Stars,Are,Collapsing,In,A,Deep,Black,Hole,,Attracted,By

“Hic sunt leones,” said Stefano Liberati, the co-author of a new study exploring the nature of the&nbsp;singularities at the heart of black holes.



On medieval charts, these words warned of terra incognita, or unknown territory. In modern cosmology, they mark the central core of a classical black hole - a place where Einstein’s otherwise triumphant field equations predict an impossible infinity.



According to Karl Schwarzschild’s 1916 solution to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, if enough mass collapses into a small region, it forms a horizon through which nothing can escape. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radical-theory-unites-gravity-spacetime-and-the-quantum-realm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spacetime</a> curvature keeps steepening until, at the very center, it diverges.



By the 1960s, theorists had proven that singularity is not a removable coordinate glitch but an unavoidable feature of classical relativity taken to its limit. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-immensely-compact-objects">Immensely compact objects </h2>



Invoking the word “singularity” became, in Liberati’s phrase, a white flag that signals surrender: here our current physics breaks down. Observations since the 1970s have nevertheless confirmed that immensely compact objects exist. 



Nobel‑winning milestones include the first gravitational‑wave signal in 2015 - an invisible quake caused by two black holes spiraling together - and the <a href="https://eventhorizontelescope.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Event Horizon Telescope</a>’s images of the shadows of M87* and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stars-orbiting-sagittarius-a-appear-rejuvenated-after-stellar-collisions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sagittarius A*</a>.



These achievements reveal matter and light teetering on the brink of the horizon, but they say nothing about what happens farther in.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-look-at-black-holes">A new look at black holes</h2>



Seeking an answer to these questions, the <a href="https://www.ifpu.it/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe</a> (IFPU) gathered an eclectic mix of theorists and observational specialists for a workshop whose debates have just been distilled into a substantial new paper.



Liberati, an astrophysicist at IFPU, calls the result “something more” than a conventional review: the text weaves together arguments from participants who began with sharply different positions and, in several cases, left with revised views.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-three-core-models-emerge">Three core models emerge</h2>



By the closing session, three broad classes of models had emerged. Each described an ultra‑compact object with different interior properties, while reproducing the observed exterior gravity that makes a black hole so distinctive.



The classical black hole remains faithful to Einstein, retaining both its event horizon and its singularity. The regular black hole keeps the horizon intact yet replaces the infinite core with a finite quantum‑driven region. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-objects-that-mimick-black-holes">Objects that mimick black holes</h2>



Finally, the black hole mimicker does away with horizon and singularity alike. Objects in this family - gravastars supported by quantum vacuum energy, boson stars made of exotic scalar fields, or wormholes stabilized by modified gravity - imitate the outer profile of a black hole. 



However, they host a radically different interior. Participants then asked whether nature could forge such objects.



Collapse halted by quantum pressure might generate a regular black hole, whereas a cloud of self‑interacting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/higgs-boson-god-particle-still-remains-quantum-mystery-after-12-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bosons</a> could condense into a mimicker without ever forming a horizon. 



Some scenarios even allow an object to migrate from one class to another as it accretes mass or sheds angular momentum.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-probing-the-invisible">Probing the invisible </h2>



While current telescopes cannot see inside a horizon, the team emphasizes that non‑classical objects are never exactly identical to a Schwarzschild solution even outside that boundary. Small discrepancies could betray a different interior.



High‑resolution imaging may reveal extra photon rings or subtle asymmetries around a mimicker, produced by the way light bends in a spacetime that slightly deviates from Einstein’s geometry.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/black-hole-singularity_discovery_credit-Sissa-Medialab_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/black-hole-singularity_discovery_credit-Sissa-Medialab_1s.webp" alt="Singular black hole and non-singular alternatives. Credit: Sissa Medialab. Background image sourced from ESO/Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit" class="wp-image-1969092"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Singular black hole and non-singular alternatives. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Sissa Medialab. Background image sourced from ESO/Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit </figcaption></figure>



Future gravitational‑wave detectors could pick up minute echoes caused by reflections from a surface just outside where the horizon would usually form. Even thermal signatures from a surface that replaces the horizon might betray a mimicker.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-confirming-the-singularity-of-black-holes">Confirming the singularity of black holes</h2>



Why press so hard to replace or confirm the idea of singularity in black holes? Aside from resolving a long‑standing paradox in general relativity, experimental evidence for a finite core or a mimicker could illuminate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-quantum-gravity-discovery-leaps-one-step-closer-to-unified-theory-of-everything/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quantum gravity</a>, the still‑missing framework uniting relativity with quantum mechanics.



