A fast belt of westerly winds that helps shape summer weather across South America, southern Africa, Australia, and Oceania is now sliding toward the South Pole and blowing harder.



New research shows that about half of this shift in the Southern Hemisphere’s eddy‑driven jet (EDJ) comes straight from global warming, while the other half traces to a cluster of interacting climate drivers.



By sorting those influences and testing models against real‑world data, scientists have sharpened near‑term forecasts for the next decade. 



The work was led by Julia Mindlin and colleagues at the <a href="https://www.physes.uni-leipzig.de/en/institute-for-meteorology">Institute for Meteorology at Leipzig University</a>, within the university’s <a href="https://www.physes.uni-leipzig.de/en/institute-for-meteorology/research/arbeitsgruppe-klimakausalitaet">Climate Causality working group</a>, headed by Professor Marlene Kretschmer.



“The aim of our research is to better understand climate risks and reduce the uncertainties of regional predictions and projections when it comes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-weather-is-pushing-nature-toward-a-breaking-point/">extreme weather</a> and climate events,” Kretschmer said.



The researchers focused on the summertime EDJ, which steers storms and controls heat and rainfall across the Southern Hemisphere.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tracking-decades-of-wind-shifts">Tracking decades of wind shifts</h2>



Prompted by recent changes seen in Southern Hemisphere wind patterns, the researchers began by examining historical climate observations back to 1950.



They confirmed two clear trends: summer EDJ wind speeds have increased, and the jet’s core latitude has crept steadily poleward.



To untangle why, they turned to a statistical framework known as causal inference, which helps isolate the influence of individual drivers - even when those drivers co‑vary in the climate system.



They then linked the causal results to a “storyline” approach - a way of tracing climate changes as chains of cause and effect. Storylines help explain why different climate models can yield different futures and give researchers a structured way to explore uncertainty.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forces-behind-the-jet-stream-shift">Forces behind the jet stream shift</h2>



Combining the two approaches produced a clean attribution. Roughly 50 percent of the observed poleward shift in the Southern Hemisphere summer jet is directly attributable to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-volcanic-past-reveals-the-shocking-reality-of-global-warming/">global warming</a>.



The remaining half reflects the combined push of several other climate‑related changes: warming of the upper tropical atmosphere, strengthening winds in the stratosphere, and warming in the tropical Pacific.



Some of these influences are themselves partly driven by human‑caused climate change; others are harder to pin down. The same mix of factors also explains the measured acceleration of the jet, with global warming contributing to the rise in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-method-developed-to-measure-the-wind/">wind speeds</a>.



“The findings show how complex the jet stream’s reaction to climate change is, especially in terms of how rapidly the winds are strengthening,” Mindlin said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forecasting-the-next-decade">Forecasting the next decade</h2>



Because climate models often disagree - especially over short horizons - the team next asked which models best mirrored the real atmosphere.



The researchers compared simulations to observed EDJ behavior to see which captured core features such as latitude, variability, and sensitivity to the identified drivers.



By giving more weight to models that get those pieces right, they narrowed the plausible range of jet changes expected over the coming ten years. That tighter range is critical for planners in agriculture, water management, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-are-changing-the-quality-of-our-air/">wildfire</a> preparedness, energy, and infrastructure.



“In the past, research primarily focused on long-term climate developments. Recently, however, short-term developments have taken center stage, as they are increasingly relevant for decision-makers. The methods we suggest can be used to improve climate predictions for the next ten years,” Mindlin said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-a-shifting-jet-stream-means">What a shifting jet stream means</h2>



When the EDJ edges poleward, the storm tracks it helps steer often shift with it. Regions on the jet’s equatorward side can see fewer frontal systems, bringing a tendency toward drier summers and greater <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-now-the-driving-force-behind-droughts/">drought</a> risk.



Farther south, where the jet now spends more time, stronger winds can intensify <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-soil-moisture-can-predict-severe-storms/">storms</a>, enhance ocean mixing, and reshape sea ice and marine ecosystems. 



These downstream changes matter for crop yields in southern Australia and reservoir inflows in Chile and Argentina. They also affect fire weather in South Africa and coastal infrastructure exposed to more frequent wind-driven extremes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-causal-tools-reveal-the-truth">Causal tools reveal the truth</h2>



Many large‑scale climate drivers occur together: greenhouse warming, tropical Pacific sea surface shifts, and stratospheric circulation changes often overlap in time. Traditional correlations blur their separate roles.



