Live shows can feel different from a screen even when the choreography, lighting, and music match. Scientists have now put numbers on that hunch by recording brainwave sync activity inside a theater.



In a recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225011836" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>, a team strapped <a href="https://www.cgxsystems.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EEG headsets</a> on fifty‑nine volunteers and found that their slow “<a href="https://sleepspace.com/what-are-delta-waves/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">delta</a>” waves fell into step during a contemporary dance piece, a pattern missing when people watched the same <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-rewires-the-brain-to-quickly-navigate-emotion/">recording</a> alone.



<a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/guido-orgs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Guido Orgs</a> of <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University College London</a>, both a dancer and a neuroscientist, led the work.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-live-audiences-and-brainwave-sync">Live audiences and brainwave sync</h2>



The researchers used <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166432824005254" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interpersonal neural synchrony</a>, a measure of how similarly brainwaves fire over time. 



Audience members who sat together during three live performances showed clear delta‑band alignment, or brainwave sync, especially when performers locked eyes with them.



“Previous research has mostly linked attention to the faster alpha band,” admitted first author <a href="https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/99711-laura-rai" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Laura Rai</a>, yet delta proved the best signal of group engagement. 



Delta waves run at one to four cycles per second, a tempo linked to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/our-brain-doesnt-just-hear-music-it-becomes-the-rhythm/">social</a> processing and day‑dreaming rather than outward focus. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-brainwaves-reveal-social-attention">Brainwaves reveal social attention</h2>



Earlier classroom <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28457867/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">experiments</a> found that alpha‑band synchrony predicts how interested students feel, but those studies relied on lectures and screens. 



The dance data suggest that live, multisensory settings tap slower neural rhythms that keep pace with movement phrases and breathing cycles.



Reviews of mind‑wandering consistently <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35700946/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> higher power in the same low frequencies, hinting that delta may flag an internal, socially tuned form of attention.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dancers-moves-guide-audience-focus">Dancers’ moves guide audience focus</h2>



During each show, the researchers found that the dancers’ movements and spacing influenced how closely the audience’s brains aligned. 



When performers stood closer together, the audience focused more, likely directing their attention to the same spot. This physical cue helped synchronize viewers without them realizing it.



What’s more, the choreographer’s own predictions of when people would pay attention turned out to be accurate. 



Brain data from the audience followed those cues, confirming that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/live-music-connects-people-emotionally-and-physically/">artistic</a> choices, like eye contact or deliberate pauses, actually shape how people engage on a neurological level.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-live-shows-feel-stronger-together">Live shows feel stronger together</h2>



When volunteers watched the recording together in a cinema, their brains still synced, though a bit less than in the theater. 



Sitting alone in a lab, delta synchrony dropped further. Sharing space, the authors argue, matters as much as the presence of live performers.



The pattern matches <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.855778/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">findings</a> from music venues where pleasure peaks alongside spikes in audience synchrony, pointing to a feedback loop between emotion and neural alignment.



Choreographer <a href="https://metalwater.co/artist/seke-chimutengwende/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Seke Chimutengwende</a> was asked to flag moments he believed would grip spectators. Audience synchrony rose during nearly every scene he highlighted. 



One section, nicknamed “Unison,” featured the dancers moving slowly while gazing directly at individuals; it generated the strongest brain alignment.



“People often emphasize how personal and subjective art is, and that’s absolutely true regarding interpretation. But when it comes to attention, we found that how people engage can be surprisingly predictable and measurable,” said Orgs.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cinemas-are-also-social">Cinemas are also social</h2>



Film editors have long spliced shots to guide viewers’ eyes. The new work shows that a shared room can amplify that guidance even without live performers. 



Viewers in the cinema displayed tighter phase‑locking of delta waves than isolated viewers, yet still less than theatergoers, suggesting a social gradient.



That gradient echoes data from <a href="https://www.ant-neuro.com/blog/showcases-1/the-neurolive-project-10" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NEUROLIVE</a>, a five‑year project mixing dancers and scientists; interim reports showed that simply being near others sharpens collective focus during performance art.



Delta oscillations help stitch sensory snapshots into meaningful chunks, from spoken sentences to dance phrases. Because they run slowly, they can integrate movement cues, music swells, and audience reactions over several seconds.



