Astronomers anticipate a significant leap in our understanding of the solar system later this year, thanks to a powerful new observatory in Chile.



Millions of previously unseen asteroids, comets, and minor planets will soon come into view, offering the most detailed look yet at our cosmic neighborhood.



At the heart of this breakthrough is the <a href="https://rubinobservatory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vera C. Rubin Observatory</a>, currently nearing completion on Cerro Pachón in northern Chile. Once fully operational, the facility will dramatically expand our knowledge of the solar system’s so-called “small bodies.”



These include everything from near-Earth asteroids to distant objects in the Kuiper Belt - remnants from the birth of the planets over 4.5 billion years ago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surveying-the-sky-in-detail">Surveying the sky in detail</h2>



The Rubin Observatory houses the Simonyi Survey Telescope, an 8.4-meter instrument with an innovative three-mirror design.



The LSST Camera, part of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, is the largest digital camera ever built for astronomy. It boasts 3.2 gigapixels and a 9.6 square-degree field of view - about 45 times the size of the full moon.



Over ten years, this system will scan the entire visible sky repeatedly, capturing a dynamic time-lapse of celestial activity and generating about 20 terabytes of data every night.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-will-we-find-in-the-solar-system">What will we find in the solar system?</h2>



To predict what Rubin will reveal, astronomers developed Sorcha, a unique open-source simulator. Sorcha digests the observatory’s planned sky-viewing schedule and applies the best models of how small bodies are distributed throughout the solar system.



“Accurate simulation software like Sorcha is critical,” said Meg Schwamb, a researcher at <a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/">Qu</a><a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">e</a><a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/">en’s University Belfast</a> who led the development of the software.



“It tells us what Rubin will discover and lets us know how to interpret it. Our knowledge of what objects fill Earth’s solar system is about to expand exponentially and rapidly.”



Sorcha is the first tool of its kind to model the Rubin Observatory’s entire detection process, from imaging to object classification. It allows researchers to estimate how many and what kinds of objects the observatory will find once scanning begins.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-fossil-record-in-space">A fossil record in space</h2>



The solar system is not just home to the eight planets and their moons. It also contains tens of millions of small bodies that formed alongside them.



These icy and rocky relics act like fossils, preserving clues about how planets came together, how they migrated, and even how Earth acquired <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stunning-discovery-earths-building-blocks-contained-water/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">water</a> and organic material.



“Rubin’s unparalleled combination of breadth and depth makes it a uniquely effective discovery machine,” said Jake Kurlander, a doctoral student at the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Washington</a>.



“It took 225 years of astronomical observations to detect the first 1.5 million asteroids. Rubin will double that number in less than a year.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unprecedented-solar-system-census">Unprecedented solar system census</h2>



Simulations using Sorcha show that Rubin will transform our inventory of solar system objects. Researchers expect it to find 127,000 near-Earth objects - more than triple the current tally of about 38,000.



Importantly, this includes over 70% of all potentially hazardous <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/two-large-asteroids-will-pass-near-earth-this-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">asteroids</a> larger than 140 meters, a major boost to Earth’s planetary defense efforts.



The telescope is also projected to discover over five million main-belt asteroids, nearly quadrupling today’s known population. Scientists will track about one-third of these with precise color and rotation data, helping them piece together their histories and compositions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-look-at-ancient-worlds">A new look at ancient worlds</h2>



Another exciting target: the Jupiter Trojans. These ancient objects share Jupiter’s orbit in stable zones called Lagrange points. Rubin could uncover 109,000 of them - more than seven times the current count - offering a rare glimpse into some of the most pristine material from the early solar system.



Farther out, Rubin is expected to detect 37,000 trans-Neptunian objects in the Kuiper Belt, ten times the number known today. These discoveries could reveal details about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/auroras-captured-on-neptune-for-the-first-time-thanks-to-the-webb-telescope/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Neptune</a>’s early movements and the shaping of the solar system’s outer edge.



The observatory will also chart between 1,500 and 2,000 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-objects-called-centaurs-29p-continue-to-perplex-nasa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Centaurs</a>, unusual bodies with unstable orbits between the giant planets. Many Centaurs eventually become short-period comets. Rubin will provide the first in-depth look at this transitional stage.



Mario Juric is an astronomer at the University of Washington and a key contributor to Rubin’s Solar System Processing Pipelines.



“With this data, we’ll be able to update the textbooks of solar system formation and vastly improve our ability to spot - and potentially deflect - the asteroids that could threaten Earth,” he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-view-of-the-solar-system">A new view of the solar system </h2>



Rubin will do more than count small bodies. It will observe each one repeatedly using different filters, revealing their surface colors. Most past surveys used just one filter, which limited what astronomers could learn.