If singularities are smoothed away, the mechanism doing the smoothing must involve quantum principles acting on astronomical scales. For now, no one can specify how strong the telltale deviations should be.



Numerical simulations are advancing rapidly, however, helped by ever‑faster supercomputers and clever algorithms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-gravity-research">The future of gravity research </h2>



As models sharpen, engineers can design instruments keyed to the predicted anomalies, just as waveform catalogs guided <a href="https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LIGO</a>’s discovery of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/expanding-our-view-of-the-universe-with-faint-gravitational-waves/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gravitational waves</a>. Data will then feed back into theory, pruning ideas that fail and refining those that survive.



Liberati sees the moment as a turning point. “What lies ahead for gravity research is a truly exciting time. We are entering an era where a vast and unexplored landscape is opening up before us.”



Whether the singular black hole core will dissolve into quantum foam, reveal a tangible surface, or stand unchanged as Einstein foretold, the coming interplay of theory, simulation, and observation promises to redraw our deepest map of space, time, and matter.



The study is published in the <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2025/05/003" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics</a>.



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Solving the singularity puzzle at the heart of black holes has proven very difficult

“Hic sunt leones,” said Stefano Liberati, the co-author of a new study exploring the nature of the&nbsp;singularities at the heart of black holes. On medieval charts, these words warned of terra incognita, or unknown territory. In modern cosmology, they mark the central core of a classical black hole - a place where Einstein’s otherwise triumphant field equations predict an impossible infinity. According to Karl Schwarzschild’s 1916 solution to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, if enough mass collapses into a small region, it forms a horizon through which nothing can...

In a new study published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>, experts are describing a new material that can be used to detect seafood freshness. The hydrogel chemosensor, which mimics <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-chameleons-found-in-madagascar-fit-on-a-human-fingertip/">chameleon</a> skin, changes color in response certain vapors that are released as fish spoils.

According to the researchers, the material may also be used to advance the development of stretchable electronics, dynamic camouflaging robots, and anticounterfeiting technologies.

Study co-author Tao Chen is a professor at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

"This novel core-shell layout does not require a careful choice of luminogen pairs, nor does it require an elaborate design and regulation of the complex photophysical interactions between different luminogens," said Professor Chen. 

"These advantages are important to the future construction of robust multicolor material systems with as-yet-unachieved performance."

Scientists have previously developed soft materials that can shift across a range of colors, but synthetic materials are rarely able to change their color as skillfully as chameleons do.

"Most artificial color-changing soft materials have been prepared by simultaneously incorporating two or more responsive luminogens into one single elastomer or hydrogel matrix," said Professor Chen. 

"On the other hand, the organization of different iridophores into two superposed core-shell structured layers constitutes an evolutionary novelty for panther chameleons that allows their skins to display complex structural colors."

&nbsp;

To test the abilities of their hydrogel chemosensor to detect seafood freshness, the researchers sealed test strips made from the material in boxes with fresh shrimp or fish for 50 hours. 

The test strip stored with seafood stored at a proper temperature barely changed from its original red fluorescent color, indicating that the food was still fresh. The test strip stored with seafood at an unsuitably high temperature turned vivid green, indicating that the food had spoiled.

According to Professor Chen, the new material has potential applications beyond detecting seafood freshness. He said that both the novel core-shell hydrogels, as well as the strategy used to make them, could prove useful in a diverse range of scientific fields, including robotics.

"In the near future, we plan to utilize the developed chameleon skin-like core-shell hydrogels to prepare biomimetic soft camouflaging skins, which can be used to mimic the diverse color-changing functions of living organisms' skins and to help achieve desirable active camouflage, display and alarm functions in robots," said Chen.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-physical-science/home">Cell Reports Physical Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Material that mimics chameleon skin detects seafood freshness

In a new study published by Cell Press, experts are...

Animals have more than one way to adapt to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-greening-will-not-slow-local-climate-changes/">climate</a> change, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.unh.edu/">University of New Hampshire</a>. Focusing on three species of mice, the researchers found that each has a different genetic mechanism for desert survival, or living in extreme heat with limited water. 

The research suggests that many species have the capacity to adapt to the hotter and drier conditions associated with climate change.

"To reference a familiar phrase, it tells us that there is more than one way to bake a cake," said study co-author Jocelyn Colella. "In other words, there are several ways for animals to adapt to desert conditions and discovering this genetic flexibility offers a silver lining to all species that will increasingly be forced to acclimate to hotter, drier settings."