Causal inference lets researchers ask counterfactual questions - what would the jet have done without the tropical Pacific warming, for instance? - and assign shares of responsibility.



Coupling those answers to storylines makes the science more usable, because decision‑makers can follow the chain from driver to local impact.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-matching-models-to-history">Matching models to history</h2>



No single climate model is perfect, but each gets some features right. By comparing existing models to observed EDJ behavior, Mindlin’s team effectively filtered out poor performers and leaned on those that reproduce the jet’s history.



These findings will help water agencies, grid operators, and insurers work with narrower, more actionable climate windows for the coming decade.



The team is extending this framework to related wind belts over the Pacific and the coupled Atlantic‑Indian sector. The researchers want to see how shifts in these jet streams link to regional heatwaves and multi‑year droughts - events that strain societies and ecosystems. 



As causal‑storyline methods mature, they could become standard practice for translating global climate signals into the local risk information that communities need.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500697122">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



-----



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Why the Southern jet stream is shifting - and what it means

A fast belt of westerly winds that helps shape summer weather across South America, southern Africa, Australia, and Oceania is now sliding toward the South Pole and blowing harder. New research shows that about half of this shift in the Southern Hemisphere’s eddy‑driven jet (EDJ) comes straight from global warming, while the other half traces to a cluster of interacting climate drivers. By sorting those influences and testing models against real‑world data, scientists have sharpened near‑term forecasts for the next decade. The work was led by Julia...

Researchers studying an archeological site in Southern Turkey have dated a comet fragment strike that killed thousands and triggered a mini ice age to the year 10,950 BC.

Engineers from the <a href="http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2017/ancient-stone-confirms-date-of-comet-strike">University of Edinburgh</a> studied animal carvings on a pillar known as the vulture stone in Gȍbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, the university said.

They interpreted the animals as astronomical symbols, and used software to match their positions to patterns of stars, dating the comet fragment strike to 10,950 BC.

The date is close to a  estimate from an ice core in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-crack-greenland-glacier/">Greenland</a>, which pinpoints the event to 10,890 BC., according to the university.

The event was probably caused by the breakup of a giant comet, releasing a swarm of fragments that created a cold climate that lasted more than 1,000 years.

The images in Turkey were intended as a record of the cataclysmic event, the university said. One carving shows a headless man , which may indicate human disaster and extensive loss of life.

“Furthermore, symbolism on the pillars indicates that the long-term changes in Earth’s rotational axis was recorded at this time using an early form of writing, and that Gȍbekli Tepe was an observatory for meteors and comets,” according to the university.

The findings also support a theory that Earth is likely to experience periods when comet strikes are more likely because of the Earth’s orbit intersecting orbiting rings of comet fragments in space, according to the research, published in<a href="http://www.maajournal.com/Issues2017a.php"> Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2017/ancient-stone-confirms-date-of-comet-strike">University of Edinburgh</a>

New information on the comet that struck Earth 13,000 years ago

Researchers studying an archeological site in Southern Turkey have dated...

It is no surprise the terms “climate change” and “global warming” are used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Global warming is a gradual increase in temperature, which is caused in large part by man-made gases that trap and hold heat in the atmosphere. Climate change is a shift in weather patterns that may result from global warming. Weather patterns are now changing at a rate faster than ever previously recorded, and a team of researchers from <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> set out to calculate how much of this climate change can actually be blamed on global warming. 

Noah Diffenbaugh is a professor of Earth System Science at <a href="https://earth.stanford.edu/">Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences</a>. The professor led a group of colleagues in an investigation of “extreme event attribution.” This rapidly-expanding branch of climate science combines climate statistics with computer models to establish the causes of weather occurrences. Diffenbaugh and his research team are frequently contacted following extreme weather events to clarify whether or not the event was a direct result of global warming. 

 "People make a lot of decisions - short term and long term - that depend on the weather, so it makes sense that they want to know whether global warming is making record-breaking events more likely. As scientists, we want to make sure that they have accurate, objective, transparent information to work with when they make those decisions," said Diffenbaugh.

The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, introduced a four-step process of determining if record-setting weather events can be attributed to global warming. The team focused on historical weather disasters such as the catastrophic flooding that took place in India in 2013 and the California drought of 2012-2017.

