Walk through a Mediterranean mountain meadow, and you're likely to spot a patch of Sideritis - a hardy, aromatic plant that has long been used for making Greek mountain tea. For centuries, this herb has been prized by locals for its healing properties; it is believed to soothe everything from colds to stomach issues.



But in recent decades, something has been shifting quietly in these high-altitude ecosystems. The grassy slopes where Sideritis once thrived are being taken over slowly by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shrubs-play-a-dual-role-in-forest-recovery-following-wildfires/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shrubs</a> and trees. This transformation is not just about aesthetics. It's a sign of how climate change and land use are altering the very makeup of mountain biodiversity.



Researchers from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center, the National Observatory of Athens, and the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Copenhagen</a> have been studying the genetic consequences of these changes, with a focus on Sideritis. Their findings are unsettling.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plants-are-losing-genetic-diversity">Plants are losing genetic diversity</h2>



Mountain regions are known for their rich biodiversity - they support countless unique and specialized species. However, over the past 50 years, many of these habitats have seen changes. 



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/single-degree-temperature-warming-boreal-forests-wreak-havoc/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Warmer temperatures</a> and reduced grazing have triggered what's known as "mountain greening" - a steady spread of woody plants into areas that were formerly open grasslands.



Sideritis is among the species feeling the pressure. Once common across the Mediterranean's montane grasslands, it now faces a shrinking habitat. But it's not just the plant’s numbers that are declining. It’s losing genetic diversity as well, which may compromise its natural resilience to stress and change.



“We examined populations in 11 Greek mountain ranges and combined satellite data from several decades with genetic analyses of herbarium specimens from the 1970s and present-day plant samples,” explained study leader Spyros Theodoridis.



The team’s approach was unusual: they paired old herbarium specimens with modern genetic testing and decades of satellite imagery. This allowed them to see how Sideritis populations had changed genetically over time and how those changes tracked with the increase in denser vegetation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-toll-of-inbreeding-and-isolation">The toll of inbreeding and isolation</h2>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"></blockquote>



“The results show that in eight of the 11 mountain regions we studied, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-trees-protect-their-genetic-diversity-for-millions-of-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">genetic diversity</a> declined significantly during this period. In particularly affected regions, up to 20 percent of the genome of individual plants is now subject to inbreeding – an indication of declining population sizes,” explained Theodoridis.



The numbers point to a worrying trend. As woody plants crowd out the open spaces, Sideritis populations become smaller and more isolated. This leads to inbreeding, which weakens the species’ ability to handle diseases, droughts, and other stresses.



“The speed at which shrubs and trees are spreading in previously open grasslands can be directly linked to the decline in genetic diversity in Sideritis populations,” noted study co-author David Nogués-Bravo. 



“The genetic diversity of a species is crucial for its ability to adapt to environmental changes. If this diversity dwindles, resistance to disease, drought, or other stress factors decreases, which can lead to extinction in the long term.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-watching-plant-changes-from-space">Watching plant changes from space</h2>



One of the most impressive parts of the study is how it links satellite technology with genetics. For years, scientists believed it was impossible to track genetic diversity using remote sensing. This study proves otherwise.



“This combination opens up new possibilities for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-monitoring-method-may-help-prevent-biodiversity-loss/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">biodiversity monitoring</a>,” emphasized Theodoridis. “It allows us to use satellite images to identify indications of genetic changes in mountain ecosystems without having to genetically examine each individual population on site.”



This method could make it easier to monitor hard-to-reach mountain regions or areas where on-the-ground data is limited.



“However, our results show that the extent of genetic erosion can be predicted with surprisingly high accuracy, based solely on the increase in vegetation density,” said study co-author Thomas Hickler.



“This renders our method particularly attractive for use in mountainous regions that are difficult to access or in areas where genetic monitoring has hardly been possible to date.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-historical-specimens-hold-the-genetic-key">Historical specimens hold the genetic key</h2>



This research was made possible, in part, by historical plant specimens that have been stored in herbaria - archives of pressed and preserved plants.



“Without the historical plant specimens in herbaria, the direct comparison over a period of 50 years would not have been possible,” explained co-author Marco Thines. “These archives of nature are invaluable for biodiversity research.”



These old samples provided a genetic snapshot of the past, which was essential for comparing with modern populations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-threats-to-the-genetic-diversity-of-plants">Threats to the genetic diversity of plants </h2>



This isn’t just a local problem. Mountain <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/2020-was-earths-greenest-year-in-two-decades/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">greening</a> is happening all over the world, as climate warms and traditional land-use practices decline. 



You can see the shift clearly in satellite images - meadows turn darker as shrubs and trees move in. That’s why the researchers believe that now is the time to act.



“There is an urgent need for comparable studies with other species and in other regions,” concluded Theodoridis. “This will allow us to gain a comprehensive picture of how environmental changes are affecting the genetic basis of biodiversity - and how we can effectively counter this development.”



Protecting plants like Sideritis means protecting more than just a tea ingredient. It means defending the integrity and resilience of entire ecosystems - before they vanish under a wave of greenery.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="http://ell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00436-1?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982225004361%3Fshowall%3Dtrue">Current Biology</a>.



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Mountain greening threatens genetic diversity of iconic plants

Walk through a Mediterranean mountain meadow, and you're likely to spot a patch of Sideritis - a hardy, aromatic plant that has long been used for making Greek mountain tea. For centuries, this herb has been prized by locals for its healing properties; it is believed to soothe everything from colds to stomach issues. But in recent decades, something has been shifting quietly in these high-altitude ecosystems. The grassy slopes where Sideritis once thrived are being taken over slowly by shrubs and trees. This transformation is not...

Glyphosate is one of the most commonly used weed killers on the market today, and it’s the main ingredient in the herbicide <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cancer-suit-weedkiller-roundup/">Roundup</a>.

While <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/roundup-california-river/">glyphosate herbicides</a> are useful in the backyard, there has been increasing unease that exposure to the chemical increases the risk of cancer. 

Now, a new meta-analysis review study of previous research on glyphosate’s associated cancer risk confirmed these fears as the results show that glyphosate exposure may increase the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an immune system cancer, by as much as 41 percent. 

