Scientists have discovered a rare group of proteins that appear to give microbes in cold environments a strange advantage. These proteins, called cryorhodopsins, respond to light in surprising ways.



Now, researchers think the proteins could be turned into powerful tools for neuroscience and biotechnology.



The icy peaks of the Himalayas, the deep chill of Finnish groundwater, and the ancient glaciers of Greenland all have something in common - they host microscopic life that has adapted to extreme cold.



In doing so, these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frozen-worm-comes-back-to-life-after-46000-years/">organisms</a> may have evolved tools that could change how we study and influence the human brain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unlikely-proteins-found-in-the-cold">Unlikely proteins found in the cold</h2>



It started with a bit of online browsing. While combing through protein databases, a scientist noticed something strange: microbial rhodopsins - proteins usually found in warm, aquatic environments - were popping up in places like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/safety-on-frozen-lakes-declining-due-to-climate-change/">frozen lakes</a> and glaciers.



Even more oddly, the cold-weather rhodopsins were nearly identical, despite being found in microbes living thousands of kilometers apart. That kind of similarity usually means they serve a crucial function. The team gave them a name to match their habitat: cryorhodopsins.



“In my work, I search for unusual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-early-life-may-be-a-model-of-alien-life/">rhodopsins</a> and try to understand what they do,” said structural biologist Kirill Kovalev of <a href="https://www.embl.org/">EMBL Hamburg</a>. “Such molecules could have undiscovered functions that we could benefit from.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-searching-for-light-sensitive-proteins">Searching for light-sensitive proteins</h2>



Rhodopsins are light-sensitive proteins. Some of them have already been engineered to act like switches inside cells. 



When exposed to light, they trigger changes in electrical activity. This technique, called optogenetics, is widely used in neuroscience. 



But researchers are still hunting for new types of rhodopsins that could expand the method’s possibilities - especially rhodopsins with different colors, since different wavelengths of light can penetrate biological tissues in different ways.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cold-proteins-change-the-game">Cold proteins change the game</h2>



The cryorhodopsins stood out. Some weren’t the usual orange or pink - they were blue. “I can actually tell what’s going on with cryorhodopsin simply by looking at its color,” said Kovalev.



Using advanced structural biology tools, the team discovered that the same rare structural quirk that first caught their attention also explains why these cryorhodopsins are blue. 



The blue rhodopsins are especially valuable because they can be activated with red light, which travels deeper into tissues and can be used non-invasively.



“Now that we understand what makes them blue, we can design synthetic blue rhodopsins tailored to different applications,” Kovalev said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-light-switches-for-the-brain">Light switches for the brain</h2>



To test whether cryorhodopsins could be useful in optogenetics, the team expressed them in cultured brain cells. The results were exciting. When exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-mammals-have-fur-that-displays-a-striking-glow-under-uv-light/">UV light</a>, the proteins triggered electrical currents. 



Then, depending on the follow-up light exposure - green or red - the cells either became more excitable or less.



“New optogenetic tools to efficiently switch the cell’s electric activity both ‘on’ and ‘off’ would be incredibly useful in research, biotechnology and medicine,” said Tobias Moser of the University Medical Center Göttingen.



“For example, in my group, we develop new optical cochlear implants for patients that can optogenetically restore <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drugs-may-be-available-to-prevent-hearing-loss/">hearing</a> in patients. Developing the utility of such a multi-purpose rhodopsin for future applications is an important task for the next studies.”



According to Kovalev, the cryorhodopsins aren’t ready to be used as tools yet, but they’re an excellent prototype. "They have all the key features that, based on our findings, could be engineered to become more effective for optogenetics."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sensing-more-than-just-light">Sensing more than just light</h2>



The surprises didn’t stop there. Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt tested cryorhodopsins and found something unusual. These proteins are the slowest of all known rhodopsins when responding to light - and they’re sensitive to UV.



That slowness might be a feature, not a bug. It could let microbes “see” UV light, which would be a first. UV radiation is especially intense in high-altitude or polar environments. Being able to sense radiation might help microbes protect themselves.



However, the question remained: can microbes actually sense UV light? The search for an answer led the team to a genetic mystery. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-discovery-of-tiny-unknown-proteins">Discovery of tiny, unknown proteins</h2>



The cryorhodopsin gene always came packaged with another gene encoding a small, unknown protein. The team suspected it might be a messenger - a partner protein that helps transmit the UV light signal inside the cell.



