Robotics engineers have worked for decades, using substantial funding, to create <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-will-humans-react-to-coexisting-with-robots/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">robots</a> that can walk or run with the ease of animals. 



Despite these efforts, today's robots still cannot match the natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-determines-the-maximum-running-speed-of-animals/">abilities</a> of many animals in terms of endurance, agility, and robustness.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-amazing-movement-of-animals">Amazing movement of animals</h2>



“A wildebeest can migrate for thousands of kilometers over rough terrain, a mountain goat can climb up a literal cliff, finding footholds that don't even seem to be there, and cockroaches can lose a leg and not slow down,” said study senior author Max Donelan from <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simon Fraser University</a>'s Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology. “We have no robots capable of anything like this endurance, agility, and robustness.”



Seeking to understand and quantify this disparity, an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers from top research institutions conducted a comprehensive study to compare various aspects of robotic systems designed for running with their biological counterparts.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animal-versus-machine">Animal versus machine</h2>



Surprisingly, the researchers found that biological components generally underperformed compared to engineered parts on specific metrics. However, where animals significantly outshine robots is in the seamless integration and control of these components.



The study was a collaborative effort involving Sam Burden from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Washington</a>, Tom Libby from <a href="https://www.sri.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SRI International</a>, Kaushik Jayaram from the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Colorado Boulder</a>, and Simon Sponberg from the <a href="https://www.gatech.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Georgia Institute of Technology</a>. 



Each researcher focused on different "subsystems" critical to running robots - Power, Frame, Actuation, Sensing, and Control - and assessed them against their natural equivalents.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-robots-are-still-no-match-for-animals">Robots are still no match for animals</h2>



Contrary to prior assumptions that biological superiority explained animals' edge over robots, the findings revealed that, with few exceptions, the engineered subsystems frequently outperformed their biological counterparts.&nbsp;



“The way things turned out is that, with only minor exceptions, the engineering subsystems outperform the biological equivalents – and sometimes radically outperformed them,” Libby said.&nbsp;



“But also what's very, very clear is that, if you compare animals to robots at the whole system level, in terms of movement, animals are amazing. And robots have yet to catch up.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-robots-evolve-faster-than-animals">Robots evolve faster than animals</h2>



The research team remains optimistic about the future of robotics, noting the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/robots-can-now-learn-to-accomplish-any-task-by-watching-videos-or-observing-people/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rapid progress</a> made in a relatively short time compared to the millions of years over which animals have evolved. 



Dr. Burden highlights the advantage of directed design in robotics over natural <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/evolution-is-not-as-random-as-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolution</a>: “It will move faster, because evolution is undirected,” he says. “Whereas we can very much correct how we design robots and learn something in one robot and download it into every other robot, biology doesn't have that option.”



“So there are ways that we can move much more quickly when we engineer robots than we can through evolution – but evolution has a massive head start.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-applications-for-running-robots-nbsp">Potential applications for running robots&nbsp;</h2>



The potential applications for efficient running <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/robots-can-now-learn-to-accomplish-any-task-by-watching-videos-or-observing-people/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">robots</a> are vast, ranging from solving “last mile” delivery challenges to performing tasks in hazardous environments.



Looking forward, the researchers aim to focus not merely on developing better hardware but on improving how existing hardware is integrated and controlled.&nbsp;



“As engineering learns integration principles from biology, running robots will become as efficient, agile, and robust as their biological counterparts,” Donelan concluded.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animals-that-have-inspired-robots">Animals that have inspired robots</h2>



Many animals have inspired the design and function of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-crab-robot-is-smaller-than-a-flea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">robots</a>, thanks to their unique abilities and adaptations. Here are a few notable examples:



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



Swarm robots are small robots that collaborate in large numbers to accomplish tasks, much like how insects work together in colonies.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-spiders">Spiders</h3>



The movements and mechanics of spiders have inspired the creation of multi-legged robots, which are useful in navigating rough terrain or in performing complex, coordinated tasks.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-snakes-nbsp">Snakes&nbsp;</h3>



Snake robots can maneuver through tightly confined spaces and are used in rescue operations, medical procedures, and inspection tasks in complex environments like collapsed buildings or inside machinery.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-geckos-nbsp">Geckos&nbsp;</h3>



Robots that mimic the ability of geckos to climb smooth surfaces have been developed using synthetic adhesives that replicate gecko footpads.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-birds-nbsp">Birds&nbsp;</h3>



The flight of birds has influenced the design of aerial robots or drones, which mimic the flapping and soaring of wings to improve maneuverability and energy efficiency.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fish-nbsp">Fish&nbsp;</h3>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biohybrid-jellyfish-robotics-ocean-exploration/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robotic fish</a> are designed to swim efficiently through water, used for underwater exploration, surveillance, and studying aquatic life without disturbing natural habitats.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dogs-nbsp">Dogs&nbsp;</h3>



Quadruped robots, such as Boston Dynamics' Spot, mimic the movement of animals like dogs and are used for tasks ranging from industrial inspection to search and rescue operations.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cheetahs-nbsp">Cheetahs&nbsp;</h3>



The high-speed running of cheetahs has inspired the development of robots that can move quickly over land, potentially for military use or emergency response.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adi9754" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Robotics</a>.



