Butterflies are slipping away from the British countryside. Yet hope may lie in some of its most familiar sights: thorny hedges, pocket-sized woods, even a single oak in the middle of a field.



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> and <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/">Butterfly Conservation</a> shows that these modest features can lift <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/butterflies-can-adapt-quickly-but-evolution-has-its-limits/">butterfly</a> numbers in ordinary farmland.



This gives species such as the Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown a fighting chance just as national counts have hit historic lows.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-ten-year-countryside-snapshot">A ten-year countryside snapshot</h2>



The research team mined ten years of records from the <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/our-work/recording-and-monitoring/wider-countryside-butterfly-survey">Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey</a>, in which volunteers stroll one-kilometer routes around farmland and record every butterfly they see.



Altogether, they analyzed more than a thousand routes scattered across England. They then matched each one to habitat maps that reach three kilometers in every direction.



Wherever hedgerows, groves, or field trees took up more space on that map, the counts rose. The pattern was clearest in arable regions where otherwise tidy fields leave few wild corners.



Dr. Ruth Feber, lead author of the study, pointed out numbers told only part of the story. 



“As well as demonstrating the importance of trees and hedgerows for biodiversity on farmland, our results also highlighted the relatively lower numbers of butterflies on intensively managed grassland compared to arable land," said Dr. Feber.



Those silage pastures, cut and fertilized for maximum yield, now cover more than a quarter of the country. Even small changes in how they are managed could tip the scales for wildlife.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farmers-want-to-help-and-need-support">Farmers want to help, and need support</h2>



The scientists also spoke with 31 farmers who manage land near the survey squares. Most recognized the upside of hedges and shade trees - from sheltering <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/livestock-grazing-is-changing-soil-plants-and-insect-populations/">livestock</a> to soaking up floodwater.



But nearly expressed concern about the cost and commitment of planting, trimming, and replacing them. That tension sits at the heart of the study.



“It is clear that farmers recognize the importance of these crucial habitats," noted Dr. Feber. "But they need to be supported. We need to recognize that these trees and hedgerows provide public goods which benefit <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/un-report-disturbing-details-about-the-state-of-earths-wildlife/">wildlife</a> and people."



She noted that agri-environment payments must stretch beyond basic prescriptions and cover the true expense of keeping woody features healthy for decades. Otherwise, good intentions can wither the moment grain prices tighten.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farmland-hedges-are-butterfly-highways">Farmland hedges are butterfly highways</h2>



Hedges do more than mark a boundary. Their tangled branches serve as food plants for caterpillars and provide adult butterflies with a buffet of nectar. Thick growth breaks the wind, allowing butterflies to warm up and fly on cooler days. 



Above all, lines of woody cover act as green corridors, guiding insects from one flower-rich patch to another so that no colony becomes isolated.



That highway network is exactly what common butterflies need right now. Fresh figures show that 2024 ranks among the worst years on record. For the first time, more than half of U.K. species have slipped into long-term decline.



“We know that butterflies are in desperate trouble, including our common countryside species. Butterflies are important indicators of wider biodiversity, so actions that help butterflies will also help other declining wildlife,” said Dr. Feber.



“With 70 percent of the U.K.'s land area being farmland, our farmers and landowners play a vital role in helping these species recover, through protecting and restoring hedgerows and trees.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-farming-with-butterflies-in-mind">Farming with butterflies in mind</h2>



Dr. Feber’s group is already probing one promising route. At Northfield Farm near Oxford, cattle are moved daily in a “mob grazing” system that leaves each paddock to regrow for weeks.



“My current project is investigating regenerative <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/feeding-the-world-without-harming-nature-the-complex-balance-of-farming/">farming</a>, which uses livestock grazing and other practices to help promote soil health and increase soil carbon,” said Dr. Feber. 



“This is receiving increasing attention as an approach to grassland management that might contribute to tackling some <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-and-agriculture-are-locked-in-a-destructive-feedback-loop/">climate impacts of agriculture</a>."



Dr. Feber added that more research is needed on how this may impact biodiversity, particularly above-ground invertebrate groups, such as butterflies, moths, and other pollinators.