Such integration may underlie the “we all felt it” effect theater lovers describe, turning individual perception into a shared storyline without words.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-entertainment-and-brainwave-sync">Entertainment and brainwave sync</h2>



EEG caps remain bulky, and wet electrodes are messy to fit on large audiences. The team plans to tour the piece internationally once lighter headsets arrive, hoping to test whether cultural context changes synchrony patterns.



Future studies could pair EEG with motion tracking to see if spectators’ subtle shifts, leaning forward, holding breath, map onto neural alignment, deepening our grasp of how bodies and brains co‑create the live arts experience.



Understanding shared brain rhythms might help directors craft scenes that pull distracted viewers back, or inform therapies that use dance for social disorders. It could also fine‑tune virtual reality concerts by adding avatars that mimic real‑world gaze.



For now, the data give scientific weight to something performers already sense: when the house lights dim and a crowd breathes as one, brains really do catch the same beat.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225011836" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">iScience</a>.



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Brainwaves of humans sync more at live shows than on screens

Live shows can feel different from a screen even when the choreography, lighting, and music match. Scientists have now put numbers on that hunch by recording brainwave sync activity inside a theater. In a recent study, a team strapped EEG headsets on fifty‑nine volunteers and found that their slow “delta” waves fell into step during a contemporary dance piece, a pattern missing when people watched the same recording alone. Guido Orgs of University College London, both a dancer and a neuroscientist, led the work. Live audiences and...

In President Barack Obama’s most recent move to protect America’s environmentally sensitive areas, his administration designated two national monuments at sites in Utah and Nevada. The sites are the Bear Ears National Monument and the Gold Butte National monument, respectively.

Gold Butte covers 300,000 acres just outside of Las Vegas. The area is ecologically fragile, as well as incredibly scenic. It includes rare fossils, rock art, artifacts, and recently discovered tracks. Retiring Democratic U.S. Senator Harry Reid has been pushing for these protections, but Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation had been vocal opponents.

In Utah, The Bear Ears National Monument will cover 1.35 million acres in the Four Corners region. This is a victory for the local Native American tribes, as the monument contains land that is considered sacred. It also contains an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. Tribal members visit the Bears Ears area to host ceremonies, collect herbs and wood for medicinal and spiritual purposes, and perform healing rituals.

Russell Begaye, President of the Navajo Nation, said “We have always looked to Bears Ears as a place of refuge, as a place where we can gather herbs and medicinal plants, and a place of prayer and sacredness. The rocks, the winds, the land – they are living, breathing things that deserve timely and lasting protection.”

The Navajo Nation is one of five Native American tribes that will have an elected official on a brand new tribal commission for the Bears Ears Monument. This unprecedented panel will provide federal land managers with their tribal expertise and knowledge of the area.

However, tribal leaders and conservationists are worried that incoming President-elect Donald Trump could reverse or reduce some of the Obama administration’s expansive land protection. A president has never done a reversal of this magnitude, but many leaders are still concerned this is a possibility.

This act is one of many by the Obama administration in an effort to protect vulnerable areas before Trump’s inauguration. Similar to the blocking of new mining claims outside <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm">Yellowstone National Park</a> and prevention of new offshore oil drilling in the Artic, this federal designation by President Obama creates restrictions on further mining and oil/gas development in these areas of Utah and Nevada.

President Obama’s creation and expansion of monuments now covers more area than any other president. In a statement, the president said, “Today’s actions will help protect this cultural legacy and will ensure that future generations are able to enjoy and appreciate these scenic and historic landscapes.”

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Credit: Earth.com author Connor Ertz

Obama declares national monument sites in Utah and Nevada

In President Barack Obama’s most recent move to protect America’s...

Scientists have come one step closer to deciphering bat language by translating their ‘conversations.’

The study, led by professor Yossi Yovel of the Department of Zoology at <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a>, worked towards translating bat language and vocals to understand the contexts of the animals’ conversations.

"When you enter a bat cave, you hear a lot of 'gibberish,' a cacophony of aggressive bat noise - but is this merely 'shouting' or is there information amid the noise?" Yovel said. "Previous research presumed that most bat communication was based on screaming and shouting. We wanted to know how much information was actually conveyed -- and we wanted to see if we could, in fact, extract that information."

Yovel’s students Mor Taub and Yosef Prat began the research by recording the sounds of 22 Egyptian fruit bats in the university’s “bat cave.” They recorded the sounds for 75 days.

