'Zombie' fungi that hijack insects are not just a modern forest horror story. A pair of tiny fossils locked in Burmese amber shows that these parasites stalked ants and flies nearly 100 million years ago in what is now Myanmar.



The newly described fungi, Paleoophiocordyceps gerontoformicae and Paleoophiocordyceps ironomyiae, sprouted from their long‑dead hosts, just like today’s entomopathogenic relatives. This gruesome strategy has clearly been in play since ancient times. 



Study co‑author <a href="https://www.biotaxa.org/pe/article/view/palaeoentomology.5.3.1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Professor Edmund Jarzembowski</a> of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (<a href="http://english.nigpas.cas.cn/">NIGPAS</a>) and London’s <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural History Museum</a> helped craft the formal description.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-outbreak-of-parasitic-fungi">Ancient outbreak of parasitic fungi</h2>



Amber from the Hukawng Valley captures an ant pupa with a slender fungal stalk, and a fly pierced by a second projectile‑like stroma. 



The position of each growth mirrors the way that modern zombie fungi erupt from soft joints after the host’s last breath.



Palaeontologists reconstructed the scene and noted that the ant appears to have been dragged away from the nest before the infection reached its spore‑spraying stage. Social insects often quarantine sick kin, a behaviour already in place during the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-cretaceous-period.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cretaceous</a>.



“It’s fascinating to see some of the strangeness of the natural world that we see today was also present at the height of the age of the dinosaurs,” said Jarzembowski, reflecting on the familiar menace that infected the ancient insects.



The research team counted flask‑shaped perithecia, the microscopic chambers where sexual spores mature, on the fossilized stalks. 



Their arrangement ties the ancient genus to living Ophiocordyceps, even though the lineage split more than 130 million years ago.



Very few fossil pathogens display intact reproductive parts. This makes every new specimen a potential window into deep‑time disease ecology. 



The rarity arises because fungi are soft and because an insect corpse rarely fossilizes side by side with its killer, scientists noted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-makes-a-fungus-a-zombie">What makes a fungus a zombie</h2>



Members of <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1005037" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ophiocordyceps</a> start with a pin‑sized spore that germinates. It drills through the exoskeleton of a living insect, and sets up shop in the haemolymph. 



Chemical signals then steer the victim to a perch that maximizes wind exposure for the dispersal of spores released after death.



A genome survey of ant‑infecting species uncovered dozens of genes that code for enterotoxin‑like proteins. This suggests that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deadly-fungus-aspergillus-that-can-eat-you-from-the-inside-out-is-quietly-spreading-around-the-world/">fungus</a> rewires muscles and nerves using the same tricks that bacteria use to upset mammalian guts.



Transcript <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/accumulating-glitches/how_fungus_makes_ant_zombies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> show that as the infection peaks, genes tied to serotonin and dopamine pathways in the ant surge or plunge, matching the precise timing of the so‑called death grip.



Today more than 1,500 insect‑killing <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/understanding-fungi-characteristics-and-function/">fungi</a> are catalogued, yet only a handful make headlines. Specialists target beetles that bore into crops or mosquitoes that spread malaria, demonstrating the ecological punch of these microbes, even outside tropical forests.



Their life cycle is a masterclass in recycling nutrients: the mycelium consumes host tissues from within, then the emergent stalk spreads fresh <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodegradable-living-plastic-contains-bacterial-spores-that-break-it-down/">spores</a> that restore carbon and nitrogen to soil food webs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-amber-as-nature-s-time-capsule">Amber as nature's time capsule</h2>



Tree resin entombs soft bodies in minutes and hardens into amber that resists water, oxygen, and microbial decay. 



That airtight seal lets researchers inspect insect cuticles along with fungal filaments that are thinner than a human hair.



Kachin amber is celebrated for its clarity, but the deposit also raises ethical concerns because mining revenues can fund armed conflict. International guidelines now press museums to verify provenance before accepting new pieces.



Gem cutters often discard cloudy chunks, yet those fragments may shelter the best biological inclusions. Researchers therefore sift mine tailings for overlooked specimens, rather than fueling fresh extraction.



Because resin flows layer over layer, a single piece can trap snapshots separated by hours. That layering helps date biological events with unusual precision when volcanic ash beds bracket the deposit.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fungi-give-clues-to-insect-evolution">Fungi give clues to insect evolution</h2>



Comparative anatomy and molecular clocks place Paleoophiocordyceps on a branch that diverged from the modern zombie‑ant fungus during the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/392592127_Cretaceous_entomopathogenic_fungi_illuminate_the_early_evolution_of_insect-fungal_associations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Early Cretaceous</a>. this was at the time that flowering plants began reshaping terrestrial food webs.



