Climate scientists say rising temperatures can reduce the availability and nutritional quality of dairy grass. Producers then turn to alternative feeds, including corn-based silage, to maintain production.



In a recent investigation, Dr. Matthieu Bouchon, an expert at <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">INRAE</a> - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, studied how these changes in feeding practices influence both <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-heat-makes-dairy-cows-produce-less-milk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">milk</a> yield and the resulting cheese.



Dr. Bouchon was part of a team that analyzed nutritional profiles and taste notes across different feeding setups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-climate-change-affects-cow-feed">How climate change affects cow feed</h2>



Drought is bad news for many pasture-reliant farms. When rains fade, grass doesn’t grow as usual, so farmers scramble to bolster cow diets with stored feeds or more concentrated rations.



Climate impacts force them to get inventive. That often means adding more corn silage to keep <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grazing-animals-have-an-unexpected-role-in-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cows</a> in good shape, but it can lead to a drop in grass-based components that affect milk’s natural composition.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-grass-intake-and-dairy-nutrients">Grass intake and dairy nutrients</h2>



Farmers are keen on maximizing nutrients in milk. The study team discovered a strong tie between higher grass intake and better fatty acid content.



“The results showed that the more grass the cows ate, the richer the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-paves-the-way-for-climate-conscious-farming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">milk</a> and cheese were in omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial to human health,” stated Dr. Bouchon.



Switching to corn-based rations can still yield a decent amount of milk. Yet the subtle nutritional goodies in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16960079/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">grass</a> may slip away if it becomes a minor part of the diet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cow-feed-changes-cheese">Cow feed changes cheese </h2>



Consumers often favor the special shade and softness of artisanal cheese. Grass helps deliver that yellowish tinge and a smoother, melt-in-the-mouth feel.



“Cows fed on grazed grass produced smoother, yellower, more aromatic cheeses, while cows fed little to no grass produce whiter, firmer cheeses with milder flavors,” said Dr. Bouchon.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-distinct-flavors-of-cheese">Distinct flavors of cheese</h2>



Minimizing fresh grass in a herd’s diet can make the final dairy product less appealing. This outcome matters not just for foodies but also for farmers marketing distinctive <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5867552/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cheeses</a>.



Many shoppers pick grass-fed labels expecting distinct flavors. When producers reduce fresh grass in favor of silage or hay, the cheese may lose that familiar aroma.



A cheese that once tasted bold or slightly grassy can end up with a blander profile. Texture often changes too, as the fats and proteins shift under modified feeding patterns.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-practical-worries-for-farmers">Practical worries for farmers</h2>



Dairy farms run on slim profit margins. Any slip in milk yield or cheese appeal can hurt business, but ignoring drought conditions isn’t an option either.



Balancing feed mixes becomes a juggling act. More grass means tastier cheese, but a parched field can’t always supply what's needed, so producers face a hard call.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feed-changes-affect-cow-digestion">Feed changes affect cow digestion</h2>



Each feed ingredient, whether hay or silage, can affect <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-022-00974-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microbiota</a> inside a cow’s rumen. This intricate environment helps break down cellulose and produce nutrients for the cow.



If farmers switch abruptly to corn-based rations, the cow’s digestive system may take time to adjust. Subtle changes in the rumen can ripple through to the milk in surprising ways.



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



Nobody wants a rubbery or flavorless cheese on their plate. Folks who appreciate artisanal dairy should keep an eye on how climate issues and diet adjustments shape their favorite products.



While these shifts might not stand out in mass-produced cheese, small-scale operations often rely on the tastes derived from high-grass diets. Flavor can be a big selling point.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-feeding-strategies-influence-dairy-yield-nbsp">Feeding strategies influence dairy yield&nbsp;</h2>



Herd nutrition is more complicated than many realize. Different cows have varying needs depending on genetics, lactation stage, and climate conditions.



Producers factor in how each feed ingredient influences both milk quantity and milk quality. These trade-offs can make or break the end product’s sensory profile.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-adapting-cow-feed-to-drought-conditions">Adapting cow feed to drought conditions</h2>



Some farmers are testing new grass varieties said to handle hot spells better. Others look at advanced grazing strategies or water conservation tactics to maintain fields during dry months.



At the same time, research teams share data to guide farmers on how best to tweak feed ingredients. The aim is to protect both milk output and that prized cheese taste.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-preserving-dairy-grass">Preserving dairy grass </h2>



Shoppers see words like omega-3 on labels but don’t always know how production methods affect those nutrients. Many prefer products that combine solid nutrition with a pleasing taste, color, and aroma.



Farmers who manage to preserve grass can maintain that balance. Even modest amounts of fresh forage appear helpful to keep cheese palatable and nutritionally robust.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-beyond-the-pasture">Beyond the pasture</h2>



Climate concerns won’t vanish overnight. Researchers are tracking how these feeding adjustments ripple across entire food chains, from soil microbes to final cheese properties.



While not every farm can rely on grass alone, preserving its presence seems vital for those aiming for standout cheese. This is especially true for dairy regions with a cultural heritage tied to lush fields.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dairy-production-amid-climate-change">Dairy production amid climate change</h2>



With each passing year, dryness threatens more farmland. Creative solutions and careful ration decisions may hold the key to maintaining the hallmark traits that grass-based cheeses are known for.



Ongoing research may soon offer farmers new strategies to keep cows healthy while reducing their environmental impact. Whether large or small, dairy producers must continue to adapt to meet these evolving challenges.



The study is published in the <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S002203022500092X" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Dairy Science</a>.



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Popular types of cheese are beginning to taste different due to what cows are eating

Climate scientists say rising temperatures can reduce the availability and nutritional quality of dairy grass. Producers then turn to alternative feeds, including corn-based silage, to maintain production. In a recent investigation, Dr. Matthieu Bouchon, an expert at INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, studied how these changes in feeding practices influence both milk yield and the resulting cheese. Dr. Bouchon was part of a team that analyzed nutritional profiles and taste notes across different feeding setups. How climate change affects cow feed Drought...

