For decades, scientists have puzzled over Uranus. Unlike its fellow giant planets, it seemed unusually quiet in terms of heat.



When NASA’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-pulls-another-life-saving-maneuver-for-voyager-from-15-billion-miles-away/">Voyager 2</a> spacecraft flew past the icy world in 1986, its instruments detected almost no internal warmth. That didn’t make sense. Planets the size of Uranus should still be radiating heat from their formation - so where was it?



Now, new research suggests the heat is there - just harder to detect. This new evidence helps resolve an old mystery and opens the door to better understanding not just Uranus, but how planets form, evolve, and interact with their environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-uranus-is-still-losing-ancient-heat">Uranus is still losing ancient heat</h2>



The study comes from researchers at the <a href="https://www.uh.edu/">University of Houston</a>, working with planetary scientists across the globe. 



It draws on decades of spacecraft data and advanced computer modeling. Together, the evidence paints a clearer picture: Uranus does release more energy than it gets from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/widest-high-resolution-photo-of-the-sun-ever-captured-solar-orbiter/">Sun</a>.



“This means it’s still slowly losing leftover heat from its early history, a key piece of the puzzle that helps us understand its origins and how it has changed over time,” said first author Xinyue Wang.



The findings also line up with those from a separate team led by Professor Patrick Irwin at the University of Oxford.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-as-hot-as-its-neighbors">Not as hot as its neighbors</h2>



While Uranus does emit heat, it gives off far less than the other giant planets in our solar system. Jupiter, Saturn, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/auroras-captured-on-neptune-for-the-first-time-thanks-to-the-webb-telescope/">Neptune</a> all emit more than twice the energy they absorb from sunlight. Uranus emits only about 12.5 percent more.



The reason isn’t clear, but researchers believe Uranus may have a different internal structure or evolutionary history than its neighbors.



In other words, Uranus might be built differently on the inside - or it may have followed a unique evolutionary path over billions of years that shaped how it stores and releases heat.



The study also found that Uranus’s heat output varies with its seasons - and those seasons are extreme. Each one lasts around 20 years, due to the planet’s tilted spin and off-center orbit.



As Uranus makes its long journey around the Sun, its energy levels rise and fall.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planning-future-uranus-missions">Planning future Uranus missions</h2>



Scientists aren’t just curious about Uranus for curiosity’s sake. Understanding how the planet works could directly affect the planning of future space missions.



Liming Li, also a co-author of the study, believes the findings come at the right time. NASA is gearing up for a major mission to Uranus - one that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine ranked as a top priority for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/civilian-spacewalk-is-a-giant-leap-in-space-exploration/">space exploration</a> through 2032.



“This study could improve planning for NASA’s flagship mission to orbit and probe Uranus,” Li said.



“From a scientific perspective, this study helps us better understand Uranus and other giant planets. For future space exploration, I think it strengthens the case for a mission to Uranus,” Wang added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-earth">Lessons for Earth</h2>



The research also holds lessons for Earth. The methods used - combining space data with physical models - don’t apply only to Uranus. They could be used to study heat flow on other planets, even ones outside our solar system.



“By uncovering how Uranus stores and loses heat, we gain valuable insights into the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems, and climate systems,” Li said. 



“These findings help broaden our perspective on Earth’s atmospheric system and the challenges of climate change.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-research-in-space">The future of research in space</h2>



This study isn't just about Uranus - it's a preview of where space science is headed. As tools for modeling, data collection, and observation improve, scientists are gaining new ways to study planets across the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astronomers-announce-evidence-suggesting-that-our-solar-system-has-nine-planets-again/">solar system</a> and beyond. 



The methods used to analyze Uranus’s heat could help decode the atmospheres of other ice giants, exoplanets, and even newly discovered worlds in distant systems.



NASA’s upcoming Uranus mission is just one example of how this research will shape future exploration. By combining long-term data with modern computational models, scientists are building a deeper understanding of how planets form, change, and interact with their environments.



