The International Space Station (ISS) is not just a place to live in space - it’s an experimental laboratory. With astronauts onboard and Earth positioned below, the ISS offers a unique opportunity: long-duration research in microgravity.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
It also provides low Earth orbit views of our planet, along with a human crew who support experiments, swap samples, and troubleshoot in real time.
</blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
Since its launch, researchers have used the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/">space station</a> to conduct hundreds of studies. These range from characterizing fluid behavior in zero gravity to tracking changes in the human body. Their work advances science by answering questions that can’t be studied on Earth.
</blockquote>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-science-without-gravity">Science without gravity</h2>



Without Earth's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/matter-spacetime-gravitational-waves-fabric-of-the-universe/">gravity</a> pulling things down, scientists can run experiments that simply aren’t possible on the ground. For example, hot air doesn't rise. Flames take on a spherical shape. Fluids stop behaving the way they do in a glass of water.



This gives researchers a rare opportunity to examine physical, chemical, and biological processes in new ways. 



By eliminating variables like surface tension or capillary movement, they can get a much clearer picture of how things actually work.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orbiting-lab-sees-it-all">Orbiting lab sees it all</h2>



The space station orbits Earth in about 90 minutes, traveling at 17,500 miles per hour from about 250 miles above the surface. 



This low vantage point means the ISS is able to make observations of the planet both in daylight and darkness, and from various angles and lighting conditions.



By being outside&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-shrinking-earths-atmosphere-and-thats-bad-for-satellites/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Earth's atmosphere</a>&nbsp;and magnetic field, the ISS carries instruments that could not be used on Earth. 



That makes it possible to study space radiation, neutron stars, and other phenomena - along with how materials and living organisms behave in space.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-iss-crew-makes-science-possible">ISS crew makes science possible</h2>



Other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/space-debris-issue-growing-exponentially-worse-now-threatens-working-satellites/">satellites</a> can carry instruments, but only the ISS has a living, breathing crew to run the science. Human operators are key. They adjust setups, monitor changes, fix problems, and pack samples for return to Earth.



This flexibility is critical for complex research on the ISS. It also means scientists can get a second chance if something doesn’t go as planned. 



Since experiments can stay on the station for months or even years, there's plenty of time to refine ideas and gather more data.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-body-changes-in-space">Body changes in space</h2>



Because the space station has been operating for over two decades, scientists have been able to track long-term changes - including how space affects the human body. One example: vision changes that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astronauts-can-survive-mars-space-journey-but-their-kidneys-will-be-permanently-damaged/">astronauts</a> began noticing after spending months in orbit.



Scientists launched the Fluid Shifts investigation in 2015 to understand what was happening. They suspected that in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microgravity-causes-big-problems-with-human-gene-expression/">microgravity</a>, fluids move from the lower to the upper body, increasing pressure in the head and possibly changing eye shape.



The study asked whether increased fluid pressure was the cause of these vision changes.



It ran through 2020 and tracked multiple astronauts over time. It marked a major step toward understanding the effects of spaceflight on human health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-research-on-the-space-station">Research on the space station</h2>



Research on the space station takes time. First, scientists have to identify a question and come up with a possible answer. Then, they design an experiment to test it, decide what data to collect, and figure out how.



Getting that experiment into space is its own process. NASA reviews proposals based on scientific value and relevance. 



Once approved, studies are scheduled for future missions - often many months away. Training, hardware development, flight procedures, and data collection plans all need to be worked out.



Once the experiment is on board, astronauts begin collecting data. After that, the real work begins: analyzing results and writing them up. That alone can take a year or more.



Before a study is published, it goes through peer review. One analysis found that peer review alone takes an average of 100 days. Editors may also ask for revisions or more analysis before giving the green light.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-crew-big-science">Small crew, big science</h2>



One challenge with human research on the International Space Station is the limited number of subjects. With only about six people on board at any given time, gathering enough data takes longer.



Consider the Lighting Effects study, which tested whether adjusting the station’s lighting could improve <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-prepares-the-brain-for-the-future-while-protecting-memories-of-the-past/">sleep</a>, mood, and performance by syncing with astronauts’ circadian rhythms.



Because researchers needed data from several astronauts, the study ran from 2016 to 2020. Other long-term human studies have looked at heart muscle loss and nutrition, including how to grow fresh food in space.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-space-station-research-takes-time">Space station research takes time</h2>



Research in physical science can often move more quickly. Scientists can send up batches of materials and collect results faster. But even then, one round of experiments often leads to more questions.



