James,Webb,Telescope,In,Outer,Space,On,Orbit,Of,Earth.

Astronomers have been searching for water ice outside of our solar system for years. They expected to find it. They knew it existed on moons and dwarf planets around Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond. But they couldn’t confirm it around other stars. Until now.



The James Webb Space Telescope just changed everything. Researchers aimed its Near-Infrared Spectrograph (<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/nirspec/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NIRSpec</a>) at HD 181327, a Sun-like star 155 light-years away. What they found was crystalline <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/water-might-have-formed-long-before-galaxies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">water</a> ice swirling in a dusty debris disk around the star.



Chen Xie is the lead author of the study and assistant research scientist at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Johns Hopkins University</a>.



“Webb unambiguously detected not just water ice, but crystalline water ice,” said Xie. “It’s also found in locations like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-earth-had-planetary-rings-like-saturn-466-million-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Saturn’s rings</a> and icy bodies in our solar system’s Kuiper Belt.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-water-ice-around-distant-stars">Water ice around distant stars</h2>



Astronomers have long suspected <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/water-may-have-existed-in-the-universe-far-earlier-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">water</a> ice in these distant disks. Spitzer, a retired space telescope, hinted at it back in 2008. But its instruments weren’t sensitive enough to confirm it. That’s where Webb comes in.



<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Webb</a> can detect the faintest traces of ice, dust, and rock. Its instruments can pick up on tiny particles that other telescopes miss. This level of precision allowed researchers to confirm the presence of crystalline water ice around HD 181327.



Xie emphasized the significance of the discovery. “The presence of water ice helps facilitate planet formation,” he said. “Icy materials may also ultimately be ‘delivered’ to terrestrial planets that may form over a couple hundred million years in systems like this.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-chaotic-debris-disk">A chaotic debris disk</h2>



HD 181327 is young. Just 23 million years old. Compare that to our Sun, which is 4.6 billion years old. This star is hotter and more massive than the Sun, and its system is a mess. Dust, rock, and icy bodies collide and scatter, creating a chaotic debris disk.



Christine Chen, co-author and associate astronomer at the <a href="https://www.stsci.edu/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Space Telescope Science Institute</a>, described the scene. 



“HD 181327 is a very active system. There are regular, ongoing collisions in its debris disk. When those icy bodies collide, they release tiny particles of dusty water ice that are perfectly sized for Webb to detect,” noted Chen.



Webb detected a significant gap between the star and its debris disk. A wide, empty zone. This gap could indicate the presence of forming planets, sweeping up debris as they orbit. Beyond that gap, the disk resembles our Kuiper Belt - a region filled with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/water-arrived-on-earth-gradually-not-in-one-big-event/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">icy</a> bodies, comets, and dwarf planets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-water-ice-everywhere-almost">Water ice everywhere - almost</h2>



Water ice isn’t spread evenly in the HD 181327 system. In the outer disk, where temperatures are colder, ice particles make up more than 20% of the material.



Move closer to the star, and the amount of ice drops to around 8%. Here, icy particles form faster than they break apart. But the inner disk? Almost no water ice - ultraviolet light from the star likely vaporizes it, or rocky planetesimals might be trapping it inside their cores.



“When I was a graduate student 25 years ago, my advisor told me there should be ice in debris disks,” said Chen. “But prior to Webb, we didn’t have instruments sensitive enough to make these observations.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-water-ice-and-planet-formation">Water ice and planet formation</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/enough-water-to-fill-trillions-of-earths-oceans-found-circling-black-hole-quasar/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Icy</a> bodies do more than drift through space. They collide, break apart, and scatter particles. These particles can clump together, forming the seeds of new planets. Over millions of years, icy debris could deliver water and other vital compounds to rocky worlds.



Researchers think this is how Earth got its water - icy comets and asteroids crashing into a young, molten planet. Now, they’re looking at HD 181327’s disk and asking the same questions. 



Could icy bodies there deliver water to forming planets? And if so, could these planets develop habitable conditions?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions </h2>



Webb has only just begun its mission. It’s equipped to scan more debris disks around other stars, searching for signs of water ice. Each discovery adds a new piece to the puzzle of how icy bodies evolve and interact in young planetary systems.



NASA, ESA, and CSA built Webb to answer the big questions: How do stars and planets form? Where does water come from? And could <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/webb-captures-best-view-ever-of-icy-objects-from-the-early-solar-system/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">icy bodies</a> in distant systems deliver the same life-sustaining molecules that once fell to Earth?



For now, researchers are focused on HD 181327. They’re mapping the distribution of water ice, measuring its concentration, and tracking how it moves. Webb’s instruments are sensitive enough to detect the tiniest particles, revealing hidden dynamics in these faraway systems.



The presence of crystalline water ice around HD 181327 marks a turning point. For the first time, astronomers can study icy debris disks beyond our solar system with clarity and precision. And as they do, they’re not just looking for water. They’re looking for the building blocks of life itself.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08920-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Webb telescope finds water ice around distant star for the first time

Astronomers have been searching for water ice outside of our solar system for years. They expected to find it. They knew it existed on moons and dwarf planets around Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond. But they couldn’t confirm it around other stars. Until now. The James Webb Space Telescope just changed everything. Researchers aimed its Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) at HD 181327, a Sun-like star 155 light-years away. What they found was crystalline water ice swirling in a dusty debris disk around the star. Chen Xie is the lead...