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Robots cannot outrun animals, but they're evolving faster

Robotics engineers have worked for decades, using substantial funding, to create robots that can walk or run with the ease of animals.  Despite these efforts, today's robots still cannot match the natural abilities of many animals in terms of endurance, agility, and robustness. Amazing movement of animals “A wildebeest can migrate for thousands of kilometers over rough terrain, a mountain goat can climb up a literal cliff, finding footholds that don't even seem to be there, and cockroaches can lose a leg and not slow down,” said...

Australia is the fourth-worse country in the world in terms of species extinctions, and is in the top three globally for critically endangered animals. Although this week’s Federal Budget included a $224 million allocation to help protecting these species, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.unisa.edu.au/">University of South Australia</a> (UniSA) has revealed an overwhelming public ignorance of Australia’s most threatened species, a factor that is most likely significantly contributing to the current extinction crisis.



By polling over 300 zoo visitors and other community members to assess their awareness of seven <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/endangered-species/">endangered species</a> at risk of extinction within the next decade – the Tasmanian devil, the Leadbeater’s possum, the eastern barred bandicoot, the helmeted honeyeater, the southern corroboree frog, the Lord Howe Island (LHI) stick insect, and the orange-bellied parrot – the researchers found that over 90 percent of people failed to recognize six of these seven species, the exception being the iconic Tasmanian devil.



“There are huge gaps in community knowledge regarding native Australian wildlife, with less than eight per cent of people able to correctly name six of seven endangered species when shown photographs,” said study lead author Elisa Pearson, a conservation psychologist at UniSA.



“Apart from the Tasmanian devil, which 86 percent of people recognized, the level of familiarity and knowledge of our vulnerable species is limited. Misidentification is also common, particularly the eastern barred bandicoot which is often mistaken for a bilby.”



The researchers highlight a clear link between species recognition, likeability, and conservation support, arguing that people are far more likely to donate toward the conservation of Australia’s iconic kangaroo, koala, and wombat species, despite them being in fact not endangered. The most likable Australian animals - the koala and the kangaroo – also reflect the “similarity principle,” which suggests that people tend to prefer animals that are more similar to them, and that when only a limited number of species can be conserved, mammals are always favored over other species, regardless of their endangered status.



“Apart from the likeability factor, our study showed that being able to recognize species increased people’s willingness to support their conservation, so that is a starting point we need to address,” Dr. Pearson said.



Endangered insects are unfortunately disliked by nearly 85 percent of people, a factor putting their survival at great risk. However, as the scientists argue, these perceptions could be changed through clever marketing initiatives.



“The LHI stick insect has some exceptional qualities, such as their resilience and survival against all odds, their ability to reproduce without males, their tendency to form large social groups during the day, or even the fact that their foot pads are heart shaped. If people knew these facts the likeability factor would likely shoot up,” Dr. Pearson concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2022.126257">Journal for Nature Conservation</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

Australians are unaware of their most endangered species

Australia is the fourth-worse country in the world in terms...

The evolutionary clade and biodiversity of green <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lizards-and-other-squamates-rapidly-diversified-during-the-jurassic/">lizards</a> of the genera Lacerta and Timon - which are frequently found in the Mediterranean basin and surrounding regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia - have not been studied extensively from the perspective of historical biogeography. Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.ub.edu/web/portal/en/">University of Barcelona</a> (UB) has analyzed the potential evolutionary processes that gave rise to the biodiversity of species in this group in Mediterranean ecosystems.&nbsp;



While previous studies have argued that the evolution of green lizards was a result of a combination of evolution and the conservatism of ecological niches, the relative role of geological history and niche dynamics has not yet been assessed. In the new study, researchers combined cutting-edge analytical tools to investigate the evolution of phenotypes and the biogeographic history of green lizard phylogeny, and to infer their relative contribution to species diversification. By integrating comprehensive data on changes in terrestrial ecosystem configuration and connectivity in the Mediterranean, the scientists assessed the importance of dispersal and vicariance in determining historical range dynamics.



“[Previous] inferences usually focus on a single aspect of diversification: either cladogenesis, geographic dynamics, climatic niche properties, or phenotypic trait evolution. Our study is innovative in bringing together evidence that has allowed us to contrast hypotheses about different potential evolutionary processes that might act separately or in combination to shape species diversity in the Mediterranean hotspot,” explained study senior author Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou, an expert in Evolutionary Biology at UB.&nbsp;



The analyses revealed that the biogeographic history of this group of lizards is the result of a combination of range expansions linked to dispersal events and rapid evolution of ecological niche characteristics within specific clades.&nbsp;



“As a whole, the group has diversified in a relatively steady rhythm, without changes in lineage diversification rates associated to major climatic events of the Mediterranean region, and without an apparent link to functional morphological or climatic niche divergence,” said Kaliontzopolou. “Rather, the colonization of previously empty areas promoted the diversification of new lineages through their isolation from their relatives and was facilitated, in some groups, by an increased tolerance to lower temperatures.”



