Antarctica is home to some of the clearest skies on Earth, and that brutal clarity makes it the perfect place to eavesdrop on the cosmos. Hovering high above the continent, a NASA balloon carries the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna, or ANITA.



The ANITA experiment <a href="https://techport.nasa.gov/projects/94282" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">catches radio murmurs</a> born when ultra-energetic cosmic rays hit the atmosphere. 



Most of those pops behave exactly as physicists expect: the signals flip polarity after bouncing off the two-mile-thick ice sheet, a clean mirror image that tells researchers the particle came from above.



But ANITA has also logged a handful of pulses that refuse to flip. 



The implication is unsettling because the only way to produce such upward-going radio waves is for a particle to plow straight through the planet, survive more than 3,000 miles of rock, and burst out of the ice on the far side. No known particle should manage that trick.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anita-finds-rule-breaking-pulses">ANITA finds rule-breaking pulses</h2>



Those anomalous pulses arrived at surprisingly steep angles, emerging from about 30° below the horizon instead of the gentle slopes seen in run-of-the-mill cosmic-ray echoes. 



The geometry alone flags them as outliers, yet the team verified that the pulses were real and not an instrumental hiccup.



“The radio waves that we detected were at really steep angles, like 30 degrees below the surface of the ice,” said <a href="https://science.psu.edu/physics/people/szw5718" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stephanie Wissel</a>, an associate professor of physics, astronomy and astrophysics who combs the ANITA data for unexpected patterns. 



“It’s an interesting problem because we still don't actually have an explanation for what those anomalies are, but what we do know is that they're most likely not representing neutrinos.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-helping-anita-filter-cosmic-chatter">Helping ANITA filter cosmic chatter</h2>



Separating genuine particle signatures from noise takes painstaking effort. Researchers replay thousands of hours of balloon data through computer models that mimic the detector’s response to lightning, satellite transmissions, and even the crackle of auroras. 



By comparing those simulations with real events, they can cull anything that lacks the hallmark shape of a particle-induced shower.



The ANITA collaboration also leans on cross-checks with ground networks such as <a href="https://icecube.wisc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IceCube</a> and the <a href="https://www.auger.org/observatory/auger-hybrid-detector" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pierre Auger Observatory</a>. If a pulse appears only in the balloon logs and nowhere else, it goes under the microscope. 



The handful of strange upward events survived every filter the scientists could devise, reinforcing the sense that something unfamiliar is in play.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ghostly-nature-of-neutrinos">Ghostly nature of neutrinos</h2>



The obvious culprits would be <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-breaking-ghost-particle-km3-230213a-neutrino-spotted-deep-in-the-mediterranean-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neutrinos</a>, the universe’s most elusive messengers. These chargeless wisps hardly ever collide with matter, making them perfect probes of distant cataclysms, yet fiendishly hard to spot.



“You have a billion neutrinos passing through your thumbnail at any moment, but neutrinos don't really interact,” she said. 



“So, this is the double-edged sword problem. If we detect them, it means they have traveled all this way without interacting with anything else. We could be detecting a neutrino coming from the edge of the observable universe.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-listening-from-25-miles-up">Listening from 25 miles up</h2>



“We use radio detectors to try to build really, really large neutrino telescopes so that we can go after a pretty low expected event rate,” Wissel explained. 



ANITA tackles that challenge by floating roughly 25 miles above the snow, a perch that expands each antenna’s footprint to hundreds of square miles without planting a single pole in the ice.



“We have these radio antennas on a balloon that flies 40 kilometers above the ice in Antarctica,” Wissel said. “We point our antennas down at the ice and look for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-source-of-cosmic-rays-found-after-a-century-long-search/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neutrinos</a> that interact in the ice, producing radio emissions that we can then sense with our detectors.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



When the team traced the weird signals backward, the flight paths pointed through Earth’s interior, defying the standard model of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-category-of-particles-discovered-in-the-subatomic-realm-paraparticles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">particle physics</a>. 



Additional searches in data from the IceCube and Auger neutrino detectors turned up no counterpart events, trimming the roster of ordinary explanations.