Early surveys will track whether butterflies bounce back when lush grass is replaced by more varied, flower-rich swards.



“In this system, areas of land are grazed for a short period of time before the cattle are moved on and the pasture allowed to recover,” Dr. Feber said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-butterflies-need-better-farmland">Butterflies need better farmland</h2>



The study’s message is disarmingly simple: keep - or better yet, expand - the scruffy, butterfly-friendly edges of Britain’s farmlands. A single thorn hedge or an untidy willow clump can be enough to connect the dots for butterflies.



For farmers, the next step is clear financial backing that rewards the effort year after year. For policymakers, it means seeing hedges and field trees as green infrastructure every bit as vital as roads and drains.



Butterflies respond quickly; give them corridors and they will return. The countryside may look pared to the bone, but its recovery could begin with nothing fancier than a line of hawthorn left to bloom or a young oak allowed to stand. Recognizing that these small gestures stitch life back into the land is the first step.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2688-8319.70042">Ecological Solutions and Evidence</a>.



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Simple farmland features can reverse butterfly declines

Butterflies are slipping away from the British countryside. Yet hope may lie in some of its most familiar sights: thorny hedges, pocket-sized woods, even a single oak in the middle of a field. A new study led by the University of Oxford and Butterfly Conservation shows that these modest features can lift butterfly numbers in ordinary farmland. This gives species such as the Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown a fighting chance just as national counts have hit historic lows. A ten-year countryside snapshot The research team mined...

Electron spin measures time. When light strikes an object, the object emits electrons. Cool, huh? This phenomenon, known as photoemission, occurs with solids, gases, and liquids. When <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/led-lighting-wildlife/">Albert Einstein</a> discovered it back in 1905, it won him the Nobel Prize.

Photoemission isn’t the end of the story, though. Scientists have been working to study the timescales of photoemission. Do electrons become excited at the exact moment – and we’re talking moments in terms of attoseconds, here – that the light hits the surface of the material, or is there a time delay? 

To find out, scientists didn’t use a clock. Instead, they studied the spin polarization of emitted electrons. The spin of an electron is what makes a particle seems as though it’s rotating around its axis. Meanwhile, spin polarization refers to the degree to which this acid is aligned towards a given direction. 

In a new study, Mauro Fanciulli and a team at<a href="https://www.epfl.ch"> EPFL</a> showed a connection between spin polarization of emitted electrons and attosecond time delays during photoemission. The researchers used photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES) to get spin measurements on electrons emitted from a crystal of copper. 

Fanciulli, first author of the study, explains why the findings are so significant. 

"With <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/space-lasers-phytoplankton-blooms/">lasers</a> you can directly measure the time delay between different processes, but it is difficult to determine when a process starts - time zero,” he said. ”But in our experiment we measure time indirectly, so we don't have that problem - we could access one of the shortest timescales ever measured. The two techniques [spin and lasers], are complementary, and together they can yield a whole new realm of information."

Another member of the team, Hugo Dil, elaborates: ”It deals with the fundamental nature of time itself and will help understand the details of the photoemission process, but it can also be used in photoemission spectroscopy on materials of interest.”

What materials does he have in mind? His team plans to study grapheme – an atom-thin layer of pure carbon – as well as high-temperature superconductors. 

The current study was published in the journal<a href="https://journals.aps.org/archive/"> Physical Review</a>. 

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Mauro Fanciulli and Hugo Dil,<a href="https://www.epfl.ch"> EPFL</a>

Researchers use electron spin to measure time without a clock

Electron spin measures time. When light strikes an object, the...

Nearly 252 <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/shattered-asteroid-millions-years-ago/">million </a>years ago, our planet experienced something scientists have deemed The Great Dying. What happened during the event isn’t any more cheerful than its name; the Earth lost up to 96% of its marine species, as well as nearly 70% of terrestrial vertebrates.

Why these species died out is a question that’s baffled scientists for years. A new study has added yet another theory to the mix: could waves have caused this kind of mass extinction? 