"Our approach is very conservative," Diffenbaugh said. "It's like the presumption of innocence in our legal system: The default is that the weather event was just bad luck, and a really high burden of proof is required to assign blame to global warming.”

Tests scrutinized some of the hottest, wettest, and driest incidents all over the world. The researchers began under the assumption that global warming was not the cause of each particular weather event, and then applied statistical analysis to test if this assumption was correct. The study revealed human-induced global warming has increased the chances of significant heat-related events on 80 percent of the Earth’s surface.  

"Our results suggest that the world isn't quite at the point where every record hot event has a detectable human fingerprint, but we are getting close," Diffenbaugh said.

The team applied their framework to the development of record low ice in the Arctic sea. This phenomenon was found by the team to be directly related to global warming.

“The trend in the Arctic has been really steep, and our results show that it would have been extremely unlikely to achieve the record-low sea ice extent without global warming,” said Diffenbaugh.

The study concluded that the likelihood of events such as drought and floods has increased in about half of the surface area observed. 

"One of the clearest signals that we do see is an increase in the odds of extreme dry events in the tropics. This is also where we see the biggest increase in the odds of protracted hot events - a combination that poses real risks for vulnerable communities and ecosystems, explained Diffenbaugh.

The <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford</a> research team hopes to further develop the framework used for this project by applying it to other regions of the world. They also plan to use their methods to identify the preliminary “ingredients” present before an extreme weather event takes place.   

--

By <a href="http:// csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href=" https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>

How to tell if a weather disaster is due to global warming

It is no surprise the terms “climate change” and “global...

Research on the unlikely similarities between chili peppers and marijuana could be key to new therapies for diabetes and colitis, according to a new study by the <a href="http://uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut</a>.

When eaten, both interact with same receptor in our stomachs, according to the paper published in the April 24 issue of the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

Chili peppers contain a chemical called capsaicin which researchers found lowered inflammation in mice. Feeding chili peppers to mice actually cured.them of Type 1 diabetes. 

Researchers also discovered capsaicin was binding to a receptor called TRPV1, which is found on specialized cells throughout the gastrointestinal tract.

When capsaicin binds to it, TRPV1 causes cells to make anandamide, a  compound chemically similar to cannabinoids in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-strain-flavors/">marijuana</a>.

The molecule reacts with both TRPV1 (to produce more anandamide) and another receptor to activate a type of immune cell that subdues inflammation, the study found. 

The brain also has anandamide receptors that react with the cannabinoids in marijuana to get people high. The question of why humans have receptors for cannabinoids in their brains has long been a mystery, the study said..

"This allows you to imagine ways the immune system and the brain might talk to each other," said Pramod Srivastava, professor of Immunology and medicine at UConn Health School of Medicine. “They share a common language, And one word of that common language is anandamide.”

The researchers don’t know yet don't know how or why anandamide might relay messages between the immune system and the brain.

It's remains difficult to get a federal license to experiment on human with marijuana, but state legalization of pot may open to new resources for researchers.

"I'm hoping to work with the public health authority in Colorado to see if there has been an effect on the severity of colitis among regular users of edible weed," since pot became legal there in 2012, Srivastava said. 

That could help researchers make a case  that anandamide or other cannabinoids could be used as therapeutic drugs to treat certain disorders of the stomach, pancreas, intestines and colon, the university said.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut</a>

How chili peppers and marijuana can calm your stomach

Research on the unlikely similarities between chili peppers and marijuana...

Exercise can benefit the body in numerous ways, even if the activity isn’t particularly strenuous. Researchers at <a href="http://www.nmhu.edu/">New Mexico Highlands University</a> (NMHU) have recently found that the simple exercise of walking has significant benefits for your brain.

The research team discovered that the impact your foot creates while walking actually sends pressure waves through your arteries, which can significantly modify and increase the supply of blood to your brain. It was previously believed that blood supply to the brain was involuntarily regulated by the body and remained unaffected by changes in blood pressure caused by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hunter-gatherers/">exercise</a>.

In a previous study, NMHU researchers had found that the foot’s impact during running caused impact-related retrograde (backward-flowing) waves through the arteries that can sync with the heart rate and stride rate to dynamically regulate the circulation of blood to the brain.

While conducting this similar study on walking, they found that the lighter foot impact caused by walking is still significant enough to produce pressure waves that increase blood flow to the brain. Although these effects were less intense than the ones caused by running, they were still noticeable.

