Scientists have discovered that a notorious hospital bacterium can digest the very plastics used in sutures, stents, and surgical mesh. By turning the polymer into food, the microbe may cling more stubbornly to devices and linger longer on ward surfaces.



Researchers from <a href="https://www.brunel.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brunel University London</a>, working with a patient-derived strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, found that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-pathogen-is-resistant-to-hospital-disinfectant-cleaners/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pathogen</a> dismantles polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable plastic common in modern medicine. 



The insight challenges the assumption that clinical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/everyday-polymers-that-are-considered-safe-release-harmful-toxins/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polymers</a> are immune to microbial attack.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-turning-hospital-plastics-into-food">Turning hospital plastics into food</h2>



The team traced the plastic-eating trick to a single enzyme, which they named Pap1. In laboratory tests, Pap1 reduced a thin PCL film by seventy-eight percent within seven days. The bacterium then used the liberated fragments as its sole carbon source.



“It means we need to reconsider how pathogens exist in the hospital environment,” said professor Ronan McCarthy, who led the study.



“<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hungry-bacteria-will-devour-plastic-waste/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plastics</a>, including plastic surfaces, could potentially be food for these bacteria. Pathogens with this ability could survive for longer in the hospital environment. It also means that any medical device or treatment that contains plastic could be susceptible to degradation by bacteria.”



PCL is prized because it bends without snapping, melts at low temperatures, and gradually dissolves in the body. Those traits make it ideal for resorbable sutures, drug-delivery patches, and soft tissue scaffolds.



Until now, surgeons assumed the material would vanish only through hydrolysis and harmless metabolic clearance. Pap1 shows that microbes can accelerate the process - and exploit it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plastic-boosts-bacterial-defenses">Plastic boosts bacterial defenses</h2>



When P. aeruginosa chews up plastic, it gains more than nourishment. The broken polymer pieces help the cells weave tougher <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-coexist-in-shared-spaces-by-playing-nice/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">biofilms</a>, those gluey communal layers that resist disinfectants, immune cells, and multiple classes of antibiotics.



Catheter-related urinary tract infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia already rank among the hardest hospital infections to treat. PCL degradation could fortify the culprit’s defenses, complicating therapy even further.



The <a href="https://www.who.int/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a> lists P. aeruginosa among the top “critical” pathogens in need of new drugs. Its uncanny ability to evolve resistance and to thrive in damp, nutrient-poor niches makes it a frequent cause of persistent outbreaks.



The study showed that plastic may be an unexpected reservoir of calories, tipping survival odds further in the germ’s favor.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-bacteria-may-digest-plastic">More bacteria may digest plastic</h2>



The researchers looked at genetic databases and spotted related enzyme blueprints in other bacteria known to haunt intensive-care units.



Though only PCL digestion was proven, the sequence hints suggest that plastics such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodegradable-living-plastic-contains-bacterial-spores-that-break-it-down/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">polyurethane</a> or polyethylene terephthalate - used in everything from vascular grafts to wound dressings - might also be vulnerable.



“The bug's plastic-eating ability is likely helping it survive on surfaces in hospitals, potentially driving hospital outbreaks. We should start to consider focusing on plastics that are harder for microbes to digest and potentially screening pathogens for these enzymes, especially in unexplained prolonged outbreaks,” McCarthy said.



That prospect affects far more than one operating theatre. Cardiac stents, breast implants, dental membranes and bone fillers all rely on polymers for flexibility and strength. If any of those materials can be metabolized, latent infections might smolder undetected until biofilms reach critical mass.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-designing-safer-plastics">Designing safer plastics</h2>



One response is to redesign polymers so their chemical bonds resist enzymatic cleavage. Another is to coat device surfaces with inert barriers or embedded antimicrobials that deny bacteria a foothold. 



Any such solution must preserve the mechanical virtues that made PCL popular in the first place while preventing degradation inside the body.



Research chemists may also mine Pap1 itself for clues. By mapping its active site, they could predict which molecular motifs invite attack and which repel it. That information could steer the next generation of hospital plastics toward safer territory.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rethinking-hospital-surveillance">Rethinking hospital surveillance</h2>



Hospitals already culture swabs from taps, beds, and keyboard covers. The new data suggest laboratories should add targeted searches for plastic-digesting enzymes.



Environmental isolates that test positive might explain outbreaks whose source has eluded standard surveillance. Cleaning protocols could likewise shift focus: scrubbing away visible grime is not enough if <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/previously-overlooked-viruses-may-secretly-shape-bacterial-populations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bacteria</a> can tuck inside the polymer and nibble at its chains.



McCarthy emphasizes that the present work is an early step. It examined one strain, one enzyme, and one polymer under controlled conditions. Real-world environments mix many microbes, variable temperatures, and diverse materials.



