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>.



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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...

Whenever we see population estimates – whether for our own population or any other species – it’s often hard to tell how these estimates were made. It may be even more difficult to know whether or not these estimates are even accurate. How do you count something that’s constantly moving, like a school of fish? How could you possibly figure out how many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/space-lasers-phytoplankton-blooms/">phytoplankton</a> inhabit an ocean? For many populations it’s impossible to get exact numbers, so scientists rely on a multitude of strategies to provide estimates. In many cases, scientists use a three-year “moving average,” which helps account for year-to-year irregularities in the results of wildlife surveys. However, this approach has never been evaluated… until now.

A new study published in <a href="http://www.americanornithologypubs.org/loi/cond?code=coop-site">The Condor: Ornithological Applications</a> compares the results of wildlife surveys to true population size using thirty years of surveys of crane populations (the bird, not the heavy machinery). Specifically, Brian Gerber of <a href="https://www.colostate.edu/">Colorado State University</a> and William Kendall of the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey</a> looked back on more than three decades of surveys for the Rocky Mountain population of Sandhill Cranes.

The researchers assessed whether the annual population changes determined by the moving averages were realistic. To do this, they used information on crane demographics and compared the moving averages to data gathered by a more sophisticated statistical approach called a hierarchical Bayesian time series model.

The Bayesian model allows for a more structured way to input new information as it becomes available. Gerber explains: “By taking a Bayesian approach, we can include additional information about both the observation process and the true population to obtain more realistic estimates and procedures.”

According to Gerber, this method also accounts for measures of uncertainty about the population estimates, which the more common survey approaches don’t usually provide. This allows researchers to understand the level of confidence they should have in their estimates.

Gerber and Kendall found that this more complex method performed better over a wider range of scenarios, although they found the moving average estimates to be reasonable. From their analysis, they were able to determine that over the last twenty years, the management practices have largely met their annual population objectives for the Rocky Mountain Sandhill Crane population. Gerber believes that their modeling approach “makes implementing any changes relevant to the survey easier.”

The researchers are confident that the work put into collecting this population data over long periods of time can result in pay off beyond the Rocky Mountain’s crane population. Their more complex model may be applicable to other species in other ecosystems as well.

--

By Connor Ertz, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2017-03/aosp-hra031517.php">American Ornithological Society Publications Office</a>

The accuracy of wildlife surveys has been put to the test

Whenever we see population estimates – whether for our own...

Keeping track of ocean waves – and therefore wind speed and direction – is important to forecasting weather phenomena that can benefit mariners, coastal farmers and others who live and work near the sea. We can do this to some extent by observing buoys and wave activity from ships, but that only provides a very localized picture. Now, scientists have recently discovered that something as simple as the sun glitter pattern on large bodies of water can be observed by satellite and used for tracking wave activity. They used the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission to map the motion of the sea surface from a large-scale observation point.

The team of scientists found a way to map the height, direction and movement of waves by tracking the patterns sunlight made on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-waves-cause-great-dying/">waves</a> in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Dorre Island in western Australia. They further developed their techniques through the <a href="http://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency’s</a> Scientific Assessment of Ocean Glitter project.

The findings have already helped scientists successfully map wave activity in the Agulhas Current, a historically treacherous current around the southernmost coast of Africa.

We found that ocean surface currents transform dominant surface waves, which are the tallest surface waves in a given area, driven by local wind and large-scale swells,” said Vladimir Kudryavstev of the <a href="http://www.rshu.ru/eng/">Russian State Hydrometeorological University</a>’s Satellite Oceanography Laboratory. “They also showed how wave packets can be deflected and trapped by ocean surface currents, creating surface waves that are much higher than normal.”

Soon, there will be two Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites in orbit, and both will assigned to add to wave data.

 “The development of new approaches to exploit advances in technologies that are now carried on the Sentinel-2 satellites means that we are not only able to gain further scientific knowledge of surface ocean dynamics, but we are also able to develop the next generation of the operational products for Copernicus,” said ESA’s Craig Donlon.

Sun glitter findings were written up in papers for two issues of <a href="https://publications.agu.org/journals/">AGU Publications</a>.