The study, published in the journal Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research, was conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> who reviewed past glyphosate studies including the <a href="https://aghealth.nih.gov/">Agricultural Health Study cohort.</a>

While Monsanto, the producers of Roundup, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/glyphosate">Environmental Protection Agency</a>, and the <a href="http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/glyphosate">European Food Safety Authority</a> have maintained that glyphosate is non-carcinogenic, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/health/us-glyphosate-cancer-study-scli-intl/index.html">CNN</a>, the <a href="https://www-prod.iarc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/MonographVolume112-1.pdf">World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer</a> says otherwise. 

There has been a string of lawsuits against Monsanto which was acquired by Bayer in 2018 and CNN reported that thousands of people are suing Monsanto alleging that exposure to glyphosate caused their cancers. 

For this study, the researchers found that in the highest exposure groups, referring to people with the highest reported exposure to the chemical in the different studies reviewed, exposure to glyphosate raised the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 

“All of the meta-analyses conducted to date, including our own, consistently report the same key finding: exposure to GBHs (glyphosate-based herbicides) are associated with an increased risk of NHL,” the researchers wrote. 

The team also reviewed previously published animal studies that dealt with glyphosate to help confirm their meta-analysis findings. 

There are several limitations to the study’s findings as there is little data available on the correlation between glyphosate exposure and cancer risk. 

The researchers also said the studies were varied in terms of the levels of glyphosate exposure each study participant experienced which makes drawing any firm correlations between studies challenging. 

Even with the limitations of the meta-analysis, the study calls attention to an important potentially dangerous carcinogenic and calls for further studies that explore glyphosate’s cancer risk. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Exposure to weed killer glyphosate raises cancer risk by 41 percent

Glyphosate is one of the most commonly used weed killers...

Plants can generate electricity… and we may be able to use it. If, as a child, you were lucky enough to build a <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/how-to-make-a-potato-clock.htm">clock powered by a potato</a>, you may not be surprised to learn that plants generate electricity.  Given the billions of years put into its development, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/photosynthesis-plants-started/">photosynthesis</a> is unsurprisingly much more efficient at generating energy from the sun than solar panels.  Plants are nearly 100% efficient at converting photons from sunlight into electrons. New solar panels by comparison are being developed with a 30 to 36% efficiency, according to <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/08/23/researchers-propose-doubling-todays-solar-panel-efficiency-using-two-weird-tricks/">PV Magazine</a>, which almost doubles the efficiency of current solar panels.  
In 2013, the <a href="https://news.uga.edu/power-plants-uga-researchers-explore-how-to-harvest-electricity-direct/">University of Georgia</a> reported on research allowing scientists to tap into electricity created through photosynthesis before it’s used by the plant.  The procedure basically takes electricity from the plant with nanotubes that are almost 50,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.  Thylakoids, the part of a plant where energy from the sun is stored, are disrupted and nanotubes conduct electricity away from the plant. The key is capturing electrons from the plants before the energy is stored as sugar.  Once the electricity is siphoned off from the plant, the electricity can be used for any human application that electricity is usually used for. It’s been suggested that genetic engineering could be used in tandem with the technology to create plants specifically designed for electricity generation.  The idea of creating usable electricity from plants only continues to grow.

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> have conducted similar work on plants to generate electricity.  There, electrical engineers designed a circuit that when attached to plants converts the plant’s natural energy into usable electricity.  When attached to maple trees, the circuits were able to create 1.1 volts, less than a typical 1.5 volt battery such as the normal AA cell.        

There are companies like <a href="https://www.plant-e.com/en/">Plant-e</a> already poised to capitalize on plant electricity generation.  Plant-e explains that not all of the energy a plant creates is used for itself.  Many plants actually improve soil content through the creation of ‘excess’ organic material that is secreted into soil and taken up by bacteria.  The idea behind the ‘Plant Microbial Fuel Cell’ technology (P-MFC) is to collect and use electrons created by the breakdown of this organic material by soil bacteria for the generation of electricity.  

So far, this type of electricity generation has only produced exceedingly small amounts of electricity.  However, the technique has some obvious advantages. Unlike with the use of nanotubes and some other techniques, the plant itself isn’t disturbed.  As with all schemes to use plants to generate electricity, the distribution of plants is more even globally than say fossil fuels. The method is also clean when compared to fossil fuels.  

Land used for agriculture could also be used to produce electricity.  The method typically requires use of plants that grow in waterlogged conditions, which would work with crops such as rice or cranberries but is also a limitation, especially in arid environments.  Research and development are needed if the use of plants to generate electricity is to become practical in any real sense. 

Another company, <a href="http://voltreepower.com/index.html">Voltree Power</a>, holds the patent to this technology and was first to develop a tree-powered circuit. Voltree has tested using trees to power low voltage sensors to detect forest fires.  Unfortunately, the sensors still require traditionally batteries. The trees merely extend the battery life of the sensors, making the system less than impressive.      

<a href="https://www.iit.it/">Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia</a> (ITT) in Pisa, Italy reported on new research to use plants for the generation of electricity.  Researchers found that they can generate more than 150 volts of electricity from a single plant.  The electricity generated is enough to power 100 of the highly efficient LED light bulbs. The researchers created a sort of cyborg tree made of natural and artificial leaves which generate electricity from wind.  The research was headed by Barbara Mazzolai who previously created the world’s first ‘robot plant’ in 2012. 

Structures in plant leaves are able to generate electricity from the leaf simply moving in the wind.  This electricity is then transmitted through plant tissue. This new research aims to plug into the plant tissue and use this electricity, rather than electricity generated through photosynthesis as previous methods attempted.  

Researchers used a nerium oleander tree in an experiment, by adding artificial leaves that touch the trees natural leaves.  The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adfm.201806689">research</a> was published in October 2018, ushering in a new way to potentially generate electricity from plants.

There are still real obstacles to overcome before electricity can be widely generated by plants and it seems doubtful whether all our electrical usage could be supplied from plants, at least at current levels.  It’s also unclear which method of electricity generation using plants will rise to the top as the most practical. Another problem less often looked at by scientists is one of ethics. 

