Clos,Eup,Of,A,Woman,Wand,Touching,River,Water,In

Scientists have long mapped separate brain areas for sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Yet new research reveals that when we focus sharply on any of those senses, signals converge on the same two structures buried deep in the brain - the midbrain reticular formation and the central thalamus.



This finding highlights a shared neural pathway that sustains <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-stops-paying-attention-to-repeated-distractions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">attention</a> and wakefulness and could inspire therapies for coma, epilepsy, and attention-deficit disorders.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-senses-in-a-single-brain-region">Senses in a single brain region</h2>



Research over the past century has shown that visual scenes activate the occipital cortex, melodies light up the temporal lobes, and so forth.



“We were expecting to find activity on shared networks, but when we saw all the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-sense-of-smell-and-different-odors-can-influence-how-we-see-colors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">senses</a> light up the same central brain regions while a test subject was focusing, it was really astonishing,” said Aya Khalaf, a postdoctoral associate in neurology at <a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yale School of Medicine</a> and lead author of the study.



Those two regions - the reticular formation, a mesh of neurons in the upper brainstem, and the intralaminar and mediodorsal nuclei of the thalamus - form part of the so-called subcortical arousal system, a set of circuits long suspected to regulate alertness and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/consciousness-may-stem-from-unseen-dimensions-beyond-our-reality/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">consciousness</a>.



Previous work had linked these hubs to vigilance by studying patients emerging from coma or experiencing absence seizures. But most of those experiments examined responses to a single type of stimulus, for example flashing lights or chirping sounds.



Khalaf and colleagues asked the broader question: do different senses share the same arousal circuitry when people deliberately pay attention?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-massive-data-mine">A massive data mine</h2>



To answer that, the team turned to the publicly available <a href="https://www.humanconnectome.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Human Connectome Project</a> and other repositories, assembling functional MRI scans from 1,561 healthy adults.



Across 11 tasks, participants viewed moving shapes, listened to spoken stories, sampled liquid tastants, or felt puffs of air on their fingertips. Each task included abrupt cues that forced subjects to switch attention - for instance, a sudden change in picture orientation or a surprise tone embedded in white noise.



The investigators processed more than 500 hours of scan data through a pipeline that removed head motion and physiological noise, then aligned brain volumes to a common atlas.



In every sensory domain, when a cue demanded rapid attentional re-orientation, blood-oxygen signals spiked in the reticular formation and the central thalamus. The effect was absent or minimal during passive stimulation, underscoring the importance of active engagement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-consciousness-in-the-brain">Consciousness in the brain</h2>



Why would a taste test and a vision task end up at the same neural address? The authors propose that the midbrain reticular formation integrates sudden sensory changes and broadcasts a “wake-up” volley to the thalamus, which relays it to widespread cortical areas.



That burst synchronizes cortical rhythms, priming the brain to process incoming information. The scheme dovetails with classical animal studies showing that electrical stimulation of the reticular formation induces cortical desynchronization and behavioral arousal, while lesions produce stupor.



“It tells us how important this brain region is and what it could mean in efforts to restore consciousness,” Khalaf said.



“This has also given us insights into how things work normally in the brain. It’s really a step forward in our understanding of awareness and consciousness,” said senior author Hal Blumenfeld, a neurologist at Yale.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-awakening-senses-in-the-brain">Awakening senses in the brain</h2>



Because the same deep-brain hubs fire regardless of which sense is active, treatments aimed at modulating those hubs could benefit diverse conditions.



Drugs that enhance thalamic neurotransmission, for instance, might improve focus in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/autism-and-adhd-disorders-directly-linked-amount-of-time-kids-spend-on-screens/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">attention deficit hyperactivity disorder</a>. Conversely, overactivity in the arousal circuit has been implicated in insomnia; dampening the circuitry could help induce sleep.



The results also support ongoing trials that deliver low-intensity ultrasound or deep-brain electrodes to the central thalamus in patients with disorders of consciousness. 



If attention triggers the thalamus to “switch on” the cortex, stimulating it directly might help rouse patients who are minimally conscious.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-sensory-rehabilitation"><a></a>Rethinking sensory rehabilitation</h2>



The discovery challenges sensory-specific training programs that ignore subcortical commonalities. 



For example, visual rehabilitation for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stroke-risk-is-elevated-by-air-pollution-and-traffic-noise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stroke</a> survivors may benefit from pairing attentional cues with tactile or auditory tasks to engage the shared arousal pathway.