Using the AI tool AlphaFold, the researchers predicted that five copies of the tiny protein form a ring that hugs the cryorhodopsin from the inside. 



When the rhodopsin detects UV light, the small protein might break off and carry the signal further into the cell.



"It was fascinating to uncover a new mechanism via which the light-sensitive signal from cryorhodopsins could be passed on to other parts of the cell. It is always a thrill to learn what the functions are for uncharacterized proteins," noted the researchers.



"In fact, we find these proteins also in organisms that do not contain cryorhodopsin, perhaps hinting at a much wider range of jobs for these proteins.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proteins-didn-t-evolve-due-to-cold">Proteins didn't evolve due to cold</h2>



While the full picture isn’t clear yet, the researchers have a strong hunch. Kovalev said the team suspects that cryorhodopsins evolved their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-shape-shifting-proteins-open-doors-in-medicine-and-farming/">unique features</a> not because of the cold, but rather to let microbes sense UV light, which can be harmful to them.



“In cold environments, such as the top of a mountain, bacteria face intense UV radiation. Cryorhodopsins might help them sense it, so they could protect themselves. This hypothesis aligns well with our findings," noted Kovalev.



“Discovering extraordinary molecules like these wouldn’t be possible without scientific expeditions to often remote locations, to study the adaptations of the organisms living there. We can learn so much from that!”



Cryorhodopsins aren’t ready to be used in the lab or the clinic just yet, but they are a solid starting point. Ultimately, they might offer a way to sense UV light inside of living cells. 



The proteins could also serve as new light-controlled tools for brain research, precision medicine, or even advanced prosthetics.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adv1015">Science Advances</a>.



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Can we control brain cells with light? New clues from frozen proteins

Scientists have discovered a rare group of proteins that appear to give microbes in cold environments a strange advantage. These proteins, called cryorhodopsins, respond to light in surprising ways. Now, researchers think the proteins could be turned into powerful tools for neuroscience and biotechnology. The icy peaks of the Himalayas, the deep chill of Finnish groundwater, and the ancient glaciers of Greenland all have something in common - they host microscopic life that has adapted to extreme cold. In doing so, these organisms may have evolved tools...

The good, the bad, and the memories: How the brain makes decisions. It was long theorized that the frontal cortex of the brain was the region where decisions are made. The orbital frontal cortex of the brain sits above the eye sockets and is considered the seat of higher-order thinking because of its role in the development of higher cognition processes. 

Calculations made in the frontal cortex were believed to influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-addiction-drugs/">decision making</a>. 

But now, researchers from <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale</a> have identified not one but three distinct circuits that connect to different brain regions and which are responsible for good and bad decision-making. 

The study was published in the journal Neuron. 

Having a better understanding of how decisions are processed and stored in the brain could help researchers tackle addiction, which is characterized by flawed decision-making. 

“Specific decision-making computations are altered in individuals with mental illness,” said Jane Taylor, the senior author of the study. “Our results suggest that these impairments may be linked to dysfunction within distinct neural circuits.”

Although the researchers studied decision making in rats, the results apply to human decision-making. 

“Because we used a test that is equivalent to those used in studies of human decision- making, our findings have direct relevance to humans and could aid in the search for novel treatments for substance abuse in humans,” said Stephanie Groman, a lead author of the study. 

The researchers conducted tests with rats who were given a choice between performing an action and receiving a reward or not getting a reward. During these actions, the researchers manipulated the brain circuits of the rats and found that decision making was not isolated to the orbital frontal cortex. 

Instead, the researchers identified three brain circuits that connected the orbital frontal cortex to other regions in the brain. 

This complex circuitry was activated during decision making and was responsible for either good decisions, bad decisions, or deciding which past choices should be committed to memory. 

“There are at least three individual processes that combine in unique ways to help us to make good decisions,” said Groman. 

If the rats made the right decision, one that ended in a reward, one of the brain circuits were activated, but another was activated if the rat made the wrong choice and received no reward. The third circuit stored past experiences and decisions to help the rat with future choices. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Image Credit:Shutterstock/PopTika

The good, the bad, and the memories: How the brain makes decisions

The good, the bad, and the memories: How the brain...