“My guess is that some interesting radio propagation effect occurs near ice and also near the horizon that I don't fully understand, but we certainly explored several of those, and we haven't been able to find any of those yet either,” Wissel said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hoping-that-pueo-can-help">Hoping that PUEO can help</h2>



The next balloon in the series is the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations, or <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Vieregg_PUEO_MOE_June2021_TAGGED.pdf?emrc=8a9411" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">PUEO</a>, set for its first Antarctic voyage in December 2025. 



It will carry more antennas and faster electronics, improving sensitivity by at least a factor of five over ANITA.



“So, right now, it's one of these long-standing mysteries, and I'm excited that when we fly PUEO, we'll have better sensitivity," Wissel concluded. 



"In principle, we should pick up more anomalies, and maybe we'll actually understand what they are. We also might detect neutrinos, which would in some ways be a lot more exciting.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-next">What happens next?</h2>



Elsewhere, instruments buried deep in ice, anchored to the seafloor, or orbiting aboard satellites are racking up their own successes. 



In February 2025 a detector beneath the Pacific seafloor logged the most energetic neutrino ever observed, underscoring how quickly the discipline is advancing.



Whether ANITA’s anomalies prove to be exotic particles or a quirk of radio propagation, upcoming missions promise fresh clues. Until then, we will all have to wait and wonder.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.121003" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Physical Review Letters</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.earth.com/author/eralls/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eric Ralls</a> and Earth.com.



-----

Strange and unknown radio waves coming from under the Antarctic ice "defy particle physics"

Antarctica is home to some of the clearest skies on Earth, and that brutal clarity makes it the perfect place to eavesdrop on the cosmos. Hovering high above the continent, a NASA balloon carries the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna, or ANITA. The ANITA experiment catches radio murmurs born when ultra-energetic cosmic rays hit the atmosphere. Most of those pops behave exactly as physicists expect: the signals flip polarity after bouncing off the two-mile-thick ice sheet, a clean mirror image that tells researchers the particle came from above....

Hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/children-with-covid-19-may-have-gastrointestinal-symptoms/">COVID-19</a>, according to the results of two recent studies published in <a href="https://www.bmj.com/">The BMJ</a>. In fact, the research suggests that the drug may do more harm than good. 

A team of experts in France found that hydroxychloroquine does not significantly reduce the odds of admission to intensive care or death from the disease. 

In a randomized clinical trial in China, hospitalized patients with persistent COVID-19 who were given hydroxychloroquine did not recover from the virus more quickly than those receiving standard care. 

Furthermore, a higher number of adverse events occurred among the individuals who received the trial drug.

Hydroxychloroquine can reduce inflammation, pain, and swelling. It is widely used to treat rheumatic diseases and malaria. 

Lab tests have shown promising results for hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, but a growing collection of evidence is proving otherwise. 

However, hydroxychloroquine is included in Chinese guidelines on how best to manage the disease, and has been authorized for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Patients have been advised by the FDA to avoid the drug outside of a hospital setting due to the risk of heart rhythm problems.

In the first study, researchers in France evaluated the effectiveness and safety of hydroxychloroquine in adults admitted to the hospital with pneumonia caused by COVID-19 who needed oxygen.

Among 181 patients, 84 received hydroxychloroquine and 97 did not.

The experts found no meaningful differences in the health outcomes of the two groups.

In the second study, a research team in China investigated the effectiveness and safety of hydroxychloroquine in 150 adults hospitalized with mild or moderate COVID-19.

Half of the patients received the treatment and the other half received standard care. 

By day 28, tests revealed similar rates of COVID-19 among patients in the two groups, but adverse events were more common in those who received hydroxychloroquine. 

The study authors said that the results do not support the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, but further research is needed to confirm these findings.

The study is published in <a href="https://www.bmj.com/">The BMJ</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Hydroxychloroquine is not an effective COVID-19 treatment

Hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for COVID-19, according to...

A new study from <a href="http://www.ecu.edu.au/">Edith Cowan University</a> suggests that Google is not the best place to seek out a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/exercise-can-boost-brain-health-at-any-age/">health</a> diagnosis. According to the research, online symptom checkers are only accurate in one out of every three searches. 

The experts analyzed 36 web-based symptom checkers. The study showed that the correct diagnosis was the top result 36 percent of the time, and the advice on when and where to seek health care was accurate 49 percent of the time.