“Plastic is everywhere in modern medicine, and it turns out some pathogens have adapted to degrade it, and we need to understand the impact this has on patient safety,” McCarthy said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-experiments-on-the-horizon">Next experiments on the horizon</h2>



Future studies will test explanted devices for microscopic bite marks, track enzyme genes across hospital genomes and expose other medical plastics to potential degraders.



Animal models may reveal whether in-body digestion changes implant strength or releases inflammatory by-products. Parallel work on coatings and polymer chemistry will explore defenses.



For now, the image is sobering: a superbug perched on a catheter, slowly digesting the tube meant to heal, using the fragments to thicken its fortress and bide its time. The finding upends old assumptions and signals that in the quiet corners of a ward, plastic may not be inert at all - but a secret feast for the enemy within.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)00421-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cell Reports</a>.



-----



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Hospital 'superbugs' devour medical plastics, boosting infection risks

Scientists have discovered that a notorious hospital bacterium can digest the very plastics used in sutures, stents, and surgical mesh. By turning the polymer into food, the microbe may cling more stubbornly to devices and linger longer on ward surfaces. Researchers from Brunel University London, working with a patient-derived strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, found that the pathogen dismantles polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable plastic common in modern medicine. The insight challenges the assumption that clinical polymers are immune to microbial attack. Turning hospital plastics into food The team...

United Nations Releases First Draft Of Global Climate Pact. The United Nations on Monday released a first draft of the global climate pact negotiating text for the major conference on climate taking place in Paris in December.
The document is a step forward for the talks, slimming down the text from more than 90 pages earlier this year to just 20.United Nations Releases First Draft Of Global Climate Pact
Negotiators from 195 countries are to gather for a new session of talks Oct. 19-23 in Bonn, Germany.
A large number of proposals in the text are in parentheses, meaning they are still to be negotiated. The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/nature-documentaries-climate-action/">document</a> notably includes a long-term goal for reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions, but details and deadline remain to be discussed.
The Paris conference on climate is aiming for an ambitious deal to keep the rise in worldwide temperatures since pre-industrial times below 2 degrees Celsius.
Financing is considered as key to an agreement, with poor countries expecting some assistance from rich ones to help them cut carbon emissions while developing their economy.
The text mentions that financing could be more than the $100 billion per year already promised by 2020, coming from both public and private sources.
The potential agreement would reflect "common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances", the draft specifies.
The text also provide for a review of national climate targets in the future. Countries would be required to communicate their emissions goals every five years, a process seen as crucial to implementing an agreement.United Nations Releases First Draft Of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=PACIFIC&amp;cvid=85e81936106b4071b352ead8ee051021&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Global</a> Climate Pact
"The whole process is a very useful next step," said former U.S. Sen. Tim Wirth, vice chairman of the United Nations Foundation. "But obviously, it's still not going to be enough."
Every five years nations have to be prepared to tighten their commitments, he said, and then there's the problem of enforcing the agreement.
"How well governments are meeting their commitments, that's always hard," said Wirth, who raised questions about how transparent emissions calculations will be and who watches nations.
Environmental groups monitoring the talks gave the draft mixed reviews.
Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute said it would "serve as a helpful launching pad for reaching common ground" in negotiations leading up to the Paris conference.
Others said it didn't capture the momentum of climate action outside the negotiations, with countries, cities and corporations taking steps to reduce emissions and help people in the developing world deal with the consequences of global warming.
Greenpeace said the options for a long-term goal were not ambitious enough and excluded the group's demand for a transition to 100 percent renewable energy by mid-century.
---
Karl Ritter in Stockholm and Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

United Nations Releases First Draft Of Global Climate Pact

United Nations Releases First Draft Of Global Climate Pact. The...

Hoesung Lee To Head UN Panel On Climate Change. A South Korean professor of climate change economics will lead the Nobel Prize-winning group of climate scientists that keeps track of global warming.
The United Nations-affiliated Intergovernmental Panel on <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=2877ff35b8d44f4dae56c57ce3e30ada&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Climate Change</a> announced Tuesday it had elected Hoesung Lee, one of its vice chairmen, to its top post.
Lee is president of the government affiliated Korea Energy Economics Institute and past dean of the College of Environment at Keimyung University.Hoesung Lee To Head UN Panel On Climate Change
Each country is allowed one vote for climate panel leader. Lee pledged to work more closely with business and industry and pay special attention to job creation, health, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/map-living-conditions-global-poverty/">poverty</a> reduction and technology development.
The previous chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, resigned in February after charges of sexual harassment were leveled against him in his native India.Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. In the time since the industrial revolution the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities that are causing global warming and climate
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Hoesung Lee To Head UN Panel On Climate Change

Hoesung Lee To Head UN Panel On Climate Change. A...

New Species Of Coral Can Protect Itself Against Climate Change. Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) have found a species of coral living in a dynamic reef system, which is able to protect itself from the impact of ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification, caused by rising CO2, is one of the greatest long-term challenges facing reefs. It reduces coral's ability to form their skeletons and build reef structures.