<a href="https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/iss-research/msg/bass/">The Burning and Suppression of Solids </a>(BASS) series ran from 2011 to 2017, studying how different fuels behave in space. That work led to the Saffire series, which began in 2016 and ended in 2024.



These fire safety demonstrations helped answer critical questions about how to prevent and put out fires in space.



Scientific breakthroughs don’t happen overnight, especially not in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shifts-in-earths-orbit-triggered-ancient-megadroughts/">orbit</a>. But the space station gives researchers something priceless: time, access, and the ability to keep going.



The payoff? New insights into how our bodies work, how materials behave, and how we can prepare for longer missions. That’s not just useful for life in space - it helps improve life back on Earth, too.



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What 20 years of space station research means for life on Earth

The International Space Station (ISS) is not just a place to live in space - it’s an experimental laboratory. With astronauts onboard and Earth positioned below, the ISS offers a unique opportunity: long-duration research in microgravity. It also provides low Earth orbit views of our planet, along with a human crew who support experiments, swap samples, and troubleshoot in real time. Since its launch, researchers have used the space station to conduct hundreds of studies. These range from characterizing fluid behavior in zero gravity to tracking changes...

As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rates-loneliness-doubled/">we reported</a> last year, rates of loneliness have doubled over the past 50 years, despite the ability to connect online at almost any time. Since pharmaceutical solutions seem to be available for most other ailments, many have questioned if a pill could cure one of humanity’s greatest epidemics and hardest to treat afflictions.

This is the current goal of Dr. Stephanie Cacioppo, a neuroscientist who has studied loneliness for most of her career, and recently spoke to the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6598703/A-pill-loneliness-Scientists-race-treat-condition-raise-premature-death-risks.html">Daily Mail</a> on her efforts to develop a loneliness cure.

With social media platforms and the internet connecting people all over the world in the blink of an eye, you would think loneliness would be a thing of the past. 

However, research has shown that people today feel more<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/loneliness-rise-united-states/"> isolated despite social media’s connectivity</a> and that pervasive loneliness impacts health and wellbeing, especially among younger generations. 

One 2018 nationwide survey of 20,000 US adults found that around <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/01/606588504/americans-are-a-lonely-lot-and-young-people-bear-the-heaviest-burden">50 percent of the survey respondents felt lonely some or all of the time</a>. Studies have found links between loneliness and an increased risk of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/well/mind/how-loneliness-affects-our-health.html">diabetes, dementia, and cardiovascular disease</a>. 

Cacioppo recently had to deal with loneliness head-on after the sudden death of her husband, an event that motivated her to continue on with her research into what loneliness does to the brain and how to potentially treat it. 

A cure for loneliness may be closer than you think as Cacioppo found that pregnenolone (a steroid naturally made in the body) can help combat the anxiety that comes with feelings of loneliness. 

Several test studies and trials have shown that participants given pregnenolone have less activity in the amygdala and insula parts of the brain compared to control groups. These regions in the brain are linked to the flight or fight response and help people process and perceive threats around them. 

Cacioppo is in the process of analyzing data from a clinical trial in which 96 participants who reported feeling lonely were given different amounts of the steroid or a placebo. If the results are successful, Cacioppo and her team could soon develop a pill form of the steroid which could help ease the anxiety and negative symptoms of loneliness.  

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

With loneliness on the rise, there may soon be a pill to treat it

As we reported last year, rates of loneliness have doubled...

Scientists at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Chemical_Society_(EuChemS)">European Chemical Society</a> (EuChemS) have created a new periodic table that highlights which elements are now considered endangered. Elements such as allium, arsenic, yttrium, and silver have become shockingly scarce and could vanish in less than 100 years at the current rate. 

The experts added a mobile phone symbol to the 31 elements that are used to make phones, hoping to send a powerful message about how much we depend upon these elements in our daily lives. The modified periodic table also distinguishes conflict minerals, which fuel violence and wars in the regions where they are extracted.

David Cole-Hamilton, a professor of Chemistry at the <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">University of St. Andrews</a>, pointed out that all of the conflict minerals are used in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/smartphones-sleep-deprivation-kids/">cell phones</a>. 

“We have to question whether it’s really necessary to change over mobile phones every year or so. 10 million phones a month are changed in Europe alone. Most of them are sent to the developing world - either for reuse or for recycling - but the recycling is not efficient.”