Likewise, virtual-reality therapies that bombard users with multi-sensory surprises might more effectively sharpen attentional control.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions </h2>



The Yale team plans to refine the timeline of activation using magnetoencephalography, which offers millisecond resolution. They also hope to dissect the frequency bands that link the thalamus to frontal and parietal cortices during attentional jumps. 



Such work could reveal whether gamma-band bursts or alpha-band suppression carry the critical “wake-up” message.



Another frontier involves patients. Investigators will compare responses in healthy volunteers with those in people who have attention deficits or who are emerging from anaesthesia. 



Identifying a lost or delayed thalamic spike could serve as a biomarker for impaired consciousness.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-brain-regions-and-the-senses">Brain regions and the senses</h2>



For now, the study establishes the midbrain reticular formation and central thalamus as the universal relay through which sight, sound, taste, and touch gain conscious entry - at least when our minds snap to attention.



By showing that “all the senses light up the same central brain regions,” it confirms that consciousness depends not only on specialized cortical maps but also on a common deep-brain gatekeeper. 



Therapies that target this gatekeeper may eventually help restore awareness where it has dimmed and sharpen it where it wanders.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002277?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NeuroImage</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.



Check us out on <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthsnap/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EarthSnap</a>, a free app brought to you by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ralls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eric Ralls</a> and Earth.com.



-----

Scientists discover a brain region that connects all the senses

Scientists have long mapped separate brain areas for sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Yet new research reveals that when we focus sharply on any of those senses, signals converge on the same two structures buried deep in the brain - the midbrain reticular formation and the central thalamus. This finding highlights a shared neural pathway that sustains attention and wakefulness and could inspire therapies for coma, epilepsy, and attention-deficit disorders. Senses in a single brain region Research over the past century has shown that visual scenes...

A large genetic study has revealed that two distinct groups of humans settled in the Caribbean around 3,000 years apart. According to the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/">Florida Museum of Natural History</a>, the first group was nearly wiped out after the arrival of the second wave of settlers by an unknown cause - possibly warfare or <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-in-low-quality-habitats-are-more-susceptible-to-disease/">disease</a>. 

For the investigation, an international team of researchers led by Harvard Medical School's Professor David Reich analyzed the genomes of 263 individuals. The study is the most comprehensive analysis of ancient human DNA in the Americas to date.

The experts developed a new genetic technique for estimating past population size. They found that there were far fewer native people in the Caribbean when Europeans arrived than previously thought. The research suggests that this number was likely in the tens of thousands, rather than the million or more described by Columbus.

Study co-senior author William Keegan has studied the history of the Caribbean for more than 40 years. He explained that ancient DNA offers a powerful new tool to help resolve longstanding debates, confirm theories, and explore remaining mysteries.

Keegan said the genetic research "moves our understanding of the Caribbean forward dramatically in one fell swoop," adding that the methods developed for the current study helped to address questions he didn't even know could be addressed.

The genetic evidence offers new insights into the settlement of the Caribbean. The islands' first inhabitants, a group of stone tool-users, boated to Cuba about 6,000 years ago. They gradually expanded eastward to other islands during the region's Archaic Age. 

While the first settlers are more closely related to Central and South Americans than to North Americans, their genetics do not match any particular Indigenous group and their origin is not clear. According to Keegan, similar artifacts were found in Belize and Cuba, indicating a Central American origin.

About 3,000 years later, a group of farmers and potters moved into the Caribbean from South America. After their arrival, the Caribbean transitioned into the Ceramic Age, which was marked by agriculture and widespread pottery production.

Over time, nearly all genetic traces of Archaic Age people vanished, with the exception of one community in western Cuba that persisted as late as the arrival of Europeans. Marriage between the two groups was rare - only three individuals in the study had mixed ancestry.

There is only marginal evidence of Archaic Age ancestry in modern individuals, while many present-day Cubans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans are the descendants of Ceramic Age people. "That's a big mystery," said Keegan. "For Cuba, it's especially curious that we don't see more Archaic ancestry."

A study of male X chromosomes uncovered 19 pairs of "genetic cousins" living on different islands. These pairs represent people who share the same amount of DNA as biological cousins but may be separated by generations. In the most striking example, a man buried in the Bahamas was related to a man buried 600 miles away in the Dominican Republic.

"Showing relationships across different islands is really an amazing step forward," said Keegan, who added that shifting winds and currents can make passage between islands difficult. "I was really surprised to see these cousin pairings between islands."

Uncovering such a high proportion of genetic cousins in a sample of fewer than 100 men is another indicator that the region's total population size was small, said Professor Reich. "When you sample two modern individuals, you don't often find that they're close relatives. Here, we're finding relatives all over the place."

