A recent global study has shed light on a long-debated question in the world of entomology: are <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/are-insects-animals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">insect</a> populations more active during the day or night? The findings, led by <a href="https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/mark-wong" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. Mark Wong</a> of <a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The University of Western Australia</a>, reveal a surprising pattern – insect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-weather-has-increased-seasonal-insect-activity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">activity</a> increases by a third (31.4%) at night.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insect-activity-cycles">Insect activity cycles</h2>



Insects play vital roles in ecosystems across the globe. Many flowering plants rely on insects to transfer pollen between blooms, ensuring the fertilization of seeds and the production of fruits and vegetables. Without insects like bees, butterflies, and flies, our food supply would be dramatically limited.



Insects help break down organic matter such as decaying leaves, fallen logs, and animal waste. This releases essential nutrients back into the soil, promoting plant growth and supporting the health of whole ecosystems.



Diverse animals, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, rely on insects as a primary food supply. Insects help to transfer energy up the food chain and support biodiversity at multiple levels.



Understanding their activity patterns across the day-night cycle is thus essential for comprehending broader ecological processes.&nbsp;When insects are more active directly influences their ability to carry out these vital roles in the ecosystem. 



Knowing whether certain species are predominantly nocturnal or diurnal helps us understand factors like pollination timing, predator-prey relationships, and how ecosystems respond to environmental change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-insect-activity-at-night-and-day">Insect activity at night and day</h2>



Dr. Wong's research provides a comprehensive picture of which insect groups favor nocturnal or diurnal lifestyles:



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nocturnal-insects">Nocturnal insects</h3>



<ul>
<li>Mayflies: Delicate insects with large, transparent wings. They are vital to aquatic ecosystems - their nymph stage is spent underwater and they are a key food source for fish. Adult mayflies have a famously short lifespan, emerging just to mate and lay eggs.</li>



<li>Caddisflies:&nbsp;Similar to small moths, their aquatic larvae often build cases around themselves from materials like leaves and twigs for protection. They play a crucial role in processing organic matter in streams and rivers.</li>



<li>Moths:&nbsp;While some moths are diurnal, many species are nocturnal. They are important pollinators, especially for night-blooming flowers, and serve as food for bats and other nocturnal predators.</li>



<li>Earwigs:&nbsp;Identified by their distinctive pincers, these insects are mostly nocturnal scavengers. They help control pest populations and contribute to the breakdown of decaying matter.</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-diurnal-insects">Diurnal insects</h3>



<ul>
<li>Thrips:&nbsp;Tiny, slender <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-insect-species-face-the-greatest-declines/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">insects</a> that feed on plants. While some species can damage crops, many are beneficial as they pollinate flowers or prey on other insect pests.</li>



<li>Bees: Perhaps the most famous pollinators. Bees live in structured colonies and collect pollen and nectar to feed their young, facilitating the reproduction of countless plant species.</li>



<li>Wasps:&nbsp;While often considered pests, many wasps are actually predators of other insects, helping control populations of flies, caterpillars, and other potential crop pests. Some wasps are also important pollinators.</li>



<li>Ants:&nbsp;Social insects that live in highly organized colonies. They have diverse roles, from seed dispersal and pollination to preying on smaller insects or scavenging for food.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ecological-drivers-of-insect-activity-patterns">Ecological drivers of insect activity patterns</h2>



Insects have evolved a variety of strategies to avoid becoming a meal. One key strategy is to be most active when their main predators are not. This explains why many aquatic insects have higher <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-variables-can-predict-future-mosquito-activity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">activity</a> levels at night, given that fish are primarily visual daytime hunters.



Moreover, terrestrial insects face a different set of predators, particularly nocturnal creatures like bats, which often use echolocation to find prey. This is a major reason why terrestrial insects often exhibit increased activity during daylight hours.



Nocturnal activity was found to be significantly higher in aquatic habitats like rivers and streams. Conversely, terrestrial ecosystems, particularly grasslands and savannas, showed higher concentrations of insects during the day.



"Fish tend to hunt aquatic insects during the day, whereas nocturnal animals such as bats make life on land more hazardous at night," explained Dr. Wong. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-trends-in-insect-activity">Global trends in insect activity</h2>



"We found peak levels of nocturnal activity in the warmer regions of the world, as more insects likely sought refuge from the heat of the day," said Dr. Wong. This highlights the sensitivity of nighttime insect populations to temperature fluctuations.



The study emphasizes the potential threats posed by climate change and artificial light pollution. Rising temperatures could further disrupt nocturnal insect populations in warmer climates, while artificial lighting can interfere with the natural behaviors of many nocturnal insects.



"Such research can be exhausting, as traps need to be installed and replaced multiple times over days and nights, across many different locations," noted Dr. Wong.



"But it is absolutely indispensable. Insects are among the most diverse and important organisms on our planet, and studying their intricate rhythms represents not just a scientific endeavor, but an imperative for conserving biodiversity on a rapidly changing planet."