These advances don’t just push planetary science forward - they also strengthen our ability to study climate systems, design new technologies, and prepare for the challenges of Earth’s future.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL115660#https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL115660">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.&nbsp;



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



-----

Hidden heat on Uranus changes what we know about ice giants

For decades, scientists have puzzled over Uranus. Unlike its fellow giant planets, it seemed unusually quiet in terms of heat. When NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past the icy world in 1986, its instruments detected almost no internal warmth. That didn’t make sense. Planets the size of Uranus should still be radiating heat from their formation - so where was it? Now, new research suggests the heat is there - just harder to detect. This new evidence helps resolve an old mystery and opens the door to...

This week, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/climate/climate-change-drastic-warming-trump.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=climate&amp;region=rank&amp;module=package&amp;version=highlights&amp;contentPlacement=1&amp;pgtype=sectionfront">New York Times</a> obtained a leaked report by scientists at 13 federal agencies detailing the effects of climate change. The expansive report details hard evidence of human-induced climate and examines how each region of the United States will be affected.

The report had actually been uploaded to a nonprofit internet archive and was available to the public in January of this year, but was not widely read or heard of until the New York Times broke the story. Scientists fear the report will be dismissed by the Trump administration due to its lack of interest in scientific fact supporting climate change. 

The head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, who was appointed by Trump, is likely unwilling to concede to the report’s findings that rising CO2 emissions caused by human activity are a primary contributor to climate change. 

The report projects that average <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/heat-waves-increase-mortality-rates/">temperatures</a> will rise as much as almost 2 degrees Celsius this century, and have already risen 1.18 degrees across 48 states compared to the early 1900s. And, as climate change science shows, a few degrees can have devastating consequences. 

No part of the country has been untouched by climate change, as rising temperatures, heavy bouts of precipitation, and heat waves all have connections to man-made climate change and are only projected to be worse. 

In the midwest, extreme rainfall has risen 9 percent in comparison to the early 20th century, and could rise to 20% if carbon emissions remain unchecked. 

In the northeast, the average annual temperature has already risen 1.37 degrees, and is expected to rise another 9.11 degrees by the end of the century.

In the northwest, temperatures have already gone up 1.51 degrees, and are expected to increase by another 8.51 degrees this century.

In the southeast, extreme rain has already increased by 8 percent, and is expected to increase another 21 percent by the end of the century.

In the southwest, extreme rainfall is expected to increase by 20 percent, and temperatures will rise by 8.65 degrees.

The report demonstrates how cutting carbon emissions emissions nation and worldwide is crucial to countering the growing impact of climate change. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a>, Staff Writer

Report reveals how climate change will affect each part of the US

This week, the New York Times obtained a leaked report...

Although the experience of “hearing voices” is often attributed to individuals with schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses, it is also present in people without any diagnoses psychiatric disorder. In a new publication from <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> that was released in the journal Science, researchers studied subjects both with and without diagnosed psychotic illnesses using a 125-year-old experiment designed to induce hallucinations.

The point of the study – led by Philip Corlett and Al Powers of <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale</a> – was to identify factors that lead to auditory hallucinations and analyze what makes certain individual’s experiences unhealthy while others’ are benign.

“Hallucinations may arise from an imbalance between our expectations about the environment and the information we get from our senses,” said Powers, the study’s lead author. “You may perceive what you expect, not what your senses are telling you.”

In the 1890s, a technique was developed at <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale</a>, which was designed to induce auditory hallucinations. The experiment involves four groups of subjects: voice hearers (psychotic and non-psychotic) and non-voice hearers (psychotic and non-psychotic). Participants in each group underwent brain scans while being repeatedly exposed to a light and a tone at the same time. The researchers asked them to detect the tone, which at times was difficult to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-whales-limited-hearing-land/">hear</a>.

After a while, study subjects in all groups reported hearing the tone when only light was presented and no tone was played. However, this phenomenon was much more prevalent in both of the two voice-hearing groups.

“In both clinical and non-clinical subjects, we see some of the same brain processes at work during conditioned hallucinations as those engaged when voice-hearers report hallucinations in the scanner,” said Corlett, senior author of the study.

The study also used computational modeling to differentiate people who had psychosis from those who didn’t. Results showed that people with psychosis had a hard time accepting that they had not actually heard the tone. They exhibited altered brain activity in regions that are often implicated in psychosis.

The researchers believe that these behavioral and neuroimaging markers may be an early sign of pathology in psychosis. They state that the findings of this study may eventually help identify those who need psychiatric treatment.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hallucinations caused by a discrepancy in expectations and senses

Although the experience of “hearing voices” is often attributed to...