-- 

By Earth.com staff writer David Searls

Source:<a href="https://publications.agu.org/journals/"> AGU Publications</a>

Sun glitter can be used to track ocean waves

Keeping track of ocean waves – and therefore wind speed...

The mosquito’s olfactory system is its most prized possession. Female mosquitoes, in particular, possess a well-developed sense of odor that helps lead them to nourishment by following the scent of carbon dioxide exhaled by animals, and then to stagnant water for laying her egg.

Humans are the preferred first item on the menu. And now researchers think that the female uses an entirely different set of odor receptors – idiotropic receptors (IR) – to zero in on this favorite food source. This second set is in addition to the main odorant receptors (OR) of which scientists were already relatively familiar.

For the last 15 years, a team of <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/">Vanderbilt University</a> biologists have been studying a malaria-causing species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/malaria-india-mosquitoes-cattle/">mosquitoes</a> to discover more effective lures and repellants. While studying the OR of the mosquito species, they were surprised to learn that the receptors weren’t picking up on the strong human odors the mosquitoes know so well. From this realization, they discovered the second set, which seems to be solely responsible for sniffing out humans.

This isn’t totally unfamiliar ground. Researchers already know that the fruit fly also has a second set of odor sensors, but it’s the first time the IRs were found in the mosquito. Student Stephen Derryberry and research assistant Professor Jason Pitts isolated three of the newly discovered sensors and found that they responded to two chemical compounds found in human sweat.

There’s still much to know. For example, the biologists are considering whether these IRs can also be used to detect infrared radiation and humidity levels.

“Despite all the research we have done, we still haven't fully figured out how mosquitoes identify and, even more importantly, develop a preference for humans,” said biology professor Laurence Zwiebel, who leads the Vanderbilt researchers.

The team’s findings were published in Scientific Reports.

 --

By Earth.com Staff Writer David Searls

Source:<a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/"> Scientific Reports</a>

Mosquitoes target us using a second set of odor receptors

The mosquito’s olfactory system is its most prized possession. Female...

Ocean warming and the resulting acidification of coral reefs has been a major point of research for scientists in recent years. Increasingly, dead zones in reefs have also become a common phenomenon as climate change continues to wreak havoc on these delicate ecosystems.

A new study by <a href="https://ssec.si.edu/">Smithsonian</a> scientists published in <a href="http://www.nasonline.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> reveals that dead zones affect dozens of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/half-worlds-coral-dead/">coral reefs</a> and threaten hundreds more. The research team observed a massive coral reef die-off near the Caribbean coast of Panama, hypothesizing that this event was caused by a dead zone, rather than by ocean warming or acidification.

A dead zone is characterized by a low oxygen area in the ocean that results in the loss of marine live, leaving once fertile reefs looking ghostly and deserted.

Andrew Altieri, a staff scientist at the <a href="https://www.stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a> and lead author of the study, explains: “Ocean warming and acidification are recognized global threats to reefs and require large-scale solutions, whereas the newly recognized threats to coral reefs caused by dead zones are more localized.” However, Altieri believes that these dead zones can be reduced by limiting sewage and agricultural runoff into the ocean.

In September of 2010, the team noticed that reefs in Almirante Bay, Bocas del Toro Province, were showing clear signs of stress. The corals were turning white and dying, which is indicative of coral bleaching caused by warming events. The scientists also observed a bloom of bacterial slime and saw the dead bodies of crabs, sea urchins, and sponges littering the ocean floor.

What the team found to be even more odd was the obvious depth line that separated the seemingly healthy part of the reef towards the top from the dying reef below. In measuring the water quality, they were able to determine that the deeper waters had much lower oxygen levels compared to water close to the surface. The team had found clear evidence of a dead zone.

According to the researchers, dead zones like this may be common in the tropics, but have gone mostly unreported. Altieri elaborates: "The number of dead zones currently on our map of the world is 10 times higher in temperate areas than it is in the tropics, but many marine biologists work out of universities in Europe and North America and are more likely to find dead zones close to home.” 