Taub and Prat then gathered the recordings – about 15,000 vocalizations from the bat language – and analyzed them.

The researchers discovered each vocalization revealed information about the bat speaking, as well as the bat to which it was talking.

"Studying how much information is conveyed in animal communication is important if you're interested in the evolution of human language," Yovel said. "Specifically, one big unknown in the world of animal communication is their grasp on semanticity - i.e., when you hear the word 'apple' you immediately imagine a round, red fruit. We found, in our research, that bat calls contain information about the identities of the caller and the addressee, which implies that there is a recognition factor.”

Researchers also concluded the most common cause for a bat interaction was in the form of an argument. The sounds included information on the cause of the argument, such as fighting over food.

The bats were also found to speak with different intonations based on whether the other bat was a friend or not. This helped the scientists determine whether the interaction was a positive or negative one, Yovel said.

Because this type of experiment is so difficult, vocalizations are usually all grouped together under one category. Yovel and his students’ findings, he said, could show the necessity of conducting deeper research within the subject.

"We generated a massive amount of data -- dozens of calls over three months," Yovel said. "We have found that bats fight over sleeping positions, over mating, over food or just for the sake of fighting. To our surprise, we were able to differentiate between all of these contexts in complete darkness, and we are confident bats themselves are able to identify even more information and with greater accuracy -- they are, after all, an extremely social species that live with the same neighbors for dozens of years."

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Credit: Earth.com author Laura Porecco

Scientists make great strides in deciphering bat language

Scientists have come one step closer to deciphering bat language...

High in the rugged Cal Madow Mountains located northeast of Somalia reside sacred trees that are native to this land called Boswellia sacra. These Somaliland mountains are the site of a centuries-old tradition of frankincense harvesting that is becoming overexploited, and threatening what remains of the forest.

The Boswellia trees are harvested for frankincense, and are being over-tapped to meet the high demand for resin. Frankincense is a major source of revenue for Somaliland, especially now that the demand for essential oils has skyrocketed.

Anjanette DeCarlo is an ecologist and director of an environmental group called Conserve Cal Madow. He explains that over the last six years, prices for raw frankincense have jumped from $1 per kilogram to as much as $7 per kilogram.

Frankincense is a fragrant resin that has been traded for over 5000 years. It can be dated back to ancient Egypt when it was used in medicine, perfume, and burned in religious ceremonies.

Frankincense is also referenced in the Old Testament as one of the gifts brought to baby Jesus by the Three Kings. Currently, the resin is referred to as the “King of essential oils,” and is marketed as both a health and beauty product.

The high demand of frankincense has led to the overharvesting of the Boswellia trees. The tree bark is cut, or stripped, to obtain its milky sap. The tapping of the trees was once seasonal but is now happening year-round, resulting in a serious threat to the survival of the wild forest.

"The death rate of the adult trees is alarming," DeCarlo said. "There is potential for regeneration, but it takes about 40 years or so for these trees to become viable for tapping if it's done right."

The tradition of gathering raw frankincense from Boswellia trees in the Cad Mountains has been handed down from father to son for many centuries. There are dangerous challenges for these men including rough terrain, venomous snakes, and jagged cliffs as high as over 8000 feet.

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Credit: Earth.com author Chrissy Sexton

Famous frankincense forest is in serious danger

High in the rugged Cal Madow Mountains located northeast of...

The extensive toxins that invade our environment during the Christmas holiday probably come as no surprise when you stop to think about it. All of the log fires and the lengthy cooking and baking sessions for those holiday meals can create air pollution both indoors and outdoors.

Gas ovens release nitrogen dioxide, which is linked to a higher risk of asthma, wheezing, coughs, colds, flu, and bronchitis, while wood stoves disperse smoke, both inside and out, which is linked to premature death.

During this celebratory event many people burn festive candles to promote familiar scents such as cinnamon and pine, releasing dangerous toxins, ultrafine particles and metals from their color pigments, while soot is also released when the candle flame flickers due varying air flows. These toxins can be extremely carcinogenic, and do damage to the sensitive lung cilia that are there to remove impurities.

A warning from air pollution expert Professor Ian Colbeck, <a href="http://www.essex.ac.uk/">University of Essex</a>, mentions that most families who gather inside during the holiday should always leave a window open, and be sure to spend time out of doors to breathe fresh air.