A technique developed by study co-author Harald Ringbauer used shared segments of DNA to estimate past population size. This technique could also be applied to future studies of ancient people. 

Ringbauer's method revealed that about 10,000 to 50,000 people were living on two of the Caribbean's largest islands, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, shortly before European arrival. This falls far short of the million inhabitants Columbus described to his patrons, likely to impress them, said Keegan.

In the 16th century, historian Bartolomé de las Casas claimed the region had been home to 3 million people before being decimated by European enslavement and disease. While this, too, was an exaggeration, the number of people who died as a result of colonization remains an atrocity, said Professor Reich.

"This was a systematic program of cultural erasure. The fact that the number was not 1 million or millions of people, but rather tens of thousands, does not make that erasure any less significant."

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

New details emerge about early humans in the Caribbean

A large genetic study has revealed that two distinct groups...

Bumblebees in low quality landscapes have higher levels of disease pathogens, according to a new study led by <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a>. Increased pathogen loads were also found among bumblebees in areas with higher numbers of managed honey bee hives.

The low quality habitats observed in the study were characterized by a relative lack of spring flowers and suitable nesting areas. 

The researchers explained that the findings can be used to inform management practices and support the conservation of bee species that provide essential pollination services in natural and agricultural ecosystems.

"Recent worldwide declines in wild and managed bee populations have been attributed to several factors," said study lead author D.J. McNeil. "For example, extensive habitat loss and degradation has led to a lack of flowers and nest sites, which in turn has contributed to the loss of wild bee abundance and diversity."

McNeil noted that more recently, some bee losses - especially among honey bees and bumblebees - have been blamed on rising levels of novel bee pathogens, perhaps exacerbated by other factors that weaken bee immunity or resistance.

"Many of the factors known to undermine bee health, such as poor nutrition or exposure to pesticides, can increase susceptibility to disease. Bees are more likely to be nutritionally deprived in landscapes with fewer and less diverse flowering plants, and poor nutrition can reduce the immune response and increase pathogen and parasite loads."

According to study co-author Professor Heather Hines, the incidence and loads of a particular pathogen or parasite in bee populations are likely influenced by the composition of bee communities as well. She explained that the incidence of viruses and parasites in wild bumble bees was higher in the presence of honey bee colonies, which often harbor higher loads of pathogens that are transmissible to native bees.

"Given all these interacting factors, disease prevalence and virulence can be challenging to predict in wild bee populations," said Professor Hines. "Our study is among the first to use data from a large geographic scale to evaluate the relative role of landscape features on the distribution and loads of key pathogens and parasites in wild bees."

The study was focused on the common eastern bumblebee. The team collected specimens from diverse sites across Pennsylvania, including 38 of the state's 67 counties.

The researchers screened for three pathogens known to infect bees: deformed wing virus, black queen cell virus, and Vairimorpha - a microsporidian parasite. They also looked for the expression of a gene that regulates immunity. 

Using statistical analysis techniques, the experts linked pathogen loads to several environmental stressors, including floral abundance, nesting habitat quality, insecticide loading, climate conditions, and interactions with managed honey bees.

The results indicate that bumblebees collected in low quality landscapes exhibited the highest pathogen loads, and the main drivers were spring floral resources and nesting habitat availability. The team also measured higher loads of bumblebee pathogens where honeybee apiaries were more abundant.

McNeil said results of the study highlight the need to maintain and create high quality landscapes, such as those with abundant floral and nesting resources, to support healthy wild bee populations. The findings also draw attention to the value of spring floral resources.

"Our results suggest that it may be possible to predict potential risks from pathogens and parasites based on these landscape indices, which can help inform decisions as to where habitat restoration and conservation practices should be applied," said McNeil. "This is particularly timely in light of widespread population declines in many insect groups, especially pollinators like bumblebees."

The researchers hope to incorporate this information into Beescape, an online tool that allows people across the United States to evaluate their landscape quality. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep">Scientific Reports</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Bumblebees in low quality habitats are more susceptible to disease

Bumblebees in low quality landscapes have higher levels of disease...

According to a new study from <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State</a>, most light smokers meet the criteria for nicotine addiction and should be considered for treatment. The researchers report that people who smoke as little as one to four cigarettes a day are likely addicted to nicotine.

"In the past, some considered that only patients who smoke around 10 cigarettes per day or more were addicted, and I still hear that sometimes," said study lead author Professor Jonathan Foulds. "But this study demonstrates that many lighter smokers, even those who do not smoke every day, can be addicted to cigarettes. It also suggests that we need to be more precise when we ask about cigarette smoking frequency."