“With the LSST catalog of solar system objects, our work shows that it will be like going from black-and-white television to brilliant color,” said Joe Murtagh, a doctoral student at Queen’s University.



Siegfried Eggl, an aerospace engineer at the <a href="https://illinois.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</a>, highlighted Sorcha’s importance in handling this data flood.



“Only by debiasing LSST’s complex observing pattern can we turn raw detections into a true reflection of the solar system’s history - where the planets formed, and how they migrated over billions of years," he said. "Sorcha is a game changer in that respect.”



Rubin Observatory will release its first public images of the solar system during the “First Look” event on June 23. The observatory expects to begin full science operations later in the year.



With Sorcha and the LSST Camera ready, astronomers around the world are preparing for a revolution in how we understand our solar system.



Image Credit: RubinObs/ NSF/ DOE/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/AURA/ Hernan Stockebrand



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New observatory will reveal millions of objects hidden in our solar system

Astronomers anticipate a significant leap in our understanding of the solar system later this year, thanks to a powerful new observatory in Chile. Millions of previously unseen asteroids, comets, and minor planets will soon come into view, offering the most detailed look yet at our cosmic neighborhood. At the heart of this breakthrough is the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently nearing completion on Cerro Pachón in northern Chile. Once fully operational, the facility will dramatically expand our knowledge of the solar system’s so-called “small bodies.” These include...

Although scientists have documented <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/australian-plant-species-vanish/">plant species</a> for centuries to better understand and protect the amazing diversity of flora around the world, many of these species have never been photographed in their natural habitat. By surveying 33 major online databases of plant photographs, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/">University of New South Wales</a> (UNSW Sydney) and the <a href="https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science/australian-institute-of-botanical-science">Australian Institute of Botanical Science</a> has found that, out of 21,077 species of native Australian vascular plants, nearly 20 percent lack verifiable photographs.&nbsp;



Such a lack of detailed photographic records can have serious consequences, with many undocumented plant species at risk of becoming extinct.



“It was surprising to see how many plant species had just line drawings, illustrations, paintings, or even no media at all,”&nbsp;said study lead author Thomas Mesaglio, a PhD student in Botany at UNSW. “Having a comprehensive photographic set helps us to be confident in our identifications. Particularly when it is practically challenging to collect and preserve the entire plant, photos complement the physical voucher by showing the soil type, the habitat it’s growing in, and other species growing alongside it.”



The experts found that the most well-photographed plant groups tend to be trees or shrubs with noticeable or even spectacular features, such as colorful flowers. For instance, while Banksia is one of the two Australian plant genera with over 40 species to have a complete photographic record, the family with the most significant plant deficit is Poaceae (commonly known as grasses), with 343 unphotographed species.



“We noticed a charisma deficit, so the species that tend to be harder to see are the ones missing out. They may have innocuous or pale-looking flowers or be smaller and harder to spot grasses, sedges, and herbs,” Mesaglio explained. Moreover, geography significantly affects the photographic record too, with plants located in difficult to access environments being less photographed.



The scientists urge citizen scientists to help constructing comprehensive photographic records for professional scientists to use in identification guides, by engaging with platforms such as <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a>, &nbsp;a network of citizen scientists and biologists aiming to map and share observations of biodiversity across the world.&nbsp;



“People can engage with, sympathize with, and get much more excited about plants with photographs, which is vital when our natural environments are more at risk than ever,” Mesaglio argued. “Because digital photography is so accessible now, anyone can also help make a meaningful contribution to science using the camera in their pocket.”



In addition, Mesaglio and his colleagues recommend the development of a standardized system for scientific plant photography, and publish all new species descriptions as Open Access in searchable databases with Creative Commons licensing to maximize their usage.



“We also suspect more photos exist, but they’re hidden away on social media or behind scientific paywalls that aren’t accessible, discoverable, or searchable. Of the species with photographs, many have a single photo. We not only want to capture those unrepresented species but also continue building the photographic record for all species. Doing so will help us identify, monitor, and conserve our native species for generations to come,” Mesaglio concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nph.18813">New Phytologist</a>.



—



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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Thousands of plant species remain unphotographed

Although scientists have documented plant species for centuries to better...

Whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) spend their summers in subarctic Europe and Siberia, where they breed each year. But at the start of winter, they migrate many thousands of kilometers south to where the conditions will be less harsh. The estimated 16,000 whooper swans that overwinter in the United Kingdom come all the way from Iceland each year. Since their wetland habitats are threatened more and more, they rely heavily on protected areas for overwintering in the UK.



