Sexual behavior and preference - whether in humans or animals - isn’t random. It’s shaped early on, during fetal development, by how the brain responds to hormones like androgens (male sex hormones). 



This early exposure is known to affect adult traits like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/relentless-sex-drive-may-lead-northern-quolls-to-extinction/">sex drive</a> and cognition. But there's been one big obstacle: how do you measure that influence without invasive methods?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rat-fingers-hint-at-sexual-behavior">Rat fingers hint at sexual behavior </h2>



Researchers from <a href="https://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html">Okayama University</a> in Japan may have found an answer - by looking at rats’ fingers.



In a recent study published on May 14, 2025, a team led by Professor Hirotaka Sakamoto and Dr. Himeka Hayashi found that a simple finger measurement - the ratio of the second digit to the fourth digit, known as 2D:4D - can predict sexual behavior and preference in rats.



This digit ratio has been studied in humans for years. On average, men tend to have a lower 2D:4D ratio than women, meaning their index fingers are shorter relative to their ring fingers. 



That difference has been linked to prenatal androgen exposure. It’s also been tied to traits like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/practicing-yoga-nidra-improves-sleep-memory-and-cognition/">cognition</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/personality-traits-are-not-strongly-inherited-from-parents/">personality</a>, and sexual orientation. But surprisingly, there hasn’t been much research testing whether this holds true in other animals. That’s what drew the researchers to rats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shorter-fingers-stronger-sex-drive">Shorter fingers, stronger sex drive</h2>



“We found that the 2D:4D ratio serves as a reliable biological marker for predicting sexual activity in rats,” said Sakamoto. “Rats with shorter second digits were not only more sexually active but also showed a clear preference for female scent.”



Building on their initial measurements, the team then ran mating trials to observe <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/science-behind-predicting-and-changing-human-behavior/">behavior</a>.



The results were clear. Male rats that ejaculated during their first encounter had shorter second digits compared to those that didn’t. 



These males also showed signs of higher sexual drive: they ejaculated more often, did so more quickly, and had stronger erectile function.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-scent-of-sexual-behavior">The scent of sexual behavior </h2>



To go beyond behavior and look at preference, the researchers ran a simple but telling test. They placed male rats in a cage with two kinds of bedding: one scented by females, and the other by males.



All the male rats initially explored the male-scented bedding. But only those with shorter second digits stayed interested in the female-scented bedding. They sniffed, explored, and spent more time with it - indicating a clear sexual preference.



“While most studies have only linked the digit ratio to morphological sex differences, we noticed a surprising lack of research connecting digit ratio to the biological basis of sex itself - especially sexual activity and preference,” notes Hayashi. “This curiosity marked the start of our study.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fingers-mirror-brain-wiring">Fingers mirror brain wiring</h2>



Beyond offering insight into rat behavior, the study points to a deeper question: how early hormone exposure shapes the brain in lasting ways.



Before birth, hormone exposure might wire our brains in ways that the 2D:4D ratio later reflects - potentially shaping complex behaviors like sexual orientation or emotional attachment.



“Our results suggest a profound link between the body and mind, with significant scientific and clinical implications,” said Sakamoto. “Simply examining our fingers could one day help identify aspects of our behavioral tendencies.”



The findings also offer a practical model for exploring biological questions that are difficult - or impossible - to study directly in humans. 



Because 2D:4D is also connected to cognitive traits and mental health conditions, this research could help explain sex-based differences in disorders like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/toddler-screen-time-linked-to-atypical-sensory-behaviors/">autism</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-gut-bacteria-morganella-morganii-could-cause-depression-not-a-brain-disorder/">depression</a>, or attachment issues.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biology-is-not-the-whole-story">Biology is not the whole story</h2>



While the findings are compelling, they also raise important questions. For one, it’s still unclear how well results from rats translate to humans. 



Rats provide a useful model for controlled experiments, but human sexuality is influenced by many layers - cultural, social, psychological - that go far beyond biology.