New evidence points to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/app-helps-fishermen-sell/">shoaling</a> as a possible source of The Great Dying. Shoaling refers to the phenomenon that happens when waves grow taller as they reach shallow water while heading towards the shore. This causes changes in water density and velocity, stirring up the ocean floor. 

Researchers believe that when the ocean floor became churned up, it stirred up sulfides that made the water uninhabitable for many ocean species. They aren’t sure why there would have been such a sudden increase in shoaling. They do know that sulfide is toxic to animals in high concentrations.

They also know that the area around Pangea – a former supercontinent – had high levels of sulfide on the ocean’s floor. The team, which included Yanen Shen from the<a href="http://en.ustc.edu.cn"> University of Science and Technology of China</a>, studied rocks found in what was once the Panthalassic Ocean. They collected rocks from areas near Canada and Japan and noted a mixture of various types of sulfur. 

"The shoaling of sulphidic waters, therefore, would kill marine animals in the Permian-Triassic oceans," said Shen in a statement. The team believes that the sulfur may have caused the mass extinction, as well as the recovery process that took nearly 10 million years. 

"This study illustrates how environmental changes could have had a devastating effect on Earth's early biosphere, and may have present-day relevance because global warming and eutrophication are causing development of sulfidic zones on modern continental shelves, threatening indigenous marine life,” the study authors wrote. Their findings were published in the journal<a href="http://www.pnas.org"> PNAS</a>. 

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: Yanen Shen,<a href="http://en.ustc.edu.cn"> University of Science and Technology of China</a>

&nbsp;

Did ocean waves cause The Great Dying?

Nearly 252 million years ago, our planet experienced something scientists...

A medical lab takes up an entire room and costs millions of dollars, right? Not the lab that was just created by researchers at <a href="http://med.stanford.edu">Stanford University School of Medicine</a>. This lab costs as little as one cent – and fits on a micro chip. 

The “lab on a chip,” as scientists are calling it, will be of particular help in developing countries where access to diagnostic <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/animal-testing-method-saves/">testing</a> is limited. In low-income nations, for instance, the breast cancer survival rate is only 40% and diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria have worse outcomes than in countries with access to more affordable diagnostics. 

That equipment costs thousands of dollars, however, which is why scientists went to work developing something that could be reproduced at an incredibly low cost. 

Not only is the lab-on-a-chip technology affordable, it can be created on an inkjet printer. Creation of the lab requires two parts: a silicone microfluidic chamber for housing cells and a reusable electronic strip, as well as the inkjet printer itself. The printer prints the electronic strip onto a sheet of flexible polyester using conductive nanoparticle ink. It only takes about 20 minutes to create one chip. 

The chip is useful for a variety of tests. It can capture single cells from a mix, isolate rare cells, and count cells based on cell types. The cost of a flow cytometer machine to perform that last test, for instance, would run $100,000. 

Researchers hope that the “print-it-and-use-it” nature of the device will change the way diseases are diagnosed. 

"The motivation was really how to export technology and how to decrease the cost of things," said Ron Davis, Stanford professor and director of the school’s<a href="http://med.stanford.edu/sgtc/"> Genome Technology Center</a>. 

The team’s findings were published in the journal<a href="http://www.pnas.org"> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>. 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Source: Ron Davis,<a href="http://med.stanford.edu"> Stanford University School of Medicine</a>

“Lab on a chip” only costs a penny

A medical lab takes up an entire room and costs...

The animal world is full of miraculous pets who defy all odds to move beyond various disabilities and lead full and fabulous furry lives. Among them is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Turbo.roo/">TurboRoo</a>, the two-legged chihuahua who was born without his two front legs. Turbo’s owners had amazing wheels designed to help him get around and he’s even started a #Nublife movement to show that “handicapable” animals deserve a chance, too. Now, a cat from Bulgaria is joining the miracle pet menagerie sporting brand new bionic legs.

When Pooh, a stray black-and-white cat, wandered into the path of a vehicle and was hit, his back legs were destroyed and his future seemed uncertain. Enter Vladislav Zlatinov, a veterinary surgeon extraordinaire who studied reports in scientific journals in order to design a set of custom-built bionic back legs for Pooh.

