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By focusing on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-change-their-roots-to-survive-harsh-conditions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">root systems</a>, researchers aim to create new plants, using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool called SLEAP, that can store more carbon for extended periods.



For this intriguing new study, scientists are leveraging AI to optimize plants' natural ability to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/good-news-plants-are-absorbing-more-human-produced-co2-than-expected/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">draw carbon dioxide</a> out of the atmosphere, a crucial step in combating climate change and limiting global temperature rise. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sleap-game-changing-ai-tool-that-creates-plants">SLEAP: Game-changing AI tool that creates plants</h2>



Talmo Pereira and Professor <a href="https://www.salk.edu/scientist/wolfgang-busch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wolfgang Busch</a> from Salk’s <a href="https://www.salk.edu/harnessing-plants-initiative/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Harnessing Plants Initiative</a> have joined forces to apply SLEAP, a sophisticated AI software initially designed for tracking animal movement, to the study of plants. 



Their research introduces a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-022-01426-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new protocol</a> for using SLEAP to analyze plant root phenotypes, such as depth, width, and mass.



"This collaboration is truly a testament to what makes Salk science so special and impactful," says Pereira. "We're not just 'borrowing' from different disciplines -- we're really putting them on equal footing in order to create something greater than the sum of its parts."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-streamlining-plant-analysis-with-ai">Streamlining plant analysis with AI</h2>



Prior to SLEAP, analyzing plant and animal characteristics was a labor-intensive process that slowed scientific progress. 



Researchers had to manually flag parts of images frame-by-frame, part-by-part, and pixel-by-pixel before older AI models could process the data.



SLEAP's unique combination of computer vision and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/machine-learning-could-help-save-mangrove-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deep learning</a> allows researchers to skip this intermediary step, jumping straight from image input to defined plant features. 



This approach significantly reduces analysis time and human error while emphasizing accessibility and ease of use.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sleap-roots-digging-deep-into-plant-biology">sleap-roots: Digging deep into plant biology</h2>



The Salk team developed sleap-roots, a downloadable toolkit for SLEAP that enables the software to process biological traits of root systems, such as depth, mass, and angle of growth. 



The toolkit, available as open-source software, was tested on various plants, including soybeans, rice, canola, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-capture-plant-communication-on-video/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arabidopsis thaliana</a>.



"We created a robust protocol validated in multiple plant types that cuts down on analysis time and human error, while emphasizing accessibility and ease-of-use -- and it required no changes to the actual SLEAP software," says Elizabeth Berrigan, a bioinformatics analyst in Busch's lab.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-deciphering-the-secrets-of-climate-saving-plants">Deciphering the secrets of climate-saving plants</h2>



By connecting phenotypic data, such as a plant's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/measuring-plant-root-health-scanning-leaves-xray-device/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deep root system</a>, with genotype data obtained through genome sequencing efforts, researchers can identify the genes responsible for creating desirable traits. 



This step is crucial in Salk's mission to create plants with AI that hold on to more carbon for longer periods, as these plants will require root systems designed to be deeper and more robust.



"We have already been able to create the most extensive catalogue of plant root system phenotypes to date, which is really accelerating our research to create carbon-capturing plants that fight climate change," says Busch, the Hess Chair in <a href="https://pbio.salk.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plant Science at Salk</a>. 



"SLEAP has been so easy to apply and use, thanks to Talmo's professional software design, and it's going to be an indispensable tool in my lab moving forward," Busch concluded.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-the-hidden-world-of-plant-root-systems">Understanding the hidden world of plant root systems</h2>



To further clarify, plant root systems are intricate networks of roots that play a crucial role in anchoring plants to the soil, absorbing water and nutrients, and storing essential compounds. 



There are <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/maize-plant-genetics-shape-root-health-and-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">two main types of root systems</a> exist in plants: taproot systems and fibrous root systems. 



<ul>
<li>Taproot systems feature a single, dominant root that grows vertically downward, with smaller lateral roots branching off from it. </li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Fibrous root systems, on the other hand, consist of numerous small roots that grow outward from the base of the plant, forming a dense network.</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Functions of root systems</h3>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-roots-follow-gravity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Root systems</a> perform several critical functions for plants:



<ul>
<li>Anchoring: Roots secure plants to the soil, providing stability and preventing them from toppling over.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Absorption: Fine root hairs absorb water and dissolved nutrients from the soil, which are then transported to the rest of the plant.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Storage: Some plants, such as carrots and beets, use their roots to store carbohydrates and other essential compounds.</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Factors influencing root growth</h3>



Several factors influence the growth and development of plant root systems:



<ul>
<li>Soil type: Different soil types, such as sandy, loamy, or clay soils, affect root growth and distribution.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Water availability: Plants adapt their root systems in response to water availability, with some species growing deeper roots to access water in times of drought.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Nutrient availability: The presence or absence of essential nutrients in the soil can impact root growth and architecture.</li>
</ul>