The scientists provided evidence of a combined role of higher-scale niche conservatism and rapid niche evolution underlying the evolutionary history of these lizards, with several examples supporting the idea that, while niche conservatism is a common mechanism favoring the buildup of diversity, transition away from several hotspots is related to events of accelerated niche evolution – which contrasts with the situation in other geographic areas, such as the tropics, where structural niche partitioning is a crucial process of lineage diversification.



“In Mediterranean ecosystems, instead, it seems that lineage diversification is rather driven by geological events and through allopatric divergence after the colonization of new environments. In such environments, morphological divergence seems to occur in much more recent times and within already diversified groups, possibly as a response to ecological-scale events or processes such as sexual selection, not investigated in our study,” Kaliontzopolou concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14497">Journal of Biogeography</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

How did green lizards evolve in the Mediterranean?

The evolutionary clade and biodiversity of green lizards of the...

In humans, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-does-eating-late-lead-to-obesity-and-diabetes/">obesity</a> during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of infection and unusual inflammatory responses in the offspring, although the underlying mechanisms whereby the offspring’s immune system is adversely affected remain unknown. In addition, the impact of maternal obesity on the immune system of the fetus in models that resemble human development has not been investigated in detail. 



In new research on rhesus macaque monkeys, females were fed a Western-style diet (WSD) that was high in fat, or a monkey chow control diet that was low in fat. Females began on the diets at puberty and, after 5.5 years those on a WSD had significantly more body fat. All the females were then mated and became pregnant. Their fetuses were collected by C-section just before birth (130 days out of a gestation of 165 days) and assessed for the status of hematopoiesis, the formation of blood cellular components, in the bone marrow.&nbsp;



“We were motivated to investigate how maternal obesity impacts the fetal immune system during pregnancy in nonhuman primates, representing the most relevant animal model for studying human development,” says Oleg Varlamov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center.



During late development, the fetal bone marrow becomes the major site where immune cells, called macrophages and B-lymphocytes (or B-cells), are produced from precursors known as hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). In the new study, Varlamov and his collaborators analyzed the transcriptional landscape of fetal bone marrow HSPCs at single-cell resolution in fetal macaques exposed to a maternal high-fat, Western-style diet or a low-fat control diet.



The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.10.003">Stem Cell Reports</a>, demonstrated that a WSD alters the transcriptional landscape of fetal blood stem cells in rhesus macaques. The high-fat, Western-style diet induced hyperinflammatory responses in HSPCs and fetal macrophages, and suppressed the expression of B-cell development genes. This suggests that a maternal WSD negatively affects, and potentially dysregulates, the development of B-cells that are critical components of a healthy immune system.&nbsp;



“Maternal obesity greatly impacted the ability of fetal blood stem cells to produce B-lymphocytes - immune cells that make antibodies in response to infection - and made fetal blood stem cells more inflamed,” Varlamov says.



Study limitations included the small sample size, which might limit the ability to detect weaker effects of maternal diet on fetal outcomes. In addition, the researchers didn’t explore the effects of maternal obesity on postnatal development and only focused on prenatal development. Further studies are also needed to test whether maternal obesity disrupts offspring responses to infection and inflammation.



“This study sets the stage for understanding the link between maternal obesity, prenatal nutrition, and diseases involving immune progeny of the HSPC compartment in children, and highlights the need to better understand the susceptibility of the developing hematopoietic system to metabolic dysregulation over the lifetime,” Varlamov says.



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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

Obesity in pregnant monkeys impacts fetal immune cells

In humans, obesity during pregnancy is associated with increased risk...

The World Health Organization states that eating a healthy diet can reduce our risks of suffering from non-communicable diseases and conditions, such as obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. A healthy diet should include at least five portions of vegetables or fruit per day, less saturated and trans- fats, more unsaturated fats of plant origin, less processed meat and less salt. These guidelines are publicly available in the media and form part of the curriculum taught to most children in schools across the globe. But are we listening?



A comprehensive study, and the first to include findings for children as well as adults, has now reviewed more than 1,100 different surveys on food and nutrient consumption levels in 185 different countries between 1990 and 2018. The researchers, who were from the <a href="http://nutrition.tufts.edu/">Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University</a>,&nbsp;obtained the survey data from the Global Dietary Database, a large, collaborative compilation of data on dietary behaviour in people. They analysed the quality of diets on a global, national and regional level to understand the changes that have occurred since 1990.&nbsp;



The researchers used a scale known as the <a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/41426798/84523%20403a40c3ceff.pdf?sequence=1">Alternative Healthy Eating Index</a>, a validated measure of diet quality that ranks peoples’ diets from 0 to 100. With this system, 0 represents a poor diet that does not fulfil the WHO’s dietary recommendations and is loaded with added sugar, salt, and saturated fat, and is deficient in fruits and vegetables. To score 100 on this scale, a person’s diet must contain the recommended balance of fruits, vegetables, legumes/nuts and whole grains, must contain minimal added sugar and salt, and make use of modest amounts of fat, mostly unsaturated fats of plant origin.