The ethical dilemma of genetically modifying organisms is one that is sometimes raised.  Still widespread use of GMO technology in plants has gone forward without much of a broad public discussion.  GMO crops are commonly grown now. According to the <a href="https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/311/ge-foods/about-ge-foods">Center for Food Safety</a>, currently 92% of US corn is genetically modified as is 94% of soybeans and 94% of cotton.  The technology has vastly outpaced our ability to discuss its consequences rationally as a society or create laws to regulate it.  

Whether using GMO technology or simply marrying electrical technology with natural plants, using plants to generate electricity represents engineering the natural.  The act of using a plant to generate electricity is an act of modifying the life of intrinsic organism for our own purposes. It means changing another life without regard to that life’s ability or inability to give consent.  This may seem trivial to some, as plants are not highly regarded. We still don’t have any idea of the consequences involved in modifying a plant in this way. We once had no idea of the consequences of burning fossil fuels to generate electricity.  We’re clever at using the environment for short term gain but not so good at guessing at the long term consequences of our actions. With many simple but demanding solutions, humans have a knack for creating complex ways to solve our problems. Scientists also can’t ask a plant how it feels about being made part of an electrical generator.            

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Plants can generate electricity… and we may be able to use it

Plants can generate electricity… and we may be able to...

Americans have a tendency to think they have the biggest and best of everything.  If you think of the world’s largest trees, you probably think of the sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) of California.  You’d mostly be right in this case.  

The world’s largest individual tree is a tree named General Sherman located in Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California.  General Sherman is estimated to be 52,500 cubic feet in volume and is 2,000 years old in an expected life span for giant sequoias of over 3,000 years.  General Sherman is only 274.9 feet tall compared to the tallest tree which measures 379.7 feet (115.7 m) tall. The world’s tallest tree, a redwood named Hyperion, is also in California.  But California is just one of many homes for giant trees. 

Tasmania, the island south of mainland Australia, has its own giant trees.  One fabulous thing about the giant eucalypt trees of Tasmania is that many of them are hollow.  As these trees grow older, the heartwood in the middle of the tree naturally dies and eventually the tree rots into a living hollow cylinder.  I’ve stepped in through a hole in the trunk of one of these trees to find a dim interior space where ten people could easily sleep shoulder to shoulder.  These trees are often homes to bats and insects, making them less than ideal camping spots for many. The hollow space actually serves a useful purpose. Bat guano as well as dead insects create amazing fertilizer, delivered right to the base of the tree.  In fact, in Tasmania, more bats dwell inside hollow trees than in the island’s relatively chilly caves.

[caption id="attachment_1867658" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/general-sherman-.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1867658" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/general-sherman-.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="467" /></a> General Sherman in Sequoia National Park, Image Credit: Songquan Deng/Shutterstock[/caption]

The tallest of Tasmania’s Eucalyptus regnans trees named Centurion measures 99.6 meters (roughly 326.7 feet) tall, according to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-24/photographing-one-of-the-worlds-tallest-trees-in-styx-valley/8206910">ABC News</a>.  Even though the tree is a eucalypt, the species is commonly referred to as mountain ash or swamp gum.  The enormous Eucalyptus regnans tree has a couple of distinctions that the redwoods and sequoias in California don’t have.  For one, the Eucalyptus is a flowering plant unlike the cone bearing giants in California. Centurion is actually the tallest flowering plant in the world and has a much faster growth rate than the California trees.  The giant trees in Tasmania are only about 300 years old compared to the thousands of years it takes for a tree like General Sherman to reach its proportions. 

There is a greater diversity in the Tasmanian trees than those in California.  There are five species of Tasmanian Eucalyptus that have been known to reach heights <a href="https://tasmaniasgianttrees.weebly.com/">of 85 meters</a> or more.  The Tasmanian trees are the largest known trees in the southern hemisphere.  Mostly Tasmania’s Eucalypts don’t live long enough to quite reach the size of redwoods.  <a href="https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2013/02/australias-tallest-trees/">Australian Geographic</a> reports that in many cases, older inaccurate measurements of trees are still used officially, which opens up the possibility that another tree will claim the title of the world’s highest.  There are other giant tree regions in the world that could possibly contend for the title of biggest. 

Borneo is an outlier as a location for giant trees.  Tasmanian and Californian trees both grow in relatively cool, temperate rainforests.  The tropics, counter to much popular opinion, are not the best place to find the world’s largest or even oldest trees.  Trees seem to grow larger in temperate regions for the most part. Borneo seems to be the exception to the rule. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/worlds-tallest-tropical-tree-discovered-along-with-nearly-50-other-record-breakers/">Mongabay</a> reported in 2016 on the discovery of the world’s tallest tropical tree.  Initially it was reported that a Yellow Meranti (Shorea faguetiana) discovered in Borneo was the world’s tallest tropical tree.  Within a few months however, another researcher reported finding 50 trees that were taller, also in Borneo.  The tallest tree in the group is 94.1 meters tall (roughly 294 feet). Unfortunately, giant trees aren’t always allowed to stand as beautiful living beings in their own right.  Deforestation is rampant in Borneo and across the world.

The redwoods and sequoias are but a slim reminder of a grander forest now lost.  In 2015, <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150119-california-forests-shrinking-climate-drought-science/">National Geographic</a> asked the question of California’s forests, “Where have all the big trees gone?”  The answer is a complex one. The <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na0519">World Wildlife Fund</a> reports that less than 4% of California’s original virgin redwood forest still remains with less than 2.5% of that portion protected.  Some of this loss came from floods but the flood damage was worsened by deforestation in neighboring watersheds. Logging for wood of course plays a role in forest loss but so does conversion of land for farming and grazing.  Encroachment of neighborhoods and poor fire management techniques have also contributed to forest loss, but National Geographic reports that climate change may be most to blame.  Since the 1930s, water loss from increased temperature has been a leading factor in the death of giant trees in California.  The giant trees in the rest of the world face similar threats.