At the start and close of each school day, students often have to run the gauntlet through the school drop-off and pick-up zones, dodging buses and cars, and coping with inattentive drivers. This can be dangerous for students and very stressful for parents concerned about their safety, <a href="https://mottpoll.org/reports/parent-traffic-hazardous-student-safety">according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health </a>from <a href="https://www.uofmhealth.org/">Michigan Medicine</a>.



In the nationally representative survey, conducted in April 2022 by Ipsos Public Affairs for the Hospital, 923 parents of at least one school-going child between the ages of 6 and 12 gave their responses on this issue. Over 50 percent of parents stated that their child traveled to and from school by car, while more than 30 percent used the school bus. Nearly half of the parents said their child had to walk through an area where cars were dropping off or picking up children in order to get to or from the school building. Similarly, a quarter of parents said their child walked through a bus drop-off or pick-up zone on the way to or from the school building.



“Many parents dread returning to the daily hassle of getting kids to school and one of the top concerns involves children safely walking through car and bus traffic,” said Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H.



Although 81 percent of the parents surveyed acknowledged that there is supervision in these car and bus access zones, only around 60 percent of these respondents rated the supervision as good. As a result, nearly a third of the parents worry about their child’s safety to and from school, with more than a quarter believing it’s likely that a child will get hurt near the drop-off area.



Parents report several major problems that pose a risk to children’s safety before or after school, including drivers not paying attention (37 percent) or speeding (34 percent). Another major problem arises when parents park in no-parking areas or drop off their child in the wrong location. This can cause a snarl-up in traffic, especially when parents stop in the middle of the road. Other issues that arose in the survey were that children do not stay on the sidewalk and bus drivers do not pay enough attention.&nbsp;



"Most schools have a plan to manage traffic and minimize the need for children to walk in front of or between cars,” Clark said. “When parents don’t follow these rules, it disrupts the traffic flow and may mean other parents have to drop off or pick up their child in the middle of the road. This situation may be even more dangerous if parents are distracted by phones or in a hurry.”



Nearly all the parents surveyed (94 percent) felt that school officials should take action when parents do not follow traffic rules near the school. This action could involve warnings or infringement tickets from law enforcement officials, while 30 percent of parents felt those who failed to follow the traffic rules should be suspended or banned from using the school parking area. This approach would have to be undertaken with great caution, however, to prevent banned parents from dropping their children off in an even more dangerous location, such as along a busy road outside the school grounds.&nbsp;



Parents were in favor of having school officials on duty in the parking areas at the beginning and end of each school day, to make sure that drivers of cars and buses were following the safety rules. They also suggested that schools could put up cones, gates and other barriers to direct traffic flow more efficiently.&nbsp;



“Parents in our report overwhelmingly want school officials to be more proactive in addressing school traffic problems,” Clark said.



According to the survey report, one way for schools to decrease the traffic congestion near the school is to encourage more students to walk, or ride a bike or scooter to school. Of the 923 parents in the survey, only seven percent reported that their child walked to school, and only one percent rode a bicycle or scooter. These modes of traveling to and from school each day provide valuable exercise for children and can increase their self-confidence.&nbsp;



Schools could encourage more students to walk or ride to school by informing them and their parents of safe routes and by manning pedestrian crossways at intersections on busy access roads. In addition, schools may work with city officials or parent-teacher associations to set up bike lanes, which would help reassure parents about the safety of their child during travel to and from school. Parents may even accompany their child as he or she rides or walks to school, making sure that good safety habits are followed and that the child knows the traffic rules.



“Parents should first ensure they are consistently following the traffic rules themselves. They can also take steps to prepare their child to travel safely to and from school by making sure they always look both ways for traffic,” said Clark.



“School officials should also do their part to be aware of any safety concerns and strictly enforce rules. Ultimately, the responsibility for keeping kids safe lies with the adults in the school community, including parents, bus drivers, school officials, and law enforcement."



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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

Parents worry about safety at snarled up school parking areas

At the start and close of each school day, students...

Research aircrafts are flying through the heart of Arctic storms this summer to better understand how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-will-climate-change-affect-extreme-weather-events/">weather</a> systems are affecting polar sea ice.



Temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth. Climate change has altered sea ice dramatically, making it thinner, easier to break up and more susceptible to winds and storms.



During the summer, Arctic cyclones are hazardous weather events that affect the polar environment. They can impact sea ice movement and trigger rapid ice loss, which further influences the development of cyclones. These storms can measure thousands of kilometers in diameter and can persist for several days or weeks, often moving south outside the Arctic circle.



For the first time, two aircrafts will be flying 60 missions from the Norwegian Arctic to study summer cyclones. This will create a detailed picture of how the ice and ocean interact with the atmosphere above to better simulate climate prediction models.