Duke Professor Jason Oliver said that when assessing nicotine addiction, also known as tobacco use disorder, clinicians are encouraged to fully assess the 11 criteria listed in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5). As a shortcut, clinicians usually just ask smokers how many cigarettes they smoke per day, he explained. 

"Lighter smoking is correctly perceived as less harmful than heavy smoking, but it still carries significant health risks. Medical providers sometimes perceive lighter smokers as not addicted and, therefore, not in need of treatment, but this study suggests many of them may have significant difficulty quitting without assistance."

The researchers analyzed data from the National Institutes of Health, including the assessments of more than 6,700 smokers, to determine whether they met the DSM-5 criteria for tobacco use disorder. The study revealed that 85 percent of daily cigarette smokers were addicted to some extent, ranging from mild to moderate to severe addiction.

"Surprisingly, almost two thirds of those smoking only one to four cigarettes per day were addicted, and around a quarter of those smoking less than weekly were addicted," said Professor Foulds.

The researchers found that the severity of cigarette addiction increased with the frequency of smoking. For example, 35 percent of light smokers and 74 percent of heavy smokers were moderately or severely addicted. 

Professor Foulds said that this is the first time that the severity of cigarette addiction has been described across the full range of cigarette use frequency.

Professor Oliver noted that the study sheds light the high prevalence of tobacco use disorder even among those considered to be light smokers and provides a foundation for treating this population.

"Previous research has found that non-daily smokers are more likely than daily smokers to make a quit attempt," said Professor Oliver. "Clinicians should ask about all smoking behavior, including non-daily smoking, as such smokers may still require treatment to successfully quit smoking. Yet, it is unclear the extent to which existing interventions are effective for light smokers. Continued efforts to identify optimal cessation approaches for this population remain an important direction for future research."

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.ajpmonline.org/">American Journal of Preventive Medicine</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

People who smoke just one cigarette a day are likely addicted

According to a new study from Penn State, most light...

Scientists identify the proteins that allowed vertebrates to evolve. Most animal species are vertebrates, including mammals, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/birdsong-frequency-is-influenced-by-sexual-selection/">birds</a>, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Scientists at Kyoto University's <a href="https://www.icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp/">Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences</a> (iCeMS) have spent nearly four decades investigating how vertebrates evolved, and recently discovered a family of proteins that played a very important role. Scientists identify the proteins that allowed vertebrates to evolve

The study suggests that one transporter protein in particular, ABCA1, was critical for regulating the signals involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration. These processes were required for vertebrates to develop into more complex organisms.

The ATP-binding cassette proteins (ABC) are very similar across species, including in bacteria, plants, and animals. Different types of ABC proteins have different responsibilities, such as transporting nutrients into cells, exporting toxic compounds, and regulating lipid concentrations within cell membranes. Scientists identify the proteins that allowed vertebrates to evolve

Kazumitsu Ueda is a cellular biochemist at iCeMS who has studied human ABC proteins ever since he and his colleagues identified the first eukaryote ABC protein gene 35 years ago. 

"We believe ABC proteins must have played important roles in evolution," said Ueda. "By transporting lipids, they enabled plants and animals to thrive on land by protecting them from water loss and pathogen infection. They are also assumed to have accelerated vertebrate evolution by allowing cholesterol to function as an intra-membrane signalling molecule."

Some of the earliest organisms on Earth were likely formed of DNA and proteins surrounded by a leaky lipid membrane. As the organisms evolved, their membranes were strengthened to protect them from the external environment. What this means is that only those organisms that gained special ABC transporters - capable of carrying nutrients across the membrane - would have survived. 

ABC proteins also produced an outer membrane that protected cells from external stresses and removed harmful substances from inside.

Ueda and his team analyzed the roles of ABCA1, gaining deeper insight into how it regulates cholesterol. In particular, they found that ABCA1 exports cellular phospholipids and cholesterol outside the cell for generating high-density lipoproteins, or "good cholesterol."

According to the experts, ABCA1 constantly flops cholesterol from the cell membrane's inner leaflet to its outer leaflet, maintaining a lower concentration on the inner side. This process is temporarily suppressed when the cell is exposed to an external stimulus, like a growth hormone, which leads to an accumulation of cholesterol in the inner leaflet. As a result, proteins are recruited to the cell membrane. 

The researchers believe that ABCA1 allowed vertebrates to evolve complicated biological processes and sophisticated bodies.