Nearly 40 percent of Australians look online to self-diagnose their health issues. It is estimated that there are about 70,000 health-related Google searches every minute. 

Study lead author Michella Hill said the findings should give people pause for thought.

"While it may be tempting to use these tools to find out what may be causing your symptoms, most of the time they are unreliable at best and can be dangerous at worst," said Hill.

She noted that online symptom checkers may be providing people with a false sense of security.

"We've all been guilty of being 'cyberchondriacs' and googling at the first sign of a niggle or headache. But the reality is these websites and apps should be viewed very cautiously as they do not look at the whole picture - they don't know your medical history or other symptoms," said Hill.

"For people who lack health knowledge, they may think the advice they're given is accurate or that their condition is not serious when it may be."

Online advice for when and where to seek healthcare, known as triage advice, was found to be more accurate than the health diagnoses.

"We found the advice for seeking medical attention for emergency and urgent care cases was appropriate around 60 percent of the time, but for non-emergencies that dropped to 30 to 40 percent," said Hill.

"Generally the triage advice erred on the side of caution, which in some ways is good but can lead to people going to an emergency department when they really don't need to."

According to Hill, online symptom checkers are not a replacement for going to the doctor, but can be useful in providing more information after an official diagnosis. 

"We're also seeing symptom checkers being used to good effect with the current COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the UK's National Health Service is using these tools to monitor symptoms and potential 'hotspot' locations for this disease on a national basis."

The research was published in the <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/">Medical Journal of Australia</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Google is not a reliable source for a health diagnosis 

A new study from Edith Cowan University suggests that Google...

Children are more enthusiastic about <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/exercise-can-boost-brain-health-at-any-age/">exercise</a> when their parents acknowledge their interests and get involved, according to researchers at the <a href="https://www.jyu.fi/en">University of Jyväskylä</a>. 

By contrast, when children do not feel they have the freedom to choose their physical activities, they are much less motivated. 

The best strategy to encourage children to exercise was found to be child-centered parenting. With this approach, parents took into account their child's interests, offered new opportunities for hobbies, participated in physical activities, and accepted their child's occasional lack of motivation. 

The least successful strategy was parental control - when parents used coercion, disregarded their child's preferences, and dominated the decision-making process. This approach was perceived as undesirable and reduced the desire to exercise.

The researchers interviewed children between the ages of 7 and 10. They found that the children could clearly distinguish between parental behaviors that motivated them to exercise and those that did not.

"For example, strong, public and overt encouragement in tournaments and games was perceived in some cases as embarrassing and even shameful," said study co-author Arto Laukkanen. 

"In addition, underestimating and ignoring the temporary cessation of exercise motivation, for example, was perceived as controlling and reducing enthusiasm for exercise."

The children also described experiences when a parent's strong guidance was much more acceptable and increased their enthusiasm for exercise.

"The children pointed out situations where the parent's actions had initially felt domineering and strict," said Laukkanen. "Common to experiencing such situations positively and strengthening exercise motivation was that the parent participated in the activities with the child. Secondly, these parents sensed the line between coercion and acceptable guidance in the child's mind."

The study also revealed that children were less motivated to exercise when a parent used the strategy of limiting screen time to encourage physical activity. 

"This is very contradictory, as parents try to take care of the children's screen time and adequate level of exercise, but at the same time they may be contributing to alienation from exercise," said Laukkanen.

"Perhaps exercise should not be set in opposition to screen time, but one should strive to organize independent space for both of them in everyday life."

Some of the children expressed that they had flexible limitations or no boundaries regarding screen time. 

"Limiting screen time independently can be challenging, especially for children," said Laukkanen. "In some cases, children also apply considerable effort and ingenuity to create more screen time for the day."

The findings suggest that striking a balance between screen time and adequate physical activity can be a difficult task for parents. According to the study authors, further research on this topic is urgently needed.

The study is published in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph">International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Children exercise more when parents consider their interests

Children are more enthusiastic about exercise when their parents acknowledge...

An international research team is describing the ability of plants to store important environmental cues in the form of an <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/epigenetic-passed-future-generations/">epigenetic</a> memory. 

The plants use this information to "remember" prolonged cold weather. This way, the plants realize when the conditions subside so they can produce flowers at the right time in the spring.