In collaboration with researchers at <a href="https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/default.aspx">Ben-Gurion University</a> in Israel, experts at <a href="http://www.ucla.edu/">UCLA</a> have developed a tool to predict how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gut-microbiome-promotes-healthier-aging/">gut microbiome</a> will change over time. 

The new computational modeling method uses snapshots of the microbial community found in an individual's gut to identify the various types of microbes present, which are indicative of future transformation.

The combination and amount of microbes in the gut is a strong indicator and contributor to a person's health. A better understanding of how this microbial community composition changes over time could provide key insights into health and disease. It is not yet clear, however, to what extent microbial composition at any given time influences future composition.

To investigate, the research team developed the Microbial community Temporal Variability Linear Mixed Model (MTV-LMM), which made it possible to observe temporal changes in the microbial composition of the gut. Testing revealed that MTV-LMM can predict such changes with more accuracy than existing models used for the same purpose.

Using MTV-LMM, the researchers were able to confirm that gut microbiome community composition can be accurately predicted based on earlier observations of the community in both infants and adults. Furthermore, when the model was applied to data from 39 infants, the team identified a key shift around the age of 9 months in how the gut microbiome changes over time.

"Our approach provides multiple methodological advancements, but this is still just the tip of the iceberg," said study co-author Liat Shenhav. "Modeling the temporal behavior of the microbiome is a fundamental scientific question, with potential applications in medicine and beyond."

The team will continue their work to further improve the prediction accuracy of the model and to explore additional applications. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/">PLOS Computational Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Alpha Tauri 3D Graphics

New tool can predict changes in the composition of the gut microbiome

In collaboration with researchers at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, experts...

Mars may have been able to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-experiment-life-mars/">support life</a> far earlier than Earth, according to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0380-0.epdf?referrer_access_token=jtLxYGtdiiEwMpp-v8eLgtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NqE6DHi19HY4jS6O-4qsom5JxVG2QDZPwe5u5RokWbYIU_xtd1E5KIAgVKG0MM2SnG0l8VOjcj46QnTvoExFMR-9NZ7iDf96PNE08wZZ_Fkqd9SBNIliQDbXXdcQh6vHU3Jt5mTUbu5srCafjSjFek-y1RDh40MF9r3uZJYlZHjUzzQCCmQm9GcK-H38rKPsLt4Ok8eNnvgl2FpDxIgl1BsqX1rEIP1tAGxnhotVo_ww%3D%3D&amp;tracking_referrer=www.dailymail.co.uk">Nature Geoscience</a>. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uwo.ca/">University of Western Ontario</a> discovered that a period known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, when the inner solar system was inundated with meteorite and asteroid impacts, ended earlier for Mars than previously realized. 

It was long thought that Mars was impacted by the Late Heavy Bombardment until 3.8 billion years ago. 

However, after analyzing meteorites from Mars’ southern Highlands that were knocked into space and crashed into Earth, the researchers found that Mars stopped being hit by comets and asteroids 4.48 billion years ago. 

This would have made it possible for life to develop between 4.2 and 3.5 billion years ago, 500 million years before life began to flourish on Earth. 

The researchers analyzed zircon and baddeleyite grains in the meteorites. Only 120 known specimens from Mars’s crust that fell to Earth are known to exist. 

By dating the zircon, the researchers were able to more accurately estimate when the Late Heavy Bombardment ceased for Mars as zircon contains decaying radioactive uranium. 

The meteorites can also show signs of exposure to high pressure indicative of a major impact, but the researchers found that the samples were formed after the Late Heavy Bombardment. 

“We found none of these bombardment signatures in the Mars zircon and baddeleyite grains,” Desmond Moser, the lead author of the study, told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2207355-mars-meteorite-assault-stopped-500-million-years-earlier-than-thought/">New Scientist</a>. “We know there was a giant impact on Mars, but it has to be older than 4.48 billion years ago.“The implication is that there could have been platform hosting life as much as half a billion years earlier than previously thought it was possible in the inner solar system.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Dotted Yeti

Mars may have been able to support life long before Earth

Mars may have been able to support life far earlier...

In 2015, the Gorkha earthquake in Nepal registered a moment magnitude (MW) of 7.8, and partially ruptured a 120-km by 80-km patch of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) – a detachment that separates the underthrusting Indian plate from the overriding Himalayan orogeny. 