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47645-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Nighttime buzz: Insect activity increases by 31.4% at night

A recent global study has shed light on a long-debated question in the world of entomology: are insect populations more active during the day or night? The findings, led by Dr. Mark Wong of The University of Western Australia, reveal a surprising pattern – insect activity increases by a third (31.4%) at night. Insect activity cycles Insects play vital roles in ecosystems across the globe. Many flowering plants rely on insects to transfer pollen between blooms, ensuring the fertilization of seeds and the production of fruits and...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www2.uottawa.ca/en">University of Ottawa</a> in Canada has found that climate change could bring viruses in the Arctic into contact with novel environments and hosts, thus increasing the risk of viral <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/another-monkey-virus-could-spill-over-to-humans/">spillover</a>. According to the experts, the chances of such events increase dramatically with the melting of glaciers, as the meltwater can transport a variety of pathogens to new hosts.&nbsp;



The scientists focused on Lake Hazen, the largest lake located north of the Arctic Circle. They collected samples from the soil that becomes a riverbed for melted glacier water in the summer, as well as from the lakebed itself, and conducted genetic analyses to look for traces of viral DNA and RNA. “This enabled us to know what viruses are in a given environment, and what potential hosts are also present,” said study senior author Stephane Aris-Brosou, an associate professor of Biology at the University of Ottawa.



In order to find out how likely the viruses they found were to spill over into new hosts, the scientists examined the equivalent of each virus’s and host’s family tree. “Basically what we tried to do is measure how similar these trees are,” explained study lead author Audree Lemieux, a research assistant at the same university. While similar genealogies suggest that a virus has evolved along with a specific host, differences suggest the possibility of spillover.



The analyses revealed pronounced differences between viruses and hosts in the lakebed, a feature directly correlated with the risk of spillover. The difference was less stark in the samples collected from the riverbeds, most likely due to the fact that water erodes the topsoil, removing organisms and thus limiting the interactions between viruses and potential new hosts. However, as increased water from melting glaciers deposits more sediment, viruses and hosts that would not normally encounter each other may be brought together.&nbsp;



Although the likelihood of dramatic spillover events remains relatively low, further research is needed to clarify how large the differences between viruses and hosts needs to be in order to give rise to massive spillovers, and to clarify how a warming climate could increase risks further, as new potential hosts move into previously inhospitable regions.



“It could be anything from ticks to mosquitoes to certain animals, to bacteria and viruses themselves. It’s really unpredictable... and the effect of spillover itself is very unpredictable, it can range from benign to an actual pandemic,” Lemieux concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1073">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</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

Melting glaciers could unleash dangerous viruses

A new study led by the University of Ottawa in...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/supergene-transformed-the-social-hierarchy-of-fire-ants/">Fire ants</a> are an invasive species in the southeastern United States which are currently expanding their range due to climate change. When they sting, they inject significant amounts of venom that triggers immune responses in various animal species, ranging from lizards and livestock to humans.&nbsp;



In eastern fence lizards – a species occurring throughout the same region – repeated stinging by fire ants can lead to paralysis and even death. However, these lizards frequently eat fire ants. Now, a team of researchers from <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a> has found that eating fire ants may prepare a lizard’s immune system to be stung by the ants, thus increasing their resilience to these pests.



“We know that lizards from areas with fire ants have different immune profiles than lizards in areas without them,” said study senior author Tracy Langkilde, a professor of Biology at Penn State.&nbsp;“Because the immune system is so critical for survival, we wanted to determine if these differences in immune profiles can be directly attributed to lizards frequently being stung by fire ants, eating fire ants, or something else.”



The scientists examined six immune measures in response to three weeks of lizards either being fed dead fire ants or being stung by them three times per week. The analysis revealed that, when lizards were fed fire ants, three immune measures were enhanced in comparison with lizards being repeatedly stung: an elevation in the levels of a type of white blood cells called basophils; an increase in complement activity that helps antibodies and other parts of the immune system function properly; and a rise in a type of immunoglobulin antibody (IgM) known to be reactive to fire ant venom.



“All three of these immune aspects are expected to help lizards survive a fire ant attack,” said study lead author Catherine Tylan, a graduate student at Penn State. “For example, the fire ant-specific antibodies and complement could help bind up venom so it can no longer negatively impact the body. It’s possible that exposure to fire ant venom from the consumed fire ants stimulates an increased immune response, acting somewhat like a vaccine. So, eating fire ants may incidentally help lizards prepare for future venom exposure from stings.”



These findings could help explain the immune patterns observed in lizards in the fields. “Lizards caught from areas with fire ants have higher anti-fire ant antibodies and basophils than lizards from areas without fire ants,” Tylan reported. “This study showed these same immune responses when lizards were fed fire ants, suggesting that the difference in these two immune measures in the field may be a result of lizards eating fire ants.”