A groundbreaking study has revealed that calorie restrictions can delay the aging process. While analyzing how aging alters the biological clock's effect on metabolism, scientists discovered that a low-calorie diet helps the body's metabolism work at an optimal level that promotes youth. 

The study was led by Paolo Sassone-Corsi, director of the Center for Epigenetics &amp; Metabolism at the <a href="https://uci.edu/">University of California, Irvine</a>. His team showed how the body's circadian rhythms change as a result of aging. They found that the connection between circadian activity and the aging process is based on effective metabolic transformation of energy within cells.

The research team tested mice at 6 months and 18 months. They collected tissue samples from the liver, which links nutrition and energy distribution in the body. 

Precise circadian activity controls how energy is metabolized within cells. The researchers found that the 24-hour cycle in the metabolic system of older mice remained the same over the course of the year. However, the circadian mechanism that expresses or represses genes based on the energy usage of cells displayed noticeable changes. In other words, the cells of the older mice processed energy inefficiently.

"This mechanism works great in a young animal, but it basically shuts off in an old mouse," said Sassone-Corsi.

The team analyzed a second group of aged mice after feeding them a diet containing 30 percent less calories for six months. The researchers found that the circadian mechanism worked effectively and the energy processing within cells was not changed.

"In fact, caloric restriction works by rejuvenating the biological clock in a most powerful way," explained Sassone-Corsi. "In this context, a good clock meant good aging."

Scientists from the <a href="https://www.irbbarcelona.org/">Barcelona Institute for Research in Biomedicine</a> joined the team for a second study. The researchers tested the functioning of the biological clock in stem cells from younger and older mice. The outcome revealed that a low-calorie diet conserved most of the circadian activity of youth.

"The low-calorie diet greatly contributes to preventing the effects of physiological aging," said Salvador Aznar Benitah, co-author of the study. "Keeping the rhythm of stem cells 'young' is important because in the end these cells serve to renew and preserve very pronounced day-night cycles in tissue. Eating less appears to prevent tissue aging and, therefore, prevent stem cells from reprogramming their circadian activities."

Previous studies have established that low calorie diets can extend the life spans of fruit flies. The scientists will continue to study how metabolism has such a huge influence on the stem cell <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-cells-control-aging/">aging</a> process. If they can identify the link that slows or speeds up the aging process, they can develop treatments which may be able to regulate aging.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A low-calorie diet can slow the aging process

A groundbreaking study has revealed that calorie restrictions can delay...

Roughly 94 million years ago, the Earth’s ocean underwent a 50,000-year period of ocean deoxygenation that preceded an ancient climate event that severely disrupted ocean chemistry and caused the extinction of many marine species – and it looks eerily similar to what’s happening in our oceans today.

According to new research from <a href="https://www.fsu.edu/">Florida State University</a>, there are distinct similarities that can be drawn between the rates of oxygen depletion in our oceans today and those that occurred almost 100 million years ago.

“We found that before this major shift in the climate, there was a stretch of oxygen depletion of about 50,000 years,” says Jeremy Owens, an assistant professor of geology at <a href="https://www.fsu.edu/">FSU</a>. “The rate of deoxygenation during that time is somewhat equivalent to the rate at which many scientists suggest we’re losing oxygen from our oceans today.”

Owens teamed up with researchers from <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> and the <a href="http://www.whoi.edu/">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a> for this study. They used a newly created Thallium isotope analysis to assess organic-rich sediment off an underwater plateau near the coasts of Suriname and French Guyana. From this sample analysis, they found evidence of rapid oxygen loss that occurred roughly 50,000 years before the globally recognized climate event.

The burial of massive amounts of organic carbon is a major indicator of significant climate disturbance. This discovery of the 50,000-year interval of deoxygenation that came before the climate event may also help decipher the relationship between major climate shifts and buried organic carbon.

“The easiest way to bury organic carbon is for there to be a lack of oxygen because decreased oxygen slows down microbial respiration, and thus more primary producers sink down to the seafloor,” Owens said. “This oxygen depletion prior to the event makes a lot of sense as it sets the stage for widespread organic carbon burial – carbon that we now use for some of our fossil fuels.”