A research-industry collaboration has developed an innovative and environmentally friendly method for combating a variety of severe crop diseases using native, beneficial soil bacteria.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-plants-wont-survive-the-loss-of-seed-dispersing-animals/">Plant</a> infections and crop diseases are major agricultural issues that can decimate crop yields, and scientists are working to find sustainable solutions. Streptomyces scabies, a bacterial pathogen that produces potato scab, and Phytophthora infestans, an oomycete disease that causes potato blight, are major potato infections and were significant causes of the Great Famine in Ireland.&nbsp;



The <a href="https://www.jic.ac.uk/">John Innes Centre</a> team extracted and analyzed hundreds of Pseudomonas bacteria strains collected from the soil in a commercial potato field and conducted genome sequencing on 69 of them.



The researchers were able to uncover a crucial mechanism in some of the strains that protected the potato crop from hazardous disease-causing bacteria by comparing the genomes of those demonstrated to decrease pathogen activity with those that did not.



The agri-tech breakthrough aims to provide farmers with a means to lower the expense and reduce the environmental impact of chemical crop disease treatments that are widely used.



“The massive advantage of this approach is that we are using bacterial strains that are taken from the environment and put back in the same specific biological context in larger numbers so there is no ecological damage," said study co-author Dr Jacob Malone.



Using a mix of chemistry, genetics, and plant infection experiments, the researchers demonstrated the creation of tiny molecules known as cyclic lipopeptides, which is vital in the control of potato scab. This particular bacterial disease causes significant losses in potato yields.



The lipopeptides are tiny compounds which have an antibiotic impact on the pathogenic bacteria that cause potato scab, and they aid in the movement and colonization of the plant roots by the protective Pseudomonas bacteria.



The study offers a strategy for screening the microbiome of nearly any crop site, taking into consideration different soil, agronomic, and environmental circumstances.&nbsp;



“By identifying and validating mechanisms of potato pathogen suppression we hope that our study will accelerate the development of biological control agents to reduce the application of chemical treatments which are ecologically damaging." said study first author Dr. Alba Pacheco-Moreno.



“The approach we describe should be applicable to a wide range of plant diseases because it is based on understanding the mechanisms of action that are important for biological control agents."



The technique involves scanning the soil microbiome for therapeutic bacteria to determine which chemicals are being created to suppress pathogenic bacteria by utilizing breakthroughs in high-speed genetic sequencing. This method can also show how these beneficial soil bacteria are affected by agronomic factors such as soil type and irrigation.



According to the study, irrigation induces significant alterations in the genetically varied Pseudomonas population in the soil. The next step for the new approach is to put the beneficial bugs back into the same field in greater numbers or in cocktails of mixed strains as a soil microbiome boosting treatment.



The bacterial combinations could be introduced to the fields as seed coatings, as a spray, or by drip irrigation to improve the microbiome.



“In the future <s>&nbsp;</s>it's not the molecule produced by the bacteria that we would use, it would be the Pseudomonas strain itself," said study co-author Dr. Andrew Truman.



"It offers a more sustainable route - we know these bacteria colonize the soil where potatoes grow, and they provide protection to the crop. Using a bacterium, you can easily grow and formulate it in an appropriate way and apply it to the field, and it is much greener than using a synthetic chemical.”&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</a>.



---



By <a href="http://mailto:ashikha92@gmail.com">Ashikha Raoof</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Soil bacteria can help farmers control crop diseases

A research-industry collaboration has developed an innovative and environmentally friendly...

New research led by the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> has found that a substance in pomegranates called “urolithin A” could be used to create novel anti-aging treatments that strengthen muscles and mitochondrial health and thus protect against frailty in old <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/space-travel-may-cause-premature-aging/">age</a>.



Urolithin A is a by-product of a person’s gut bacteria and a diet rich in polyphenols – substances found in pomegranates, berries, and nuts. Since several factors, including age, diet, genetics, or illness, affect the composition of the gut microbiome, people produce urolithin A at different rates. Now, this substance is also available in pill and powder supplements found in health food stores.



Both in its natural and synthetic form, urolithin A boosts the mitochondria – our cell’s “power stations” – which tend to run down with age, causing muscle weakening and frailty. According to scientists, urolithin A helps the body recycle mitochondria by stimulating a process called mitophagy.



“Mitochondria&nbsp;are like batteries that power the cells in your body,” said study senior author David Marcinek, an expert in the role of mitochondria in human metabolism at the University of Washington.



“But over time, they break down. The process of mitophagy recognizes this failure and proactively tears down the mitochondria, reducing it to elemental components that a cell can reuse. But with aging, mitophagy becomes less efficient and your body accumulates this pool of failing mitochondria. It’s one way that muscles become less functional as we age.”



Professor Marcinek and his colleagues enrolled 66 participants who randomly received either 1,000 mg of an urolithin supplement daily for four months or a placebo. At the beginning of the experiment, they had lower levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a substance produced by mitochondria that helps cell function properly.



The scientists found that the supplement group’s fitness and ATP production improved significantly after the treatment, suggesting that urolithin A may indeed help restore bodily capacities in the elderly.



“Even though we did not observe an effect of the supplement in whole body function,” Professor Marcinek said, “these results are still exciting because they demonstrate that just taking a supplement for a short duration actually improved muscle endurance. Fatigue resistance got better in the absence of exercise.”



“I think these changes suggest that&nbsp;the treatment affects&nbsp;the metabolic condition of people. Even though it didn’t affect the maximum ATP production, it improved test subjects’ general metabolism. Just getting them over that point where exercise is possible – a walk around the block or climbing some stairs – might help a person build their own health,” he concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2788244?utm_source=For_The_Media&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ftm_links&amp;utm_term=012022">JAMA Network Open</a>.



---



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

Pomegranates contain an anti-aging substance

New research led by the University of Washington has found...