“Together, these results help us understand the potential health-relevant consequences of exposure to invasive species. Interestingly, our results suggest that native animals may be able to offset immune consequences of venom exposure by consuming these same species,” Professor Langkilde concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-022-02939-8">Biological Invasions</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

Lizards that eat fire ants develop greater immunity

Fire ants are an invasive species in the southeastern United...

Marijuana is the most widely smoked substance in the world, second only to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tobacco-and-zinnia-can-thrive-in-polluted-land/">tobacco</a>. And its use is on the increase since it has become legalized for recreational purposes in some of the U.S. states, as well as in Canada (in 2018). However, not very much is known about the effects that marijuana has on the lungs, and images of lung condition in long-term marijuana users are not readily available. 



A recent study, comparing the chest CT images from 56 marijuana smokers with those of 57 non-smoking controls and 33 individuals who smoked only tobacco, has now been published in <a href="https://pubs.rsna.org/journal/radiology">Radiology</a>, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America. The CT images were taken between 2005 and 2020, and show that those who smoke marijuana are more likely to suffer from emphysema, a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe in enough oxygen.&nbsp;



Dr. Giselle Revah, a cardiothoracic radiologist and assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Canada, was first author on the study. She was searching for information on the effect of marijuana on the lungs, and its health implications.&nbsp;



“I can tell if someone is a heavy or a long-time cigarette smoker when I look at a CT scan. With marijuana being the second most inhaled substance after tobacco, I started wondering: What does marijuana inhalation look like on a CT scan? Would I be able to tell if someone was a marijuana smoker; is it different from cigarette smoke?” says Dr. Revah.



“What’s unique about this study, is that there hasn’t been anything comparing the imaging findings in tobacco smokers to marijuana smokers before. In fact, there is a lack of imaging research in marijuana, probably because it’s still illegal in many parts of the world, and in many U.S. states, which is why I think we were the first to do a project like this.”



The comparison showed that 75 percent of the marijuana smokers had emphysema, compared with 67 percent of those who smoked tobacco only. To put this in perspective, only 5 percent of the non-smokers had emphysema. Paraseptal emphysema, which damages the tiny ducts that connect to the air sacs in the lungs, was the predominant type of emphysema seen in marijuana smokers compared to the tobacco-only group.



In addition, the researchers found evidence suggesting that marijuana smokers suffered other health effects on their lungs, including more instances of large and small airway diseases. Airway inflammation was more common in marijuana smokers than non-smokers and tobacco-only smokers, as was gynecomastia, the condition of enlarged male breast tissue due to hormone imbalance. Gynecomastia was found in 38 percent of the marijuana smokers, 11 percent of the tobacco-only smokers and 16 percent of non-smoking controls.&nbsp;



Dr. Revah said the overall results were surprising, especially considering that the patients in the tobacco-only group had extensive histories of smoking.



“The fact that our marijuana smokers – some of whom also smoked tobacco – had additional findings of airway inflammation/chronic bronchitis suggests that marijuana has additional synergistic effects on the lungs above tobacco,” she said. “In addition, our results were still significant when we compared the non-age-matched groups, including younger patients who smoked marijuana and who presumably had less lifetime exposure to cigarette smoke.”&nbsp;



The differences between the effects of marijuana and tobacco smoke may be due to the specific ways in which the substances are smoked. Marijuana is smoked unfiltered; and this results in more particulates reaching the airways. In addition, marijuana is inhaled with a longer breath hold and puff volume than tobacco smoke.



“It has been suggested that smoking a marijuana joint deposits four times more particulates in the lung than an average tobacco cigarette,” Dr. Revah said. “These particulates are likely airway irritants.”



While smoking marijuana, a full inhalation with a sustained Valsalva maneuver, an attempt at exhalation against a closed airway, may also lead to trauma and peripheral airspace changes.&nbsp;Dr. Revah recognizes that more data is needed, particularly involving how much and for how long marijuana has been used. She also states it would be interesting to find out if the technique of smoking, such as through a bong, a joint or a pipe, has an influence on the damage caused.



“We’ve identified an association between marijuana smoking and damage to both the small and the large airways,” she said. “We still need more research before we can effect policy change. We need larger, more robust prospective studies with more patients to confirm it.”



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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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Marijuana smokers may have more lung damage

Marijuana is the most widely smoked substance in the world,...

The loss of forests is not good news for bats. Clearance and harvesting of trees threaten the habitat of many bat species that make their homes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forests-in-protected-indigenous-lands-are-healthy-and-resilient/">forests</a>. Although policy makers understand the importance to biodiversity of in-tact forest habitats, it is unlikely that timber harvesting will ever stop. Humans need wood and so most forest areas will undoubtedly end up being managed for various human needs, including tree growth and removal, hunting and recreation.&nbsp;



This applies also to forests in eastern North America, where bats are additionally threatened by high mortality rates due to white-nose syndrome and collision with wind turbines. Timber harvest could affect bats either positively or negatively in these forests, depending on the management approach and the ecological needs of each species. Although there have been many previous studies on the potential impact of timber harvest on bats, there are many gaps in our understanding due, in part, to the logistical challenges inherent in studying these nocturnal, highly mobile animals.