The researchers also focused only on male rats. Future studies will need to explore whether similar patterns hold true for females, and how other factors like environment or stress interact with digit ratios to shape behavior.



Another key question is causation. Rats with shorter 2D:4D finger ratios tend to show more sexual activity and stronger preferences, but scientists aren’t yet sure whether the digit ratio drives this behavior - or if both stem from shared prenatal influences.



None of this takes away from the value of the study. But it highlights the importance of treating biological markers like 2D:4D as part of a much larger picture. 



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/expanim/advpub/0/advpub_24-0159/_article">Experimental Animals</a>.



-----



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Does your finger length predict sexual behavior? A rat study says yes

Sexual behavior and preference - whether in humans or animals - isn’t random. It’s shaped early on, during fetal development, by how the brain responds to hormones like androgens (male sex hormones). This early exposure is known to affect adult traits like sex drive and cognition. But there's been one big obstacle: how do you measure that influence without invasive methods? Rat fingers hint at sexual behavior Researchers from Okayama University in Japan may have found an answer - by looking at rats’ fingers. In a recent...

Much of what made both Hurricane Harvey and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hurricane-florence-slams-carolinas/">Hurricane Florence</a> so devastating was the overwhelming amount of rainfall each storm released upon making landfall. 

Hurricanes can create deadly wind speeds and storm surges, but as Florence made landfall, it slowed down to 2 miles per hour. As a result, over 8 trillion gallons of rain fell on North Carolina. 

Climate scientists have warned that increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas levels will create stronger, wetter, storms and yet there are still polarizing debates about how much Hurricane Harvey or Florence were influenced by climate change. 

As we’ve reported, there is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence showing how climate change is warming our world, our oceans, causing sea level rise, and intensifying severe storms. Unfortunately, climate models and studies are somewhat limited in their appeal to the public. 

But what if instead of looking to the future with long-term projections based on current and past data, climate researchers used the past data to project different climate scenarios for today to show how much of an impact climate change has on current extremes? 

This is part of an emerging field in climate science called “attribution,” and a recent <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/global-warming-turbocharging-monster-storms-hurricane-florence-1135919?spJobID=1111373472">Newsweek piece</a> explored the dichotomy between climate science and public acceptance of long-term climate change projections. 

Kevin Reed, a climate scientist at <a href="https://www.stonybrook.edu/">Stony Brook University</a>, collaborated with Michael Wehner of <a href="https://www.lbl.gov/">Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory</a> and compiled tons of data of Hurricane Florence in order to predict how the storm would act once it made landfall. 

The two researchers then took their climate models one step farther and created a different hurricane scenario based on climate data from 1850, before industrialization. Reed and Wehner wanted to see how a storm like Hurricane Florence would act in a preindustrial climate when atmospheric greenhouse gas levels were a little under half what they are now. 

Under these conditions, the two researchers found that precipitation estimates were 50 percent lighter than what actually occurred.

Attribution studies can show researchers how different climate factors are “attributable” to climate change, although this method of research is also not without its limitations, according to Newsweek. 

For one, projecting current climate using past weather data can be unreliable because of how weather records were kept in the past.

Newsweek reports that some critics find Reed’s study and attributive research misleading because they can underestimate how much climate change contributes to weather extremes, since the models simply can’t account for the variability in sea-level rise or storm surges. 

But for Reed, attributive studies can give the public something more concrete to understand rather than statistics and probabilities. 

“Our view is that this was a way to engage the public” Reed told Newsweek. “Climate change is often viewed as a distant threat. These attribution studies show that climate change is here and is having impacts now.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92751/a-view-inside-hurricane-florence">NASA Earth Observatory </a>

How much have severe storms been intensified by climate change?

Much of what made both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Florence...

The greatest mass extinction to ever occur is known quite fittingly as the “Great Dying," which happened over 250 million years ago and is estimated to have resulted in the extinction of more than 90% of sea creatures and most land-dwelling reptiles. Plants and insects also came close to being completely wiped out. 