Healthy root systems are essential for overall plant health and productivity. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-rooted-crops-can-significantly-improve-soil-carbon-storage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Well-developed roots</a> enable plants to efficiently absorb water and nutrients, leading to stronger growth and increased resilience to stresses such as drought or disease. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ai-and-the-future-of-climate-saving-plants">AI and the future of climate-saving plants</h2>



The accessibility and reproducibility of SLEAP and sleap-roots have the potential to revolutionize plant research worldwide. The Salk team has already begun discussions with NASA scientists hoping to utilize the tool to guide <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reducing-air-pollution-could-greatly-boost-carbon-sequestration-by-plants/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon-sequestering plants</a> on Earth and to study plants in space.



In summary, the Salk Institute's pioneering research in plant-based carbon capture, powered by the innovative SLEAP software and sleap-roots toolkit, paves the way for a greener future. 



As scientists continue to refine and expand these tools, they accelerate the development of climate-saving plants with optimized root systems capable of storing more carbon for longer periods. 



The accessibility and reproducibility of SLEAP and sleap-roots invite researchers worldwide to join the fight against climate change, fostering global collaboration and innovation. 



With the Harnessing Plants Initiative at the forefront, Salk scientists are rooting for change, digging deep into plant biology, and branching out to make a lasting impact on our planet's future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/plantphenomics.0175" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plant Phenomics</a>.



-----



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AI is creating new plants that can help fight climate change

By focusing on root systems, researchers aim to create new plants, using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool called SLEAP, that can store more carbon for extended periods. For this intriguing new study, scientists are leveraging AI to optimize plants' natural ability to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, a crucial step in combating climate change and limiting global temperature rise. SLEAP: Game-changing AI tool that creates plants Talmo Pereira and Professor Wolfgang Busch from Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative have joined forces to apply SLEAP, a sophisticated AI...

The fungal disease Black Sigatoka has been ravaging banana groves around the world since it emerged from Fiji in the 1960s.

Also known as black leaf streak disease, the fungal infection soon spread to other areas in the tropics.

Now, researchers from the University of Exeter have compelling evidence that the spread of Black Sigatoka was boosted by climate change.

Changes in average temperature and moisture in Latin America and the Caribbean has boosted the risk of banana trees being infected by the fungus by as much as 44 percent, the scientists said in a press release.

"Black Sigatoka is caused by a fungus (Pseudocercospora fijiensis) whose lifecycle is strongly determined by weather and microclimate," said Dr. Daniel Bebber of the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>. "This research shows that climate change has made temperatures better for spore germination and growth, and made crop canopies wetter, raising the risk of Black Sigatoka infection in many banana-growing areas of Latin America.”

The disease is believed to have first entered Latin America in Honduras, where it was first seen in 1972. It reached Brazil in 1998, and the Caribbean in the 2000s.

Pseudocercospora fijiensis spreads through aerial spores. It creates streaked lesions on leaves followed by cell death when the fungus is exposed to light.

The researchers studied data on the fungal infections, combining that with climate data from the past 60 years.

While Black Sigatoka is flourishing in areas where moisture levels have risen, that’s not universally the case, the team found.

"Despite the overall rise in the risk of Black Sigatoka in the areas we examined, drier conditions in some parts of Mexico and Central America have reduced infection risk," Bebber said.

However, the team noted that drying trends that reduced infection were also likely to leave banana trees thirsty.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0269">Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B</a>. Funding was provided by the <a href="https://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/">UK Global Food Security programme</a> and <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en">Horizon 2020</a>, a program of the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/index_en">European Commission</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Banana disease Black Sigatoka boosted by climate change

The fungal disease Black Sigatoka has been ravaging banana groves...

A team of international researchers have successfully quantified the effect of climate extremes on global crop yield variations. They concluded that general extremes, like drought and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-2018-global-heat-wave/">heat waves</a>, that have occurred during the growing season of crops such as maize, rice, and soy, accounted for 20% to 49% of yield fluctuations. More specifically, extremes like hot and cold temperature shifts, and drought to heavy rainfall shifts, accounted for 18% to 43% of prior crop yield variations.

To collect their findings, published in <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</a>, the team used a global, spatial high-resolution agricultural database and datasets pertaining to climate extremes and near-global climate coverage. They then used a machine learning algorithm to estimate which climate scenarios influenced crops the most.

"Interestingly, we found that the most important climate factors for yield anomalies were related to temperature, not precipitation, as one could expect, with the average growing season temperature and temperature extremes playing a dominant role in predicting crop yields," said lead author Dr. Elisabeth Vogel from the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and <a href="http://climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/">Climate &amp; Energy College at the University of Melbourne</a>.

The team also identified global hotspots, which were areas that produced a large portion of global crops yet were most affected by climate extremes. 