After they flower and seed, however, the memory is erased to reset the timing of blooming for the next season.

Humans have epigenetic memories as well. Liftstyle and environmental factors, including diet, pollution, and stress, modify a person's DNA through specialized proteins called histones. These epigenetic changes are passed along to children for generations.

In plants, one specific histone modification called H3K27me3 tends to mark genes that are switched off. Cold weather conditions cause H3K27me3 to accumulate at the genes that regulate flowering. 

Previously, in the lab of Dr. Frédéric Berger of the Gregor Mendel Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, experts demonstrated that H3K27me3 is faithfully transmitted from cell to cell. As a result, in the springtime, the plants remember that it was cold and that winter is now over. 

But once the plants have flowered, they need to erase the cold memory from their seeds. 

In the current study, a research team led by Jörg Becker of the <a href="https://gulbenkian.pt/ciencia/">Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência</a> set out to investigate how plants manage to "forget" the epigenetic memory in the seeds.

The experts analyzed histones in pollen to examine whether the process of forgetting may take place in the embedded sperm. 

"The study led us to identify a phenomenon, the so-called 'epigenetic resetting,' akin to erasing and reformatting data on a hard drive," said Becker.

The researchers discovered that H3K27me3 completely disappeared in sperm. This is because the sperm had accumulated a special histone that is unable to carry H3K27me3. 

The epigenetic memory of cold is subsequently erased from hundreds of genes - not only those that prevent flowering, but also genes which control a variety of important functions in seeds.

"This actually makes a lot of sense from an ecological perspective" said study first author Dr. Michael Borg. "Since pollen can spread over long distances, by wind or bees for example, and much of the 'memory' carried by H3K27me3 is related to environmental adaptation, it makes sense that seeds should 'forget' their dad's environment and instead remember their mother's, since they are most likely to spread and grow next to mom."

Dr. Berger noted that animals also erase this epigenetic memory in sperm, but they do it by replacing histones with a completely different protein. 

"This is one of the first examples of how a specialized histone variant can help reprogram and reset a single epigenetic mark while leaving others untouched," said Dr. Berger.

"There are many more unstudied histone variants in both plants and animals, and we expect that aspects of this resetting mechanism we have discovered will be found in other organisms and developmental contexts."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncb">Nature Cell Biology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Plants have memories they learn to forget

An international research team is describing the ability of plants...

Researchers have linked the evolution of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bioengineering-improve-rice-crop-yields/">rice</a> to abrupt climate change 4,200 years ago. The study suggests that a major global cooling event was the catalyst for the diversification and spread of rice into both northern and southern Asia.

Rice is a major food source for more than half of the global population. It was first cultivated in the Yangtze Valley in China 9,000 years ago, before spreading to the south and east. Eventually, rice migrated into the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and America. 

As it emerged in new regions, rice adapted to survive under different environmental conditions. Despite being such an important crop, there is much about the historical movement and evolution of rice that is unknown.

Led by experts at the <a href="https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/departments/biology/research/gsb.html">NYU Center for Genomics and Systems Biology</a>, researchers analyzed the genomes of more than 1,400 rice varieties to get a better understanding of its movement across Asia. The investigation was also based on geographical, archaeological, and climate data.

For the first 4,000 years of its history, rice was mostly limited to China, where the subspecies japonica was grown.

According to the new study, diversification of japonica rice coincided with a global cooling event 4,200 years ago. This extreme climate event has also been linked to the collapse of civilizations from Mesopotamia to China.

Temperate strains of rice emerged and migrated into northern China, Korea, and Japan, while tropical varieties migrated into Southeast Asia.

"This abrupt climate change forced plants, including crops, to adapt," said study lead author Rafal M. Gutaker. "Our genomic data, as well as paleoclimate modeling by our collaborators, show that the cooling event occurred at the same time as the rise of temperate japonica, which grows in milder regions." 

"This cooling event also may have led to the migration of rice agriculture and farmer communities into Southeast Asia."

Professor Michael D. Purugganan explained that these findings were confirmed by the analysis of archaeological rice remains excavated in Asia. 

The data also showed that after the cooling event, tropical rice migrated south and temperate rice adapted to northern latitudes.

Tropical varieties of japonica rice continued to diversify and appeared in the islands of Southeast Asia about 2,500 years ago. The archeological data indicated that this movement was facilitated by extensive trade networks.