The earthquake occurred in a region known as the Himalayan orogenic belt, which frequently produces large earthquakes that can impact population centers for a distance of over 2500 km.

The Gorkha earthquake in particular has highlighted important questions about <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/accelerated-himalayan-glacier-melting/">Himalayan</a> formation and seismic hazards – including how to distinguish between different possible geometries of the MHT, and how to better define the locations and structural causes of rupture segmentation in the orogenic belt. 

To help answer these questions, professor Bai Ling from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> led a study that found the rupture length of the Gorkha earthquake was likely controlled by spatial variations in the MHT.

[caption id="attachment_1874518" align="aligncenter" width="594"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/rupture.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-1874518" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/rupture.png" alt="" width="594" height="592" /></a> Map view of the MHT and a cross-section passing through the Gorkha earthquake. Image Credit: BAI Ling[/caption]

The study combined seismic waveforms from several different deployments – including 22 seismic stations ITP had deployed along the China-Nepal border with an average elevation of 4.5 km prior to the earthquake. Researchers were able to determine source parameters of the earthquakes, along with velocity structures and discontinuity topography of the source area by using arrival times and waveform modeling.

Published in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>, results of this study showed that the MHT exhibited clear lateral variation along the geologic strike, with the Lesser Himalayan ramp having moderate dip on the MHT beneath the mainshock are, and a flatter and deeper MHT below the eastern end of the aftershock zone. 

Moving forward, the next steps are to image the entire 2,500-km Himalayan front in order to determine the morphology of the MHT and the likely controls of the maximum magnitude of rupture that can be handled in different parts of the convergence zone. 

Ultimately, improving our understanding of how these seismic events occur and affect the surrounding areas may help us better predict the events and keep the communities in the area as safe as possible.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Studio Pospichal

Experts uncover controlling factors behind Himalayan earthquake rupture

In 2015, the Gorkha earthquake in Nepal registered a moment...

Bones belonging to two different <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/israel-site-occupied-neanderthals/">Neanderthals</a> in Europe have recently had their nuclear genome sequences analyzed by researchers at the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index.html">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a>. 

A femur bone belonging to a male Neanderthal was discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, Germany in 1937, while the maxillary bone of a Neanderthal girl was found in 1993 in Scladina Cave, Belgium. Both individuals lived around 120,000 years ago, predating most of the Neanderthals whose genomes have been previously sequenced.

Through their analysis of the nuclear genomes of these Neanderthals, the researchers were able to determine that these early Neanderthals in Western Europe were more closely related to the last Neanderthals who lived in the same region as much as 80,000 years later, than they were to the contemporaneous Neanderthals living in Siberia. 

[caption id="attachment_1874514" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/femur.png"><img class="wp-image-1874514" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/femur.png" alt="" width="650" height="351" /></a> Femur of a male Neandertal, Image © Oleg Kuchar, Museum Ulm[/caption]

“The result is truly extraordinary and a stark contrast to the turbulent history of replacements, large-scale admixtures and extinctions that is seen in modern human history,” says Kay Prüfer, who supervised the study.

Although the nuclear genome of the male Neandertal from Germany is similar to that of later Neanderthals, the mitochondrial genome is quite different. An earlier report had shown that over 70 mutations distinguished it from the mitochondrial genomes of other Neanderthals.

In their study, the researchers suggest that early European Neanderthals may have inherited DNA from a currently unknown population. Stéphane Peyrégne, who led the analysis, concludes, 

“This unknown population could represent an isolated Neanderhtal population yet to be discovered, or may be from a potentially larger population in Africa related to modern humans.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/iurii

Early Neanderthals lived in Europe 120,000 years ago

Bones belonging to two different Neanderthals in Europe have recently...

Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction. A 2017 report from the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that more than 7 million people die every year as a result of the negative health effects of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/smoking-ages-20-years/">smoking</a>. In a new study, experts at the <a href="https://www.tu-dortmund.de/en/">Technical University of Dortmund</a> in Germany are working to engineer nicotine-free tobacco to help people overcome their addiction to nicotine and reduce this number of fatalities.

"Nicotine‐free (or nicotine reduced) cigarettes may contribute to reduce the number of smokers and nicotine consumption, thus reducing the risk of death from tobacco use," wrote study authors Felix Stehle and Julia Schachtsiek. Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction.

