Diverse,School,Children,Students,Build,Robotic,Cars,Using,Computers,And

Rows of desks and timed tests once suited factory-age education systems, yet teenagers now share classes with chatbots that can summarize a chapter in seconds. 



In addition, <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">one in seven</a> adolescents worldwide lives with a mental disorder, a signal that the old setup is creaking under modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-prepares-the-brain-for-the-future-while-protecting-memories-of-the-past/">pressure</a>.



The<a href="https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/digest/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> job picture</a> is shifting just as fast, with employers predicting 69 million new roles and 83 million losses within five years, a net fall that exposes how blunt academic rankings have become. 



The warning comes from education researchers Yong Zhao of the <a href="https://ku.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Kansas</a> and RuoJun Zhong of <a href="https://www.yeeeducation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YEE Education</a>, whose June 19, 2025 paper argues that schools must abandon a winner‑takes‑all mindset or risk leaving graduates ill‑equipped for a world that operates on partnerships.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-education-systems-struggle">Why education systems struggle</h2>



“Meritocracy turns education into a race,” Zhao and Zhong state. <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5661794/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meritocracy</a> once promised fairness, yet it often masks how money, networks, and geography load the dice before the first quiz is graded.



Competitive stress is tangible, and the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. Surgeon General</a> has linked heavy social‑media comparison culture to rising <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/children-are-much-better-at-learning-language-than-ai/">youth</a> anxiety.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-teamwork-matters-more-than-winning">Teamwork matters more than winning</h2>



“Excellence in the age of interdependence is not about being better than others. It is about becoming better with others,” explain Zhao and Zhong. 



They swap the track‑meet metaphor for <a href="https://humansandnature.org/interdependency/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">human interdependence</a>, a frame that values shared strength over solo wins. 



Evidence for this shift is visible outside school walls, where <a href="https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-study-finds-64-million-americans-freelanced-2023-adding" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">64 million Americans</a> earned pay through freelance work in 2023, trading standardized résumés for niche expertise. 



Co‑agency asks students to work with tools powered by artificial intelligence, not against them.



<a href="https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0000198" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Large language models</a> have already met or cleared the passing bar on parts of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, proof that rote recall is now cheap silicon labor. 



When algorithms handle routine analysis, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-predicts-when-universe-will-end-scientists-claim-sooner-than-expected/">classrooms</a> can pivot toward creativity, ethics, and empathy, talents a chatbot cannot reliably fake.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-education-systems-focused-on-strengths">Education systems focused on strengths</h2>



Uniform syllabi give way to interest‑driven routes that honor each learner’s jagged profile of strengths. 



Personal growth, social contribution, and wellbeing replace class rank, turning the report card into a portfolio rather than a scoreboard.



Research on team performance shows that psychological safety, not constant ranking, drives collaboration and deeper understanding. 



Zhao and Zhong outline practical steps: mixed‑age studios, community projects, and assessments that ask what value a student created for others.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-learning-works-best">When learning works best</h2>



When students work on problems they care about, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/babies-adapt-to-change-using-flexible-learning-strategies/">learning</a> becomes internalized. They stop asking what will be on the test and start asking how their strengths can improve someone else’s life.



Zhao and Zhong argue that real engagement happens when learners find problems that matter to them and that also have social or environmental relevance. 



These challenges draw out personal gifts while pushing students to think about others, anchoring them in shared responsibility.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skills-matter-more-than-college-degrees">Skills matter more than college degrees</h2>



Employers are steadily moving away from requiring four-year degrees for most roles. In 2024, over half of U.S. job postings no longer asked for formal education credentials, favoring proven skills instead.



State governments are following suit. In early 2024, Massachusetts removed degree requirements for most public jobs, and Minnesota had already done the same for 75% of its roles the year prior. This shift signals that what a person can do is finally outweighing where they went to school.



The push toward interdependence only works if differences are seen as assets, not problems. Research <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter">shows</a> that teams with diverse skills, backgrounds, and thinking styles outperform more uniform groups on creative and analytical tasks.



Cognitive diversity isn't just a social value, it's an economic advantage. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">McKinsey</a> found that companies in the top quartile for diverse leadership were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-education-systems-can-prepare-students">Education systems can prepare students</h2>



Teachers become coaches who curate real‑world problems, then step back while learners form teams around their individual talents. 



Policymakers can help by dialing down high‑stakes testing, freeing hours for the messy work of project design and reflection.