Now Coral CoE researchers from the University of Western Australia and the University of Queensland have found that coral colonies of P. cylindrica within Heron Island lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef have a unique internal solution to the problem.

"Our research shows that some corals living in dynamic reef systems (P. cylindrica) have the ability to maintain a nearly constant pH within their calcifying fluid, regardless of the pH of the surrounding environment," says lead author, Lucy Georgiou.

"This enables them to continue to form their calcium carbonate skeleton even under relatively low pH conditions."

Co-author, Professor Malcolm McCulloch, says the findings indicate physiological controls on the pH of the coral's calcifying fluid despite large declines in this highly dynamic <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=environmental&amp;cvid=f8c198ab53dd42469f865101953724a5&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">environment</a>.

"In contrast previous mesocosm experiments conducted under constant conditions of pH and temperature had indicated a partial dependence of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals-in-two-decades/">corals</a> calcifying pH on the external seawater,"

The regulatory mechanism allows the coral to grow at a relatively constant rate, suggesting they may be more resilient in this environment to the effects of ocean acidification than previously thought.New Species Of Coral Can Protect Itself Against Climate Change

The researchers were able to study the colony in its natural environment using the innovative Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment (FOCE) technique to simulate the impact of ocean acidification.

"It was really important to do this, as many reef systems are highly complex environments," says Ms Georgiou.

While the findings are positive, it's not yet known if the adaption is species specific and limited to colonies in dynamic reef systems.

"This is most likely only typical to corals from reefs such as Heron Island lagoon where temperature and pH fluctuations vary greatly on daily to seasonal basis" says Ms Georgiou.

"The next step in this research is to explore if P. cylindrica colonies from more stable environments also have the ability to adapt and if they too can 'hold up' to increased acidity," she says.

"We also need to explore what impact rising sea temperature has on the corals ability to maintain its internal pH.."

&nbsp;

---

<a href="http://www.coralcoe.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arc Center of Excellence</a>

New Species Of Coral Can Protect Itself Against Climate Change

New Species Of Coral Can Protect Itself Against Climate Change....

Asia Haze

Neighboring Countries Angry Over Indonesia Forest Fires. For weeks now, the quality of life in parts of Southeast Asia has been left to sheer chance - the direction of the wind. Every day, it alone determines which city will be shrouded by peaty white smoke blowing from burning Indonesia forest fires.
Like neighbors who must tolerate the bad habits of the family next door, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have endured the annual problem of smoke that stings the eyes, irritates the throats and shuts down schools and airports. Now their patience is wearing thin, and harsh words are flying across the borders in a departure from region's non-confrontational etiquette.Neighboring Countries Angry Over Indonesia Forest Fires
"We all see it, breathe it; and there is no hiding," former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote on Facebook.
Some days, the smoke is so bad that the gleaming skylines of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur disappear in an all-encompassing grayness. More than 7,000 schools in peninsular Malaysia were shut on Monday and Tuesday, forcing some 4 million students to stay home. Fifteen final races of the Swimming World Cup meet in Singapore were canceled last week. Tourists are staying away. Respiratory problems are on the rise.
Some have tried to make light of the situation, including wedding couples in Singapore who have commissioned haze-themed photo shoots against famous backdrops.
"Indonesia needs to keep to its commitments. Regionally, countries are getting fed up that Indonesia is not coordinating this very well," Reuben Wong, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore, told The Associated Press.
Scientists predict the haze this year is on track to surpass 1997 levels when pollution soared to record highs in an environmental disaster that cost an estimated $9 billion in health costs and lost revenue. A bad bout of haze resembles wintry fog, but laced with tiny particles of ash that are particularly harmful to the elderly, children and those with chronic heart and lung conditions.
According to the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space, a total of 1,687 fires are burning in Sumatra, a giant island that runs parallel to the western coastline of Malaysia and surrounds Singapore, and in Kalimantan, a province on Borneo island, which is also occupied by Malaysia's Sarawak and Sabah states. Sometimes the wind carries the smoke far north across Malaysia into southern Thailand.
The culprits are well known. Big corporations set fire to forests every year to clear land speedily so the peaty soil can be planted with rows upon rows of trees that will be eventually harvested for paper pulp and palm oil. Oil palm plantations earned revenue of $18.5 billion in Indonesia last year.
"For them, burning the forest is the fastest, cheapest and most profitable method instead of clearing with heavy equipment," said Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan, the director of forest fire control in Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry. "Our regulation is clear - no burning of forests - but they violate the law for the sake of profits."
He told the AP that the intentional burning, especially on peat land, and the absence of rain because of the El Nino effect have worsened the fires this year. He described the burning ground as a vast smoldering stove with coal burning up to 10 meters (33 feet) deep.
The Indonesian government says more than 191 individuals and 47 corporations are under investigation. The license of one company has been revoked and three others suspended, and 72 people have been arrested. The government has also deployed some 22,146 soldiers, policemen and fire personnel in six provinces to fight the fires, with aircraft conducting water-bombing and cloud-seeding operations. Another 6,000 soldiers are expected to be deployed soon.
In September 2014, Indonesia ratified a regional agreement under which it promised to take steps to ease the problem through its own efforts and with international cooperation, or be held liable for the impact of haze on its neighbors.
But a long-term solution is not around the corner.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has pleaded for the patience, saying the haze is "not a problem that you can solve quickly." He added: "You will see results soon, and in three years, we will have solved this."
The crisis led to a diplomatic spat of sorts when Vice President Jusuf Kalla said neighboring countries "already enjoy 11 months of clean fresh air from Indonesia" and shouldn't complain about one month of haze.
K. Shanmugam, a Singapore Cabinet minister, called the comment "shocking."
"How is it possible for senior people in the government to issue such statements, without any regard for their people, or ours, and without any embarrassment, or sense of responsibility?" he wrote on Facebook.
In Malaysia, a deputy minister suggested the government should seek compensation from Indonesia for financial losses, saying Malaysian street vendors saw their businesses plummet 30 percent in a month.
"It is ridiculous for them not to solve this problem," <a href="http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1176645" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chew Mei Fun told national news agency Bernama</a> . "Children can't go to school. At the same time, nobody will come to visit Malaysia."
But while the fires are burning in Indonesia, its neighbors do share some responsibility. Some of the oil palm plantations conducting slash-and-burn work are owned by Malaysian and Singaporean companies, according to research by the nonprofit Centre for International Forestry Research.
"There are no easy solutions," said Heng Yee Kuang, an associate professor of international relations at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. "There needs to be better data collected on who is actually causing the forest fires."
---
Joshi reported from Bangkok. Ali Kotarumalos and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Neighboring Countries Angry Over Indonesia Forest Fires