The study’s host‑switch analysis flagged a likely jump from beetles to flies and ants, mirroring the radiation of pollinators and social insects. Such leaps underline how a parasite’s fate is tied to the fortunes of its preferred prey.



Beetles already thrived in decaying wood, an environment humid enough for fungal spores, while the rise of canopy flowers led <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/swarm-intelligence-ants-can-anticipate-obstacles-and-plan-ahead/">ants</a> to exploit new niches. The fungus followed its insect food, so to speak, adapting its toolkit for each cuticular landscape.



Host regulation may have checked insect booms long before birds or bats evolved sophisticated appetites for six‑legged prey. 



That invisible policing force could explain relatively stable herbivore damage in Cretaceous leaf fossils, despite soaring insect diversity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tale-familiar-to-modern-forests">A tale familiar to modern forests</h2>



Field surveys in Thailand show that fungus-infected ant graveyards form in patches where humidity hovers near 95 percent, suggesting the parasite needs microclimates as well as hosts.



Timing is equally precise. Infected carpenter ants bite down at solar noon more often than chance predicts, hinting that fungal circadian genes sync with the host’s biological clock.



When <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004835" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cadavers</a> pile up, each fungal stalk releases millions of spores, yet infections remain patchy. Colony grooming, corpse removal, and antimicrobial secretions keep outbreaks from wiping out entire nests.



Lab trials with generalist insect fungi show a trade‑off between killing speed and spore burden, meaning parasites that act too quickly may sacrifice dispersal success.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-it-matters-today">Why it matters today</h2>



Entomologists already deploy fungal <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/what-are-biopesticides" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bio‑pesticides</a> against insects such as locusts and crop‑boring moths. 



This method of control targets the insects without drenching fields in chemicals. Lessons from ancient lineages could sharpen that strategy by revealing how host jumps evolve.



Climate models predict that warmer nights and shifting rainfall will widen the habitat for many fungal pathogens. 



Tracking their evolutionary playbook helps forecast which <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insect-populations-dramatically-declining-around-the-world-rising-temperatures/">insect</a> groups, helpful or harmful, might feel the heat next.



The fossils nevertheless remind us that even tiny microbes leave fingerprints on evolution, shaping who thrives and who fails. 



The study is published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2025.0407" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</a>.



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'Zombie' fungus that lived almost 100 million years ago found preserved in amber

'Zombie' fungi that hijack insects are not just a modern forest horror story. A pair of tiny fossils locked in Burmese amber shows that these parasites stalked ants and flies nearly 100 million years ago in what is now Myanmar. The newly described fungi, Paleoophiocordyceps gerontoformicae and Paleoophiocordyceps ironomyiae, sprouted from their long‑dead hosts, just like today’s entomopathogenic relatives. This gruesome strategy has clearly been in play since ancient times. Study co‑author Professor Edmund Jarzembowski of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGPAS) and London’s Natural History Museum...

An international research team led by the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a> has found that rising levels of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-dioxide-record-broken/">carbon dioxide</a> (CO2) will lower the nutritional value of rice. 

When rice was grown under the atmospheric conditions that are expected in the second half of this century, iron, zinc, protein, and vitamins B1, B2, B5, and B9 were all reduced.

Study co-author Professor Kazuhiko Kobayashi is an expert on the impacts of air pollution on agriculture.

“Rice is not just a major source of calories, but also proteins and vitamins for many people in developing countries and for poorer communities within developed countries,” said Professor Kobayashi.

People in countries with the highest rice consumption and the lowest gross domestic product could face increasing rates of malnutrition as the nutritional value of rice  and other low-cost foods decline. 

However, not all types of rice responded to the experiential conditions in the same way, which means there is a chance that scientists could identify varieties of rice that maintain their nutritional value regardless of CO2 levels.

The rice was grown at research sites in China and Japan, where researchers built 55-foot-wide plastic pipes elevated about a foot above the tops of plants within standard rice fields. Wind speed and direction were measured by a network of sensors and monitors to control how much carbon dioxide was released out of the pipes, which is a technique known as Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE).

“I first started using this technique in 1998, because we knew that plants raised in a plastic or glass house do not grow the same as plants in normal, open field conditions,” explained Professor Kobayashi. 

“This technique allows us to test the effects of higher carbon dioxide concentrations on plants growing in the same conditions that farmers really will grow them some decades later in this century.”