The study revealed that the beginning of the deoxygenation period was directly following a significant increase in volcanic activity. As this activity grew, carbon dioxide was released into a warming atmosphere and the oceans were subjected to a deluge of excess nutrients. This led to a rise in aquatic plant growth and oxygen depletion known as eutrophication.

What is most interesting about this finding is that this series of events is rather similar to the climate events we are currently experiencing. <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/ocean-circulation-absorb-carbon-dioxide/">Carbon dioxide</a> emissions along with a warming atmosphere and eutrophication is exactly what we’re facing today given fossil fuel emissions and climate change.

“The volcanism linked to deoxygenation in the past represents the same kind of process as we see today – we’re just dealing with different sources,” Owens explains. “If the climate event in our study is analogous to modern events, we have to consider what that might mean for our oceans.”

Although scientists still don’t know how rapidly the planet’s oceans are deoxygenating, it’s estimated that they lose a small percentage every decade. While this may not seem very significant, when this loss is drawn out on a geologic scale it actually appears to be happening relatively quickly. 

“It’s not a problem way off in the distance, and it’s not just carbon dioxide we should be worried about,” Owens said. “These processes are also having an impact on oxygen levels, and that’s a major issue for many organisms.”

An issue for many organisms, not least of which may be us if we lose a large portion of our sea life and the ocean’s ability to retain oxygen. While studies such as this one look to the past for similarities and an idea of what we’re heading into, we also need to look towards the future and figure out how we can fix these problems before they become irreversible.

More information on this study can be found in the journal Science Advances.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Is ocean deoxygenation event a sign of history repeating itself?

Roughly 94 million years ago, the Earth’s ocean underwent a...

Discovering the inner workings of the human body is a continually evolving process and sometimes a challenging one. Take for instance our taste buds, those important receptors on our tongue that discern sweet from salty and bitter from sour. Humans are generally wired to favor sweet flavors versus bitter ones is a survival instinct, as bitter <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-strain-flavors/">flavors</a> could mean something is toxic or poisonous. 

The taste system is a remarkable one, and while we’ve known where the different taste receptors are located on the tongue and how they transmit flavors to the brain, not much is known about the actual wiring of new taste receptors. This could be because taste receptor cells, the ones that actually sense flavor, die off and replace themselves almost every two weeks. 

The high turnover rate, while impressive, also begs the question, how do the taste cells correctly rewire themselves every time and continue to send the right signals to the brain? 

Charles Zuker, a <a href="http://www.hhmi.org/">Howard Hughes Medical Institute</a> investigator from <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> saw that there was very little known about how the taste cells are wired into the taste system and brain, and so he set about to try and understand more about this process. 

Zuker and his colleagues observed different groups of mice essentially “tangling” or mixing up the taste receptors in different groups, which allowed them to see how the miswired taste receptors reacted to bitter and sweet flavors. 

What the researchers discovered was that specific chemical signals in new taste receptor cells can attract the correct nerve connections to them and in turn send the right flavor signals to the brain. 

"As new taste cells are born, they provide the right instructions to establish the right connection," said Zuker. 

Taste receptors have a hugely important job and must be rewired correctly every time they are replaced in order for the taste system to work. Zuker’s research helps solve the mystery of how taste receptors are wired and helps shed further light on the evolution of human taste processes. 

------

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How taste buds are wired into your brain to experience flavors

Discovering the inner workings of the human body is a...

A team of engineers at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> have developed smart windows that can shift from transparent to opaque and back again in under a minute. Metal ions distributed over the surface of conductive glass can block out over 95 percent of light with the flip of a switch. 

This technology blocks light without the need for window treatments and significantly reduces utility costs. While there are some dynamic windows already <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/solar-smart-windows-sunlight/">available</a>, they have not gotten much response from consumers.  Smart windows that are currently on the market are expensive, often have a blue tint, and lose their effectiveness over time. 

Michael McGehee is a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University and senior author of the study. 

"We did not tweak what was out there, we came up with a completely different solution," said McGehee. "We've had a lot of moments where we've thought, 'how is it even possible that we've made something that works so well, so quickly,' and we're now running the technology by glass and other kinds of companies."