As a result of global warming, sea ice is becoming thinner across large areas of the Arctic Ocean each and every summer. This means that winds can move the ice more easily, which in turn can influence weather systems. As a result, predicting changes to the Arctic environment has now become difficult in both the short and long term.



The dramatic changes in Arctic ice are expected to become increasingly important for global climate, which makes them an urgent research topic.



“Arctic cyclones are understood far less than those in temperate regions, making them even harder to predict," said Professor John Methven of the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a>.&nbsp;



“This project will examine Arctic summertime cyclones from above, below and right in their midst. It will shed light on the relationship between sea ice and the atmosphere above, which will provide invaluable data to improve understanding of how climate change is affecting this globally important region.”



Flights are taking place from July 27th to August 24th. During the first week, strong northerly winds temporarily slowed sea ice retreat due to recent heat waves in the region. This and a forecast for an Arctic cyclone to track across Svalbard over the weekend have provided ideal conditions for the first flights.



A team of UK scientists are flying in the British Antarctic (BAS) Survey Twin Otter plane based from Longyearbyen in Svalbard, the most northerly town on Earth. The team is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.



The flights will observe the ocean and sea ice, with a particular focus on where ice is breaking up. They will monitor turbulence, heat and moisture in the lower atmosphere and taking detailed measurements of physical properties of the sea ice such as surface height, roughness and temperature.



“Recent decades have seen a dramatic fall in Arctic sea ice area and cyclones appear to both slow down and speed up the ice decline, depending on the time of the year," said Professor Ian Renfrew of the University of East Anglia.



"The physical processes are unclear and one of our aims is to investigate the effect of the cyclones on the sea ice and the effect of the sea ice distribution on the cyclones."



Scientists from France and the USA are conducting additional flights in the SAFIRE ATR42 plane, equipped with radar and infrared sensors. The experts will take 3D measurements of the movement of clouds and the droplets within them from above during cyclone conditions.



The second team is funded by the Office of Naval Research (United States) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research and National Centre for space Studies (France).&nbsp;



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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

Arctic storms will increasingly affect global climate

Research aircrafts are flying through the heart of Arctic storms...

In a new study, researchers at <a href="https://duke.edu/">Duke University</a> have found that hybrid baboons got about one-third of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-have-inherited-hundreds-of-genes-from-microbes/">genes</a> from another, closely-related species. The experts found evidence that some of these borrowed genes came at a cost for the interbred animals.&nbsp;



The genetic study was focused on wild baboons in southern Kenya near Amboseli National Park, where yellow baboons often encounter and intermix with Anubis baboons from the northwest. These individuals have been monitored since 1971 as part of the Amboseli Baboon Research Project. Scientists with the project have documented when the animals mated with outsiders and have observed the offspring throughout their lives.&nbsp;



According to five decades of observations, there have been no obvious signs that hybrids fare any worse than their counterparts. In fact, baboons with more anubis DNA in their genome were found to mature faster, form stronger social bonds, and have more mating success.&nbsp;



The Duke study, however, indicates that there are potential consequences of intermixing that are not so obvious. Professor Jenny Tung, who led the study with her doctoral students Tauras Vilgalys and Arielle Fogel, said the research sheds light on how the diversity of species on Earth is maintained even when the genetic lines between species are blurry.



According to Fogel, interspecies mating is surprisingly common in animals - 20 to 30 percent of apes, monkeys and other primate species interbreed and mix their genes with others.



The researchers set out to investigate the possible costs and benefits of genetic mixing in primates, including humans. They analyzed the genomes of 440 Amboseli baboons across nine generations.



The study revealed that all of the baboons in the Amboseli are a mix, with anubis DNA making up an average of 37 percent of their genomes. Some of the interbreeding was recent - within the last seven generations. For about half of the baboons, however, the mixing happened hundreds to thousands of generations ago.



During that time, the data show that certain bits of anubis DNA came at a cost for the hybrids who inherited them, affecting their survival and reproduction in such a way that these genes are less likely to show up in their descendants’ genomes today, explained Vilgalys.



The researchers said that the baboons at Amboseli offer clues to the costs of the hybridization. Vilgalys noted that genomic data allows researchers to look back many more generations and study historical processes that can’t be seen directly in the field.



“But you need to look at the animals themselves to understand what genetic changes actually mean,” said Professor Tung. “You need both fieldwork and genetics to get the whole story.”



“We’re not saying this is what Neanderthal and Denisovans genes did in humans. But the baboon case makes it clear that genomic evidence for costs to hybridization can be consistent with animals that not only survive, but often thrive.”



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

Hybridization among wild baboons comes with hidden costs

In a new study, researchers at Duke University have found...

Researchers in Taiwan have developed a new approach to recover residual energy from discarded batteries, paving the way for the circular <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/batteries-made-from-sodium-would-be-cheap-yet-powerful/">economy</a>.&nbsp;



Each year, nearly 15 billion batteries are produced and sold worldwide. Most end up in landfills and only some are salvaged. While these batteries may no longer be usable, a small amount of energy is left behind. In fact, about half of discarded batteries have as much as 50 percent of their energy left.



