A pulsing headache can feel like your brain is fighting for space. New research suggests that this tug-of-war may trace back to Neanderthal skull traits we share with our extinct cousins.



A recent study zeroes in on Chiari malformation type 1, a condition in which the lower <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538167/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cerebellum</a> droops through the foramen magnum, the bony opening at the skull’s base.



Lead author Kimberly Plomp of the <a href="https://upd.edu.ph" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of the Philippines Diliman</a> teamed up with neurosurgeon Yvens Barbosa Fernandes from Brazil’s <a href="https://unicamp.br/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">State University of Campinas</a> to test an idea he floated in 2013.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-neanderthal-skull-shape-squeezes-the-brain">Neanderthal skull shape squeezes the brain</h2>



Surgeons diagnose <a href="https://www.ninds.nih.gov/chiari-malformation-fact-sheet" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chiari</a> after spotting a compressed cerebellum on MRI scans, but the root cause has stayed murky. Scientists estimate that type 1 affects about one in every 100 Americans.



The new modeling work confirms that people with Chiari share a smaller, flatter <a href="https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1136/inp.m1869" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">occipital bone</a> than unaffected <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-inject-40000-year-old-neanderthal-dna-gli3-gene-into-mice-with-incredible-results/">peers</a>. That subtle tilt reduces the bony cradle that normally cups the cerebellum and keeps it clear of the spinal canal.



“It makes sense, if you have less angulation, you have less space for the modern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthal-superhighways-through-eurasia-recreated-with-supercomputers/">human</a> brain,” said Barbosa Fernandes at the end of surgery rounds. He first noticed the resemblance while examining museum casts of ancient skulls during a European trip.



Headaches are common, yet <a href="https://www.aans.org/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Chiari-Malformation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chiari</a> pain often flares when coughing, straining, or even laughing. Other symptoms range from neck pain to tingling hands, and some cases stay silent for years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-neanderthal-skull-shape-linked-to-brain-condition">Neanderthal skull shape linked to brain condition</h2>



Plomp’s team built digital 3‑D models of 46 Chiari skulls and 57 controls from hospital CT scans, then compared them to eight fossil crania. 



The Chiari group <a href="https://academic.oup.com/emph/advance-article/doi/10.1093/emph/eoaf009/8175225" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">matched</a> Homo neanderthalensis almost point for point, while Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and early Homo sapiens aligned with today’s rounder <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthal-fossils-reveal-signs-of-a-population-collapse/">skulls</a>.



“It highlights the idea that these are Neanderthal traits, not just early traits,” said Plomp, her screen filled with color‑coded heat maps of bone angles. She called the overlap “another way that Neanderthal genes might be influencing our health, and in this case, in a negative way.”



Neanderthals carried brains slightly larger than ours, but their cranial base sloped backward like a built‑in ramp. That shape fits an ice‑age life of powerful jaw muscles and big sinus spaces, yet it also left scant room for a bulging <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-theory-explains-why-neanderthals-vanished-and-homo-sapiens-are-alive-today/">human</a> cerebellum.



Most people carry between 1 and 2 percent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12961" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Neanderthal DNA</a>, a legacy of interbreeding roughly 50,000 years ago. Much of that genetic cargo is benign, though some alleles affect immune response, metabolism, and now, it seems, skull geometry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-neanderthal-dna-and-skull-shape">Ancient Neanderthal DNA and skull shape</h2>



The overlap does not prove cause and effect, so the team now plans full‑genome scans of Chiari patients to hunt “introgressed” sequences, bits of archaic DNA that slipped into the modern gene pool. 



Introgression <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36763080/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> have already linked certain Neanderthal variants to nicotine addiction and even severe COVID‑19 cases.



If a skull‑shaping gene set turns up, clinicians could screen high‑risk families before symptoms strike. Early detection matters because decompression surgery, while effective, involves removing bone and sometimes fusing vertebrae.



“I didn’t have the science to prove my hypothesis. This paper is a big step closer toward that proof,” said Barbosa Fernandes after reviewing the metric curves.



Other forms of Chiari, labeled types 2 through 4, follow different rules. Type 2, in contrast, is tightly linked to severe <a href="https://www.spinabifidaassociation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spina bifida</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-skull-shape-affects-daily-life">How skull shape affects daily life</h2>



The cerebellum fine‑tunes balance, speech, and motor control, so its squeeze can scramble day‑to‑day skills such as handwriting or climbing stairs. 