Professor Colbeck also reminds us, "Christmas Day may well be the most toxic day of the year. It has the same effect as standing by the side of a busy London road for four hours, which is not something most people would choose to do. If you are asthmatic, you will become breathless, and this kind of air pollution could also raise people’s risk of cardiovascular disease."

Many of our homes are tightly insulated, which delivers an even more harmful impact to our health by not allowing many of the pollutants and toxins to escape. Between the fires, ovens, scented candles, and more, ultrafine particles smaller than 100-nanometers in size are entering our respiratory systems and causing harm, such as inflaming the delicate tissues of the lungs.

Those who love a Christmas fire should be aware that wood smoke could be inhaled while lighting and during wind gusts that force smoke back into the home. This smoke can also enter the home and lungs from neighborhood chimneys.

Studies revealed that in Denmark alone, emissions from wood-burning stoves cause approximately 400 premature deaths yearly, and in London wood stove smoke accounts for between 7 - 9% of particle pollution.

If all of these Christmas warnings aren't bad enough, there are other risks associated with wood stoves and fireplaces. The Insurance firm NFU Mutual warns that house fires at Christmas are a common event if chimneys and flues are not cleaned properly, cautioning us that they paid out $2 million on chimney fires in 2015 alone.

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Credit: Earth.com author Tina Volpe

Christmas is the most 'toxic' environmental day of the year

The extensive toxins that invade our environment during the Christmas...

With Christmas here, along with the cold weather, it's very likely that under that holiday tree are heaps of nicely wrapped presents filled with Christmas socks that keep you warm during the winter frost. But as science and technology would have it, those traditional wool and cotton socks took a new direction, creating socks that keep you dry, warm, and kill odor-causing bacteria.

Socks, and other athletic clothing now contain silver nanoparticles that kill bacteria, but in return, wreak havoc on our environment and waterways. Their detrimental impact, according to recent scientific research at the <a href="http://www.essex.ac.uk/">University of Essex</a>, begins at the manufacturing stage where water is used in production. That water then leaches those toxic particles into the waterways, estuaries, and coastlines.

These tiny nanoparticles are between 1 and 100 nanometers in size, so small that they are easy to sneak into clothing, food packaging and more. Their effect is devastating to our planet's major source of oxygen - the oceans, virtually suffocating them, and disrupting their essential work that also includes trapping C02 emissions. The ocean coastal areas boast micro-algae, responsible for most of this carbon and oxygen reprocessing.

A two-year research project, led by Dr. Claire Passarelli and Professor Graham Underwood of the School of Biological Sciences at Essex University, was developed to discover the full impact of these toxins to the life giving micro-algae and the biodiversity of our coastlines. Gathering mud and water from the Essex coast for testing and creating a naturally occurring system of outdoor tidal tanks, they can determine the actual damage caused to these essential systems. The results of these tests will deliver the environmental impact of silver nanoparticles used in socks, and titanium nanoparticles, which make up between 5-10% of sunscreens.

According to Dr. Passarelli, "“These nanoparticles are toxic chemicals but there is no legislation around them being released into our waters. By using different experimental tanks to monitor different scenarios using natural light and temperatures in different seasons we can find out the real impact these nanoparticles are having on our coastline."

“This project will provide information to guide policy-making on nanoparticle disposal and on environmental quality standards for nanoparticle concentrations.”

Sometimes scientific interjection into our products can be extremely helpful and productive, in this case however, sticking with cotton and wool for your Christmas socks is much more environmental friendly.

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Credit: Earth.com author Tina Volpe

Those Christmas socks in your stocking are harming the environment

With Christmas here, along with the cold weather, it's very...

A team of researchers  from George Washington University has published a paper in Current Biology that details their discovery of a new species of dinosaur, which could explain why birds have beaks but no teeth. The dinosaur, Limusaurus inextricabilis, was discovered in the Xinjiang province of China. The team studied 19 skeletons that were found in an ancient “death pit,” where they had become stuck in mud and were unable to escape.

The dinosaurs ranged in age from babies to adults, exhibiting a pattern of tooth loss over time. This age range was important to the researchers for two reasons, as Dr. James Clark outlines, “First, it’s very rare to find a growth series from baby to adult dinosaurs. Second, this unusually dramatic change in anatomy suggests there was a big shift in Limusaurus inextricabilis diet from adolescence to adulthood.”