A new research study has investigated just how important these protected areas are for the survival of the Icelandic whooper swans. The team analyzed 30 years of data on swans from 22 UK sites, three of which are nature reserves managed by the <a href="https://www.wwt.org.uk/">Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust</a> (WWT). In total, the study used observations of 10,000 whooper swans over the 30 years.&nbsp;



The results, published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2212035120">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, show that swan survival rates are 30 times higher in the nature reserves than they are in unprotected areas. Swans in the nature reserves had a lower annual probability of breeding, but the researchers stress that these birds have more lifetime opportunities to breed and will produce more offspring on average. Based on these findings, the research team project that nature reserves could help double the number of whooper swans wintering in the UK by 2030.



Not only were survival rates significantly higher at nature reserves, but population growth was so strong that many swans moved into non-protected sites as the density in the protected areas increased.These encouraging findings highlight the importance of nature reserves in terms of conservation, even when the areas protected are relatively small and are only used during short periods of a species’ life cycle.&nbsp;



“Protected areas are the main tool being used to stem declines in biodiversity, and there is a growing consensus that 30 percent of the planet’s surface should be protected by 2030,” said Dr. Andrea Soriano-Redondo from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/">University of Exeter</a>.



“However, the effectiveness of protected areas is not always clear - especially when species move between protected and non-protected areas throughout their lives. Our findings provide strong evidence that nature reserves are hugely beneficial for whooper swans, and could dramatically increase their numbers in the UK."



Swans make use of the protected areas for many different reasons, and the WWT nature reserves in the study have implemented a range of measures to help wintering swans, including fox fences, supplementary food, managed roosting sites and hunting bans. These interventions have had a large impact on population growth that is crucial for this species that is listed as a species of conservation concern in the UK.



“The annual population growth rate inside nature reserves was 6 percent, compared to 0.2 percent outside reserves,” said Dr. Richard Inger from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/cornwall/research/facilitiesandcentres/cec/">Centre for Ecology and Conservation</a>&nbsp;on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall. “This population boost is not restricted to the nature reserves – it created a higher population density, which led some swans to move to non-protected areas. Young swans were most likely to do this, meaning the benefits of nature reserves spill over to other areas too.”



“Overall, our study demonstrates the huge benefits of localized protection for highly mobile animal species,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/profile/index.php?web_id=stuart_bearhop">Professor Stuart Bearhop</a>. “It also shows that targeted measures during key periods of the life cycle can have disproportionate effects on conservation.”



“This research shows how safe havens for wetland wildlife, like those at WWT Caerlaverock, Welney and Martin Mere, can help a species survive and succeed when their traditional homes are under threat," said David Pickett, Centre &amp; Reserve Manager at WWT Caerlaverock Wetland Centre. “Many wild birds rely on our sites for food and shelter and we are committed to creating and restoring more of these healthy wetland habitats, which the U.K. has lost so many of in our recent history."



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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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Nature reserves are crucial for whooper swans 

Whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) spend their summers in subarctic Europe...

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a>, researchers have investigated whether mental fatigue can impair physical performance. The experts confirmed that after performing a mentally challenging task, an individual will find physical exercise to be more difficult.



For the study, a team of researchers in Birmingham’s School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences assigned cognitive tasks to a group of 16 men and women. The goal was to examine how the effects of mental fatigue may change the perception of physical exertion, or how hard it feels to perform a task.



The participants completed a 90-minute mental exercise before performing a series of weight lifting repetitions. A control group was assigned to watch neutral videos before exercising.&nbsp;



A second experiment involved a series of resistance training exercises, followed by cognitive tasks and then a 20-minute cycling trial.



In both experiments, the experts found that mentally fatigued participants had an increased sense of exertion during physical exercise. While cycling, the individuals who had also performed mental exercises had less power and covered less distance



According to the results, it would be beneficial for athletes to take the effects of mental fatigue into account during training.



In particular, the study authors recommend that coaches reduce an athlete's exposure to mentally challenging tasks, such as smartphone use, before and during training and competitions. In the long term, coaches should consider "brain endurance training" to increase resilience to mental fatigue, said the researchers.



“We know that the brain plays a part in physical performance, but the specific effects of mental fatigue have not been well understood," said study lead author Dr. Chris Ring.



“We know that athletes will often be browsing on their smartphones in rests between competing and training. All of that requires mental effort and our results strongly suggest that athletes and coaches need to better understand the effects of these activities on overall performance.”



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2022-0356">International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance</a>.