Borneo, the forest with the largest tropical trees, a place magical enough to partially inspire <a href="https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5466">Avatar</a>, has one of the highest deforestation rates of anywhere in the world.  According to <a href="http://www.borneofutures.org/deforestation">Borneo Futures</a>, in 1973, 75.7% of the tropical island was covered in forest.  By 2010, only 52.8% of Borneo had forest cover. From 2000 to 2010 alone, 12% of the 2000 forest cover was lost.  More wood is harvested from Borneo than from Africa and the Amazon combined. <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/borneo-has-lost-30-percent-its-forest-cover-past-40-years-180952072/">Smithsonian</a> reports that the deforestation rates in Borneo are twice those of other tropical forests.  This amounts to a loss of 30% of the forest by 2014. Sadly, the forests in Tasmania aren’t safe either.     

Tasmania, home to the southern hemisphere’s largest trees, has long been a battleground between environmentalists and logging.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/21/plans-to-log-tasmanias-world-heritage-forests-dropped-after-un-criticism">The Guardian</a> reported in 2016 that the Australian Government had planned to log inside a World Heritage designated forest.  The plans were dropped on recommendations from the UN, and it shows a distinct disregard for an incredibly unique forest.  According to a 2009 report from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2009/07/a-tasmanian-tragedy-how-the-forestry-industry-has-torn-an-island-apart/">Mongabay</a>, 78% of Tasmania’s original forest has already been cleared or is open to logging.  Most of the trees cut in Tasmania aren’t even used for wood but made into paper.

The topic of widespread destruction of plants older than many nations brings with it the weight of morality.  How can we who are small and young be so destructive to entire microworlds teeming with insects, orangutans, mosses, birds, and entire tree bound ecosystems?                  

--                                            

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Earth’s largest trees stand tall amid multiple threats

Americans have a tendency to think they have the biggest...

They say letter writing is a lost art. But a few mentally unstable individuals keep it alive and... interesting. It’s not their scintillating prose or florid penmanship, though, that sustains the epistolary tradition. With a simple dash of white powder, once a year or so, these troubled correspondents bring the quaintest form of communication back into the news for all the wrong reasons. 

Sometimes they get really ambitious and season their greetings with anthrax, but easier to come by is ricin, a poison made from the castor bean (Ricinus communis). It’s Latin name, bestowed by Carl Linnaeus, means “tick,” a reference to its prickly fruiting bodies. Though called a “bean” it is not actually a legume; it is in the family Euphorbiaceae. The plant that produces the seed, a common ornamental native to Africa and Asia, can be grown in any old backyard and the process of refining the deadly lectin for which it is known only requires a <a href="https://archive.org/stream/Cyanide_and_Ricin_Homemade/Cyanide_and_Ricin_Homemade_djvu.txt">few easily available ingredients</a>. Patented by the U.S. Army in 1962, the recipe is still easily found online. Farm to table, indeed.

These attempts at murder by mail would be more troubling if these poison pen pals were more competent. But oftentimes their attempts to distill the poison meet with limited success. In 2018, one would-be assassin even tried <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspected-ricin-laced-letters-did-not-contain-finished-form-poison-n916271">sending crushed castor beans</a> to President Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz without even having tried to isolate the poison they contained. The seeds are only toxic if ingested and it would take more than a few to have any serious effect on most people. 

Though ricin is certainly toxic when inhaled, it must be in a very finely ground powder to have significant effect. Ten to twenty micrograms per kilogram of body weight are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441948/">potentially lethal</a> when inhaled or injected. The purified poison is also effective if ingested; one to twenty milligrams per kilogram can kill a person. If administered in adequate doses, it is among the most potent known poisons. However, while it can irritate the skin, it doesn’t absorb through the epidermis particularly well. In 1991, a homegrown terrorist cell in Minnesota planned to use dimethyl sulfoxide, a solvent, to facilitate the absorption of ricin through the skin of its victims when they touched contaminated door handles. It wouldn’t have worked. The molecules of ricin are too large.

The symptoms of ricin poisoning—ricinosis—vary according to the method of administration. If untreated, all can be fatal if sufficient amounts of the toxin are absorbed. When inhaled, ricin causes coughing, difficulty breathing, and fluid accumulation in the lungs, and can culminate in respiratory failure. When ingested, nausea and vomiting are common, as is diarrhea. This can result in dehydration. The heart rate may be elevated and seizures may be experienced. Further, the liver, kidney, and spleen may shut down, leading to death. Symptoms of the injected poison are similar. Victims usually begin feeling the effects within a few hours, though it make take up to 12 in some cases. Death usually occurs within three days. 

Discovered in 1888 by German researcher Peter Hermann Stillmark, ricin is a glycoprotein lectin composed of two parts, an A chain and a B chain, connected by a disulphide bond. The B chain attaches to carbohydrate receptors expressed on the surface of a cell, accounting for the poison’s unique mechanism of action. In addition to causing the agglutination, or clumping, of red blood cells, liver cells, and skin cells, killing them, it also facilitates the entry of the A chain into the cell to which it attaches. 

Once inside, the A chain wreaks havoc. It shears off an adenine base from a ribosome, inactivating it and making it incapable of protein synthesis. It then moves on to the next ribosome and can do the same to some <a href="https://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P02879">1,500 of them</a> in a single minute. A single molecule of ricin is capable of killing a cell. This mechanism is shared by other ribosome-inactivating toxins such as Shiga toxin, from the Shigella dysenteriae bacteria. While Stillmark was the first to have noted the agglutinating properties, a toxic mechanism observed as early as 1860 when rattlesnake venom was introduced to pigeon blood, it wasn’t until 1987 that the ribosome-inactivating function was pinpointed.

While there is no generally effective antitoxin, supportive measures often save victims’ lives if initiated early enough. Those who have ingested the poison are typically subjected to gastric lavage, especially if they have not already vomited. Steroids may be administered to reduce inflammation and supplementary fluids can mitigate the effects of dehydration. Breathing support may also be provided. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232219480_The_Production_and_Evaluation_of_Ricin_Antitoxins">Antibody therapies</a> are moving closer to production, though they would need to be administered soon after exposure to be effective. <a href="https://www.biospace.com/article/soligenix-discusses-ricin-toxin-vaccine-/">At least one vaccine</a> is awaiting approval for use in humans. 