The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00594-9">Nature Food</a>, showed that regional average diet quality ranged from as low as 30.3 in Latin America and the Caribbean to as high as 45.7 in South Asia. The average score of all 185 countries included in the study was 40.3, which represents a paltry 1.5 increase since 1990. Only 10 countries, representing less than 1 percent of the world’s population, had scores of over 50. The world’s highest scoring countries were Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia and India, and the lowest scoring were Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Egypt.&nbsp;



“Intake of legumes/nuts and non-starchy vegetables increased over time, but overall improvements in dietary quality were offset by increased intake of unhealthy components such as red/processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sodium,” said study lead author Victoria Miller, a visiting scientist from McMaster University.



These results seem to highlight the fact that we are not really listening to the WHO guidelines. Although there has been a small improvement globally in the past 30 years, there are clearly significant challenges to implementing healthy eating behaviour in most countries. There was evidence that nutritious eating options had become more popular in the United States, Vietnam, China and Iran, but this trend was not see in other countries, such as Tanzania, Nigeria and Japan.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Globally, diets were affected by demographic factors, with adult women being more likely to eat recommended diets than adult men, and older adults eating more healthily than younger adults. In addition, young children had better quality diets than teenagers.



“On average across the world, dietary quality was also greater among younger children but then worsened as children aged,” said Miller. “This suggests that early childhood is an important time for intervention strategies to encourage the development of healthy food preferences.”&nbsp;



“Healthy eating was also influenced by socioeconomic factors, including education level and urbanicity. Globally and in most regions, more educated adults and children with more educated parents generally had higher overall dietary quality.” The researchers say that, although the study has some limitations, the findings offer key benchmarks for comparison as new information is added to the Global Dietary Database. In addition, their results offer nutrition researchers, health agencies, and policymakers the opportunity to understand trends in dietary intake and take appropriate action to encourage healthy eating in future, such as promoting meals made up of fresh produce, seafood, and plant oils.



“We found that both too few healthy foods and too many unhealthy foods were contributing to global challenges in achieving recommended dietary quality,” said study co-author <a href="https://nutrition.tufts.edu/profile/faculty/dariush-mozaffarian">Dariush Mozaffarian</a>. “This suggests that policies that incentivize and reward more healthy foods, such as in healthcare, employer wellness programs, government nutrition programs, and agricultural policies, may have a substantial impact on improving nutrition in the United States and around the world.”



The research team next plans to look at estimating how different aspects of poor diets contribute to major disease conditions around the world, as well as to model the effects of various policies and programs to improve diets globally, regionally, and nationally.



This research was supported by&nbsp;grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and from the American Heart Association.&nbsp;



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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

Global diet quality has not improved in the past 30 years

The World Health Organization states that eating a healthy diet...

The elusive platypus is perhaps the most unusual mammal alive today. Apart from having a duck-like bill that senses the presence of prey using electrical currents in the water, it lays eggs like a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/songbirds-are-crossbreeding-in-human-altered-landscapes/">bird</a> but suckles its young on milk that seeps from a mammary patch. It is a monotreme, one of the most ancient branches of mammals, and is found only in eastern Australia where it inhabits fresh water creeks, slow-moving rivers, lakes joined by rivers, and artificial water storage sites, such as farm dams.&nbsp;



The species is listed as "near threatened" by the IUCN, and is thought to have undergone significant population declines in recent years due to several different human-mediated threats. Although platypuses spend most of their time in or near water, they do move over land in order to disperse and find more suitable habitats. In light of this, it has been proposed that the presence of large dams on rivers may have a detrimental effect on platypus populations because this may limit their movements, both upstream and downstream.



In Australia, 77 percent of all major dams are situated in regions where platypuses occur. These dams are predicted to represent barriers to dispersal, which then has potential long-term implications for gene flow, genetic variation and the ability to adapt to changing conditions. However, the extent to which dams actually restrict movements, and the genetic consequences of this, remain largely unquantified at present.&nbsp;



In a new study, published in&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04038-9">Communications Biology</a>, researchers from universities in Australia and the U.S. have examined the genetic makeup of platypuses in nine river systems in eastern Australia. In five of the rivers, major dams regulate the flow of water, whereas the remaining four rivers are free flowing and are not fragmented by large dams. These included the free-flowing Ovens River, along with the dammed Mitta-Mitta River, and the free-flowing Tenterfield Creek, along with the nearby Severn River regulated by a large dam.



The researchers used DNA analysis to examine the relationships between intergroup genetic differentiation in platypus populations, and the geographic distance separating the populations. They tested whether populations separated by dams were more genetically differentiated than populations in landscapes lacking such barriers but separated by a similar distance. The experts also used genetic-based methods to infer patterns of dispersal and gene flow between platypus populations.&nbsp;



The study found that large dams are significant barriers to platypus movements. This was reflected in the greater genetic differentiation between platypus populations above and below large dams than between populations along rivers without dams. Importantly, the extent of this genetic differentiation was greater where dams had been in existence for longer, reflecting the long-term impacts of restricting gene flow between populations.&nbsp;



“We extracted the DNA from the blood collected by our Platypus Conservation Initiative researchers at UNSW. By using thousands of molecular markers, we were able to identify a strong signal indicating that genetic differentiation increased rapidly between platypuses below and above these large dams,” said study lead author Dr. Luis Mijangos, who is now at the University of Canberra.