According to recent <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a> research, certain forest management strategies actually suit the habitat requirements of eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis), meaning that this species is likely to co-exist successfully with, and even benefit from, managed forests in future. The study made use of radio telemetry to track the movements of 26 eastern red bats at a managed Indiana forest site. The study lasted three years and bats were tracked at various times during this period. The data were used to identify where the bats most often foraged and roosted.&nbsp;



“With white nose syndrome causing major declines in many bat species, the eastern red bat has become the most commonly detected bat in many Midwestern forests, making up 70 to 80 percent of the captures in our Indiana study site. So from that perspective, they probably have the most sizeable effect on the forest. To manage the landscape holistically, we should consider species that might have a disproportionate impact,” says&nbsp;<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth-Beilke">Elizabeth Beilke</a>, postdoctoral researcher in the&nbsp;<a href="https://nres.illinois.edu/">Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences</a>&nbsp;(NRES) at U of I, and lead author on the study.



The researchers attached tiny radio transmitters to as many red bats as they could capture, and tracked them between May and August, 2017–2019, in two state forests in south-central Indiana. The 26 bats included 18 females and 7 males (one female was tracked twice). During monitoring, the researchers installed themselves at spots on top of ridges to pick up the bats’ signals every five minutes, while the animals were active. They said this approach gave different data from what is normally obtained using acoustic cues only.&nbsp;



Professor&nbsp;<a href="https://nres.illinois.edu/directory/jmokeefe">Joy O’Keefe</a> says it’s an improvement over acoustic methods, where researchers listen for bat calls. With acoustics, researchers can’t distinguish individual bats, potentially missing important differences due to sex, age, health, and other factors. It is sometimes challenging to identify bat species from acoustic cues and, furthermore, bats do not always echolocate while they fly. Acoustic cues are also more difficult to detect in denser vegetation.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The results of the telemetry tracking and analysis, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120604">Forest Ecology and Management</a>, showed that eastern red bats foraged over a relatively small area (81&nbsp;ha or 200 acres) and traveled a maximum distance of 1404&nbsp;m from their roosts. They favored foraging near maintained openings in forest, near recent regeneration openings, roads, and ponds within the study area. In addition, they roosted preferentially near maintained openings, recent regeneration openings, and ponds, switching roosts every two days. They selected large, mature trees for roosting, and preferred to roost where vegetation was less dense.&nbsp;



“Red bats are selecting and using parts of the forest that are associated with forest management, including recent timber harvests and maintained forest openings. They're also using ponds, roads, and ridges more than we’d expect, based on availability. Our data suggest these bats can coexist with forest management,” Beilke says. “This is heartening because timber harvest isn’t going away; it’s a human need. But this work demonstrates that management practices like timber harvest aren’t inherently harmful to bats and could even benefit certain species.”



The results are similar to O’Keefe’s&nbsp;<a href="https://aces.illinois.edu/news/sending-bat-signal-forest-use-endangered-species">previous</a>&nbsp;findings for endangered Indiana bats and threatened northern long-eared bats in the same hardwood ecosystem site in Indiana. Those bats preferentially foraged and roosted near thinned areas, small patch cuts, and ponds.



“It seems like the more recent practice of harvesting smaller sections of the forest is a better approach, not only for regenerating oaks and hickories, but also for these bats. That’s opposed to large clear cuts, where we take out a lot of the forest at once. Oaks and hickories also respond well to shelterwood harvests, which offer shade to tiny tree seedlings during hot, dry summers. These partially shaded forest patches are the kinds of places bats prefer, as well,” O’Keefe says.



The researchers were encouraged by the finding that red bats can coexist with forest management practices, and may even benefit from them. They were delighted to capture one female bat twice during their study; not only did they capture her at the same site for two years running, but also she frequented the same spots in the forest in both years. O’Keefe says, “I think that's a testament to the forest. It must be good quality habitat for bats to migrate to winter sites and to come back.”



Although red bats are becoming the most common bat species in many forests, and they’re less susceptible to white nose syndrome due to their solitary roosting habits, the species is far from entirely safe.



“Unfortunately, eastern red bats die in huge numbers at wind turbines and a few recent papers have suggested they are declining range-wide. This is a shame because they’re very different from other bat species in this region. They roost solitarily in foliage, exposed to the elements, and give birth to three to four pups at once. Plus, they’re devastatingly cute,” Beilke says.



The authors conclude that, when considering habitat for eastern red bats in central hardwood forests, land managers should work to maintain large tracts of mature (&gt;90&nbsp;years old) forest, interspersed with young regeneration openings and provisions of perennial water, such as ponds. This will ensure suitable habitat for these fascinating small mammals.



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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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Eastern red bats do well in managed forests

The loss of forests is not good news for bats....