MRI technicians now know to look for the tell‑tale “tonsillar descent,” a downward bulge of cerebellar tissue past the foramen magnum.



Many patients report that lying flat eases pressure, hinting that gravity exacerbates the pinch. Others seek help only after years of unexplained migraines, an example of how ancient traits can hide in plain sight.



Anthropologists see the study as proof that evolutionary leftovers do not always vanish quietly. A skull optimized for an Ice Age hunter may pose problems for a modern desk worker whose brain spends hours hunched over screens. 



Pediatric surgeons are also watching. If Neanderthal‑linked genes surface, prenatal scans may one day flag a risky skull angle long before birth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-predicting-brain-conditions">Predicting brain conditions</h2>



Plomp’s group now collaborates with population geneticists to map their CT findings onto hundreds of living genomes. They hope to learn whether carriers of specific Neanderthal skull DNA face higher odds of surgical intervention.



Public health officials could then estimate regional Chiari burdens and tailor neurosurgery training programs. In areas with limited MRI access, a simple cranial X‑ray angle might serve as an early warning.



Evolution offers trade‑offs, and the Neanderthal‑style skull saved heat in bitter winters but became a tight squeeze for our expanded cerebellum. Knowing that trade‑off exists empowers clinicians and patients alike.



“It looks like this is just another way that Neanderthal genes might be influencing our health, and in this case, in a negative way,” said Plomp. The team hopes DNA data will seal the evolutionary link.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/emph/advance-article/doi/10.1093/emph/eoaf009/8175225?login=false" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health</a>.



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Neanderthal skull traits cause modern human brain problems

A pulsing headache can feel like your brain is fighting for space. New research suggests that this tug-of-war may trace back to Neanderthal skull traits we share with our extinct cousins. A recent study zeroes in on Chiari malformation type 1, a condition in which the lower cerebellum droops through the foramen magnum, the bony opening at the skull’s base. Lead author Kimberly Plomp of the University of the Philippines Diliman teamed up with neurosurgeon Yvens Barbosa Fernandes from Brazil’s State University of Campinas to test an idea he floated...

Climate change is driving some birds 1000 miles north to nest. WCS reported today that in the late summer of 2016, a WCS field team led by Dr. Trevor Haynes monitored Caspian tern chicks through to fledging in Cape Krusenstern National Monument in Alaska. This discovery of Caspian terns breeding above the Arctic Circle in the Chukchi Sea is nearly 1,000 miles farther north than previously recorded – a strikingly large jump in the range of nesting for this (or any) species.

Rapid range expansions in the Arctic are largely being driven by climate change. The arrival of Caspian terns is just one of a suite of profound alterations to the rhythms of this environment being reported by scientists and local residents. There is now less summer sea ice, and a longer snow and ice-free season – simply put, summer conditions now last longer. Therefore, more temperate species can, where possible, opportunistically move north.

Species such as fin and humpback whales are now spending more time in the Arctic, and boreal species such as the red fox and brown bear now interact more routinely with their arctic counterparts – the arctic fox and polar bear.

“The challenge for scientists is to help understand the repercussions of these changes– for example, we’ve seen red foxes take over areas previously used by arctic foxes. We don’t know what the repercussions of new colonies of Caspian terns will be on the current resident species, particularly if they gain more of a foot hold and expand their numbers,” says Dr. Martin Robards. Elsewhere there have been critical concerns about predation by Caspian terns on local fish stocks, such as in the Columbia River.

Caspian terns are the largest and most majestic of all tern species and are avid full-body divers for fish. They occur on all continents except Antarctica. Unlike many other species of wildlife, Caspian tern populations appear to have increased in recent years. They were first noted in Alaska in 1981 and were thought to be breeding in Southeast Alaska by 1989. They have gone from being rare occurrences to breeding annually, but only at a handful of locations, and no farther north than Neragon Island in the southern Bering Sea, a thousand miles to the south.

“What we saw this season for Caspian terns is another example of the fragility of the Arctic system,” said Peter Zahler, WCS Regional Director. “New patterns are starting to take hold in an environment that is dynamic and reinventing itself in the context of a new warmer climate. However, the arrivals of new species are mirrored by the challenges for existing ones adapting to new conditions such as walrus and polar bear. Adaptation of wildlife and people to new conditions in the Arctic represents one of the most significant challenges for conservationists and local communities, not just in the future but right now. Long-term monitoring efforts that supported this discovery are vital as we continue to monitor changes in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/antarctic-penguins-need-protection-from-human-activities/">Arctic</a> and develop tools to support adaptation planning for both wildlife and people.”