This study shows the devastating impact dead zones are having on coral reefs in many tropical areas, finding 20 separate instances where dead zones are implicated in the mass mortality of coral reefs around the world. Despite this, the issue of low oxygen – more formally known as hypoxia – is rarely discussed as a threat to our reefs.

The authors of this study believe that increasing the capacity to monitor oxygen levels in reefs will ultimately help improve coral reef health and our understanding of the effects of dead zones. With so many threats to some of our most important and fragile ecosystems, it’s time to build on our understanding of how we can save them for the future.

--

By Connor Ertz, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2017-03/stri-dzm031717.php">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a>

Dead zones may seriously damage coral reefs

Ocean warming and the resulting acidification of coral reefs has...

Here’s something you never gave even a second’s thought to: why does water splash? It splashes because…it’s water.

That wasn’t a good enough explanation for Dr. James Sprittles from the Mathematics Institute at the <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/">University of Warwick</a> in England, so he figured out for himself why a drop of liquid doesn’t just fall evenly onto a surface. What he found was that the splash culprit was a tiny layer of air traveling below the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greenlands-underground-meltwater-reservoirs/">water</a> drop that gets trapped between the drop and the surface, sending the drop flying.

And by tiny we mean that 50 of these invisible layers would equal the width of a human hair.

Sprittles captured the microscopic dynamics of water under high-speed camera observation under varying liquid viscosity and air pressure conditions. Among his findings was that when air pressure was at its lowest point, the likelihood increased that the air layer could escape and avoid the splashing phenomena. That’s apparently the reason there’s less splashing in a stream on a mountaintop, where the air is thinner.

So…who cares? Right?

“You would never expect a seemingly simple everyday event to exhibit such complexity,” Sprittles said. “The air layer's width is so small that it is similar to the distance air molecules travel between collisions, so that traditional models are inaccurate and a microscopic theory is required. Most promisingly, the new theory should have applications to a wide range of related phenomena, such as in climate science – to understand how water drops collide during the formation of clouds or to estimate the quantity of gas being dragged into our oceans by rainfall.”

Sprittles’ findings, which were written up in <a href="http://journals.aps.org/prl/">Physical Review Letters</a>, could also have ramifications in blood-spatter forensic analysis, where the bloodstain patterns can describe the violent activity at a crime scene.

--

Written by David Searls, Earth.com staff writer

Source:<a href="http://journals.aps.org/prl/"> Physical Review Letters</a>

The science behind why water splashes

Here’s something you never gave even a second’s thought to:...

Insects’ mating rituals and appearance are a moment in time that can be difficult to witness even today. So imagine capturing such a moment from over a hundred million years in the past. That’s what makes the discovery of scientists from the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Science’s</a> Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology so remarkable.What the researchers found, trapped in amber in Burma, was three fossilized male damselflies from the pre-Cretaceous Period, some 100 million years in the past. 

Damselflies are in the same insect family as dragonflies, but smaller and narrower. What made this discovery particularly rare was that the tibia, or the fourth segment of leg, of the fossil males was expanded, pod-like, in a way that would have been a pre-mating ritual to fend off the male competition and to attract the attention of mating females. The tibia of the fossil discovery, known as Y. huangi, also had a wing-like shape and an eye-shaped spot on the middle of the hind leg, which the researchers felt was primarily designed to attract the attention of females. Think of the peacock’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/peacock-plumage-display/">plumage</a>, for a modern-day version of this evolutionary trait and sign of male dominance.

This appearance is replicated, to some degree, by modern species, but in a less obvious display than Y. huangi, according to the scientists. They felt that the fossil tibia inflatable size, shape and appearance to be an extreme adaptation for courtship behavior.

The researchers reported their findings in a recent issue of Scientific Reports. 

--

Written by David Searls, Earth.com staff writer

Source: <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>

Fossilized damselflies from dinosaur era display mating rituals

Insects’ mating rituals and appearance are a moment in time...

Tardigrades may be about half a millimeter in length, but don’t let their size fool you. These tiny survivors can withstand temperatures ranging from -457 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit – that’s not a typo. 

They can survive radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than amounts that would kill humans. They’re found all over the world in even the most extreme environs.

A new study is shedding light on how the diminutive creatures – also called water bears – do it.