The authors frame their model as preparation for a labor market where collaboration beats competition and where empathy can earn as much as code. 



If education accepts that premise, tomorrow’s graduates may see classmates not as obstacles but as essential partners in a shared experiment.



The study is published in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20965311251351988" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ECNU Review of Education</a>.



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Experts warn that education systems must change in the age of AI

Rows of desks and timed tests once suited factory-age education systems, yet teenagers now share classes with chatbots that can summarize a chapter in seconds. In addition, one in seven adolescents worldwide lives with a mental disorder, a signal that the old setup is creaking under modern pressure. The job picture is shifting just as fast, with employers predicting 69 million new roles and 83 million losses within five years, a net fall that exposes how blunt academic rankings have become. The warning comes from education researchers Yong...

New research documents how our early human ancestors led far more complex lives and used more sophisticated tools than had been previously thought.

According to the research published in the journal Science, early Homo sapiens transported stones long distances and used colored pigments for symbolic purposes. Major environmental shifts that occurred during the early African Middle Stone Age that might have driven the need for this transport and travel. 

After it was revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-first-using-words/">Homo sapiens</a> emerged 300,000 years earlier than records showed, paleoanthropologists excavating around the Olorgesailie Basin in Kenya were able to piece together a new timeline of when sophisticated stone tools were first used. 

The excavation yielded evidence of Middle Stone Age tools, complex social networking, and the symbolic and decorative use of pigments long before these behaviors were commonplace.

Small hand axes, tools made with black obsidian, and rocks covered with black and red pigment,  all point to a complex, intelligent, and highly social society that lived, hunted and networked around the Olorgesailie Basin hundreds of thousands of years ago. 

Researchers believe that because the obsidian rock was not native to the area, early humans would have had to form a vast social network in order to trade or receive the raw materials they used in their tools. 

According to researchers, this is the earliest known evidence of social networks ever to have formed among humans. 

At the time these tools were created, there was a major climate shift occurring which may have driven early humans to go beyond their immediate range as a matter of survival.

The social network could have created new hunting opportunities and ways to fine tune tool building and hunting techniques. 

The artifacts found in the area, combined with the new evidence of the first homo sapiens, has created a completely new chronology of the evolution of human behaviors. 

“This change to a very sophisticated set of behaviors that involved greater mental abilities and more complex social lives may have been the leading edge that distinguished our lineage from other early humans,” said Rick Potts, director of the <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/">Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History</a> Human Origins program.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Smithsonian

Sophisticated tools used by our earliest ancestors found in Africa

New research documents how our early human ancestors led far...

Scientists from different fields of research have teamed up predict incidences of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-trees-resist-drought/">drought</a> and famine in an effort to save lives.

An early warning system designed by a multidisciplinary team of climatologists and food security and resource experts has already proven successful at mitigating severe food shortages from drought in Africa. 

In 2016, 81 million people worldwide experienced food insecurity, and 80 percent of that group live in Africa. 

Food insecurity in Africa can be traced back to several factors including civil war, but drought due to climate change is a large part of the recent shortages.

Climatologists from the <a href="http://chg.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara’s Climate Hazards Group</a> have studied the relationship between warm sea-surface temperatures and drough to create accurate predictions that could help those in high-risk areas adequately prepare. 

The UC Santa Barbara team collaborated with the <a href="http://www.fews.net/">Famine Early Systems Network</a>, the <a href="https://eros.usgs.gov/">Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science</a>, and the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. </a>

Understanding the relationship between sea surface temperatures and drier rainy seasons was a key part of the research. 

“Sea surface temperatures create opportunities for prediction because a really warm ocean often triggers changes in atmospheric circulation that produce droughts in some places and more rainfall in others," said Chris Funk, a member of the early predictions research team. “If we pay attention and watch where those exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures are, we then can produce better drought forecasts that help prevent food insecurity in Africa.”

The researchers came up with a series of predictions and effectively created an early warning system for a series of droughts that swept through parts of Africa in 2015. In June of that year, the researchers projected a drier than usual rainy season. 

The predictions ultimately came true, and what little rainfall that did occur in southern Africa  came far later than usual. Soon after, the area experienced a severe drought that could have resulted in many more fatalities had it not been for the early warning given. 

The researchers also predicted and prevented major crises from droughts in 2016 and 2017 in the Eastern Horn of Africa, eastern Ethiopia and southern Somalia. 