Interestingly, ricin was among the first substances to be tested in the pioneering field of immunology. In 1891, Paul Ehrlich began administering small doses of ricin to mice, increasing them over time until the animals had built up a tolerance to the substance. He measured the quantities of what he termed antibodies (Antikörper) in the animals’ blood and determined that their bodies were responding to and neutralizing the poison. His work was highly influential on the fledgling field of immunology.

Ricin is, of course, far more well-known for its malign uses. Beginning in 1918, the U.S. War Department began investigating the possibility of employing ricin in warfare, either as a coating for bullets or as a dust cloud. Ricin, however, deteriorates when heated and the bullet idea was scrapped. The dust was never deployed, as it was feared that it might affect U.S. troops and there was no antidote. Nonetheless, research continued into World War II and bombs containing ricin were tested at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah in 1944. They were never used in battle. By 1972, the poison had been designated a schedule 1 toxic chemical by the Biological Weapons Conference and was thus deemed illegal to use in warfare. It was, nonetheless, possibly used by Iraq in the 1980s and was discovered in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban in 2001. 

Though it never gained much traction as a large-scale weapon, the use of ricin to assassinate individuals has persisted—with varying success. Perhaps the most famous of these incidents occurred in 1978. Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was walking to a bus stop in London when a man jabbed him in the leg with an umbrella. The next day, he fell ill and was transported to a hospital. Despite his claim that he had been shot by a poison bullet, no diagnosis was made and three days later, he died. A post-mortem examination discovered a small platinum-iridium sphere, formerly a watch bearing, that had been filled with an unknown substance. Comparison of Markov’s symptoms with those experienced by a pig injected with ricin corroborated his claims of having been poisoned. 

Two Soviet defectors later confirmed the involvement of the KGB and a stockpile of weaponized umbrellas was later discovered in the offices of the Bulgarian interior ministry. Two weeks prior, another Bulgarian dissident, Vladimir Kostov, had been shot in the back in Paris with a similar pellet fired by a contraption hidden inside a briefcase. After hearing about Markov’s death, he went to the hospital and the pellet was extracted. It was found to contain ricin. A wax coating that was supposed to dissolve upon entry to his body had remained mostly intact, keeping the poison from entering his body and thus saving his life. Three years later, an attempt was made on the life of Polish double agent Boris Korczak using the same method.

Poisoned epistles, with their lower overhead and ease of delivery, have proven even more popular than the James Bond-style gadgets of the Cold War. In October and November 2003, two threatening letters were detected by law enforcement; one was headed for the White House. Written by a person using the pseudonym Fallen Angel, they claimed that if trucking regulations that reduced the time a driver could spend behind the wheel were not repealed, ricin would be used to turn Washington, D.C. into a “ghost town.” Both letters contained vials of ricin. The culprit was never discovered. 

In <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/paul-kevin-curtis-elvis-impersonator-ricin-assassinations">April 2013</a>, a Mississippi tae kwon do instructor attempted to frame his enemy, an Elvis impersonator, by sending envelopes of ricin to a local judge, Senator Roger Wicker, and President Barack Obama. His version of ricin, however, contained less than 1 percent of the toxin. Amusingly, he was a member of Mensa. A scant month later, actress Shannon Richardson <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/16/justice/texas-ricin-actress-sentenced/index.html">was arrested for having mailed ricin</a> to Obama, then-New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Mark Glaze, an anti-gun activist. She had been attempting to frame her estranged husband. And <a href="http://time.com/5046324/ricin-wake-robin-betty-miller-vermont/">in 2017</a>, a Vermont retiree, taking a more direct route, was arrested after confessing that she had tested ricin on her fellow residents at an assisted living facility, ultimately hoping to use it on herself.

For all of its use in spycraft and murder plots, ricin has actually shown promise as a cancer treatment. By modifying the type of receptors to which it binds, researchers have successfully induced it to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26349746">selectively kill cancer cells</a>. But for now, ricin remains the ultimate sign-off for homicidal scribes.

--

By <a href="mailto:rtpallardy@gmail.com">Richard Pallardy</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

What makes ricin toxic: A complicated history

They say letter writing is a lost art. But a...

A recent <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/romaine-lettuce-not-safe/">E. coli</a> outbreak caused by contaminated romaine lettuce was declared by federal investigators to be over, as there had been no cases of illness caused by the bacteria known as O157:H7 for over a month. 

However, the investigators who announced the end to this outbreak have let on that the investigation did not go as they had hoped. They were unable to confirm the source of the bacteria that led to over 90 people becoming ill. This is now the third failed investigation into romaine lettuce E. coli outbreaks in the last year.

Due to this inability to pinpoint the causes of these outbreaks, there hasn’t been a concentrated effort to make any changes that can prevent future issues – and there may be a reason behind the inability to solve contamination issues with lettuce. According to a report from <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/can-lettuce-survive-climate-change/">WIRED</a>, there is a growing concern within the industry that extreme weather events are making crops more vulnerable to contamination. If this is true, the effects of climate change are likely only to make things worse in the future.

After a major E. coli outbreak occurred in bagged raw spinach back in 2006 (resulting in 199 illnesses and three deaths), the industry passed major reforms in California and Arizona – the two main lettuce-growing states. Ensuing outbreaks have been smaller, but in the past year there has been a resurgence of outbreaks.

The proximate cause of the 2018 outbreaks was E. coli found in water used on farms, potentially due to the proximity of the water sources to livestock (although this was not supported by tests done on the suspected cows). As a solution, buffer zones where lettuce cannot be grown on farms near livestock operations were tripled in size, and open water sources have begun to be disinfected. But the extreme weather hypothesis held amongst some growers and investigators would not be addressed by those changes.

The outbreak in the spring of 2018 (210 illnesses and five deaths) was traced back to farms in Yuma, Arizona. While the suspected contaminated lettuce was still on the field, there was an extreme weather occurrence involving unusual frost followed by strong winds. It’s hypothesized that the freeze blistered the leaves, then the winds blasted bacteria into these blisters and allowed the pathogens to work their way into the vascular channels of the leaves where they could not be washed away.