One of the extremes tardigrades can survive is being dried out for long periods – up to five years. Though they’re not the only species that can survive desiccation, they don’t seem to work the same way brine shrimp or yeast do. Those creatures rely on the sugar trehalose to protect their cells when they’re dehydrated.

“How tardigrades survive desiccation has remained a mystery for more than 250 years. Trehalose, a disaccharide essential for several organisms to survive drying, is detected at low levels or not at all in some tardigrade species, indicating that tardigrades possess potentially novel mechanisms for surviving desiccation,” a team of scientists led by Dr. Thomas Boothby of the <a href="http://www.unc.edu/">University of North Carolina</a> wrote in the study.

So the scientists set out to figure out what mechanism the tiny survivors use instead.

They did that by studying tardigrades in unstressed, dehydrated and frozen states, including taking a peek at their genes. What they discovered is that one set of genes is expressed at a high level when the little creatures become dehydrated. These “intrinsically disordered proteins,” or TDPs, essentially turn water bears into glass, they reported.

 The scientists found similar genetic expressions in yeast, but due to a different protein, which may indicate convergent evolution, the scientists said.

The discovery goes beyond just figuring out how tiny survivors like tardigrades work their biological magic. 

“More broadly, our study highlights the diversity and functional role of disordered proteins in mediating stress tolerance,” the scientists wrote. “We anticipate that this work will serve as a foundation for pursuing long-term goals of the desiccation tolerance field, including the engineering of drought-resistant crops and the stabilization of sensitive pharmaceuticals and cells in a dry state.”

The study was published in <a href="http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(17)30133-8">Molecular Cell</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tiny survivors: how tardigrades withstand extreme conditions

Tardigrades may be about half a millimeter in length, but...

For years, scientists have disputed whether or not the shape of the human skull changed because our ancestors began walking on two legs. 

Many anthropologists believe the foramen magnum – the opening at the base of the skull that makes room for the spinal cord to connect with the brain – shifted forward so the skull could better balance atop the spine. 

In most animals, even other primates like chimpanzees, the foramen magnum is close to the back of the skull. In the human skull, however, the foramen magnum is near the center of its base.

This theory is widely accepted, but there are some scientists who believe the two features evolved independently.

Drs. Gabrielle Russo of <a href="http://www.stonybrook.edu/">Stony Brook University</a> and E. Christopher Kirk of the <a href="http://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a> decided to take another look at bipedalism and how it affects skull structure. They looked beyond humans to test whether the skulls of other bipeds also showed forward shifts in the foramen magnum. 

They found that changes in skull structure were not unique to humans. 

“A more anteriorly positioned foramen magnum evolved in concert with bipedalism at least four times within Mammalia: once in macropodid marsupials, once in heteromyid rodents, once in dipodid rodents, and once in hominoid primates,” the pair wrote in their study, published in the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248417300507">Journal of Human Evolution</a>.

In layman’s terms, two-legged animals like kangaroos, springhares and jerboas have foramen magnum shifts similar to the one seen in human skulls. The foramen magnum in these three species is seated farther underneath the skull than the same feature on their four-legged relatives’ skulls. 

“These results provide further evidence that bipedal mammals tend to have more anteriorly positioned foramina magna than their quadrupedal close relatives,” Russo and Kirk wrote.

The find offers support to the theory that evolutionary shifts from four- to two-legged movement cause changes in the shape of the skull, an idea first put forward by Dr. Raymond Dart in 1925. Dart, famous for discovering the first fossil of the human ancestor Australopithecus afarensis, made the connection between the foramen magnum shift and bipedalism.

While most anthropologists agree with his theory, others feel the two features are unrelated.

In a paper by Dr. Aidan Ruth  published in the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27178457">Journal of Human Evolution</a> last year, he and his co-authors argued that cranial evolution was influenced by other factors, not locomotion.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

What came first, bipedalism or the human skull?

For years, scientists have disputed whether or not the shape...