Healthy,Food,,Plate,With,Greek,Salad,Of,Mediterranean,Diet,,Tomatoes

A new study shows that adults 65 and older who follow the Mediterranean diet live longer. Interestingly, adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed by analyzing biomarkers in plasma and urine, which is a unique approach.



Professor Cristina Andrés-Lacueva is head of the Research Group on Biomarkers and Nutritional &amp; Food Metabolomics of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the <a href="https://www.ub.edu/web/portal/en/">University of Barcelona</a> (UB) and the CIBER on Fragility and Healthy Ageing (CIBERFES).



According to Professor Andrés-Lacueva, her team developed an index of dietary biomarkers based on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollutants-confuse-pollinators-and-reduce-food-production/">food</a> groups that are part of the Mediterranean diet, and then assessed their association with mortality. Professor Andrés-Lacueva is also head of the research group in Ciber on Fragility and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES).



The research was carried out over 20 years, using data from 642 participants who were 65 years and older and resided in the Tuscany region of Italy.&nbsp;



The scientists looked at the following biomarkers: polyphenols and resveratrol metabolites (from grape consumption), plasma carotenoids, selenium, vitamin B12, fatty acids and the proportion of monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids.&nbsp;



Using a model and a food questionnaire, the scientists were able to ascertain how closely each participant followed a Mediterranean diet. During the course of the twenty-year study, 425 participants died - 139 from cardiovascular disease and 89 from cancer related causes.&nbsp;



When analyzed, the biomarkers associated with a Mediterranean diet were inversely related to all causes of death. This means that the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet can boost longevity.



Tomás Meroño, co-first signatory of the study, said the study confirms that adherence to the Mediterranean diet (assessed by a panel of dietary biomarkers) is inversely associated with the long-term mortality in older adults, which supports the use of these biomarkers in monitoring evaluations to study the health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet.



"A healthy diet is considered one of the fundamental factors to achieve healthy aging," wrote the study authors. "Indeed, a growing body of epidemiological evidence shows that the Mediterranean diet (MD) may delay or prevent frailty, cognitive decline, and the onset of many chronic diseases in older subjects."&nbsp;



"Furthermore, several observational studies, including the European Prospective study into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-elderly study, a cohort of 74,607 men and women aged ≥60 years, have shown inverse associations between a greater adherence to different MD scores (MDS), in both the Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries, and total mortality."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/">BCM Medicine</a>.



---By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mediterranean diet can lead to longer life

A new study shows that adults 65 and older who...

In a recent study from <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a> researchers investigated whether black-eyed peas had lost any of their ability to attract Bradyrhizobium (nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the soil) and establish them inside nodules in the roots. As black-eyed peas are an important crop in many parts of the world, this ability may have been lost during domestication or selective breeding over centuries.&nbsp;



All plants need nitrogen in order to form the proteins needed for growth. If there is not enough nitrogen present, plants will not grow successfully. Although the atmosphere contains around 80 percent nitrogen gas (N2), plants cannot use it in this form. Instead, it has to be “fixed” into the form of ammonia (NH3), nitrate (NO3-) or nitrite (NO2-). It is most often bacteria in the soil that fix nitrogen into these forms, thereby making essential nutrients available for absorption by plant roots.



Legumes, including crop plants such as peas, beans and lucerne, go a step further than this. They attract nitrogen-fixing bacteria by secreting enticing chemicals through their roots. Once bacteria have attached to the root hairs, the plant secretes different substances that the bacteria to enter root hair cells and travel into the main root. Once inside the root, the bacteria cause root cells to divide and form a tumor-like nodule which is where nitrogen-fixing activity can take place. &nbsp;



In the symbiotic relationship that ensues, the legume plants receive a useful, fixed form of nitrogen to use for growth, and the plants provide a supply of carbohydrates to the bacteria, along with a safe place to live.



“The ability of legumes to do this caused them immense success as the third biggest plant family on the planet,” said Joel Sachs, UCR professor of evolution and ecology.&nbsp;



Unfortunately, plant breeders often select intensely for above-ground characteristics of crop plants, such as their yield, disease resistance and protein content, when trying to improve the quality of the plants. They do not focus on the important ability of roots to attract bacteria and enter into a symbiotic relationship with them – something that is essential for the supply of nitrogen to the growing plants.



Study lead author Gabriel Ortiz wanted to find to find out whether modern farming practices had resulted in a loss of symbiotic ability in black-eyed pea plants. In many cases, plants heavily impacted by humans do not benefit as much from relationships with bacteria as their wild relatives do.&nbsp;



The researchers used genome-wide analyses, along with a greenhouse inoculation study, to investigate genomic diversity, heritability, and symbiosis trait variation among 20 different varieties of wild and early-domesticated black-eyed peas.&nbsp;



They found that, although there was evidence that the peas experienced modest decreases in genome diversity during early domestication, they had kept their natural ability to form beneficial symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The experiments even showed that domesticated populations made more root nodules than wild varieties of black-eyed peas.&nbsp;



“In fact, some of the strains in the experiment appear to have gained more benefit from bacteria than their wild ancestors,” Sachs said.



The authors attribute this unexpected result to the fact that black-eyed pea landraces were developed in Africa where the low nutrient conditions would have favored plant genotypes that use symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in an efficient manner. This implies that early breeders inadvertently selected for plants with excellent ability to attract and protect these symbiotic bacteria.&nbsp;



Modern breeders have largely neglected symbiosis traits when selectively breeding black-eyed peas, but future artificial selection for improved plant responses to nitrogen-fixing bacteria could increase plant performance and sustainability.



“We can use this information in the future to design better performing plants,” said Ortiz. He and his team focused on black-eyed peas because they are also drought tolerant, another important trait for Southern California growers.&nbsp;



Furthermore, farmers can use black-eyed pea crops to enrich their soil with nitrogen, rather than having to add inorganic fertilizer. When nitrogen fertilizer is applied it can end up being carried away with rain water and polluting rivers, lakes and oceans, or it can enter the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.