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



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Mental fatigue impairs athletic performance 

In a new study from the University of Birmingham, researchers...

Orcas populations were decimated in the early 20th century due to their capture for display in aquariums and theme parks. Thankfully, that practice ended in the 1970s, and many populations have been slowly recovering.&nbsp;



However, the southern resident orca population in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia has dwindled back down to their mid-1970s levels, with only 73 orcas left. Much of this is attributed to numerous pregnancies ending in miscarriage or newborn death.



The situation is perplexing because while the southern population is declining, the northern population is increasing, with 300 current individuals. In a new paper published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arad002">Behavioral Ecology</a>, researchers from the University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries have proposed that this contrast could be due to differences in hunting behavior.



“For northern resident orcas, females were hunting and capturing more prey than males. For southern resident orcas, we found the opposite: The males were doing more hunting and capturing than females,” explained study lead author Jennifer Tennessen.



Dams affecting the salmon population and other human disturbances could be the cause of these shifts, especially with young mothers.



“In both populations, a mother with a young calf foraged less than other females, possibly due to the risk of leaving the calf temporarily with ‘a babysitter’ - another adult - while she hunts, or because of the time demands of nursing a calf,” said Tennessen. “But for southern resident females, which are more prone to disturbance and stress from vessel traffic, there was an outsized effect: Our study found no instance of a southern resident female with a young calf who successfully carried out a hunt.”



The experts also uncovered differences in female orca behavior towards their sons. In the northern population, adult males living with their mothers hunted less than those without mothers. However, researchers confirmed the opposite in the southern population - adult males with mothers hunted more.



“These unexpected differences left us scratching our heads. It is possible that southern resident adult males could be sharing with other members of their group, including their mothers, to help out, especially since an adult male’s survival is strongly linked to his mother’s survival,” said Tennessen.



“Understanding how healthy populations behave can provide direction and goals for management of unhealthy populations. Future comparisons to healthy fish-eating orca populations could help us understand whether the divergent behavior we’re seeing in the southern residents is indicative of a population trying to survive.”



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



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Southern orca decline may be tied to hunting behaviors

Orcas populations were decimated in the early 20th century due...

Usually, the arrival of the new year is a perfect time for Antarctic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seabirds-have-different-strategies-to-survive-storms/">seabirds</a> - such as the south polar skua, the Antarctic petrel, or the snow petrel - to build their nests and lay their eggs. However, from December 2021 to January 2022, scientists found nearly no nests in regions such as Svarthamaren or Jutulsessen, which were previously home to two of the world’s largest Antarctic petrel colonies and essential nesting grounds for south polar skua and snow petrels. 



According to the experts, this worrisome phenomenon was likely caused by unusually strong snowstorms – triggered by climate change - that interfered with the birds’ ability to breed.



“We know that in a seabird colony, when there’s a storm, you will lose some chicks and eggs, and breeding success will be lower,” said study lead author Sebastien Descamps, a marine scientist at the <a href="https://www.npolar.no/en/">Norwegian Polar Institute</a>. “But here we’re talking about tens if not hundreds of thousands of birds, and none of them reproduced throughout these storms. Having zero breeding success is really unexpected.”&nbsp;



While from 1985 to 2020, Svarthamaren was home to between 20,000 and 200,000 Antarctic petrel nests, around 2,000 snow petrel nests, and more than 100 skua nests annually, in 2021-2022 there were only three breeding Antarctic petrel, a few snow petrels, and no skua nests – a situation resembling that in Jutulsessen, where no Antarctic petrel nests were found in that period despite having shown tens of thousands of active nests in the previous years.



“It wasn’t only a single isolated colony that was impacted by this extreme weather. We’re talking about colonies spread over hundreds of kilometers. So these stormy conditions impacted a really large part of land, meaning that the breeding success of a large part of the Antarctic petrel population was impacted,” Descamps explained.



Since these birds lay their eggs on bare ground, massive snowfall makes egg-laying and chick-raising impossible. Moreover, such storms also have a thermoregulatory cost, forcing birds to spend all their available strength keeping warm, sheltering, and conserving energy.



Although there were no obvious signs of climate change in Antarctica until recently, over the past few years an increasing number of extreme weather events have shown that the southmost regions of our planet are not spared from the devastating effects of global warming either.&nbsp;



“I think our study shows in a very strong way that these extreme events do have a very strong impact on seabird populations, and climate models predict that the severity of these extreme events will increase,” Descampes concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.055">Current Biology</a>.



—



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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Extreme snowstorms impact breeding success of petrels

Usually, the arrival of the new year is a perfect...