“What is surprising is that it took so long for us to finally measure these obvious hydraulic effects on cerebral blood flow,” says Ernest Greene – the first author of the study. “There is an optimizing rhythm between brain blood flow and ambulating. Stride rates and their foot impacts are within the range of our normal heart rates (about 120/minute) when we are briskly moving along.”

These results show how important even light exercise can be to an individual’s overall wellbeing. So if you feel like your brain isn’t working to full capacity, take it for a walk.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://experimentalbiology.org/2017/Home.aspx">Experimental Biology 2017</a>

Why walking daily is crucial to brain health

Exercise can benefit the body in numerous ways, even if...

While DNA may be the star of the biological show, it is proteins (encoded by DNA) that perform all the functions that keep us alive. 

It has been recently discovered that it’s possible to extract proteins from 80-million-year-old dinosaur bones, allowing scientists to get a much deeper look at these prehistoric beasts.

Mary Schweitzer, a professor of biology at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a>, has used this recent discovery to look into the evolution of proteins in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/missing-link-dinosaur-ancestry/">dinosaur</a> bones. When it comes to understanding function and evolutionary fitness, changes to DNA over time don’t really matter unless the protein changes as well. Schweitzer has found that studying these changes in proteins can uncover a greater wealth of information than studying DNA alone.

“When you think about it, it is the message of DNA – the proteins – that are actually the stuff on which natural selection works,” says Schweitzer. “The sequences of proteins can be used to generate ‘family trees’ of organisms, just like DNA. But modifications to proteins, which are not found in DNA and can’t be reliably predicted from DNA sequence alone, can tell us how a protein functioned, because the function of a protein is determined by its 3-D structure.”

Proteins can also provide information about the age of a sample or about the environment in which an organism lived. Furthermore, some proteins are able to survive for millions of years, while others break down over time. Researchers are intrigued by this dichotomy, and are looking into what contributes to the longevity of certain proteins.

Many scientists – including Schweitzer – have even found that some types of proteins are more likely to remain stable over tens of millions of years than DNA is.

With this recent confirmation of the ability for scientists to extract protein from dinosaur bones, Schweitzer is focused on some new areas in her research. She wants to begin refining methods used to study these proteins so that paleontologists can get the information they need from specimens without damaging them. Schweitzer and her team are also looking for ways to broaden the search for proteins to a variety of dinosaur tissues, specimens, and environments.

Another direction she wants to explore is to find what proteins can tell us about the organism they came from. This could include insight into an animal’s physiology, tissue and protein function, or reproductive behavior. 

Given that dinosaurs lived for a much longer period of time than we have, Schweitzer believes that there is much we can learn from their protein evolution and function. Further research could benefit drug development and even find uses in our search for life on other planets.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://experimentalbiology.org/2017/Home.aspx">Experimental Biology 2017</a>

Dinosaur proteins provide key insights into the past

While DNA may be the star of the biological show,...

Brain organization seems like it should work pretty logically. Part of the brain controls breathing, another part controls balance, and still other parts control hands and feet and everything else.

But it’s not that simple, it turns out.

For example, what about people who are born without a limb – a hand, for example? 

Scientists at <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> and the <a href="https://www.weizmann.ac.il/">Weizmann Institute of Science</a> wondered whether the brains of people missing a hand stay the same, or rewire themselves to make up for the absent appendage.

It’s the latter, they found in a new study, published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

“We previously reported that the missing hand’s territory of one-handers becomes utilized by its cortical neighbor (residual arm representation), depending on residual arm usage in daily life to substitute for the missing hand’s function,” the researchers wrote in their <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)30352-4">study</a>. “However, the repertoire of compensatory behaviors may involve utilization of other body parts that do not cortically neighbor the hand territory. Accordingly, the pattern of brain reorganization may be more extensive.”

In other words, the space in the brain normally assigned to a second hand gets used by the residual arm, or by other limbs that are used to compensate for the missing hand, the scientists found.

The researchers looked at 17 people born with only one hand, and had a control group of 24 two-handed people. Of those with one hand, the subjects used more than one method of compensation. Some used lips to act as a “second hand,” some used the residual part of their handless arm, some used feet, and a few used other body parts.

The team used fMRI tests to take a look at brain activity as both groups performed several day-to-day tasks such as folding laundry, opening a water bottle, or organizing personal items.