Neighboring Countries Angry Over Indonesia Forest Fires. For weeks now,...

Neighboring Countries Angry Over Indonesia Forest Fires. For weeks now, the quality of life in parts of Southeast Asia has been left to sheer chance - the direction of the wind. Every day, it alone determines which city will be shrouded by peaty white smoke blowing from burning Indonesia forest fires.
Like neighbors who must tolerate the bad habits of the family next door, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have endured the annual problem of smoke that stings the eyes, irritates the throats and shuts down schools and airports. Now their patience is wearing thin, and harsh words are flying across the borders in a departure from region's non-confrontational etiquette.
"We all see it, breathe it; and there is no hiding," former <a href="http://www.earth.com/video/singapores-largest-wind-turbine/">Singapore</a> Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote on Facebook.
Some days, the smoke is so bad that the gleaming skylines of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur disappear in an all-encompassing grayness. More than 7,000 schools in peninsular Malaysia were shut on Monday and Tuesday, forcing some 4 million students to stay home. Fifteen final races of the Swimming World Cup meet in Singapore were canceled last week. Tourists are staying away. Respiratory problems are on the rise.
Some have tried to make light of the situation, including wedding couples in Singapore who have commissioned haze-themed photo shoots against famous backdrops.
"Indonesia needs to keep to its commitments. Regionally, countries are getting fed up that Indonesia is not coordinating this very well," Reuben Wong, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore, told The Associated Press.
Scientists predict the haze this year is on track to surpass 1997 levels when pollution soared to record highs in an environmental disaster that cost an estimated $9 billion in health costs and lost revenue. A bad bout of haze resembles wintry fog, but laced with tiny particles of ash that are particularly harmful to the elderly, children and those with chronic heart and lung conditions.
According to the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space, a total of 1,687 fires are burning in Sumatra, a giant island that runs parallel to the western coastline of Malaysia and surrounds Singapore, and in Kalimantan, a province on Borneo island, which is also occupied by Malaysia's Sarawak and Sabah states. Sometimes the wind carries the smoke far north across Malaysia into southern <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=thailand&amp;cvid=24dc3bc9ce31464ab7f61661f9550ee6&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Thailand</a>. Neighboring Countries Angry Over Indonesia Forest Fires
The culprits are well known. Big corporations set fire to forests every year to clear land speedily so the peaty soil can be planted with rows upon rows of trees that will be eventually harvested for paper pulp and palm oil. Oil palm plantations earned revenue of $18.5 billion in Indonesia last year.
"For them, burning the forest is the fastest, cheapest and most profitable method instead of clearing with heavy equipment," said Raffles Brotestes Panjaitan, the director of forest fire control in Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry. "Our regulation is clear - no burning of forests - but they violate the law for the sake of profits."
He told the AP that the intentional burning, especially on peat land, and the absence of rain because of the El Nino effect have worsened the fires this year. He described the burning ground as a vast smoldering stove with coal burning up to 10 meters (33 feet) deep.
The Indonesian government says more than 191 individuals and 47 corporations are under investigation. The license of one company has been revoked and three others suspended, and 72 people have been arrested. The government has also deployed some 22,146 soldiers, policemen and fire personnel in six provinces to fight the fires, with aircraft conducting water-bombing and cloud-seeding operations. Another 6,000 soldiers are expected to be deployed soon.
In September 2014, Indonesia ratified a regional agreement under which it promised to take steps to ease the problem through its own efforts and with international cooperation, or be held liable for the impact of haze on its neighbors.
But a long-term solution is not around the corner.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has pleaded for the patience, saying the haze is "not a problem that you can solve quickly." He added: "You will see results soon, and in three years, we will have solved this."
The crisis led to a diplomatic spat of sorts when Vice President Jusuf Kalla said neighboring countries "already enjoy 11 months of clean fresh air from Indonesia" and shouldn't complain about one month of haze.
K. Shanmugam, a Singapore Cabinet minister, called the comment "shocking."
"How is it possible for senior people in the government to issue such statements, without any regard for their people, or ours, and without any embarrassment, or sense of responsibility?" he wrote on Facebook.