There were some challenges to overcome, such as the interference of wild animals.


“At our first field site, we learned we have to keep all of the pipes and tubes above the ground because raccoons kept chewing through everything and jeopardized the experiment,” said Professor Kobayashi.


Researchers analyzed a total of 18 different varieties of rice to look for protein, iron, and zinc levels, while nine varieties of rice grown in China were used for testing levels of vitamins B1, B2, B5, and B9.

Six hundred million people in regions such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Madagascar get at least 50 percent of their daily protein directly from rice. 

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Rice will lose nutritional value as carbon dioxide levels rise

An international research team led by the University of Tokyo...

A team of scientists has revealed that dinosaurs were not the only casualty of the catastrophic asteroid event 66 million years ago. The experts have discovered that the world's forests were also completely destroyed, which caused the extinction of tree-dwelling birds.

Study co-author Regan Dunn is a paleontologist at the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> in Chicago.

“Looking at the fossil record, at plants and birds, there are multiple lines of evidence suggesting that the forest canopies collapsed,” said Dunn.

Lead author Daniel Field explained that the team used a combination of techniques for the investigation. 

“We concluded that the temporary elimination of forests in the aftermath of the asteroid impact explains why arboreal birds failed to survive across this extinction event,” said Field. “The ancestors of modern arboreal birds did not move into the trees until forests had recovered from the extinction-causing asteroid.”

Study co-author Antoine Bercovici is a pollen expert at the <a href="https://www.si.edu/">Smithsonian Institution</a> and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Bercovici analyzed microscopic fossils of pollen and spores to determine that the planet's forests were destroyed. 

“After a disaster like a forest fire or a volcanic eruption, the first plants to come back are the fastest colonizers - especially ferns,” said Dunn. This is due to fact that ferns do not sprout from seeds, but from small spores that are made up of just a single cell. 

"Spores are minuscule, the size of a grain of pollen, so they're easily dispersed. They get picked up by the wind and go further than seeds can, and all they need to grow is a wet spot.”

"The spores are tiny - you could fit four across a single strand of your hair. To see them, we take a sample of rock from the time frame just after the collision and dissolve it in acid. Then we purify it so that all that remains is the organic debris, like pollen, spores and little leaf bits, then we look at them under a microscope.”


Immediately after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-asteroid-struck/">asteroid</a> collided with the Earth, the fossil record showed the charcoal remains of trees, and then, tons of fern spores. 

“Our study examined the fossil record from New Zealand, Japan, Europe and North America, which showed there was a mass deforestation across the globe at the end of the Cretaceous period,” said Bercovici.

The researchers found that the only birds that survived were ground-dwellers. Their fossilized remains contained strong legs like modern ground birds such as kiwis and emus. Tree-dwelling birds have delicate legs that are designed for perching on branches, and they had no place left to live.

“Today, birds are the most diverse and globally widespread group of terrestrial vertebrate animals--there are nearly 11,000 living species,” said Field. “Only a handful of ancestral bird lineages succeeded in surviving the mass extinction event 66 million years ago, and all of today's amazing living bird diversity can be traced to these ancient survivors.”

Dunn pointed out that fossil plants are critical in reconstructing the history of life on earth. 

“Plants are everything, plants are the context in which all terrestrial life evolves and survives. They're primary producers, they make energy available to all life forms by capturing it from the sun--we can't do that.”


Dunn also emphasized that the loss of life resulting from the mass extinction 66 million years ago is relevant today.


“The end-Cretaceous event is the fifth mass extinction - we're in the sixth,” said Dunn. "It's important for us to understand what happens when you destroy an ecosystem, like with deforestation and climate change--so we can know how our actions will affect what comes after us."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

image Credit: Regan Dunn, The Field Museum

Forests and tree-dwelling birds died when dinosaurs vanished

A team of scientists has revealed that dinosaurs were not...

A new long term study has demonstrated how a seemingly harmless single invasive species can cause declines in biodiversity and alter entire ecosystems.

Eastern hemlock, a tree species native to North America, has been facing serious declines due to the hemlock woolly adelgid. The non-native insect hails from East Asia and feeds off the sap of hemlock trees.

The <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/invasives/0,5664,7-324-68002_71241-367635--,00.html">waxy secretions</a> of the pest decrease the growth of Hemlock trees and put a large amount of stress on older trees that can then easily succumb to drought or climate change. 

A new study, conducted by researchers from <a href="http://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a>, reveals how invasive adelgids are killing off trees and impacting bird populations that were specialized to the hemlock habitats. 