“When the plant senses it is going to die, it releases the bacteria into the soil, replenishing it,” Ortiz explained. “Growers could alternate seasons of legumes with other crops, leaving the soil full of nitrogen-fixing bacteria that reduce the need for fertilizer.”



“To make agriculture more sustainable, one of the things we need to do is focus on the plant’s ability to get services from microbes already in the soil, rather than trying to get those services by dumping chemicals,” Sachs said.&nbsp;



The study is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/evo.14424">published</a> in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15585646">Evolution</a>.



---



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

Black-eyed peas could reduce the need for fertilizer

In a recent study from UC Riverside researchers investigated whether...

Insects don’t have noses and are not able to “smell” the roses in the familiar sense of the word. Instead, most odor molecules are detected by chemoreceptors that occur on an insect’s antennae. Using these chemical receptors, insects are capable of perceiving and differentiating between thousands of&nbsp;airborne compounds. They use these chemical signals to locate forage <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-plants-wont-survive-the-loss-of-seed-dispersing-animals/">plants</a> and mates, as well as to avoid predators.



But now, new research indicates that common air pollutants present in rural and urban environments may be hampering the ability of insects to detect the chemical signals so crucial to their activity as pollinators.&nbsp;



A team of scientists from the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a> has conducted the first study to observe that common air pollutants, including diesel exhaust fumes and ozone, have a negative impact on the success of pollination by insects.&nbsp;



“We knew from our previous lab studies that diesel exhaust can have negative effects on insect pollinators, but the impacts we found in the field were much more dramatic than we had expected," said Dr. Robbie Girling, who led the project.



These previous laboratory studies by members of the Reading team showed that&nbsp;chemicals in <a href="https://www.reading.ac.uk/news-archive/press-releases/pr649662.html">diesel fumes react with and can change the scents of flowers such that the insects cannot locate the flowers. </a>The research suggested that pollution could contribute to the ongoing declines in pollinating insects, by making it harder for them to locate the pollen and nectar that form their food.



In the new study, the researchers aimed to gather evidence showing how air pollution affects different species of pollinating insects, some of which rely on scent more heavily than others.



The study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, used a purpose-built fumigation facility to regulate levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) – present in diesel exhaust fumes – and ozone in an open field environment. They then observed the effects these pollutants had on the pollination of black mustard plants by free-flying, locally-occurring pollinating insects over the course of two summer field seasons.



Although the experiments made use of pollution levels that were way below the maximum acceptable levels considered as safe in the US, the results of the field experiments were dramatic. The researchers observed 62 to 70 percent fewer pollinator visits to the plants located in polluted air. This reduction was seen in seven different groups of pollinators, including bees, moths, hoverflies and butterflies.&nbsp;



There were also 83 to 90 percent fewer visits to flowers by these insects, and ultimately a 14 to 31 percent reduction in pollination success, based on the measurement of seed yield and other factors.



“The findings are worrying because these pollutants are commonly found in the air many of us breathe every day," said Dr. James Ryalls. "We know that these pollutants are bad for our health, and the significant reductions we saw in pollinator numbers and activity shows that there are also clear implications for the natural ecosystems we depend on.”



Insects are important pollinators of crops upon which we depend for food and so a reduction in pollinating activity could have far-reaching economic and social consequences. Around 70 percent of crop species rely on insects for pollination; these include apples, strawberries and cocoa.&nbsp;



In addition, pollination supports around eight percent of the total value of agricultural food production, worldwide. The pollinating activity of insects thus generates hundreds of billions of pounds worth of economic value each year.&nbsp;



Furthermore, far higher levels of air pollutants are found in many areas around the world where people and businesses breach the regulations. For example, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/air-pollution-england-defra-labour-who-nitrogen-dioxide-luke-pollard-b404484.html?r=55147">2019 analysis</a> recorded illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide present in local authorities, in large areas of northern England (including Cheshire and Gateshead), and in southern England (including Wiltshire, Chichester and rural areas such as the New Forest).



“This truly cross-disciplinary work demonstrated very clearly how atmospheric pollutants negatively impact on pollination with direct consequences for food production as well as the resilience of our natural environment," concluded study co-author Dr. Christian Pfrang.



Their results are published today in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118847">&nbsp;journal&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environmental-pollution">Environmental Pollution</a>.



---



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

Air pollutants confuse pollinators and reduce food production

Insects don’t have noses and are not able to “smell”...

The story goes that, in 1820, a farmworker in the fields around Debenham in Suffolk, spotted a spectacular ear of barley. John Andrews picked the ear and planted the seeds at home in his <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-gardens-provide-a-reliable-food-supply-for-pollinators/">garden</a>. When his landlord, Charles Chevalier, saw the remarkable barley that grew from these seeds, he was impressed and wished to grow more of it. He harvested it and began to propagate more plants, calling the new variety “Chevalier.”



At the time, barley was very important in the malting process used in the brewing of beer and very soon the new variety was being grown widely. In fact, by the end of the 19th century more than 80% of all malting barley in England was of the Chevalier type. The properties of this variety were considered so superior that the name Chevalier became synonymous with malting barley.&nbsp;



The variety became popular around the world, including in Sweden, where it was cultivated and improved, using breeding techniques, during the second half of the 19th century.&nbsp; Today, Chevalier is part of the lineage of many modern malting barley varieties and beer brewers have begun to consider returning to the use of this type, as well as other classic varieties of barley.



This has led Swedish researchers from the universities of Linköping and Stockholm to investigate whether the Chevalier variety of barley did indeed originate from a single plant, as described anecdotally. They wished to clarify how this cultivar was spread and adopted to Nordic seed systems of the time, and used molecular genetic analysis to establish whether the early Chevalier variety was used for selective breeding purposes to produce today’s varieties of malting barley.



“When we started this study, we were primarily curious about whether Chevalier barley had been discovered and used in the same way as today’s modern varieties, with a genetic signature unique to Chevalier, and where the name is a sort of brand name for a certain kind of product,” said Jenny Hagenblad, associate professor of population genetics at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM) at Linköping University.