But what caused this massive extinction, and how long did it take for so many species to disappear? The answers to these questions may have just been found, and are reported in a recent study published in the <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsabulletin">Geological Society of America Bulletin</a>.

An international team of researchers combined new high-resolution radiometric dating of seven closely spaced layers of volcanic material from South China with detailed biostratigraphy and geochemical analyses. Through this process, they were able to determine that the “Great Dying,” or end-Permian mass extinction, lasted roughly 31,000 years – an almost instantaneous period of time by geological standards.

In their study, led by Sen Shuzhong of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGPAS) of the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>, the team also found that the extinction event may have been caused by Siberian flood-basalt eruptions, combined with local intensive explosive volcanism that may have begun about 420,000 years prior to the mass extinction. Such events could have drastically reduced the stability of the Late Permian ecosystems, making it so that just a single extreme incident could result in a sudden ecosystem collapse.

The researchers used layers of volcanic material from the Penglaitan section in South China’s Guangxi Autonomous Region to perform a biostratigraphy and geochemical analyses. They were able to document at least 10 major marine fossil groups, and determine that 29 of the 66 Permian species they identified went extinct within or at the top of a single bed of volcanic ash-rich sandstone. No “survival interval” was found, which indicates that this highly diverse marine ecosystem suddenly disappeared during the time of deposition of this one bed of volcanic ash.

Data gathered in this study also showed that the environmental effects of volcanic gases such as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/rice-lose-nutritional-value-co2/">carbon dioxide</a>, methane, and sulfur dioxide could have been lethal. The combination of deadly greenhouse warming, oceans barren of dissolved oxygen, acid rain, and atmospheric pollution of heavy metals would have made it extremely difficult to survive. 

In the past, the Permian extinction has been considered to be the result of rapid climate warming, likely produced by carbon dioxide and methane emissions from the enormous Siberian flood basalt eruptions. High-resolution paleotemperature measurements throughout the mass extinction time period suggest a significant warming of as much as 10 degrees Celsius immediately following the mass extinction event. 

While our own projections of climate warming in our near future are not nearly as drastic, there is still an interesting – and quite worrying – amount of parallels between this mass extinction and our current climate troubles. While it is highly unlikely anything resembling the “Great Dying” will happen anytime soon, even by geological standards, these findings reflect how important it is to keep track of climate change and the environmental effects connected to it.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Earth’s greatest mass extinction occurred in a geological instant

The greatest mass extinction to ever occur is known quite...

The 2017 hurricane season in the North Atlantic was abnormally intense. With a total of six major storms, the sheer volume of individual hurricanes was almost two standard deviations above the average number in a normal year. Three of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hurricane-harvey-slams-texas/">hurricanes</a> made landfall over the Gulf Coast and the Caribbean, resulting in enormous loss and damage. 

Now, a new study published in <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> has found that the warming of the tropical Atlantic relative to the rest of the world’s oceans may have been a key factor in this outlier of a hurricane season. By using high-resolution computer models, Hiroyuki Murakami of the <a href="https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/">Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory</a> at <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a> and colleagues assessed the season from July 1st to November 30th, and found that moderate 2017 La Niña conditions – where water cools in the equatorial Pacific and can result in hurricane activity – were actually not the major causes of the enhanced hurricane activity that year. 

The researchers found that local Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies were highly correlated with increased hurricane activity. They ran additional simulation experiments under the predicted trend of a warmer climate linked to human-caused forces. Not surprisingly, the experiments showed a continued risk of high hurricane density over the Caribbean, U.S. Coast, and northern North Atlantic open ocean.

In their study, the research team also predicts that a similar pattern of sea surface warming in the North Atlantic will likely lead to an increased number of hurricanes in future years, as it occurs in parallel with increases in greenhouse gas concentrations and decreased aerosol pollution. While they state that further refinement is needed in the simulation models in order to determine the impact of specific human-made activities on hurricanes, it’s clear that hurricane season is not getting calmer anytime soon.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What made the 2017 hurricane season so violent?