The team's design blocks light through the movement of copper and another metal in a solution over a sheet of transparent indium tin oxide modified by platinum nanoparticles. When the windows are transparent, they become clear and allow around 80 percent of natural light through. When they are dark, the windows block over 95 percent of light. 

The researchers tested the model for durability by switching the windows on and off over 5,500 times. There was no change in the amount of light transmitted, indicating that their design is long-lasting.

The research team is attempting to scale up the design and reduce the cost of construction before putting it on the market. The group recently filed a patent for the prototype. Their work is published today in the journal Joule, a new publication for energy research and green technology from <a href="http://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>.

"We're excited because dynamic window technology has the potential to optimize the lighting in rooms or vehicles, save about 20% in heating and cooling costs, and even change the way people wear sunglasses," said McGehee. "This is an important area that is barely being investigated at universities, and there's a lot of opportunity to keep us motivated."

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New smart windows switch from clear to dark in less than a minute

A team of engineers at Stanford University have developed smart...

Climate change has increased the risk and severity of droughts, with massive droughts now occurring all over the world, some lasting years. Droughts can damage crops, create a hazard zone for wildfires and kill trees and plant life. 

Vancouver, British Columbia has recently <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3652201/b-c-wildfires-have-now-scorched-an-area-larger-than-pei/">been blanketed in a foggy gray smog</a> thanks to raging wildfires that have burned almost 3,000 square miles in total. The cause of these fires is still under investigation, but many suspect a link to ongoing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fluctuating-sea-temperature-droughts/">drought</a> conditions.

Understanding exactly how droughts impact trees and wildlife and how tree death occurs could help prevent future wildfires and crop failure. 

Recently, researchers set out to understand what exactly what causes trees to die during a drought. A collaborative team of researchers, including lead author Henry Adams from<a href="https://go.okstate.edu/"> Oklahoma State University</a> and 62 other scientists, published their results in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

The team studied and simulated drought conditions and found that tree death was caused by a combination of hydraulic failure and carbon starvation. Carbon starvation occurs when dry trees close their pores, blocking the entry of necessary carbon needed for photosynthesis. Hydraulic failure occurs when the tree becomes unable to move water from its roots to its leaves.

Healthy trees are an important part of the ecosystem as they feed on CO2, and fewer trees due to droughts means more CO2 in the atmosphere and an increase in climate change. 

"Droughts are simultaneously happening over large regions of the globe, affecting forests with very different trees. The discovery of how droughts cause mortality in trees, regardless of the type of tree, allows us to make better regional-scale predictions of droughts' effects on forests,” said the director of the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation’s</a> MacroSystems Biology Program, Liz Blood. 

Understanding exactly how tree death occurs in times of stress, like a drought, could have a positive impact on prevention and preservation of trees and help counter climate change. 

---

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

What actually causes trees to die during droughts

Climate change has increased the risk and severity of droughts,...

Before the iPod and mp3s, before cassette tapes and 8-track tapes, and before the record player, the Edison Phonograph Company marketed and sold a new device for playing and recording audio: the phonograph. 

The phonograph would play etched audio recordings that were carved into cylinders often made of wax, and many of these wax cylinders survive today and hold some of our earliest known audio recordings. 

At the <a href="http://berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, new technology is being used to preserve wax cylinders that, due to the wear and tear of time, have become almost unusable. But many of these wax cylinders hold our only references to rare indigenous languages recorded over 100 years ago. 

Using non-invasive optical scan technology developed by Berkeley physicist Carl Haber and Earl Cornell, researchers at Berkeley are transferring audio of indigenous languages from over 2,000 wax cylinders and even repairing them. Because of this, the languages will be more perceptible and linguists will be able to figure out what the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-brains-sync-conversations/">languages</a> are and what is being said.

Some of the wax cylinders in the Berkley collection are the only known audio of several of the languages and this could richly benefit future linguistic study of these languages, the indigenous communities, and scholarly research. 

There are almost 7,000 “living” or spoken languages in the world today, and now with these new technological advances, documenting endangered languages will be easier and accessible to linguists whose mission is the preservation and documentation of as many languages as possible. 

Documenting endangered languages is a key part of ensuring the preservation of the language, and writing down its grammar and structure and keeping a written record will ultimately enhance linguists’ and scholars’ understanding of languages and the communities that use them. 