The researchers tested seeds from two different sources. Firstly, seeds were obtained from museum specimens of historical grains labeled “Chevalier.” These samples had been collected and stored at various times during the 19th century, with the oldest sample dating from 1865. Secondly, the researchers used seeds from current Chevalier accessions preserved in genebanks. In total, 282 individual seeds, representing 47 accessions, were used in the study.&nbsp;



Genetic analysis of the seeds revealed that many of them did indeed belong to a specific variety – Chevalier, and that this variety had been bred and kept pure for its superior malting qualities. From the very beginning, Chevalier was considered a premium malting barley and sold at higher prices than other cultivars. Farmers may have gone to great lengths to keep this cultivar pure, long before they knew the details of Mendelian inheritance or genes. In the light of these samples of pure Chevalier seeds, researchers were tempted to think it possible that a single plant may have given rise to all successive generations of this type of barley.&nbsp;



However, not all the sample jars marked “Chevalier” contained true Chevalier barley seeds.&nbsp;



Some of the samples contained unimproved landrace barley, representing the varieties that were present in Nordic countries before the introduction of the Chevalier cultivar. Other samples contained mixtures of Chevalier and landrace seeds, while a few samples also had seeds that were, hybrids (crosses) between Chevalier and other varieties.&nbsp;



From these results it was clear that the designation “Chevalier” was applied rather loosely in the 19th century. The seed mixtures indicated that, after the Chevalier variety was brought to Sweden, local farmers mixed it – deliberately or accidentally –with seeds from local landraces.&nbsp;



Although barley is usually self-fertilizing, there is a small incidence (2%) of cross-fertilization. This can lead to the development of a hybrid variety which would then have characteristics of both the Chevalier parent and the local landrace parent. The result would be a Chevalier-type malting barley that was also adapted to local environmental conditions. Not only did this generate new diversity from which farmers could obtain their future seeds, but hybrids often give increased yield as well.



According to the authors of the study, their findings indicate that farmers were practicing plant improvement methods long before there was an understanding of genetics. The processes used during the 1800s by farmers in Sweden were not very different from the plant improvement methods developed in the early 20th century, when genotypes superior in yield or quality were combined with locally adapted material to create the first modern cultivars.



“We can see signs of how people, long before the development of modern plant breeding, were already unwittingly using the very methods that became the foundation for the revolution in Swedish farming during the early 20th century,” said study co-author Matti Leino, a researcher in crop history at Stockholm University.



The results of the study have been published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14350653">Crop Science</a>.



---



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

Barley was bred for exceptional qualities in the 19th century

The story goes that, in 1820, a farmworker in the...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> has taken a closer look at the ultraviolet "bullseye" patterns found on sunflowers. The ultraviolet (UV) <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dragonfly-wing-colors-driven-by-climate-and-sexual-selection/">colors</a> are invisible to humans, yet clearly visible to many insects.&nbsp;



The bullseye patterns were already known to make the flowers more attractive to bees, but scientists have now discovered that they do much more. The researchers found that chemicals in the UV markers also help the plants respond to stress from drought and extreme temperatures.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Unexpectedly, we noticed that sunflowers growing in drier climates had flowers with larger UV bullseyes, and found that those flowers are able to retain water more efficiently. This suggests that these larger UV bullseyes help plants adapt to these drier environments,” said study lead author Dr. Marco Todesco, a research associate in the UBC Department of Botany.



Dr. Todesco and colleagues grew nearly 2,000 individual sunflowers of two different species in a lab in 2016 and 2019. Measuring the UV patterns and examining the genome of the plants, the researchers found that sunflowers growing in different regions of North America had differently sized bullseye patterns. Bees were better able to see the larger bullseyes.&nbsp;



The experts also found that the same gene that controlled the bullseye pattern was used in the production of UV-absorbant flavonoids, which help the plants survive stresses from things like drought and high temperatures.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Floral UV patterns appear therefore to play at least a dual role in adaptation; besides their well-known effect on enhancing pollination, they also regulate water loss from flowers,” said study senior author Dr. Loren Rieseberg. “That’s not something you would necessarily expect a flower color to do, and it exemplifies the complexity and efficiency of adaptation - solving two problems with a single trait.”



The scientists feel more research into this adaptation could help improve the resilience of sunflower crops in the future.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://elifesciences.org/">eLife</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

"Invisible" colors in sunflowers do more than just attract bees

A new study from the University of British Columbia has...

When plants grow, their stems, roots and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/caterpillars-spotted-for-the-first-time-on-alpine-rose-leaves/">leaves</a> increase in size and abundance in a coordinated manner. The changes in one type of organ keep pace with the changes in the other types. Dividing cells need to communicate with one another in order to achieve this, and previous research has identified that plants package important messages into molecules of RNA, which are sent from cell to cell.&nbsp;



New research, published today in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/">Science</a>, adds to this understanding by identifying a special protein in the cells of plants that acts as an escort and helps the RNA molecules to travel to where they are needed.&nbsp;



By studying the mustard-like plant&nbsp;Arabidopsis thaliana, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cshl.edu/research/faculty-staff/david-jackson/">David Jackson</a>&nbsp;and his team found that without this escort protein, known as AtRRP44a, the plant cells cannot communicate or coordinate the growth of the plant.&nbsp;



While all animal and plant cells are surrounded by a membrane, plant cells alone have an additional wall around each cell. Chemical messages can cross this cell wall through tiny holes called plasmodesmata.&nbsp;



Munenori Kitagawa is a postdoc in the Jackson lab who led the study. He explained that plasmodesmata are nanochannels embedded in the cell wall. "They mediate [the transport of various signals] from cell to cell, including protein, RNA, hormones, ions, and nutrients.”