In Malaysia, a deputy minister suggested the government should seek compensation from Indonesia for financial losses, saying Malaysian street vendors saw their businesses plummet 30 percent in a month.
"It is ridiculous for them not to solve this problem," <a href="http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1176645" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chew Mei Fun told national news agency Bernama</a> . "Children can't go to school. At the same time, nobody will come to visit Malaysia."
But while the fires are burning in Indonesia, its neighbors do share some responsibility. Some of the oil palm plantations conducting slash-and-burn work are owned by Malaysian and Singaporean companies, according to research by the nonprofit Centre for International Forestry Research.
"There are no easy solutions," said Heng Yee Kuang, an associate professor of international relations at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. "There needs to be better data collected on who is actually causing the forest fires."
---
Joshi reported from Bangkok. Ali Kotarumalos and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Hoesung Lee To Head UN Panel On Climate Change. A South Korean professor of climate change economics will lead the Nobel Prize-winning group of <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=climate+change&amp;cvid=0a8c9968cb194f958f0619e8d46a2d7b&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">climate</a> scientists that keeps track of global warming.
The United Nations-affiliated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced Tuesday it had elected Hoesung Lee, one of its vice chairmen, to its top post.
Lee is president of the government affiliated Korea Energy Economics Institute and past dean of the College of Environment at Keimyung University. Hoesung Lee To Head UN Panel On Climate Change
Each country is allowed one vote for climate panel leader. Lee pledged to work more closely with business and industry and pay special attention to job creation, health, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/map-living-conditions-global-poverty/">poverty</a> reduction and technology development.
The previous chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, resigned in February after charges of sexual harassment were leveled against him in his native India.Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. In the time since the industrial revolution the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities that are causing global warming and climate change.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

New Species Of Coral Can Protect Itself Against Climate Change. Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) have found a species of coral living in a dynamic reef system, which is able to protect itself from the impact of ocean acidification.

Ocean acidification, caused by rising CO2, is one of the greatest long-term challenges facing reefs. It reduces coral's ability to form their skeletons and build reef structures.

Now Coral CoE researchers from the University of Western Australia and the University of Queensland have found that coral colonies of P. cylindrica within Heron Island lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef have a unique internal solution to the problem. New Species Of Coral Can Protect Itself Against Climate Change

"Our research shows that some corals living in dynamic <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals-in-two-decades/">reef</a> systems (P. cylindrica) have the ability to maintain a nearly constant pH within their calcifying fluid, regardless of the pH of the surrounding environment," says lead author, Lucy Georgiou.

"This enables them to continue to form their calcium carbonate skeleton even under relatively low pH conditions."

Co-author, Professor Malcolm McCulloch, says the findings indicate physiological controls on the pH of the coral's calcifying fluid despite large declines in this highly dynamic environment.

"In contrast previous mesocosm experiments conducted under constant conditions of pH and temperature had indicated a partial dependence of the corals calcifying pH on the external seawater,"

The regulatory mechanism allows the coral to grow at a relatively constant rate, suggesting they may be more resilient in this environment to the effects of ocean acidification than previously thought.

The researchers were able to study the colony in its natural environment using the innovative Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment (FOCE) technique to simulate the impact of ocean acidification.

"It was really important to do this, as many reef systems are highly complex environments," says Ms Georgiou.

While the findings are positive, it's not yet known if the adaption is species specific and limited to colonies in dynamic reef systems.

"This is most likely only typical to corals from reefs such as Heron Island lagoon where temperature and pH fluctuations vary greatly on daily to seasonal basis" says Ms Georgiou.

"The next step in this research is to explore if P. cylindrica colonies from more stable environments also have the ability to adapt and if they too can 'hold up' to increased acidity," she says.