The early warning system illustrates the potential of bringing scientists, experts, and policymakers from different fields together to battle food insecurity.
--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Predicting drought and famine to help save lives

Scientists from different fields of research have teamed up predict...

Researchers are describing how ancient creatures adapted arms and legs. The study demonstrates that fish, mice, and modern-day vertebrates share a genetic advantage that was used to build limbs.

Experts at the <a href="http://www.uchospitals.edu/index.shtml">University of Chicago Medical Center</a> are reporting that the unpaired dorsal fin in ancient fish was duplicated to produce paired appendages, like pelvic fins, arms, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-evolved-running/">legs</a>.


“The unpaired dorsal fin is the first one you see in the fossil record,” said study co-author Neil Shubin. “Here we show that the genetic mechanisms that pattern all the fins and other paired appendages originally arose there and were redeployed to others.”

The research team performed genetic testing in mice and fish to examine the expression of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), which is a gene that is critical in the formation of limbs.

Mice have a type of on-and-off switch called ZRS that controls the expression of Sonic hedgehog. If ZRS is inhibited in a mouse, the limbs cannot properly develop.

The team used gene editing tools to knock out ZRS in a well-known aquarium fish that is known as a Japanese rice fish. Instead of influencing the development of the paired fins, the fish did not grow unpaired dorsal fins. Meanwhile, the paired pelvic and pectoral fins developed as expected.

The researchers examined potential other genetic enhancers and found a related "shadow enhancer" called sZRS that was a critical component working alongside the ZRS switch.

When ZRS and sZRS were suppressed in the medaka, both the dorsal fin and paired fins were lost. The researchers have determined that it is likely that ZRS was first used to develop dorsal fins, and later copied and reused as sZRS when paired fins first emerged about 475 million years ago.

“It's very ancient, and the sequence and function are conserved across all vertebrates,” said Shubin. “It turns out the primitive role for the ZRS was involved with the dorsal fin. It's only later that its activity in the paired fins required this other shadow enhancer.”

Shubin said that understanding the activity of these enhancers helps to identify the traces of evolutionary ancestors present in all vertebrates, including humans.

“A number of human maladies are based on mistakes in the ZRS that can lead extra or missing fingers, or changes in the shape of hands,” said Shubin.

“Humans probably have this shadow enhancer too, so if we want to study the dynamics of how this affects limb patterning, what we see in these fish models is a great place to start.”

The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/">Nature Genetics</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, Earth.com Staff Writer

Dorsal fin marked the start of vertebrates growing arms and legs

Researchers are describing how ancient creatures adapted arms and legs....

Researchers at <a href="http://eng.suda.edu.cn/">Soochow University</a> in China are developing new solar panels that can be powered even when there is no sunshine available. The technology exploits <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wind-solar-power-supply/">solar power</a> as well as energy produced from the friction of rain.

The mechanism is designed to keep power running even when it may normally fail during a downpour, and the experts believe it may be ultimately used to generate power to devices worn in raincoats. The new creation harnesses the energy of falling raindrops to make electricity.

The prototype consists of a transparent nanogenerator attached to a silicon solar cell, which contributes an extra layer of power for more consistency in varying weather conditions.

Although previous studies have demonstrated that a conventional silicon solar cell and a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) could be connected using an extra wire, the researchers in the current study took a new approach to merging the two energy sources.

Study co-author Zhen Wen told <a href="https://phys.org/">Phys.org</a>: 

“The biggest breakthrough in this work is that an integrated generator composed of a solar cell and a TENG was demonstrated through sharing a mutual electrode.” 

“Compared to previous work, the simple design of the mutual electrode reduces the number of functional layers, which greatly improves the output efficiency.”

The TENG provides protection from weather damage by acting as a waterproof layer over the solar cell. At this point, the scientists are still trying to find a way that TENG and the solar cell can capture energy at the same time.

“Due to the design of the mutual electrode, the solar cell and nanogenerator cannot work together,” explained Wen. “So if there is a sunshower (sunshine and raindrops appearing at the same time), we have to give up one function of the hybrid generator. But I don't think that is often the case.”

The new, dual-action solar panels may ultimately become an efficient way to  generate power, replacing harmful energy sources such as oil and gas.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/ancac3">ACS Nano</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New solar panels are powered by both sunshine and rain

Researchers at Soochow University in China are developing new solar...