“This is a profound result with significant implications for platypus conservation. We've long suspected that prey can restrict platypus movements, but this is the ‘smoking gun.’ These animals just can't get around big dams," said study co-author Professor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/richard-kingsford">Richard Kingsford</a>, Director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/research/ecosystem">UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science</a>.



Despite the fact that platypuses can walk substantial distances over land, the results of this study indicate that they cannot overcome high dam walls. In addition, large, open water bodies typically found above dam walls, as well as regulated water flow areas below dam walls, are not suitable habitats for platypuses. Major dams thus restrict the movements of individuals along waterways and act as barriers separating populations.&nbsp;



As a consequence, major dams restrict the gene flow between platypus groups and therefore increase the possibility of inbreeding and the loss of adaptive genetic variation, reduce the chances of recolonizing areas where local extinctions have occurred and the likelihood of dispersing to areas with more suitable conditions. All these factors, along with reduced habitat quality due to climate change, are expected to lower the long-term viability of platypus populations.



“We know that platypuses are declining in many parts of their range in eastern Australia, affected by many threats. This study identifies one of the main threats to this iconic species,” said study co-author Dr. Gilad Bino, leader of the Platypus Conservation Initiative at UNSW Sydney. “There is still much we don’t know about the ecology of the platypus, but given its international status as a monotreme, it is increasingly vital that we understand and manage the threats to this unique species.”



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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

Large dams are significant barriers to platypus survival

The elusive platypus is perhaps the most unusual mammal alive...

A new study reveals that one out of three Canadians experienced severe loneliness during the second wave of COVID-19. Dr. Lamson Lin Shen of the <a href="https://www.cityu.edu.hk/">City University of Hong Kong</a> estimates that loneliness affected 34.7 percent of the population, which is much higher than previous estimates of 14–27 percent that were established in other parts of the world.&nbsp;



According to the study, individuals who experienced job instability during the pandemic had double the risk of developing severe loneliness compared to people with secure employment.



“This concerning magnitude implies that during the pandemic lockdown, severe loneliness was ubiquitous in Canada,” said Dr. Lin. “This is probably due to the disruption in daily social activities, which normally help people cope with stress, as well as the intense social isolation caused by the lockdown measures implemented in many provinces of Canada.”



The research was focused on data from thousands of participants in the Canadian Perspective Survey Series, which was conducted during the second wave of the pandemic. Dr. Lin used machine learning to identify population patterns of loneliness.



The analysis revealed that migrants who experienced job insecurity - such as business closures, layoffs or absence from work due to COVID-19 infection - were among the most at risk of severe loneliness.



“The COVID-19 pandemic indeed amplified immigrants' susceptibility to loneliness,” said Dr. Lin. “This may be due to the fact that many migrants to Canada are over-represented in low-paid, low-skilled, unstable jobs, such as retail positions, cleaners, or cashiers, that require extensive interaction with the public, so they are at greater occupational risk of COVID-19 infection and consequential employment insecurity.”



The analysis also identified groups that have a higher risk of loneliness, regardless of the pandemic, including youth and adolescents, women, people living alone, people with a limited social circle, binge drinkers, abs recent cannabis users.&nbsp;



“My findings further shed light on the importance of building an equitable mental health care system in the pandemic response and recovery in Canada and other immigrant-receiving countries of the world,” said Dr Lin. “Primary care providers and mental health clinicians should assess loneliness symptoms in their routine patient examinations. At the community level, social care organizations should develop early prevention and intervention programs targeting high-risk groups with a greater burden of loneliness, especially for immigrant and marginalized populations.”



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.08.131">Journal of Affective Disorders</a>.



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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

Loneliness was widespread during the second wave of Covid

A new study reveals that one out of three Canadians...

Madagascar is the world’s fifth largest island and is situated in the southern Indian Ocean, around 250 miles (400 kilometers) off the east coast of southern Africa. Although it is thought to be one of the last large land masses to have been colonized by humans, details of its settlement remain sketchy and enigmatic.&nbsp;



Today, this fascinating island is home to a unique assemblage of fauna, such as lemurs, tenrecs and fossas, that are found nowhere else on earth. The paleontological evidence, however, reveals that there were once impressive giant birds and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mammals-fight-over-scarce-resources-in-brutal-environments/">mammals</a> present, but that these megavertebrates disappeared from the face of the island around 1,000 years ago. Some scientists have suggested that human activities may have been implicated in their demise but, without knowing the history of human occupation of the island, it is impossible to ascertain the impact that colonizers may have had on the island’s biodiversity.