The research was published in the journal The Condor: Ornithological Applications and is one of the most thorough long-term studies examining how tree decline of a single species affects birds and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warming-climate-threatens-biodiversity/">biodiversity</a>. 

For the study, the researchers used surveys of Eastern hemlock forests conducted in 2000 before adelgids had caused any decline. Data from the surveys were then compared to new data from the same forests taken in 2015 and 2016. 

Native bird species were also considered and the researchers analyzed data showing how different bird populations were affected by the invasive pests. 

The researchers discovered that as the Eastern hemlocks declined, specific bird species that are particular to the area also declined and were replaced by other bird species normally found in more general hardwood forests. 

“Invasive species, climate change, and land-use change are all similar in that they make our world a less diverse place, and this study helps greatly in understanding how the loss of the eastern hemlock plays its own role in the degradation of biodiversity,” said Morgan Tingley, a professor from the <a href="https://uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut </a>who was not associated with the research. 

The study shows how damaging even just one invasive pest can be and how important conservation efforts are to manage and reduce invasive pests from non-native areas. 

“To sum up, to people who are saddened by the loss of hemlocks and the birds that rely on them, I would say one thing: We cannot turn back the clock--we cannot un-introduce the hemlock woolly adelgid; but we absolutely possess the power to prevent this story from repeating itself,” said Matthew Toenies, the study’s lead author. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Image Credit: D Williams

One invasive pest species can alter an entire ecosystem

A new long term study has demonstrated how a seemingly...

A new study published in the journal Psychopharmacology has found that psilocybin, the main substance in magic mushrooms, may potentially help patients with severe depression process emotions.

Previous research has found that magic mushrooms show promise as a treatment for depression, with one <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41608984">BBC report</a> saying that psilocybin acts like a “lubricant for the mind” and resets the brain. 

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/magic-mushrooms-depression-brain/">Magic mushrooms</a> seem to be especially helpful for patients who have not had any success with other traditional medications for anxiety and depression. 

The drug helps with changing mood and perceptions, and this recent study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College</a> and <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> found that psilocybin was effective for helping depressed patients process and understand others emotions. 

Often times, patients with depression are not able to interpret social cues and read expressions as negative. 

For the study, researchers administered a psilocybin treatment and psychological support to 17 patients with treatment-resistant depression. 16 control patients were also given a placebo treatment as part of the study. 

The participants were shown a series of photographs of 12 male and female actors that had been doctored so each face portrayed an emotion such as happiness, sadness, or anger. 

After receiving the psilocybin treatment, the patients were able to read the faces and categorize the emotions. The control patients, however, had no improvement and were not able to read the faces any better. 

“Prior to treatment with psilocybin, depressed patients in this trial were shown to have a global deficit in processing emotional faces as compared with healthy controls, as reflected in longer reaction times to identify all emotion types,” the researchers said. “We observed a reaction time improvement post-treatment for all emotion types in depressed patients.”

Magic mushroom treatments are still a long way off, even though some researchers claim they are the safest recreational drug to take. 

The study itself was also relatively small and more in-depth research will be needed to better understand how psilocybin affects depression. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Magic mushrooms help people with depression process emotions

A new study published in the journal Psychopharmacology has found...

A handful of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotics-soil-killing-superbugs/">soil</a> contains millions of bacteria and fungi, which are competing for space and food. Most are essential in creating healthy soil, but a few of these organisms cause devastating crop diseases. A new study has revealed how some harmful microbes use chemical warfare in response to threats from pesticides as well as from neighboring organisms.

Nancy Keller is a professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a> who has studied the interactions among soil pathogens for years, investigating the chemical signals that are sent back and forth among them. 

Keller’s team has managed to interpret a signal from the fungal pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi, which responds to an attack by the bacterial wilt species Ralstonia solanacearum by generating a host of antibacterial compounds to defend itself.

“Ralstonia is a lethal wilt pathogen worldwide and attacks over 200 plants,” said Keller. Fusarium species are also a major cause of fungal wilt diseases in crops.

In a previous study, Keller’s students noticed competition between Ralstonia and Fusarium. A closer inspection revealed that Ralstonia caused the nearby fungi to produce chlamydospores, which help the fungus survive stress. The distinctive structures turned a unique shade of rusty red.

In the current study, the team identified the red compound as bikaverin, a chemical that helps prevent infection from bacteria.