The baby skeleton had small, sharp teeth, while the adult skeletons had no teeth at all and did not appear to grow another set as adults. This may indicate that the young Limusaurus were carnivores or omnivores, while the adults were herbivores. Generally, a change in tooth structure or loss of teeth is indicative of a diet change as well. The chemical makeup of the dinosaurs’ bones also supports the team’s theory of a diet change between babies and adults.

Limusaurus is a part of the theropod group of dinosaurs, which are the evolutionary ancestors of birds. Scientists believe that these fossils may help show how theropods such as birds lost their teeth, initially going through anatomical changes during development from infancy to adulthood.

Josef Stiegler, a co-author on the paper, reiterates the importance of these fossil findings, “For most dinosaur species we have few specimens and a very incomplete understanding of their developmental biology. The large sample size of Limusaurus allowed us to use several lines of evidence including the morphology, microstructure, and stable isotopic composition of the fossil bones to understand development and dietary changes in this animal.”

[caption id="attachment_128002" align="aligncenter" width="750"]<img class="size-full wp-image-128002" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Limusaurus-inextricabilis-GWU.jpg" alt="Limusaurus inextricabilis fossil. Credit: GWU" width="750" height="301" /> Limusaurus inextricabilis fossil. Credit: GWU[/caption]

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Credit: Earth.com author Connor Ertz/<a href="http://www.gwu.edu">George Washington University</a>

Limusaurus inextricabilis: Strange new dinosaur species lost their teeth as adults

A team of researchers  from George Washington University has published...

A study published in Current Biology finds that baby reef fish may have an internal magnetic ‘compass” that can direct them home at night when there is no sun or stars to guide them.

Professor Mike Kingsford of <a href="https://www.jcu.edu.au/">James Cook University</a> collaborated with colleagues in Germany to discover how baby Cardinal fish are able to find their home reef in the darkness of night. During this study, the researchers set up an isolated magnetic field that they could manipulate in order to observe how the fish reacted.

Professor Kingsford noted, “Normally, baby reef fish orientated to the southeast, but when we altered the magnetic field clockwise by 120 degrees, there was a significant change in the direction the fish swam. They all turned further west, thinking they were still on track to their destination.”

Their results showed that fish larvae can use a magnetic sense to point them in the direction of home. Previous research done by this team has shown that these fish begin a “homing process” when they get closer to their target, relying on odor, sounds, and landmarks to find their home reef.

Other studies have shown that birds, marine mammals, sharks, and boney fish have a similar internal compass. However, this most recent study is the first clear indication that baby reef fish use magnetic senses to orient themselves at night.

Reef fish hatch from eggs into larvae and then disperse for days to months out in the ocean before finding another reef or returning home. It is believed that once they find a reef, they generally stay there for the rest of their lives.

Professor Kingsford elaborated, “The study tells us these baby fish actually have brains. They know where they are going and are strong swimmers. As a result, they have some control over the reef they end up on. It’s not just about being led by the currents.”

He thinks that this knowledge can be used further down the road to develop more accurate models of where fish larvae go, which can be used determine the best method for protecting and maintaining sustainable fish stocks.

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Credit: Earth.com author Connor Ertz

Baby reef fish use an internal magnetic compass to find their way home

A study published in Current Biology finds that baby reef...

A team of researchers from around the world, led by ecologist Dr. Marcell Peters, conducted a four-year long study on Mount Kilimanjaro to answer one of science’s most debated questions…why is there greater species diversity in the tropics than in Arctic regions?

For years, the contrast in species diversity between Earth’s Artic regions and tropical latitudes has been widely discussed. Tropical regions tend to have a great variety of plant and animal species, while the artic regions have moderate to low diversity. Professor Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter from the <a href="https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/ueber/university/">University of Würzburg</a> says that the cause of this uneven distribution “has intrigued ecologists for quite some time… Already about ten years ago, the publishers of Science declared that to be one of the 25 most important questions of science to be answered yet.”

This question has been subject to controversy. One common hypothesis was that the primary productivity of a habitat is the key variable in the number of species living there. Primary productivity refers to the rate at which energy is converted by photosynthetic or chemosynthetic autotrophs into organic substances. Another hypothesis is that the rate of evolution and speciation is dependent upon temperature; the warmer the climate is, the more species diversity is present.

All of these hypotheses had only been examined through focusing on selected groups of species. The variety of results was never conclusive enough to point to one hypothesis. That is until Dr. Peters and his research unit “FOR1246” published their results in the journal Nature Communications.