Most dog and cat amputees get a set of wheels attached to a sort of cart, but Slatinov felt that legs would be a more fitting solution for the fluffy <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cats-just-smart-dogs-thank-much/">feline</a>. 

While Pooh recovered from his accident, Zlatinov got to work on his creation. Since there are no custom implants for cats currently on the market, he had to start completely from scratch on the design – and wait for Pooh to recover for an entire six weeks before testing them out.

How does Pooh get around on his new legs? Just fine! They’re made of titanium that is implanted into his body, with the external prostheses being interchangeable like shoes. Pooh is adjusting to his new legs and works hard at bathing them and keeping them clean, just like the rest of his body. 

Meanwhile, Zlatinov is continuing his amazing work, providing bionic legs for three more cats. There are other hopefuls on a waiting list. 

If you thought that birth defects and accidents that deprive a pet of its limbs always spells tragedy, hopefully this story has given you reason for paws! 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image: <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/cd6116f6650b4924bee63473b97c99d6">AP</a>

Pooh the cat walks tall on new bionic legs

The animal world is full of miraculous pets who defy...

Tiny insects are drawn to lights – like a moth to a flame, as the saying goes – and predators are drawn to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fragile-insects-heat-reproduction/">insects</a>. What impact could outdoor LED lighting have on a bug’s life?

That’s the question scientists asked before performing a study to determine if altering the brightness and schedule of LED street lighting would have an effect on predatory beetles and spiders.

Their research showed that dimming the LED lights by 50% or turning them off between midnight and 4 a.m. drew less predatory beetle and spider species to the grassland patches where the lighting was installed.

How could this affect insect life in the future? Researchers aren’t sure because they’re not certain what impact current lighting has on our many-legged and winged bug and animal friends. The study is an attempt to prevent any unforeseen ecological effects.

"Our research shows that local authorities might be able to manage LED lighting in a way that reduces its environmental impacts. We now need to establish whether this is the case for a greater variety of species,” said Thomas Davies of the University of Exeter.

"Without appropriate management, our results suggest that the growing use of LED lighting will have impacts on the abundance of predatory invertebrates, potentially leading to knock on effects for other species in grassland food-webs,” Davies explained.

Researchers in the study looked at a range of lighting options being used by authorities in an effort to expend less energy and save money. Some of the strategies include using lights that emit a different spectrum of colors, as well as turning them off entirely between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m.

The results of the study were published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2486">Global Change Biology</a>.

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: Thomas Davies, <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>

Scientists explore effect of LED lighting on wildlife

Tiny insects are drawn to lights – like a moth...

Bogus global warming data at the center of new debate. A whistleblower from the<a href="http://www.noaa.gov"> National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA) has released evidence claiming that the organization used manipulated data to influence world leaders ahead of the 2015 UN climate conference in Paris.

The paper released by NOAA denied any supposed “pause” in global warming since 1998 and instead reported that world temperatures had been rising at an unanticipated rate. 

It likely influenced top policymakers such as President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron when they met in Paris for the conference that year. There, world leaders came together to work on an agreement for their nations to cut back on the use of fossil fuel in an effort to prevent further warming. 

Both sets of data used to compile the report were flawed. One set focused on temperature measurements from the Earth’s surface, while the other measured the temperature at the surface of the seas. The latter set is so flawed that NOAA is calling for it to be replaced because it used unreliable methods that overstate temperatures levels and how quickly they are rising.

This information came to light when John Bates, a top scientist at NOAA, gave an exclusive interview to the<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html"> Daily Mail</a>. He objected to the publication of the Pausebuster paper, a report that he said was never subjected to NOAA’s typically-rigorous internal evaluation process. 

Bates accused Thomas Karl, the lead author of the paper, of “insisting on decisions and scientific choices that maximized warming and minimized documentation… in an effort to discredit the notion of a global warming pause.” Bates said Karl “rushed so that he could time publication to influence national and international deliberations on climate policy.”