The experts compared the genetic mechanisms of cactus and canyon mice, which are both found in desert habitats, and the North American deer mouse, which can be found in colder, wetter climates in the northern United States. 

The researchers expected to find similar genes in each species that were critical for living in desert environments. However, they found that each species uses a different genetic mechanism for desert survival. 

For example, one species adapted through mutational genetic changes over time, while another species exhibited changes in gene expression that occur more quickly.

"We were excited by the findings because if our research had only found one gene that was critical to adapting to warmer, drier conditions it would suggest that it would be challenging for other animals to respond to climate change, but our work says there are multiple evolutionary options that enable desert survival," said Colella.

The findings may also have implications for human health by helping to treat dehydration related illness, which kills millions of people each year. Experts say that even minor dehydration can compromise the kidneys and cause lifelong issues.

"Because mice are physiologically similar to humans, this type of evolutionary work offers important first steps toward identifying and understanding genes that control complex traits like dehydration, which can compromise human kidneys causing lifelong, irreparable damage," said study co-author Professor Matt MacManes.

The study is published in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jhered">Journal of Heredity</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Animals have multiple genetic mechanisms for desert survival

Animals have more than one way to adapt to climate...

Experts at <a href="http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/">Lund University</a> have discovered that great reed warblers fly at extreme altitudes during daylight hours. The researchers found that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rat-eradication-is-beneficial-for-seabirds-and-coral-reefs/">birds</a> were consistently flying at altitudes of more than twice their nighttime elevations to manage migrating in the daytime. 

Great reed warblers usually travel at night during their month-long migration from northern Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa. Occasionally, however, the birds fly for over 24 consecutive hours to avoid having to stop in inhospitable locations, such as deserts. Incredibly, great reed warblers can fly for up to 34 consecutive hours without landing. 

The researchers used data loggers, which weighed under 1.2 grams, to capture information about 14 warblers over the course of a full year. 

Every five minutes, the loggers saved information about whether the birds were flying, looking for food on the ground, or resting. The loggers also recorded altitude measurements once per hour.

The data revealed that the great reed warblers flew at an average altitude of 2,400 meters at night. At dawn, they climbed 3,000 meters to fly at about 5,400 meters during the day. At dusk - before flying a second consecutive night - the warblers dropped down 3,000 to 4,000 meters to an altitude of around 2,000 meters.

While the reason for flying at extreme daytime altitudes is unclear, the researchers have ruled out wind and air temperature as potential factors.

"At altitudes over 2000 meters, winds and air temperatures do not change merely going from day to night or vice versa," explained study co-author Sissel Sjöberg.

Furthermore, there are no high mountains along the migration route that could push the birds up to extreme altitudes. 

According to the experts, great reed warblers can see further from an extreme height, which would help them avoid predators. The researchers also propose that the birds climb to more than double the altitude during the day to avoid becoming overheated by exposure to the sun's radiation.

"It is colder higher up in the air and when the birds rise to 5,400 meters, they reach a layer of air with a temperature of around minus 9 degrees centigrade. That is 22 degrees colder than the altitude at which the birds fly during the night," said Sjöberg.

"The wings of migratory songbirds beat several times per second, so they are working extremely hard, which makes their bodies very warm regardless of whether they are flying by day or by night," said study co-author Dennis Hasselquist.

"But if they fly by day, they are also exposed to the heat from the sun's radiation; that is what we suggest they are compensating for when they climb to a much colder layer of air at daytime. It is likely that they would not manage to fly by day without becoming overheated if they did not climb to these extreme altitudes."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Great reed warblers double their altitude during the day

Experts at Lund University have discovered that great reed warblers...

Sharks respond to hurricanes in different ways based on their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-species-of-fanged-frog-found-in-the-philippines/">species</a> and location, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.rsmas.miami.edu/">University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science</a>.  The researchers found that large tiger sharks, in particular, choose not to evacuate before a storm, but instead prepare to feast on other animals that perish.

The experts tracked large sharks in Miami and The Bahamas to investigate how these migratory animals behave in the face of hurricanes and other major storms. 

The researchers analyzed acoustic tag data from tiger sharks, bull sharks, nurse sharks, and great hammerheads before, during, and after Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Irma in 2017. 

The team investigated whether sharks evacuated shallow coastal habitat during the hurricanes, as has been previously found for smaller sharks elsewhere. 