"We found that most of these hotspots...appear to be in industrialised crop production regions, such as North America and Europe,” Dr. Vogel continued. 

North American soy and spring wheat production, European spring wheat production, and Asian rice and maize production were the top three hotspots the team identified. Furthermore, the regions located outside of main crop regions can be particularly devastated by climate extreme-caused crop variations.

"In our study, we found that maize yields in Africa showed one of the strongest relationships with growing season climate variability,” Dr. Vogel said. “In fact, it was the second highest explained variance for crop yields of any crop/continent combination, suggesting that it is highly dependent on climate conditions.”

She continued, "While Africa's share of global maize production may be small, the largest part of that production goes to human consumption — compared to just 3% in North America — making it critical for food security in the region."

Dr. Vogel notes that their research is vitally important to understand in order for farmers to adapt their food production process to take changing climate and extremes into account.

She concluded, "Increasing the resilience to climate extremes requires a concerted effort at local, regional and international levels to reduce negative impacts for farmers and communities depending on agriculture for their living."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Massive global crop yield variations explained by climate extremes

A team of international researchers have successfully quantified the effect...

Yams reveal how West Africa played a big role in crop domestication. A new study from the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> has found that yams in West Africa originally descended from a forest species. The findings contradict the theory that domestication of sub-Saharan African plants mostly occurred in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/suppress-fires-backfire-savannas/">tropical savannahs</a>. 

The results of the study also shed new light on the domestication history of West African crops, pinpointing the region surrounding the Niger River as playing a more important role than what was previously realized. 

One of the best-known cradles of domestication in the world is the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. This is where wheat, barley, oat, lentil, and other crops first appeared in archaeological records.


Primarily due to the fact that archaeological studies are fragmented in sub-Saharan Africa, the history of crop domestication here is not as well understood. 

Some studies of domestication in Africa pinpointed a large area from Senegal to Somalia. More recent studies, however, have identified a much more limited domestication origin near the Niger River Basin. 

For the current investigation, a research team led by Nora Scarcelli set out to determine whether areas near the Niger Basin could be considered major hotspots of domestication. The study was focused on the domestication of the yam, a major staple crop that originated in Africa. 

The researchers used genome re-sequencing to analyze 167 wild and domesticated yam species from the country.

Ultimately, the experts discovered that cultivated yam was domesticated from a forest species, D. praehensilis, starting in the Niger River basin. The domestication process involved adaptations to the open field environment and human selection that increased tuber size and starch content in the cultivated yam. 

The research indicates that the contribution of the Niger River region to African agriculture is comparable to that of the Fertile Crescent in the Near East.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Yams reveal how West Africa played a big role in crop domestication

Yams reveal how West Africa played a big role in...

A new study led by researchers at <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a> has pinpointed specific genomic features that likely made it feasible for corn and soybeans to be domesticated. The research is shedding new light on how domestication affects the genetics of a species.

Using extensive data on the genomes of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/corn-domesticated-different-regions/">corn</a> and soybeans, the researchers compared specific sections of genetic material between wild and domestic varieties. They noted where the species had the largest discrepancies. 

“We sliced the genomes into specific sections and compared them,” said Professor Jianming Yu. “It's a fresh angle not many have looked at concerning genome evolution and domestication. We searched for 'macro-changes,' or major genome-wide patterns - and we found them.”


According to Professor Yu, human cultivation created a bottleneck in the genetic material associated with corn and soybeans. As humans selected for certain desirable traits, they limited the genetic variation available in the plant's genome. 

The researchers identified several areas in the genomes where species divergence appeared to be the most prevalent. For example, variation between wild and domesticated species was found to be more pronounced in the areas of the genomes that do not code for proteins. 

Greater variation was also more noticeable in pericentromeric regions, or in areas near the centromere of chromosomes, and in areas of high methylation. The process of methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing its sequence.

While analyzing the occurrence of mutations in the genomes, the team discovered important associations between UV radiation from the sun and genome evolution. Professor Yu explained that UV radiation is a natural mutagen, and it leaves a special footprint when it occurs.

“We now think it's likely that good candidates for domestication, such as corn and soybeans, occupy a middle ground in their willingness to mutate,” said study co-author Professor Xianran Li.

“If there's no mutation, then everything stays the same and we don't have evolution, added Professor Yu. “But too many mutations can wipe out a species.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/">Genome Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Sherry Flint-Garcia (teosinte) and Scott Jackson (Glycine soja)

Genetic material makes some plants better candidates for domestication

A new study led by researchers at Iowa State University...

Wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-help-plants-survive-severe-drought/">tomato plants</a> produce a natural insect repellent that could be bred into garden varieties, creating insect-resistant tomatoes without the use of harmful pesticides.  

Researchers from <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a> discovered that a wild variety of tomato, the Solanum pennellii plant native to the Atacama Desert in Peru, produces a sticky compound in the tips of the trichomes (hairs) of the plant.