"Most genes involved in the nicotine biosynthesis in tobacco are known and well characterized. This opens the possibility to employ genetic engineering approaches to alter the alkaloid content of the plant, and in particular to reduce the nicotine content."

The team used the CRISPR gene-editing technique to deactivate six enzymes involved in the production of nicotine. The result is a tobacco plant which contains the lowest level of nicotine to date. 

The researchers modified a tobacco strain that normally contains 16 milligrams of nicotine per gram to contain just 0.04 milligrams of nicotine per gram, which is a reduction of 99.7 per cent. Prior to this study, the lowest level of nicotine in any tobacco was 0.4 milligrams per gram. 

According to a WHO report, clinical trials involving low-nicotine cigarettes showed that smokers did not increase the amount they smoked to compensate for the reduced nicotine intake. The WHO experts also proposed that lowering the nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels may be an effective strategy to eliminate smoking worldwide. 

The study will be published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14677652">Plant Biotechnology Journal</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction

Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction. A...

From vibrant reds, greens, yellows, and blues, birds have some of the most striking and distinct colorings compared to other animals.

Melanin pigment is the key to these vivid feathers, and it is responsible for black, reddish brown, and grey feathers as well as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-shiny-feathers-trees/">iridescence</a>. 

Luckily, melanin pigment can fossilize, whereas feathers, which are made of keratin, are not preserved in prehistoric fossils. 

Researchers can use the fossilized pigments to help determine the colors of ancient birds, but the color blue remained evasive, and it was not known if blue could be preserved like other pigments. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> have identified blue color tones in prehistoric birds and discovered which birds were predominantly blue.

Birds use the melanin pigments to create both structural iridescent and non-iridescent colors. The melanin packages called melanosomes can look like small spheres to cylinders and measure less than one-thousandth of a millimeter. 

By examining the melanosomes in fossils, researchers can reconstruct the color of the feathers. 

But blue is a non-iridescent structural color and difficult to reconstruct. If a bird has blue coloring, its feathers contain an array of cavities that scatter blue light. The only way to determine a blue bird’s coloring is the dark melanin that absorbs unscattered light. 

The researchers discovered that the melanosomes in blue feathers are distinctly different from feathers that are black or brown, but similar to those found in grey feathers. 

After comparing modern birds and their feather colors to closely related fossil specimens, the researchers were able to determine that the prehistoric bird Eocoracias brachyptera was blue. 

“The overlap with grey colour may suggest some common mechanism in how melanosomes are involved in making grey colouration and how these structural blue colours are formed,” said Frane Barbarovic, the leader of the study. “Based on these results in our publication we have also hypothesized potential evolutionary transition between blue and grey colour.”

Blue, although a common color in the animal kingdom, is still somewhat of a mystery to biologists as far as what purpose it serves for some species. 

By having a better understanding of which ancient birds were blue, researchers may be able to piece together the evolutionary purpose and advantages blue coloring provides birds.

The results of the study were published in the journal Interface. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Reconstruction by Marta Zaher, PhD at the University of Bristol

Scientists identify blue tones in ancient fossilized feathers

From vibrant reds, greens, yellows, and blues, birds have some...

Fossil records dating as far back as the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cambrian-fossils-china/">Cambrian period</a> have shown significant ebbs and flows of evolution and extinction. However, rather than depicting a bell-shaped curve of rapid diversification and plummeting extinctions, the fossil record shows fat-tailed distribution, with outlier events occurring with higher-than-expected probability — a shape that scientists have had a hard time explaining.

Andy Rominger, a <a href="https://www.santafe.edu/">Santa Fe Institute</a> Omidyar Fellow, worked with colleagues Miguel Fuentes of <a href="http://www.uss.cl/">San Sebastián University</a>, and Pablo Marquet of <a href="http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/brazil/Pages/pontifical_catholic_univ.aspx">Pontifical Catholic University</a> to investigate the odd pattern. Their investigation is published in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

Rather than looking at the big picture first, the team analyzed the fluctuations among clades, or groups of organisms that share a common lineage.

"Within a lineage of closely related organisms, there should be a conserved evolutionary dynamic. Between different lineages, that dynamic can change," Rominger explained.

Related organisms within clades often find an adaptive strategy and stick to it. But between the clade-specific fitness peaks, there are voids of seemingly empty space. "It turns out, just invoking that simple idea, with some very simple mathematics, described the patterns in the fossil record very well,” Rominger said.