The spread of indica rice, a subspecies that originated in India about 4,000 years ago, was found to be more complex. The researchers traced its migration from India into China around 2,000 years ago.

The experts found that temperatures had the biggest environmental influence on rice diversity. The study revealed that heat accumulation was strongly linked to the genetic differences between tropical and temperate rice.

A better understanding of rice migration could help scientists develop new varieties that can endure the extreme conditions associated with climate change. 

"Armed with knowledge of the pattern of rice dispersal and environmental factors that influenced its migration, we can examine the evolutionary adaptations of rice as it spread to new environments, which could allow us to identify traits and genes to help future breeding efforts," said Gutaker.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nplants/">Nature Plants</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Evolution of rice linked to climate change

Researchers have linked the evolution of rice to abrupt climate...

Water frogs may become locally <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/marine-megafauna-extinctions-will-compromise-critical-ecosystem-services/">extinct</a> across parts of Turkey in just over a decade due to overharvesting. 

A study published by <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/">Cambridge University Press</a> has revealed the population of Anatolian water frogs declined by around 20 percent each year between 2013 and 2015 in the Ceyhan and Seyhan deltas.

Frog harvesting is a 40-year-old industry in Turkey that brings in about $4 million each year. While the frogs are rarely eaten domestically, Turkey exports more than 36 million frogs each year.

The frogs are often fried or grilled in the United States, stir-fried in China, and used in an Indonesian dish called swikee.

For the investigation, the researchers tagged 13,811 frogs in various ponds, irrigation canals, and streams. 

The experts found there is a 90 percent chance Anatolian water frogs will be completely wiped out in the south-central Çukurova Region by 2050. If harvesting continues at the current rate, the frogs will likely vanish in just 12 years.

Amphibians are among the most endangered animals, threatened by a variety of factors such as habitat loss, disease, invasive species, and overharvesting. These animals play an important ecological role as both predators and prey.

"Declining amphibian populations worldwide could have an irreversible and destructive impact on both natural ecosystems and human welfare. They are integral components of many ecosystems, often constituting the highest fraction of vertebrate biomass," wrote the study authors. 

"Unfortunately, the literature on declining amphibian populations and its conservation has increased exponentially each year. We must stop the alarming decline of amphibians before it's too late."

The experts noted that when frog harvest was banned in France and Romania, exports ramped up in India and Bangladesh and caused population declines. After harvesting was subsequently banned in these countries, the pressure shifted to frog populations in China and Indonesia, which are now the two largest exporters of frogs.

In Turkey, overharvesting in some regions will cause a domino effect that places strain on additional wild frog populations that are currently stable. 

"It is obvious that unsustainable harvest damages frog populations irrevocably in any part of the world," said study co-author Kerim Cicek. 

"We can see this in Turkey, but it has also taken place in France, and it is now taking place in the USA, Indonesia, and so on. It is important to ban harvesting or to take other precautions."

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.oryxthejournal.org/">Oryx -The International Journal of Conservation</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Overharvested water frogs may soon vanish in Turkey

Water frogs may become locally extinct across parts of Turkey...

More than 70 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/forest-service-releases-state-by-state-details-on-carbon-emissions/">emissions</a> are released from major urban areas. The ability to monitor emissions from cities is a critical step in reaching global targets to mitigate climate change. 

A new study has revealed that commercial airliners can be used to obtain important data to help estimate CO2 emissions from urban areas. 

The Comprehensive Observation Network for Trace gases by Airliners (CONTRAIL) program uses instruments onboard Japan Airlines' commercial planes. The CONTRAIL team has been collecting high-precision atmospheric CO2 measurements since 2005.

Study co-author Hidekazu Matsueda is a researcher at the Meteorological Research Institute in Japan.

"Following the aircraft measurements conducted between Tokyo and Australia that I initiated in 1993, and had maintained during my entire career, the CONTRAIL program continuously expanded its global network and has provided numerous data to understand the carbon budget of this planet," explained Matsueda.

Recently, the team characterized CO2 variations for 34 major cities by analyzing thousands of vertical ascending and descending measurements over airports.