The sticky substance on the hairs repels insects and likely evolved as a defense mechanism to ensure future reproduction.

In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/4/eaaw3754)">Science Advances</a>, the researchers analyzed this enzyme compound and the genes responsible for its production.

“We identified a gene that exists in this wild plant, but not in cultivated tomatoes,” said Rob Last, a member of the research team. “The invertase-like enzyme creates insecticidal compounds not found in the garden-variety tomato. This defensive trait could be bred into modern plants.”

The reason garden tomatoes lack this natural insecticide is because it was weeded out by breeders who, to make tomatoes better for consumers, removed undesirable traits like stickiness through the years. 

The researchers hope that by understanding how the repellent compound works, modern breeders could reintroduce the enzyme back into garden tomatoes and create natural insect-resistant plants.

“We want to make our current tomatoes adapt to stress like this wild tomato, but we can only do that by understanding the traits that make them resistant,” said Bryan Leong, a co-lead author of the study. “We are using evolution to teach us how to be better breeders and biologists. For example, how can we increase crop yield by creating a pest-resistant plant and eliminate the need to spray fields with insecticides?”

The researchers used CRISPR gene-editing to analyze the specific genes and pathways responsible for the compound. This lead to the discovery of an enzyme specifically located at the tips of the hairs which allows for the production of insect-repellant compounds.

“It is a race over evolutionary time between the consumed and the consumers,” said Leong. “Insects benefit by eating the plants. Yet, evolution favors plants that make more seeds and pass on their genes to another generation. We hope to take the defensive lessons plants already learned and apply them to existing crops.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tomatoes can be bred with insect-resistant genes instead of pesticides

Wild tomato plants produce a natural insect repellent that could...

Just like <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/baby-birds-leave-nest/">baby birds</a> competing for their mothers to feed them, flowers of the same tree are also clashing for nutrients. A new study from <a href="https://wustl.edu/">Washington University in St. Louis</a> has revealed that this type of competition among seeds contributes to rapid evolution. 

Plant seeds contain tissues that are derived from three distinct sources, including the mother, the embryo, and a triploid tissue that is involved in nutrient transfer from mother to embryo called the endosperm. The researchers discovered that conflict over resources plays a special role in the development of these seed tissues.

PhD candidate Katherine Geist used genomic data from the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, to observe a dispute between the three tissue types over how much resources should be given to the embryo.

“When we think about how parent-offspring conflict might manifest, we have a tendency to think that there has to be two different parties interacting, a mother and baby,” said Geist. While the babies want more for themselves, the mother wants a fair split among her offspring. 

“In a seed, that might not be as obvious,” said Geist. “But there's still all of this stuff going on at a hormonal and cellular signalling level. These are different parties with different genetic interests.”

Geist reviewed previously published genomic data for Arabidopsis that pinpointed the genes specialized for different parts of a parent plant's body, as well as those for its seed tissues. She compared the rates of adaptive evolution in the genes that control growth in different parts of the plants.

Geist found more evidence of adaptive evolution in genes expressed in the tissues that are specifically involved in nutrient transfer. The results support the theory that faster evolution comes not just from enemies like hosts and pathogens, but also from less obvious conflicts within families.

“We see our predicted molecular evolution pattern of rapid adaptation in the regions of the genes that are involved in resource allocation, but not in those that are presumably only involved in storage,” said Geist.

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Competition for nutrients among seeds drives faster plant evolution

Just like baby birds competing for their mothers to feed...

A three-year project designed to analyze grass pollen may help to provide more accurate <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pesticides-bumblebees-buzzing/">pollen</a> forecasts for asthma and hay fever sufferers. The findings from the first year of the study have revealed that pollen that is released by certain species of grass is contributing to increased asthma attacks and intense hay fever.

“I'm a hay fever sufferer myself, and I know that on some days, despite a high pollen forecast, I can be less affected than on other days when the forecast appears to be lower,” said study lead author Professor Simon Creer of <a href="https://www.bangor.ac.uk/">Bangor University</a>. “This led me and others to wonder whether it's the high load of pollen alone that causes the problem, or whether the different grass pollens cause different levels of reaction.”

Currently, pollen counts measure the load of pollen that is present in the air. The pollen created by individual tree and weed species is distinguishable, yet visually identifying different grass pollens has been nearly impossible. 

In the new project, scientists are using a technique called metabarcoding to analyze grass pollens collected over the course of an allergy season. This method enables scientists to automatically identify material caught in a sample of air, water, or soil through its unique DNA “barcode.” As a result, the team can investigate links between certain pollen types and difficult days for allergy and asthma sufferers.

“Bringing a range of specialists together has enabled us to find initial answers,” said Dr. Georgina Brennan. “Our task is now to develop a clearer picture of where the pollen comes from, how it moves through the air and how different types of pollen can be linked to allergies.”