More than 500 million years ago, a strange-looking sea creature – Kerygmachela kierkegaardi – roamed the Earth’s oceans. Now, researchers have found more than a dozen fossilized brains and eyes of the ancient ancestor of lobsters, spiders and other modern creepy crawlies.

The newly discovered fossils held a surprise for researchers, however. Until now, many scientists suspected that the common ancestor of vertebrates and arthropods – which would have been an ancestor of K. kierkegaardi, too – had a three-segmented brain, a trait most modern insects share with humans. 

But a research team led by Dr. Jakob Vinther of the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> and Dr. Tae-Yoon S. Park of the <a href="https://www.uarctic.org/member-profiles/non-arctic/28245/korea-polar-research-institute">Korea Polar Research Institute</a> discovered that this was not the case.

The collection of 15 fossilized brains, discovered in Greenland in 2011 and 2016, show that K. kierkegaardi’s brain had only one segment. That means the three-segmented brains seen in its modern relatives likely evolved later. It also means the shared ancestor of humans and insects probably didn’t have a three-segmented brain, either.

“It has been surmised, based on developmental evidence, that the ancestor of vertebrates and arthropods had a tripartite brain, which is refuted by the fossil evidence presented here,” the researchers wrote in their study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03464-w">Nature Communications</a>.

K. kierkegaardi was about 10 inches long, oval-shaped, with 11 flaps for movement on each side, two long appendages on its head and a long tail. It lived between 521 and 514 million years ago, during the Cambrian explosion. It’s simple “protocerebral” brain may have helped it to survive the time period, when a large number of new animal species began to evolve, the scientists said.

The researchers also believe the fossils demonstrate a middle stage between simpler eye structures and the complex eyes found in modern insects like flies and spiders.

“You can call it a missing link as it contains feature that exists in living creatures, but not in previous fossils,” Vinther told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/">Daily Mail</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Rebecca Gelernter, <a href="http://www.nearbirdstudios.com/">Near Bird Studios</a>

The surprising fossilized brains of ancient sea creatures

More than 500 million years ago, a strange-looking sea creature...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/essential-oils-mosquito-repellent/">Essential oils</a> are usually thought of as natural and safe ingredients for soaps, lotions, detergents, and cleaning products. The oils are also recommended for a myriad of home remedies and are often used for aromatherapy. 

But a new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.niehs.nih.gov/">National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences </a>has found that both tea tree and lavender oil contain hormone-disrupting chemicals. 

The research revealed that lavender and tea tree oil could be the cause of the growing number of reported cases of prepubertal gynecomastia among young boys. Prepubertal gynecomastia refers to abnormal breast growth before puberty. 

The study will be presented to the annual meeting of the <a href="https://www.endocrine.org/about-us">Endocrine Society</a>, a global organization that focuses on hormone research and finding new treatments for hormone diseases.

The Endocrine Society classify essential oils as safe, but this new research shows the importance of the understanding the chemical components of different oils before their widespread use in common household and hygiene products. 

“Our society deems essential oils as safe,” said J. Tyler Ramsey, the study’s lead investigator. “However, they possess a diverse amount of chemicals and should be used with caution because some of these chemicals are potential endocrine disruptors.”

Endocrine glands distribute hormones throughout the body, and endocrine disruptors would be any chemicals or processes that disrupt the natural pathways and distribution of hormones. 

For the study, the researchers focused on eight chemicals that are known components of lavender and tea tree oil. 

The researchers then applied these chemicals to human cancer cells using an in vitro method in test tubes to see how each chemical affected or influenced the cells on a hormonal level. 

Each of the eight chemicals tested and analyzed had varying degrees of influence over hormones and contained either estrogenic and anti-androgenic properties. 

These properties could easily account for prepubertal gynecomastia. 

What's more, the chemicals chosen for the study are found in at least 65 other essential oils, which means that many other widely used products could have hormone-disrupting chemicals. 

The results show that even though essential oils are safe, they are not regulated by the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/">Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) and could contain chemicals that are harmful to the body’s natural endocrine processes.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tea tree and lavender oils can disrupt your hormones

Essential oils are usually thought of as natural and safe...

Researchers based in Norway have created a new way to describe how much land is needed to generate electricity from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hydropower-amazon-environmental-impact/">hydropower</a>. This way, policymakers and business owners will have easy access to the information they need to weigh the benefits of hydropower production against the environmental costs.