A team of experts led by Professor Chien-Hsing Lee from <a href="https://www.ncku.edu.tw/">NCKU</a> has investigated how this lost energy can be restored to promote a circular economy for discarded batteries. The researchers propose a new method called “self-adaptive pulse discharge” (SAPD) that can be used to determine the optimal values of pulse frequency and duty cycle which determine the discharge current from the discarded batteries. A high discharge current amounts to a high amount of recovered energy.



“Draining small remaining energy from household batteries is a starting point for waste reduction, and the proposed energy recovery method serves as an effective tool to reutilize a large number of discarded primary batteries,“ said Professor Lee.



The researchers built a hardware prototype that was used to recover the remaining capacity of a battery bank capable of holding six to 10 batteries of different brands. They managed to recover up to 1,455 joules of energy with a recovery efficiency as much as 46 percent.



To further validate the proposed method, discarded AA and AAA batteries were chosen for energy recovery. Among these batteries, the team successfully recovered 35 - 41 percent of energy.



“While there seems to be no advantage in draining a small amount of energy from a single discarded battery, the recovered energy significantly increases if a large number of waste batteries are exploited,” highlights Professor Lee.



The experts suggest that there could be a direct link between the recovery efficiency and the remaining capacity of discarded batteries.&nbsp;



As for the future implications of their work, Professor Lee said the model and the prototype developed can be applied to battery types other than AA and AAA. "In addition to different types of single-use batteries, rechargeable batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries, can also be examined to provide more information about the variability among different batteries.”



The findings of the study could significantly impact the energy industry and pave the way to a more sustainable future.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=41">IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics</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

Can we recover energy from discarded batteries?

Researchers in Taiwan have developed a new approach to recover...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-confirms-microplastics-have-entered-our-food-chain/">Microplastics</a> are very small plastics – usually measuring less than five millimeters – which can accumulate in the body of humans and other animals and disturb a range of biological functions. They are mainly introduced in the oceans and eventually affect humans on the top of the food chain by initially disrupting the endocrine systems of marine life-forms. In order to minimize the harm caused by these microplastics, a reliable and effective technology to filter them is needed.



However, since they are small, it is extremely difficult to separate or dispose of water-borne microplastics using available filters. Especially nanoplastics – which are smaller than microns – entail problems that are difficult to overcome, including filter clogging and environmental pollution caused by the filter itself.



Recently though, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.dgist.ac.kr/en/">Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology</a> (DGIST) in collaboration with the <a href="https://eng.kitech.re.kr/">Korea Institute of Industrial Technology&nbsp;</a>(KITECH) has managed to develop the world’s first eco-friendly power generation device which can efficiently remove fine particles - including micro- and nanoplastics - from the water. This device is based on a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/triboelectric-nanogenerators">triboelectric nanogenerator</a> (TENG) developed by researchers at DGIST and a particle removal technology using electrophoresis that scientists at KITECH devised.



As TENG generates electrical energy through physical energy, it provides the opportunity to manufacture eco-friendly microplastic filters. Moreover, since the new device also utilizes the high voltage characteristic of triboelectric energy, it does not require an external power source, so it can be operated regardless of the location. According to the scientists, the new porous microstructure-based TENG exhibits more than threefold higher output than the existing TENG. Tests revealed that this device’s removal rate of microplastics was 21.4 percent – about 5.6 times higher than that of the existing TENG. In addition, the researchers showed that this groundbreaking technology can also efficiently remove a variety of other micro-toxic particles, such as nano-sized zinc oxides or silicon dioxides.



A detailed description of the device was published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2022.107433">Nano Energy</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Experts devise the world’s first eco-friendly microplastics filter

Microplastics are very small plastics – usually measuring less than...

Plant growth in arid <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mangrove-forest-reveals-ancient-climate-change-effects/">mangroves</a> is often limited by a lack of precipitation, poor nutrient availability, and high soil salinity. Soil bacteria play a crucial role in processes that sustain plant growth, such as transforming dead vegetation into useful nutrients. However, regardless of its importance for the health of mangrove habitats, the sediment microbiome of these ecosystems has been largely overlooked in previous scientific studies.&nbsp;



Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/">King Abdullah University of Science &amp; Technology</a> (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has found that fiddler crabs burrowing beneath arid mangrove forests help bring beneficial bacteria to ecosystems in dire need of nutrients.



&nbsp;“Mangroves are the most efficient ecosystem in the world at absorbing carbon dioxide and therefore fighting climate change,” said study lead author Marco Fusi, a marine scientist at KAUST. However, since global warming puts increasing pressure on these already vulnerable ecosystems, Fusi and his colleagues embarked on a quest to understand how their resilience could be improved.



The scientists investigated whether soil disturbance, or “bioturbation” by fiddler crabs affects the sediment microbiome and consequently plant growth&nbsp;in an arid mangrove ecosystem on the Red Sea. “The rationale behind this research is that the continuous soil reworking by the ‘animal engineers’ creates an ‘oxygenation halo’ around the burrows, which makes the sediment more hospitable to bacteria that, in turn, help the plant with nutrients,” explained study senior author Daniele Daffonchio, a professor of Marine Science at KAUST.



