A team of researchers led by the Institute for <a href="https://cmcm.ibs.re.kr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Basic Science Center for Multidimensional Carbon Material</a> (CMCM) in Korea has recently developed a method to produce lab-grown <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-diamonds-may-hold-the-key-to-life-on-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diamonds</a> in just 150 minutes, offering a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to natural diamonds. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diamonds-at-a-fraction-of-the-cost">Diamonds at a fraction of the cost</h2>



The lab-created diamonds are indistinguishable to the naked eye from their natural counterparts, but they exhibit significant differences under a microscope, which contributes to their substantially lower price.



While natural diamonds take billions of years to form, lab-grown diamonds can be produced quickly and at a fraction of the cost. For example, in the US, a one-carat princess-cut diamond costs an average of $2,500, whereas a comparable lab-grown diamond is priced at just $500.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-structure-of-lab-grown-diamonds-nbsp">Structure of lab-grown diamonds&nbsp;</h2>



The process involves mixing silicon with liquid metals such as gallium, iron, and nickel in a crucible and heating it to 1,877 degrees Fahrenheit. The mixture is then exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/methane-emissions-are-higher-than-previously-estimated/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">methane</a> and hydrogen gasses, which dissolve into carbon gas that combines with the silicon, prompting the carbon atoms to bond together and form small diamond crystals.



Senior author Rodney Ruoff emphasized the crucial role of silicon in this synthetic process. “If we don't add some silicon, we don't get diamonds,” he explained. Moreover, the researchers found that diamond formation continues to progress over time, with the full structure forming at 150 minutes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-expanding-lab-grown-diamond-industry">Expanding lab-grown diamond industry</h2>



Despite this breakthrough, the diamonds produced are still only about 100 nanometers across, roughly the size of a typical virus. However, Ruoff is optimistic about the future of this technology. “A lot of labs around the world are going to start cooking things up,” he said, predicting that this could revolutionize the already expanding lab-grown <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/revolutionary-process-turns-carbon-emissions-into-diamonds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">diamond industry</a>.



The lab-grown diamond market has experienced rapid growth, increasing from less than one percent of global diamond sales in 2015 to approximately 20 percent by the end of last year.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lower-cost-of-lab-grown-diamonds-nbsp">Lower cost of lab-grown diamonds&nbsp;</h2>



This surge is primarily due to their lower cost. For example, a two-carat lab-grown diamond costs about $1,000, much less than the $13,000 to $14,000 price range for a similar natural diamond.



“Prices of lab-grown diamonds are falling. The reason is because of simple supply and demand. So many manufacturers are coming out and flooding the market with them, which is causing prices to dive,” said Mehul Sompura, CEO of <a href="https://www.diamondhedge.com/%C3%B9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Diamond Hedge</a>. “For the most part, it's difficult to distinguish between the two, but it has to do with impurities, and with a microscope you can see growth patterns. You won't get your money back, that's the main problem.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sustainable-alternative-to-blood-diamonds">Sustainable alternative to blood diamonds</h2>



Lab-grown diamonds also offer a sustainable alternative to blood diamonds - diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance an invading army's war efforts, an insurgency, terrorism, or a warlord's activity -  and can reduce the environmental impact associated with traditional diamond mining. For every carat of diamond mined, nearly 100 square feet of land is affected and 5,798 pounds of mineral <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microbes-can-be-used-to-store-carbon-and-reuse-mining-waste/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">waste</a> is created.



“Diamonds are very ingrained in our culture. I think, as humans, we just desire these rare, precious gemstones and metals. It's not practical, but it makes us feel good,” concluded Paul Zimnisky, a leading diamond industry analyst.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-about-diamonds-nbsp">More about diamonds&nbsp;</h2>



Diamonds, often celebrated for their brilliance and durability, are one of the hardest natural substances found on Earth, making them highly sought after for jewelry and industrial applications. They form under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions existing deep within the Earth's mantle, from where they are brought closer to the surface through volcanic eruptions. The process can take between 1 to 3.3 billion years.



The allure of diamonds is not just in their sparkle but also in their rarity, which makes them symbols of wealth and status. Each diamond is unique, with characteristics such as cut, color, clarity, and carat weight determining its value.&nbsp;



The cut of a diamond affects its ability to reflect light, enhancing its visual properties, while the clarity refers to the presence of internal inclusions or external blemishes. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pink-diamonds-were-formed-when-supercontinent-nuna-broke-up/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">color</a> can range from colorless to light yellow and brown, with truly colorless diamonds being the rarest and most valuable.