The 2017 hurricane season in the North Atlantic was abnormally...

Scientists are developing new technology to help individuals with paralyzed muscles communicate intuitively. A study from <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> has uncovered new details about how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-sleep-experiences-genetics/">brain</a> encodes speech, which will bring the speech technology one step closer to becoming a reality. 

A brain machine interface (BMI) is a device that decodes neural information that the brain is sending to the tongue, lips, and larynx. The BMI will ultimately be used to translate an individual's words as they attempt to speak.

The scientists discovered that the brain controls speech production in a similar manner to how it controls the production of arm and hand movements. 

The researchers recorded signals from two parts of the brain and decoded what these signals represented. They found that the brain represents what we are trying to say as well as the individual movements that we use to talk, such as lip and tongue movements. These aspects of speech are represented in two different parts of the brain.

Study lead author Dr. Marc Slutzky is an associate professor of Neurology and of Physiology at Northwestern University <a href="https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/">Feinberg School of Medicine</a>.

“This can help us build better speech decoders for BMIs, which will move us closer to our goal of helping people that are locked-in speak again,” said Dr. Slutzky.

The discovery could also potentially help people with other speech disorders, such as apraxia of speech, which is often seen in children and stroke patients. When suffering from this condition, individuals have difficulty translating messages from the brain into spoken language.

“We studied two parts of the brain that help to produce speech,” said Dr. Slutzky. “The precentral cortex represented gestures to a greater extent than phonemes. The inferior frontal cortex, which is a higher level speech area, represented both phonemes and gestures.”
The next step for the researchers is to develop an algorithm for brain machine interfaces that not only translates gestures, but also combines them to form words.

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/">Journal of Neuroscience</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New technology could help decode what paralyzed people want to say

Scientists are developing new technology to help individuals with paralyzed...

A new study conducted by researchers from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> provides insight into the hovering flight capabilities of bats and hummingbirds, the only two vertebrates that can hover in place. 

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/hummingbirds-songs-tail-feathers/">Hummingbirds</a> are well known for their speed, endurance, and impressive agility, but they aren’t the only winged animals that can hover at a place to feed. 

Both hummingbirds and bats can hover by twisting their wings and pushing air downward to help keep steady in mid-air, but only hummingbirds and nectar bats can sustain their hovering. 

River Ingersoll, a graduate student at Stanford University, examined bats and hummingbirds in Costa Rica in order to better understand hovering flight between the two vertebrates. 

“We're really interested in how hovering flight evolved,” said Ingersoll. “Nectar bats drink from flowers like hummingbirds do, so we want to see if there's any similarities or differences between these two different taxa.”

To study hovering flight, the researchers set up delicate, almost invisible nets in the jungle of Las Cruces, Costa Rica in the hopes of catching hummingbirds and bats to study and then release. 

All in all, the researchers were able to examine over 100 hummingbirds and bats from 17 hummingbird and three bat species. 

The results of the study were published in the journal Science Advances. 

Once a bird or bat was caught the researchers placed it in a flight chamber that contained aerodynamic force sensors, and the animals' movements were also recorded using high-speed cameras. 

The sensors measured small changes in the vertical force even capturing minute changes in wing movements of hummingbirds that weighed as much as 2.4 grams. 

The researchers synced up the force measurements with the high-speed camera footage which showed how wing shape at any given moment affected the vertical lift. 

“I'd sit and wait for the hummingbird to feed at the flower,” said Ingersoll. “Once it was feeding, I would trigger the cameras and the force measurements and we'd get four seconds of footage of the hummingbird flapping at the flower.”

Even though the bats and hummingbirds exerted the same amounts of energy in relation to their weight, the researchers discovered that hummingbirds, fruit bats, and nectar bats all hover in different ways. 