Study co-author Martin Dorber is a PhD candidate at the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Science and Technology</a>.

“Some hydropower reservoirs may look natural at first,” said Dorber. “However, they are human influenced and if land has been flooded for their creation, this may impact terrestrial ecosystems.”

These kinds of renewable energy solutions have now become critically needed for climate mitigation, yet hydropower projects can place a major strain on the lands that they occupy.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that governments and industry need to factor the long-term consequences of hydropower into current and future projects in order to accurately identify the environmental trade-offs that will result from its expansion.

The research team discovered that they had the perfect resource for gauging the environmental effects of hydropower production - an analysis tool called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

This tool provides researchers with a way to examine all of the environmental impacts of a product or process during its entire life cycle, essentially calculating the total environmental cost of something.

The researchers realized that there is not enough information available to allow LCA to assess certain impacts from hydropower, such as its influence on water quality and biodiversity, so they focused their study solely on the issue of land use and land use change.

“Land use and land use change is a key issue, as it is one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss, because it leads to loss and degradation of habitat for many species,” said Dorber.

The research team set out to conduct a life cycle inventory by determining how much land is used to produce one kilowatt hour of electricity. The study was focused on creating a life cycle inventory specifically for Norway, where more than 95 percent of all domestic power production comes from hydropower.

The researchers used satellite imagery to estimate the original size of the lakes that were used to create over a thousand hydropower reservoirs in Norway. 

Ultimately, they were only able to calculate land occupation by 184 reservoirs. Collectively, these reservoirs provided 20 percent of the total average annual hydropower electricity produced in Norway between 1981 and 2010.

“By dividing the inundated land area with the annual electricity production of each hydropower reservoir, we calculated site-specific net land occupation values for the Life Cycle Inventory,” said Dorber. 

“While it's beyond the scope of this work, our approach is a crucial step towards quantifying impacts of hydropower electricity production on biodiversity for Life Cycle Analysis.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/loi/esthag">Environmental Science and Technology</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: Ånund Killingtveit/NTNU

Hydropower brings environmental benefits and biodiversity costs

Researchers based in Norway have created a new way to...

There may be an abundance of water on the dwarf planet Ceres, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances. 

Ceres is a rocky minor planet located between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-earths-driest-desert-mars/">Mars</a> and Jupiter that, according to recent findings, is still evolving and may hold the building blocks necessary for alien life. 

Carbonates, typically an indicator of liquid water, have been observed and monitored on Ceres for quite some time. 

When <a href="https://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA's</a> Dawn probe launched in 2007, it approached Ceres and recorded images of bright spots in a crater on the surface. Since 2015, the Dawn probe has been mapping Ceres, and more and more bright spots were discovered.

Some of the bright spots, also called carbonate patches, have the same reflecting capabilities of dirty snow. 

The presence of carbonate patches suggests that there is a large quantity of a brine, possibly even a subsurface ocean under Cere’s rocky, cratered surface. 

Researchers from the <a href="http://www.iaps.inaf.it/en/info/">Institute of Astrophysics and Space Planetology</a> in Italy studied images of these bright spots taken with a visible, infrared mapping spectrometer in order to assess their chemical composition. 

After analyzing the images and makeup of the icy patches around the craters on Ceres, the researchers found compelling evidence for liquid water.  

What’s more, the dwarf planet is evolving as a slushy, brine solution is still making its way to the surface. This was evidenced by the presence of floor fractures at the bottom of some craters, which according to the researchers shows where water has been ejected. 

The team found that carbonates were present all over the surface of Ceres, forming a uniform band across its entirety. 

The recent processes are still ongoing, and findings suggest that they involve fluid water. 

Future studies using data from the Dawn Mission could provide more insight into the internal makeup of Ceres and what drove/is driving the bright spots to form on the surface. 

---

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

There could be a large amount of water on dwarf planet Ceres

There may be an abundance of water on the dwarf...

Scientists at <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> have conducted an unprecedented investigation into how much snow falls in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/north-american-monsoon-drying/">North America</a> each year. They found that the annual snowfall accumulation across the continent is around 50 percent higher than previously thought.

The researchers have estimated the snowfall total to be around 1,200 cubic miles. This amount of snow would measure over 7.5 inches deep if it was distributed evenly across the continent. If confined to a single state, it would amount to just under 150 feet of snow. 