The mining and distribution of diamonds have been associated with conflict and ethical concerns, leading to initiatives like the Kimberley Process, which aims to prevent "conflict diamonds" from entering the market.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07339-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Diamonds can be grown in a lab in less than 3 hours

A team of researchers led by the Institute for Basic Science Center for Multidimensional Carbon Material (CMCM) in Korea has recently developed a method to produce lab-grown diamonds in just 150 minutes, offering a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to natural diamonds.  Diamonds at a fraction of the cost The lab-created diamonds are indistinguishable to the naked eye from their natural counterparts, but they exhibit significant differences under a microscope, which contributes to their substantially lower price. While natural diamonds take billions of years to form, lab-grown...

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of flight have a specialized <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-wing-shape-is-driven-by-environment-and-behavior/">wing</a> structure called the propatagium, without which they could not fly. For a long time, the evolutionary origin of this structure has remained a mystery. Now, by conducting statistical analyses of arm joints preserved in fossils of nonavian dinosaurs, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a> has found that this structure may have first emerged in these prehistoric creatures.



Scientists have long known that modern birds evolved from various lineages of dinosaurs, which had some of the features now unique to birds, such as feathers or particular types of bone structures. The recent discovery of the possible origins of the propatagium sheds new light on the origins of bird flight.



“At the leading edge of a bird’s wing is a structure called the propatagium, which contains a muscle connecting the shoulder and wrist that helps the wing flapping and makes bird flight possible,” said study senior author Tatsuya Hirasawa, an associate professor of Evolution and Vertebrate Paleontology at Tokyo.&nbsp;



“It’s not found in other vertebrates, and it’s also found to have disappeared or lost its function in flightless birds, one of the reasons we know it’s essential for flight. So, in order to understand how flight evolved in birds, we must know how the propatagium evolved. This is what prompted us to explore some distant ancestors of modern birds, theropod dinosaurs.”



Theropod dinosaurs - such as the well-known Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor – had arms instead of wings and were incapable of flight. Thus, if scientists could find evidence of the existence of the propatagium in these dinosaurs, it would help explain the evolutionary transition from arms to wings. However, since the propatagium consists of soft tissues that don’t fossilize well, scientists needed an indirect method of identifying the presence or lack of this structure in theropods.&nbsp;



“The solution we came up with to assess the presence of a propatagium was to collect data about the angles of joints along the arm, or wing, of a dinosaur or bird,” said lead author Yurika Uno, a graduate student from Hirasawa’s lab. “In modern birds, the wings cannot fully extend due to the propatagium, constraining the range of angles possible between connecting sections. If we could find a similarly specific set of angles between joints in dinosaur specimens, we can be fairly sure they too possessed a propatagium. And through quantitative analyses of the fossilized postures of birds and nondinosaurs, we found the telltale ranges of joint angles we hoped to.”



This method revealed that the propatagium most likely evolved in a group of dinosaurs called maniraptoran theropods, which included the Velociraptor. This hypothesis was confirmed when the experts identified this structure in preserved soft tissue fossils of the feathered oviraptorosaurian&nbsp;Caudipteryx&nbsp;and winged dromaeosaurian&nbsp;Microraptor.&nbsp;



Although it is now known when the propatagium emerged, a more difficult question which will need further research has to do with the reasons for its emergence and further development in non-flying prehistoric creatures.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40851-023-00204-x">Zoological Letters</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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What is the evolutionary origin of birds’ wings?

All currently existing species of birds that are capable of...

According to a recent study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s <a href="https://accscientificsession.acc.org/">Annual Scientific Session Together with the World Congress of Cardiology</a>, people using <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-use-may-cause-dangerous-drug-interactions/">cannabis</a> daily are one-third more likely to develop coronary artery disease (CAD) compared to those who never use the drug. This study is one of the largest and most comprehensive to date to investigate the possible long-term cardiovascular implications of frequent cannabis use.



CAD is the most common form of heart disease, occurring when the arteries that supply blood to the heart narrow down due to a buildup of cholesterol. This condition causes chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue, and can ultimately lead to heart attacks. Previous studies have suggested that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the psychoactive component of cannabis – acts on receptors located not only in the central nervous system, but also in the heart and blood vessels, which could induce inflammation and the buildup of plaque, and ultimately lead to CAD.