Hummingbirds are more aerodynamically efficient in their hovering flight and can invert their wings more easily than bats. 

Nectar bats generated more upward force while hovering than fruit bats and can twist their wings more easily than fruit bats. 

The researchers say that understanding how hovering flight works in different animals could be useful for improving flying robot and drone technology in the future. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hovering bats and hummingbirds can help improve flying robots

A new study conducted by researchers from Stanford University provides...

DEET is widely considered to be the most effective insect repellent available, but researchers are now explaining why it may not be a typical repellent. The research has revealed that DEET is successful in keeping <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/flying-insects-mysteriously-vanishing/">insects</a> away by interfering with neurons that allow them to smell their surroundings, which causes confusion. 

Professor Leslie B. Vosshall of <a href="https://www.rockefeller.edu/">Rockefeller University</a> and former graduate student Emily Dennis have also demonstrated that the effects of DEET are not limited to insects. The findings suggest that DEET may be less of an insect repellent and more of an “invertebrate confusant.”

DEET was first developed in the 1940s and can be found in most bug sprays today. In flies and mosquitoes, the chemical works by interacting with odor receptors that are unique to insects. The current study, however, reveals the previously unknown influence of DEET among non-insect species, which cannot yet be explained.

To investigate, the team set out to examine whether DEET changes the behavior of the roundworm C. elegans, a simple animal with an elaborate sense of smell. When the tiny worms were presented with samples of DEET alone, the animals did not go out of their way to avoid the chemical. 

Next, the scientists mixed small amounts of DEET into agar, a gel-like substance that C. elegans crawl on in Petri dishes. The presence of DEET limited the movement of the worms toward a chemical that normally attracts them - isoamyl alcohol. They were also less effective in avoiding a compound called 2-nonanone that they typically dodge. In addition, the worms reacted normally to several other chemicals. 

The findings suggest that DEET can interfere with responses to both good and bad smells, but that it does not entirely shut down olfaction. 

The researchers determined that sensitivity to DEET among the worms was dependent upon a gene called str-217, which is expressed in neurons called ADL cells. 


“Somehow activating ADL puts the worms into a frame of mind where they're more introspective, they're pausing more, they're not paying as much attention to odors,” said Professor Vosshall. “But if you take away the right gene or neuron, this spell is broken.”

“The one common theme in all of these organisms is that DEET is doing something to affect odor perception - it's like sensory system sabotage.”

Dennis added, “Something about DEET is really special. And I think we're just starting to uncover all the ways that it can affect different neurons, receptors, and species.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a> .

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Rockefeller University

DEET is repelling insects by confusing and disorienting them

DEET is widely considered to be the most effective insect...

One of the biggest hassles for drivers is the headache-inducing traffic jams that clog up commute times on the road, bringing cars to a slow crawl down freeways and backing up major intersections. 

Many studies have examined ways to reduce traffic jams and make commutes more efficient, as there are many benefits beyond just helping drivers get where they need to go quicker. <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/autonomous-vehicles-reduce-traffic/">Improving traffic flow</a> could reduce emissions and make the roads safer for all drivers. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.cmu.edu/">Carnegie Mellon University</a> (CMU) are working on a solution that could potentially do away with traditional stop lights and reduce commute times by 40 percent. 

By replacing traffic light with virtual ones, the researchers say that it could help make driving much more efficient and drivers would have personalized traffic lights on their dashboard which would reduce wait times at lights. 

“With this technology, traffic lights will be created on demand when [two cars] are trying to cross this intersection, and they will be turned down as soon as we don't need it,” Ozan Tonguz, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who helped develop the technology, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/14/tech/virtual-traffic-lights-windshield/index.html">told CNN</a>. 

The virtual traffic lights (VTL) would appear when needed on the driver's windshield or dashboard as a green or red signal. 

The driver would be prompted to stop or go based on who else is driving on the road, and it would essentially be the cars that would manage major intersections by talking to each other and sharing GPS, map, and speed data. 