An area of Canada just north of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/map-phczs-great-lakes/">Great Lakes</a> region yielded an interesting discovery about the Earth's crust. Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uottawa.ca/en">University of Ottawa</a> and <a href="https://carnegiescience.edu/">Carnegie Science</a> found traces of rock nearly as old as 4.3 billion years, comparatively close to the 4.6-billion-year age of the planet. Their findings were reported in the latest issue of Science.

What they actually found were the isotopes of the older rock in a sample of much “younger” granite, at least geologically speaking. The older rock would have been the “parent” of the younger granite that yielded the discovery, which is about 2.7 billion years old.

The older rock crust is notable since it comes so close to Earth’s age, and has left researchers wondering whether traces of our planet’s original crust might someday be found. It’s long been presumed that most of that early crust has been ground into the planet’s interior by geological forces.

“There’s a complex history of crustal recycling and re-melting, so the rocks are always constantly recycling and re-melting that way – and erasing lot of information about their earliest life, or where they’re coming from,” said Professor Jonathan O’Neil, one of the study’s co-authors and a member of the <a href="https://www.uottawa.ca/en">University of Ottawa’s</a> Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

The finding can help earth scientists gain a better understand of how the continents were formed.

“Whether this result implies that plate tectonics was not at work during the earliest part of Earth history can now be investigated using our tool of studying neodymium-142 variation to track the role of truly ancient crust in building up younger, but still old, sections of Earth’s continental crust,” said study co-author Richard Carlson from <a href="http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/">Carnegie Science</a>.

[caption id="attachment_131572" align="aligncenter" width="543"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-17-at-11.13.37-AM.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-131572" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Screen-Shot-2017-03-17-at-11.13.37-AM.png" alt="" width="543" height="331" /></a> Credit: Dave Weatherall, University of Ottawa[/caption]

--

Written by David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Source:<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/?_ga=1.144562165.1192164342.1488566123"> Science</a>

Nearly 4.3 billion-year-old trace of Earth's crust found

An area of Canada just north of the Great Lakes...

No, jet contrails are not the insidious ‘chemtrails’ that some believe are controlling our climate or even our minds. However, they are responsible for environmental damage of another kind. That’s why scientists at <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> measured the effects of various fuel mixes and found that a biofuel blend could reduce the impact on air quality and climate.

Contrails are burned fuel that turn sooty as they interact with the cold atmosphere and have an adverse effect on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/winter-pollution-china-worsening/">climate</a> in the process.

"Those soot particles serve as nuclei for water vapor in the very cold atmosphere to condense on and for the artificial-looking linear contrails that we see when we look out the window," Dr. Richard Moore, from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/langley">NASA’s Langley Research Center</a> in Virginia, told the<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio"> BBC World Service</a>. “We know these contrails and cirrus clouds have a warming effect on the Earth's climate, and it's currently thought the warming effect associated with those clouds is more significant than all of the carbon dioxide emitted by aviation since the first powered flights began.”

While other fuel data has been accumulated from the use of engines running full throttle on grounded jets, this was the first time that tests were conducted with a plane at cruising speeds in the colder atmosphere.

The DC-8 was given a tank of conventional kerosene-based aviation fuel and another using a 50-50 mix of conventional and biofuel. The biofuel consisted of ingredients from the Camelina oilseed plant.

The results? After taking into effect varying flying conditions, the biofuel blend produced 50 percent less black carbon by number and as much as 70 percent by mass.

“We were testing in what we call the soot-rich regime,” study participant Professor Bernadett Weinzierl told <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news">BBC News</a>. “Models tells us if you reduce the number concentration of black carbon then you will reduce the number concentration of ice crystals. So this could be a way to mitigate the climate impacts of aviation.”

The study was described in the current edition of the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html">Nature</a>. 

--

By David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39286079">BBC News</a>, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html">Nature</a>

Jet fuel with biofuel blend could reduce environmental impact

No, jet contrails are not the insidious ‘chemtrails’ that some...

In a new study published on Friday in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>, researchers reveal that the sub-Antarctic island of <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/south-georgia-island-2/">South Georgia</a> was once covered by a massive ice cap during the last ice age. They believe that roughly 20,000 years ago – during the peak of the last ice age – ice thickened and extended tens of kilometers from the island, which is much further than previously thought.