The discovery of Caspian terns nesting in the high Arctic was made possible through a partnership led by the National Park Service’s Inventory and Monitoring Program efforts to monitor long-term change in Cape Krusenstern National Monument, and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s interest in coastal conservation in the Arctic.

---

<a href="http://www.wcs.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wildlife Conservation Society</a>

Climate change is driving some birds 1000 miles north to nest

Climate change is driving some birds 1000 miles north to...

A year after the tap water in Flint was exposed as a source of dangerous levels of lead, residents of the impoverished city are still grappling with the man-made public health crisis, which has led to criminal charges and drawn attention in the presidential election.
Doctors discovered high amounts of the toxin in children last September and warned against using the Flint River water. Local health officials declared an emergency and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder confirmed there were "serious issues" after state officials downplayed concerns despite other problems with the municipal water.
In addition to the criminal investigations, the Flint water crisis has sparked congressional hearings, lawsuits and scrutiny of lead testing across the country. Here's where things stand today:
IS THE WATER SAFE?
Flint, whose water source was switched in 2014 to save money while the city was under state emergency management, returned to a Detroit-area water system in October. But Flint's 99,000 residents still can't drink the water without a filter until the system has been made safe with corrosion-reducing phosphates, a critical step that was missing when Flint used the river for 18 months. The state is still distributing filters and bottled water at spots throughout Flint. The state health agency says the decision on whether to shower or bathe with city water "is an individual one."
IS THE END IN SIGHT?
The water quality has improved, yet when it will be deemed OK to drink unfiltered is unclear. Another round of testing will be completed in early October. It's also unknown when Flint will receive water from a new regional pipeline that is to draw water from Lake Huron. Lifelong resident Luke Waid said he remains so stressed about lead detected in his 3-year-old daughter Sophia that he had to leave his welding job at an aerospace manufacturer. "I'd get working and all I can think about is, 'Is she OK?'" he said. "It gets to be such a burden. I didn't want to leave her." Before the crisis exploded, Waid, 31, and his fiancee Michelle Rodriguez feared losing custody because of her lead levels, which they worry cause Sophia's symptoms such as irritability. Waid said it's hard to keep a "positive mind frame," not only for his daughter but much of anything.
WHAT ABOUT THE PIPES?
One source of the contamination was old lead pipes that leached the toxin into homes and businesses. Flint plans to replace thousands of the underground lead and galvanized steel service lines with an initial $27 million in state funds. But progress has been slow. Just 177 of what could be at least 10,000 lines had been replaced as of Friday.
ACCOUNTABILITY?
The Republican governor, who apologized for his administration's failures that created and prolonged the crisis, has seen his approval rating plummet but has rejected calls to resign. The state's former epidemiologist and Flint's suspended utilities administrator struck plea deals. Criminal cases for seven other current or former state environmental or health employees continue amid accusations of a cover-up. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has hinted that charges against higher-ranking officials may follow. He also has sued two water engineering companies for negligence.
ENOUGH MONEY?
The state has allocated $234 million to provide water bill credits and other assistance, such as additional school nurses, healthy food to reduce lead poisoning risks and psychotherapy sessions. Much has yet to be spent. The Republican-led Congress is at odds over Democrats' calls for $220 million to help Flint and other cities replace pipes and clean their water. The Community Foundation of Greater Flint has received more than $12 million in private donations to respond to the crisis.
CIVIL DAMAGES?
Waid and other residents have filed lawsuits seeking compensation. The cases are in the early stages. A federal judge currently is considering a request by residents, pastors and national advocacy groups to order the regular delivery of bottled water to all Flint homes unless a household opts out. The plaintiffs say lead levels haven't been minimized and response efforts by the state and city "have not alleviated the exhausting struggle many in Flint face in trying to find alternative sources of safe drinking water."
POLITICS?
National attention on Flint has dissipated since Snyder and President Barack Obama issued emergency declarations in January and Democrats campaigned there and later met in the city for a March presidential primary debate. But Republican Donald Trump, who wants a good showing in the industrial Midwest, visited in mid-September amid his increased outreach to African-Americans only to be cut short after criticizing Hillary Clinton in a church. Clinton's daughter Chelsea visited Friday for a briefing.
POLICY REFORMS?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to release new regulations next year to strengthen its lead rules. While Michigan is spending money, it has been much slower in enacting major policy reforms. Snyder has implemented or referred many of his task force's 44 recommendations, yet no significant legislative action is expected until 2017. The governor has proposed the nation's toughest lead-testing rules and the replacement of all underground lead service pipes in Michigan, among other proposals. Democrats are pushing to repeal or amend the emergency manager law, which was blamed as a factor in the crisis.
---
Follow David Eggert on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00</a>. His work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/author/david-eggert">http://bigstory.ap.org/author/david-eggert</a>
© 2016 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.
&nbsp;