“When the driver is looking through the windshield, they'll see that going straight is a green light, and turning right is a red light,” Virtual Traffic Lights (VTL), a firm created by the Carnegie Mellon researchers, told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6207203/First-tests-dashboard-virtual-traffic-light-lets-cars-talk-slashes-commute.html">Daily Mail</a>. “It's a seamless process, the driver does not get involved in this decision making. The virtual traffic light will turn off once the driver proceeds through the intersection.”

The virtual traffic light system was tested near the CMU campus with positive results. There were two vehicles that were approaching an intersection and one was “lead car”. The lead car had a red virtual light which gave the other car the go ahead. 

The researchers tested the virtual traffic light system at over 20 junctions. 

“Preliminary results of the field tests conducted in Pittsburgh with vehicles using VTL equipment indicate that VTL is capable of coordinating traffic at intersections and reducing the commute time of people,” the researchers wrote in the study which was published in the Journal Arxiv. 

The virtual traffic lights reduced commutes, helped ease congestion and the researchers say that it could also help reduce carbon emissions and traffic accidents. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Cars equipped with virtual stop lights could slash commute times

One of the biggest hassles for drivers is the headache-inducing...

According to the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> (ESA), the intense drought that persisted across some regions of Europe this year had a major impact on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/europe-unsustainable-future-agriculture/">agriculture</a>. The combination of high temperatures and low rainfall greatly affected the agrofood industry, including the production of potatoes.


More potatoes are consumed in Europe than anywhere else in the world, and this is largely due to the fact that the continent is the second largest potato producer in the world. While the price of potatoes fluctuates, the crop has currently hit its highest value in years.


But now, ESA’s new EOPLUG-IN service will allow high resolution data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites, as well as from other missions, to be sent directly to farmers and industry leaders. This novel approach will empower the members of the agrofood industry to protect potatoes and other crops from disease, save money, and maintain better prices.

The EOPLUG-IN, which was recently launched through ESA’s new Earth observation innovation hub, will provide fast and simple access to continuous business intelligence data streams. The ESA pointed out that the system could eventually be expanded to different industry sectors. 


[caption id="attachment_1801782" align="aligncenter" width="496"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/europe-potatoes.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1801782 size-full" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/europe-potatoes.jpg" alt="" width="496" height="530" /></a> Image Credit: Copernicus Sentinel data (2018), processed by ESA/GeoVille[/caption]

Janny Peltjes, the managing director of <a href="https://laboratorium.nl/bedrijven/hlb-b-v/">HLB BV</a>, said that “the novel satellite-based system will be able to spatially detect crop diseases, thereby providing means to efficiently target affected areas, saving pesticide application and safeguarding production.”


“This system will provide the means to integrate Earth observation data and other information streams directly within existing industry workflows in a business-friendly format,” the ESA stated. “This will inform the agrofood industry, for example, about the impact of ongoing droughts, crop failures and diseases, helping users to save money, get better prices, and as a result, also support European consumers.”
--
By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Satellites can help stabilize the European potato industry

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the intense drought...

Life on Mars has always been a major topic of discussion when considering if alien lifeforms could exist – or ever once existed sometime in the past. A new study has found that far back in Mars’ history, the planet may have been home to the right conditions to make life underground a possibility.

In a study published in <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/earth-and-planetary-science-letters/">Earth and Planetary Science Letters</a>, researchers from <a href="https://www.brown.edu/">Brown University</a> report that enough chemical energy may have flowed through Mars’ subsurface region to support the existence of microbial colonies similar to the ones that thrive here on Earth. 

Even though sunlight may not have been able to reach this area, the researchers suggest that it contained plenty of dissolved hydrogen, which would act as an “electron donor” to allow subterranean microbes to live.

“We showed, based on basic physics and chemistry calculations, that the ancient Martian subsurface likely had enough dissolved hydrogen to power a global subsurface biosphere,” says Jesse Tarnas, a graduate student at Brown. “Conditions in this habitable zone would have been similar to places on Earth where underground life exists.”