[caption id="attachment_1865899" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/elements.png"><img class="wp-image-1865899" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/elements.png" alt="" width="700" height="456" /></a> Image Credit: European Chemical Society[/caption]

Professor Cole-Hamilton also explained why we should be far more conservative with helium. He said that while it is widely used for magnetic resonance imaging and deep sea diving, the helium for both of these applications is recycled. 

“But if you have a helium balloon at a birthday party, it will either deflate or burst, and either way the helium is released into the atmosphere,” said Professor Cole-Hamilton. “Helium is so light that once it’s in the atmosphere it can actually escape from the Earth completely and go into outer space where it’s lost to us forever.”

The team hopes to make their periodic table accessible to everyone, and has already made “great progress in getting it into schools across Europe.” The Royal Society of Chemistry will be sending a copy to every one of its 50,000 members.

“It’s amazing to think that everything that we see around us in the natural world is made up from just 90 building blocks - the 90 naturally occurring elements,” said Professor Cole-Hamilton. “Furthermore, these 90 elements, in different combinations, make up all of the wonders of nature, and all the technology and gadgets we use every day. We need to have a better way of dealing with these resources, or we won’t have them anymore.”

The EuChemS version of the periodic table was launched this week at the European Parliament.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Elements used to make smartphones and devices are becoming scarce

Scientists at the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) have created a...

New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based. A genetically engineered microbe could be used to break down woody plant material and create a biodegradable alternative for plastic.

Finding environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic is a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protein-squid-alternative-plastics/">mission</a> taken on by a number of research teams, and the focus of these endeavors is typically the sugars and cellulose in plant cell walls. 

But while researchers have been able to break down plant materials and extract sugars, an abundant polymer called lignin is stripped away in the process. Lignin is so abundant and carries such little value that it’s typically just burned during manufacturing processes. 

If this lignin could be broken down and utilized efficiently, it could be used to make durable materials that could replace plastic. Unfortunately, the molecule is large, complex, and challenging to break down, and so it has been long overlooked until now. New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based plastic substitute 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Madison-Wisconsin</a> discovered that a microbe called Novosphingobium aromaticivorans efficiently digests the different components of lignin and produces smaller aromatic hydrocarbons in the process. 

A study detailing how the bacterium breaks down lignin and potential future implications for the microbe was published in the journal Green Chemistry. 

“Other microbes tried before may be able to digest a few types of aromatics found in lignin,” said Miguel Perez, the lead author of the study. “When we met this microbe, it was already good at degrading a wide range of compounds. That makes this microbe very promising.”

As Novosphingobium aromaticivorans digests lignin, it produces pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid,  also known as PDC. The researchers found that by removing three genes from the microbe, they could expedite the PDC process. 

Bioengineers are already using PDC in Japan as a plastic replacement, but the difficult extraction process has kept lignin from being used over a wide scale. 

Now, the researchers say that the microbe could make PDC production at the industrial level a real possibility. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based

New discovery could pave the way for a plant-based. A...

Extreme rainfall is defined as the top five percent of rainy days – which may mean different things to those who live in Seattle, Washington versus the Mojave Desert. But it has been known that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/winter-rainfall-arctic-ecosystems/">extreme rainfall</a> forms a pattern at a local level. 

However, a new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a> has found that there are also larger-scale global patterns to extreme rainfall events, which could be used to develop better forecasts and more accurate climate models.

This research was led by a team at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and the <a href="https://www.pik-potsdam.de/pik-frontpage">Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research</a> in Germany. Along with the potential of these findings to help improve global climate models, the study also provides a “baseline” for climate change studies. Through knowing how the atmosphere behaves to create patterns of extreme rainfall events, other researchers will be able to gain new insights into changes that may be a result of climate change.

“This finding could also help us understand the connections between different monsoon systems and extreme events within them,” says lead author Dr. Niklas Boers of the Potsdam Institute. “I hope that our results will, in the long term, help to predict extreme rainfall and associated flash floods and landslides in northeast Pakistan, north India and Nepal. There have been several such hazards in recent years, with devastating consequences in these regions, such as the 2010 Pakistan flood.”