The flint water crisis, one year later

A year after the tap water in Flint was exposed...

Despite evolving separately for 400 million years, some sharks and tuna share genetic traits linked to higher metabolism and quick swimming behavior.

Tuna fish and the lamnid group of sharks, which includes great white sharks, share some similar traits that help make them super predators, including their style of swimming and their ability to stay warm.

Despite their genetic separation, new research led by Imperial College London reveals many genes in the two groups that give them this predatory edge. The genes, linked to similar traits such as metabolism, have been preferentially selected for in both groups – meaning that they are more likely to be passed on since they give the creature a survival advantage.

The team also found one identical gene in both groups that is linked with metabolism, and the creatures’ ability to produce energy. This finding could help scientists unravel the relationship between genetics and physical traits. The research is published this month in Genome Biology and Evolution.

[caption id="attachment_87501" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-87501" src="http://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/yellowfin-tuna_1big_stock-150x150.jpg" alt="Yellowfin tuna" width="150" height="150" /> Yellowfin tuna[/caption]

Study co-author Professor Vincent Savolainen from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial said: “Lamnid sharks and tuna both have stiff bodies and tails that allow them to swim in bursts. They can also keep their temperature up in colder waters. Both of these things make them more effective predators, allowing them to snatch prey in usually inhospitable waters.

“These are simple traits, and ones that have evolved twice. They give us a great point to start really examining the underlying genetics and understanding the relationship to physical traits.”

Genes in the body code for different proteins, the building blocks of all tissues and functions in the body. When a gene is activated, and produces proteins, the process is called gene expression.

However, it is difficult to directly link a single gene to a physical trait, such as metabolism, because gene expression can be different in different organisms, causing the resulting trait to be different.

Looking at examples of the same gene used in two different animals can provide scientists with important clues as to how the expression of a gene relates to the physical trait observed.

Lamnid sharks and tuna fish both have very different lifestyles and bodies to other fish, but are remarkably similar to each other. This provides an ideal scenario for scientists to look for the convergence of genes and physical traits.

The team obtained samples of muscle tissue from three species of lamnid sharks and six species of tuna, as well as a closely related mackerel species, and looked at all the genes that were expressed.

While complex experiments are needed to know exactly what each gene does, the researchers could see genes that were associated with similar processes involving metabolism being preferentially selected in the sharks and tuna, but not the mackerel.

---

<a href="http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Imperial College London</a>

Sharks and tuna share genes that make them super predators

Despite evolving separately for 400 million years, some sharks and...