A new study, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.060">Current Biology</a>, has now used genetic techniques, local ancestry information and simulated genetic data to understand more about the origins of the Malagasy people and to retrace the history of human settlement on the island. During a 10-year period starting in 2007, Malagasy and international researchers from the Madagascar Genetic and Ethnolignuistic (MAGE) project visited more than 250 villages across the island to sample human cultural and genetic diversity.&nbsp;



Previous linguistic studies have suggested that the Malagasy language evolved from an Austronesian background and shares similarities with languages spoken in Indonesia, more than 4,000 miles away. In addition, there are contributions from Bantu and Arab-Swahili languages, indicating possible influences from the African mainland. The people who live on Madagascar today are known to trace their roots back to two small populations: one Bantu-speaking from Africa and another Austronesian-speaking from Asia. But, beyond that, the history remained rather murky.&nbsp;



Researchers in the current study used data on shared genomic fragments to understand the demographic history of the Malagasy population. The number and length of shared chromosomal fragments, called Identity-By-Descent haplotypes (IBD), are markers of fluctuations in population size over time. Data on the prevalence and structure of shared segments of DNA were thus analyzed from 700 Malagasy people, and were compared with data from 3,464 individuals sampled in other populations.



The results of the study indicated that the present-day Malagasy population carries genetic evidence of an admixture event between Bantu-speaking African and Austronesian-speaking Asian populations. This event occurred around 1,000 years ago when Bantu-speaking Africans arrived on the island.&nbsp;



Although the results could not elucidate the time of arrival of the Asian population, it did show that this group of people underwent at least 1,000 years of isolation and genetic bottleneck before the arrival of the African peoples. It also showed that, at the time of the admixture event, the Asian inhabitants of the island numbered no more than a few hundred individuals and there had been no significant genetic exchange with any other groups of people over the previous 1,000 years.&nbsp;



The authors of the study say their results cannot show whether the Asian population was isolated once it arrived in Madagascar, or whether it arrived subsequent to having been isolated for between 30 and 70 generations somewhere else. Both scenarios are possible, they say. What is clear, however, is that after gene flow from the African colonizers commenced, the Malagasy population experienced rapid expansion and growth. In addition, the time of admixture and population expansion coincides with a time during which all the island’s megafauna became extinct.&nbsp;



“This human demographic expansion was simultaneous with a cultural and ecological transition on the island,” says Denis Pierron, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) researcher in Toulouse, France. “Around the same period, cities appeared in Madagascar and all the vertebrates of more than 10 kilograms disappeared.”



The findings have important implications that may now be applied to studies of other human populations. For instance, it shows it’s possible to untangle the demographic history of ancient populations even well after two or more groups have mixed, by using genetic data and computer simulations to test the likelihood of different scenarios. The findings also offer new insights into how past changes in human populations led to changes in whole ecosystems.



“Our study supports the theory that it was not directly the arrival of humans on the island that caused the disappearance of the megafauna, but rather a change in lifestyle that caused both a human population expansion and a reduction in biodiversity in Madagascar,” Pierron says.



While these efforts have led to much better understanding of Madagascar’s history, many intriguing questions remain. For instance, Pierron asks, “If the ancestral Asian population was isolated for more than a millennium before mixing with the African population, where was this population? Already in Madagascar or in Asia? Why did the Asian population isolate itself over 2,000 years ago? Around 1,000 years ago, what triggered the observed cultural and demographic transition?”&nbsp;



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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

Madagascar extinctions linked to human expansion 1,000 years ago

Madagascar is the world’s fifth largest island and is situated...

For many years, scientists have considered enhanced photosynthesis as one of the possible beneficial effects of increasing levels of atmospheric <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-tech-can-capture-carbon-dioxide-from-the-atmosphere/">carbon dioxide</a>: since plants use CO2 for photosynthesis, higher levels of this gas were thought to lead to more productive plants.&nbsp;



However, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.umontpellier.fr/en/recherche/unites-de-recherche/institut-des-sciences-des-plantes-de-montpellier">Institute of Plant Sciences</a> in Montpellier, France (IPSiM), has found that this effect may be less than expected because elevated carbon dioxide levels could make it difficult for plants to obtain minerals necessary to properly grow and provide nutritious food.



“There are many reports in the literature showing that the CO2&nbsp;levels expected at the end of the twenty-first century will lead to a lower concentration of nitrogen in most plants, mainly affecting the protein content in plant products,” explained study first author Alain Gojon, the research director of France’s <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en/about-us">National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment</a>. “It is very important to understand why growing plants at elevated CO2&nbsp;has such a negative effect on the protein content of most staple crops and the future of food.”



Although plants use photosynthesis to incorporate carbon dioxide into sugars that they derive their energy from, this process does not provide them with the key minerals they need to grow, such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and iron, which are instead collected from the soils through their root systems.&nbsp;



Among these minerals, nitrogen is particularly important not only as a key building block for the amino acids that plants use to make proteins, but also for providing proper nutrition for humans. “What is clear is that the nutrient composition of the main crops used worldwide, such as rice and wheat, is negatively impacted by the elevation of CO2. This will have a strong impact on food quality and global food security,” said study senior author Antoine Martin, a research scientist at IPSiM.



“Two main nutrients that are essential for human nutrition may be affected by this phenomenon,” Gojon added. “The first one is proteins built from nitrogen. In developing countries this can be a big issue, because many diets in these countries aren’t rich in proteins and plants grown at elevated CO2&nbsp;can have twenty to thirty percent less protein. The second one is iron. Iron deficiency already affects an estimated two billion people worldwide.”