According to a recent study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.021">Current Biology</a>, elementary school children can learn new information or skills more quickly than adults. The experts found that the reason for this increased capacity for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forgetting-may-actually-be-a-form-of-learning/">learning</a> is that children and adults exhibit differences in a brain messenger called GABA, which has a fundamental role in stabilizing newly learned material.



“Our results show that children of elementary school age can learn more items within a given period of time than adults, making learning more efficient in children,” said study senior author Takeo Watanabe, a professor of Psychology at <a href="https://www.brown.edu/">Brown University</a>.



By using behavioral and state-of-the-art neuroimaging methods to examine visual learning in elementary school children and adults, the scientists discovered that, while children have a rapid boost of GABA during visual training that lasts several minutes after the training ends, the concentrations of GABA in adults remain constant. These findings suggest that children’s brains respond to training in a way which allows them to more quickly and efficiently stabilize new learning.



“In subsequent behavioral experiments, we found that children indeed stabilized new learning much more rapidly than adults, which agrees with the common belief that children outperform adults in their learning abilities,” reported study lead author Sebastian M. Frank, an expert in learning, development, plasticity, and attention at the <a href="https://www.uni-regensburg.de/en">University of Regensburg</a> in Germany. “Our results therefore point to GABA as a key player in making learning efficient in children.”



These findings may also change neuroscientists’ understanding and conceptualization of brain maturity in children. “Our results imply that children exhibit highly efficient inhibitory, GABAergic processing in spite of inhibitory failures that have been observed in other domains such as cognitive control or attention,” Frank explained. “This implies that GABAergic processing involved in different aspects of cognitive function might mature at different speeds.”



“Although children’s brains are not yet fully matured and many of their behavioral and cognitive functions are not as efficient as in adults, children are not, in general, outperformed in their abilities by adults,” Professor Watanabe added. “On the contrary, children are, at least in some domains such as visual learning, superior in their abilities to adults.”



Further research is needed to examine in more detail such difference in maturation rates between brain regions and functions, and to explore the role of GABA responses in other types of learning, such as reading or writing.



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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 can learn faster than adults

According to a recent study published in the journal Current...

We are all familiar with the joy derived from sharing something noteworthy with a friend or family member. Even young <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-are-the-causes-of-sedentary-behavior-in-children/">children</a> develop gestures, such as pointing or holding out a hand, to direct a parent’s attention to something interesting. This behavior of "sharing for the sake of sharing" has always been seen as pretty much unique to humans, and not part of the common behavioral repertoire of other primates.



However, scientists have now documented the first instance of a wild chimpanzee appearing to show an object to another individual, apparently simply for the sake of sharing the experience. The report, published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">PNAS</a>, contains video footage of Fiona, an adult chimpanzee from the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Kibale National Park, Uganda, showing her mother a leaf during a grooming session.



“People love sharing experiences with each other – social media capitalizes on this trait, and even in our first year of life we start to show others interesting things we’ve found," said study lead author Dr. Claudia Wilke from the Department of Psychology at the <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/">University of York</a>&nbsp;



“It has been suggested that ‘sharing for sharing’s sake’ is a uniquely human trait, but our observation of these wild chimpanzees challenges this,” she explained. “We observed an adult chimpanzee showing her mother a leaf she had been grooming, not because she wanted her to do anything with the leaf, but most likely because she simply wanted her to also look at the leaf.”



“Our observations suggest that, in specific social circumstances, chimps may show each other objects of interest, to share attention about them, and that this behavior may not be unique to humans," said study co-author Simon Townsend.&nbsp;



While conducting behavioral research on the Ngogo chimpanzees between 2013 and 2020, the scientists recorded many instances of "leaf-grooming." This occurs during bouts of social or self-grooming, when a groomer plucks a nearby leaf, strokes it and manipulates it with the fingers or mouth as if grooming it, and stares closely at it. The function of this behavior has not yet been explained, although it is hypothesized to be a way of inspecting ecto-parasites, such as lice or ticks, that have been placed on the leaves.&nbsp;



In one instance, however, the video footage records Fiona holding a leaf and stretching out her arm towards her mother as though seeking her mother’s attention. Initially, the mother lowers her eyes to look at the leaf, but Fiona then thrusts the leaf even further towards her mother’s face, requiring the mother to adjust her head to pay full attention to the object. After obtaining the desired attention, Fiona stops gesturing to her mother, withdraws the leaf and continues to groom it.



The researchers examined video footage of more than 80 similar leaf-grooming events in order to rule out other explanations for the behavior. They could not find any evidence that leaf-grooming is related to eating (mostly the leaves are not eaten), or to initiating play behavior or grooming. In more than three quarters of the recorded clips of leaf grooming, chimps sitting next to each other do both pay attention to the leaves being used, but Fiona is the only chimp found to have gestured in order to encourage her mother to take a look.&nbsp;



“She’s not offering it for food. She doesn’t want her mum to do anything. She just wants them to look at it together, and be like ‘Oh, cool, nice!’” said study co-author Professor Katie Slocombe.