The researchers demonstrated that Ralstonia secretes a compound that causes Fusarium to produce chlamydospores. Next, Fusarium produces antimicrobial agents, including the red bikaverin, to protect the chlamydospores from invasion. 

The scientists discovered that inhibiting the ability of Fusarium to produce bikaverin allowed Ralstonia to successfully invade the spores. 

An unrelated fungal species that is also a damaging plant pathogen, known as Botrytis, genetically acquired the ability to produce bikaverin from Fusarium. Botrytis has the same response to an attack by Ralstonia and produces chlamydospores.

The researchers were surprised to find that Ralstonia could induce bikaverin in both of the fungal species regardless of the environment. Fusarium and Botrytis normally produce the red pigment under very different conditions, primarily based on what nutrients are available. 


Keller said that these call-and-response offensive and defensive maneuvers are certainly just a small part of the chemical signals passed between microbes hidden from view.

“How these microbes interact and talk with each other is still in its infancy,” said Keller. “We really don't know how they talk to each other. And that's where we want to go in our lab.”

A greater understanding of the messages among the microbial communities in soil could help scientists find ways to respond to persistent threats to crops.

The research is published in the journal <a href="http://mbio.asm.org/">mBio</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Soil microbes communicate and battle with chemical attacks

A handful of soil contains millions of bacteria and fungi,...

A study of several plant fossils has uncovered new revelations about the evolutionary history of sweet potatoes, finding that they are not native to the Americas after all.

It had been previously thought that sweet potatoes were native to Central and South America, but although some scientists had argued that the sweet potato plant family actually originated in the Old World and not the Western Hemisphere. 

Now, new research conducted by David Dilcher, a paleobotanist from the<a href="https://www.indiana.edu/"> Indiana University Bloomington</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sweet-potatoes-emerged-before-humans/">sweet potatoes</a> actually came from Asia. 

The study was led by Dilcher along with a team of colleagues from India and the results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dilcher and his team studied 57-million-year-old fossils from eastern India that were part of the plant family Convolvulaceae, which includes both morning glory flowers and sweet potatoes. 

Although previous fossil evidence pointed to the morning glory family originating in North America, Dilcher discovered that the plant family actually originated much earlier in the late Paleocene epoch in the East Gondwana landmass that would later become part of Asia. 

The researchers analyzed 17 fossils from the morning glory family that were discovered in northeastern India. The fossils included both morning glories and nightshade and are the earliest recorded fossils of the morning glory family ever found. 

Dilcher and the research team used microscopic analysis of the shape and structure of the leaves to compare the fossil’s leaf veins and cells with other known plants in the same genus.

“We don't know that these were sweet potatoes,” said Dilcher. “We can't say there were delicious sweet potatoes there. There may have been, or there may not.”

This method of analyzing plant fossils to better understand evolutionary relationships is a specialty of Dilcher's. 

The fossils were in the Ipomoea genus which contains both sweet potatoes and morning glories, potentially showing that sweet potatoes originated in Asia much earlier than previously realized. 

“I think this will change people's ideas,” said Dilcher. “It will be a data point that is picked up and used in other work where researchers are trying to find the time of the evolution of major groups of flowering plants.”

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

Sweet potatoes are native to Asia, not the Americas, study finds

A study of several plant fossils has uncovered new revelations...

Plants can fight back against pathogens that cause disease like a fungus that takes over a fruit or vegetable with gray mold disease.

The way that plants ward off unwanted pathogens is a subject of much interest to researchers as it could help ensure <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/3d-printing-food-industry/">food security</a>. 

Both plants and the pathogens that infect them use molecules called small RNAs which are important for invasion and defense. 

This process of using RNAs as a defense mechanism is called cross-kingdom RNA interference. Small RNAs can interfere with gene expression and this can work in the favor of the plant when the pathogen takes in small RNAs that inhibit its ability to infect. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a> shows how these RNAs are packaged and delivered from the plant to the pathogen, something that previously had been a mystery. 

The results were published in the journal Science. 

Hailing Jin, a professor of microbiology and plant pathology at the University of California, Riverside led the study. 

The researchers focused on the fungus Botrytis cinerea in order to determine how small RNAs moved across the cellular boundaries between host and pathogen. 

After studying infected plants, the researchers found that after being infected with Botrytis cinerea, plant cells package small RNAs inside sacs called exosomes which are delivered from the cells to the site of infection. 

The fungus takes in the exosomes and the RNAs stops the disease by inhibiting the expression of certain fungal genes. The researchers call these exosomes “battling bubbles” because of their round shape and effective use as a defense mechanism. 