Kitagawa investigated exactly how plasmodesmata regulate the movement of chemical messages from one cell to the next. He and his colleagues discovered that the protein AtRRP44a is involved in the transport of RNA molecules through the nanochannels in the cell wall. Decreasing the amount of AtRRP44a available slowed down the movement of RNA messages between cells and, because they then lacked the right messages, the plants failed to develop properly.&nbsp;



A protein similar to this escort protein is present in other plants, yeasts, and animals. The researchers were able to swap out part of the&nbsp;Arabidopsis thaliana&nbsp;signaling system and replace it with a part from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cshl.edu/corn-2-0/">corn</a>;&nbsp;this restored normal development, showing that many kinds of plants share this signaling system.&nbsp;



“Plants are very sophisticated," said Jackson. "We think of them just sitting in their environment, not moving, but really they’re processing a lot of information. The different parts of the plant are talking to each other, sharing whether they have some pathogen attack or if they need some nutrients.”



“This paper represents an important step towards understanding how information is exchanged between cells to control development and other processes,” said John McDowell, a program officer in the&nbsp;<a href="https://nsf.gov/">U.S. National Science Foundation</a>’s Directorate for Biological Sciences. “By revealing a new component of cell-to-cell communication, this research opens the door for further investigation that could allow us to harness this process.”



---



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

Plant cells message each other using RNA and escort proteins

When plants grow, their stems, roots and leaves increase in...

In the past, when climates changed, forests became distributed more to the north or to the south of their previous locations. This is not to say that the trees, themselves, moved. Rather, the ranges of the tree species changed. For example, fossil plant and pollen records show that the ranges of tree species shifted northward at a rate of 50km per century as the climate warmed after the retreat of the North American ice cap.&nbsp;



Tree range migration is facilitated by the movement of seeds. When the climate changes, trees begin to form more seeds; these get spread around by dispersal agents and may germinate in areas that are more favorable for growth. Although wind and water may carry some seeds, the vast majority of trees depend on animals to disperse them to new areas. But now, many of these seed-dispersing animals are themselves threatened, as climate changes and habitats are lost.



In&nbsp;<a href="http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk3510?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D84587913426847399401258317155412422308%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1641994662">a study</a>&nbsp;featured on the cover of this week’s issue of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.science.org/">Science</a>, U.S. and Danish researchers consider how the loss of species of birds and animals will impact the ability of plants to adapt to human-induced climate change in future. While animals can often fly, walk, run or swim to more suitable areas, trees cannot escape the heat. Tree species that need to move their offspring away from warmer temperatures will only be able to do so via the activities of seed-dispersal agents, such as mammals and birds.&nbsp;



“Some plants live hundreds of years, and their only chance to move is during the short period when they're a seed moving across the landscape,” said <a href="https://www.rice.edu/">Rice University</a> ecologist&nbsp;<a href="https://www.evanfricke.com/">Evan Fricke</a>, the study's first author. “If there are no animals available to eat their fruits or carry away their nuts, animal-dispersed plants aren’t moving very far."



In collaboration with researchers from the University of Maryland, Iowa State University and Aarhus University, the Rice team used machine learning and data from thousands of field studies to map the contributions of seed-dispersing birds and mammals worldwide. They compared maps of seed dispersal today with maps showing what dispersal would look like if there were no human-caused extinctions or species range restrictions.



The experts also used data synthesized from field studies around the world to train a machine-learning model for seed dispersal, and then used the trained model to estimate the loss of climate-tracking dispersal caused by animal declines.



Fricke explained that developing estimates of seed-dispersal losses due to animal and bird extinctions or changes in their ranges required two significant technical advances: “First, we needed a way to predict seed-dispersal interactions occurring between plants and animals at any location around the world."



For this, they used data on species interactions from over 400 field studies that detailed how many seeds are dispersed by particular species of birds and mammals, how far they are dispersed and how well those seeds germinate. Based on this data, the researchers could predict interactions between plants and seed dispersers.



“Second, we needed to model how each plant-animal interaction actually affected seed dispersal,” said Fricke. “For example, when an animal eats a fruit, it might destroy the seeds or it might disperse them a few meters away or several kilometers away.”



The results of the study showed that many seed-dispersing mammals and birds have already been lost, particularly in temperate regions across North America, Europe, South America and Australia. In addition, if currently endangered species go extinct, tropical regions in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia would be severely affected.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We found regions where climate-tracking seed dispersal declined by 95%, even though they’d lost only a few percent of their mammal and bird species,” said Fricke.&nbsp;



The findings showed that the ability of animal-dispersed plants to keep pace with climate change has been reduced by 60% due to the loss of mammals and birds that help such plants adapt to environmental change.&nbsp;



“In addition to the wake-up call that declines in animal species have vastly limited the ability of plants to adapt to climate change, this study beautifully demonstrates the power of complex analyses applied to huge, publicly available data,” said Doug Levey, program director of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Biological Sciences, which partially funded the work.



Fricke explained that the study is the first to quantify the scale of the seed-dispersal problem globally and to identify the regions most affected. He emphasized that declines in the populations of seed dispersers highlight an important intersection between the climate and biodiversity crises impacting natural environments today.



“Biodiversity of seed-dispersing animals is key for the climate resilience of plants, which includes their ability to continue storing carbon and feeding people,” he said, adding that restoration of ecosystem connections in natural habitats could counteract some declines in seed dispersal, but not all of them. People also rely, both economically and ecologically, on seed-dispersing birds and mammals to ensure the supply of important resources.&nbsp;



“Large mammals and birds are particularly important as long-distance seed dispersers and have been widely lost from natural ecosystems,” said Svenning, the study’s senior author. “The research highlights the need to restore faunas to ensure effective dispersal in the face of rapid climate change.”&nbsp;



“When we lose mammals and birds from ecosystems, we don’t just lose species. Extinction and habitat loss damage complex ecological networks," said Fricke. "This study shows animal declines can disrupt ecological networks in ways that threaten the climate resilience of entire ecosystems that people rely upon.”



---



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

Some plants won't survive the loss of seed-dispersing animals

In the past, when climates changed, forests became distributed more...