"ABCA1 is very unique and its functions surprised us," said Ueda. "Cholesterol's role was thought to focus mainly on physically strengthening the cell membrane and reducing its permeability to ions. Our research suggests it played a more important role in vertebrates, accelerating their evolution."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/18733468">FEBS Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists identify the proteins that allowed vertebrates to evolve

Scientists identify the proteins that allowed vertebrates to evolve. Most...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.weizmann.ac.il/pages/">Weizmann Institute of Science</a>, researchers have discovered that microplastics are carried by the wind to remote parts of the ocean. The tiny plastic particles get swept up into the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/artificially-cooling-atmosphere-geoengineering/">atmosphere</a> where they can remain airborne for hours or days. 

Through this process, microplastics have even more opportunity to invade the marine environment and work their way into the food chain.

 "A handful of studies have found microplastics in the atmosphere right above the water near shorelines," says Dr. Miri Trainic. "But we were surprised to find a non-trivial amount above seemingly pristine water."

The Weizmann team has been working for years to understand the interface between ocean and air. Many studies have investigated how materials from the atmosphere are absorbed by the ocean, but few have been focused on the phenomenon which occurs in the opposite direction. In a process known as aerosolization, viruses, algal fragments, and other particles are swept up into the atmosphere from seawater.

During a 2016 expedition, the researchers collected aerosol samples over the North Atlantic Ocean. It was challenging to identify and quantify the microplastic bits trapped in the aerosol samples, so the team used an advanced method known as Raman spectroscopy.

The analysis revealed high levels of common plastics such as polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene in the samples. By calculating the shape and mass of the microplastic particles, as well as the average wind direction and speed, the experts determined that the source of the microplastics was likely to be plastic bags and other waste that had been discarded near the shore and entered the ocean hundreds of kilometers away.

When the researchers checked the seawater beneath the sample sites, they found the same types of plastic that were found in the aerosol samples. This suggests that microplastics enter the atmosphere through bubbles on the ocean surface or are picked up by the wind before traveling to remote parts of the ocean.

"Once microplastics are in the atmosphere, they dry out, and they are exposed to UV light and atmospheric components with which they interact chemically," said Dr. Trainic. "That means the particles that fall back into the ocean are likely to be even more harmful or toxic than before to any marine life that ingests them."

"On top of that, some of these plastics become scaffolds for bacterial growth for all kinds of marine bacteria, so airborne plastic could be offering a free ride to some species, including pathogenic bacteria that are harmful to marine life and humans," explained Professor Assaf Vardi.

According to Dr. Trainic, the real amount of microplastic in the ocean aerosols is almost certainly greater than what the measurements showed, because the tests were not designed to detect particles below a few micrometers in size. "For example, in addition to plastics that break down into even smaller pieces, there are the nanoparticles that are added to cosmetics and which are easily washed into the ocean, or are formed in the ocean through microplastic fragmentation."

Smaller plastic particles are not only likely to stay airborne for longer, but are also more likely to be consumed by small marine animals. This plastic cannot be digested, which means that every single particle has the potential to harm a marine organism or to work its way up the food chain to humans. "Last, but not least, like all aerosols, microplastics become part of the large planetary cycles - for example, carbon and oxygen - as they interact with other parts of the atmosphere," said Professor Ilan Koren. "Because they are both lightweight and long-lived, we will be seeing more microplastics transported in the air as the plastics that are already polluting our oceans break up - even if we do not add any further plastics to our waterways."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsenv">Communications Earth and Environment</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Microplastics travel by wind to remote parts of the ocean

In a new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science,...

In a new study from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a>, researchers are describing a previously unknown flower species that dates back 100 million years. The analysis of a well-preserved specimen, which is encased in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ancient-marine-organisms-amber/">amber</a>, is also shedding new light on the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. 

Study lead author Professor George Poinar is an international expert in using plant and animal life forms preserved in amber to learn more about the biology and ecology of the distant past.

"This isn't quite a Christmas flower but it is a beauty, especially considering it was part of a forest that existed 100 million years ago," said Professor Poinar.

"The male flower is tiny, about 2 millimeters across, but it has some 50 stamens arranged like a spiral, with anthers pointing toward the sky."

A stamen consists of an anther, which produces pollen, and a stalk that connects the anther to the flower.

"Despite being so small, the detail still remaining is amazing," said Professor Poinar. "Our specimen was probably part of a cluster on the plant that contained many similar flowers, some possibly female."

The flower has an egg-shaped, hollow floral cup. This is the part of the flower from which the stamens emerge. The cup contains an outer layer consisting of six petal-like components known as tepals, and two-chamber anthers with elaborate pollen sacs.

In collaboration with experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Professor Poinar and his team named the new flower Valviloculus pleristaminis. Valva is the Latin term for the leaf on a folding door, loculus means compartment, plerus refers to many, and staminis represents the dozens of male sex organs found on the flower.