“We are now investigating datasets on hospital admissions and GP prescriptions for certain pharmaceutical products to identify correlations between healthcare data and increases in particular grass pollens,” added Dr. Ben Wheeler of the University of Exeter. “With these new insights into pollen characterization, we are focusing on future implications for pollen warnings and self-care strategies.”


The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature, Ecology, and Evolution</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Grass can trigger allergy and asthma symptoms when pollen count is low

A three-year project designed to analyze grass pollen may help...

Armyworms are problematic pests that can wreak havoc on wheat, corn, and grass fields. Native to North America, armyworms can pop up pretty much anywhere in the US east of the Rocky Mountains, according to the <a href="http://extension.cropsciences.illinois.edu/fieldcrops/insects/armyworm/">University of Illinois. </a>

As with any pest, combating infestations is an ongoing struggle, especially with the risks that certain pesticides can <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hive-bound-bees-pesticides/">pose to ecosystems. </a>

But researchers from the <a href="http://www.ufl.edu/">University of Florida</a> and the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">US Department of Agriculture</a> may have discovered a simple, non-invasive solution to help manage armyworm infestations. 

St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) is the most common species of turfgrass in the southeastern US. Lawns and parks usually consist of just one cultivar of St. Augustinegrass, even though multiple varietals are commercially available. 

In a new study, published in the journal Environmental Entomology, the researchers set out to test out different cultivars and combinations of cultivars to see if there any armyworm resistant varieties of St. Augustinegrass. 

The researchers tested six common cultivars of St. Augustinegrass individually and in different combinations. 

First, groups of caterpillars were fed single cultivars of the common grass. Next, the researchers switched up the varieties every two days, and in another test, caterpillars were given free rein of an enclosure with planted grass containing one, two and four cultivars. 

The researchers recorded survival rate, weight, and development rate of the larvae and took note of which grass cultivars the caterpillars chose when given the option in the enclosures. 

In each of the experiments and enclosures, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plants-turn-caterpillars-cannibals/">armyworms</a> showed a clear preference for the single cultivars and not the combinations. In the enclosure, the larvae ate 52 percent of the grass made up of a single variety. 

“We were most surprised by how clear the effect of cultivar diversity was on fall armyworm host selection and feeding,” said Ethan Doherty, the lead author on the study. “The insects had a consistent preference for the cultivar monoculture plantings, and we saw that the effect of cultivar diversity became increasingly more pronounced as diversity increased from two to four cultivars.” 

The researchers are not sure why the armyworms have such a clear preference for single cultivars, but the results show that planting cultivar combinations could prove an effective deterrent against armyworm infestations. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Russ Ottens, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 US

Grass variety may be the secret to beating armyworm infestations

Armyworms are problematic pests that can wreak havoc on wheat,...

Even when you can’t see them, fungi are all around you. Most plants are host to many different species of fungi, living within and between their cells. These fungi are called endophytes, meaning “inside plant,” and they can form parasitic or symbiotic relationships with their host plant. Most of the time, they live inside the plant without ever producing symptoms.
<h2>Mycorrhizae</h2>
Though mushrooms superficially resemble plants, they do not photosynthesize. Instead, they collect most of their energy from decaying plants. Mycorrhizal fungi have found another way around this problem. These fungi happily share their nutrients with plants in exchange for something they don’t come by so easy: sugar! 

One of the best-known relationships between plants and fungi are mycorrhizae. These networks of mycelium (fungal roots) provide essential nutrients to forests. 

Mycelial threads are much slimmer than plant roots. This increased surface area makes fungi great at absorbing nutrients from the soil. In addition, fungi secrete enzymes to digest plants and animals.

Nitrogen is often a limiting factor in plant growth. This nutrient is essential for making proteins. Though the atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, plants cannot “fix” this gas. Instead, they rely on bacteria or fungi to provide nitrogen to them. Many plants are happy to share some of their energy to <a href="https://www.caseyhofford.com/2018/10/16/fungi-are-friends-not-foes/">take advantage of nitrogen from mycorrhizae</a>.

Over half of all plant rely on mycorrhizae to survive. 90% of known plant species have been observed benefiting from this relationship. 
<h2>Endophytes provide a chemical defense</h2>
Fungi produce many interesting chemicals that provide protection against bacteria or <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plants-evolve-defenses-herbivores/">herbivores</a>. Many endophytes also produce toxins. By producing these secondary metabolites inside of a plant, they provide protection against herbivores.

Natural toxins are often useful to humans. Though they evolved as a defense, they can be a source of medicine. Both traditional and modern medicine lean heavily on natural products. Many modern drugs are based upon compounds found in plants, bacteria, and fungi. Evolution has had a long time to discover uniquely useful compounds. 