In 2009, Fuentes used the same “simply mathematics” — called superstatistics — to explain the stock market’s ebbs and flows, which oddly enough, depicted a similar fat-tailed pattern.

"In biology, we see these crashes and explosions too, in terms of biodiversity," Rominger said. "We wondered if Fuentes' elegant approach could also describe the evolutionary dynamics we see in the fossil record."

Their findings will hopefully help other scientists better understand evolutionary processes that lead to extinction and evolution, and to interruptions that make way for new life forms.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Mesa Shumacher/Santa Fe Institute

Scientists finally understand the universal pattern in fossil record

Fossil records dating as far back as the Cambrian period...

A study led by <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/">University of Tokyo</a> graduate student Yuuki Wada has recently uncovered a connection between lightning strikes and two kinds of gamma-ray activity. The researchers found that weak gamma-ray glows from thunderclouds often precede <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/lightning-strike-twice/">lightning bolts</a> and their coinciding intense gamma-ray flashes.

For decades, scientists have known that lightning generates electromagnetic radiation in the form of gamma rays. In the city of Kanazawa in central Japan, Wada and her colleagues installed radiation monitors onto buildings as a network to detect radiation coming from the sky. 

"Forever, people have seen lightning and heard thunder. These were the ways we could experience this power of nature," said Wada. "With the discovery of electromagnetism, scientists learned to see lightning with radio receivers. But now we can observe lightning in gamma rays - ionizing radiation. It's like having four eyes to study the phenomena."

During thunderstorms, weak emissions called gamma-ray glows last about a minute, while much more intense terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) occur as lightning strikes. Both types of gamma-ray activity occur in regions of thunderclouds that are positioned between layers of varying charge. 

"During a winter thunderstorm in Kanazawa, our monitors detected a simultaneous TGF and lightning strike. This is fairly common, but interestingly we also saw a gamma-ray glow in the same area at the same time," explained Wada. "Furthermore, the glow abruptly disappeared when the lightning struck. We can say conclusively the events are intimately connected and this is the first time this connection has been observed."

The researchers plan to further investigate and to explore the possibility that gamma-ray glows do not just precede lightning strikes, but may actually cause them. 

"Our finding marks a milestone in lightning research and we will soon double our number of radiation sensors from 23 to about 40 or 50. With more sensors, we could greatly improve predictive models," said Wada. "It's hard to say right now, but with sufficient sensor data, we may be able to predict lightning strikes within about 10 minutes of them happening and within around 2 kilometers of where they happen. I'm excited to be part of this ongoing research."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsphys/">Communications Physics</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earrh.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: 2019 Yuuki Wada

Weak gamma-ray glows often occur just before lightning bolts

A study led by University of Tokyo graduate student Yuuki...

A construction site near a retirement community in Denver, Colorado is now the new site of the paleontological dig around a large adult triceratops. Back in May, builders discovered the collection of bones while digging through a rock layer in Highland Ranch that dates back 65 million to 68 million years.

Upon unearthing the prehistoric bones, experts were brought in from the <a href="https://www.dmns.org/">Denver Museum of Nature and Science</a> in order to study the bones further. They can now report that they have confirmed the partial skeleton found at the site includes a limb bone and several ribs belonging to a triceratops. Currently, construction crews are using heavy equipment to dig a deep trench searching for other dinosaur fossils in the same area. 

[caption id="attachment_1874426" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Richard-M-Wicker.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1874426" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Richard-M-Wicker.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="857" /></a> Image Credit: Richard M Wicker[/caption]

The state of Colorado has been the birthplace of many fossil finds, with thousands of dinosaur bones found in the state. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science alone has almost 115,000 dinosaur, plant, and mammal fossils in its possession. There is even a location along the front range of the Rocky Mountains named “Dinosaur Ridge,” where many famous Jurassic dinosaur bones have been uncovered.

The triceratops also happens to be a popular find in Colorado, as triceratops bones are among the most common of all dinosaur bones discovered in the state. Additionally, bones belonging to a torosaurus –a relative of the triceratops – were discovered at another Denver construction site in 2017. But this doesn’t mean that dinosaur bones are growing on trees.