When an invasive animal species arrives in a previously uncolonized territory, it may outcompete local species by breeding more successfully, growing faster, dispersing more easily or having better defenses against predators or diseases. It is not often that a new arrival becomes established because it eats the local residents. But this is what appears to be happening with brown widow spiders (Latrodectus geometricus) in the southern states of the U.S.&nbsp;



Brown widows are thought to have evolved in Africa, although they were first described in the 1800s from specimens identified in South America. Today, they have a cosmopolitan tropical and subtropical distribution, with established populations in Hawaii, Florida, some Caribbean Islands, parts of Australia, South Africa, Japan, and Cyprus.&nbsp;In the U.S., the spiders remained restricted to the Florida peninsula for decades, but after 2000 they began to show up in other Gulf Coast states. Brown widows are now known from South Carolina to Texas, and are also well-established in California.



The problem with the arrival of brown widow spiders in these states is that they are rapidly replacing the indigenous black widows (Latrodectus hesperus). The two species of spiders appear to have very similar ecological niches, feeding on the same types of prey – insects and small vertebrates such as lizards and mammals. It is possible that prey resources are limited and that competition between the two species occurs, with the brown widows winning out.&nbsp;



However, a new research study, conducted by scientists at the University of Southern Florida (USF), suggests that this is not a simple case of one species being better at hunting or at occupying the habitat. Instead, the brown widows appear to be targeting the indigenous black widows and killing them out.&nbsp;



“We have established brown widow behavior as being highly aggressive towards the southern black widows, yet much more tolerant of other spiders within the same family,” said Louis Coticchio, who led the study as part of his undergraduate research at USF.



Coticchio spent the first part of his career as a zookeeper specializing in venomous animals in California and returned to Florida to earn a degree in biology, channeling a passion for spiders into his research projects. While collecting wild spiders in Florida, he noticed brown widows displacing black widows but not other, related species.&nbsp;



“I had a sneaking suspicion that Florida in particular provided plenty of food and habitat for both the brown and black widow, and that there was possibly some other area such as behavioral differences that were playing a role,” said Coticchio. “My observations in the field showed that brown widows appeared to be much more tolerant of other species outside of their genus, and so if resources were the main factor, then we should have seen the same behavior with other spiders competing for the same resources, but that did not seem to be that case.”



Coticchio devised a three-part study to investigate the reasons why brown widows were able to displace black widows. He collaborated with spider expert Richard Vetter of UC Riverside and Dr. Deby Cassill, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at USF.



Initially, the researchers used mathematical modeling to evaluate the risk factors that spiders face in terms of their survival. They found that both brown and black widows are far more likely to die by predation than by starvation. In other words, “competition for scarce resources is not a significant cause of mortality among spiderlings for either species."



Next, the experts compared rates of growth and fertility between brown and black widows, finding that brown widow females were 9.5 percent larger than black widow females, and reached reproductive maturity 16 percent earlier. Male brown widows also reached reproductive maturity earlier (21 percent) than male black widows, but the brown males were considerably smaller (25 percent) than the black males. One consequence of these differences in life history patterns is that brown widow females are about twice as fertile as black widow females, with brown widows often producing multiple egg sacs in comparison with black widows that produce just one.



Finally, the researchers placed captive female brown widow spiders in close proximity with other species of spiders and monitored what happened. When brown widows were paired with red house spider (Nesticodes rufipes) females, peaceful cohabitation occurred in 50 percent of instances, while in 40 percent the brown widows were killed and eaten by the red house spider females. Brown widows cohabitated with triangulate cobweb spiders (Steatoda triangulosa) in 80 percent of pairings and were killed in just 10 percent.&nbsp;



But the situation was totally different when brown and black widow females were paired. In the case of sub-adult spiders, brown widows killed and consumed the black widows in 80 percent of pairings. In pairings of adults, black widows were killed in 40 percent of trials, while they defensively killed brown widows in 30 percent of trials and cohabitated in the remaining 30 percent.