"Located on the northwest edge of the Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas, an acoustic array consisting of 32 acoustic telemetry receivers tracking tiger sharks sustained a direct hit from Hurricane Matthew in 2016," explained the study authors. "Daily detections of tagged tiger sharks within the array were consistent before and during the hurricane."

The tiger sharks remained in shallow inshore waters, even as the site received a direct hit from the eye of the category-5 Hurricane Matthew. Immediately after the storm, the number of tiger sharks doubled. 

In Biscayne Bay, an array of 32 acoustic receivers tracked bull sharks, nurse sharks, and great hammerhead sharks during Hurricane Irma in 2017. Nearly all of the sharks, with the exception of two nurse sharks, evacuated the shallow waters and could no longer be detected. 

"I was amazed to see that big tiger sharks didn't evacuate even as the eye of the hurricane was bearing down on them, it was as if they didn't even flinch," said Professor Neil Hammerschlag.

"Their numbers even increased after the storm passed. We suspect tiger sharks were probably taking advantage of all the new scavenging opportunities from dead animals that were churned up in the storm."

The researchers noted that global climate change is expected to increase the strength and frequency of storm events. 

"Although aquatic animals can be affected by acute natural disturbances, information on the immediate consequences of these weather systems on the behavioral ecology of highly mobile aquatic predators remains limited."

According to Professor Hammerschlag, how these storms impact the environment, including large sharks, is of interest and conservation concern to many.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/estuarine-coastal-and-shelf-science">Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tiger sharks can take a direct hit from a major hurricane

Sharks respond to hurricanes in different ways based on their...

Humans have created the "perfect storm" for the emergence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/preserving-nature-is-key-for-preventing-future-pandemics/">pandemics</a> like COVID-19, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a>. The report from Professor Cock Van Oosterhout describes how the world's vast population of people, pets, and livestock supports an optimal breeding ground for zoonotic diseases that are passed from animals to humans.

The research highlights the urgent need for measures to control the transmission of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, including vaccination passports and reducing meat consumption.

"We humans have been living in a non-sustainable way over the past few centuries. We now have a vast population size - not only of humans but also of domesticated animals and livestock," said Professor Van Oosterhout.

"This makes an ideal breeding ground for the evolution and transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases that jump from an animal to a human host."

According to the study, global livestock biomass is more than 10 times higher than that of all wildlife combined. At the same time, the genetic effective size of the world's livestock is 80 times lower than the minimum viable population size of free-living species.

Professor Van Oosterhout explained that the genetic effective size determines how much genetic variation can be maintained in the population, and this genetic variation is critical to counter the evolution of infectious diseases.

"The combination of high livestock biomass and low genetic variation has tipped the co-evolutionary balance with zoonotic pathogens."

"Habitat destruction, illegal wildlife trade and other human activities have brought many species into contact with each other - and this facilitates a spill-over, spillback and hybridization of the pathogens."

"Given that we are in close contact with our domesticated animals and livestock, there are many opportunities for the spill-over of viruses from animals to humans, and spillback from humans back to animals."

"Altogether, these conditions have created a perfect storm for the evolution and transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases."

According to Professor Van Oosterhout, COVID-19 has shown us that humans are not immune to the evolutionary processes that drive the adaptations of pathogens.

"We urgently need to reset this co-evolutionary imbalance and control the transmission of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 by using vaccination passports, maximising genetic variation in livestock, and reducing our consumption of animal protein. We also need to be aware of pathogen reservoirs, both locally and globally."

"It is time that we start to recognize that our health, the environment, and our global economy are all closely interlinked. Pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 will continue to evolve when allowed to infect humans, anywhere in the world. In turn, this poses a threat to the human population at large, also in countries that have the infection under control."

"Our society is facing significant threat, and we all need to do what we can both at an individual and societal level to improve our long term prospects as a species. These changes needs to be implemented globally to effectively combat pandemics."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/virulence/">Virulence</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Humans and livestock create the "perfect storm" for pandemics

Humans have created the "perfect storm" for the emergence of...

Glacial lake outburst floods will become much more common in the high <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tourists-taking-selfies-with-mountain-gorillas-put-them-at-risk-of-disease/">mountain</a> ranges of Asia, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.unige.ch/en/university/">University of Geneva</a>. The researchers found that in the coming decades, the flood risk to communities and their infrastructure could almost triple.

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region, often referred to as Earth's third pole, contains the largest number of glaciers outside of the poles. As a result of global warming, the glaciers are melting more rapidly and forming new glacial lakes. 