The CONTRAIL airplanes fly up and down over Narita International Airport on a near-daily basis. The aircraft are capable of obtaining an atmospheric chemical signature of the Greater Tokyo Area, which is several tens of kilometers away. 

With major airports located in close proximity to most larger cities, the team collected data from various airports to retrieve CO2 emission signatures. 

Study lead author Taku Umezawa is a researcher at the <a href="http://www.nies.go.jp/index-e.html">National Institute for Environmental Studies</a> in Japan

"We analyzed millions of observational data collected at and around the Tokyo Narita Airport and found clear CO2 enhancements when the wind comes from the Greater Tokyo Area," said Umezawa. 

"That was also the case globally for other airports, such as Moscow, Paris, Beijing, Osaka, Shanghai, Mexico City, Sydney, and others."

The team investigated the CO2 variability in the lowermost atmosphere over these airports. Study co-author Kaz Higuchi is a professor of Environmental Studies at York University.

"Short-term changes in the CO2 concentration in the lower atmosphere are associated with various factors such as the upwind pattern of CO2 emissions and uptakes, flight path and its geographical position relative to the locations of emissions and uptakes, and meteorological conditions during each landing and takeoff," said Professor Higuchi. 

"Despite these complex conditions under which the measurements are made, it was very interesting that we found a relationship between the magnitude of CO2 variability and CO2 emissions from a nearby city." 

The findings indicate data from commercial airliners can complement other observations from satellites and ground stations to estimate urban CO2 emissions.

"A further implementation of similar CO2 instruments into other domestic and international flights will significantly extend our global monitoring capability of cities," said CONTRAIL project leader Toshinobu Machida.

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

&nbsp;

Commercial airliners can help monitor CO2 emissions

More than 70 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions...

Marine species thrive in ocean regions that meet their <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ancient-mass-extinction-event-was-caused-by-ocean-deoxygenation/">oxygen</a> needs, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a>. For anchovies, the research suggests that much of their range in the Pacific Ocean will become uninhabitable in the coming decades. 

The research was based on the understanding that marine species respond to the "breathability" of their surrounding water, which is influenced by a combination of the oxygen levels present, water temperature, and the oxygen needs of particular species. 

The experts combined their knowledge of water breathability with historical data to explain population cycles of anchovies that inhabit the California Current off the western coast of the United States.

"If you're worried about marine life off the west coast of North America, you're worried about anchovies and other forage fish in the California Current. Ultimately it's what underpins the food web," said study lead author Evan Howard.

"Climate change isn't just warming the oceans - it is causing oxygen to decrease, which could force fish and other ocean animals to move away from their normal range to find higher-oxygen waters."

Anchovy populations are known to fluctuate over time, but the reasons for this are unclear. Previous explanations, such as food availability or competition, failed to fully clarify the anchovy population cycles from the 1950s to present day.

Since the late 1940s, the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) has monitored marine life and conditions offshore. 

"They weren't just measuring anchovies, they were measuring everything they could get their hands on," said Howard.

In 2015, the UW team demonstrated that water breathability, or the combined effects of temperature and oxygen levels, are key for the survival of marine animals. 

For the current study, the researchers combined observations with ocean models to fill gaps in the data. The team showed that the breathability index changes over time, and that it has corresponded with the rise and fall of anchovy populations over the last several decades.

"This study is the first one that demonstrates on a timescale of decades that a species is responding in really close alignment with this metabolic index - how breathable the ocean in its habitat has become," said study senior author Professor Curtis Deutsch. "It adds a new, independent line of verification that species in the ocean are arranged in accordance with how breathable their habitats are."

According to the study, projected changes in ocean conditions could make the southern part of the anchovies' range, which is off the coast of Mexico and Southern California, uninhabitable by 2100.

"We expect habitats to shift for all species that depend on oxygen for survival," said Howard. "If we understand how these animals are responding to their environment, we can better predict how these populations will be affected as the conditions change."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff

&nbsp;

Water breathability affects where anchovies can survive

Marine species thrive in ocean regions that meet their oxygen...

Humans are responsible for rising sea levels  Experts at <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a> have found evidence to confirm that modern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sea-level-rise-could-exceed-one-meter-by-2100/">sea-level</a> rise is linked to human activities. While historical sea-level fluctuations were primarily influenced by changes in Earth's orbit, this is not the case today.