The 100 hours of audio that the research team transferred from the wax cylinders and will soon be accessible to the general public. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Rare audio recordings of indigenous languages saved by technology

Before the iPod and mp3s, before cassette tapes and 8-track...

Environmental scientists have discovered that burning coal produces microscopic particles of titanium oxide. Known as titanium suboxide nanoparticles, these tiny particles can enter the lungs and possibly the bloodstream.

The particulates are as small as 100 millionths of a meter, according to a research team led by <a href="http://www.science.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech College of Science</a>. When the particles are released, they can travel with air currents locally or even globally.

Virginia Tech Professor of Geosciences Michael F. Hochella Jr. led the study.  

"The problem with these nanoparticles is that there is no easy or practical way to prevent their formation during coal burning," said Hochella. 

He added that most of the nanoparticles would be caught by particle traps in nations with strict regulations such as the United States. However, countries such as Africa, China, and India do not have environmental regulations that prevent coal ash and smoke from invading the air.

The titanium suboxide - known as Magnéli phases - was previously thought to be extremely rare, but the findings of this study suggest that these nanoparticles exist all over the world. Powerful electron microscopes are allowing scientists to study them for the first time in their natural environment. 

The research team located these nanoparticles in ash and gaseous waste emissions from coal plants across the globe, but they were not limited there. The scientists also discovered titanium suboxide nanoparticles on city streets, in soil, in stormwater ponds, and at wastewater treatment plants.

"I could not believe what I had found at the beginning, because they had been reported so extremely rarely in the natural environment," said Yi Yang, a professor at East China Normal University who participated in the study. "It took me several months to confirm their occurrence in coal ash samples."

Nearly all coal contains titanium oxides in one of three mineral forms. When these minerals are burned in the presence of coal, they easily and quickly convert to highly unusual particle forms of titanium oxide. The nanoparticles are then drawn out with the gases that leave the power plant.

If inhaled, the nanoparticles can move deep into the lungs, and can potentially enter into the air sacs that move <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/low-oxygen-early-jurassic-oceans/">oxygen</a> into our bloodstream. Research has indicated that the particles are toxic to human lungs, but it is not yet known to what degree. 

"Future studies will need to very carefully investigate and assess the toxicity of titanium suboxide nanoparticles in the human lung, and this could take years, a sobering thought considering its potential danger," Hochella said.

The study is published in the online journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Burning coal releases potentially dangerous and harmful particles

Environmental scientists have discovered that burning coal produces microscopic particles...

Groundbreaking research out of the <a href="https://www.uottawa.ca/en">University of Ottawa</a> could create new treatments for patients with heart problems and complications suffered after a heart attack that limits their ability to exercise. 

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-based-diets-heart-disease/">Heart disease</a> and heart failure are leading causes of death and disability practically worldwide. Heart failure occurs when heart disease or heart attack damage the heart muscle tissue and prevent proper blood flow to the heart.

Researchers from <a href="http://www.ottawahospital.on.ca/">The Ottawa Hospital,</a> the <a href="https://www.ottawaheart.ca/">University of Ottawa Heart Institute</a>, and <a href="http://carleton.ca/">Carleton University</a> have found that a protein in the heart called cardiotrophin 1, or CT1, can actually repair damage caused by heart attacks, increase blood flow, and trick the heart into healthy growth as it would in response to physical exercise. 

"We found that CT1 causes heart muscles to grow in a more healthy way and it also stimulates blood vessel growth in the heart. This actually increases the heart's ability to pump blood, just like what you would see with exercise and pregnancy, " said Dr. Lynn Megeney, lead author of the study, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital, and a professor at the University of Ottawa.

The research team looked at rats, mice, and cell models to see how CT1 helped damaged heart tissue. The researchers also used a drug known as phenylephrine, which can negatively affect heart growth, to provide examples of both healthy and harmful heart growth. 

The results found that CT1 helped repair and improve heart function in animals who had suffered a heart attack and animals suffering from hypertension. This is particularly exciting discovery because it shows that CT1 can improve heart issues that affect both the right and left sides of the heart. 

Researchers also found that the reason CT1 helps increase blood flow is because it allows blood vessels to grow along side new muscle and heart tissue. But the drug phenylephrine did nothing to help repair the damaged tissue and did not increase blood flow. 