Throughout the experiments, brown widow spiders regularly ventured into black widow webs, the researchers say. Red house spiders and triangulate cobweb spiders also showed such “bold” behavior, but black widows were never observed as aggressors. Stereotyping black widow spiders as fearsome and aggressive is clearly not appropriate.&nbsp;



However, characterizing brown widows as “aggressive” is also somewhat misleading. They may be the aggressors against black widow spiders but humans have no need to fear them. Their venom is less dangerous than that of a black widow and they life peacefully in close proximity with humans. In fact, they tend to be “very shy when harassed by humans or larger animals that are not considered prey," according to Coticchio. “They will run or roll up into a ball and play dead when being attacked or harassed by most other animals outside of their prey range.”&nbsp;



It is not yet understood why brown widow spiders behave in this way towards black widows. Certainly, it is of concern because this may lead to a shift in species composition – already, the increased incidence of brown widows in the southern U.S. is matched by noticeable declines in the numbers of black widows, potentially threatening the status of the indigenous black widows in their normal range.&nbsp;



“One question I would love to answer is how brown widows interact with other species of spiders, more specifically black widows, in Africa, where brown widows are believed to have originated,” said Coticchio. “I would love to see if their behavior and displacement of black widows is something that they have adapted here in North America, or if this behavior is something they exhibit naturally, even in areas where they have coevolved with black widows for much longer periods of time.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saad003">Annals of the Entomological Society of America</a>.



—



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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Black widows are being targeted by invasive brown widows

When an invasive animal species arrives in a previously uncolonized...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a> has recently analyzed fragments of a variety of stone tools used by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in the Phang Nga National Park in Thailand to crack open hard-shelled nuts. Since these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aging-female-monkeys-focus-more-on-meaningful-relationships/">monkeys</a> frequently break their hammerstones and anvils, the assemblage of broken stones is quite significant and widespread in many parts of the landscape.&nbsp;



To their surprise, the experts found that many of these artifacts have features that are similar to some of the earliest hominin stone artifacts currently known. Thus, in the absence of behavioral observations, the macaque tools would have likely been identified as anthropogenic in origin and interpreted as evidence of intentional tool production.



“The ability to intentionally make sharp stone flakes is seen as a crucial point in the evolution of hominins, and understanding how and when this occurred is a huge question that is typically investigated through the study of past artefacts and fossils. Our study shows that stone tool production is not unique to humans and our ancestors,”&nbsp;explained lead author Tomos Proffitt, a Paleolithic archeologist at Max Planck.&nbsp;



“The fact that these macaques use stone tools to process nuts is not surprising, as they also use tools to gain access to various shellfish as well. What is interesting is that, in doing so they accidently produce a substantial archaeological record of their own that is partly indistinguishable from some hominin artifacts.”



By comparing these accidentally produced stone fragments to those produced by early hominins, the experts showed that many of the artefacts produced by macaques are virtually indistinguishable from the human-made ones. These findings shed new light on how one of the first known technologies may have emerged, suggesting that its origins could in fact be significantly older than previously thought and related to similar nut cracking behaviors.



“Cracking nuts using stone hammers and anvils, similar to what some primates do today, has been suggested by some as a possible precursor to intentional stone tool production. This study, along with previous ones published by our group, opens the door to being able to identify such an archaeological signature in the future,”&nbsp;said senior author Lydia Luncz, the head of the Technological Primates Research Group at Max Planck.



“This discovery shows how living primates can help researchers investigate the origin and evolution of tool use in our own lineage.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade8159">Science Advances</a>.



—



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.

Monkey stone tools look like early human artifacts

A team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute...

On Monday, March 13, 2023, President Joe Biden is expected to announce sweeping protections for over 16 million acres of federal lands and waters in Alaska that would put the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean off limits to future <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/drilling-oil-fracking-problems/">oil and gas drilling</a>. However, this announcement comes at the same time that the administration is preparing to approve one of the largest oil developments ever on federal land – ConocoPhillips multibillion-dollar drilling project “Willow.”&nbsp;



The Arctic protections are set to extend to the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay - which are important habitats for a wide variety of wildlife, including grizzly and polar bears, caribou, and migratory birds – as well as over three million acres in the Arctic Ocean.



“It’s a place that is critically important for the wildlife,” said White House climate adviser John D. Podesta. “From the president’s perspective, conserving the natural resources, particularly in the special areas for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, are top-of-mind issues.”&nbsp;



However, according to many environmental organizations, the move to protect these areas is insufficient to offset the damage the Willow project will likely cause by allowing the construction of hundreds of miles of roads and pipelines, multiple airstrips, as well as a gravel mine and a processing facility. This massive industrial venture is estimated to produce between 576 and 614 million barrels of oil over the next three decades, releasing 9.2 million metric tons of CO2 per year (the equivalent to adding two million gas-powered cars to the roads).&nbsp;



Moreover, the region around Nuiqsut, where the project will begin, is already one of the fastest-warming places on Earth and is located in the vicinity of Teshekpuk Lake, which is home to thousands of migrating caribou, 600,000 shorebirds, 78,000 molting geese, and various other species. Due to its setting, the Willow project will most likely have a market negative impact on this species, while contributing to further warming.