A prime example of this is penicillin. This antibiotic was discovered by accident. A fungus, Penicillium, contaminated a petri dish of bacteria. The fungus naturally produced penicillin to fight the bacteria. When <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520913/">Alexander Fleming </a>saw this, he realized its significance for human health. Purified penicillin brought about a revolution in modern medicine.

Endophytic fungi in plants also produce interesting compounds. The anticancer drug Taxol is produced by a fungus in the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18289120">bark of the yew tree</a>. Though this drug is currently expensive and difficult to produce, culturing the fungus may provide a cost-effective solution.

Another endophyte with interesting effects grows within the related <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia/plant/en/ipomea-purpurea/">morning glory</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia/plant/en/argyreia-nervosa/">Hawaiian baby woodrose</a> vines. This fungus produces lysergic acid amide, or LSA as well as other ergoline alkaloids. These chemicals are closely related to the psychedelic drug LSD. Related chemicals are also used as vasoconstrictors to treat migraines.

But not all endophytes are good. Many of the<a href="http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/NaturalHistoryOfFungi/Endophytes.html"> toxins produced by endophytes are toxic to cattle</a>. When these grow in grazing areas they can have huge economic consequences. Because endophytes often show no signs in the plant, this problem is very difficult to combat.

Endophytes produce many <a href="http://plantsciences.montana.edu/facultyorstaff/faculty/strobel/endophytes.html">other interesting compounds</a>. Many of these are valuable to human and animal health.
<h2>Fungi are extremely diverse</h2>
Fungi reside in their own kingdom of life, outside or plants, animals, and bacteria. Their sedentary life leads many to think of them as a type of plant. In reality, they are far more closely related to animals. Animals and fungi are both heterotrophs, meaning they get their energy from other life. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/plant-cells-and-fungus-cells/">cellular structure of fungi </a>also shares characteristics with human cells. However, fungi are extremely diverse and unique.
<h3>How many species of fungi are there?</h3>
It is difficult to say how many species of fungi exist. Though there have only been 120,000 species of fungi identified, scientists estimate that there are <a href="https://www.lanl.gov/museum/news/newsletter/2018/01/fungi.php">millions of unidentified species</a>. 

This question is made particularly difficult by the unique characteristics of fungi. Though we often think of the red and white <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia/plant/en/amanita-muscaria/">Amanita muscaria</a> toadstool as an archetype of fungi, these fruiting bodies are actually quite rare. 

Most of a mushroom’s life is completely hidden. They grow within their “medium”. This can be soil, a dead log or, in the case of endophytes, a living plant. They can cover large areas without being apparent. One of the largest organisms in the world is a fungus, called the humongous fungus. Its mycelial mass <a href="https://www.opb.org/television/programs/ofg/segment/oregon-humongous-fungus/">covers over 3 square miles in Malheur National Forest</a> in Oregon. It may weigh as much as 200 gray whales and be 2,000 - 8,000 years old.

This network of mycelium is the common form of most fungi. Mycelium all looks more or less the same to the naked eye. Though there are differences on the microscopic level, these are difficult to identify.

What we are familiar with is a fruiting body. Toadstools appear in the fall when conditions are favorable for reproduction. They only come above the surface to spread their spores.

These fruiting bodies are the easiest way to determine a fungus’ species. However, many species of fungi only produce microscopic fruiting bodies, called sporangia. These are tiny organs that are difficult to identify. 

Endophytes can be even harder to classify. Many of them don’t reproduce through traditional means. Instead, they are passed between generations of their host plants by growing in the seeds. This is called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/endophyte">vertical transmission</a>. These species may never form spores. This makes it incredibly difficult to define species.

Because it is so difficult to identify a fungal species by morphology, genetic techniques are preferred. However, even with genetics, things are still unclear. There is still uncertainty about what should be called a species. How different the genes should be and even which genes should be compared is debated.
<h2>Why fungi matter</h2>
There is no doubt that fungi are extremely diverse. With millions of unidentified species, there are sure to be many evolutionary treasure troves. Fungi have provided medical marvels such as penicillin. 

Fungi take advantage of many unique niches. Endophytes are a prime example of how fungi are uniquely adaptable. This flexibility and ubiquity make fungi a great source of genetic diversity.

The number of unidentified species represents a huge bank of evolutionary experience for humans to draw upon. As we face <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotic-resistance-supermarket-produce/">widespread antibiotic resistance</a> and new diseases, discovering new sources of drugs is essential. By cataloging and exploring the diversity of fungi we will be more prepared to face new challenges. 

--

By <a href="mailto:casey.hofford@gmail.com">Casey Hofford</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Fungi are everywhere… even when you can’t see them

Even when you can’t see them, fungi are all around...