Besides impacting global food systems, mineral deficiencies due to increased CO2&nbsp; levels may lead to a negative feedback loop for climate change mitigation. “The terrestrial carbon sink associated with enhanced photosynthesis may be limited if most of the vegetation is deficient in nitrogen and other minerals, which may prevent any additional increase of CO2&nbsp;capture from the atmosphere,” Gojon concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2022.09.002">Trends in Plant 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

Elevated CO2 levels will make crops less nutritious

For many years, scientists have considered enhanced photosynthesis as one...

On January 15, 2022, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-clues-about-the-hunga-tonga-hunga-haapai-eruption/">Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai</a> - an underwater volcano in the Tongan archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean - violently erupted, sending powerful shockwaves around the world and triggering devastating tsunamis. Until recently, scientists have been unable to reliably measure how tall the towering column of ash and water (the volcanic plume) that was ejected into atmosphere was. 



Now, by using satellite-based images, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> has discovered that this volcano produced the highest-ever recorded plume, which has broken through to the mesosphere layer of the atmosphere. 



Usually, since in the troposphere (the atmosphere’s lowest layer), temperature decreases with height, how tall a volcanic plume is can be estimated by measuring the temperature recorded at its top and comparing it to a reference vertical temperature profile. However, if the eruption is so large that that the plume penetrates into the next atmospheric layer (the stratosphere), this method becomes unreliable because the temperature begins again to increase with height, due to the ozone layer absorbing UV solar radiation.



To overcome this problem, the scientists used a new method based on a phenomenon called “the parallax effect” (the apparent difference in an object’s position when viewed from multiple perspectives). Since the location of the Tonga volcano is covered by three geostationary weather satellites, the researchers were able to apply the parallax effect to the aerial images these satellites captured. 



The analysis revealed that the plume reached an altitude of 57 kilometers, which is significantly higher than previously documented eruptions, such as the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines (40 km), and the 1982 eruption of El Chichón in Mexico (31 km). 



“It’s an extraordinary result as we have never seen a cloud of any type this tall before. Furthermore, the ability to estimate the height in the way we did (using the parallax method) is only possible now that we have good satellite coverage. It wouldn’t have been possible a decade or so ago,” said study lead author Simon Proud, a research fellow in Satellite Data Analysis at Oxford.



“We’d also like to apply this technique to other eruptions and develop a dataset of plume heights that can be used by volcanologists and atmospheric scientists to model the dispersion of volcanic ash in the atmosphere,” added study co-author Andrew Prata, a postdoctoral fellow in Atmospheric Physics at the same university. “Further science questions that we would like to understand are: Why did the Tonga plume go so high? What will be the climate impacts of this eruption? And what exactly was the plume composed of?”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abo4076">Science</a>.



Image Credit: Simon Proud / Uni Oxford, RALSpace NCEO / Japan Meteorological Agency



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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

Tonga eruption released the highest known volcanic plume

On January 15, 2022, Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai - an underwater...

A team of researchers from <a href="https://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a> and the <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a> has recently received a grant from the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">Natural Science Foundation</a> (NSF) to investigate human-wildlife interactions through <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bird-feeders-helping-birds/">bird feeding</a>. By analyzing data from Cornell’s&nbsp;<a href="https://feederwatch.org/">Project FeederWatch</a>&nbsp;— a November-April participatory science project in which birders observe birds that visit backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other places in North America - the experts aim to learn how birds react to what people do in their backyards, how people react to what they see at bird feeders, and how birds impact people’s wellbeing.&nbsp;



“With this study, we will be able to explore how to maximize benefits to wildlife and humans in a dynamic system,” said principal investigator Ashley Dayer, a conservation social scientist at Virginia Tech. “Importantly, we aim to shed light on questions wildlife agencies are asking about how to address avian disease outbreaks. If they tell people to take down their bird feeders, how will that impact populations of birds and how will it impact human well-being if people are no longer seeing birds at their feeders?”&nbsp;



Besides exploring how to make changes to Project FeederWatch to include more minorities, such as Blacks, Indigenous people, or people with disabilities, the scientists will investigate ways of stopping the spread of a pathogen causing conjunctivitis in birds – an “indirectly lethal” disease which, although it doesn’t kill birds directly, it makes them lethargic and thus less able to feed themselves and more prone to predator attacks.&nbsp;



“We think that bird feeders ironically may help birds stay alive when they’re really sick because it provides an easy source of food,” explained co-principal investigator Dana Hawley, a professor of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech. “But at the same time, by keeping diseased birds alive and using feeders, it’s probably contributing to spread, so there’s this trade-off where you might be helping diseased birds in an area by putting feeders up but potentially hurting the birds that have not gotten the disease yet.”



“What we’re looking for are ways to prevent spread rather than treating the birds, which is hard to do for wild birds. Preventing spread at feeders would minimize how many birds get sick in the first place. We’re trying to come up with some approaches for cleaning feeders that are realistic for people but still result in reduced spread of bacteria, such as using bleach wipes to clean feeding stations.”



According to the project leaders, conservation scientists cannot continue to study any biological phenomenon without incorporating an account of human behaviors and feelings. With this project, they hope to explore how important interaction with nature is for human wellbeing and possibly design new nature-based therapies for both physical and mental disorders.