In their research, the team developed a new method based in complex system theory in order to study high-resolution satellite data of rainfall. Through breaking the globe into a grid, they could see where events occurred and determine how “synchronous” they were. Their results revealed a potential mechanism for how the events were connected, as the patterns appeared to be created by Rossby waves, which are wiggles in fast-flowing currents of air way up in the atmosphere, known as jet streams. 

While Rossby waves have been linked to regular rainfall, this is the first study to connect them to extreme rainfall event patterns. 

“The new technique applied to satellite data shows very surprising relationships between extreme rainfall events in different regions around the world,” says co-author Brian Hoskins of Imperial College London. “For example, extreme events in the South Asian Summer Monsoon are, on average, linked to events in the East Asian, African, European and North American regions. Although rains in Europe do not cause the rain in Pakistan and India, they belong to the same atmospheric wave pattern, with the European rains being triggered first.”

The work done by these collaborative and multidisciplinary researchers could help shed light on how extreme weather events occur, and provide us with better forecasts and more accurate climate models.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Extreme rainfall events are connected globally by air currents

Extreme rainfall is defined as the top five percent of...

If you’ve seen the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you may have wondered whether the “erasure” therapy seen in the film could potentially become a reality in the future. The plot revolves around two characters using this therapy to forget about their past relationship together. And according to real-life scientists, forgetting something can take more mental effort than trying to hold onto the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brains-work-backwards-memories/">memory</a>.

A new study published in <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/">JNeurosci</a> has found that if we focus on negative experiences rather than suppressing them, we may be able to force unwanted memories from our brains. This research was done by Dr. Tracy Wang and colleagues at the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a>, where they had young adults forget images of scenes and neutral faces by activating a brain area called the visual cortex.

The findings support a hypothesis that memories can be forgotten by activating them, which goes against popular belief. 

“We forget the majority of our experiences,” says Dr. Wang. “This may seem bleak, but memory loss is essential to the human experience; we are bombarded with too much information each moment to preserve everything.” 

Due to how much information we receive on a daily basis, forgetting is actually an adaptive feature of memory that allows us to discard unneeded or irrelevant information, so we can enhance our access to other memories. 

“'Which information should be saved and which discarded?” asks Wang. “While this challenge is often solved automatically by the brain, people can also exert volitional control over what they forget.”

The study shows new evidence that intentional forgetting involves enhancement of memory processing in the sensory cortex in order to achieve the desired forgetting of recent visual experiences. According to Wang, this enhancement temporarily increases the activation of memory representations, which makes it vulnerable to disruption. 

“Contrary to intuition, deliberate forgetting may involve more rather than less attention to unwanted information,” she explains. 

Although far from being developed into the erasure therapy from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this new research does have the potential to develop into a treatment where it could possibly benefit people who suffer from PTSD or other psychological conditions.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Could “erasure therapy” actually get rid of unwanted memories?

If you’ve seen the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless...

It doesn’t take a full-blown wine snob to know that older bottles tend to have higher price tags. But it’s not just the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/red-wines-taste-dry/">wine</a> itself that may tie back to the past, as scientists have discovered that a grape variety still used in wine production in France can be traced back 900 years to just one ancestral plant.

Researchers have long suspected that some grape varieties grown today have an exact genetic match with plants grown 2,000 years ago or more, but there was never a way to genetically test an uninterrupted genetic lineage of that age. However, using an extensive genetic database of modern grapevines, scientists were able to analyze and compare 28 archeological seeds from French sites dating back to the Iron Age, Roman era, and medieval period. 

In a study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/nplants/">Nature Plants</a>, the researchers used similar ancient DNA methods utilized in tracing human ancestors to draw genetic connections between seeds from different archaeological sites, along with links to modern-day grape varieties.

“From our sample of grape seeds we found 18 distinct genetic signatures, including one set of genetically identical seeds from two Roman sites separated by more than 600km, and dating back 2,000 years ago,” says Dr. Nathan Wales from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>. “These genetic links, which included a ‘sister’ relationship with varieties grown in the Alpine regions today, demonstrate winemakers’ proficiencies across history in managing their vineyards with modern techniques, such as asexual reproduction through taking plant cuttings.”

One of the grape seeds found at a medieval site in Orléans in central France was genetically identical to Savagnin Blanc (not to be confused with Sauvignon Blanc), which means the variety has grown for at least 900 years after beginning as cuttings from one ancestral plant. This grape is still grown in the Jura region of France and is used to make expensive bottles of Vin Jaune.