It is recognized that chimps use gestures to communicate with others, but this is usually to illicit a specific functional response. “Sometimes when they’re grooming in this community of chimpanzees, they’ll scratch a particular location on their body … and that indicates ‘I want you to groom me here,’” said Slocombe. “If they have their hands out towards something, it means ‘give me that.’”&nbsp;



The researchers say their results are consistent with the argument that Fiona gestured declaratively to show her mother the leaf, and that her gesture led to simultaneous attention to the leaf. This suggests that, in highly specific social conditions, wild chimpanzees, like humans, may be motivated to communicate cooperatively and share interest and attention simply for the sake of sharing.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Professor Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University who was not involved in the work, described the observation as remarkable. “It signifies that chimpanzees, and perhaps also other apes, grasp that other individuals gather information the way they do themselves, and are willing to share information with others without any prompting or rewards or self-serving purposes,” he said.



Slocombe added: “While there is a need to identify further examples of this behavior in chimpanzees, our observations indicate that sharing attention for sharing’s sake is not unique to humans. It has been argued that our ability to share experiences helped us to evolve the cognitive abilities that set us apart from other species, such as our capacity for joint action, cooperation and language.”&nbsp;



“Our observations raise new questions about why humans share experiences more often than our closest living relatives and whether engaging in this behavior at a higher frequency than other species can still explain the evolution of cognitive functions underpinning human social behavior,” she concluded.



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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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Wild chimpanzees like to share cool things with others

We are all familiar with the joy derived from sharing...

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly changed the lifestyles of people – particularly children. As lockdowns were issued all over the world, children engaged in more sedentary behaviors, defined as any waking behavior in a sitting or reclining position where less than 1.5 metabolic equivalents of energy are expended. Since such behaviors are major risk factors for the development of conditions such as cardiovascular disease or high cholesterol levels, there is an urgent need to design strategies to address them.



According to a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.waseda.jp/top/en">Waseda University</a> in Japan, it is necessary to understand the underlying factors which correlate with sedentary behavior among children. To shed more light on this problem, the experts investigated the socio-cultural, geographical, and indoor/outdoor environmental contexts that contribute to such behavior.



“Sedentary behavior, such as television viewing or excessive computer use, is harmful for children’s health and well-being. Nevertheless, this is a very common behavior in the younger generations, especially with new technologies,” said study lead author Mohammad Javad Koohsari, an associate professor of Urban Design and Health at the <a href="http://www.jaist.ac.jp/english/">Japan Advanced Institute of Science &amp; Technology</a>, who conducted this study during his graduate degree at Waseda.&nbsp;



“Hence, reducing such inactivity in children is the need of the hour. Understanding the correlates across different domains of sedentary behavior among children can help develop effective interventions to reduce sitting time in this vulnerable population.”



The researchers surveyed 343 children from Japan with a median age of 8.8 years, and identified 22 potential correlates with sedentary behavior across five categories: parental characteristics, household environment, residential neighborhood, school environment, and school neighborhood. Among these, the age of the parents, the mother’s educational level, the presence of screen-based devices at home - and, most importantly, in the child’s bedroom - non-educational computer use at home, and traffic safety in the neighborhoods were the children lived were found to strongly correlate with sedentary behavior.



According to the scientists, parental characteristics played a major role at home. For instance, the mother’s age and lower educational background was correlated with less time spent by children on homework and recreational activities. However, parental support and shared activities helped decreased children’s sedentary behavior.



Other factors correlated with increased sedentarism included the presence of screen-based devices at home, the lack of traffic safety in the neighborhood, and the prolonged sitting periods at school. The researchers advise parents to remove personal TVs from their children’s bedrooms, city officials to make neighborhoods safer with improved traffic norms, and schools to reduce extended sitting in classrooms.



“Sedentary behavior is an emerging risk factor for children’s cardiometabolic health.&nbsp;The correlates of sedentary behavior in children identified by our study were highly subjective and different across domains. Therefore, future studies and efforts for developing strategies to reduce this behavior must look into the different domains and contexts that contribute to it,”&nbsp;Dr. Koohsari concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23410-7">Nature Scientific Reports</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.

What are the causes of sedentary behavior in children?

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly changed the lifestyles of people –...

Even before the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-deaths-linked-to-unhealthy-lifestyles/">Covid-19</a> pandemic, many world leaders started sounding the alarm on the increase in loneliness among all age categories as a major public health issue. In 2018, Britain was the first country to name a “<a href="https://time.com/5248016/tracey-crouch-uk-loneliness-minister/">loneliness minister</a>,” followed by Japan in 2021. 



Previous research has shown that loneliness is much more than a feeling – it can actually have significant health impacts, and is associated with higher risks of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, or stroke, with some scientists claiming that its effects are comparable to those of smoking or obesity.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/">King’s College London</a> (KCL) has shed new light on why people feel lonely, particularly in older life, and what we can do about it. “Loneliness results from a discrepancy between expected and actual social relationships,” said study lead author Samia Akhter-Khan, a graduate student in Health Service and Population Research at KCL.