When people with one hand used another body part in a “hand” role, it utilized the “hand” territory in the cortex, the researchers discovered. This was true even when a subject used multiple body parts – for example, both their knees and their lips – to stand in for their missing hand. Both parts utilized the “hand” territory when they were acting as substitute hands.

“This diversified compensatory profile was associated with large-scale cortical reorganization, regardless of cortical proximity to the hand territory. Representations of those body parts used to substitute hand function all mapped onto the cortical territory of the missing hand, as evidenced by task-based and resting-state fMRI,” they wrote.

From this, the researchers suspect that brain organization is not linked to specific body parts, but to any body part that performs a specific function.

Researchers hope that the study can help doctors learn more about brain organization and how the brain rewires itself when someone loses the use of a limb. 

“If we could harness this process of brain plasticity for medical purposes, and help people use different parts of their brain, it could be an exciting tool to improve people’s health and quality of life,” Dr. Tamar R. Makin of UCL, one of the study’s co-authors, said in a press release.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Have we been getting brain organization wrong?

Brain organization seems like it should work pretty logically. Part...

Procreation is a rather private matter, whether you’re a human, dolphin, or any other non-exhibitionist organism. This can make it tough for researchers to study how copulation works with certain species, especially those that live in aquatic environments. However, a recent study shows how researchers used inventive new techniques to figure out the internal dynamics of dolphin sex.

Marine mammals are a group of species that are known to have unusually shaped genitalia – although they would probably tell you that we’re the weird ones. Dara Orbach, a postdoctoral fellow at <a href="https://www.dal.ca/">Dalhousie University</a> and research associate at <a href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/">Mount Holyoke College</a>, explains, “Whales, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/late-bloomer-dolphins-risk/">dolphins</a> and porpoises have unusual vaginal folds, spirals and recesses that the penis and sperm must navigate through to successfully fertilize the egg.”

The researchers went into the study knowing that the biomechanics and intricacies of the anatomical fit of marine mammal genitalia have bamboozled scientists for years. 

After gathering reproductive tracts from deceased dolphins, porpoises, and seals, Orbach and her team were able to inflate the penises to full erection and stimulate pseudo-copulation with vaginal tissues – a process that was likely accompanied by a fair amount of giggling. They then used computed tomography scans to determine how deeply the penis penetrated the vagina and which parts of the anatomy were in contact.

The research team also created silicone models of the interior of the dolphin vagina, which helped them determine how its shape might have coevolved with the shape of the male penis. “Most previous research on genitalia has focused on the penis,” says Orbach. Through studying both genitalia types together, the scientists could better envision how they interact during copulation. 

Marine mammal copulation presents a unique challenge, as the participants must mate while swimming in a 3D space and do so without seawater entering the female’s uterus. 

By analyzing this anatomy and studying how it can translate to successful copulation in the wild, Orbach and her colleagues are making important steps that could help advance captive breeding programs. “For example, we demonstrate that particular anatomical landmarks are in contact during copulation and suggest that physical stimulation of these landmarks during artificial insemination may improve the probability of conception,” explains Orbach. “Our research can also help predict which natural copulations will lead to fertilization, as males must sexually approach females at specific angles to optimize their genital alignment and penetration."

While this research may invoke some juvenile laughter and embarrassed blushing, we can all be thankful that these scientists were willing to do the dirty work.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://experimentalbiology.org/2017/Home.aspx">Experimental Biology 2017</a>

Dolphins doin’ it: the science of dolphin sex

Procreation is a rather private matter, whether you’re a human,...

Ever wonder why your coworker can walk right by the chocolate birthday cake in the break room without batting an eye, while you’ve already had your third piece and it’s not even noon? Chocolate has been the dietary downfall of many a person, but scientists now think these irresistible food desires and eating habits could be linked to gene variations within the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-one-side-brain/">brain</a>.

New research from the <a href="https://www.uam.es/UAM/Home.htm">Universidad Autonoma de Madrid</a> in Spain sheds light on how gene variations from person to person influence how our brains desire different foods. In the past, much research has been done to identify the genes linked to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, but little has been done on how gene variants could affect eating behaviors in healthy individuals. 

“Most people have a hard time modifying their dietary habits, even if they know it is in their best interest," explains Silvia Berciano – the leading researcher from <a href="https://www.uam.es/UAM/Home.htm">Universidad Autonoma</a>. “This is because our food preferences and ability to work toward goals or follow plans affect what we eat and our ability to stick with diet changes.”