Federal wildlife officials on Thursday made a formal recommendation to list the rusty patched bumble bee as an endangered species because it has disappeared from about 90 percent of its historic range in just the past two decades.
The U.S. Fish &amp; Wildlife Service made the recommendation after the Portland, Oregon-based Xerces Society petitioned the agency on behalf of the bee in 2013 and presented studies showing it was struggling due to a combination of disease, habitat loss, climate change and overuse of pesticides on commercial crops.
If approved, the species would be the first bee listed as endangered in the continental United States, said Rich Hatfield, senior conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.
The group, which advocates for the preservation of pollinator insects such as butterflies and bees, used "citizen scientists" to take counts of the rusty patched bumble bees.
The bees once ranged over 28 states stretching from Minnesota to Maine and into parts of Canada, but are now limited to small and scattered colonies in about a dozen states, including Illinois, Ohio and Minnesota, and one Canadian province, the Fish &amp; Wildlife Service said in a statement Thursday.
Even those populations may have disappeared or been reduced because the last counts were done in 2000, the agency said.
"This is a very difficult thing to track. It's not like honey bees that are out in boxes that people can go out and count so keeping track of them in the wild is very difficult," Hatfield said of the bumble bee's numbers.
The rusty patched bumble bee gets its name for a crescent-shaped, reddish patch on its abdomen. It is one of 4,000 native bee species in North America, Hatfield said.
It is an important pollinator for crops such as cranberries, blueberries and tomatoes and has increasingly been used in commercial farming because it is bigger and stronger than the honey bee. Because of its bigger size, it causes a higher vibration in the pollen-laden anthers of the flowers it is visiting, resulting in more and better fruit harvests, Hatfield said.
But the populations of bumble bees being used to pollinate greenhouse tomatoes, cranberry bogs and blueberry fields have become infected by disease and spread a virulent pathogen to their wild cohorts, causing those colonies to collapse, he said. The phenomenon is similar to the colony collapse that has affected honey bees in recent years, he said.
Honey bees create hives of up to 50,000 individuals and make honey to survive through the winter. Bumble bees live in small colonies of 50 to 500 individuals and don't make honey because they don't live through the winter, Hatfield said.
They rarely sting because they don't have large colonies to protect and don't have a honey stash to defend, he added.
Seven species of yellow faced bee in Hawaii were proposed for listing by the Fish &amp; Wildlife Service last year, but the recommendation has yet to be finalized, Hatfield said.
"I think one of the great things about pollinator conservation in general is that no matter where you live, you can do something about this," Hatfield said. "All these animals need our flowers from spring through fall and if we can help create or restore some habitat that's been lost, we can give bees a chance to recover."
The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed listing for the rusty patched bumble bee and the agency will make a final ruling within a year of Thursday's date, said Georgia Parham, an agency spokeswoman.
-----
Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus">http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus</a>
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The rusty patched bumble bee recommended for endangered list

Federal wildlife officials on Thursday made a formal recommendation to...

Laos agrees to phase out tiger farms. Conservation groups say Laos has promised to phase out tiger farms, which could help to curb the illegal trade in the endangered animals' body parts and protect the depleted population of tigers in Asia.
The groups say Laotian officials made the announcement in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=south+africa&amp;cvid=fe7ac1cdce4446c1ad4d2f825ecfc2b0&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS">South Africa</a> on Friday, one day before the start of a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.
Tiger parts are used in traditional medicine in some <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-could-help-asian-carp-invade-lake-michigan/">Asian</a> countries.
The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, which works with Laos on tiger protection, is urging other Asian countries with commercial tiger breeding centers to close them.
The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency says Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese criminal networks are involved in tiger farming and trading. Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast and Thailand to the west and southwest.
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Laos agrees to phase out tiger farms

Laos agrees to phase out tiger farms. Conservation groups say...

Private water wells in New England are drying up. When Roxanne Moore got up to make her morning coffee a few weeks ago, she turned on the faucet and got a burst of water - then nothing came out but air.
That was the last time Moore had water at her home in Kingston. The 70-year-old woman has been forced to depend on relatives and friends for water to bathe, cook and clean because her private water well has gone dry amid dry weather in parts of the Northeast.
"The things you take for granted like going in the bathroom to wash your face, you can't do that anymore," said Moore. "You have to have someone do your laundry. You have to leave the house to take baths. I have to make sure I have enough water for the animals. It's not easy."
Moore is among the latest feeling the effects of a drought that experts say is the worst in more than a decade. With the region receiving about half the rain it needs this summer, much of northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire are in an extreme drought.
The <a href="http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/RegionalDroughtMonitor.aspx?northeast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Drought Monitor map</a>, produced by federal agencies and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, shows parts of southwestern Maine and western New York also in extreme drought. Parts of other states, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, are in a drought or abnormally dry conditions. Private water wells in New England are drying up
The dry weather, expected to last through the fall, has caused problems for farmers, led to water restrictions and raised concerns about a shortened fall foliage season so important to New England's tourism business. Now it's hitting wells.
About 2.3 million people, or 20 percent of New England's population, get their water from private wells, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The hardest hit this summer are those like Moore who have shallow, or what are called dug, wells. Deeper underground wells have largely been spared.
"Anybody with a dug well is at risk," said Scott Costa, owner of Comac Pump &amp; Well in Kingston, whose company started getting calls in May about dry wells.
At the bottom of some wells, his employees have seen no water at all.
In East Poultney, Vermont, Parker Water Wells has its two drilling rigs at work every day.
"We're re-drilling a lot of them, going deeper, and it's harder to find water, for sure," said owner Dave Parker, who has been in business for 35 years. "It's definitely drier out than we've seen it in 20 years."
The National Weather Service has gotten reports of privately owned wells in Burrillville, Rhode Island, also drying up.
As the water runs out, several towns and private organizations are lending a hand. The Kingston Fire Department has opened its doors to residents who need water, and Sanborn Regional High School is offering free showers in the evenings.
At Elation Salon in Kingston, owner Laurie Farmer gives free shampoos to people who don't have water - something she has done in past disasters like ice storms.
"There are always reasons why washing your hair can be a hardship whether you lost your well temporally or you have a power outage," Farmer said. "It's easy to sponge bath, but it's not so easy to really wash your hair."
For people whose wells have gone dry, the options are limited. They can either wait things out and hope for a wetter fall or spend upward of $10,000 to hire a company to drill an artesian well, which goes much farther down.
Moore can't afford to drill a new well, so she is doing everything to conserve the water, even putting buckets outside to collect the little rain that's fallen. She also is lobbying for a tougher ban on outdoor water use in Kingston.
"I'm looking ahead to plenty of rain," Moore said. "Hopefully, it will be supplied. ... You just need to have patience and wait."
---
Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont, contributed to this report.
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Private water wells in New England are drying up