In the current study, the experts analyzed data on the health and habits of 175,000 people – collected through the <a href="https://allofus.nih.gov/">All of Us Research Program of the National Institutes of Health</a> – in order to better understand the relationship between cannabis use frequency and rates of CAD. The analysis revealed that daily cannabis users were 34 percent more likely to develop CAD than people who never used the drug – a causal relationship found to be independent of potential confounding effects of age, sex, or other major cardiovascular risk factors, such as alcohol or tobacco use.



“We found that cannabis use is linked to CAD, and there seems to be a dose-response relationship in that more frequent cannabis use is associated with a higher risk of CAD,” said study lead author Ishan Paranjpe, a resident physician at <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>. “In terms of the public health message, it shows that there are probably certain harms of cannabis use that weren’t recognized before, and people should take that into account.”



Since cannabis is currently legal or decriminalized in over half of U.S. states for recreational use (and over three-quarters of states allow it to be used for medical purposes), these findings suggest that it is important for people to be aware of the drug’s potentially dangerous effects, and make sure to regularly monitor their heart health if they use it frequently.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Frequent cannabis use can lead to heart disease

According to a recent study presented at the American College...

The positive effects of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-green-spaces-are-urgently-needed-to-improve-health/">green spaces</a> on the general population, especially children, are well-studied and understood in the scientific community. Now, a study from the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a> has demonstrated how important blue and green spaces are to the elderly population.&nbsp;



The scientists discovered that living closer to blue and green spaces may reduce psychological stress, which could lead to fewer cases of cognitive impairment and dementia. This type of discovery is essential, considering the treatment limitations for these diseases.



“Since we lack effective prevention methods or treatments for mild cognitive impairment and dementia, we need to get creative in how we look at these issues,” explained Solmaz Amiri of Washington State University.&nbsp;



The study was conducted in Washington state urban areas. The researchers used data from the U.S. Census and the Centers for Disease Control to determine participant proximity to green spaces (public parks, community gardens, and cemeteries) and blue spaces (lakes, reservoirs, large rivers, and coasts).&nbsp;



The experts found that 70 percent of the participants lived within half a mile of green spaces, and 60 percent lived within half a mile of blue spaces.&nbsp;



Psychological distress is classified as a level of distress that interferes with a person’s daily functions and requires treatment. To assess the mental state of 42,980 individuals aged 65 or older, the researchers asked six questions that were designed to measure psychological distress on a five-point scale.



The analysis revealed that participants within half a mile of green and blue spaces had a 17 percent lower risk of experiencing serious psychological distress. The researchers hope that these findings will have an impact on where senior care facilities are located.



“Our hope is that this study may help inform public health policies in the future, from where residential facilities are located to programs to improve mental health outcomes of people living in long-term care centers or nursing homes,” said Amiri.



The results will be presented during the <a href="https://www.aan.com/events/annual-meeting">American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Blue and green spaces are beneficial in all stages of life

The positive effects of green spaces on the general population,...

When people pet or scratch their pets, it is usually clear that their furry friends enjoy the experience due to their positive reactions. This is not only the case for popular <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pets-are-unrecognized-victims-of-climate-related-disasters/">pets</a> such as dogs and cats, but for all kinds of animals, including calves.&nbsp;



In fact, not only do calves exhibit positive reactions to physical contact from humans, but a new study has concluded that as little as five minutes of socialization can make them happier and healthier.&nbsp;



The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Florida Department of Animal Sciences, specifically studying the behaviors exhibited by calves after being fed. According to lead investigator Dr. Emily K. Miller-Cushon, calves often show distressed behavior after being fed, such as sucking or chewing on their housing pens or bedding, on their pen-mates or human handlers.



The researchers randomly assigned 28 Holstein heifer calves to individual or paired housing from birth, standardizing human contact with them for seven weeks through health exams and feeding.&nbsp;



During the weaning period at around six weeks into the study, additional human contact was introduced throughout a four-day study period. Each calf received extra human contact on two of these days, and an extra five minutes of neck scratches on the other two days.&nbsp;



The enjoyment that calves get from neck scratches is curious, but there is an explanation. “We know from previous research that calves seem to enjoy tactile contact including brushing from humans," explained Dr. Miller-Cushon.&nbsp;



“This kind of contact can reduce their heart rates, and calves lean into the scratches and stretch out their necks for more. Calves are active and seek stimulation following milk-feeding, so providing more things to do, like brushing, may calm calves, reducing sucking behaviors after feeding and increasing rest."