"We also need to explore what impact rising sea temperature has on the corals ability to maintain its internal pH.."

&nbsp;

---

<a href="http://www.coralcoe.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arc Center of Excellence</a>

Study: Wildfires Will Continue To Increase With Warming Climate. Wildfire history over the past 2,000 years in Colorado's mountains indicates that large wildfires will continue to increase in a warming climate, according to results of a new study.

"Even modest regional warming trends, like those we are currently experiencing, can cause exceptionally large areas of the Rockies to be burned by wildfires," says scientist John Calder of the University of Wyoming.

The findings are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The paper, "Medieval warming initiated exceptionally large wildfire outbreaks in the Rocky Mountains," is co-written by University of Wyoming researchers Dusty Parker, Cody Stopka and Bryan Shuman, along with scientist Gonzalo Jimenez-Moreno of the University of Granada in <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/the-rio-tinto-in-southwestern-spain/">Spain</a>.

[caption id="attachment_2384992" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/06103719/wildfire-aftermath_1big_colorado_NSF.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2384992" src="http://cff1.greenatom.net/uploads/2015/10/06103719/wildfire-aftermath_1big_colorado_NSF-150x150.jpg" alt="Lake-bottom sediments were sampled at Lake Eileen in Colorado to study charcoal from past fires." width="150" height="150" /></a> Lake-bottom sediments were sampled at Lake Eileen in Colorado to study charcoal from past fires.[/caption]

"This project demonstrates the significance of historical records in addressing current issues," says Thomas Baerwald, National Science Foundation (NSF) program director for Geography and Spatial Sciences, which funded the research. "Scientists are working to understand the complex interactions among climate, vegetation, land use, fire and other factors. The insights gained from such relationships in the past can provide new insights for understanding these processes today."

Calder, Shuman and colleagues examined charcoal deposits in 12 lakes in and near the Mount Zirkel Wilderness of northern Colorado, finding that wildfires burned large portions of the area during a documented spike in temperatures in North America starting about 1,000 years ago.

That period, known as the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), lasted about 300 years during which temperatures rose just under 1 degree Fahrenheit. A single degree might not seem like much, but it can have a huge effect on the potential for wildfires.

Temperature increases over the past few decades have been comparable to those of the MWP, resulting in some of the largest wildfires in U.S. history.

Since the mid-1980s, starting with large fires in Yellowstone National Park in 1988, the frequency of large wildfires in the American West has increased.

If the warming trend continues as projected, the fires of recent years could be just the start of more extensive and devastating blazes, the researchers say.

The study looked at how often large areas burned in the past 2,000 years. Results show that other than the 20th century, the only time when fires burned substantially more area was during the MWP.

"When we look back in time, we only see evidence of large areas burning one time in the last 2,000 years," Calder says. "This suggests large wildfires of the magnitude we've recently seen used to be very infrequent."

The researchers estimate that 83 percent of their 385-square-mile study area burned at the beginning of the MWP when the climate warmed 0.9 degrees.

By comparison, the average increase in temperature in the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=rocky+mountain&amp;cvid=ea19f27a9ab840548a775f207915b393&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Rocky Mountain</a> region since 2000 has been about 1.25 degrees higher than during the 20th century.

"Corresponding to those higher temperatures, 12 percent of our study area burned in the large Zirkel Complex fire in 2002," Calder says. Data indicate that in the Medieval Warm Period large fires similar to the Zirkel Complex fire burned in that same wilderness area once every decade or two when the temperatures warmed by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Using Yellowstone fire history as a baseline for comparison, our minimum estimate of 50 percent of Mount Zirkel sites burned within a century at the beginning of the MWP exceeds any century-scale estimate of Yellowstone burning for the past 750 years," the scientists write in their paper.

Over the century that led up to and included the massive 1988 fires, only about 30 percent of Yellowstone burned.

"The large increase in the number of sites burned by fires during the MWP highlights the risk that large portions of individual landscapes may burn as the climate continues to warm today," the researchers conclude.

Shuman's research on forest dynamics is also funded by NSF's Division of Environmental Biology.

---

<a href="http://www.nsf.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Science Foundation</a>

Study: Wildfires Will Continue To Increase With Warming Climate

Study: Wildfires Will Continue To Increase With Warming Climate. Wildfire...