[caption id="attachment_1874427" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Richard-M-Wicker-dinosaur-bones.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1874427" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Richard-M-Wicker-dinosaur-bones.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="912" /></a> Image Credit: Richard M Wicker[/caption]

“'It’s always exciting to get a call about possible fossils, and I can’t wait to share more details as we continue to dig,” says Dr. Tyler Lyson, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the museum. “Finds like this, while relatively rare, are a great reminder of how dynamic our planet is and how much more there is out there to discover.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Triceratops bones unearthed at Denver construction site

A construction site near a retirement community in Denver, Colorado...

Researchers at <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego</a> have investigated the role that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cloud-cover-greenlands-ice-sheet/">cloud cover</a> and relative humidity play when surfaces such as solar panels are exposed to shortwave and longwave radiation. 

To identify the exact role water plays, the team needed to determine how much heat can be rejected to outer space and how much is radiated back by the atmosphere. The researchers found that water in the atmosphere, whether in gas, liquid, or solid form, is the main factor that influences how radiation is diverted. 

As a result of the research, the experts developed radiative cooling resource maps to help pinpoint the best climates for the large-scale deployment of passive cooling technologies, which rely on daily changes in temperature and humidity.

Study co-author Carlos F.M. Coimbra is the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego.

"We used recently calibrated correlations, experimental data and models for ground values of water vapor and temperature with sky emissivities to map out the places in the U.S. where we can most effectively reject heat from the ground to outer space," said Coimbra. "Because of the physical processes involved, locations with drier atmospheres and the most frequent clear skies are the most appropriate for deploying passive cooling technologies."

While the American Southwest was found to have great potential for the cooling technology, "other areas where the effect of relative humidity alone depletes the ability to use this cold reservoir resource show much less potential."

"In the areas with great cooling potential, the total energy consumption and the associated carbon footprint of conventional cooling technologies - often the highest component of electricity demand - can be substantially reduced," explained Coimbra.

The area of thermophotonic design of surfaces for passive cooling has recently  received much more attention for its potential to reject heat to the sky.

[caption id="attachment_1874396" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/passive-cooling.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1874396" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/passive-cooling.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="271" /></a> Yearly averaged passive cooling potential in watts per square meter in the US. Image Credit: Carlos Coimbra[/caption]

"Since antiquity, many societies have used the cold sky to their advantage," said Coimbra. "In desert areas, a clever combination of transpiration cooling (an evaporative method) with passive radiative cooling to 'cold' (dry, clear) skies was often used to produce ice and keep it from melting."

"The design of dry cooling condensers for concentrated solar power plants or air conditioning systems will benefit from the ability to reflect selectivity in the solar while emitting strongly within the infrared parts of the spectrum." 

"But these strategies are most effective during particular seasons and for particular regions of the planet. We live in an era of DNA-targeted medicines, but we still use generic energy technologies that aren't necessarily tailored to different regional needs. It is time to rethink the way we deploy these impactful technologies."

The study is published in the <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/rse/info/about">Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Jessica Kirsh

Certain climates are better suited for passive cooling technologies

Researchers at UC San Diego have investigated the role that...

New bipartisan patent bill raises ethical and practical questions. Patent laws usually stop people from patenting something that already exists in nature. You can't patent a new tree species you discovered in the wild, for instance. You can of course patent an invention like a water system that keeps trees healthy. There is some grey area, though. 

It's possible to patent certain varieties of a plant. If you breed trees together to create a hybrid with certain qualities, you could potentially patent it, even though for some this is patenting something essentially natural rather than a human invention or innovation. 

Plants are particularly singled out in patent law. The 1930 Plant Parent Act allowed patenting of plants created with asexual reproduction. The 1970 Plant Variety Protection Act allows patenting of certain sexually produced varieties of plants. This is the edge of a continuing controversy - what should we allow to be patented?

The relatively new science of genetics is at the heart of the debate. According to the <a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Intellectual-Property">National Human Genome Research Institute</a>, the first gene to receive a patent in 1982 followed a Supreme Court decision in the case of <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/447/303/">Diamond Vs. Chakrabarty</a>. The decision came after a patent examiner refused a patent for a genetically modified bacteria capable of breaking down crude oil. The patent examiner claimed that US patent law didn't allow microorganisms to be patented.