For his part, Karl denies that the intention of publishing the Pausebuster data without putting it through further review was to influence lawmakers about to convene for the climate conference. “There was no discussion about Paris,” he said.

This scandal is sure to add fuel to the fire of the heated debate over the science behind climate change.

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

World leaders swayed by bogus global warming data

Bogus global warming data at the center of new debate....

It seems that we all could have been here 2 billion years sooner if not for pesky simple lifeforms that held everything up. Complex life forms like plants and animals need <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/scientists-seek-solve-mystery-cambrian-oxygen-spike/">oxygen</a> to survive, but scientists have found that 2.4 billion years ago, organisms were caught in a bizarre, low-oxygen cycle after the “great oxidation event” in which oxygen developed on the planet. Oxygen levels were so low, in fact, that it delayed evolution for 2 billion years. 

Wouldn’t the appearance of oxygen encourage evolution, rather than holding it back? One would think so, but the truth is more complex. Scientists at the <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk">University of Exeter</a> say that the dead bodies of simple lifeforms created a layer of organic material in the earth’s sedimentary rocks. The Great Oxidation provided oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere before a shifting in tectonic plates brought this material up to the surface.

Once there, the material reacted with the newfound oxygen, behaving like a giant oxygen sponge. In fact, the organic material consumed the oxygen as fast as it was produced – effectively keeping oxygen levels so low that more complex plant life couldn’t form. Without more complex plant life to produce additional oxygen, the oxygen levels remained too low to create complex plant life which significantly delayed evolution.

Eventually, land plants did arrive and provide the oxygen necessary to support other complex life forms like animals and eventually, mankind. 

Professor Tim Lenton, one of the authors of the study, said, ”The history of life on Earth is closely intertwined with the physical and chemical mechanisms of our planet. It is clear that life has had a profound role in creating the world we are used to, and the planet has similarly affected the trajectory of life. I think it's important people acknowledge the miracle of their own existence and recognize what an amazing planet this is.”

The team’s findings were published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>. 

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Tim Lenton, <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk">University of Exeter</a>

Low oxygen levels delayed evolution by 2 billion years

It seems that we all could have been here 2...

The Women’s March on January 21 attracted hundreds of thousands of women around the world who, alarmed at the misogynistic language of the Trump campaign that preceded his election and inauguration, gathered to make their voices heard. Inspired by the power behind that event, supporters of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/science-advisor-trump/">science</a> are planning a similar one – a <a href="https://www.marchforscience.com">March for Science</a> in Washington D.C..

Planned for <a href="http://www.earthday.org/">Earth Day</a> on April 22, the March for Science will take Washington by storm. Only a week after it was announced, the movement’s Facebook and Twitter accounts have attracted over 1.3 supporters. 

Jonathan Berman, a postdoctoral fellow at the<a href="http://www.utexas.edu"> University of Texas</a>, worked to organize the march. He told the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com"> New York Times</a> that the march isn’t about political protest, but about holding decision makers in Washington accountable for listening to evidence. 

Berman said that when he first thought about the potential impact of a Scientists’ March on Washington, he “thought someone should do that – and I realized, I’m someone.” 

His idea quickly gained steam, garnering over 700,000 followers on social media within the first three days of its launch. Science writer and public health researcher Caroline Weinburg joined up with Berman. She says the response from supporters and volunteers has been “overwhelming” and “heartwarming.” 

This isn’t the first time scientists have gathered to speak out. A group of<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/womens-march-speak-trump/"> female scientists in lab coats</a> made waves and garnered huge support at the Women’s March.  

Although critics of the March for Science worry that it could garner negative attention and result in scientists losing their public support, organizers of the march remain undeterred. At the moment, their main problem isn’t support – it’s figuring out the logistics behind having thousands of people descend upon on the National Mall. 

--
By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

March for Science heads to Washington on Earth Day

The Women’s March on January 21 attracted hundreds of thousands...

There could be an entire lost world just under your feet. That’s what scientists found under the white-sand island of Mauritius – a piece of a lost continent from approximately 200 million years ago. 