Jin has been working with RNAs,  plant immunity, and disease in an effort to develop effective and eco-friendly ways to control plant diseases that will aid in ensuring food production security. 

“The discovery of the role of exosomes in cross-kingdom RNA interference will help us develop effective delivery methods to target plant pathogens with artificial sRNAs, with the goal of controlling plant diseases in crops,”  said Jin.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Rasbak (CC BY 3.0)

The secret weapon plants use to battle deadly fungus

Plants can fight back against pathogens that cause disease like...

The effects of global warming are projected to influence climate across the entirety of our planet, changing ecosystems and weather patterns along the way. These changes put many plant and animal species in jeopardy, as they need to adapt more quickly to a less hospitable environment. Now, a new study published in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> has found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would save the vast majority of the planet’s animal and plant species from climate change.

While past research has focused on quantifying the benefits of limiting warming to 2°C above pre-industrial times, they have not explored how this affects insects. This new research from the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> (UEA) is the first to explore how limiting warming to 1.5°C would benefit species globally.

Researchers from UEA and <a href="https://www.jcu.edu.au/">James Cook University</a> in Australia assessed roughly 115,000 species – including 31,000 insects, 8,000 birds, 1,700 mammals, 1,800 reptiles, 1,000 amphibians, and 71,000 plants. Not surprisingly, this is the largest scale study of its kind. 

The research team was looking at how different projected climate futures affected areas, making them climatically unsuitable for the plants and animals that live there. “We measured the risks to biodiversity by counting the number of species projected to lose more than half their geographic range due to climate change,” explains Rachel Warren, a professor at UEA and lead researcher on the study. “We found that achieving the ultimate goal of the Paris Agreement, to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, would reap enormous benefits for biodiversity – much more so than limiting warming to 2°C.”

Their results showed that insects were especially sensitive to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-fish-north-fishing-business/">climate change</a>. Of the 31,000 insects studied, 18 percent were projected to lose over half their range at a 2°C increase. But at a 1.5°C increase, the number was reduced to 6 percent. 

“The current global warming trajectory, if countries meet their international pledges to reduce CO2, is around 3°C,” says Warren. “In this case, almost 50 percent of insects would lose half their range. This is really important because insects are vital to ecosystems and for humans. They pollinate crops and flowers, they provide food for higher-level organisms, they break down detritus, they maintain a balance in ecosystems by eating the leaves of plants, and they help recycle nutrients in the soil.”

Even more concerning, the researchers found that the three biggest groups of pollinating insects were the most sensitive to warming. 

In their study, the researchers also assessed the ability of species to relocate to more habitable locations as the climate changes. “If warming is limited to 1.5°C by 2100 then more species can keep up or even gain in range, whereas if warming reached 2°C by 2100 many species cannot keep up and far more species lose large parts of their range,” Warren says.

Although just half-a-degree Celsius may not seem like much, this study shows that there are major consequences that lie between 1.5 and 2°C. If we aren’t able to cut back on the contributing factors to man-made climate change, we might be finding out what those consequences are for ourselves.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Stopping global warming at 1.5°C can save a vast number of species

The effects of global warming are projected to influence climate...

Average global temperatures are increasing as climate change continues to be a major crisis for our planet. A recent report published in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>, from Rachel Warren at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> in the United Kingdom, found that if global temperature increase cannot be limited to 1.5°C, and rises to 2°C, it just about doubles the risks associated with warming for plants, animals, and insects. 

Now, in a reaction to that report, Guy Midgley – a world-leading expert on global change and impact on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hydropower-benefits-biodiversity-costs/">biodiversity</a> – has published an insight article in Science detailing the effect this temperature change would have on biodiversity.

“Warming by more than two degrees will take the world into a temperature state that it hasn’t seen for several millions of years,” says Midgley, a professor in the Department of Botany and Zoology at <a href="about:blank">Stellenbosch University</a>, South Africa. 

Based on current pledges by countries for limiting climate change, scientists predict a corresponding warming of roughly 3.2°C. If this were to occur, it’s estimated that the geographic ranges will be lost for 47% of insect species, 26% of vertebrates, and 16% of plant species.

Midgley believes that higher levels of warming may lead to systemic ecological simplification, where many “climate losers” are replaced by far fewer “climate winners.” A simplified ecological landscape could impact ecosystem services such as water quality, soil conservation and flood prevention. If insect populations were to decrease, it would likely mean fewer pollinators – which would be a major loss for plant species and human food production.