Their unique study tackled the terrain of Mount Kilimanjaro, which has one of the Earth’s largest climatic gradients. This allowed the researchers to examine many plant and animals groups in parallel, which had yet to be done. Overall, the 38 scientists examined eight groups of plants and 17 groups of animals, covering an area that stretched from the savannahs at the base of the mountain to the habitats at an altitude above 4,500 meters, where plants could barely survive.

The data across all groups were collected over the same areas along the same period of time. This allowed the scientists to analyze the biodiversity of not only each individual group, but entire communities as well.

At its conclusion, the study revealed that species diversity within communities is mainly determined by temperature. The researchers found that the warmer the temperature, the greater the diversity of plants and animals. Dr. Peters said, “The more groups of animals and plants you investigate in parallel, the greater the significance of temperature for explaining biodiversity, whereas the importance of all other variables decreases accordingly.”

The researchers believe this study reveals significant evidence supporting the hypothesis that temperature is the most important factor for distribution patterns of species. It’s possible that their four years of work may have just answered one of sciences most intriguing questions.

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Credit: Earth.com author Connor Ertz

Why is species diversity greater in the tropics at the poles?

A team of researchers from around the world, led by...

The month of December has been a busy one for stargazers. The Ursid meteor shower, which is the second shooting star event this month, is set to peak tonight.

The Ursids appear every year from December 17-24. They are named after the region from which they radiate called the Ursa Minor constellation.

The Geminids, which appeared earlier this month, can produce as many as 120 meteors during peak hours. The view of the Geminids meteor shower was greatly diminished this year by a coinciding supermoon.

The Ursids are not nearly as active as the Geminids. They produce up to ten falling stars per hour during their peak. The Ursid meteors are comprised of debris from Comet Tuttle 8P, which circles the Earth in a 13.6-year orbit.

The Ursid meteor shower can be viewed from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere between the hours of midnight and dawn. The best way to experience the meteor shower is in a dark place that has an unobstructed view with no light pollution.

The alignment of Jupiter and the moon will also take place tonight as the final astronomical event of the year.

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Credit: Earth.com author Connor Ertz

The Ursid meteor shower peaks tonight

The month of December has been a busy one for...

Millions of people use global roads every day to get to work, school, home, and everywhere else on the planet. But what people don’t realize is while these global roads are helping those on Earth, they’re harming the planet itself.

A recent study published in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/journals">Science journal</a> has found roads around the world have broken the planet into about 600,000 pieces – even the areas without any roads at all.

“About 80 percent of Earth’s terrestrial surface remains roadless, but this area is fragmented into [about] 600,000 patches, more than half of which are [less than] [.4 square mile],” according to the study.

Only seven percent of those areas are larger than 37 square miles.

Researchers who conducted the study found roads are “rapidly contributing to habitat degradation and species loss,” because the damage roads can cause extends about one kilometer from where the road physically lies.

The areas in need of protection are lacking in just that, researchers said, with only nine percent of the areas – the ones seen as “valuable” – having protection.

“In many cases [the valuable roadless areas] represent remaining tracks of extensive functional ecosystems, and are of key significance to ecological processes, such as regulating the hydrological cycle and the climate,” Pierre Ibisch, lead author of the study, told DailyMail.

Ibisch and his research team used datasets OpenStreetMap and gROADS, along with 282 publications that assess roads. The data encompassed information from 22 million miles of roads around the world – the best information available, even though the set is incomplete, researchers said.

The findings showed 600,000 fragments of land that had been separated by existing roads.

Roads can also cause problems within the surrounding ecosystems, like an interruption of gene flow in animals, an increase in pests, water contamination and soil erosion, researchers said.

Roads can also cause what researchers called “contagious development:” when existing roads inspires the construction of more roads.

“As roads continue to expand, there is an urgent need for a global strategy for the effective conservation, restoration, and monitoring of roadless areas and the ecosystems they comprise,” Ibisch said. “We urge governments to avoid the costly building of roads in remote areas, which would be ecologically disastrous.”