They believe that the fragment of crust was a piece of Mauritia, an ancient lost continent that once sat between Madagascar and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-crisis-india/">India</a>. Mauritia formed when the supercontinent Gondawa broke into pieces. 

“Mauritia acted as a buffer zone between the western Indian subcontinent and eastern Madagascar, and was fragmented by numerous tectonic and volcanic events that occurred in that region since the early Cretaceous,” wrote the authors of the study. 

Scientists, including Lewis Ashwal from <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za">Wits University</a>, discovered the “lost continent” in the form of zirconium crystals that are between 2.5 billion and three billion years old. The material, which had been covered by lava from volcanic eruptions on Mauritius, was discovered in an outcropping of tracheae rocks. 

How do they know their finding is a part of a continent rather than just an extremely old piece of rock? 

"Earth is made up of two parts - continents, which are old, and oceans, which are ‘young,’” Ashwal explained. “On the continents you find rocks that are over four billion years old, but you find nothing like that in the oceans, as this is where new rocks are formed. Mauritius is an island, and there is no rock older than 9 million years old on the island.” 

“However, by studying the rocks on the island, we have found zircons that are as old as 3 billion years,” he said. 

The authors of the study wonder if other continental fragments may be hidden beneath layers of lava. 

“Evidence is accumulating that old continental crust may occur beneath some young ocean-island volcanoes, contributing contaminating components to their chemical and isotopic compositions,” they wrote. 

Ashwal and his colleagues published their findings in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>. 

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: Lewis Ashwal, <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za">Wits University</a>

Lost continent discovered lurking under Mauritius

There could be an entire lost world just under your...

It’s one of the first science lessons we all have to memorize in grade school: <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/133-new-species-plants-animals/">plants</a> take in <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/carbon-dioxide-atmosphere/">carbon dioxide</a> and sunlight in order to use photosynthesis to turn it into the oxygen that humans and animals need to survive. But how did plants first develop the ability to photosynthesize? For a long time, scientists weren’t sure. However, the discovery of a new microbe may have provided some clues. 

A group of Japanese researchers found those clues in microscopic Methanospirillum hungatei. Although the microbe existed before the development of photosynthesis, its genes are similar to the kinds of genes modern plants use for photosynthesis. 

Scientists made this discovery by examining the enzymes synthesized by genes in the microbe. They analyzed metabolic substances within Methanospirillum hungatei and were even able to locate CO2 trapped inside the organism. These tests showed that it used a primitive process that very much resembles what we all know as photosynthesis. 

The process was discovered by researchers led by Ashida Hiroki of <a href="http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/">Kobe University</a>, Kono Takunari, also of Kobe University, as well as Matsumara Hiroyoshi from <a href="http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp">Ritsumeikan University</a>. Their findings were published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>. 

The study sheds light on how plants evolved to form a photosynthesis system – something that has so far remained a scientific mystery. Understanding this process will help do more than satisfy scientific curiosity. Researchers hope that better understanding photosynthesis will be able to help them increase agricultural production for crops, as well as biofuel. 

The next time you sit outside, consider for a moment how the plants and trees provide the oxygen in every breath you take. Then let your wonder deepen as you realize that although science is still working to discover how it happened, plants actually evolved to do that. Also, relax: there won’t be a multiple-choice test on this later. 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/">Kobe University</a>, <a href="http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp">Ritsumeikan University</a>

Minuscule microbe provides clues to the evolution of photosynthesis

It’s one of the first science lessons we all have...

Rare <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/dinosaur-collagen-discovery/">dinosaur</a> protein discovered. When dinosaur remains turn into fossils, all of the hard bits – the bones and teeth – slowly transform into a rocklike substance. Scientists rarely get to study the soft tissue, but rather the impressions left in the surrounding material. 

That’s why researchers are excited about the discovery of ancient dinosaur proteins that date back to 195 million years ago. The tissues were found inside a dinosaur bone and were discovered alongside small amounts of a mineral that likely came from the blood of Lufengosaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur from the early Jurassic period. 