“We need to stay as close to 1.5°C as possible. That is really the conclusion from the Warren et al paper,” Midgley says. “So here is the irony. In order to achieve the 1.5°C target, we may well damage many of the habitats that support biodiversity in order to achieve a target that will save biodiversity.” What this means is that, even if governments and industry can limit warming to 1.5°C, recent research shows that large tracts of land would need to be made available for capturing and storing carbon. Expanding land use for carbon storage would likely threaten the habitats that occupy this land.

“There is way too much debate about the issue of climate change and whether or not it is real,” laments Midgley. “What we really need to be doing is debating how we solve this problem…  if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, we could literally move the world back 20 to 30 million years in the space of a century.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Warming climate threatens vast swathes of biodiversity

Average global temperatures are increasing as climate change continues to...

A new study has found that many diverse tropical species now found in Latin America originated in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazon-rainforest-back-deforestation/">Amazonian rainforests</a>.

The American tropics are one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet, with many unique species found nowhere else in the world. 

An international team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard</a> Visiting Scholar Alexandre Antonelli identified the processes by which many species first colonized and evolved in Latin America, leading to a thriving ecosystem with unrivaled species diversity. 

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

“We were astonished to detect so much movement across such different environments and over such large distances,” said Antonelli, the study's lead author. “Up until now, these natural dispersal events were assumed to be quite rare. Our results show how crucial these events have been in the formation of tropical America's unique and outstandingly rich biodiversity.”

Species have naturally come to colonize different regions and it’s a process that has taken tens of millions of years. 

The plants and animals that migrated away from their original area had to learn to adapt to different conditions and over time, these species evolved into completely different species in their new environment. 

This process is exactly why the American Tropics are so diverse compared to other regions around the world and the researchers wanted to better understand what mechanisms drive species distribution.

“Most evolutionary research focuses on how new species form,” said Antonelli. “But we want to understand how whole ecosystems evolve, and what makes some regions much more species-rich than others. This is important because it shows us how plants and animals deal with new environments and what factors determine biodiversity.”

The researchers collected an expansive amount of data on evolutionary relationships, distribution, and timing of the origin of thousands of tropical species in order to calculate the frequency that species were distributed to a different region.  

Birds, frogs mammals, snakes, lizards, and plants were all considered for the study. 

Among all the regions in the American tropics that have distributed species, Amazonia was the main source of many of the species in the area. 

“Two main factors seem to explain the key role of Amazonia in exporting so much diversity: its huge area, and the large amount of time that species have existed there,” said Antonelli. “Together, these have increased the chances of species dispersing into new habitats and regions.” 

Besides proving the key role that Amazonia played in the biodiversity of the American Tropics, the study shows the danger that many tropical ecosystems face due to human activities. 

“Biodiversity is the dark matter of our planet: we know there must be millions of species that we haven't found yet,” said Antonelli. “Finding, understanding, and protecting this diversity is probably humanity's toughest but most important challenge”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Many diverse tropical species can find their roots in the Amazon

A new study has found that many diverse tropical species...

If you think your seasonal allergies are worse than usual this year, you may be right – and climate change seems to be behind it.

Climate scientists have been recording earlier starts to spring, warm winters with more rain and snow, and longer growing seasons, which leads to more pollen in the air longer, they said. For the <a href="https://acaai.org/news/facts-statistics/allergies">more than 50 million Americans</a> who struggle with seasonal allergies, that’s bad news.

“Some research has suggested that the warming trend that we have in our environment is causing the pollen seasons to start a little bit earlier, and extend a little bit longer," said Dr. Stanley Fineman, a Georgia allergist and immunologist, told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/">NBC News</a>. 

That longer pollen exposure means allergy sufferers are battling symptoms longer, said Fineman, is is a past president of the <a href="https://acaai.org/">American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology</a>.

The claims are backed by research into seasonal changes in the United States over the past few years. 

Between 1995 and 2011, the pollen season around the U.S. grew longer by 11 to 27 days, according to a report released by the <a href="http://www.aafa.org/page/extreme-allergies-and-climate-change.aspx">Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America</a>. Increased atmospheric carbon encourages plants like ragweed to grow faster and larger, the report noted. Higher carbon levels can actually make pollen that produces a stronger allergic reaction among people who suffer seasonal allergies, the researchers found.

Warming temperatures can affect the protein composition of pollen and fungal spores, the <a href="https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/library/allergy-library/climate-change">American Academy of Allergy Asthma &amp; Immunology</a> writes on its website. Changes in weather patterns can also affect how pollen spreads.