By analyzing ten plots isolated by fences, with five of them containing extra crabs brought in from nearby mangroves, the researchers found that the enriched plots contained more beneficial bacteria, including several&nbsp;Gammaproteobacteria&nbsp;and&nbsp;Alphaproteobacteria&nbsp;which&nbsp;produce chemicals essential for trapping iron in the sediment. Since Red Sea mangroves are iron deficient, bacteria that help deliver iron to the trees can significantly improve their growth.



Moreover, increased fiddler crab activity also improved soil pH and salinity. “We found a strong effect of bioturbation on soil pH and salinity,” said Fusi. “In some cases, bioturbation can reduce salinity, thereby alleviating the salt stress on the plant.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



In future research, the scientists aim to assess whether bioturbation can also impact the settling and growth of mangrove seedlings. According to Fusi, “understanding how bioturbation affects the microbial community is extremely important to drive nature-based solutions to protect, restore and conserve mangroves.”&nbsp;



“Our findings suggest that maintaining conditions that favor fiddler crabs could help arid mangroves thrive under changes imposed by global warming,” concluded co-author Jenny Booth, a marine microbiologist at KAUST.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01117-22">Microbiology Spectrum</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Burrowing crabs bring beneficial bacteria to mangrove forests

Plant growth in arid mangroves is often limited by a...

Scientists have long thought that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/testosterone-does-not-have-an-influence-on-success/">testosterone</a> enhances aggressive behavior and dampens prosocial behaviors. However, a new study on the effects of this hormone on Mongolian gerbils led by <a href="https://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a> has found that it can also foster friendly, prosocial behaviors in males, allowing the animals to rapidly change their responses, depending on the social situation they are in.



“For what we believe is the first time, we’ve demonstrated that testosterone can directly promote nonsexual, prosocial behavior, in addition to aggression, in the same individual,” said study lead author Aubrey Kelly, an assistant professor of Psychology at Emory. “It’s surprising because normally we think of testosterone as increasing sexual behaviors and aggression. But we’ve shown that it can have more nuanced effects, depending on the social context.”



The researchers conducted experiments on Mongolian gerbils – a species of rodents known to form lasting pair bonds and raise their pups together. Although these males can become aggressive in defense of their territory and sometimes during mating, they also exhibit cuddling behavior after a female becomes pregnant, as well as protective behaviors toward their pups later on.&nbsp;



In the experiments, the scientists first introduced a male gerbil to a female one, and, after the animals formed a pair and the female became pregnant, they gave the males an injection of testosterone, expecting that the acute rise in testosterone levels will lessen its cuddling behaviors. “Instead, we were surprised that a male gerbil became even more cuddly and prosocial with his partner. He became like ‘super partner,’” Professor Kelly reported.



In a follow-up experiment after a week, the females were removed from the cage and an unknown male gerbil was introduced. “Normally, a male would chase another male that came into its cage, or try to avoid it. Instead, the resident males that had previously been injected with testosterone were more friendly to the intruder.”



However, this friendly behavior changed abruptly following another injection of testosterone, making the gerbils more aggressive towards the intruder. “It appears that testosterone enhances context-appropriate behavior,” Kelly explained. “It seems to play a role in amplifying the tendency to be cuddly and protective or aggressive.” Thus, testosterone appears to help animals rapidly pivot between prosocial and antisocial responses as their social world changes.



Although human behaviors are more complex than those of Mongolian gerbils, the scientists hope these findings will provide a basis for similar research on hormonal responses in other species, including humans. “Our hormones are the same, and the parts of the brain they act upon are even the same,” said study senior author Richmond Thompson, a neuroscientist at Emory.



“So, learning how hormones like testosterone help other animals adjust to rapidly changing social contexts will not only help us understand the biological nuts and bolts that affect their behavior, but also predict and ultimately understand how the same molecules in human brains help shape our own responses to the social world around us,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.0453">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Testosterone can promote prosocial behaviors

Scientists have long thought that testosterone enhances aggressive behavior and...

Red,Berries,Of,A,Lingonberry,(vaccinium,Vitis-idaea),On,A,Mountainside.

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uaf.edu/">University of Alaska Fairbanks</a> (UAF) has found that thawing Arctic hillsides currently release a large amount of organic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deeper-plant-roots-could-boost-soil-carbon-storage/">carbon</a> that has been locked in frozen ground for thousands of years, but which is now contributing to an already warming climate. A significant and rapid increase of collapsed hillsides feature landslides which gradually expose more permafrost for thawing and release more carbon into the atmosphere.&nbsp;



“Permafrost landscapes are expected to change profoundly over the next decades,” said study co-author Simon Zwieback, an assistant professor of Geosciences at UAF. “Among the many consequences of this is the release of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, which can exacerbate climate change.”



The scientists focused on a 10,500 square miles in the northern Taymyr peninsula of Siberia and compared satellite images from two time periods (2010 to 2017 and 2018 to 2021) in order to observe elevation changes, as well as the movement of debris and of the slump’s exposed leading edge. In a second step, they incorporated a soil organic carbon map into their analysis to estimate the amount of organic carbon released.