So why does this ice cap discovery matter? Well, according to co-author Duanne White, from the <a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/">University of Canberra</a>, this research shows that “South Georgia’s glaciers were sensitive to climate change in the past… our work has really shown that they were dynamic and underwent big changes over geological time.” This could be indicative of large geological changes occurring in the future if climate change continues at its current rate.

The research team – a mixture of scientists from the UK, Germany, and Australia – traveled by ship to the island of South Georgia. They braved the seas in a territory where explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton once landed during his expedition to Antarctica, where he attempted to rescue the team of his famous Endurance expedition. Unlike Shackleton in his wooden lifeboat, the researchers wisely decided to use the British Antarctic Survey’s RRS James Clark Ross and the German RV Polarstern for the 2012 and 2013 trips respectively.

They carried sonar mapping gear mounted to the hulls of their ice-breaking vessels and called upon weighted gravity corers to retrieve samples of sediment from around the island. The team focused on hundreds of distinct ridges carved into the seabed by glaciers, which served as proof that the ice had once pushed far beyond South Georgia’s expansive continental shelf.

Lead author Dr. Alastair Graham, of the <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>, explained: “Although the island is small framed against Antarctica’s great ice sheets, the discovery of an extensive past ice cap on South Georgia is an important result.” According to Dr. Graham, the vitality of ocean ecosystems is directly related to patterns of glaciation. Their observations of how past seabed ecosystems survived the ice age and how climate cycles affect biodiversity have major implications on today’s ecosystems.

This belief was echoed by co-author Dominic Hodgson, from <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/">British Antarctic Survey</a>, who said: “Studying the longer-term history of glacial changes in the region is key to understanding the sensitivity of glaciers to climate change, and their impacts on biodiversity and species survival.”

Technological advancements made in geological research are now allowing scientists to look into our past in order to predict outcomes in the future. As we gain a greater understanding of how past climate change has affected specific ecosystems, we can better prepare for what lies ahead.

More information on this important work can be found in their article: “Major advance of South Georgia glaciers during the Antarctic Cold Reversal following extensive sub-Antarctic glaciation.”

--

By Connor Ertz, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>

South Georgia’s past ice cap gives a look into the effects of climate change

In a new study published on Friday in the journal...

The nose knows climate. That’s one conclusion that can be drawn by a <a href="http://psu.edu">Pennsylvania State University</a> study of noses and nostril shapes by ancestral location on the planet.

Researchers from <a href="http://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a> conducted the study because it’s known that physical characteristics that are in direct contact with the environment assume appearances related to that contact, due to natural selection. For example, skin pigmentation varies because of global variations in the intensity of the sun on the skin.

What the researchers found was that nostril width on human noses corresponded beyond the odds of random genetic mutation to the climate of the individual’s ancestry. Those who came from hot, humid climates had wider nostrils while those from cold, dry climates tended to have narrower nose shapes. The relationship, however, wasn’t as strong as that between geographic location of ancestry and skin pigmentation.

The nostril shape findings supported previous research, which has found in studying human skulls that narrower nasal inlets tend to do a better job of warming and humidifying cold, dry air.

Dr. Arslan Zaidi, a postdoctoral scholar in genetics at the school led the team in examining at least 40 study participants with ancestry from each of four geographic areas with disparate climates: West <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/green-heart-africa/">Africa</a>, East Asia, Northern Europe and South Asia.  They used 3D facial imagery to study nose shapes and dimensions and found that only nostril widths were statistically similar among groups. The strongest correlation between nostril shape and ancestral location was among Northern Europeans, who typically had narrow nostrils.

“People are more similar than they are different. What this research does is offer people a view of why we’re different,” said Zaidi in an interview with the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a>. “There’s an evolutionary history to it that, I think, kind of demystifies the concept of race.”

The research was reported in yesterday’s issue of PLOS Genetics.

The next question researchers might address with this data is whether life in another climate than that of ancestry can lead to or exacerbate respiratory illnesses.

--

Written by David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Source:<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/"> PLOS Genetics</a>

Climate shapes human noses, study finds

The nose knows climate. That’s one conclusion that can be...

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://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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