Tree pollen is also exploding. A video that captured the massive pollen release of a pine tree in Cumberland County, New Jersey <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/massive-pollen-cloud-released-tree-caught-video/story?id=55040001">went viral this week</a> after it was posted on Facebook.

In 2014, a team of climate experts around the country recorded observations about changing climate conditions all over the country. They found that the rise of average global surface temperatures were having an effect inside the U.S. 

“Summers are longer and hotter, and extended periods of unusual heat last longer than any living American has ever experienced. Winters are generally shorter and warmer. Rain comes in heavier downpours,” the team wrote in their peer-reviewed <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights">National Climate Assessment</a>. “People are seeing changes in the length and severity of seasonal allergies, the plant varieties that thrive in their gardens, and the kinds of birds they see in any particular month in their neighborhoods.”

And while much of the focus this time of year is on seasonal allergies caused by pollen, warmer and wetter winters can also lead to more fungal growth. Fungal spores are another irritant. 

“Flooding and severe storms can result in damp buildings and resultant mold exposure,” the AAAAI website said. “In addition to triggering allergic reactions, increased mold spore exposures have been linked to other lung diseases.”

This spring, there has been a huge jump in the number of people who are suffering seasonal allergies for the first time, the organization told NBC.

Symptoms of seasonal allergies – also called hay fever or allergic rhinitis – include itchy, burning or watery eyes; itchy, stuffy or runny nose; sneezing; and itching of the roof of the mouth. In some cases, seasonal allergies can lead to allergic asthma, which can cause coughing, wheezing and inflamed airways. Seasonal allergies can also raise the risk of sinus infections, bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses.

Anyone experiencing symptoms of allergies or allergic asthma should consult their doctor about relief strategies, from home treatment to over-the-counter or prescription medications. 

Allergy sufferers should avoid pollen during the growing season, by exercising indoors, closing windows and using an air conditioner as needed.

—

By Kyla Cathey,<a href="http://www.earth.com"> Earth.com</a> staff writer

Seasonal allergies intense? Climate change may be to blame

If you think your seasonal allergies are worse than usual...

Forests with a diverse mix of plants and trees are more productive than forests with only a single kind of species, also known as a monoculture. 

Mixed forests do better on all five of the Earth’s continents but still, many forest managers are unconvinced, sticking to monocultures. 

That is why researchers from the <a href="https://www.tum.de/en/homepage/">Technical University of Munich (TUM</a>) conducted an expansive international overview study reviewing research on mixed forest productivity in order to aid in future forest management on a global scale. 

“We know of the many advantages of mixed forests,” said Hans Pretzsch, a co-author of the study. “Mixed-species forests are ecologically more valuable as versatile habitats. They mitigate climate change, as they mean a higher carbon sink.”

The researchers reviewed 600 studies that examined why mixed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-thinning-forests-saving-water/">forests</a> were more productive. Of those 600, the researchers filtered out 126 case studies from 60 areas around the world from 1997 to 2016. 

Long-term studies, which the 126 were, make for better research because measurements and data come from years of record keeping which provides a more accurate picture of how environments respond to different factors. 

Many of the studies were conducted in Bavaria, some of which are the oldest forestry experiments in the world. Experimental areas with mixed forests and monocultures in Bavaria were first set up in the 1870s and measurements are still taken today. 

After analyzing the data, the researchers discovered that trees in mixed forests have better access to light, water, and soil nutrients compared to monocultures. The complex network of root systems compliment each other which allows for better absorption with mixed species. 

“This makes mixed stands more resilient during dry years. In addition, they are more stable against pests and visually more appealing,’ said Pretzsch. 

The researchers say that the results show that choosing a combination of tree species creates more resilient and productive forests. 

“Based on these findings, the interactions between the individual tree species will be studied in more detail at the TUM,” said Pretzsch.

In order to do this, the researchers will expand the Bavarian plots to include more than a hundred hectares of mixed stand experiments. 

“This will be highly interesting for science and provide practical decision-making aids,” said Pretzsch. “In light of climate change and the increasing ecological, economic, and social requirements that forests need to fulfill, mixed stands will increase in importance throughout the world.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Photo: L. Steinacker/<a href="https://www.tum.de/en/homepage/">Technical University of Munich</a> (TUM)

Mixed forests are more economically and ecologically valuable

Forests with a diverse mix of plants and trees are...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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What to plant in your garden in mid-July

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

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

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</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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-----

Wildlife tunnels save millions of amphibians

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



---



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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