After the study period, the researchers analyzed video recordings of the calves and their behaviors, concluding that both human contact and socialization with other calves positively impacted the well-being of each animal. Sucking behaviors were reduced and this resulted in them resting more, ultimately helping to promote calmness and overall health.&nbsp;



While the study’s results were clearly positive, the experts noted that there was no evidence to show that human contact could completely eradicate sucking behaviors in calves.&nbsp;



“Our findings showed benefits of human contact, but the results also suggest that our work is not done in finding the most beneficial and natural methods of feeding and housing our dairy calves," said Dr. Miller-Cushon.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.jdscommun.org/">JDS Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Human contact reduces stress in dairy calves

When people pet or scratch their pets, it is usually...

Today’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/linking-national-parks-could-help-mammals-survive/">mammals</a> range in body size from pygmy shrews, with a mass of around 2g, to blue whales that weigh 180 tons. These vastly different body sizes are associated with different growth rates. Not only do large mammals grow faster than reptiles, they also grow faster than small mammals. However, this is not the case with dinosaurs.&nbsp;



The meat-eating theropod dinosaurs that once roamed the Earth also had wildly differing body sizes. Some were likely only a few kilograms in mass, while others, such as the giant T. rex, weighted in at around 8 tons. Recently, scientists investigating differences in growth rates between dinosaur species found, to their surprise, that there was no relationship between body size and growth rate in these dinosaurs.&nbsp;



“Most animals are thought to evolve to be larger by growing faster than their ancestors, but this study shows that it’s just as likely that bigger and smaller animals grew for longer or shorter periods of time during growth spurts,” said Michael D. D’Emic, a paleontologist at Adelphi University and lead author of the study.



The research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adc8714">Science</a>, makes use of data from fossil bones to estimate the growth rates of different species of dinosaurs. The bones of dinosaurs show lines of arrested or slowed growth every year, leaving marks like tree rings that indicate the animal’s age and can be used to estimate the rate of growth.&nbsp;



“Rings like these are called cortical growth marks,” said D’Emic. “Widely spaced rings indicate faster growth and narrowly spaced rings tell us that an animal was growing more slowly.”



D’Emic, along with <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/">Ohio University</a> professor Patrick O’Connor and Ph.D. student Riley Sombathy, and a team of international researchers, measured about 500 growth rings in the fossilized bones of about 80 different species of theropods.&nbsp;



“We found that there was no relationship between growth rate and size,” said D’Emic. “Some gigantic dinosaurs grew very slowly, slower than alligators do today. And some smaller dinosaurs grew very fast, as fast as mammals that are alive today.”&nbsp;



This made sense to co-author Thomas Pascucci, whose graduate thesis contributed to the project: “Extinct animals like dinosaurs inspire awe because of how different they seem from our modern world, but they were animals that grew under similar constraints and environmental factors as those that exist today,” he said.



According to O’Connor, this study opens the door to future investigations of how animals regulate their growth. “Alteration of different growth control mechanisms, at molecular or genetic levels, likely accounts for the range of developmental strategies our team observed in theropod dinosaurs. Future studies of living organisms provide an opportunity to elucidate mechanisms related to the evolution of body size in vertebrates more generally.”



Sombathy hopes to take up some of those investigations in future: “One of the things that interests me most about the results is the apparent decoupling between growth rate and body size. My Ph.D. dissertation will investigate the impacts of growth rate and body size on bone shape and function.”



“This has really important implications because changes in rate versus timing can correlate to many other things, like how many or how large your offspring are, how long you live, or how susceptible to predators you are,” D’Emic added. “Hopefully this research spurs investigations into other groups, both alive and extinct, to see what developmental mechanisms are most important in other types of animals.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Large dinosaurs did not necessarily grow faster

Today’s mammals range in body size from pygmy shrews, with...

Although <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/acts-of-kindness-can-help-relieve-depression/">depression</a> and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, and are the most common forms of mental illness, current treatments show limited success in relieving the symptoms. This has led to increased investigation into alternative approaches, including the use of psychedelic experiences combined with psychotherapy. This approach has yielded significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms.



Published research on this approach mostly reflects the use of a top-down approach in analyzing the relationship between psychedelic effects and mental health outcomes, meaning that researchers have developed their own hypotheses before the study starts. A drawback of this approach is that it does not provide an understanding of the different types of subjective experiences brought on by the use of psychedelic substances. In addition, it does not allow analysis of the relationship between subjective experience and beneficial mental health outcomes.