“We suspect the majority of these archaeological seeds come from domesticated berries that were potentially used for winemaking based on their strong genetic links to wine grapevines,” explains Dr. Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, a postdoctoral researcher from the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a>. “Berries from varieties used for wine are small, thick-skinned, full of seeds, and packed with sugar and other compounds such as acids, phenols, and aromas - great for making wine but not quite as good for eating straight from the vine.”

None of the Roman seeds excavated were found to have an identical genetic match with modern-day seeds, but the researchers did find two very close relationships with important grape families used in making high quality wine. Seeds were connected to the Syrah-Mondeuse Blanche family, with Syrah being one of the most planted grapes in the world today. Another connection was found with the Mondeuse Blanche, which is used to produce high quality AOC (protected regional product) wine in Savoy.

“It is rather unconventional to trace an uninterrupted genetic lineage for hundreds of years into the past,” says Dr. Wales. “Instead of exploring broad patterns in genetic ancestry, as in most ancient DNA projects, we had to think like forensics scientists and find a perfect match in the database.”

The researchers are now trying to find more archaeological evidence to further expand the history and knowledge of grape wine varieties. “Large databases of genetic data from modern crops and optimized palaeogenomic methods have vastly improved our ability to analyze the history of this and other important fruits,” Wales explains. “For the wine industry today, these results could shed new light on the value of some grape varieties; even if we don’t see them in popular use in wines today, they were once highly valued by past wine lovers and so are perhaps worth a closer look.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit S. Ivorra CNRS/ISEM

Ancient seeds trace wine grape variety back 900 years to one ancestral plant

It doesn’t take a full-blown wine snob to know that...

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> have discovered that when <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hawks-hunters/">hawks</a> pursue their prey, they utilize a mix of several types of guidance law that could help design drones used for capturing rogue drones in crowded areas. 

To come to this theory, published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10454-z">Nature Communications</a>, Oxford’s Dr. Caroline Brighton and Professor Graham Taylor studied the flight trajectory of five captive Harris’ Hawks with high-speed cameras as they went after an artificial target.

“We filmed our hawks flying after a dummy bunny, which was an artificial target that we towed at speed around a series of pulleys laid out to produce an unpredictable course,” Dr. Brighton said. “Using video reconstruction techniques to measure the 3D trajectory of the hawk and its target, we then ran a computer simulation to see how closely the hawk's attack behaviour was modelled by different kinds of guidance law.”

One such guidance law, called proportional navigation, is used by both falcons and homing missiles to smoothly follow aerial targets. However, proportional navigation is not efficient at following zigzagging terrestrial prey in dense habitats. 

Hawks, however, can follow this kind of prey with a mixture of guidance law. They base their turn rate on the information pertaining to the angle between the direction to their target and their current flight direction. They also use information on the rate at which the direction to their target is changing to better their aim and reduce the risk of overshot. 

This combination of guidance law could be useful for designing drones meant to pursue and capture rogue drones in cluttered areas.

“Last year's Gatwick incident showed just how far we are from being able to remove rogue drones quickly and safely from a large open space, let alone the cluttered airspace of an urban environment,” Professor Taylor said. “Hawks are masters of close pursuit through clutter, so we think they have a thing or two to teach us about how to design a new kind of drone that can safely chase down another.”

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Ondrej Prosicky

The hunting methods used by hawks could help design new drones

Researchers from the University of Oxford have discovered that when...

Long-term happiness in marriage could be genetic. A new study from researchers at <a href="https://publichealth.yale.edu/">Yale School of Public Health</a> reports that couples who share long-term happiness within marriage may have genes to thank for their longevity. Published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>, the study looks into a genetic variation that affects a social bonding hormone called oxytocin.

"This study shows that how we feel in our close relationships is influenced by more than just our shared experiences with our partners over time," said lead author Joan Monin, associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health. "In marriage, people are also influenced by their own and their partner's genetic predispositions."

Monin and her team studied 178 married couples ranging from 37 to 90 years old. Participants answered survey questions about their feelings of marital security and satisfaction. They also gave the team a saliva sample for genotyping purposes.

When at least one partner within a <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/couples-arguments-live-longer/">couple</a> had a genetic variation within their oxytocin receptor called the GG genotype, the couple as a whole reported greater marital satisfaction and security than those couples with different genotypes. This variation (OXTR rs53576) has been previously linked to personality traits like emotional stability, empathy, and sociability, however, before this study, its role within a marital relationship had not been examined.