Scientists from the<a href="https://www.utm.utoronto.ca"> University of Toronto Mississauga</a> examined the fossils in Taiwan before publishing their findings in the journal<a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/"> Nature Communications</a>. They used infrared spectroscopy with a synchrotron to find bits of collagen and proteins within blood vessels inside the dinosaur’s rib bones. 

Because sorts of materials don’t typically survive the fossilization process, the discover sheds more light on how <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fossils-mean-life-evolved-earth/">fossils</a> form. It also paints a larger picture of the creatures themselves. 

"We hope to be able to learn more about the biology of these animals and the more we know about their soft tissues the more we will know about them overall,” said Robert Reisz, a paleontologist on the research team. “We are actually looking at the preservation of the original materials that were in the living organism rather than an impression of the soft tissues that were there."

There have been other cases in which researchers have reported finding proteins in dinosaurs dating back as far as 70 million years. Stephen Brusatte of the<a href="http://www.ed.ac.uk"> University of Edinburgh</a> was not involved in the research, but told BBC News this discovery “opens up entirely new avenues for studying dinosaurs.”

"This discovery tells us that yes, you really can probably preserve soft, microscopic proteins inside dinosaur bones for tens or hundreds of millions of years,” he said. This rare dinosaur protein has opened up a world of opportunities for paleontologists.

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: Robert Reisz,<a href="https://www.utm.utoronto.ca"> University of Toronto Mississauga</a>

&nbsp;

Scientists startled over rare dinosaur protein discovery

Rare dinosaur protein discovered. When dinosaur remains turn into fossils,...

In some species, the males evolved beauty. Male peacocks have blue feathers and brightly colored, elaborate tails, while male quetzals are green and gold with red chests. Females of both species are drab. Many other bird species follow the same pattern. 

Outside of the bird world, male male lions have large, bushy manes, and males and females of some lizard species change to different colors when they reach maturity.

But in most species where males develop ornamentation, it serves no purpose other than to attract a mate – deer who do battle with their antlers being among the few exceptions.

When the females of a species where the ones who evolved beauty, on the other hand, attracting a mate is rarely the only reason. Sometimes it’s not the reason at all.

A new study has found that in many species, females may have evolved beauty as a means of self-defense. In other cases, a female’s ornamentation helps them to gain social status, and not just among males. 

“We develop a population genetic model to … demonstrate that, contrary to common inferences, male mate choice, variation in male quality (in the form of a direct fecundity benefit to females), and female ornamentation can coexist in a population without any sexual selection on female ornamentation taking place at all,” wrote the researchers from the <a href="http://www.unc.edu/">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</a>. 

In other words, male ornamentation is often the result of social selection, while female ornamentation can evolve due to one or two out of any number of reasons. 

To test their theory, Dr. Courtney Fitzpatrick and Dr. Maria Servedio tracked how traits from “attractive” females were passed down among animal species. They noticed a few interesting trends:
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">In species where males choose mates and females are mate-limited, “attractive” females tend to attract higher quality males. However, the rate at which “attractive” traits are passed on don’t seem to correlate with this sexual selection, Fitzpatrick and Servedio discovered.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">In species such as primates where receptive females can always find a mate, it’s been assumed that some traits such as swellings evolved to attract a mate. However, when females can find a quality mate regardless of these features, that explanation doesn’t fit, the researchers said.</li>
</ul>
The biologists’ research seems to show that in many cases, male animals’ preference for a female trait was not the reason that trait evolved. The attraction may even have come later, they said.

“[O]ur model is a formal reminder that to conflate male mate choice with sexual selection on females is to draw a false equivalency, particularly in species with traditional mating systems,” the researchers wrote.

Instead, some of the female traits may have evolved to help compete for resources such as food, or to raise the female’s social status, Fitzpatrick and Servedio said. Like species where females prefer larger or stronger males, these traits may have become “attractive” to males because they indicate a female is stronger, healthier, and a better provider or protector, they said. 

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.13107/full">Evolution</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey / Earth.com staff writer

Females evolved beauty as tool for defense, status symbol

In some species, the males evolved beauty. Male peacocks have...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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



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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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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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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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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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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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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

[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...

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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