A new study, published in the&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.042">Journal of Affective Disorders</a>, has now taken an alternative, bottom-up approach using data collected from users of psychedelic substances and a machine learning analytic procedure involving cluster analysis. This has enabled the researchers to elucidate specific subtypes of the psychedelic experience and how these subtypes might be related to different mental health outcomes.



Data were collected from nearly 1,000 respondents who answered questions about their previous, non-clinical experiences with psychedelic drugs. They included users of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, Ayahuasca, mescaline, peyote cactus and 5-MeO-DMT, the natural psychedelic substance in the venom of the Colorado River toad. The survey was anonymous, and included people who reported having a moderate to strong psychedelic experience in the past, associated with subsequent changes to their symptoms of anxiety and depression.



The participants completed online questionnaires and evaluated the extent to which their psychedelic experience was mystical (evoking a sense of pure awareness, positive mood and/or transcendence of time and space that is difficult to describe in words), psychologically insightful (eliciting acute insight into memories, emotions, relationships, behaviors or beliefs), or challenging.&nbsp;



Outcomes assessed in the survey included depression and anxiety symptom levels and ratings of satisfaction with life and psychological flexibility – one’s capacity to act in ways that are consistent with one’s values regardless of whatever might be experienced, internally or externally – before and after using the psychedelic.



Analysis of the results shows that individuals who rated their experiences as highly mystical and insightful consistently reported improvements in the symptoms of their anxiety and depression. It also suggests that a challenging experience while on these substances, one that feels frightening or destabilizing, can have beneficial results, especially in the context of mystical and insightful experiences. This could be helpful for practitioners to know as they guide patients through clinical trials testing the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.



“Sometimes the challenge arises because it’s an intensely mystical and insightful experience that can, in and of itself, be challenging,” said senior author&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/about/faculty-staff/faculty-directory/davis-alan/">Alan Davis</a>, assistant professor and director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpdre.org/">Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education</a>&nbsp;in <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/">College of Social Work</a>.&nbsp;



“In the clinical research setting, folks are doing everything they can to create a safe and supportive environment. But when challenges do come up, it’s important to better understand that challenging experiences can actually be related to positive outcomes.”



The data analysis suggested three distinct subtypes of psychedelic experiences:



<ul><li>High scoring, combining high scores on the mystical and insightful assessments with moderate scores on the challenging assessment.</li><li>Low scoring, with low to moderate scores on mystical and insightful experiences and low scores on the challenging scale.</li><li>Positive scoring, with high scores for mystical and insightful experiences and low scores on the challenging assessment.</li></ul>



“The group that had the highest insightful and mystical experiences and low challenging experiences showed the most benefit in terms of remission of anxiety and depression symptoms and other longer lasting benefits to their life,” said first author&nbsp;<a href="https://childmind.org/bio/aki-nikolaidis-phd/">Aki Nikolaidis</a>, an affiliate of Ohio State’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE) and a research scientist in the Center for the Developing Brain at the Child Mind Institute.



When the researchers included only data from participants who had used psilocybin and LSD, the same patterns emerged: three distinct subtypes that were associated with the same outcomes, including benefits to mental health even after a challenging experience. That replication speaks to the importance of the subjective experience for psychedelics users, Nikolaidis said.



“Identifying subtypes that exist regardless of which psychedelic you take answers an interesting question,” he said. “But the fact that we found that they’re associated with specific outcomes, and replicated that finding, really shows why it’s important to understand the powerful nature of what is happening subjectively and its potential to yield a beneficial outcome.”



Davis said he will be watching to see if these subtypes of experiences apply in the clinical setting, where psilocybin-assisted therapy is being studied&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpdre.org/projects">at Ohio State</a>&nbsp;for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder among military veterans.



“Finding the variety of other outcomes that these subtypes might be related to is an interesting next step,” he said. “These could include adaptive or functional outcomes in people’s quality of life or wellbeing, or a better understanding of their life’s purpose or relationships.”



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Insightful psychedelic experiences may improve mental health

Although depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, and...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-malaria-colder-areas/">Malaria</a> is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) that is carried and transmitted by mosquitoes. In humans, symptoms usually start out mild (fever, chills, and headaches), but the infection can sometimes turn lethal within 24 hours. Although scientists have long been aware that apes can also be infected with this parasite, little has been known about how malaria affects them and how deadly it is.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="http://archive">Washington University in St. Louis</a> (WUSTL) has found that many species of great apes get malaria and – according to evidence from wild bonobos – the disease appears to harm them too.