Those with the GG genotype were also less anxiously attached to their spouse, meaning they did not exhibit insecure behaviors related to diminished self-worth, high rejection sensitivity, and approval-seeking behavior, as Monin explained.

Going forward, the team hopes to explore how other genotypes influence relationships as well as how OXTR rs53576 affects specific positive and negative experiences within a relationship to affect the quality of said relationship.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Long-term happiness in marriage could be genetic

Long-term happiness in marriage could be genetic. A new study...

According to <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/2rs5yypwcn1d5en/EASAC_Forest_Bioenergy_Web-ready%20(2).pdf?dl=0">a new statement</a> released by the <a href="https://www.easac.eu/">European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC)</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/carbon-capture-profitable-business/">CO2 removal technologies</a> and techniques are becoming more necessary to implement via climate policy due to the worldwide failure to reduce and reverse the growth of global emissions. 

However, the scientists say that mitigation must remain the highest priority, the EASAC notes. Relying on the future use of unproven technologies to fix the climate issue would be unwise, and, as the EASAC states, negative emissions technologies could not make up for the lack of effort to reduce CO2. They will simply help current emission statistics meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.

"As mitigation remains inadequate to keep warming within Paris Agreement Targets, applying negative emissions technologies at a potentially huge scale is increasingly likely to be necessary,” said Professor Michael Norton, Director of Environment at EASAC, which represents the national science academies of the EU Member States, Norway, and Switzerland. “Applying such technologies at the scale required would require the development of a new industry close to the same size as the current fossil fuel industry - a huge diversion of economic resources within the economy.”

“To avoid dangerous climate change and bolster its economy, therefore, the EU should be examining the most likely technologies to be relevant to Europe's future industries," Professor Norton continued.

The EASAC states that negative emission technologies (NETs), although important, have their downsides. Accepting such models could weaken resolve to mitigate and could cause bigger climate-related issues in the future. Therefore, NETs must be kept on the backburner and only be employed alongside mitigation.

Such negative emission technologies and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies include reversing deforestation, called “reforestation,” increasing soil carbon levels, and enhancing wetlands. This is perhaps the most cost-effective way to reduce carbon dioxide levels in both developed and developing countries.

Other CDR technologies include direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS), and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) — however both must go through more testing before being identified as preferred technologies.

The EASAC also welcomes developments in carbon capture usage and storage (CCS). The council notes in its statement that “efforts should continue to develop CCS into a relevant and relatively inexpensive mitigation technology,” and that “maximising mitigation with such measures will reduce the future need to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.”

Furthermore, the EASAC also warns that those responsible for the transition from coal to imported biomass must take real climate change impacts over the next 10 to 20 years into consideration and provide a clear line between positive and negative use of bioenergy. And policy-makers should end subsidies for non-renewable biomass.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why CO2 removal technologies are becoming more necessary

According to a new statement released by the European Academies'...

Every day in the United States, about 2.5 billion gallons of produced water – a  byproduct of oil refinery and extraction – is generated as waste. This water is deemed unusable for household and commercial use by the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> due to the many remaining contaminants. And while several commercial treatments are available to clean this <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/groundwater-reserves-environmental-time-bomb/">water</a>, they can be expensive, energy-intensive, and do not remove all traces of contaminants from the water.

But in what could be a major development for the oil refinery industry, <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/">Purdue University</a> researchers have now developed a process that removes almost all traces of oil in produced water. Their process involves using activated charcoal foam, which absorbs contaminants from the water, and subjecting the water to solar light in order to produce heat and purify the water.

This process has met all EPA standards for clean water from industrial sources, and tests have shown it to produce a total organic carbon of only 7.5 milligrams per liter. Furthermore, the researchers state that the oil absorbed by the foam can be recovered, as they were able to recover up to 95 percent of the oil that was absorbed.

“This is a simple, clean and inexpensive treatment process,” said Ashreet Mishra, a graduate research assistant at the Purdue University Northwest Water Institute. “I have seen in my home country of India how people suffer for the want of pure water, and we as researchers need to do as much as we can to help.”

[caption id="attachment_1870104" align="aligncenter" width="529"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/water.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1870104" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/water.jpg" alt="" width="529" height="235" /></a> Image Credit: Purdue University/Ashreet Mishra[/caption]

Mishra also says that the Purdue process could be integrated with existing disposal systems to purify a large amount of water and reduce the current stress on water grids. “This is the first-of-its kind method to do this purification in a single step simultaneously via a perforated foam,” she says. “Our process is able to address the cost and energy aspects of the problem.”