“These conservation decisions by the Biden administration are positive steps, but not nearly sufficient to blunt the impact of any version of the Willow oil and gas project,” said Karlin Itchoak, the Alaska senior regional director for the <a href="https://www.wilderness.org/">Wilderness Society</a>.



“It’s lipstick on a pig,” added Jamal Raad, the co-founder and senior adviser of the climate group <a href="https://www.evergreenaction.com/">Evergreen Action</a>. “This does not negate or discount the climate impacts of the Willow project in any way, shape or form.”



While the approval of the Willow project is seen as an important victory for Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation, as well as for a coalition of Alaska native tribes and groups who consider the drilling venture as an important new source of revenue and jobs for this region, whether its economic and social benefits can offset the damage to the environment that it will most likely cause remains a matter of heated debate.



—



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.

Alaska oil project may offset new Arctic protections

On Monday, March 13, 2023, President Joe Biden is expected...

In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gbb.12843">Genes Brain &amp; Behavior</a>, experts have identified genetic variants that appear to be strongly correlated with math skills in children. The genetic study is one of the first of its kind to focus on mathematics abilities in different categories.



"Mathematical ability is moderately heritable, and it is a complex trait which can be evaluated in several different categories. A few genetic studies have been published on general mathematical ability. However, no genetic study focused on specific mathematical ability categories," wrote study lead author Liming Zhang of Shaanxi Normal University, and colleagues.



For the investigation, the researchers performed genome-wide association studies involving 1,146 students from Chinese elementary schools. The studies were focused on 11 mathematical ability categories, such as calculation ability, logical reasoning, spatial ability and applied mathematics.



The experts identified seven single nucleotide genetic variants that were strongly linked to math and reasoning abilities.&nbsp;



Upon further analysis, the researchers found three genes that significantly correlated with three specific mathematical ability categories. For example, variants in LINGO2 were associated with subtraction ability.



According to the researchers, they also found genes or gene sets significantly associated with addition, division, magnitude perception and spatial conception ability.



"The most significant variant associated with mathematical reasoning ability was rs34034296. This single nucleotide polymorphism is located in the desert region of genome. The nearest gene to this locus is CSMD3. Researchers have reported copy number variants (CNVs) of CSMD3 in patients with schizophrenia and autism," wrote the researchers.



"Autism and developmental dyscalculia are neurodevelopmental disorders, and they have comorbidities. We for the first time show that these genes are directly associated with mathematical ability."



Study co-author Professor Jingjing Zhao said the results of the research provide evidence that different mathematical abilities may have a different genetic basis. "This study not only refined genome-wide association studies of mathematical ability but also added some population diversity to the literature by testing Chinese children."



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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.

Math skills linked to specific genetic variants in children

In a new study published in the journal Genes Brain...

Debashis Chanda, a researcher with the University of Central Florida’s <a href="https://www.nanoscience.ucf.edu/">NanoScience Technology Center</a>, recently created an environmentally friendly way to produce paints that could aid in the fight against <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-transforming-arctic-rivers-in-unexpected-ways/">climate change</a>. He used nature as an inspiration.&nbsp;



“The range of colors and hues in the natural world are astonishing - from colorful flowers, birds and butterflies to underwater creatures like fish and cephalopods,” said Chanda.&nbsp;



The research team created a plasmonic paint using two non-pigmented materials: aluminum and aluminum oxide. Instead of relying on light absorption, Chanda’s paint relies on the structural arrangements of these materials to create color.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Structural color serves as the primary color-generating mechanism in several extremely vivid species where geometrical arrangement of typically two colorless materials produces all colors. On the other hand, with manmade pigment, new molecules are needed for every color present,” explained Chanda.



The paint is considered more environmentally friendly because, unlike pigment-based paint, it does not require artificially synthesized molecules.



Moreover, plasmonic paint is lighter and longer lasting, which could lead to less consumer consumption. For example, just three pounds of paint could cover an entire Boeing 747.



“Normal color fades because pigment loses its ability to absorb photons," said Chanda. "Here, we’re not limited by that phenomenon. Once we paint something with structural color, it should stay for centuries.”



Also, plasmonic paint creates more insulation than pigmented paints by reflecting heat. The research team determined that their paint can keep a structure 25 to 30 degrees cooler than pigmented paints.



“Over 10% of total electricity in the U.S. goes toward air conditioner usage. The temperature difference plasmonic paint promises would lead to significant energy savings. Using less electricity for cooling would also cut down carbon dioxide emissions, lessening global warming.”



Future research will focus on making the paint more accessible in the hopes that more people will embrace this eco-friendly alternative.