This study is the first of its kind to describe how brain genes affect food intake as well as dietary preferences in healthy people. It includes an analysis of the genetics of over 800 men and women of European ancestry, which was paired with information about their individual diets.

Through this analysis, the researchers found that their genes of interest played a significant role in an individual’s food choices and dietary habits. Higher chocolate intake and a larger waist size were both linked to certain variations of the oxytocin receptor gene. Furthermore, a gene associated with obesity had an impact on vegetable and fiber intake. Not surprisingly, they also found specific genes that were linked to salt and fat intake.

The scientists believe that this knowledge could lead to improved strategies that help people understand and follow their optimal diets. “The knowledge gained through our study will pave the way to better understanding of eating behavior and facilitate the design of personalized dietary advice that will be more amenable to the individual, resulting in better compliance and more successful outcomes,” says Berciano.

Research such as this could also be helpful in developing new medical treatments and therapies that will aid in minimizing a person’s risk for diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. 

The research team hopes to continue with similar studies involving other groups of people with different characteristics and ethnicities. They also plan on investigating whether the gene variants they identified are associated with increased risks in certain diseases or health issues.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://experimentalbiology.org/2017/Home.aspx">Experimental Biology 2017</a>

New research shows how our eating habits may be genetic

Ever wonder why your coworker can walk right by the...

The tarantula species Lycosa uses its eyes like an odometer to measure distance, according to a new study on spiders by researchers at <a href="http://www.uam.es">Autonomous University of Madrid</a>.

The tarantula lives in burrows topped by turrets built with twigs, leaves and small stones, fastened with the spider's silk. From the turret, the tarantulas surprise their prey and run to pursue it, then return to the burrow from distances between 30 and 40 cm. 

A 1999 study by the university found that the spiders use polarized light from the sky to know their position with respect to their nest. he new research, published in the <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/">Journal of Experimental Biology</a>, examines the role the spider’s eight eyes play in its navigation system.

"To calculate the distance it has travelled, the animal needs an odometer that registers the route, its location with respect to the finish point, which would be the burrow, and a 'compass' to track the direction of travel," said lead author Joaquin Ortega Escobar.

The compass is the polarized light, the scientists said. In the new research, they wanted to learn more about the role the spider’s eight <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eyes-windows-soul/">eyes</a> play in the navigation system.

The results show the spider principally uses the anterior lateral eyes, which until now had never been analyzed, and to a lesser extent the posterior lateral eyes, to measure the distance back to their nest after they have captured their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/offshore-wind-farms-pose-risk-birds-prey/">prey</a>.

In the research, when the scientists covered these eyes with a water-soluble paint, the spiders had trouble navigating. Instead of traveling 30 cm back from the nest, they stopped at 8.5 centimeters.

"When we uncovered them, they could return to their nests perfectly,” Escobar said. “ They need the lateral anterior eyes to measure the distance." 

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.uab.cat/web/research/research-article-impact/spanish-foundation-for-science-and-technology-fecyt-1322553783193.html">Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology</a>

Photo Credit: Joaquin Ortega Escobar

How spiders use their eyes as an odometer to measure distance

The tarantula species Lycosa uses its eyes like an odometer...

Early mammals were nocturnal, equipped with night vision that allowed them to survive reptilian predators who hunted by day, a new <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> study says.

The study published Friday in <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>, uses genetic data to explain how the distant relatives of humans may have adapted to the dark, the university said.

The research team, led by Liz Hadly, professor of biology and senior author on the paper, looked at genes involved in night vision in animals throughout the evolutionary tree and where those <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthal-relatives-genetic-code/">genes</a> became enhanced.

"This method is like using the genome as a fossil record, and with it we've shown when genes involved in night vision appear," Hadly said. "It's a very powerful way of corroborating a story that has been, up to now, only hypothesized."

Fossil evidence suggests the earliest mammal-like animals which appeared about 200 million years ago had excellent hearing and sense of smell and were likely also warm-blooded. Experts believe early mammals were also nocturnal and the new study offers direct, genetic evidence for that hypothesis, Stanford said.

“Early mammals coexisted with early reptiles in the Age of the Dinosaurs and somehow escaped extinction," said lead author, visiting scholar Yonghua Wu. "This research further supports the hypothesis that diurnal reptiles, such as lizards, snakes and their relatives, competed with mammals and may have led them to better adapt to dim light conditions."