Researchers are now working with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to patent this innovation, and they are looking for partners to assist in its continued development.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New process could recover billions of gallons of oil refinery wastewater

Every day in the United States, about 2.5 billion gallons...

According to researchers at the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>, social communication played an influential role in how the human face shape evolved. Because <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-hunted-6th-extinction/">humans</a>, short-faced, and large-brained, look so different from our closest relatives, the researchers concluded that Homo sapiens most likely developed non-verbal communications and gestures in order to survive.

"We can now use our faces to signal more than 20 different categories of emotion via the contraction or relaxation of muscles", said Paul O'Higgins, Professor of Anatomy at the <a href="https://www.hyms.ac.uk/">Hull York Medical School</a> and the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. "It's unlikely that our early human ancestors had the same facial dexterity as the overall shape of the face and the positions of the muscles were different."

The human face should be seen as the result of biomechanical, physiological, and social influences, the research team stated in their study, published April 15th in <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>. Climate and diet also contributed to the formation of the humans face, but the need for non-verbal communication helped shape our modern brow — smooth and capable of a wide range of movement. And human faces became slimmer, allowing us to express subtle emotions like sympathy and recognition.

Furthermore, human faces are still evolving. Over the past 100,000 years, our faces have become smaller as we developed cooking skills, therefore helping us process food more efficiently and chew less. This shift marks our transition from being hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists and city-dwellers.

[caption id="attachment_1871274" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/human-face.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871274" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/human-face.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="216" /></a> Skulls of hominins over the last 4.4 million years, Image Credit: Rodrigo Lacruz[/caption]

"We know that other factors such as diet, respiratory physiology and climate have contributed to the shape of the modern human face, but to interpret its evolution solely in terms of these factors would be an oversimplification," Professor O'Higgins said. He continued, "Softer modern diets and industrialised societies may mean that the human face continues to decrease in size. There are limits on how much the human face can change however, for example breathing requires a sufficiently large nasal cavity."

O’Higgins concludes, "However, within these limits, the evolution of the human face is likely to continue as long as our species survives, migrates and encounters new environmental, social and cultural conditions."

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The shape of human faces evolved out of our need for social skills

According to researchers at the University of York, social communication...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> (UBC) have discovered that honey samples can be used to measure environmental pollution. When <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/honeybees-solving-basic-math-problems/">bees</a> hunt for pollen and nectar near their hives, they pick up trace amounts of elements such as lead. As a result, these elements can be detected in the honey produced by the bees. 

Scientists at the UBC's Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research (PCIGR) analyzed honey samples from six Metro Vancouver neighborhoods, testing for lead, zinc, copper, and other elements. In addition, the team used lead isotope analyses to pinpoint where the lead originally came from. 

“The good news is that the chemical composition of honey in Vancouver reflects its environment and is extremely clean,” said study lead author Kate E. Smith, who is a PhD candidate at PCIGR. “We also found that the concentration of elements increased the closer you got to downtown Vancouver, and by fingerprinting the lead we can tell it largely comes from manmade sources.”

The experts found that the honey collected in Metro Vancouver was well below the worldwide average for heavy metals like lead. For example, an adult would have to consume more than two cups of honey every day to exceed safe lead levels. 

The study also revealed that the concentration of lead increased in areas with heavy traffic and industrial activity, while levels of manganese appeared to increase near areas with more agricultural activity and pesticide use. 

The isotope analysis showed that the lead could not be traced to any local, naturally-occurring sources. 

“We found they both had fingerprints similar to aerosols, ores and coals from large Asian cities,” said study senior author Dominique Weis. “Given that more than 70 per cent of cargo ships entering the Port of Vancouver originate from Asian ports, it's possible they are one source contributing to elevated lead levels in downtown Vancouver.”

The research was carried out in partnership with Hives for Humanity, which is a local non-profit that creates urban beekeeping job opportunities for people in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

“One of the exciting parts of this study is that it bridges science with community interests,” said Smith. “Honey sampling can easily be performed by citizen scientists in other urban centres, even if they lack other environmental monitoring capabilities.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natsustain">Nature Sustainability</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Hives for Humanity

Honey from city bees can be used to trace environmental pollutants

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have discovered...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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