Prior to this study, scientists believed that North America held only about 750 cubic miles of snow each year.

Study lead author Melissa Wrzesien explained that these findings are a critical step toward understanding the actual extent of fresh water sources on the continent.

“Our big result was that there's a lot more snow in the mountains than we previously thought,” said Wrzesien. “That suggests that mountain snow plays a much larger role in the continental water budget than we knew.”

Michael Durand is an associate professor of Earth Sciences at Ohio State. He explained that it is currently impossible to directly measure how much water is on the planet.

“It's extremely important to know-not just so we can make estimates of available fresh water, but also because we don't fully understand Earth's water cycle,” said Durand.

The experts found that most of the snow accumulates on top of the Canadian Rockies and 10 other mountain ranges, which account for only about a quarter of the continent’s total surface area. 

The team determined that these mountain ranges hold 60 percent of the snow in North America, which is twice the amount that has been reported up until now. The study also revealed that the Canadian Rockies hold as much snow as the other 10 mountain ranges in the study combined.

“Each of these ranges is a huge part of the climate system, but I don't think we realized how important the Canadian Rockies really are,” said Durand. “We hope that by drawing attention to the importance of the mountains, this work will help spur development in understanding how mountains fit into the large-scale picture.”

Professor Durand said that what scientists really need is a satellite dedicated to measuring snow depth in both complex terrain and in the plains. The team is collaborating with other experts to propose such a satellite.

The study is published the journal <a href="http://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1944-8007/">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="http://ceexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Much more snow is falling in North America than anyone realized

Scientists at Ohio State University have conducted an unprecedented investigation...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthals-first-cave-art/">Neanderthals</a> are often portrayed as brutish, dimwitted and focused only on survival. Some even suggested that their scientific name should be Homo stupidus, or stupid human. 

However, recent research has suggested that Neanderthals may have been much more caring than previously thought. 

One human origin expert, Penny Spikins from the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>, has spent many years studying Neanderthals and she suggests that they were a society ruled by compassion. 

Spikins’ most recent study, published in the journal World Archaeology, focuses on the concept of primitive healthcare evident in fossil remains and the theory that Neanderthals willingly nursed each other back to health without looking for something in return. 

“Our findings suggest Neanderthals didn't think regarding whether others might repay their efforts, they just responded to their feelings about seeing their loved ones suffering,” said Spikins.

The study looks at the social context of healthcare evidenced by repaired trauma or injury in fossil remains as well as the lifespan of those individuals who had some form of impairment. 

According to Spikins, previous arguments have stated that Neanderthal healthcare only shows that our early relatives were either extremely self-sufficient or that healthcare was a response to necessity based on an individual's value to society. 

To counter these claims, Spikins discusses the fossil remains of one Neanderthal found in the Shanidar Cave in Iraq called Shanidar 1. 

According to the <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/shanidar-1">Smithsonian Museum of Natural History</a>, Shanidar 1 dates back 45,000 to 35,000 years and was reportedly around 35 to 45 years old when he died. 

What makes Shanidar 1 so noteworthy is the severe extent of injuries and maladies that he suffered from. 

He was blind or partially blind with a withered right arm that had fractured, and several deformities in the leg and foot which would have resulted in a limp. 

These injuries were not the cause of his death, and he lived quite long considering. After examining the skeleton of Shanidar 1, scientists even found evidence of healing. 

The circumstances surrounding Shanidar 1 and other Neanderthals with apparent maladies and injuries leads Spikins and other experts to believe that Neanderthals on the whole cared for the wounded and sick as a social group. 

The research gives compelling evidence that Neanderthals were compassionate and actively engaged in healthcare as a response to the suffering of others without an ulterior motive, similar to the role modern healthcare plays in our current society today. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Evidence of healthcare suggests Neanderthals were compassionate

Neanderthals are often portrayed as brutish, dimwitted and focused only...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, have found a way to enable certain proteins to function and stay active outside of the cell. The groundbreaking study may be the first step toward harnessing the power of proteins in synthetic systems to capture chemical pollution.

Scientists have tried for many years to stabilize proteins outside of their native environments, but there has been little success in merging proteins and synthetic components without compromising protein activity. 

The study was led by the lab of co-author Ting Xu, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at Berkeley.

“We think we've cracked the code for interfacing natural and synthetic systems,” said Xu. 

Proteins do not hold up very well once they are removed from their natural domain. Proteins must maintain a specific folded structure to function properly, and this structure is often supported with the help of other proteins. 