The researchers were surprised to find that, over the last 66 million years, there were times when ice-free conditions coincided with carbon dioxide levels that were not much higher than what they have reached today. The experts also pinpointed time periods that were expected to be ice-free, but glacial ice was present.  

Study lead author Kenneth G. Miller is a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

"Our team showed that the Earth's history of glaciation was more complex than previously thought," said Professor Miller.

"Although carbon dioxide levels had an important influence on ice-free periods, minor variations in the Earth's orbit were the dominant factor in terms of ice volume and sea-level changes - until modern times."

Sea-level rise has accelerated in recent decades, threatening to permanently submerge many coastal cities and communities. 

For the investigation, the scientists reconstructed the history of sea levels and glaciation over the last 66 million years. Using deep-sea geochemistry data, they compared estimates of the global average sea level with continental margin records. 

The study revealed that periods of nearly ice-free conditions, such as 17 million to 13 million years ago, occurred when the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide was not much higher than it is today. 

On the other hand, glacial periods occurred when the Earth was assumed to have been ice-free, such as from 48 million to 34 million years ago.

"We demonstrate that although atmospheric carbon dioxide had an important influence on ice-free periods on Earth, ice volume and sea-level changes prior to human influences were linked primarily to minor variations in the Earth's orbit and distance from the sun," said Professor Miller.

The largest decline in sea levels took place during the last glacial period about 20,000 years ago. The average water level dropped by around 400 feet. 

After this, the sea levels rose about one foot per decade until the pace slowed down 10,000 years ago. 

By 2,000 years ago, the sea level was stable until human activities began influencing the climate around 1900.

Future research is needed to investigate the times when the Earth was entirely ice-free, as well as the role of atmospheric carbon dioxide in glaciation. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Humans are responsible for rising sea levels 

Humans are responsible for rising sea levels  Experts at Rutgers...

In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/universitaet/">University of Würzburg</a>, scientists have found that carnivorous <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-temperatures-rise-when-plants-stop-breathing/">plants</a> share a basic set of genes. The researchers traced the carnivorous genes back to a duplication event that occurred millions of years ago.

Plants can generate energy through photosynthesis, but there are some plants that prefer to trap and eat insects instead. The current study is shedding new light on how carnivorous plants evolved. 

The researchers sequenced the genomes of three carnivorous plant species: the Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipula, the waterwheel plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa, and the spoon-leaved sundew Drosera spatulata.

Despite the fact that these three species all belong to the sundew family, they have each adapted to unique habitats. The plants have also developed different trapping mechanisms. 

In Dionaea and Aldrovanda, the ends of the leaves contain sensitive hairs that signal the leaves to snap shut, trapping whatever is inside. On the other hand, the sundew uses sticky tentacles on its leaves to catch prey.

The carnivorous plants may have different lifestyles, but the researchers found that their most essential genes are the same. 

"The function of these genes is related to the ability to sense and digest prey animals and to utilise their nutrients," said study co-author Rainer Hedrich.

"We were able to trace the origin of the carnivory genes back to a duplication event that occurred many millions of years ago in the genome of the last common ancestor of the three carnivorous species," added study co-author Jörg Schultz. 

The duplication of the entire genome provided an opportunity for new genetic material to arise, changing the structure and function of future descendants on a molecular level. 

The researchers expected to find that carnivorous plants would require a larger set of genes. Instead, the three species were found to have substantially fewer genes. For example, most plants have between 30,000 and 40,000 genes, yet sundew has only 18,111.

"This can only mean that the specialization in animal food was accompanied by an increase in the number of genes, but also a massive loss of genes," said Hasebe.

According to the researchers, most of the genes required for the insect traps can also be found in slightly different form in normal plants. 

"In carnivorous plants, several genes are active in the trapping organs, which in other plants have their effect in the root. In the trapping organs, these genes are only switched on when the prey is secure," said Hedrich. 

This explains why the Venus flytrap and sundew have small roots and the waterwheel has no roots.

Next, the researchers plan to investigate the trapping function and compare its molecular structure among various carnivorous plants.

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

&nbsp;

The secret lives of carnivorous plants 

In a new study led by the University of Würzburg,...