According to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/can-lettuce-survive-climate-change/">WIRED</a>, weather is not solely responsible for contamination. Rather, it can be thought of as “an amplifier,” according to Trevor Suslow, a plant pathologist and president of food safety for the Produce Marketing Association. He told <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/can-lettuce-survive-climate-change/">WIRED</a> that weather is ““something that shifts either the plant’s level of exposure or the conditions under which the E. coli can multiply.” According to Suslow, grows may have to monitor the air and water on their farms more closely, keeping an eye out for pathogens that could be transported onto their farms. They should also be watching the weather to be able to protect plants from damage. 

Given these recent outbreaks, the focus needs to be on protecting the consumer from deadly bacteria, rather than attempting to salvage the produce that’s left behind.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Is extreme weather behind the recent E. coli outbreaks?

A recent E. coli outbreak caused by contaminated romaine lettuce...

Poppy flowers grow in splashy, stunning reds, yellows, oranges and even white – but with their thin petals, how do they manage to be so bright?

Dr. Casper van der Kooi and Dr. Doekele Stavenga of the <a href="https://www.rug.nl/?lang=en">University of Groningen</a> set out to crack the code, using microscopy and mathematical modeling. They got an inside look at how light interacts with the super-thin petals of poppy flowers to create their vibrant colors.

Poppy petals are made up of just three layers of cells, but that doesn’t dim their colors.

“The common poppy is an extreme case. It has very thin petals that nevertheless cause a very high scattering of light. Poppies also contain high concentrations of pigments,” van der Kooi said.

The researchers collected a selection of petals from a variety of poppy species, then studied their structures. What they found was surprising: the color is only found in the outer two layers of cells, not the middle layer. Additionally, the outer cells were oddly shaped.

“This creates many air-filled gaps between the cells, which cause the reflection of light on the cell/air boundary,” van der Kooi said.

Despite that, the petals contain an enormous amount of pigment. In fact, the black markings in the center of some red poppy flowers isn’t black at all – it’s super-saturated red.

“They are among the highest concentrations that I have ever measured in any flower,” van der Kooi said.

In the case of European poppies, which reflect ultraviolet light, the color adaptations may have come as a way to attract bees, the flower’s main pollinator in Europe. In the Middle East, where beetles are the major pollinators of poppy flowers, the color must attract the bugs as Middle Eastern poppies don’t reflect ultraviolet. Bees can’t see red very well, but can see ultraviolet light; the Middle Eastern beetles see the colors poppies sport.

“Moreover, previous studies have shown that the black spots at the heart of some poppies mimic the presence of a female beetle. This is a way for the flowers to attract male beetles. A case of sexual mimicry, as occurs in other plants such as orchids,” van der Kooi said.

The study has been published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-018-01313-1">Journal of Comparative Physiology A</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Poppy flowers are bright and splashy – here's why

Poppy flowers grow in splashy, stunning reds, yellows, oranges and...

New research published by <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> shows that in Earth’s largest mass extinction, plants were likely killed off before animals started to wink out.  While this pattern of death is somewhat intuitive, it has real implications to our lives today.

About 252 million years ago, 70% of land vertebrates like you and me died off.  Along with animals living on land, 96% of ocean life also died off. The cause of the extinction seems to be from massive volcanic eruptions in what is now modern Siberia triggered by collision of tectonic plates.  

The volcanic eruptions threw ash and other pollutants into the air, creating a global cooling event, similar to a hypothetical nuclear winter.  Nickel from the eruption in particular may have killed off plants now fossilized in Australia 400,000 years before most of the marine extinctions occurred.  Scientists with University of Nebraska-Lincoln have been studying pollen fossils in the sea cliffs of Australia’s Sydney Basin where high levels of nickel have been found associated with pollen.  The scientists hypothesize that the nickel was turned into an aerosol by the volcanic eruptions in Siberia, and rained down on plant life, poisoning it and kicking off the mass extinction event. Unexpectedly high levels of nickel have been recorded in other parts of the world as well.    

The extinction, commonly called the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/permian-mass-extinction/">end Permian extinction event</a>, came along at a time of great change in the history of life on Earth.  In the Permian oceans, there was a rich diversity of shellfish. There were cephalopods that looked much like the modern nautilus with coiled snail-like shells enclosing bodies more like squids.  On land, enormous primitive dragonflies were fearsome predators. Mammals were just on the verge of evolving from reptiles. The whole planet was alien to modern eyes but full of an abundance of wildlife.  Plants of the time were mainly ‘primitive’; flowering plants not having evolved yet. Still the primitive forms supported entire ecosystems and filled niches later occupied by more ‘advanced’ forms. Ferns, mosses, gymnosperms and equisetum are a few examples of the plants that dominated the Permian landscape.      

If nickel did indeed kill off large amounts of plants, it’s easy to see how this would devastate whole ecosystems.  When there are no plants, herbivores starve and die. When there are no herbivores, carnivores starve and die. It’s a pretty straightforward connection between the extinction of plants and the extinction of animals.

An earlier paper in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818110002286">Global and Planetary Change</a> discusses how plant composition changed at the extinction at the end of the Permian.  Before the end Permian extinction event, gymnosperms seem to be the most prevalent plants.  Gymnosperms are best represented today by conifers such as pine trees, that is plants bearing cones are gymnosperms as opposed to flowered plants.  Gymnosperms are more often pollinated by wind than insects like flowering plants. After the end Permian extinction event, there is a shift from a dominance of gymnosperms in the fossil record to a dominance of lycopods.  Lycopods are plants much more easily missed than gymnosperms. Commonly known as ground pines or creeping cedars, lycopods reproduce via spores, similar to ferns. Lycopods are small and inconspicuous for the most part, looking a little like mosses with small cones that bear their spores sticking above the soil.

Interestingly, the shift from gymnosperm dominance to that of lycopods was relatively short-lived.  Despite plants being the first to die off, they also seem to be some of the first organisms to rebound from the massive extinction.  All major plant groups ended up surviving the end Permian extinction and helps to explain the lesser extent to which land animals died off when compared to marine organisms.  Perhaps even more interestingly, the turnover of different plant regimes and the rebound of plant diversity are linked to carbon in the atmosphere. 