In Xu’s lab, the researchers set out to develop a synthetic polymer that could provide a protein with everything it needs to keep its structure.


“Proteins have a very well-defined statistical pattern, so if you can mimic that pattern, then you can marry the synthetic and natural systems, which allows us to make these materials,” said Xu.


The team created random heteropolymers, which they refer to as RHPs. These heteropolymers are made up of four types of monomer subunits, each with chemical properties designed to interact with chemical patches on the surface of proteins.

The RHPs mimicked unstructured proteins, which are commonly found in cells. The experts found that RHPs increased protein folding in water, which means they supported the structure of the protein, and preserved protein activity in organic solvents.


An extensive series of simulations confirmed that RHP could favorably interact with protein surfaces, promoting protein folding and stability in a non-native environment.

The researchers then tested whether they can use an RHP to create protein-based materials for capturing toxic chemicals. The researchers mixed RHP with a protein called organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH), which degrades the toxic organophosphates found in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bed-bugs-increasingly-resistant/">insecticides</a> and in chemical warfare agents.

The RHP/OPH material was used to make fiber mats. Once the mats were submerged in a common insecticide, they degraded an amount of insecticide that weighed about one-tenth of the mat in just a few minutes. The fiber mats could potentially be scaled up to capture a larger amount of toxic chemicals.

“Our study indicated that the approach should be applicable to other enzymes,” said Xu. “This may make it possible to have a portable chemistry lab in different materials.”

The study will be published in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> on March 16.

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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

Scientists design protein mat that can soak up pollution

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found a...

The caffeine in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coffee-production-good-birds/">coffee</a> is a mind- and mood-altering substance, and may carry an interesting connection to another “altering” substance that has been dominating the news recently. The legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in states across the U.S. has this plant on the forefront of discussions ranging from recreational drugs to healthcare to taxes. Now, new research reveals an interesting connection between the coffee you can find across the street, and the cannabis that may be on your corner (legally) in no time.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.nm.org/">Northwestern Medicine</a> have published a study in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2796">Journal of Internal Medicine</a> that shows how coffee changes many more metabolites in the blood than previously known, including neurotransmitters typically linked to cannabis. Metabolites are chemicals in the blood that change after we eat or drink, or for a variety of other reasons. The neurotransmitters linked to the endocannabinoid system decreased after an individual drank four to eight cups of coffee per day. However, this is the opposite of what occurred after an individual used cannabis. Endocannabinoids are naturally produced by the body, and mimic the activity of cannabinoids, which are the chemicals that give the cannabis plant its unique properties. 

The study also revealed that certain metabolites related to the androsteroid system increased after individuals drank four to eight cups of coffee in one day, suggesting that coffee might facilitate the elimination or excretion of steroids. Since the steroid pathway is a focus for certain diseases – including cancers – coffee could have an effect on these diseases.

“These are entirely new pathways by which coffee might affect health,” Marilyn Cornelis, assistant professor of preventive medicine at <a href="http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine</a> and says lead author of the study. “Now we want to delve deeper and study how these changes affect the body.”

For their study, the researchers had 47 participants abstain from coffee for one month, then consumed four cups a day for the second month and eight cups a day for the third month. They then used advanced profiling techniques to analyze more than 800 metabolites in the blood collected after each stage of the study. The results showed that blood metabolites of the endocannabinoid system decreased during the periods of coffee consumption – especially with eight cups consumed per day.

The endocannabinoid metabolic pathway is a major regulator of stress response, and some endocannabinoids decrease in the presence of chronic stress. “The increased coffee consumption over the two-month span of the trial may have created enough stress to trigger a decrease in metabolites in this system,” Cornelis explains. “It could be our bodies’ adaptation to try to get stress levels back to equilibrium.” It also regulates a variety of other functions, such as cognition, blood pressure, immunity, addiction, sleep, appetite, energy, and glucose metabolism. 

Coffee has been shown to aid in weight management and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. 

“This is often thought to be due to caffeine’s ability to boost fat metabolism or the glucose-regulating effects of polyphenols (plant-derived chemicals),” says Cornelis. “Our new findings linking coffee to endocannabinoids offer alternative explanations worthy of further study.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How coffee and cannabis impact your brain and health

The caffeine in coffee is a mind- and mood-altering substance,...

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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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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

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

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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

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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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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