When water is suddenly released from glacial lakes, outburst floods can devastate communities located downstream. The mountain ranges of the Third Pole span eleven nations, giving rise to potential transboundary natural disasters. 

The researchers have investigated the risk associated with 7,000 glacial lakes across the region.

"Here we provide a holistic assessment of past evolution, present state and modeled future change of glacial lakes and related glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) risk across the Third Pole," wrote the study authors. 

"We show that the highest GLOF risk is at present centred in the eastern Himalaya, where the current risk level is at least twice that in adjacent regions. In the future, GLOF risk will potentially almost triple as a consequence of further lake development, and additional hotspots will emerge to the west, including within transboundary regions."

The study revealed that 1,203 of current glacial lakes pose a high to very high risk to downstream communities, most notably in the eastern and central Himalayan regions of China, India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

The researchers found that much of the Third Pole could already be approaching a state of peak risk by the end of this century, or even by mid-century in some regions. Beyond the threat of outburst floods, the lakes will gradually grow closer to steep, unstable mountain slopes that can collapse and trigger small tsunamis. 

"The speed at which some of these new hazardous situations are developing surprised us," said UNIGE Professor Markus Stoffel. "We are talking a few decades not centuries - these are timeframes that demand the attention of authorities and decision-makers."

If global warming continues at the current rate, the number of lakes classified as high or very high risk will increase from 1,203 to 2,963, with new hotspots of risk emerging in the Western Himalaya, Karakorum and into Central Asia, according to the study. 

"These regions have experienced glacial lake outburst floods before, but these events have tended to be repetitive and linked to advancing glaciers," said Professor Stoffel.

"Authorities and communities will be less familiar with the types of spontaneous events we consider here in a deglaciating landscape, so this calls for awareness raising and education on the new challenges that will emerge."

The researchers emphasized the importance of developing disaster risk management strategies to reduce the exposure of people and property. 

"The findings of this research should motivate relevant nations and the international research communities to urgently work together to prevent future glacial flood disasters in the Third Pole region," said Professor Stoffel.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Flood risk could triple in the high mountains of Asia

Glacial lake outburst floods will become much more common in...

Sharks rely on Earth's magnetic field to navigate across long distances, according to a new study published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>. While scientists have long suspected that sharks use magnetic fields, this has been challenging to confirm. 

Researchers previously established that some shark species travel over great distances to very specific locations year after year.

"It had been unresolved how sharks managed to successfully navigate during migration to targeted locations," said Save Our Seas Foundation project leader Bryan Keller. "This research supports the theory that they use the earth's magnetic field to help them find their way; it's nature's GPS."

"To be honest, I am surprised it worked. The reason this question has been withstanding for 50 years is because sharks are difficult to study."

The investigation was focused on small sharks called bonnetheads that are known to migrate each year to the same location.

"The bonnethead returns to the same estuaries each year," said Keller. "This demonstrates that the sharks knows where 'home' is and can navigate back to it from a distant location."

To investigate whether bonnetheads rely on a magnetic map to travel, the researchers used experiments to test 20 wild-caught juveniles. 

The team exposed sharks to magnetic conditions representing locations hundreds of kilometers away from where the sharks were actually caught. The goal was to see how the sharks would orient themselves after displacement. 

If the sharks were deriving positional information from the geomagnetic field, the researchers predicted northward orientation in the southern magnetic field, and southward orientation in the northern magnetic field. The study revealed that the sharks behaved just as predicted.

Furthermore, when the sharks were exposed to the magnetic field that matched their capture site, they had no orientation preference.

According to the researchers, this ability to navigate based on magnetic fields may contribute to the population structure of sharks. 

The findings also help to explain impressive migrations by other shark species. For example, one great white shark was documented to migrate between South Africa and Australia, returning to the same exact location the following year.

"How cool is it that a shark can swim 20,000 kilometers round trip in a three-dimensional ocean and get back to the same site?" said Keller. "It really is mind blowing. In a world where people use GPS to navigate almost everywhere, this ability is truly remarkable."

In the future, Keller said he would like to explore how sharks are affected by magnetic fields from anthropogenic sources such as submarine cables. The researchers also plan to investigate whether sharks rely on magnetic cues during their everyday activities.

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

Sharks use Earth's magnetic field for long migrations

Sharks rely on Earth's magnetic field to navigate across long...

Scientists have discovered a hotspot of bee diversity in the protected Chihuahuan Desert along the United States-Mexico border. The experts have identified more than 470 bee species in a relatively small area that is practically undisturbed by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-development-was-not-always-environmentally-destructive/">human</a> activities.