It has been well documented that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/native-plants-oahu-non-native-birds/">plants</a> can defend themselves against pathogens just like humans, but exactly how they activate this immune response has not been clear. In a new study, researchers at the <a href="https://www.tum.de/en/">Technical University of Munich</a> (TUM) have discovered that receptors in plant cells identify bacteria through simple molecular building blocks.


The international team of experts, led by biochemist Dr. Stefanie Ranf, has identified the substances which activate plant defense. 

“The immune system of plants is more sophisticated than we thought,” said Dr. Ranf.

Prior to this study, scientists believed that plant cells recognize bacteria through complex molecular compounds, such as from the bacterial cell wall. In particular, experts speculated that lipopolysaccharides (LPS) were responsible for initiating an immune response.

Ultimately, the team found that only LPS samples with certain short fatty acid components triggered plant defense. In all of the LPS samples, the researchers found strongly adhesive free fatty acid molecules, which they eventually managed to separate from the LPS.

“When we finally succeeded in producing highly purified LPS, it became apparent that the plant cell did not respond to them at all! Thus, it was clear that the immune response is not triggered by LPS, but instead by these short fatty acids,” said Dr. Ranf.

Compared to the much larger and complex LPS, the 3-hydroxy fatty acids are very simple chemical building blocks. It is possible that these fatty acids could be used in the future to treat plants to increase their resistance to pathogens.

“The strategy of plant cells to identify bacteria through these basic building blocks is extremely sophisticated; the bacteria require these 3-hydroxy fatty acids and therefore cannot bypass the immune response,” concluded Dr. Ranf.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Astrid Eckert / TUM

Plants have sophisticated immune systems to defend themselves

It has been well documented that plants can defend themselves...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">American Association for the Advancement of Science</a> shows that pollinators like <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/uk-bees-declining-populations/">bees</a> and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/orange-butterflies-southern-california/">butterflies</a> promote flower growth whereas harmful herbivores promote the production of offspring via self-pollination.

Pollinators are attracted to bright-colored, nectar-filled flowers, therefore, plants that produce flowers like this enhance their reproductive potential by producing more flowers, thus attracting more pollinators. 

However, bright-colored flowers also attract harmful herbivores like caterpillars. To protect themselves, plants may give off toxins to ward the herbivores off, but this can affect their floral growth and diminish the amount of pollinators they attract. They then must self-pollinate to produce offspring to stay alive.

This switch, showing the extreme evolutionary adaptations plant must undergo in response to pollinator and herbivore interaction, can happen in just a few generations.

Sergio Ramos and Florian Schiestl from the <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/en.html">University of Zurich</a> investigated this rapid adaptation of floral traits, mating, and plant defense in a population of fast-cycling Brassica rapa plants. They split the flower into four separate groups, exposing each one to a varying amount of pollinators and herbivores and allowing the plans to evolve for six generations. 

B. rapa plants exposed to bumblebees alone evolved into larger, more floral versions of themselves. But those exposed to caterpillars were smaller and less flowered. B. rapa plants exposed to both bees and caterpillars evolved to become more adept in self-pollination to produce offspring. And all evolutionary changes occurred within a mere six generations.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pollinators and herbivores have very different effects on flower traits

A new study from the American Association for the Advancement...

The so-called sixth mass extinction may have first caught flame at the end of the last ice age, but it's turned into an inferno in today's warming world. The blame, unlike with previous mass extinctions, lies largely at the feet of one species: us. But how have we done it? From ice-age humans' overhunting of megafauna to today's warming climate, humans have remade the biosphere in an alarming — but fascinatingly — evolving way. 

Number 6?

Five times in prehistory, a mass extinction event decimated Earth's life, with <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeontology/big-five-extinctions">at least 75%</a> of the planet's species disappearing. Many scientists say we've entered the sixth one: the "Holocene mass extinction," named for the current geological epoch (to 11,7000 years ago), which coincides with humanity's rise from hunter-gathering to world dominance.

Evidence comes from <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/269/5222/347">extinction rates</a>, which are now 100 to 1,000 times the normal (or "background') rate of extinction, studies show. 

"The rapidity and global nature of species loss in such a short amount of time does seem to increasingly warrant characterization of a mass extinction," said Jennifer Crees, a biodiversity researcher at the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London</a>. "It is indubitably human-caused."

Not all scientists agree, however. Duke University biologist Stuart Pimm said, "It's a worry, it's beginning to happen, but it hasn't happened yet." 

First spears fired

That debate aside, humans may have been wiping out species for a long time — since the last ice age (Pleistocene) gave way to the Holocene. The disappearance of megafauna repeatedly follows the arrival of humans to bodies of land, particularly islands. Natural climate change likely played a role in those extinctions. But many scientists argue that human hunting killed off the mammoth in North America, the moa in New Zealand and others.

Early humans could cause such extensive losses because people aren't like other predators, said <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> biologist Kate Lyons. First, we don't follow the typical predator-prey cycles, with predator populations falling in response to overhunting.