“We don’t yet have a good handle on the symptoms and mortality risk,” said study lead author Emily Wroblewski, an assistant professor of Biological Anthropology at WUSTL. “The number of infected animals in captivity that have exhibited disease symptoms has been limited. Sometimes they show symptoms like fever and other things that might be associated with infection, and sometimes not. And in the wild these things are very difficult to track.”



Analyses of DNA in apes’ feces has revealed that malaria is widespread across the geographical ranges of wild chimpanzees and gorillas, with these species of great apes harboring at least 12 Plasmodium species, seven of which are closely related to the parasite causing about 95 percent of human deaths. However, bonobos appeared to have escaped infection in all but two locations where scientists have studied them in the wild.&nbsp;



This provides experts the opportunity to compare infected populations – in which 38 percent of bonobos had detectable malaria parasites in their feces – to uninfected bonobos from ten other regions across their natural range in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to better understand some basic facts about how malaria impacts the health and mortality of great apes.



The scientists discovered that, in areas where the parasite was detected, bonobos were more likely to have particular variants of an immune gene (Papa-B), which are very similar to a human variant (HLA-B*53) that is associated with protection from developing severe and more deadly disease, suggesting that humans and bonobos may share similar immune mechanisms.&nbsp;



“To us, this means that there is a selective advantage to individuals having these protective variants, because those individuals are more likely to survive their infection and reproduce, causing that variant to rise in frequency,” Wroblewski explained.



“Seeing infected populations differ from uninfected populations in this immune trait suggests that bonobos experience increased mortality or costs to their reproductive success because of their infection. The differences between the bonobo populations provides the first evidence of any kind, albeit indirect, that a wild great ape suffers any sort of consequences from their infection.”



Further research is needed to investigate how this particular immune gene variant protects both bonobos and humans. Better understanding these protective mechanisms could lead to the development of new treatments and vaccines for humans. Moreover, since many great apes are already endangered by anthropogenic factors, clarifying how diseases affect them is important for their future protection.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36623-9">Nature Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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 malaria impact wild African apes?

Malaria is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne...

A team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> has recently investigated the effects of a <a href="https://www.ncagr.gov/">N.C. Department of Agriculture</a> (NCDA) three-year effort (2016-2018) to conserve and improve bee populations by installing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollinator-populations-have-experienced-dramatic-changes/">pollinator</a>-friendly flowers on 16 agricultural research stations from the mountains to the coast of North Carolina. The analysis revealed that, although bee abundance and diversity increased in the studied areas, the quality of the habitat – which could be affected by the way these areas are maintained over time - also played a significant role in these positive effects.



The scientists visited all 16 sites four times each year and caught bees in nets and cups which were painted to imitate the UV reflection of flowers. By analyzing over 16,000 bees from 128 different bee species, they found that bee abundance increased over time, while bee diversity increased in 2017 and then slightly dropped in 2018 (although both years showed significant improvements compared to 2016).



“We were really happy to see increases in the abundance and number of bee species found over time,” said study lead author Hannah Levenson, a postdoctoral fellow in Entomology at NC State. “It was also exciting to see how many species we documented, especially for studying one kind of habitat. This study was limited to agricultural areas but we still found nearly 130 bee species.”



The investigation also revealed that the quality of flowers was a critical driver of bee abundance and diversity, with areas of higher flower quality attracting more bees and bee species, while poorly maintained areas with degraded flowers, weeds, and grasses lagging behind.&nbsp;



“North Carolina has 564 species of bees and they have very different life cycles from each other. Some are active in early spring when flowers are just starting to come up. Other species are active in summer. The end of summer is when most bee species are active but have the fewest resources available – it’s called the dearth. So it’s important to develop seed mixes that bloom across the seasons so we can support as many of North Carolina’s bees as possible,” Levenson explained.



Surprisingly, the researchers also found several bee species showing up in unexpected areas. For instance, squash bees – a species of economically important pollinators – were found in plots with no squash plants. In addition, they discovered high numbers of a particular bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) which is currently under review for potential addition to the endangered species list.&nbsp;



“We found a high abundance of them, so it’s possible that they’re attracted to agricultural areas more than other areas. We submitted the data to Fish and Wildlife so it can be used to help make the decision on whether it should be listed as endangered or not,” Levenson reported.