The specimen was sealed in amber on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana during the mid-Cretaceous period. Then, the specimen was carried on a continental plate across 4,000 miles of ocean from Australia to Southeast Asia, said Professor Poinar.

It has been a mystery to geologists when this chunk of land - known as the West Burma Block - broke away from Gondwana. While some believe it was 200 million years ago; others believe it was around 500 million years ago.

Since angiosperms only evolved and diversified about 100 million years ago, the West Burma Block could not have broken off from Gondwana before then, explained Professor Poinar. This is much later than the dates that were previously predicted.

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.brit.org/journal-botanical-research-institute-texas">Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists describe a flower that lived 100 million years ago

In a new study from Oregon State University, researchers are...

The frequency at which birds sing depends mainly on body size, but is also influenced by sexual selection, according to a new analysis from the <a href="https://www.orn.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Ornithology</a>. The research suggests that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/beavers-create-habitats-that-support-threatened-amphibians/">habitat</a> characteristics do not affect birdsong frequency, which contradicts a long-standing theory.

Many animals use acoustic signals for communication while finding a mate or avoiding predators. One of the fundamental characteristics of acoustic signals is the frequency of the sound.

In the forest, acoustic signals become attenuated because of sound absorption and scattering from foliage, which makes it difficult to communicate using high-frequency sounds. With this in mind, a theory emerged in the 1970s which predicts that animals living in habitats with dense vegetation emit lower-frequency sounds compared to those living in open areas.

To investigate, the researchers analyzed the variation in song frequency of more than 5.000 bird species, including 85 percent of all passerines. The team collected song recordings from xeno-canto, a citizen science repository of bird vocalizations, and from the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The study revealed that the peak birdsong frequency does not depend on habitat type. In fact, the findings suggest that species living in densely vegetated habitats sing at lower frequencies, which is the opposite of what was predicted by the theory. 

The researchers found that birdsong frequency strongly correlated with body size and shared ancestry. "Both limit the range of sound frequencies an animal can produce," said study first author Peter Mikula. 

According to the experts, heavier species sing at lower frequencies due to the larger vibratory structures of the vocal apparatus.

The study also showed that species in which males are larger than females produce songs with lower frequencies than what is expected based on their size. "This supports the hypothesis that the frequency of acoustic signals is affected by competition for access to mates," said study co-lead author Bart Kempenaers. 

Birdsong frequency may act as an indicator of an individual's size, as well as its dominance or fighting abilities. With this in mind, song frequency could influence reproductive success through competition with other males or by attracting more females. 

"Our results suggest that the global variation in passerine song frequency is mostly driven by natural and sexual selection causing evolutionary shifts in body size rather than by habitat-related selection on sound propagation," concluded study co-author Tomáš Albrecht.

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14610248">Ecology Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Birdsong frequency is influenced by sexual selection

The frequency at which birds sing depends mainly on body...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.hyms.ac.uk/">Hull York Medical School</a> analyzed more than 50 studies conducted between 2014 and 2020 to investigate the amount of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/microplastic-pollution-causes-deformities-in-sea-urchins/">microplastics</a> in fish and shellfish. The analysis revealed that mollusks such as oysters and clams have the highest levels of microplastic contamination.

"No-one yet fully understands the full impact of microplastics on the human body, but early evidence from other studies suggest they do cause harm," said study co-author Evangelos Danopoulos.

"A critical step in understanding the full impact on human consumption is in first fully establishing what levels of microplastics humans are ingesting. We can start to do this by looking at how much seafood and fish is eaten and measuring the amount of MPs in these creatures."

The researchers determined that microplastic content was as high as 10.5 microplastics per gram (MPs/g) in mollusks, 8.6 MPs/g in crustaceans, and up to 2.9 MPs/g in fish.

Consumption data shows that China, Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States are the largest consumers of mollusks, followed by Europe and the UK.

Among the mollusks examined for the study, those collected off the coast of Asia were the most heavily contaminated. This indicates that waters surrounding Asia are more heavily polluted by plastic.

"Microplastics have been found in various parts of organisms such as the intestines and the liver," said Danopoulos. "Seafood species like oysters, mussels and scallops are consumed whole whereas in larger fish and mammals only parts are consumed. Therefore, understanding the microplastic contamination of specific body parts, and their consumption by humans, is key."

By 2060, the amount of plastic waste produced annually is expected to triple to up to 265 million metric tons per year. Once the plastic makes its way into the ocean, it has the potential to be consumed by fish and marine mammals.