Replacing butter, mayonnaise and dairy fat with olive oil on a regular basis can literally save your life, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.acc.org/">American College of Cardiology</a>. The experts report that consuming more than half a tablespoon of olive oil per day is associated with a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meat-eating-animals-are-more-susceptible-to-cancer/">cancer</a>, neurodegenerative disease, or respiratory disease.



Study lead author Dr. Marta Guasch-Ferré is a senior research scientist at the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.&nbsp;



“Our findings support current dietary recommendations to increase the intake of olive oil and other unsaturated vegetable oils,” said Dr. Guasch-Ferré&nbsp;



“Clinicians should be counseling patients to replace certain fats, such as margarine and butter, with olive oil to improve their health. Our study helps make more specific recommendations that will be easier for patients to understand and hopefully implement into their diets.”



Based on data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the researchers analyzed the dietary habits and health outcomes of 60,582 women and 31,801 men. At the beginning of the study period in 1990, the participants were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer. 



Based on 28 years of follow-up, the researchers compared individuals who regularly consumed olive oil to those who rarely or never consumed olive oil. The study revealed that participants in the highest consumption category, had a lower risk of cardiovascular mortality by 19 percent and a lower risk of cancer mortality by 17 percent. These individuals also had a 29-percent lower risk of neurodegenerative mortality and an 18-percent lower risk of respiratory mortality. 



According to the study, substituting 10 grams of olive oil (daily) for other fats such as margarine, butter, and mayonnaise lowers the risk of mortality from all causes by up to 34 percent.



“It’s possible that higher olive oil consumption is a marker of an overall healthier diet and higher socioeconomic status. However, even after adjusting for these and other social economic status factors, our results remained largely the same,” said Dr. Guasch-Ferré.&nbsp;



“Our study cohort was predominantly a non-Hispanic white population of health professionals, which should minimize potentially confounding socioeconomic factors, but may limit generalizability as this population may be more likely to lead a healthy lifestyle.”



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.jacc.org/">Journal of the American College of Cardiology</a>.



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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

Regular olive oil consumption can literally save your life

Replacing butter, mayonnaise and dairy fat with olive oil on...

Ecological interactions are often not simple or straightforward in nature. Instead, they commonly represent trade-offs between different processes so that the best compromise is reached in the end.&nbsp;This is exactly what scientists from the <a href="https://www.ice.mpg.de/">Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology</a> found when they investigated the choices made by female tobacco hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) when laying their eggs. 



The hawkmoths did not always make the obvious choice when placing their eggs on the leaves of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-plants-cause-a-global-loss-of-floristic-uniqueness/">plants</a> that would provide food for the larvae, once they hatched. Previous research had shown that tobacco hawkmoths avoid laying their eggs on plants where they smell the feces of other hawkmoths. “This is apparently their way of avoiding food competition. Therefore, we wondered whether the moths also avoid plants infested by other herbivorous insects,” explained study first author Jin Zhang.



In the lab, the researchers gave female hawkmoths a choice between laying their eggs on sacred Datura plants (Datura wrightii) that were infested with three-lined potato beetles (Lema daturaphila) or Datura plants that had no potato beetles. Both adult and larval potato beetles feed on the leaves of this plant, and the researchers hypothesized that the hawkmoths would avoid plants where potato beetles were present in order to ensure the maximum supply of food for their offspring.&nbsp;



But the hawkmoth females surprised the researchers by laying their eggs, preferentially, on the leaves of Datura plants that already hosted numerous potato beetles.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“To be honest, we were a little frustrated at first because we had expected the experiments to confirm our initial hypothesis, namely that egg-laying tobacco hawkmoths avoid food competitors,” explained study leader Markus Knaden.



“In our case, however, the unexpected observation suddenly made sense when we realized that beetle-infested plants smell quite differently and that parasitoid wasps, which often use plant odors to find their host insects, are less efficient at detecting tobacco hornworms on beetle-infested plants."



Tobacco hornworms, the larvae or caterpillars of tobacco hawkmoths, are heavily parasitized by the wasp&nbsp;Cotesia congregate, which lays its eggs in the caterpillars. Up to 90 percent of these caterpillars are parasitized by wasps and die shortly after the wasp larva hatches. Female hawkmoths therefore need to consider not only the available food supply for their larvae, but also their potential exposure to this parasitic wasp species.



The experts analyzed the odor given off by Datura&nbsp;plants when they carry an infestation of three-lined potato beetles compared to the odor emitted when there is no infestation. They found that infested plants produce more alpha-copaene in the in their odor when the beetles and their larvae are present. Interestingly, these three-lined potato beetles coat themselves with their own feces, possibly as a means of deterring would-be predators and parasites.&nbsp;



The research team then tried to establish how exactly the tobacco hawkmoth females detect the presence of the molecular substance alpha-copaene. Of the 70 potential chemical receptors present in the hawkmoths, the researchers identified a single one, Or35, as the odorant receptor activated by alpha-copaene. They suggest that this receptor is probably involved in the moth’s choice of where to deposit its eggs.



Next, the experts tested the choices made by the wasps (Cotesia congregate) that parasitize tobacco hawkmoth caterpillars. They found that the wasps preferred the odor of plants on which tobacco hornworms were feeding, but they also avoided the odor of plants that were infested with potato beetles. These results were confirmed by assays in an experimental tent containing&nbsp;Datura&nbsp;plants infested by tobacco hawkmoths only, or by tobacco hawkmoths and potato beetles together. Wasps also avoided plants with beetles in this setting.



The findings indicate that female tobacco hawkmoths, when choosing where to lay their eggs, weigh up the benefit for their larvae of having no food competition against the disadvantage of being parasitized by the wasps. Although tobacco hornworms develop more slowly on plants that are additionally infested by beetles, the mother moths accept this disadvantage when laying their eggs. The advantage of protecting their offspring from parasitic wasps must therefore outweigh the disadvantage of food competition. Such cost-benefit trade-offs play a significant role in many ecological interactions.&nbsp;



“Our results show that in nature, simple explanations are often not sufficient. Tobacco hawkmoths do not only have to take into account whether a plant is a good food substrate for their offspring, but also whether potential competitors are already present, and whether the presence of these competitors could even help to hide [their offspring] from predators,” concluded study co-author Bill Hansson.