Keystone XL Pipeline Developer Looking For New Route. The Canadian company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline is taking steps to circumvent one of the major roadblocks in Nebraska.
But in seeking approval Monday for the same contentious route through the state, TransCanada could create another round of lengthy delays in an already drawn-out process.
It also indicates a new push for the $8 billion Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline in a state where opponents have repeatedly thwarted efforts to build the project. President Barack Obama has indicated that he may reject a <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=federall&amp;cvid=fc7e37e9da074f3b913c88c5f15312d0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">federal</a> permit for the project, as he did in 2012 when he accused congressional Republicans of setting an arbitrary deadline.Keystone XL Pipeline Developer Looking For New Route
Former Gov. Dave Heineman approved the Nebraska route in 2013 under a state law that allowed TransCanada to use eminent domain against holdout landowners, but opponents sued and the project has been mired in state courts ever since.
The state's Public Service Commission, which regulates pipelines, taxis and other "common carriers" used for transportation, offers another avenue for approval - one opponents have said they would have preferred the company use in the first place because the PSC can impose additional requirements. However, the PSC's eventual decision can be appealed. The Canadian company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline is taking steps to circumvent one of the major roadblocks in Nebraska.
TransCanada announced last week that it would withdraw its eminent domain claims to the land on the pipeline's proposed route and instead seek approval through the commission. Legal experts said the company may have decided not to risk a legal battle to try to uphold the 2013 pipeline-siting law, which the Nebraska Supreme Court allowed to stand by default in January. Opponents then filed a nearly identical lawsuit with landowners who were directly affected by TransCanada's use of eminent domain.
The case, which is set to go to trial Oct. 19, is widely expected to return to the state's highest court, and if it sides with the landowners, TransCanada would have to apply to the PSC anyway.
"The writing's kind of on the wall," University of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/historic-flooding-nebraska-iowa/">Nebraska</a> law professor Anthony Schutz said. "The prospect of losing was significant enough that they probably looked at the tea leaves and said, 'Why don't we just go forward with that process now?' "
Landowners who sued to block the project are pleased with TransCanada's PSC application, but landowners attorney Dave Domina said they want the pipeline-siting law to be invalidated to eliminate any chance that company officials try to use it again.
Domina said the decision to withdraw its eminent domain claims will delay the project further, pointing to a state law that imposes a two-year waiting period on new eminent domain proceedings if the original one is abandoned.
Attorneys for TransCanada said that law doesn't apply, because the company withdrew their lawsuits against landowners before the proceedings were officially considered "abandoned" under state law.
"Those who believe continuous delay of this project is some kind of victory couldn't be any further from the truth," TransCanada spokesman Mark Cooper said Tuesday, also noting that the company will "reinitiate" eminent domain proceedings "if necessary." Cooper said 91 percent of landowners along the Nebraska section of the route have agreed to easements, and that eminent domain is a "last resort."
The elected, five-member Public Service Commission - currently four Republicans and one Democrat - serves in a role more akin to judges than politicians. Members are forbidden from prejudging any project, and base their decisions on evidence presented by attorneys, such as a project's environmental impact, jobs created and support or opposition from local governments.
TransCanada announced the project in 2008 and has undergone repeated federal and state reviews, including a 10-month examination by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. The pipeline would be built from Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines in Steele City to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.
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Keystone XL Pipeline Developer Looking For New Route

Keystone XL Pipeline Developer Looking For New Route. The Canadian...

Volkswagen Emission Testing

Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017. Volkswagen said a recall of cars with software that can be used to evade emissions tests could start in Germany in January and last until the end of next year.
The recall does not yet include cars in the U.S., where the scandal engulfing the world's largest carmaker erupted. Any recall there will have to be approved by the <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=environmental&amp;cvid=d9db40a20aef4cd6be54c7116c094804&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">Environmental</a> Protection Agency, which disclosed the rigging last month, and the California Air Resources Board.
Confirmation of the planned launch date of the recall of 2.8 million cars in Germany came in an interview with VW CEO Matthias Mueller published Wednesday in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017
In it, he said many of the cars being recalled won't need much fixing, merely requiring an adjustment to software. Others though may require mechanical fixes such as new injectors or catalyzers.
He said that "care goes before speed" and that if everything goes "as planned, we can start the recall in January."
"All the cars should be in order by the end of 2016," he added.
Mueller also said first results of the investigation indicated that a few developers were responsible for the deceptive engine control software - but that only further investigation would settle how many company officials bear responsibility for the scandal that has engulfed the German carmaker.
Mueller, who became CEO less than two weeks ago following the resignation of his predecessor Martin Winterkorn in the wake of the disclosure of the emission-test rigging, said the automaker may need to set up temporary specialist workshops to deal with more complex cases.
He said VW will have to fix the EA 189 diesel engines "in combination with various transmissions and country-specific designs. So we don't need three solutions, but thousands."
Volkswagen has said up to 11 million vehicles worldwide across several of its brands contain the diesel engine with the software used to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. Volkswagen said a recall of cars with software that can be used to evade <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/wooden-buildings-could-store-half-of-the-cement-industrys-co2-emissions/">emissions</a> tests could start in Germany in January and last until the end of next year.
"It will hopefully be fewer, but in any case still far too many," he was quoted as saying.
The company has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to deal with costs related to the scandal.
Mueller said that "according to current information, a few developers interfered in the engine management." He said top executives would not have involved themselves in the intricacies of engine software.
But when asked if that meant there was no larger circle of fraudulent behavior, he said the company was "now clarifying the responsibilities in detail" and that "thoroughness comes before speed."
The company has suspended four individuals responsible for engine development and hired U.S. law firm Jones Day to conduct an investigation.
On Wednesday, Volkswagen also elected longtime company executive Hans Dieter Poetsch as board chairman. Poetsch, until now the chief financial officer, was nominated at the beginning of September before the scandal broke. His status as a company insider has provoked criticism that he is too close to current management to be able to deal with the scandal's fallout.
But he retains the backing of major shareholders, including the Piech and Porsche families. They have a majority of voting share through a holding company.
"Mr. Poetsch has distinguished himself through his strategic insight, knowledge of the automobile industry, and his expertise in financial matters," board member Wolfgang Porsche told journalists at VW's headquarters in Wolfsburg.
The company's board of directors announced his appointment after a closed-doors meeting at the company's home plant in Wolfsburg, Germany.
Poetsch fills a position vacated when longtime chairman Ferdinand Piech resigned in April.
Poetsch will be replaced as CFO, a title he has held since 2003, by Frank Witter. Witter was the former CEO of the Volkswagen Financial Services unit.
---
Moulson and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.
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Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017