"We find that the density of bee species in a limited area of 16 km2 far exceeds any other site in the world and amounts to approximately 14% of the bee species described from the United States," wrote the researchers.

The study, published by <a href="https://pensoft.net/">Pensoft</a>, was conducted by Dr. Robert Minckley of the University of Rochester and William Radke of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Scientists have previously recognized that the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of North America have high bee biodiversity, but the exact number of species has remained unclear.

In collaboration with students from Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States, the researchers identified more than 70,000 specimens across multiple years. 

"Despite the long intertwined evolutionary histories of bees and plants, bee diversity peaks in the xeric areas of the eastern and western hemispheres and not the tropics, where plant diversity is greatest," wrote the study authors.

"Intensive sampling in the northeast Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico and the United States provide the first quantitative estimate of bee species richness where high diversity had been predicted in North America from museum records."

Without this intensive sampling, it would not have been possible to to get a full picture of bee diversity. 

"There are numbers of reasons why species richness estimates for desert bees are sensitive to sampling duration that broadly apply to biodiversity studies of most desert insects and bees in general," explained the researchers.

"For one, many species, especially those bees that are specialists of one or several host plants, emerge as adults for a brief period per year, are small-bodied with limited dispersal capabilities and occur patchily."

Furthermore, bee diversity is difficult to estimate and compare among studies, which is due to differences in collecting techniques and the size of the study areas. 

According to the experts, more long-term research is needed from habitats that are minimally disturbed by humans to provide baseline data for studies of bees where human impacts are more severe, especially as climate change accelerates.

The study is published in the <a href="https://jhr.pensoft.net/">Journal of Hymenoptera Research</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Remarkably high bee diversity found in a small stretch of desert

Scientists have discovered a hotspot of bee diversity in the...

A Mediterranean diet could help protect your brain from Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a>. 

The researchers have found evidence that a diet consisting mainly of vegetables, legumes, fruits, whole grains, fish, and olive oil can prevent memory loss and the accumulation of dementia-related proteins in the brain.

"Our study suggests that eating a diet that's high in unsaturated fats, fish, fruits and vegetables, and low in dairy and red meat may actually protect your brain from the protein build-up that can lead to memory loss and dementia," said study co-author Dr. Tommaso Ballarini of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn, Germany. "These results add to the body of evidence that show what you eat may influence your memory skills later on."

The researchers investigated abnormal proteins called amyloid and tau, both of which are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. 

The study was focused on 512 people, including 169 who were cognitively healthy, and 343 who had a higher risk of developing dementia.

The participants were scored for how well they followed the Mediterranean diet based on their self-reported intake of 148 items over the previous month. 

The experts evaluated cognitive skills using an extensive test designed to measure Alzheimer's disease progression. The participants were given brain scans to determine their brain volume, while spinal fluid was tested for amyloid and tau protein biomarkers.

Ultimately, the researchers looked at the Mediterranean diet scores, and how these scores related to brain volume, tau and amyloid biomarkers, and cognitive skills.

The study revealed that in the area of the brain most closely associated with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, every point lower people scored on the Mediterranean diet scale was equal to almost one year of brain aging. In addition, individuals did not follow the diet closely had higher levels of amyloid and tau proteins.

In memory tests, those who adhered to a Mediterranean diet had higher scores. 

"More research is needed to show the mechanism by which a Mediterranean diet protects the brain from protein build up and loss of brain function, but findings suggest that people may reduce their risk for developing Alzheimer's by incorporating more elements of the Mediterranean diet into their daily diets," said Dr. Ballarini.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://n.neurology.org/">Neurology</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mediterranean diet protects the brain from dementia

A Mediterranean diet could help protect your brain from Alzheimer's...

A team of marine scientists led by <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> warns that urgent action is needed to protect dolphins and porpoises from fisheries bycatch in European waters. The experts point out limitations in efforts to address the bycatch issue, and are calling on the European Union to adopt a comprehensive plan.

"Despite a number of EU Regulations and Directives, there is no clear European framework to reduce the mortality of dolphins and porpoises in fisheries to sustainable levels. This limitation hampers the effective implementation of effective management actions," explained Professor Emer Rogan of University College Cork.

According to the researchers, the EU's ineffective response is a result of scattered management responsibility for the conservation of dolphins and porpoises in Europe. They also note a lack of quantitative objectives that could guide management action to ensure that bycatch does not exceed sustainable levels.