“I want to give credit to the NCDA. To our knowledge it was the first government organization to do test plots like these, and hopefully what we found could encourage more government programs to take actions to protect the environment. Even though the habitats weren’t perfect, they still made a difference,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1060834">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Flower quality is a critical driver of bee abundance

A team of scientists led by the North Carolina State...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.cheoresearch.ca/">Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute</a>, teens and young adults who reduced their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-you-use-social-media-affects-your-sense-of-happiness/">social media</a> use by 50 percent experienced significant improvements in how they felt about their weight and overall appearance in just a few weeks, compared to peers who maintained the same levels of social media use.



“Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the development of body image issues, eating disorders, and mental illness,” said study lead author Gary Goldfield, a senior scientist at the CHEO Research Institute. 



“Youth are spending, on average, between six to eight hours per day on screens, much of it on social media. Social media can expose users to hundreds or even thousands of images and photos every day, including those of celebrities and fashion or fitness models, which we know leads to an internalization of beauty ideals that are unattainable for almost everyone, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with body weight and shape.”



The experts enrolled a cohort of 220 undergraduate students aged 17 to 25 (76 percent females, 23 percent males, and one percent other), who were regular social media users (at least two hours per day) and exhibited symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the first week of the experiment, all participants were asked to use social media as they normally would, while researchers tracked their screentime. 



Afterwards, half of the them were instructed to reduce their social media use to a maximum of one hour per day. At both the beginning and end of the experiment, participants had to rate how they feel about their overall appearance and weight.



The experiment revealed that, after three weeks, individuals who reduced their social media use had a significant improvement in how they regarded both their overall appearance and weight, regardless of gender.



“Our brief, four-week intervention using screentime trackers showed that reducing social media use yielded significant improvements in appearance and weight esteem in distressed youth with heavy social media use,” Goldfield explained. 



“Reducing social media use is a feasible method of producing a short-term positive effect on body image among a vulnerable population of users and should be evaluated as a potential component in the treatment of body-image-related disturbances.”



In a future larger study, the scientists plan to investigate if reduction in social media use can be maintained for longer periods of time and whether this could lead to even greater psychological benefits.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-ppm0000460.pdf">Psychology of Popular Media</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Reducing social media use improves body image in teens

According to a new study led by the Children’s Hospital...

Lightning may influence the composition of tropical forests, according to a study led by Steve Yanoviak of the <a href="https://stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a>. The results of the study suggest that the tropical trees which are most likely to be struck are also the most resilient to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lightning-strikes-set-to-increase-by-100-percent-in-the-arctic/">lightning</a> strikes. 



Over the course of several years, a team of lightning scientists and tropical field biologists analyzed the effects of lightning strikes on the Panama Canal forests of the Barro Colorado Nature Monument.



The researchers estimate that lightning strikes tropical trees millions of times a year. Considering that lightning is expected to become more frequent in the coming years, the experts set out to investigate how susceptibility to lightning may vary across tree species.



The study revealed that some types of trees were more resilient to lightning strikes than others. For example, palm trees were the most likely to die from lightning damage. Interestingly, the trees that were struck the most often were also the most likely to recover.&nbsp;



“The tree species that were most frequently damaged by lightning tended to be the same species that were most capable of surviving lightning strikes,” said study co-author Evan Gora. “This suggests that lightning is an important selective force with implications for the ecology and evolution of tropical forests.”



According to the researchers, the most lightning-resistant tree species had a few things in common including denser wood, larger vessels for transporting water, and leaves that were richer in nitrogen.



“Trees with denser wood tend to live longer and store more carbon, so finding this trait correlated with lightning tolerance implies an interesting compensatory mechanism where greater lightning frequency could actually favor species that are better at storing carbon,” explained study co-author Jeannine Richards.



The fact that tree species with a greater capacity for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere also seem to more capable of surviving lightning damage comes as a welcome discovery as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.&nbsp;



“The results of this study are especially interesting because they suggest that changes in lightning strike frequency can influence the composition of tropical forests over the long term,” said Yanoviak.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nplants/">Nature Plants</a>.



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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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In tropical forests, lightning strikes the most resilient trees

Lightning may influence the composition of tropical forests, according to...

People have been taught for decades that our planet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-global-warming-event-sheds-light-on-earths-future/">Earth</a> is made up of four layers - the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. This assumption has been widely accepted in scientific circles. But now, a study from <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/">Australian National University</a> has revealed evidence of a fifth layer - a giant metal ball named the “innermost inner core."