An ice sheet covered the Taymyr region around 130,000 years ago, with subsequent periods of ice retreat and advance covering an increasingly smaller area. The experts estimate that the most recent retreat occurred at the end of the last ice age and lasted until about 12,000 years ago. Such a retreating ice sheet leaves behind substantial quantities of ice covered by sand, clay, rocks, and gravel, especially along its edges, which are known as ice-marginal zones.&nbsp;



By studying two of these zones, the scientists found an increase in the slumps from 82 in the 2010-2017 period to 1,404 in the 2018-2021 period, with most of the increase occurring during the region’s extremely warm 2020. Moreover, the analysis revealed that the annual volume of affected material increased by approximately 43 times from the first to the second period.



“The extreme warmth was compounded by there being a lot of ground ice close to the surface,” Professor Zwieback explained. “This is due to the long-term legacy of past ice ages but also to the fact that so much of this old ice is still there because summers are usually cool and there are no fires. And the ice is not well protected by insulating organic layers because there’s not much life in the harsh climate.”



According to Professor Zwieback and his colleagues, the carbon release from thawing Arctic hillsides must be accounted for to reliably assess the Arctic’s carbon cycle. Further investigations are also needed to quantify how much of it is turned into greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. “The big challenge is to quantify and predict where, when and how much carbon dioxide is released,” Professor Zwieback concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/16/2819/2022/">The Cryosphere</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Thawing Arctic hillsides are contributing to climate change

A new study led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks...

If humanity ever decides it is time to move to another <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-has-warmed-four-times-faster-than-the-rest-of-the-planet/">planet</a>, people will need to construct infrastructure there, in the form of buildings, housing, and rocket landing pads. This represents a considerable engineering challenge as current construction materials on Earth, such as cement, are far too heavy to include in the payload of a space rocket. And we don’t even know whether they would work under the temperature and pressure conditions experienced extraterrestrially. Future residents on other planets will most likely have to use locally available materials with which to build their infrastructure.&nbsp;



This has led researchers to explore ways of using clay-like topsoils from the moon and Mars as the basis for space cement. There is lots of soil available on these bodies, but this will have to be bound together to form concrete by using a binder that works under extraterrestrial conditions. One requirement for such an out-of-this-world construction material is that it must be durable enough for the vertical launch pads needed to protect man-made rockets from swirling rocks, dust and other debris during liftoff or landing. Most conventional construction materials, such as ordinary cement, are not suitable under space conditions.



“If we’re going to live and work on another planet like Mars or the Moon, we need to make concrete. But we can’t take bags of concrete with us – we need to use local resources,” said Norman Wagner of the <a href="https://www.udel.edu/">University of Delaware</a>.



The researchers are exploring ways to use clay-like topsoil materials from the moon or Mars as the basis for extraterrestrial cement that can be used as a binder to form concrete for building purposes. Maria Katzarova, a former associate scientist and member of Wagner’s lab at UD, wondered whether it would be possible to activate simulated moon and Martian soils to become concrete-like building materials using geopolymer chemistry.&nbsp;



Geopolymers are inorganic polymers formed from aluminosilicate minerals found in common clays everywhere on Earth, as well as in extraterrestrial soils such as those found on the moon and Mars. When mixed with a solvent that has a high pH, such as sodium silicate, the clay dissolves out, freeing the aluminum and silicon inside to react with other materials and act as a binding agent, in the same way that cement does on Earth.



Katzarova proposed the idea to NASA and obtained funding via the Delaware Space Grant Consortium to test out this idea, with the help and expertise of then-UD doctoral student Jennifer Mills, who studied terrestrial geopolymers for her doctoral dissertation. The researchers systematically prepared geopolymer binders from a variety of simulated lunar and Martian soils and then compared the materials’ characteristics and performance, which hadn’t been done before. Their findings were reported in the journal Advances in Space Research, earlier this year, and have also been highlighted recently in the journal <a href="https://advanceseng.com/">Advances in Engineering</a>.



“This is not a trivial thing. You can’t just say give me any old clay, and I’ll make it work. There are metrics to it, chemistry that you have to worry about,” Wagner said.



The researchers mixed various simulated soils with sodium silicate then cast the geopolymer mixture into ice-cube-like molds and waited for the reaction to occur. They found that three simulated lunar soil samples and one Martian soil sample were successfully converted to geopolymer binders using this method. After seven days, they measured each cube’s size and weight, then crushed it to understand how the material behaves under load. Specifically, they wanted to know if slight differences in chemistry between simulated soils affected the material’s strength.&nbsp;



“When a rocket takes off there's a lot of weight pushing down on the landing pad and the concrete needs to hold, so the material’s compressive strength becomes an important metric,” said Wagner. “At least on Earth, we were able to make materials in little cubes that had the compressive strength necessary to do the job.”