"The failure to effectively conserve Europe's dolphins and porpoises is not a result of a lack of scientific knowledge or difficulties in monitoring fisheries and bycatch. Instead, it reflects a lack of political will to ensure that these iconic animals are protected from unsustainable mortality in commercial fisheries throughout European waters," said Professor Andrew Read of Duke University. "We can and must do better."

The scientists have outlined a two-step approach that involves measurable management objectives for each population combined with monitoring programs.

"Among the most distinctive species of marine wildlife in Europe, cetaceans are vital to the history and culture of European maritime communities and generate significant revenue from ecotourism," said Professor Per Berggren of Newcastle University's School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.

"However, bycatch of small cetaceans in European fisheries is widespread, including very large numbers of common dolphins in trawl fisheries and bycatch of the critically endangered population of harbor porpoise in the Baltic Sea."

"We highlight this issue now because political attention has been drawn to the bycatch of common dolphins in trawl fisheries in the Bay of Biscay and the bycatch of harbor porpoises in the Baltic. Bycatch is also likely to be high for other populations, and in other areas of the EU, in the Mediterranean and Black Sea," wrote the researchers. 

"This requires that the EU take concrete action to address these and other by‐catch issues in a systematic fashion."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14672979">Fish &amp; Fisheries</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dolphins and porpoises need protection from fisheries bycatch

A team of marine scientists led by Newcastle University warns...

In a new study led by <a href="https://ku.edu/">The University of Kansas</a>, scientists describe a new species of fanged frog that has been discovered in the Philippines. The Mindoro Fanged Frog was distinguished from a nearly identical species through its unique <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mating-crickets-lower-their-standards-when-exposed-to-traffic-noise/">mating</a> call.

Study lead author Mark Herr is a doctoral student at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum. 

"This is what we call a cryptic species because it was hiding in plain sight in front of biologists, for many, many years," said Herr.

"Scientists for the last 100 years thought that these frogs were just the same species as frogs on a different island in the Philippines because they couldn't tell them apart physically." 

"We ran a bunch of analyses - and they do indeed look identical to the naked eye - however, they are genetically isolated. We also found differences in their mating calls. They sound quite different. So, it was a case of using acoustics to determine that the species was different, as well as the new genetic information."

Years ago, KU scientists working on Mindoro Island had collected genetic samples from the new fanged frog, Limnonectes beloncioi, that were not analyzed until recently. The frog was assumed to belong to a species on the island of Palawan called Acanth's Fanged Frog.

"You can look at two different things, but to the human eye without intensive investigation they might seem the same," said Herr. "So, we took a bunch of measurements of hundreds of these frogs - how long their digits were specifically, how wide the tip of their toe was, the length of one specific segment of their leg, the diameter of their eye - in order to compare populations statistically, even if we thought they look the same." 

"We ran statistical analyses on body shape and size, including a principal component analysis which uses all the measurements at once to compare the frog morphology in multivariate space. After all that, just like the scientists before us, we found nothing to differentiate the frogs based on the shape of their bodies and their size."

However, the fanged frogs live on islands that are separated by miles and miles of ocean, and the researchers noticed that their calls sounded different. Using a genomic analysis, the team determined the Mindoro Fanged Frog qualifies as its own distinct species.

"We ran genetic analyses of these frogs using some specific genetic markers, and we used a molecular clock model just to get a very basic estimate how long we thought that these frogs may have been separated from one another," said Herr. 

"We found they're related to each other, they are each other's close relatives, but we found they'd been separate for two to six million years - it's a really long time for these frogs. And it's very interesting that they still look so similar but sound different."

Herr said the Mindoro frogs' fangs are most likely used in combat for access to prime mating sites and to protect themselves from predators. The frogs are sometimes hunted by people, which made it difficult for the researchers to record their calls. 

"They're really wary of us when we're out there with our sound recorders trying to get recordings of these frogs - that's a really tough aspect, and we were lucky in this project that we had people over many years that were out there and had recorded both of these frogs on Palawan and Mindoro," said Herr.

"So, we had recordings from both islands, and that's kind of rare with this group of fanged frogs because people eat them. They call at night, but the second a flashlight or human voice wanders into the equation they're just going to take off - because they know that they can be killed by people."

Professor Rafe Brown said Herr's description of the Mindoro Fanged Frog continues a long tradition of KU field research into the herpetological biodiversity of the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

"Mark's discovery reinforces a lesson we've learned over and over through the years - things we thought we knew, combined with new information, emerge to teach us something completely unexpected," said Professor Brown. 