“The problem that we identified in current research was that we haven’t really thought about: What do people expect from their relationships? We work with this definition of expectations, but we don’t really identify what those expectations are and how they change across cultures or over the lifespan.”



According to Akhter-Khan and her colleagues, older people may have certain relationship expectations that have gone largely overlooked. For instance, they want to be respected, and expect people to listen to them, take an interest in their experiences, learn from their mistakes, and appreciate what they have been through and the many obstacles they needed to overcome. 



Moreover, they also want to contribute by giving back to others and their communities and passing along traditions or skills through teaching and mentoring, caregiving, volunteering, or other meaningful activities.



Thus, finding ways of fulfilling these expectations can go a long way towards combating loneliness in later life. Unfortunately, regular scales for measuring loneliness have largely left them out, mostly because the labor and contributions of older people are unaccounted for in typical economic indices.&nbsp;



Further research is needed to clarify why people feel lonely at different times in their lives, in order to address the current loneliness pandemic humanity faces.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/17456916221127218">Perspectives on Psychological Science</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 triggers loneliness in old age?

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, many world leaders started sounding...

Scientists have long been puzzled by a strange natural phenomenon: the fact that vibrant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-animals-got-their-complex-color-patterns/">color patterns</a> in various animal species seem to serve different roles. While some animals use these patterns to attract mates, others employ them to ward off predators.&nbsp;



By examining the role of color patterning in all the major groups of land vertebrates – amphibians, mammals, birds, crocodilians, turtles, lizards, and snakes – a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a> has identified a strong and consistent link between the function of animals’ bright colors and the activity patterns of their evolutionary ancestors. The experts found that species which use their bright colors as a sexual signal were descended from ancestors that were active during the day, while those that use such colors to deter predators had ancestors which were active during the night.



“This pattern generally seems to hold across land vertebrates, a group with about 40,000 species that evolved over 350 million years,” said study senior author John Wiens, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. “It doesn’t matter how a species produces the colors. The way that a bird makes red is different from how a lizard makes red, but this general pattern of day-night activity still works.”



The scientist discovered that vividly colored lizards and birds typically use their coloring as a sexual signal to attract mates, while colorful amphibians and snakes usually wear them as a warning signal for predators. While many of these amphibians and snakes are currently diurnal, their ancestors were nocturnal. Thus, there is no clear connection between warning colors and present-day diurnal or nocturnal activity.



Early in their evolution, most of the ancestors of modern species started out drab and dully colored. However, vivid coloration evolved over time across many different lineages and, since they helped animals survive and reproduce, they became established and passed on to future generations.&nbsp;



“Traits that we see today in species can be a result of their evolutionary history,” said study lead author Zachary Emberts, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona. “We were looking for evolutionary patterns, so we did two separate analyses, one that used their current day-night activity and one that used their ancestral day-night activity.”



Since ancestors of amphibians and snakes spent time interacting and mating with their conspecifics in the dark, having bright colors offered them no sexual advantage. Thus, their intense coloring may have evolved for a very different purpose: a warning sign for predators. “Animals generally use these colors either as a sexual signal or as a warning signal – rarely both,” Professor Wiens concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/evo.14636">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

Why did bright colors evolve in the animal kingdom?

Scientists have long been puzzled by a strange natural phenomenon:...

Serosurveillance provides estimates of antibody levels against infectious diseases and is widely used to measure population immunity due to past infection or vaccination. According to a new study led by the World Health Organization’s <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/early-investigations">Unity Studies</a> and <a href="https://serotracker.com/">SeroTracker</a>, global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-origins-of-covid-19-will-most-likely-remain-a-mystery/">Covid-19</a> infection rates are significantly higher than previously reported.



Usually, routine surveillance data underestimates infection rates and cannot reliably infer population immunity due to asymptomatic infections – which, in the case of Covid, are quite high – and uneven access to diagnostics. In order to determine the true rates of infection and indicators of population immunity against SARS-CoV-2 over time, the scientists conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of seroprevalence studies published between January 2020 and May 2022. They analyzed seroprevalence by country and month in order to estimate regional and global seroprevalence over time, as well as seropositivity rates from infection versus infection or vaccination.



The analysis revealed that global seroprevalence has risen from 7.7 percent in June 2020 to 59.2 percent in September 2021, suggesting that nearly two-thirds of the global population had Covid antibodies from either infection or vaccination even before the emergence and spread of the highly contagious Omicron variants.&nbsp;



“This study on global seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies found that while seroprevalence has increased over time, a third of the global population tested negative for antibodies against the virus as of September 2021 estimates. It was also found that compared to seroprevalence estimates, routine testing for Covid-19 has largely underestimated the number of global infections,” the authors explained.



“As we enter the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, implementation of a global system or network for targeted, multi-pathogen, high-quality, and standardized collaborative serosurveillance is a crucial next step to monitor the Covid-19 pandemic and contribute to preparedness for other emerging respiratory pathogens,” they concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004107">PLoS Medicine</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.

