conversely, the researchers observed high plant diversity when plot size was small, but low plant diversity when plot size was large, in many temperate regions including the Eastern European forest-steppe belt, East Asia and southeastern Australia.



The researchers state that there are areas on Earth where focusing on large study plots only provides a limited understanding of the distribution of biodiversity: sometimes small areas can have a relatively high biodiversity, for example in the steppes of Eastern Europe, in Siberia and in the Alpine countries of Europe. At fine spatial scales, the large difference in biodiversity between the tropics, like the Amazon, and the temperate climate zones nearly disappears.&nbsp;



The same applies to the African tropics, which were previously considered an exception in the tropical plant world. “The tropics have always been among the most biodiverse areas in the world. We wondered why this shouldn’t also apply to Western Africa,” explained Dr. Francesco Maria Sabatini who led the study while at MLU and is now an assistant professor at the University of Bologna. In fact, the distribution of plant species varies greatly in the African tropics, noted Dr. Sabatini. These species are distributed over very large distances, so that they are not always recorded when a small sampling area is examined. “To correctly recognize the high biodiversity in Western Africa many small areas are required."



The current research also enabled the scientists to identify which environmental and biogeographic factors drive species diversity of vascular plants. Interestingly enough, although ecoregion, annual mean temperature, and temperature of the warmest and wettest quarters of the year explained some of the variation in species richness patterns globally, the factor with the largest influence in shaping diversity patterns was the size of the sample plot.&nbsp;



Although the study was based on a very large collection of global vegetation-plot data, there are still many biogeographical regions where vegetation data is not available. Most of the data points were in Europe and other countries with a strong tradition of vegetation surveys, while the coverage of tropical areas, especially the Amazon and equatorial Africa, was poor.



Despite these limitations, the researchers feel that their analysis provides important insights and is a step forward in mapping global plant diversity. The results are also important when it comes to protecting species. “Ecosystems whose high biodiversity is spread out over a large area cannot be protected through the traditional patchwork of nature reserves. In contrast, ecosystems that have a high biodiversity within a small area could benefit well from several distinct protected zones,” concluded Bruelheide. &nbsp;



---



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

Plant biodiversity hotspots can be found on small scales

An international team of researchers led by the Martin Luther...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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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...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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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

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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