In the millions of years that have passed since, some mammals, including cheetahs, pikas, camels, elephants, and humans are no longer nocturnal.

"Understanding the constant pressure to get better at seeing the world at night for over 100 million years is a beautiful way of thinking about evolution," Hadly said. "We think of it as something simple - seeing in the light or the dark - but these genes are being constantly refined and altered by natural selection."

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>

Human ancestors were nocturnal, study confirms

Early mammals were nocturnal, equipped with night vision that allowed...

Wind blasts and shock waves would inflict the most casualties if an asteroid hit the earth, according to a new study, the <a href="http://dailym.ai/2oVLA82">Daily Mail</a> reported.

The study published in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL073191/full">Geophysical Research Letters</a> explored seven effects associated with asteroid strikes--heat, pressure, shock waves, flying debris, tsunamis, wind blasts, seismic shaking and cratering.

Wind blasts and shock waves would likely account for 60 percent of the lives lost, the study’s simulation found.

Shock waves are caused rise from a spike in atmospheric pressure and can rupture internal organs, while wind blasts carry enough power to hurl human bodies and flatten forests, the story said..

"This is the first study that looks at all seven impact effects generated by hazardous asteroids and estimates which are, in terms of human loss, most severe," said Clemens Rumpf of the <a href="http://www.southampton.ac.uk/">University of Southampton</a>, who led the new study, the Daily Mail reported.

Rumpf plans to present his study at the 2017 International Academy of Astronautics Planetary Defense Conference in Tokyo, Japan, later this year, the newspaper said.

"Deadly asteroid impacts are rare," Rumpf said. "The Earth is struck by an asteroid more than 190 feet wide wide approximately once every 1,500 years. Those more than 1,300 feet wide strike once every 100,000 years."

“The likelihood of an asteroid impact is really low," Rumpf added. “But the consequences can be unimaginable.”

Land-based asteroid strikes would be more dangerous than those in the seas, the study found.

Overall, <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/tsunamis-zap-sound-waves/">tsunamis</a> would account for 20 percent of lives lost, the study found.

The heat generated by an asteroid accounted for nearly 30 percent of deaths, it said.

“Information about the dominance of each impact effect can enable disaster managers to plan for the most relevant effects in the event of an asteroid impact,” the study said.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://dailym.ai/2oVLA82">Daily Mail</a>

What happens if an asteroid really does strike Earth?

Wind blasts and shock waves would inflict the most casualties...

It turns out that psychedelic drugs actually do create a higher state of of consciousness, a new study says.

The research by the <a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sackler/">Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex</a>,  is the first to show brain-signal diversity that is higher than in someone who is simply 'awake and aware,' the authors say.

Previous studies have tended to focus on lowered states of consciousness, such as sleep, anesthesia, or the so-called “vegetative” state.

In this study, neuroscientists observed a sustained increase in neural signal diversity, which measures the complexity of brain activity in people under the influence of psychedelic <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/lsd-accidental-discovery/">drugs</a> compared with when they were in a normal waking state.

"This finding shows that the brain-on-psychedelics behaves very differently from normal,” said Anil Seth, co-director of the Sackler Centre .  

During the psychedelic state, the electrical activity of the brain is less predictable and less 'integrated' than during normal conscious wakefulness - as measured by global signal diversity, Seth said.  

"Since this measure has already shown its value as a measure of 'conscious level', we can say that the psychedelic state appears as a higher 'level' of consciousness than normal - but only with respect to this specific mathematical measure," Seth said.

The study re-analysed data that had previously been collected by <a href="http://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and the <a href="http://www.imperial.ac.uk/">University of Cardiff</a> in which healthy volunteers were given one of three psychedelic drugs: psilocybin, ketamine and LSD.

The researchers stress that their findings do not mean that the psychedelic state is a 'better' or more desirable state of consciousness. Instead it shows that the psychedelic brain state is distinctive and can be related to other global changes in conscious level such as sleep and anesthesia by application of a simple mathematical measure of signal diversity.

The findings could be valuable in exploring controlled medical use of psychedelic for example in treating severe depression, the researchers said.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sackler/">Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science at the University of Sussex</a>

New study proves that psychedelics create a higher consciousness

It turns out that psychedelic drugs actually do create a...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[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

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

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