Covid infection rates are much higher than previously reported

Serosurveillance provides estimates of antibody levels against infectious diseases and...

Since everyone ages at different rates, two 50-year-olds, for instance, despite living the same number of years, may have different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brisk-walking-could-reduce-biological-aging-by-more-than-a-decade/">biological ages</a>, meaning that a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors have caused them to age at different paces, with different levels of disease and mortality risks. Lifestyle choices, such as diet or smoking, together with illness, contribute to accelerating biological age often well beyond one’s chronological age. Now, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a> has found for the first time that muscle weakness marked by grip strength – a proxy for overall strength capacity – is associated with accelerated biological age.



The scientists modelled the relationship between biological age and grip strength of 1,274 middle-aged and older adults using three “age acceleration clocks” based on DNA methylation, which were originally designed to provide a molecular biomarker and estimator of the pace of aging in various health-related conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or physical disability.



The analysis revealed that both older men and women showed a significant association between lower grip strength and biological age acceleration. “We’ve known that muscular strength is a predictor of longevity, and that weakness is a powerful indicator of disease and mortality, but, for the first time, we have found strong evidence of a biological link between muscle weakness and actual acceleration in biological age,” said&nbsp;study lead author Mark Peterson, an associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan.



“This suggests that if you maintain your muscle strength across the lifespan, you may be able to protect against many common age-related diseases. We know that smoking, for example, can be a powerful predictor of disease and mortality, but now we know that muscle weakness could be the&nbsp;new&nbsp;smoking.”



Previous research has shown that low grip strength is an extremely strong predictor of adverse health effects, such as cardiovascular events. This evidence, coupled with the new study’s recent findings, could help clinicians adopt the use of grip strength as a method of screening individuals for future risk of functional decline, chronic disease, and even early mortality.



“Screening for grip strength would allow for the opportunity to design interventions to delay or prevent the onset or progression of these adverse ‘age-related’ health events,” Peterson explained. “We have been pushing for clinicians to start using grip strength in their clinics and only in geriatrics has this sort of been incorporated. However, not many people are using this, even though we’ve seen hundreds of publications showing that grip strength is a really good measure of health.”



Further research is needed to better understand the connection between grip strength and age acceleration, such as how inflammatory conditions contribute to age-related weakness and mortality. Moreover, scientists should also investigate how lifestyle and behavioral factors, such as diet or physical activity, could affect grip strength and thus age acceleration. “Healthy dietary habits are very important, but I think regular exercise is the most critical thing that somebody can do to preserve health across the lifespan,”&nbsp;Peterson concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13110">Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia, and Muscle</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.

Muscle weakness could be the new smoking

Since everyone ages at different rates, two 50-year-olds, for instance,...

Invasive plant species can have devastating effects on local ecosystems, comparable to those wrought by climate change. However, scientists do not yet know how many of such <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/managing-invasive-species-can-improve-climate-resilience/">invasive species</a> there are in the world. A new study led by the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a> is the first to comprehensively pinpoint the various unknowns which should be addressed in order to effectively manage invasive plant species around the globe.



According to the experts, the most cost-effective method of stopping invasive species is to put a halt on their introduction. However, in order for this to happen, managers need to know exactly which plants are invasive. While lists of invasive plants worldwide include species reported by scientists, currently unreported species still pose a significant risk.&nbsp;



“Trade and climate change have facilitated the widespread movement of species around the globe,” said&nbsp;study lead author Brittany Laginhas, a doctoral student in Geospatial Analytics at the <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> who completed this research during her graduate studies at UMass Amherst. “In some cases, these species will establish and spread in their new environment, causing devastating ecological and economic damages. Basic information on invasive species, including which species are invasive, where they have invaded, and their timing of invasion, is critical for developing strategies to prevent their spread and subsequent damages.”



Together with her colleagues, Laginhas mined a database of 5,893 studies dating back to 1959 that reported 3,008 invasive species. However, statistical modelling suggests that there should be in fact 4,721 species, although the identity of the remaining 1,713 remains a mystery.



According to the researchers, so many invasive species are currently missing from scientific accounts mostly due to a systemic and geographically uneven undercount. For instance, while North America has been relatively well studied, Central and South America and Oceania have not been given similar attention. “There are vast differences in the studies conducted across different continents,” said study co-author Matthew Fertakos, a graduate student in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at UMass Amherst. “We have statistical methods that can help tell us how many species there&nbsp;should&nbsp;be, but real data is always better than an estimation.”



Unfortunately, a comprehensive map of the world’s invasive species cannot be generated in the laboratory alone. “We need floristic surveys, where researchers actually go out into the field, especially in the places that have been understudied, like Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America, and identify the exact species causing problems,” concluded senior author Bethany Bradley, a professor of Environmental Conservation at the same university.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.2776">Ecological Applications</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

How many invasive plant species are in the world?

Invasive plant species can have devastating effects on local ecosystems,...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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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



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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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...