Private water wells in New England are drying up. When...

Burmese pythons that have decimated mammal populations in the Everglades are reproducing now in the Florida Keys, state wildlife officials said Thursday.
Two hatchlings roughly 18 inches long were found in Key Largo in early August, and a third hatchling was found Aug. 23 in the part of the island chain closest to Florida's southern tip, according to a statement Thursday from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
No python nests or eggs were found, but the first sightings of hatchlings in the Keys suggest that the invasive snakes have been reproducing in the area, the commission said.
"This is not surprising considering the proximity to the known breeding population in the Everglades," said Kristen Sommers, section leader of the commission's Wildlife Impact Management Section.
The state's exotic species hotline has received 31 credible reports about pythons in the Keys over the past five years, and the most recent confirmed sightings have been in Key Largo, according to the commission's statement.
Thousands of pythons, far from their natural environment in Southeast Asia, are believed to be eating Florida wildlife in the Everglades. Wildlife officials have worried for years about the snakes making their way south from the Florida wetlands into the Keys, where protected mammals such as the Key Largo woodrat and the Key Largo cotton mouse are already easy prey for feral cats and other animals.
Highly publicized python hunts on state lands have caught only small numbers of the elusive snakes. State and federal wildlife authorities are sending postcards with pictures of pythons to Keys homeowners, asking them to report any python sightings to the hotline at <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/www.IveGot1.org">www.IveGot1.org</a> .
"This information will ultimately help all of the agencies involved focus our research and control efforts in areas where python densities are highest, and hopefully mitigate their further spread," United States Geological Survey biologist Bryan Falk said in a statement.
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First proof that pythons are reproducing in Florida

Burmese pythons that have decimated mammal populations in the Everglades...

Greenland is losing about 40 trillion pounds more ice a year than scientists had thought, according to a new study that used GPS to help estimate how much is melting.
So instead of losing on average 550 trillion pounds of ice each year between 2003 and 2013, Greenland lost about 590 trillion pounds , said co-author Michael Bevis of Ohio State University in a study published Wednesday in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a> . That's about a 7.6 percent difference.
The Empire State Building weighs 730 million pounds, so 40 trillion pounds a year is the equivalent to more than 50,000 Empire State Buildings.
"If you look at the last 15 years since we've been having these measurements, it's clearly getting worse, the ice loss," Bevis said. "It is pretty scary."
Overall, though, it is still "a small percentage. I don't think it changes the picture of what's going on," cautioned study co-author Beata Csatho at the University at Buffalo. The extra ice loss adds a tiny amount - one-sixtieth of an inch (0.4 mm) a decade - to global sea level rise, Bevis said. Altogether, Greenland melt adds one fiftieth of an inch - 0.54 mm- a decade, he said.
"Not good news certainly as the values are already larger than we'd had wished, but not a dramatic change in the overall already very alarming pattern we've been seeing over the past couple decades," said Duke University climate scientist Drew Shindell, who wasn't part of the study team.
Most measurements of ice sheet loss in Greenland and Antarctica use a satellite that measures changes in gravity and uses computer simulations to calculate the weight loss of ice. But the trouble is that as ice sheets melt, ground juts up to take its place, both instantly and slowly over centuries. The rocks that rise to replace the heavier ice are counted in the overall ice mass by the satellite and thus the satellites overstate how much ice there is, Bevis said.
The new measurements that use global positioning satellites and other sources compensate for that and are thus more accurate, Bevis said.
Erik Ivins, a senior research scientist at NASA's sea level and ice group who wasn't part of the team, called the study a significant breakthrough.
---
Online: Science Advances: <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/">http://advances.sciencemag.org/</a>
---
Follow Seth Borenstein at <a href="http://twitter.com/borenbears" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://twitter.com/borenbears</a> and his work can be found at<a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein</a>
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Greenland is losing ice much faster than previously believed