The research team also subjected the samples to environmental conditions that are commonly present in space, including vacuum and low and high temperatures. They found that, in a vacuum, some of the material samples did form cement, while others were only partially successful. Overall, the geopolymer cement’s compressive strength decreased when it was formed under vacuum conditions, in comparison with the geopolymer cubes cured at room temperature and pressure.&nbsp;



“There's going to be a tradeoff between whether we need to cast these materials in a pressurized environment to ensure the reaction forms the strongest material or whether we can get away with forming them under vacuum, the normal environment on the moon or Mars, and achieve something that's good enough,” said Mills, who earned her doctoral degree in chemical engineering at UD in May 2022 and now works at Dow Chemical Company.&nbsp;



Temperature also played a significant role in determining the characteristics of the geopolymer cement. At low temperatures of about -80oC, the geopolymer materials didn’t react at all, and did not set.&nbsp;



“This tells us that we might need to use some sort of accelerant to achieve the strength we see at room temperature,” Mills said. “Maybe the geopolymer needs to be heated, or maybe we need to add something else to the mix to kickstart the reaction for certain applications or environments.”



At high temperatures of around 600oC, all the samples using moon soils were stronger than at room temperature. This was not surprising, Mills said, given that the reactions were so sluggish at low temperatures. The research team also saw changes in the physical nature of the geopolymer cement under conditions of increased temperature.



“The geopolymer bricks became much more brittle when we heated them up, shattering as opposed to becoming compressed or breaking in two,” said Mills. “That could be important if the material is going to be subjected to any type of external pressure.”



Based on their results, the researchers said that chemical composition and particle size of the soils may play an important role in the strength of these materials. For example, smaller particles increase the available surface area for chemical reactions, making the soils easier to react and potentially leading to greater overall material strength.&nbsp;



Two of Wagner’s current graduate students are also exploring ways to use geopolymer cements to 3D-print houses and to activate geopolymer materials using microwave technology. The work is a collaborative project, funded by the National Science Foundation, with researchers at Northeastern and Georgetown Universities. Similar to the microwaves you use to reheat your morning coffee, microwave heating can accelerate geopolymer curing and may one day provide a way for terrestrial builders – or astronauts – to cure geopolymer concrete in a targeted way.



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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

Can soil from the moon be used to construct buildings?

If humanity ever decides it is time to move to...

Southern,Right,Whale,With,Gull

Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are native to oceans in the southern hemisphere and a breeding population exists around Aotearoa New Zealand and its sub-Antarctic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-types-of-islands-attract-migratory-birds/">islands</a>. The whales, known locally as tohorā, used to be more common in the region, and are known to have come inshore in the past to use sheltered harbors for calving and mating. The large numbers that were present in earlier times were dramatically reduced by whaling activity and by the time the killing of this species was banned in 1937, southern right whales were almost extinct, globally.&nbsp;



As a result of the hunting, there was no sighting of a southern right whale for 35 years in the waters around mainland Aotearoa New Zealand, with the remnant population persisting only around the remote sub-Antarctic islands. However, by 2009 there were an estimated 2,200 of these whales in the region, indicating a slow but steady recovery in the population. Individuals move between mainland Aotearoa New Zealand, including Stewart Island (Rakiura), and the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (Maungahuka) and Campbell Island (Motu Ihupuku). Sightings are still very rare and may number no more than one or two in total, in some years.&nbsp;



A new study, led by Annabelle Cranswick of the <a href="https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en.html">University of Auckland</a>, has made use of posts on Facebook and nature-watching network iNaturalist to bolster the data on whale sightings and help monitor the population of southern right whales in Aotearoa New Zealand waters.&nbsp;



By using sightings data from 2011 to 2021 recorded in the New Zealand Department of Conservation's <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/marine-mammal">Marine Mammal</a>&nbsp;Database, and supplementing these with crowd-sourced sightings reported on Facebook and iNaturalist, the researchers were able to increase the spatiotemporal extent of sampling for this rare and whale species.



“Photos supplied on social media and by citizen scientists are proving so important for us to monitor populations of these recovering whales,” said Cranswick. “We can assess that yes, this is a southern right whale, and discover how long a whale stayed in a particular area. “Even a distant photo, showing just part of a whale, can be helpful,” says Cranswick. “We can pick a southern right from just the white patches called callosities on the head, their flat back which lacks a dorsal fin, or even their large paddle-shaped pectoral fins.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



In total, there were only 116 sightings of southern right whales in New Zealand waters from both the Department of Conservation and the social network sources, reported over the 11-year research period (2011–2021). Since all the social media sightings were accompanied by photos that enabled species identification, these posts increased the overall number and quality of sightings and provided new information on the fine-scale movement and residency times of the whales.&nbsp;



“We went through ten years of social media data to extract these sighting reports,” said Hannah Hendriks, a marine biologist with the Department of Conservation. “There are very few whale researchers and rangers scattered across the country, so we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears.”



Bobby Phuong, a mailman in Christchurch who’s an enthusiastic amateur wildlife photographer, shot one of the images to feature in the study. He drove for nearly an hour to see a whale and calf at Sumner in August last year, sharing his photos via Facebook. “They were remarkable to witness and I’m glad my photos have helped in some way,” he says. In Gisborne, Wainui Beach resident Ian Ruru captured images of a southern right whale frolicking in the waves, meters away from surfers, in September 2018. “She sat directly in front of our home for eight hours that day … I guess she wanted her story to be told ... Paikea we called her,” said Ruru.