“This is truly a transdisciplinary project in which the social sciences and the natural sciences will come together in the study of a complex system with significant outcomes for humans and ecological systems,” said Joel Snodgrass, head of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation. “The project clearly illustrates the interconnection among people, animals, and their shared environment and will provide students the opportunity to work at the cutting edge of science that addresses the complex environmental and human health challenges we currently face.”



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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

Exploring the impacts of human-wildlife interactions

A team of researchers from Virginia Tech and the Cornell...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> (UQ) in Australia has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-disrupts-gut-health-increasing-risk-of-other-infections/">Covid-19</a> activates the same inflammatory response in the brain as Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. The experts studied the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the “microglia” – the brain’s immune cells, which play a fundamental role in the development of age-related neurodegenerative disorders.



“Our team grew human microglia in the laboratory and infected the cells with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19,” said study senior author Trent Woodruff, a professor of Pharmacology at UQ. “We found the cells effectively became ‘angry,’ activating the same pathway that Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s proteins can activate in disease, the inflammasomes.”



According to study lead author Eduardo Albornoz – a postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience, Immunology, and Pharmacology at the same university – triggering the inflammasome pathway can spark a “fire” in the brain that begins a chronic and sustained process of killing off neurons.



“It’s kind of a silent killer, because you don’t see any outward symptoms for many&nbsp;years,” he said. “It may explain why some people who’ve had Covid-19 are more vulnerable to developing neurological symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease.”



The scientists discovered that the spike protein of the virus was enough to start this process, which was further exacerbated when the brain already contained proteins linked to Parkinson’s disease. Thus, if someone is already pre-disposed to Parkinson’s, getting infected with the new coronavirus “could be like pouring more fuel on that “fire” in the brain,” according to Professor Woodruff.



Fortunately, the scientists also discovered a potential treatment – a class of UQ-developed inhibitory drugs that are currently in clinical trials with Parkinson’s patients. “We found it successfully blocked the inflammatory pathway activated by Covid-19, essentially putting out the fire,” Dr. Albornoz said. “The drug reduced inflammation in both Covid-19-infected mice and the microglia cells from humans, suggesting a possible treatment approach to prevent neurodegeneration in the future.”



“Further research is needed, but this is potentially a new approach to treating a virus that could otherwise have untold long-term health ramifications,” Professor Woodruff concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01831-0">Molecular Psychiatry</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

Covid-19 could trigger inflammation in the brain

A team of researchers led by the University of Queensland...

In 2019 and 2020, the Siberian Arctic experienced an unusual number of devastating fires, raising concerns in the scientific community, as the Arctic has vast areas of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-could-release-much-more-carbon-than-expected/">permafrost</a> – a permanently frozen layer of subsoil which accumulates large amounts of carbon. The fires significantly damage the permafrost and contribute to the release of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. But was this increase in fires in 2019-2020 an exceptional case or a trend that will become worse as the Arctic warms?



By analyzing satellite observations between 1982 and 2020, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.csic.es/en/csic">Spanish Council for Scientific Research</a> (CSIC) has found that, although these fires were indeed exceptional, global warming will most likely drive increasingly more megafires over the following decades, releasing massive amounts of carbon.



“In 2020 alone, 423 fires were detected in the Siberian Arctic, which burned around three million hectares (an area almost as big as the whole Belgium) and caused the emission of 256 million tons of CO2&nbsp;equivalent [similar to the annual emissions of CO2&nbsp;in Spain]. With future warming, these megafires will be recurrent at the end of the century and will have different implications, both for the Arctic and for the global climate,” said study lead author Adrià Descals, a research scientist at CSIC.



“We detected fires above the 72nd&nbsp;parallel north, more than 600 km north of the Arctic Circle, where fires are unusual and where winter ice was still visible at the time of burning. Many fires were detected with a few days of difference, so we hypothesize that increases in thunderstorms and lightning are the main cause of the fires, although further investigations would be required to demonstrate how much human activities may influence the fire season in this remote region.”



According to the scientists, the concatenation of several factors related to rising temperatures, such as drier weather conditions, longer summers, and more vegetation, is what generated the fire rate increase, and will likely increase the frequency of such events in the future.



“The fact that there is more and earlier vegetation reduces the availability of water in the soil, and plants suffer greater water stress,” said Aleixandre Verger, a researcher at CSIC. In turn, “extreme heat waves, such as in 2020 in the Siberian Arctic, increase vulnerability to drought, as they can desiccate plants and reduce peat moisture, and therefore increase the intensity of fires and carbon emissions.”



“Climate warming therefore has a double effect on fire risk: it increases the susceptibility of vegetation and peatlands to fire and, on the other hand, it increases the number of ignitions caused by thunderstorms,”&nbsp;added Descals.



“The areas burned in 2019 and 2020 could be exceptional events, but recent temperature trends and projected scenarios indicate that, by the end of the century, large fires such as those in 2019 and 2020 will be frequent if temperatures continue to increase at the current rate,” the scientists concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abn9768">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

Arctic warming will increase permafrost megafires

In 2019 and 2020, the Siberian Arctic experienced an unusual...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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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



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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



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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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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



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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



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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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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



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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"

[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



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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



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Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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