Even though the effects CT1 have on the heart can be easily replicated with regular exercise, often patients who have suffered a heart attack have limited abilities when it comes to physical exertion. Studies like this could pave the way for new treatments to help repair and strengthen damaged heart muscle and tissue. 

---

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

You can actually trick your heart into thinking you exercise

Groundbreaking research out of the University of Ottawa could create...

We use social media in order to express ourselves to the world, whether that’s in pictures or words. Other people can learn a lot from you just by looking at your Instagram, and now computers can too.

Recent research has shown that computers can apply machine learning in order to successfully detect depressed people through analyzing their Instagram <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-rainforests-instagram/">photos</a>. With a detection rate of 70%, the computers were significantly more reliable than general practice doctors, who have a 42% success rate while diagnosing in-person.

Researchers asked 166 volunteers to share their Instagram photos – almost 44,000 in total – and mental health history. Half of the participants had reported being depressed in the last three years. Using well-established psychology research, the photos were analyzed for their brightness, color, and shading. The authors explain: 

“Pixel analysis of the photos in our dataset revealed that depressed individuals in our sample tended to post photos that were, on average, bluer, darker, and grayer than those posted by healthy individuals.”

As part of this study, the researchers had volunteers attempt to distinguish between Instagram posts made by depressed people versus people who were healthy. The volunteers were not nearly as effective as the computers were, and their analysis of the photos had essentially no correlation with the features of the photos detected by the computer.

“Obviously you know your friends better than a computer,” says Chris Danforth, a professor at the <a href="https://www.uvm.edu/">University of Vermont</a>. “But you might not, as a person casually flipping through Instagram, be as good at detecting depression as you think.”

This new study has significant implications for depression diagnosis in the future. Currently, more than half of a general practitioners’ depression diagnoses are false, creating an unnecessary cost to the healthcare system. With machine learning and artificial intelligence both expanding in our lives, there are also questions of ethics and privacy that come into play with this computer algorithm. 

“We have a lot of thinking to do about the morality of machines,” Danforth says. “So much is encoded in our digital footprint. Clever artificial intelligence will be able to find signals, especially for something like mental illness.”

Despite these questions, this research may help advance diagnosis of depression, limit false diagnoses, and cut costs for health services.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Instagram photos can reveal signs of depression

We use social media in order to express ourselves to...

Video games have quickly become one of America’s most popular pastimes, with almost 50% of Americans reporting that they play video games regularly. There have been many studies that discuss the pros and cons of video games on brain development, behavior, cognitive functions, and their use as therapies for countering depression and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marijuana-low-doses-relieve-stress/">anxiety</a> and sharpening cognitive skills. 

But a recent study from the<a href="http://www.umontreal.ca/en/"> Université de Montréal</a> shows that playing video games, more specifically action video games, can harm the brain and actually decrease gray matter in the hippocampus. 

The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, details the effects that shooter games have on the hippocampus and gray matter in that area of the brain. 

Scientists pooled almost 100 participants together to play shooter action games and 3D games from the Super Mario Series, and then studied different players as they maneuvered through the games. The researchers mapped brain activity to find out which players were “spatial learners,” who used their hippocampus, and those players who were “response learners,” who favored the striatum part of the brain that focuses on reward systems. 

The researchers discovered that playing action games resulted in atrophy in the hippocampus with response learners, but playing 3D games actually increased gray matter in the hippocampus with both spatial and response learners. 

"If action video games lead to decreases in gray matter in the hippocampus [of young adults], caution should be exerted when encouraging their use... [by] children, young adults and older adults to promote cognitive skills such as visual short-term memory and visual attention," the study reported. 

“The results suggest that improvement in such cognitive skills may come at a cost,” said lead author and associate professor of psychology at UdeM, Greg West. 

Action video games have been proven to be beneficial for improving cognitive development, but this study shows that the risk of depleting the hippocampus of vital gray matter far outweighs those benefits.

---

By <a href="mailto:rarnold@earth.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Playing video games can actually harm your brain

Video games have quickly become one of America’s most popular...

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



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



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
</div></figure>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



---



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



---



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



---



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



---



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



---



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



---



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



---



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



---



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



---



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



---



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



---



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



---



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



---



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



---



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

News coming your way