Volkswagen: Emissions Fixes May Take Until 2017. Volkswagen said a...

2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches Annual Maximum. The Antarctic ozone hole, which typically reaches its annual peak area between mid-September and early October, formed more slowly this year but quickly expanded to cover a larger area of low ozone values than the past few years, according to NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists.

While the current ozone hole area is large, this area is consistent with scientists’ understanding of ozone depletion chemistry and the colder than average 2015 stratospheric weather conditions, which contribute to ozone depletion. 2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches Annual Maximum

The Antarctic ozone hole, located above the South Pole, expands during every Southern Hemisphere Antarctic spring. Additional information will be forthcoming about this year’s ozone hole in late October. <a href="http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/dobson_SH.html">Dobson units</a> are a measurement of the concentration of atmospheric ozone.

zone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere (the ozone layer), and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ozone-layer-collapse-caused-a-mass-extinction-event/">ozone</a> depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events.

---

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NASA</a>

2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches Annual Maximum

2015 Antarctic Ozone Hole Area Approaches Annual Maximum. The Antarctic...

California Governor Signs Aggressive Climate Change Bill. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed an ambitious bill on Wednesday to combat climate change by increasing the state's renewable electricity use to 50 percent and doubling energy efficiency in existing buildings by 2030.
Brown approved the measure after losing a political battle against <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-of-2c-would-unleash-230-billions-tons-of-soil-carbon/">oil</a> interests as he also tried to cut petroleum use by half in the state.
He characterized the loss as a short-term setback. Still, the final bill lacked the punch that Brown might have hoped to deliver when he attends the United Nations climate change conference in Paris in November. California Governor Signs Aggressive Climate Change Bill
"We have the technological means and now we have the legal mandate to reduce carbon <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=pollution&amp;cvid=d841e92979994313849089f2256510ce&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">pollution</a>," he said in a statement after the Legislature approved the watered-down SB350 in the final hours of the legislative session on Sept. 11.
The bill defers to state regulators to implement the programs.
The governor and Democratic leaders blamed the defeat on a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign by oil companies. They also met resistance from moderate Democrats concerned about job losses.
Brown, a Democrat, began the year setting the most aggressive greenhouse-gas emissions benchmark in North America.
He discussed global warming concerns with the pope at the Vatican in July and has met with other leaders around the world on the issue.
He pitched the plan to cut petroleum use by half, boost renewable electricity production and double energy efficiency in existing buildings without specifying how California could achieve those far-reaching goals.
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat, embraced the governor's goals when he introduced SB350. The measure sailed through the Senate but met resistance from Assembly Democrats when they returned from summer recess.
Many moderate Democrats were concerned that the petroleum mandate would hurt California's working-class residents. The lawmakers sought greater oversight of state regulators but Brown refused to give up what he viewed as executive authority.
They were concerned about the petroleum mandate and wanted greater oversight of the California Air Resources Board that has been in charge of implementing California's ambitious greenhouse gas emissions law.
Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, has said removing the proposed cap on oil use reflects how the state's energy policy affects its competitiveness.
"Californians are best served by inclusive energy policy and by a legislative body that retains authority on issues so critically important to jobs, communities and our way of life," she said in a statement at the time.
The governor has said the setback has only strengthened his resolve to clean up the environment for future generations.
"I'd say oil has won the skirmish, but they've lost the bigger battle," Brown said when he announced that lawmakers were scaling back the initial goals of SB350.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

California Governor Signs Aggressive Climate Change Bill

California Governor Signs Aggressive Climate Change Bill. California Gov. Jerry...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" 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.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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