Areas where microbes exist underground on Earth are known as SLiMES (subsurface lithotrophic microbial ecosystems). These microbes don’t get their energy from the sun, instead they “peel” electrons from the molecules in their environment. In many cases, dissolved molecular hydrogen is the source for this fuel. This new study suggest that the process of radiolysis could have created hydrogen below the surface of ancient Mars.

“The question then becomes: What was the nature of that subsurface life, if it existed, and where did it get its energy,” says Jack Mustard, a professor in Brown’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences. “We know that radiolysis helps to provide energy for underground microbes on Earth, so what Jesse did here was to pursue the radiolysis story on Mars.”

The researchers assessed data from the gamma ray spectrometer on NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft for their study, determining the quantities of radioactive elements such as thorium and potassium. Through this process, they were able to determine the abundance of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/study-new-form-uranium/">uranium</a> as well. The decay of these radioactive elements drives the radiolytic breakdown of water. So the researchers could estimate how much water would have been available, which revealed that there likely would have been plenty running through the crust’s porous rocks. 

Geothermal and climate models were also used in the study to figure out where microbes may have been able to live – which helped the scientists find a supposed habitable zone several kilometers thick. 

Ultimately, the research team believes this study could help guide the search for ancient life on Mars.

“The mission of the 2020 rover is to look for the signs of past life,” explains Mustard. “Areas where you may have remnants of this underground habitable zone – which may have been the largest habitable zone on the planet – seem like a good place to target.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The best place to look for ancient life on Mars may be underground

Life on Mars has always been a major topic of...

Monitoring your exposure to UV radiation is important for a number of reasons beyond just <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sunscreen-protectio/">avoiding getting sunburned. </a>

For some people, Vitamin D deficiency can weaken the immune system and cause depression, so monitoring sun exposure can help balance Vitamin D levels.

For other people, just limiting sun exposure isn’t enough to combat harmful UV radiation, because not all UV wavelengths impact the skin equally, and current sensors don’t differentiate between the three types of UV radiation, UVA, UVB, and UVC. 

Excessive UV radiation/sun exposure can also lead to skin cancer, blindness, sunburn and causes the skin to age prematurely. 

This is what inspired Vipul Bansal, a professor at <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/">RMIT University </a>in Melbourne, Australia to develop a wearable, color changing sensor that tracks vitamin absorption and UV radiation exposure to the skin.  

What’s more, the sensors come in six variations to meet the needs of different skin types from fair to dark. 

The sensors can provide people with an accurate measure of how much UV their skin has been exposed to throughout the day. 

Monitoring UV exposure is no small feat because everyone’s personal needs are so different and what’s healthy for one skin type may not be enough for another. 

Bansal's sensor measures UV exposure for the six skin types from Type 1 (fair skin) to Type VI (dark skin).

This aspect is crucial because Type 1 can only tolerate one-fifth of the UV exposure that Type VI can before incurring skin damage.  The sensors will be able to tell an individual when they’ve had too much UV exposure or if they need more sun to help with Vitamin D levels. 

“We are excited that our UV sensor technology allows the production of personalized sensors that can be matched to the specific needs of a particular individual,” said Bansal. “The low cost and child-friendly design of these UV sensors will facilitate their use as educational materials to increase awareness around sun safety. We can print our ink on any paper-like surface to produce cheap wearable sensors in the form of wristbands, headbands or stickers for example.” 

Bansal and his research team also note that the sensors can be used for other purposes besides monitoring skin exposure such as helping improve the lifetime of industrial and consumer products that wear down in the sun. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: RMIT University

Wearable UV sensors could help reduce sun damage to the skin

Monitoring your exposure to UV radiation is important for a...

A new study published by the <a href="https://www.sfn.org/">Society for Neuroscience</a> has demonstrated that some of the patterns generated by the brain's electrical activity during <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sleep-increases-car-crash-risk/">sleep</a> are driven by genetics, while others are shaped by our environment.