The human intellect also supercharged our hunting prowess, giving us tools like the spear-hurling atlatl. In Australia, some 20,000 years passed between human's arrival and the megafaunal wipeout. In the Americas, it took just 3,000 years. 

"But humans hadn't developed the atlatl in Australia," Lyons said. "In North and South America, they had."

Transforming the land

Early humans may also have contributed to extinctions by using fire to clear areas for more-accessible plants. The big leap in extinctions, however, came with the transformations of the agricultural revolution, said <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford</a> biologist Paul Erhlich. 

Agriculture converts enormous areas of biodiverse habitat in, for example, the Amazon to grazing areas. Forest and wetlands converted to fields offer <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691371/">poorer resources</a> for wildlife. 

"We're getting more and more areas turned to agriculture, which clobbers biodiversity," Ehrlich said.

Humans have also destroyed species' habitats via urban development, bleaching coral due to CO2 emissions and other means. Overall, our land use could rob 1,700 species of 50% of their habitat over the next half-century, a recent <a href="http://fortune.com/2019/03/06/human-land-use-study/">Yale study</a> found. 

Climate change

Like many other human activities, today's agriculture also pumps out a lot of climate-changing gases. And an altered climate puts even more extinction pressure on Earth's biota.

Species may not be able to tolerate hotter temperatures, Crees said. For example, "rises in temperatures cause bleaching and disease outbreaks in coral reefs," she said. 

Climate change can also shift habitats, turning species' homes into desert or raising sea level around land-based critters. "Species may not be able to move or adapt in time," Crees said.

[caption id="attachment_1871049" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/coral-bleaching.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871049" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/coral-bleaching.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="366" /></a> Coral bleaching[/caption]

Overexploitation

Even as broader human activity transforms climate and habitat, hunting still plays a role in extinction — as just part of modern humanity's overexploitation of nature. 

"Hunting and harvesting of animals and plants for e.g. food, traditional medicine and the pet trade are causing major crashes in populations," Crees said.

Today's trophy hunters may hasten the extinction of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/19/giraffes-endangered-species-conservation-hunting">giraffes</a>, while poachers threaten <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/world/africa/african-elephant-population-dropped-30-percent-in-7-years.html?_r=1">elephants</a>. Modern fishing methods, like trawling, devastate marine populations. 

The pangolin, a mammal prized for both its meat and unusual scales, faces widespread poaching, with <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/pangolins-world-day-most-trafficked-mammal-scales-meat-china-africa-wwf-a8214726.html">300 killed</a> every day.

"I saw a report of intercepting shipments … of tons not of pangolins, but of pangolin scales," Ehrlich said. "We are wiping out what we can."

Spreading fungi, cats and plastic

Beyond the those massive effects, humans have imposed extinction pressures by introducing disease, invasive species and pollution globally. Spread via travel and wildlife trade, for instance, the fungi-caused disease chytridiomycosis has killed off some <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6434/1459">90 amphibian species</a>.

Human-introduced non-native species can outcompete locals, Crees said, and domesticated carnivores, including Fluffy and Fido, severely endanger creatures who evolved without such threats. 

Pollution affects species like the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/27/orca-apocalypse-half-of-killer-whales-doomed-to-die-from-pollution">orca</a>, which faces population collapses due to PCBs. Meanwhile, vast quantities of <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2951256/Study-World-dumps-8-8-million-tons-plastics-oceans.html">plastic</a> endanger <a href="https://archive.fo/20130415201331/http:/www.seaturtles.org/article.php?id=1751">turtles</a> that may ingest our trash.

A tangled web

These varied extinction pressures rarely act in isolation, however, Crees stressed. 

"Species are often driven to extinction by a combination and often-complex interaction between these factors," she said.

In a case Ehrlich studied, pollution and climate came together to put extreme pressures on butterflies.

Nitrogen from automobile traffic changed the food plants available for the butterflies. Meanwhile, climate change altered when remaining food plants were available, so they didn't appear when the butterflies flew. "We had three populations of the butterfly … and all three of them were wiped out."

Globally, insects, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-extinct-century/">as Earth.com reported</a> in February, are vanishing due to similar combinations of agricultural effects and climate change.

The lives we save…

The threat to insects highlights what humanity stands to lose, Ehrlich said. "The other organisms on the planet are our life-support system," he said. "Without them, our crops can't be pollinated. Our water can't be purified."

To address that threat, Ehrlich advises reducing consumption and conserving habitat – which humanity has actually been doing quite well, Pimm said.

"We've massively expanded the areas in the planet that we have protected," he said. "We need to do a lot more … but equally, it's a mistake to think that it's all over."

--

By <a href="mailto:michael.dhar@gmail.com">Michael Dhar</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

How humans hunted, farmed and warmed their way to the 6th mass extinction

The so-called sixth mass extinction may have first caught flame...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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