Greenland is losing about 40 trillion pounds more ice a...

Edgar Serralde Galicia lives in a part of Mexico City known for water: Xochimilco, where picturesque canals have irrigated produce grown on man-made islands and served as transportation routes since the days of the Aztecs.
But like roughly a million residents of the capital, Serralde isn't connected to the city's water system. While most rely on the water trucks that rumble through the city's less-affluent neighborhoods, he tried his hand at collecting rainwater and storing it in rusty barrels. When it did not rain, his family had to go to his parents' house to wash.
"When there's no water, I feel useless because I feel that I can't move my family forward," said Serralde, a lettuce farmer who lives with his wife and their two children. "The truth is we suffered a lot because we are a humble family."
All that changed when he installed a more-advanced rainwater harvesting system that can store six times more water than his barrels. He says such rain-harvesting systems could be a life-changing solution in a rain-heavy megalopolis that is plagued by water shortages.
Serralde began his attempt at collecting water when he had his one-bedroom house built with a slanted roof, hoping to take advantage of the average of 47 inches of rain that falls on Xochimilco each year, a Venice-like district of canals that draws tourists who are rowed in boats called trajineras.
Then with the help of a Mexican nonprofit group, Isla Urbana, Serralde was able to capitalize on the odd construction of his roof to collect and store far more rainwater than he ever imagined. His new system collects, filters and stores water in a 5,000-liter cistern. For those without a pre-slanted roof, Isla Urbana says the rain collector can be installed either on part or all of a roof. The water passes through two filters, has the sediment removed and emerges safe to drink.
Serralde paid less than 20 percent of the system's total cost, with the nonprofit covering the majority through government funds and private donations. Without the assistance, he likely would not have been able to come up with the $900 needed to install the system.
Isla Urbana put in its first system in 2009, and since then has installed over 2,600 in Mexico. In one year, over 15,000 gallons of rainwater can be captured by one system alone when installed on a roof measuring 80 square meters (861 square feet).
Jennifer White, director of community relations at Isla Urbana, sees firsthand how lives are affected by the scarcity of water. She recalled a woman who received a rain-harvesting system and was close to tears telling how happy she was to be able to wash her sheets and curtains on top of bathing daily.
"That's definitely what makes me keep going," White said. "It's so rewarding to see the families and how their lives have changed with the systems."
Serralde uses the collected water to wash himself after what is often a 12-hour workday growing lettuce in Xochimilco's chinampas, or man-made islands. He earns about 16 cents per head of lettuce he sells during the four harvests, resulting in an income of just over $6,500 before he pays any hired hands or fills the tilling machine with gasoline.
Every time rain falls and his reservoir fills, he says he is reminded of his past.
"The necessity makes you really work your imagination," Serralde said, recalling his past efforts to provide his family with water.
Mexico City relies on the Cutzamala system for 30 percent of its water needs, but since it was built in the late 1970s leaks have sprung. The 75-mile pipeline loses about 40 percent of its water before a drop reaches the city. The remaining 70 percent of the city's water comes from aquifers, but professor Luis Zambrano says they are being depleted.
"We are over-exploiting the aquifer 100 percent," said Zambrano, who specializes in ecology of aquatic communities at Mexico's Metropolitan Autonomous University. "So in some moment we will not get any more - some people say that will be in 40 years . we will have a huge problem."
Those who install a rainwater harvesting system will be able to reap nature's benefits for five to eight months during the rainy season, if not longer.
White says she regularly hears complaints from residents not connected to Mexico City's water network about how people in affluent neighborhoods regularly wash their cars and water their gardens.
Pointing to people who have installed rain collectors, White said: "They understand that the water that is in this city is all the water that there is for all the people that are living here, over 20 million people. They've grown up their whole lives with this consciousness about how water is gold, and they're not just going to throw it away so easily or flush it down the toilet."
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Rainwater harvesting is taking off in Mexico

Edgar Serralde Galicia lives in a part of Mexico City...