Identifying how an individual's biology or personal experience contributes to sleep neurophysiology could ultimately be used to develop new therapies for psychiatric disorders which notably alter the brain's activity while the body is at rest.

The study was designed to allow the researchers to distinguish between the influence of genetic and environmental factors during the most crucial phases of sleep. 

A research team led by Leila Tarokh used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the brain activity of 11- to 14-year-old pairs of identical and fraternal twins throughout two consecutive nights of sleep at home. 

During stage 2 of light sleep, sudden bursts of brain activity occur that are referred to as sleep spindles because of how they look when printed out on an EEG reading. Stage 2 sleep, which usually lasts about 20 minutes, is characterized by a decrease in heart rate and in temperature as the body prepares itself for deep sleep.

The next phase of sleep is known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), the deepest phase of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Phase 3 sleep is considered to be important for memory consolidation, and is characterized by delta waves on an EEG reading. 

The experts discovered that both hereditary and environmental factors influenced slow waves and spindles among the study participants. The extent of the impact of genes or the environment on electrical activity depended on the brain region being monitored. Frontal regions were found to be under strong environmental influence, while regions toward the back of the brain were strongly influenced by genetics. 

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/">Journal of Neuroscience</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Brain activity during sleep is affected by experiences, genetics

A new study published by the Society for Neuroscience has...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory</a> have uncovered new details about the oil production process in plant cells. The discovery could ultimately lead to new methods of modifying plants to produce massive of amounts of oil that could be used as <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/europe-biofuel-deforestation-warming/">biofuels</a>.

A previous study led by Brookhaven Lab biochemist John Shanklin demonstrated a clear association between a sugar-signaling molecule called KIN10 and another protein that initiates oil production known as WRINKLED1. 

The researchers expanded upon this finding and discovered that by increasing sugar accumulation in plant leaves they could also boost oil production. The current study provides a better understanding of the link between sugar signaling and oil production by identifying the exact molecules underlying this connection. 

“If you were a cell, you'd want to know if you should be making new compounds or breaking existing ones down,” said Shanklin. “Making oil is demanding; you want to make it when you have lots of energy - which in cells is measured by the amount of sugar available. By understanding how the availability of sugar drives oil production, we hope to find ways to get plants to boost the priority of making oil.”

In the follow-up investigation, study first authors Zhiyang Zhai and Jantana Keereetaweep set out to determine how different molecular components interact to drive up oil production when sugar is abundant. The team used a new technique called microscale thermophoresis, which measure the strength of molecular interactions with great precision using fluorescent dyes and heat.

“You label the molecules with a fluorescent dye and measure how they move away from a heat source,” said Shanklin. “Then, if you add another molecule that binds to the labeled molecule, it changes the rate at which the labeled molecule moves away from the heat.”

Shanklin said the application of this emerging technique was the key to solving this particular research problem.

The levels of a molecule known as trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P) rise and fall with those of sugar. The study revealed that T6P interacts directly with the KIN10, and this binding interferes with KIN10's ability to shut off oil biosynthesis.

“By measuring the interactions among many different molecules, we determined that the sugar-signaling molecule, T6P, binds with KIN10 and interferes with its interaction with a previously unidentified intermediate in this process, known as GRIK1, which is needed for KIN10 to tag WRINKLED1 for destruction. This explains how the signal affects the chain of events and leads to increased oil production,” said Shanklin. “It's not just sugar but the signaling molecule that rises and falls with sugar that inhibits the oil shut-off mechanism.”

In order to apply this knowledge for increasing oil production, further research is required to get a closer look at the interaction of T6P with its target protein, KIN10. With the help of Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), the team will use extremely bright x-rays to reveal exactly how the interacting molecules fit together.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.plantcell.org/">The Plant Cell</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Boosting oil production in plants can help produce biofuels

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory...

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



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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



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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



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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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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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