A study published in <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6419/eaat1327">Science</a> suggests that indeed, it was carbon and related ocean warming that drove the extinction of marine species.  The research shows that oceans at the end of the Permian rose in temperature by a staggering 20°F, and caused the loss of 80% of the ocean’s oxygen.  This change in temperature and dissolved gases obviously had devastating effects on life. In the long run, we can say that the oceans ‘recovered’ meaning that an abundance of new species evolved and again filled the waters with life.  In another view, something was lost forever. Individual species lost are lost forever but diversity can again recovery over extremely long periods of time. It’s easy to think of it like this – an individual child may die and the parents of that child might have three more.  We can say that on some level the family recovered from the loss of the child but we know on another level, they will never be the same.

An article in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/priyashukla/2018/12/10/what-we-can-learn-from-a-252-million-year-old-ocean-extinction/#535a08f4706e">Forbes</a> asks, ‘What can we learn’ from the Permian extinction?  As we are in a new age of mass extinction, partially caused by carbon emissions, there is a lot we can learn.  One disturbing takeaway is that ocean life may suffer more from climate change than terrestrial biota. Another lesson is that plant life is of utmost importance to the resilience and survival of terrestrial biodiversity.  It’s disturbing that along with carbon emissions, humans are also destroying millions of acres of forests. We’re also massively altering plant communities with agriculture. Sadly, we can only learn so much from the end Permian extinction because it happened at a much slower pace than our current extinction event.  The Permian event was on a scale of millions of years, now we’re working on a scale of hundreds or thousands of years. Beyond climate, habitat destruction, resource overuse, overhunting, and many more human created problems are driving our current extinction event. Only time will tell if plants can lead another rebound in diversity of life once humans are done wreaking destruction.      

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

The plants go first: Lessons from Earth’s largest mass extinction

New research published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln shows that in...

Scientists at the <a href="https://www.pasteur.fr/en">Institut Pasteur</a> in Paris have found evidence that suggests the most recent common ancestor of all life on Earth may have actually preferred a moderately warm environment rather than the scorching hot conditions that were previously assumed. The finding, if confirmed, could provide new insight into where some of the earliest organisms existed, according to <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>.

All organisms living on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/life-earth-another-planet/">Earth</a> today can be traced back to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), which lived around 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago in the Paleoarchean Era.  Any other organisms that may have existed this far back went extinct, while LUCA split into two groups that can be found in most living species today - bacteria and archaea.

Scientists have theorized that LUCA lived somewhere extremely hot, such as a geothermal pond, where temperatures exceeded 100 or even 200 degrees Fahrenheit. With no fossils available to study LUCA, experts must compare the genomes of its descendents. 

In 2016, a German team led by Bill Martin at <a href="https://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/home/en/">Heinrich Heine University</a> searched for universal genes that may have been present in LUCA. The researchers identified 355 genes, including one that is only found in thermophiles, organisms which thrive in scorching hot temperatures between 106 and 252 degrees Fahrenheit. 

However, New Scientist reports that Ryan Catchpole and Patrick Forterre at the Institut Pasteur do not believe this particular gene was present in LUCA. Their investigation produced two possible scenarios: LUCA lacked the reverse gyrase gene and it emerged instead in an early archaean, or LUCA did have the gene but it was lost during the evolution of bacteria. 

Martin told New Scientist that it is still possible that LUCA lived in hot conditions in an alkaline vent on the seafloor, where he believes all life originated. He explained that some of the water in alkaline vents may not have been hot enough to require the reverse gyrase gene found in thermophiles.

“The fact we found reverse gyrase in there, that’s nice, but it’s just one gene out of 355,” Martin said.
--
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Where did the earliest common ancestor of all life actually exist?

Scientists at the Institut Pasteur in Paris have found evidence...

As marijuana continues to become decriminalized and recreationally legalized in many states across the US, research into cannabinoids aims to explore their many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-treats-migraines-better/">benefits and adverse side effects</a>. 

A new study found that surprisingly, cannabis use in men did not harm sperm counts and that men who are moderate cannabis smokers may actually have higher sperm counts compared to men who never smoked the drug before. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health</a> conducted the study which was published in the journal Human Reproduction, and the results were contrary to their original hypothesis and previous studies. 

The researchers predicted that moderate cannabis use would have the opposite impact on testicular function and that heavy and moderate use decreases sperm counts. 

“These unexpected findings from our study highlight that we know too little about the reproductive health effects of cannabis and, in fact, of the health effects in general, to make strong statements about the impact of cannabis on health, with the possible exception of mental health. We know a lot less than we think we know,” said Jorge Chavarro, the lead investigator of the study. 

For the study, the researchers examined the impact of smoking around two joints a week on the sperm counts of 662 men between 2000 and 2017. 

The male participants were asked to answer questionnaires about their past cannabis use, if they currently smoked it, and how often they smoked cannabis a week if they did.

The questionnaires were self-administered and also included questions about medical history, lifestyle, and other drug use like cocaine. Blood and semen samples were also analyzed for the study.

365 of the 662 men that had smoked marijuana at some point in their lives had higher sperm counts than those who reported never using cannabis. The difference was 63 million sperm per milliliter of semen versus 45 million in non-users. 

The researchers were sure to adjust for different factors that could impact sperm counts like cocaine use and lifestyle factors. 

While the results show a correlation between cannabis use and higher sperm count, the researchers note that there are several interpretations to the findings and that the results are limited due to the challenging nature of accurately reporting cannabis use in regions where it is still illegal. 

“First, these findings are consistent with a U-shaped relation whereby low levels of cannabis use could benefit sperm production due to the well-known role played by the endocannabinoid system, but potential beneficial effects reverse at higher levels of use,” said Feiby Nassan, the first author of the study. “An equally plausible interpretation is that our findings could reflect the fact that men with higher testosterone levels are more likely to engage in risk-seeking behaviours - including drug use.”

The researchers also say that sperm count has little to do with fertility so even though cannabis use may increase sperm count, it doesn’t necessarily mean that weed use improves fertility. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Men who smoke marijuana found to have higher sperm counts

As marijuana continues to become decriminalized and recreationally legalized in...

An island in the South Pacific that emerged after a volcanic eruption in 2015 is now home to hundreds of tropical birds known as sooty terns. The island is also covered in flowering plants whose seeds were likely scattered around in bird droppings.