Whilst this has come as a surprise to many, this was not the case for some scientists. “The existence of an internal metallic ball within the inner core, the innermost inner core, was hypothesized about 20 years ago, and we now provide another line of evidence to prove the hypothesis," explained Dr. Thanh-Son Phạm from ANU’s Research School of Earth Sciences.&nbsp;



The experts were able to come to their conclusion by studying the seismic activity produced during 200 earthquakes and tremors across the last decade. In particular, they studied how fast the seismic waves passed through the inner core of the earth.&nbsp;



These waves travel directly through the Earth’s center and come out at the opposite side of the earthquake’s trigger point (also known as the antipode), before finally returning to the point of the earthquake.&nbsp;



“By developing a technique to boost the signals recorded by densely populated seismograph networks, we observed, for the first time, seismic waves that bounce back-and-forth up to five times along the Earth’s diameter. Previous studies have documented only a single antipodal bounce," explained Dr. Pham.



Not only will this technological advancement help us to better understand our planet in its current state, but it also shows great potential for helping researchers learn more about the past and future of Earth.&nbsp;



According to study co-author Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić, the findings are exciting because they provide a new way to probe the Earth’s inner core and its centermost region.



“This inner core is like a time capsule of Earth's evolutionary history," said Professor Tkalčić. “It’s a fossilized record that serves as a gateway into the events of our planet’s past. Events that happened on Earth hundreds of millions to billions of years ago."



Specifically, some researchers are curious about what the makeup of the innermost inner core could teach us about a major global event that has not been studied. The seismic wave analysis has led to the conclusion that the innermost inner core has a crystalline alloy structure that is very different from the outer sections, essentially presenting scientists with a whole new chapter of planetary evolution to investigate.&nbsp;



“There are still many unanswered questions about the Earth’s innermost inner core, which could hold the secrets to piecing together the mystery of our planet’s formation,” said Professor Tkalčić.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36074-2">Nature Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Solid metal ball discovered within Earth’s inner core

People have been taught for decades that our planet Earth...

When we were children, many of us experienced the illusion that summers or other periods of time were much longer than how we perceive the passage of a similar amount of time in adulthood. Now, a team of scientists led by <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a> in Hungary has investigated empirically whether the perception of time changes with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aging-female-monkeys-focus-more-on-meaningful-relationships/">age</a> and, if so, how and why.



The experts enrolled a cohort of participants from three age groups (4-5, 9-10, and above 18 years old) and asked them to watch two one-minute long videos. The samples were extracted from a popular animated series, and were balanced in visual and acoustic features, expect for one feature – eventfulness. While one clip consisted of a rapid succession of events (a policemen rescuing animals and then arresting a thief), the other was a monotonous, repetitive sequence (six prisoners escaping on a rowing boat). After watching the videos, the participants were asked which was longer.&nbsp;



The answers revealed that, while two-thirds of the pre-kindergartners perceived the eventful video as longer, three-fourths of the adults felt the same thing about the uneventful one. The middle group, in which participants expressed a similar but more moderate bias than the adults, helped researchers estimate a shift in time perception occurring around the age of seven.



To explain these differences in time perception between age groups, the experts relied upon the concept of “heuristics,” which was introduced in Cognitive Science by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, and refers to our ability to use mental shortcuts or proxies to help us make fast decisions. Since our brain does not have a reliable central clock or a direct sensory mapping of durations (unlike in the case of distances or pitch), we must use a proxy to get a handle on temporal passage.&nbsp;



According to the scientists, children use a “representativeness heuristics” to measure time. For instance, they ask themselves which video they can talk more about. 



Since the eventful video was packed with actions and consisted of several episodes, they could talk more about it and they thus felt that it was longer. However, between six to ten years of age, children learn the concept of “absolute” or “universal” time, which is conceptualized as a physical entity independent of the events that it connects, and can help us make appointments, organize our tasks, and follow timelines by clocking the time. 



With such a development, our representativeness heuristics for measuring time changes into a “sampling heuristics,” which helps us check the flow of time by frequently sampling it, for instance, by looking at a clock or watching the traffic flow.



Thus, as adults, when we watch a captivating movie, our mind becomes highly immersed in the story, while during a boring movie, we are going to repeatedly check our watch or think about something else, and all of these distractions will enable us to sample the flow of absolute time.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, these two types of heuristics can explain the rather bizarre switch at about age seven and give rise to the persistent bias that uneventful meetings, for example, are much longer than they actually are. However, more research is needed to properly understand the mystery of time and how our minds can make sense of it.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-27419-4">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Children and adults perceive time differently

When we were children, many of us experienced the illusion...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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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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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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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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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How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

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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



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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



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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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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...