Researchers are studying a possible hybrid species of iguana found in the Cayman Islands that could pose a new risk to a native variety that officials have declared critically endangered.
Three hatchlings were found on Little Cayman island with a mix of characteristics that normally distinguish the invasive green iguanas and the native Sister Isles rock iguana, the Department of Environment announced Tuesday.
Cross-breeding between green iguanas and rock iguanas had not been considered possible because of genetic differences between the two species but a department statement reporting the discovery called it the "only credible interpretation," in this case.
"Now that it has occurred, perhaps for the first time, this must be considered a new and serious risk for Rock Iguanas throughout the West Indies, wherever the Green Iguanas have invaded," the department said.
A team from Mississippi State University, which caught two of the hatchlings, will be conducting genetic tests to confirm whether they are hybrids.
The hatchlings will be transferred to the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, which will rear them and test their fertility.
The rapidly declining Sister Isles rock iguanas are native to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac islands and similar to the endangered blue iguana of Grand Cayman.
Green iguanas, which are native to Central America, are considered a pest throughout much of the Caribbean and in Florida. In June, the Cayman Islands began a pilot program to use hunters and trained dogs to reduce a species that has become an environmentally destructive pest in the British territory.
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New hybrid iguana species may be a threat in Cayman Islands

Researchers are studying a possible hybrid species of iguana found...

A broad effort to save the greater sage grouse across the West without resorting to the Endangered Species Act is making progress, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Wednesday.
"There's some really good work going on," Jewell said during a visit to a national wildlife refuge outside Denver, where she announced a year ago that the rare bird wouldn't be listed as endangered or protected.
Instead, conservation agencies are relying on cooperation among federal, state and local governments as well as help from oil and gas companies and ranchers.
Endangered Species Act protection would have meant stricter restrictions on oil and gas exploration, grazing and other human activities.
Greater sage grouse live in 11 Western states. About 200,000 to 500,000 remain, down from a peak population of about 16 million.
The Interior Department released a report Wednesday listing steps taken so far to save the birds, whose habitat often overlaps with oil and gas fields and ranches.
The report includes a study by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the University of California-Davis on the effects of the noise of oil and gas exploration and wells on the birds.
Other steps include restoring and protecting sagebrush ecosystems, protecting sage grouse habitat from wildfires and allowing habitat exchanges that let energy companies and others offset damage to sage grouse habitat by financing improvements elsewhere.
The report had few details about restrictions on energy development and ranching, expected to be the most contested component of the conservation plan.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to review how effective the sage grouse efforts are in 2020.
At the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge outside Denver, Jewell met with more than a dozen officials from federal, state and local governments, conservation groups and private companies.
Paul Ulrich of Jonah Energy told Jewell the sage grouse program has been successful, but he said it is important to balance conservation with the economic benefits of oil and gas development.
Will McDowell of the Environmental Defense Fund praised habitat exchanges as an innovative solution.
---
Follow Dan Elliott at <a href="http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP.">http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP.</a> His work can be found at<a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-elliott.">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-elliott.</a>
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New progress in fight to save the greater sage grouse

A broad effort to save the greater sage grouse across...

The head of the European Union's executive arm is lambasting member states for failing to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change, saying the EU is losing credibility for lagging behind.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday that "the U.S. are ratifying, China is ratifying, India will ratify, Japan will ratify and Europe is nowhere."
Juncker says Europe looks ridiculous and is losing international credibility since European countries previously "were lecturing the entire planet... to be more proactive."
The EU accounts for around 12 percent of global emissions, but only a handful of its 28 member states have approved the climate pact domestically.
By Wednesday, 31 countries had formally endorsed it world-wide, but more nations must sign up before it can go into force.
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European Union chief is blasting member states over Paris Agreement

The head of the European Union's executive arm is lambasting...

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

[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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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"

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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

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