According to the researchers, more data is needed from different parts of the world to understand how the issue varies between different oceans, seas, and waterways.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/">Environmental Health Perspectives</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mollusks contain high levels of microplastics

Researchers at Hull York Medical School analyzed more than 50...

In a new study from <a href="https://plos.org/">PLOS</a>, researchers set out to investigate the effects of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plants-are-losing-their-ability-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/">climate</a> change on bunchgrass prairies. Focusing on the National Bison Range in Montana, the experts found that dramatic seasonal changes are the biggest threat to the long-term survival of bunchgrass prairies.

Intermountain bunchgrass prairies are some of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. These prairies now cover less than one percent of the area they once covered. 

Over the past century, bunchgrass prairies have become hotter and drier, and this trend will persist alongside human-driven climate change. 

Based on 40 years of monitoring, the experts determined that annual climate trends are not as damaging to prairies as intense seasonal changes, especially hotter summers.

The researchers analyzed multiple observations of plant growth and production, abundances of different plant species, and availability of nitrogen to produce a 40-year timeline of ecosystem changes across the National Bison Range.

The analysis showed that annual temperatures increased as precipitation declined in the prairie, which made the region more susceptible to fire. 

The researchers were surprised to find that the amount of plant material produced every year increased by 110 percent. This boost in annual above-ground plant production was associated with increased precipitation and cooler temperatures during the important growing period of late May through June.

However, there were also some major changes in plant composition across the prairie, including 108 percent more invasive species. The non-native species with higher drought tolerance were the most favored overall. 

There were also other ecosystem changes that followed seasonal climate trends - instead of annual trends. For example, summer temperatures were higher than what was expected based on annual trends.

Hotter summers are turning grasslands brown earlier in the year and making it more difficult for plants to resume production in the fall. 

According to the study authors, intermountain bunchgrass prairie could be morphing into a previously unknown type of grassland.

"Forecasting climate change effects on plant production based on expected average annual increased temperature and decreased precipitation may not be appropriate, because seasonal climate changes may be more important and may not follow average annual expectations," said study co-author Dr. Gary Belovsky.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hotter summers are transforming endangered bunchgrass prairies

In a new study from PLOS, researchers set out to...

The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mysterious-and-deadly-dolphin-disease-has-been-linked-to-climate-change/">climate</a> crisis is not just causing sea levels to rise, but is also causing water levels in many lakes to fall. The consequences of shrinking lakes are just as serious as those associated with sea level rise, but are receiving far less attention.

Study lead author Dr. Matthias Prange is a senior research scientist in the <a href="https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/edmed/org/1568/">MARUM Cen­ter for Mar­ine En­vir­on­mental Sci­ences</a> at the Uni­versity of Bre­men.

"The Caspian Sea can be viewed as representative of many other lakes in the world. Many people are not even aware that an inland lake is dramatically shrinking due to climate change, as our models indicate," said Dr. Prange. 

Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have failed to mention declining waters levels in lakes, and have disregarded the critical impacts of global warming on the affected regions. 

"This has to change. We need more studies and a better understanding of the consequences of global warming in this region." 

According to the researchers, the goal must be to raise awareness of the consequences of climate change for inland seas and lakes so that appropriate strategies can be developed.

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on the planet. It is referred to as a "sea" due to its large size and relatively high salinity. However, the lake's largest inflow is the Volga River and it has no natural connection to the ocean. 

The water level of the Caspian Sea is determined by inflow, precipitation, and evaporation. Rising temperatures bring about an increase in evaporation, which causes the water level to decline.

The Caspian Sea is an important regional water reservoir, biological resources center, and commercial hub that is bordered by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia. The researchers report that the water level could fall by 9 to 18 meters during this century, depending on the extent of future global warming. 

"This would affect not only the biodiversity, various species, and habitats that would disappear. The economies of all the bordering countries would be impacted, including harbors, fisheries and fish farming." 

The study authors propose that the Caspian Sea should be used as an example in scientific research to assess the vulnerability of certain regions to falling water levels. They also recommend the creation of a global task force to develop and coordinate mitigation strategies. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsenv">Communications Earth and Environment</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lake levels are falling as temperatures rise

The climate crisis is not just causing sea levels to...

Is it possible that the world could be powered by 100 percent renewable energy? A new study from <a href="https://www.tcd.ie/">Trinity College Dublin</a> has shown that it is theoretically possible, but would require a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-window-to-avoid-dangerous-global-warming-is-narrowing/">global</a> effort. 

Led by Professor James Ward from the University of South Australia, the researchers investigated what changes are needed in our energy sources, as well as in our energy consumption, to achieve 100 percent renewability in a way that supports all of the planet.