The researchers will focus future studies on the reasons why&nbsp;Datura&nbsp;plants emit different odors depending on the insects that feed on them. They plan to use interdisciplinary approaches that also consider, for example, the role of microorganisms in these complex interactions, and hope to uncover further exciting aspects of the multifaceted interactions between living organisms.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.



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

Complex factors determine where hawkmoths lay their eggs

Ecological interactions are often not simple or straightforward in nature....

Australia has not always been a land with desert and dry, scrubby vegetation at is center. In fact, at the start of the Miocene (23 million years ago), after the continent had broken away from South America and Antarctica and was drifting slowly northwards, it was covered with verdant rainforest. The Miocene was a time of enormous richness and biodiversity in Australia, equal to that found today in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-in-the-amazon-rainforest-hits-new-records/">rainforests</a> of Borneo and the Amazon.



The animals and plants from this time are not well represented from fossil deposits in Australia, but a new fossil site known as McGrath’s Flat has now changed all that. Located in the Central Tablelands in New South Wales near the town of Gulgong, the site contains superb examples of fossilized animals and plants from the Miocene epoch.&nbsp;



A team of Australian and international scientists led by <a href="https://australian.museum/?gclid=CjwKCAiA5t-OBhByEiwAhR-hm-DYGQOrxIK6Sf_SBPKyImc0zY1JAOMKiyjyxw7dcw7fj3o6noNDjxoCouwQAvD_BwE">Australian Museum </a>(AM) and University of New South Wales paleontologist Dr. Matthew McCurry, and Dr. Michael Frese of the University of Canberra have been excavating fossils from the site in secret during the past three years. The experts have discovered thousands of fossilized specimens, including rainforest plants, insects, spiders, fish and a bird’s feather.



Dr. McCurry said the fossils formed between 11 and 16 million years ago and are important for understanding the history of the Australian continent.&nbsp;



“The fossils we have found prove that the area was once a temperate, mesic rainforest and that life was rich and abundant here in the Central Tablelands, NSW,” McCurry said.



“Many of the fossils that we are finding are new to science and include trapdoor spiders, giant cicadas, wasps and a variety of fish,” McCurry said.



“Until now it has been difficult to tell what these ancient ecosystems were like, but the level of preservation at this new fossil site means that even small, fragile organisms like insects turned into well-preserved fossils,” McCurry said.



The exceptional level of preservation from the site has led to its being termed a&nbsp;‘<a href="https://australian.museum/learn/australia-over-time/fossils/how-do-fossils-form/">Lagerstätte’</a>, a term used to denote a sedimentary site that exhibits extraordinary fossils with detailed preservation. The fossils were formed in a type of iron-rich rock called goethite, which is not usually a source of exceptional fossils.&nbsp;



“We think that the process that turned these organisms into fossils is key to why they are so well preserved,” explains McCurry. “Our analyses suggest that the fossils formed when iron-rich groundwaters drained into a billabong, and that a precipitation of iron minerals encased organisms that were living in, or fell into, the water.”



Associate Professor Michael Frese, who imaged the fossils using stacking microphotography and a scanning electron microscope (SEM), said that the fossils from McGrath’s Flat show an incredibly detailed preservation.&nbsp;



“Using electron microscopy, I can image individual cells of plants and animals and sometimes even very small subcellular structures,” Frese said.



“The discovery of melanosomes (subcellular organelles that store the melanin pigment) allows us to reconstruct the color pattern of birds and fishes that once lived at McGrath’s Flat. Interestingly, the color itself is not preserved, but by comparing the size, shape and stacking pattern of the melanosomes in our fossils with melanosomes in extant specimens, we can often reconstruct color and/or color patterns,” Frese explained.



“The fossils also preserve evidence of interactions between species. For instance, we have fish stomach contents preserved in the fish, meaning that we can figure out what they were eating. We have also found examples of pollen preserved on the bodies of insects so we can tell which species were pollinating which plants,” Frese added.



Dr. McCurry said that the fossilized plants and animals are similar to those found in rainforests of northern Australia, but that there were signs that the ecosystem at McGrath’s Flat was beginning to become more arid.



Around 14 million years ago a sudden change in climate known as the “Middle Miocene Disruption” caused widespread extinctions of Australian fauna and flora. Subsequently, throughout the latter half of the Miocene, Australia gradually became more and more arid, and rainforests turned into the dry shrublands and deserts that now characterize the landscape.



“The pollen we found in the sediment [at McGrath’s Flat] suggests that there might have been drier habitats surrounding the wetter rainforest, indicating a change to drier conditions,” McCurry said.



Professor&nbsp;David Cantrill, Executive Director, Science, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Victoria said that the variety of fossils preserved, together with an extraordinary fidelity of preservation, allows for unprecedented insights into an important time in Australia’s past, a time when mesic ecosystems still dominated the continent.



“The McGrath’s Flat plant fossils give us a window into the vegetation and ecosystems of a warmer world, one that we are likely to experience in the future. The preservation of the plant fossils is unique and provides important insights into a time period for which the fossil record in Australia is rather poor,” Cantrill said.



Australian Museum Chief Scientist and director of the AM’s Research Institute, Professor Kristofer Helgen said that the fossil site brings to life a picture of outback Australia that we can now barely believe existed.



“Australia is a unique continent biologically, and this site is extremely valuable in what it tells us about the evolutionary history of this part of the world. It provides further evidence of changing climates and helps fill the gaps in our knowledge of that time and region,” Helgen said.



The results of the paleontological investigation by the Australian scientists is published today in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.



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

Fossil site in Australia indicates abundant life during the Miocene

Australia has not always been a land with desert and...

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



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



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



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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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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?

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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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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 



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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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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



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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



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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



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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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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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