A new study has found that Mauna Loa on Hawaii's Big Island is not the world's largest shield <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/driving-force-yellowstone-supervolcano/">volcano</a>, as experts have believed for many years.

Scientists at the <a href="https://manoa.hawaii.edu/">University of Hawaii at Mānoa</a> have now determined that Pūhāhonu, a volcano that has been extinct for more than 12 million years, is two times larger than Mauna Loa.

The research team, which included volcanologists and oceanographers, surveyed the ocean floor along the Hawaiian volcano chain using sonar and gravity sensors to measure mass. The experts also chemically analyzed rocks preserved in the UH Mānoa rock collection. 

The researchers then modeled the results of these studies to estimate the size of Pūhāhonu.

The Hawaiian islands formed over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle. Volcanoes in this region have been erupting some of the hottest magma on the planet for millions of years. 

Based on the chemical analysis of rocks from Pūhāhonu, the team found that the volcano was once the source of the hottest magma that is known in the past 66 million years. 

"It has been proposed that hotspots that produce volcano chains like Hawaii undergo progressive cooling over 1-2 million years and then die," said study lead author Michael Garcia. 

"However, we have learned from this study that hotspots can undergo pulses of melt production. A small pulse created the Midway cluster of now extinct volcanoes and another, much bigger one created Pūhāhonu. This will rewrite the textbooks on how mantle plumes work."  

In 1974, limited survey data indicated that Pūhāhonu was the largest Hawaiian volcano, but subsequent studies concluded that Mauna Loa was larger. 

The advanced surveying and modeling techniques used for the current study were similar to the methods used to examine Mauna Loa. 

The findings confirm that Pūhāhonu is the world's largest and hottest shield volcano.

The research draws attention to an often overlooked part of Hawaii that has ecological, historical, and cultural importance.

"We are sharing with the science community and the public that we should be calling this volcano by the name the Hawaiians have given to it, rather than the western name for the two rocky small islands that are the only above sea level remnants of this once majestic volcano," said Garcia.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/earth-and-planetary-science-letters">Earth and Planetary Science Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

World's largest and hottest shield volcano revealed

A new study has found that Mauna Loa on Hawaii's...

Exercise can boost <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/depression-memory-loss/">memory</a> and other cognitive functions at any age, according to a new study published by the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a>. 

The researchers found that older adults performed better on critical thinking and memory tests after just six months of aerobic exercise.

Study lead author Dr. Marc J. Poulin is a professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary

"As we all find out eventually, we lose a bit mentally and physically as we age. But even if you start an exercise program later in life, the benefit to your brain may be immense," said Dr. Poulin.

"Sure, aerobic exercise gets blood moving through your body. As our study found, it may also get blood moving to your brain, particularly in areas responsible for verbal fluency and executive functions. Our finding may be important, especially for older adults at risk for Alzheimer's and other dementias and brain disease."

The study was focused on more than 200 adults with an average age of 66 and no history of heart or memory problems. Prior to the study, the participants worked out moderately less than four days a week or intensely no more than two days per week.

Memory and thinking skills were assessed at the beginning of the trial, and the individuals were given an ultrasound to measure blood flow in the brain.

The study participants enrolled in an aerobic exercise program that was held three days a week. Over time, they progressively increased their workout from 20 minutes to at least 40 minutes a day. The individuals were also asked to work out on their own once per week.

The researchers found that after six months of consistent exercise, the participants improved by 5.7 percent on tests of executive function. 

In addition, their ability to retrieve information quickly, or verbal fluency, increased by 2.4 percent. "This change in verbal fluency is what you'd expect to see in someone five years younger," explained Professor Poulin.

Average peak blood flow to the brain also improved, increasing from an average of 51.3 centimeters per second to an average of 52.7 centimeters per second.

According to Professor Poulin, the increase in blood flow with exercise was associated with a number of modest but significant improvements in aspects of thinking that usually decline as we age.

"Our study showed that six months' worth of vigorous exercise may pump blood to regions of the brain that specifically improve your verbal skills as well as memory and mental sharpness," said Professor Poulin. "At a time when these results would be expected to be decreasing due to normal aging, to have these types of increases is exciting."

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://n.neurology.org/">Neurology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff

&nbsp;

Exercise can boost brain health at any age 

Exercise can boost memory and other cognitive functions at any...

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