"We present an alternative approach to estimating the spatial footprint of energy consumption, as this represents a major fraction of the ecological footprint (EF)," explained the study authors. "Rather than depicting the current lack of sustainability that comes from estimating a footprint based on uptake of carbon emissions, our proposed 'Renewable Energy Equivalent Footprint' (REEF) instead depicts a hypothetical world in which the electricity and fuel demands are met entirely from renewable energy." 

According to the researchers, the analysis shows that current human energy demands could theoretically be met by renewable energy and remain within the biocapacity of one planet. 

"However, with current technology there is no margin to leave any biocapacity for nature, leading to the investigation of two additional scenarios: radical electrification of the energy supply, assuming 75% of final energy demand can be met with electricity, and adopting technology in which electricity is used to convert atmospheric gases into synthetic fuel." 

The research raises important questions about the potential conflict between land demands for renewable fuel production.

"Firstly, the high fuel needs of today's high-income countries would have to be reduced as it would require an unsustainably vast amount of land to be covered with biomass plantations if we were to produce enough fuel to satisfy the same levels," explained study co-author Luca Coscieme.

"Additionally, our research shows that we would need to radically 'electrify' the energy supply of such countries - including Ireland - with the assumption that these changes could supply 75% of society's final energy demands. We would also need to adopt technology in which electricity is used to convert atmospheric gases into synthetic fuels."

"We very much hope that the approach designed in this research will inform our vision of sustainable futures and also guide national planning by contextualising energy needs within the broader consumption patterns we see in other countries with energy and forest product consumption profiles that - if adopted worldwide - could theoretically be met by high-tech renewably derived fuels. Countries such as Argentina, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Spain are great examples in this regard."

"Even so, the success of this green ideal will be highly dependent on major future technological developments, in the efficiency of electrification and in producing and refining new synthetic fuels. Such a scenario is still likely to require the use of a substantial - albeit hopefully sustainable - fraction of the world's forest areas."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies">Energies</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Earth could be powered entirely by renewable energy

Is it possible that the world could be powered by...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.monash.edu/">Monash University</a>, experts have found that when it comes to brightly colored males, looks can be deceiving. The ornithologists report that the vibrant colors of superb fairy-wrens do not necessarily correlate with male quality. 

Among many animal <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/current-food-production-methods-threaten-thousands-of-species/">species</a>, the females prefer males with the most elaborate and dramatic appearance, and this preference drove the evolution of bright coloration. It is expected that brilliant colors are only acquired and maintained by "high quality" males with plenty of resources, sharp skills, or high social status. 

Females pursue high quality males to guarantee their offspring will have good genes and the greatest chance of survival. 

"We examined whether only the best quality males with excellent resources can produce the most vibrant colors and whether only the best quality males can maintain their colors in pristine condition," said study lead author Dr. Alex McQueen. "We also tested this in an experiment, by administering testosterone to some males which caused them to produce breeding colors in winter."

"Surprisingly, we found that all male superb fairy-wrens produced and maintained vibrant colors, regardless of their 'natural quality'. Also the males that had to produce breeding colors in challenging winter conditions displayed vibrant colors that were indistinguishable from other males."

Each year, male superb fairy-wrens transform their color by moulting from a brown plumage to an ultraviolet blue and black breeding plumage. The males flaunt their new feathers to impress females during elaborate sexual displays.

"We predicted that maintaining their colors would be especially important in this species for two reasons: first, males that are preferred by females produce their breeding plumage earlier than all other males, many months before the start of breeding, meaning that those early males display their breeding colours for the longest time each year; and second, ultraviolet blue feathers have been shown to readily fade over time in other birds," said Dr. McQueen.

For the investigation, the researchers measured the colors of specific wild male fairy-wrens several times a year. The experts also recorded how much time males spent preening when they were in their brown non-breeding plumage and colorful breeding plumage.

"We were very surprised to find that male breeding colors do not fade with time," said Dr. McQueen. "Despite keeping their colors in pristine condition, males did not spend more time preening while in breeding plumage."

Instead, the males "retouched" their breeding colors by replacing a few blue feathers at a time throughout the breeding season.

"Our study shows that the vibrant breeding colors of male superb fairy-wrens are unlikely to signal male quality to females," said Alex. "We also found that males are careful to keep their feather colors in excellent condition for sexual displays."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/beheco">Behavioural Ecology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Male fairy-wrens are not always what they seem

In a new study from Monash University, experts have found...

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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

<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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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.

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Stowers...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

News coming your way