“The conventional pigment paint is made in big facilities where they can make hundreds of gallons of paint,” said Chanda. “At this moment, unless we go through the scale-up process, it is still expensive to produce at an academic lab.”



“We need to bring something different like, non-toxicity, cooling effect, ultralight weight, to the table that other conventional paints can’t."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adf7207?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D81323850695560564783101049967960360104%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1678379454">Science Advances</a>.



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



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.

Nature inspires the world’s first energy-saving paint

Debashis Chanda, a researcher with the University of Central Florida’s...

As the largest and oldest living organisms on Earth, giant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/city-birds-prefer-native-trees/">trees</a> play an important ecological role in the natural world. Giant trees inspire a sense of awe, as they hold the story to our shared history. Some human societies are known to position giant trees in significant socio-cultural roles with unique identities and names selected by local people.&nbsp;



Giant trees have a spiritual connection with local people by encouraging social cohesion. Attachments with giant trees can also encourage spiritual well-being, but just exactly how this occurs remains unknown.&nbsp;



Geography and climate are known to influence the age, size, and other properties of trees. Previous studies have suggested that trees with extraordinary properties tend to be given unique names and are recognized as sacred. The size and distribution of trees and spiritual ecosystem services may be influenced by macroecological processes (e.g., geography and climate).&nbsp;



In a new study conducted by the <a href="https://www.nies.go.jp/index-e.html">National Institute for Environmental Studies</a>, researchers used structural equation modeling (SEM) on 38,994 giant tree records from 237 species across Japan. The goal was to determine whether climate and geographical variables may drive both probabilities for giant trees to be an object of faith and receive a unique name from local people.&nbsp;



The study revealed that trunk circumference and tree age were the top two variables that influenced the probability of a tree becoming a spiritual object and receiving a unique name. Tree trunk circumference and age were also strongly correlated with climatic factors.&nbsp;



The probability of a tree being an object of faith and receiving a unique name increased with lower annual precipitation. The worship of giant trees in Japan is partly related to the “prayer for rain." Rice cultivation was the foundation of traditional Japanese society. The abundance or failure of rice crops was directly linked to life and death. Drought was the strongest factor in a devastating decline in rice yields. The study's results are strongly consistent with previous empirical findings.



This research is the first to demonstrate the relationship between spiritual ecosystem services and underlying macroecological processes, which have previously been difficult to quantify. The findings provide a starting point for further clarification of the spiritual connection between people and biodiversity, as well as the driving processes behind this connection.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01337-1">Nature Plants</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</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 drives a spiritual connection with giant trees?

As the largest and oldest living organisms on Earth, giant...

B cells are a vital component in our body’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-pushes-the-immune-system-into-overdrive/">immune system</a>, generating protective antibodies when we have an infection or are vaccinated, as well as harmful antibodies in connection with allergies or autoimmune diseases. For many years, scientists have debated the mechanisms through which these cells are activated, since the predominant model for how immune recognition occurs could not explain all the observations. 



Now, by examining the early step in the activation of B cells, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.au.dk/">Aarhus University</a> in Denmark has found crucial new knowledge about the ways in which our bodies fight pathogens and react to vaccines.&nbsp;



“Previously, it was believed that the antigens from, for example, viruses or vaccines would have to cross-bind a B-cell’s receptors on the cell surface. That’s what it says in all the textbooks. But now we have shown that even antigens that can only bind one receptor at a time are able to activate the B cells,” said study senior author Søren Degn, an associate professor of Biomedicine at Aarhus.&nbsp;



“The result is significant because it represents a breakthrough in our understanding of how these important immune cells ‘recognize’ their enemies. Once we understand what is going on, we can imitate it in the design of new vaccines, to ensure maximum effect. One might say that our findings can make us better at mimicking the pathogenic microorganisms, and thus better at provoking or ‘cheating’ the immune system into generating a good immune response when we vaccinate.”



Since they clarify how receptors on the surface of cells send signal into the cells – a key biological process – these findings are important not only for immunology but also for cell biology in general. Moreover, in the long term, they could have important applications, including the design of better vaccines and the development of potential treatments for allergies and autoimmune disorders.



“We have shown that the way in which the activation of B cells has been explained over the past thirty or forty years is wrong. This is an important finding, because it opens the door to better vaccines and better treatment of a large group of diseases. When we understand how the B cells are activated, we can create better vaccines. In the slightly longer term, we may also be able to switch off B-cell activation in cases where it is harmful,” Degn concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36672-0#Sec2">Nature</a>.



—



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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Study changes our understanding of the immune system

B cells are a vital component in our body’s immune...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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