The strength of the case for patenting the bacteria rests on the fact that the bacteria could do something no 'naturally' occurring bacteria could do, namely break down crude oil. Because the bacteria wasn't exactly naturally occurring, instead modified genetically to perform a task, it represented a sort of invention or in the words of patent law, "new and useful 'manufacture' or 'composition of matter'."

So far, the Supreme Court has been ahead of Congress in determining the legality of patenting certain genes, with little new laws coming forth to govern gene patenting specifically. Despite this, gene patenting has continued full steam ahead. The <a href="https://www.thehastingscenter.org/briefingbook/gene-patents/">Hasting Center</a> reports that there are 3,000 to 5,000 patents on human genes and an additional 47,000 patents on inventions involving genetic material. These patents have important consequences on medical research and innovation, and on the lives of patients as well. 

Patents in the medical industry were once unpopular, according to an <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/04/15/177035299/supreme-court-asks-can-human-genes-be-patented">NPR</a> report. Dr. Jonas Salk, creator of the polio vaccine, replied to the question if he owned a patent for the vaccine with a famous quip, "Could you patent the sun?" Times have changed. Patents, on human genes especially, allow a single company to dominate a field of medical research, pushing any other researchers out or forcing them to pay high fees simply to carry out research. 

The problem came to a head in a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/06/scotus-human-patents/">Supreme Court case</a> brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, claiming that patents on genes were stopping scientists from pursuing basic research on BRCA genes involved in cancer. The Supreme Court sided with the ACLU in a unanimous decision. Still, isolated genes have continued to be patented and Congress has finally started to take a look at updating patent law.

The Senate concluded a series of hearings on a new <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/patent-eligibility-reform-in-congress-57432/">draft bill</a> that would change the eligibility required for a patent. The bill would potentially allow genes to be patented. Unfortunately, the new bill doesn't necessarily clarify much and its interpretation is still up for debate. Some feel the new bill would overturn the court decision and allow human genes to be patented but that rests on interpretation of a single word. Not only gene patenting is at stake either. 

Tech companies oppose the new bill, fearing that it would enable so called 'patent trolls'. Patent trolls use patents as weapons to pillage rather than truly creating anything themselves. The idea is simple: you patent something obvious that many technologies need, and then charge companies to license that technology from you. 

<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/10/17222380/apple-virtnetx-patent-troll-litigation-500-million-imessage-facetime-case">The Verge</a> reported in 2018 on a case of a company being awarded by a federal court over $500 million from Apple for patent infringement. The company, VirnetX, is a "patent-assertion entity," which means that their business model is based around suing companies for obscure patent infringement after technologies have been developed. VirnetX had a boost in stock prices after the ruling but it's uncertain whether it will upheld through the appeal process. 

It's the proliferation of similar tactics as well as patents that interfere with basic medical research many fear. The concern is that this new patent law will stifle technological innovation as well as medical research. Others argue the exact opposite, that allowing patents encourages more research by allowing researchers to profit. 

I personally worry about the issue independent of economics on the basis of simple ethics and morality. What does it say about us as a society that we can fathom parsing up organisms, even humans, into little bits of data which can each be patented for the profit of a single business? 

<a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/tillis-coons-vet-patent-eligibility-bill-principles-with-stakeholders">Bloomberg Law</a> reports that the bill introduced as a bipartisan revamp of section 101 patent law by Senators Tillis and Coons concluded the last closed round table with industry, the ACLU, and other interested parties in March. The last hearing, however, took place on June 4th and some, including organizations such as the <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/eff-tells-congress-dont-throw-out-good-patent-laws">Electronic Frontiers Foundation</a> and the ACLU, are concerned about the potential impact of the bill if it becomes law. 

The law itself leave companies and organizations unsettled with the less than clear language it uses. One key change seems to be that the proposed law appears to allow patents on "abstract ideas," "laws of nature," and "natural phenomena." What this would mean in reality is hard to guess, but it would allow many more patents to be issued. I don’t wish to overstate the matter of a new patent law, but more is at stake than simple economics.

What we allow to be patented is what the government allows to be commodified as the intellectual property of an individual or group. It’s worth asking – what should we allow to be property up for sale and what is inviolable and invaluable? In America, it’s not a question you often hear.        

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer             

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>  

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Khakimullin Aleksandr

New bipartisan patent bill raises ethical and practical questions

New bipartisan patent bill raises ethical and practical questions. Patent...

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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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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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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



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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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