"A century ago, KU professor Edward Taylor identified the Mindoro Island population as Acanth's Fanged Frog, the same species as he had named, a few years before, from Palawan Island - an arrangement that made very little sense."

"Zoom forward a hundred years, and we find with new technology, genetic information and bioacoustic data that the two islands' populations are actually very well-differentiated, as we would expect. But not morphologically; their physical characteristics have not diverged. This is a case in which the formation of species has not been accompanied by morphological differentiation - so called 'cryptic speciation.'"

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.ichthyologyandherpetology.org/">Ichthyology &amp; Herpetology</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New species of fanged frog found in the Philippines

In a new study led by The University of Kansas,...

Missing the temperature targets set forward by the Paris Agreement will lead to an irreversible tipping point in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-icebergs-affect-seawater-and-ocean-currents-far-from-the-continent/">Antarctica</a>, according to the authors of a new study. At the current rate of global warming, Antarctic ice loss will trigger unstoppable sea level rise.

Study lead author Rob DeConto is the co-director of the School of Earth &amp; Sustainability at the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a>. He said that if the world continues to warm, the huge glaciers in Antarctica could begin behaving like their smaller counterparts in Greenland, which would be disastrous in terms of sea level rise.

The researchers used a computer model to project the response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet to several different warming scenarios, including the Paris Agreement target of two degrees Celsius of warming and an aspirational 1.5 degree scenario. The team also modeled the impacts of three degrees of warming, which the world is currently on track to exceed.

The model showed that the impact of three or more degrees of warming would drastically accelerate the pace of sea-level rise by 2100. 

The experts warn that if global warming continues on its current trajectory, a tipping point will be reached by 2060, past which the consequences would be "irreversible on multi-century timescales."

If the 1.5 and two degree Paris Agreement temperature targets are achieved, the Antarctic Ice Sheet will contribute between 6 and 11 centimeters of sea level rise by 2100. However, the model showed that the current rate of global warming will cause a major jump in melting.

Unless ambitious action is taken to mitigate rising temperatures by 2060, no type of human intervention will be able to prevent Antarctic ice from contributing 17 to 21 centimeters of sea-level rise by the end of this century. 

On longer timescales, the contribution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet will reach a globally catastrophic level of 10 meters or more by 2300 if global warming continues at the current rate.

According to DeConto and colleagues, the very architecture of the Antarctic Ice Sheet itself plays a key role in ice loss. The sheet naturally flows downhill into the ocean, where it begins to melt. This melting is limited by a ring of ice shelves, which act as dams that keep the ice sheet from sliding rapidly into the ocean. 

But if global warming is not slowed, the risk of the protective ice shelves melting will increase significantly, and their collapse would trigger rapid Antarctic melting.

"These results demonstrate the possibility that unstoppable, catastrophic sea level rise from Antarctica will be triggered if Paris Agreement temperature targets are exceeded," wrote the study authors. 

"It's critical to be proactive in mitigating climate change now through active international participation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and by continuing to ratchet down proposed policies to meet the ambitious Paris Agreement targets," said study co-author Daniel M. Gilford. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Current rate of warming will cause catastrophic melting of Antarctic ice

Missing the temperature targets set forward by the Paris Agreement...

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



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



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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



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

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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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&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.

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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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.

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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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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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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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.

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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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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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes why experts are studying zebrafish to gain a better understanding of how the immune system responds to injury. Zebrafish have the ability to repair and regenerate organs.



“Organ regeneration offers an exciting opportunity for studying the immune system and to inquire why some species can regenerate organs like the heart or missing limbs while others like humans cannot,” explained Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski.



Zebrafish sensory organ hair cells are an ideal system to investigate the pathways and cell types involved in regeneration since they are easily destroyed with antibiotics and begin regenerating within five hours. This enabled the researchers to identify the exact timing and genetic programs for each anti-inflammatory macrophage activation state.&nbsp;



“Our hypothesis is that human macrophages do not receive the proper chemical activation 'cocktail' to instruct pro-regenerative processes,” said Dr. Nicolas Denans. “Identifying the molecular recipe of macrophage activation in zebrafish may one day enable us to design regenerative immunotherapies in humans.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The new evidence is a valuable resource for comparative studies on the genetic programs involved in macrophage-mediated repair and regeneration. In other words, different types of injuries may induce different kinds of inflammatory responses. We want to decipher whether this 'language' is universal or if there are a variety of dialects."



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&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.

How the immune system responds to injury

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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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.

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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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