The island is the result of an <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/underwater-volcanoes-tasmania/">underwater volcano eruption</a> that spewed ash and lava into the sea for weeks. When the ash mixed with warm ocean water, it solidified into rocks that ultimately formed the island.

The volcanic rocks accumulated in between two existing islands in the Kingdom of Tonga. While it has not been officially named, locals call the new island Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai after the two small islands that it joins.


<a href="http://nasa.gov">NASA</a> wants to study the island before it is potentially washed away into the sea. Dan Slayback, a research scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, recently visited Hunga Tonga with other experts and students. He told <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/earthexpeditions/2019/01/30/land-ho-visiting-a-young-island/">NASA Earth Expeditions</a>: “We were all like giddy school children. Most of it is this black gravel, I won’t call it sand - pea sized gravel - and we’re mostly wearing sandals so it’s pretty painful because it gets under your foot.”

“Immediately I kind of noticed it wasn’t quite as flat as it seems from satellite. It’s pretty flat, but there’s still some gradients and the gravels have formed some cool patterns from the wave action.”

[caption id="attachment_1867207" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/island-life.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1867207" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/island-life.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="412" /></a> Credit: Dan Slayback[/caption]

The team took pictures, collected rock samples, and used a drone to obtain an aerial survey of Hunga Tonga. According to the researchers, data obtained during the trip may shed new light on rare volcanic islands. 

“The island is eroding by rainfall much more quickly than I’d imagined,” said Slayback. “We were focused on the erosion on the south coast where the waves are crashing down, which is going on. It’s just that the whole island is going down, too. It’s another aspect that’s made very clear when you’re standing in front of these huge erosion gullies. Okay, this wasn’t here three years ago, and now it’s two meters deep.”

However, there is no way to know how long the island will last, and further research is needed to explore the possibility that hydrothermal processes may be ongoing that could make the land resistant to erosion for decades to come. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@gmail.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Sea Education Association / SEA Semester/ <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/earthexpeditions/2019/01/30/land-ho-visiting-a-young-island/">NASA</a>

Brand new Pacific island already covered in vegetation and life

An island in the South Pacific that emerged after a...

An international team of scientists has developed a groundbreaking new resource to guide the transfer of disease-resistance genes from wild plants to domestic crops. The method, known as AgRenSeq, will revolutionize the creation of disease-resistant crops across the globe.

A team of scientists at the <a href="https://www.jic.ac.uk/">John Innes Centre</a> in Britain collaborated with colleagues in Australia and the United States to develop the tool. The resulting techniques will strengthen the global fight against pathogens that threaten <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wheat-plants-chemical-defenses/">wheat</a>, soybean, maize, rice, and potato crops.  

Study co-author Professor Harbans Bariana from the Sydney Institute of Agriculture and the School of Life and Environmental Sciences is a global expert in cereal rust genetics. He explained, “This technology will underpin fast-tracked discovery and characterization of new sources of disease resistance in plants.”

AgRenSeq provides experts with a database of resistance genes discovered in wild relatives of modern crops so they can rapidly identify DNA sequences linked to disease fighting capability. Equipped with this crucial information, the researchers will use lab techniques to clone the genes and introduce them into domestic crops to protect them against pathogens and pests such as rusts, powdery mildew, and Hessian fly.

“We have found a way to scan the genome of a wild relative of a crop plant and pick out the resistance genes we need: and we can do it in record time. This used to be a process that took 10 or 15 years and was like searching for a needle in a haystack,” said study lead author Dr. Brande Wulff.

“We have perfected the method so that we can clone these genes in a matter of months and for just thousands of dollars instead of millions.”

AgRenSeq has been successfully tested in a wild relative of wheat. Researchers managed to identify and clone four resistance genes for the stem rust pathogen in a matter of months. According to the experts, this process would have easily taken 10 years using conventional methods.

“What we have now is a library of disease resistance genes and we have developed an algorithm that enables researchers to quickly scan that library and find functional resistance genes,” said study first author Dr. Sanu Arora.

Dr. Wulff added, “This is the culmination of a dream, the result of many year's work. Our results demonstrate that AgRenSeq is a robust protocol for rapidly discovering resistance genes from a genetically diverse panel of a wild crop relative.”

“If we have an epidemic, we can go to our library and inoculate that pathogen across our diversity panel and pick out the resistance genes. Using speed cloning and speed breeding we could deliver resistance genes into elite varieties within a couple of years, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nbt/">Nature Biotechnology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New technology can help experts develop disease-resistant crops

An international team of scientists has developed a groundbreaking new...

Gene editing could help eliminate a deadly banana virus called streak virus that can devastate entire plantations. 

Most bananas in Africa have the virus, which integrates into the banana’s genome where it stays dormant until heat stress or drought prompts the virus to emerge, spread, and kill its hosts. 

But according to a report published in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2192461-virus-lurking-inside-banana-genome-has-been-destroyed-with-crispr/">New Scientist</a>, there may be hope for African banana plantations with genome editing. 

Leena Tripathi from the <a href="http://www.iita.org/">International Institute of Tropical Agriculture</a> in Kenya found a way to use CRISPR to target the streak virus inside the DNA of its host banana.

With a breed of streak virus resistant bananas, Tripathi hopes to grow entire banana crops that are free of the virus and resistant to future infection. 

In recent years, there have been many advances in gene editing and CRISPR-Cas9, particular with crop resistance to drought and disease. CRISPR allows researchers to cut DNA strands with incredible precision. 

However, genetic modification is still largely contested, and many fear the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/harmful-effects-crispr-gene-editing/">unknown ramifications</a> of this relatively new scientific achievement.  

Even through Tripathi’s work could save banana plantations in Africa, New Scientist reports that the legality of the gene-edited fruit is up for debate. 

 “I think right now they are in discussions about whether it requires legislation,” Tripathi told New Scientist.

Streak virus is not the only threat facing banana farmers, and a popular banana called the Cavendish banana is highly susceptible to a fungal strain called Tropical Race 4. 

Plantations worldwide are dealing with Tropical Race 4 and scientists are working on using gene editing to make the plants resistant to the disease. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Can gene editing save bananas from devastating virus outbreak?

Gene editing could help eliminate a deadly banana virus called...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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