The results of the analysis, published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/ocean-and-coastal-management">Ocean &amp; Coastal Management</a>, indicate that, although numbers of whales have increased slowly in the region during the study period, the numbers around mainland New Zealand have not grown in the past decade. The authors hypothesize that this may due to the loss of so many female whales during the time of whaling, that the collective memory about making use of the mainland waters has been lost.&nbsp;



This study highlights the way in which social media may be put to good use to supplement knowledge and data gaps in traditional ecological monitoring programs. Whales are charismatic megafauna that often appear on social network posts and are ideal for public outreach sightings data.&nbsp;



“Social media provided detailed information from areas with lots of people and lots of cameras,” said study co-author Dr. Emma Carroll. “Where there are fewer people, like the west coast of Te Waipounamu (the South Island), information from the public and Department of Conservation rangers recorded in the national database was more important,” she explained.



The researchers stress that, although photographs and sightings of inshore whales are invaluable sources of important data, would-be citizen-scientists are reminded that photographers must stay 50m from adult whales and 200m from whales with calves, so as not to disturb them.&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

Social media posts help monitor rarely sighted whales

Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are native to oceans in...

Leisure activities could help lower the risk of dementia, according to a new meta-analysis published in the online issue of <a href="http://www.neurology.org/">Neurology</a>, the medical journal of the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a>. These activities include reading a book, doing yoga and spending time with family and friends.



For the investigation, the experts reviewed available studies on the effects of cognitive, physical, and social activities and the risk of dementia.



“Previous studies have shown that leisure activities were associated with various health benefits, such as a lower cancer risk, a reduction of atrial fibrillation, and a person’s perception of their own well-being,” said study co-author Lin Lu of Peking University Sixth Hospital in Beijing, China.&nbsp;



“However, there is conflicting evidence of the role of leisure activities in the prevention of dementia. Our research found that leisure activities like making crafts, playing sports or volunteering were linked to a reduced risk of dementia.”



The meta-analysis involved a review of 38 international studies involving more than 2 million people. The participants were followed for at least three years.



The individuals provided information on their leisure activities - those in which people engaged for enjoyment or well-being and were divided into mental, physical and social activities. During the study period, 74,700 people developed dementia.



The researchers found that, overall,&nbsp; leisure activities were linked to a reduced risk of dementia. Those who engaged in leisure activities had a 17 percent lower risk of developing dementia.



Mental activity included reading or writing for pleasure, watching television, listening to the radio, playing games or musical instruments, using a computer,&nbsp; and making crafts. The researchers found that people who participated in these activities had a lower risk of dementia by 23 percent.



Physical activities included walking, running, swimming, bicycling, playing sports, yoga, and dancing. Those who participated in these activities had a 17 percent lower risk of dementia.



Social activities referred to activities that involved communication with others and included attending a class, joining a social club, volunteering, visiting with relatives or friends, or attending religious activities. The experts found that people who participated in these activities had a seven percent lower risk of dementia.



There are plenty of activities that are easy to incorporate into our daily lives that have many benefits for the brain.&nbsp;



The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China, China Association for Science and Technology and PKU-Baidu Fund.



Learn more about dementia at <a href="http://www.brainandlife.org/">BrainandLife.org</a>, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health.&nbsp;



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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

Leisure activities greatly lower the risk of dementia

Leisure activities could help lower the risk of dementia, according...

Plastic waste is a perennial problem that technology continues to try and overcome. A possible solution that is being explored is the use of enzymes that can break down plastics. Enzymes could potentially be used to break down specific plastic components and could possibly be more cost and energy efficient than other ways of breaking down or recycling plastics.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Unfortunately, using enzymes comes with a host of problems, as they are often not stable or very effective under conditions that would make them useful at an industrial scale.



In an effort to overcome these challenges and design an enzyme useful for recycling plastics at an industrial level, scientists with the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) have developed a new engineering platform. The platform can assess the ability to break down plastics of about 1,000 enzymes a day. The process uses directed evolution, where mutations are introduced and selected for, to create useful enzymes.&nbsp;



To demonstrate the ability of this platform, scientists have used it to create an enzyme that degrades poly(ethylene) terephthalate (PET), the most common plastic used to make bottles.&nbsp;



“The accumulation of plastic in the environment is a major global challenge. For this reason, we were keen to use our enzyme evolution capabilities to enhance the properties of plastic degrading enzymes to help alleviate some of these problems," explained Dr. Elizabeth Bell, who led the experimental work at the MIB.



"We are hopeful that in the future our scalable platform will allow us to quickly develop new and specific enzymes are suitable for use in large-scale plastic recycling processes.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The new enzyme - called HotPETase - was developed by direct evolution starting with IsPETase, which is naturally created by the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis to degrade PET. Unfortunately, the enzyme is unstable at hotter temperatures required for industrial recycling, so the researchers developed HotPETase, which works at 70°C (~158°F), making it more optimal.&nbsp;



This engineering feat is a promising step forward. However, to continue the process, much collaborative and interdisciplinary work will be needed.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The research was published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41929-022-00821-3">Nature Catalysis</a>.&nbsp;



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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

New enzyme developed to recycle plastic

Plastic waste is a perennial problem that technology continues to...

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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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 Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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

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