[caption id="attachment_127955" align="aligncenter" width="750"]<img class="wp-image-127955" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/earth-roads2.jpg" alt="Image credit: Pierre Ibisch" width="750" height="345" /> Image credit: Pierre Ibisch[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_127956" align="aligncenter" width="750"]<img class="wp-image-127956" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/earth-roads.jpg" alt="Image credit: Pierre Ibisch" width="750" height="291" /> Image credit: Pierre Ibisch[/caption]

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Credit: Earth.com author Laura Porecca

Global roads have fragmented the planet into 600,000 pieces

Millions of people use global roads every day to get...

Sustainable, green energy sources like solar electricity and wind farms have experienced great growth in recent years with the support of President Barack Obama and other government players.

Supporters of green energy are trying to remain hopeful of a sustainable future despite President-elect Trump’s favoring of fossil fuel emissions and oil fracking, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Green energy producers also remain optimistic of their future because of their positive effects on the planet and the economy.

“We’re looking forward to competing with other energy sources as a low-cost option,” Tom Kimbis, interim president of the <a href="http://www.seia.org/">Solar Energy Industries Association</a>, told AP.

The sustainable energy industry has seen great success as a low-cost resource for many, resulting in the closing of coal plants throughout the nation. Using wind turbines and solar panels for energy instead of coal creates revenue and jobs.

Obama is accredited with increasing the success of green resources because of his creation of thousands of jobs within the industry, said Gina McCarthy, outgoing head of the <a href="http://www.epa.gov">Environmental Protection Agency</a>.

“The train to a global clean-energy future has already left the station,” McCarthy told AP last month. “We can choose to get on board – to lead – or we can choose to be left behind, to stand stubbornly.”

Trump’s presidential campaign was outwardly fossil fuel-friendly. The President-elect also vowed on the campaign trail to revive the coal industry and open up drilling for oil in the Atlantic Ocean. To combat this, Obama signed executive orders preventing oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.

Trump also discredited green resources by deeming solar energy an “unproven technology” and wind power a “very, very poor source of energy,” according to AP.

The President-elect’s Cabinet selections share similar views on energy resources, with ex-Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke strongly supporting the fossil fuel industry. This has caused concern for environmentalists, but has not shaken their stance.

Tom Kiernan, chief executive of the American Wind Energy Association, referred to wind power as a “mainstream energy source.” Nathanael Greene, director of renewable policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said “impeding process toward a cleaner future, on the basis of ignorance or ideology, makes no sense.”

“An unstoppable shift to a cleaner energy economy is underway,” Kiernan said.

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Credit: Earth.com author Laura Porecca

Green energy supporters stand strong in the face of Trump’s future

Sustainable, green energy sources like solar electricity and wind farms...

Scientist have discovered that climate change affects microbial biodiversity most strongly in natural and nutritious environments. This means that these environments are most prone to future changes in temperatures.

The study results were published in the highly-acclaimed journal Nature Communications.

Based on a broad geographical scale, we know very little about the specific impacts of climate change and human activity, such as nutrient enrichment of waterways. Researchers from the Department of Geosciences and Geography at the <a href="http://www.helsinki.fi/university/">University of Helsinki</a>, the Finnish Environment Institute, the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, and Chinese Academy of Sciences have studied hundreds of microcosms in mountainous regions. The study involved aid from natural temperature gradients and the modification of enrichment levels in field tests.

The results indicate that bacteria in elevated tropical areas are similar to those in arctic areas. “As a result of changes in temperature and aquatic enrichment, significant alterations occur in the microcosms, and as the enrichment increases, biodiversity reduces,” says Associate Professor Janne Soininen.

Species are adaptable to severe conditions are in danger

Experiments in mountainous regions indicate that knowing the difference between effects of temperature variations and aquatic nutrient enrichment can help us understand the possible effects of climate change on microbial biodiversity in different environments.

For example, severe less nutritious waters in the north are extremely prone to temperature variations, and species that have adapted to the cold will decline as the climate warms up. The good news is that biodiversity has a chance to improve at first as the climate warms up. Species that thrive in warmer areas increase until biodiversity again starts to decline when the temperature continues to rise.

Another significant finding in this research was that, like plants and animals, different species of bacteria clearly live at different levels of elevation, and the bacteria in high mountain areas in the tropics are similar to bacteria in arctic areas, due to the similar cold climate.

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Credit: Earth.com author John Thomas

Microbial biodiversity is impacted by climate change in different ways

Scientist have discovered that climate change affects microbial biodiversity most...

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



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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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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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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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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



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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



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



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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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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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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



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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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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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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



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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



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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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