In the arid, fossil-rich landscape of Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, a team of paleontologists stumbled across something unexpected. The experts found the fossilized jawbone of a pterosaur that may be the oldest ever found in North America.



The discovery came from a remote site that revealed not just one remarkable creature, but a whole ecosystem preserved in stone.



The study was led by scientists from the Smithsonian’s <a href="https://www.si.edu/museums/natural-history-museum">National Museum of Natural History</a> and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Petrified Forest National Park</a>. The research introduces a new pterosaur species alongside more than 1,000 other fossils.



Some of these include one of the world’s oldest turtle specimens. Together, the fossils paint a vivid picture of life just before one of Earth’s biggest mass extinctions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-life-before-mass-extinction">Life before mass extinction</h2>



The pterosaur fossils come from rock layers that date back to the Late <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-did-not-impact-dinosaur-abundance-in-the-triassic/">Triassic</a> period. During this time, ancient amphibians and crocodile-like reptiles lived side by side with animals that would go on to shape the future of the planet, including early turtles, frogs, and flying reptiles.



“The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities, where we start seeing groups that thrive later in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-were-not-the-only-animals-that-grew-fast-during-the-mesozoic/">Mesozoic</a> living alongside these older animals that don’t make it past the Triassic,” said study lead author Ben Kligman.



This glimpse into prehistoric life is especially valuable because it dates to just before the end-Triassic extinction - about 201.5 million years ago - when massive volcanic eruptions dramatically altered Earth’s climate. 



The event wiped out roughly 75% of all species, paving the way for dinosaurs to rise to dominance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-hidden-by-ash">Fossils hidden by ash</h2>



Direct fossil evidence from just before this extinction is hard to come by. Few fossil-rich outcrops from this time exist, but Petrified Forest National Park is one of the rare exceptions. 



Known for its colorful layers of petrified wood and Triassic fossils, the park has long been a treasure trove for paleontologists.



One rock layer, called the Owl Rock Member, has proven especially important. It’s full of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fire-and-ice-volcanic-ash-plays-a-surprising-role-in-cloud-formation/">volcanic ash</a>, which helped scientists date it precisely to around 209 million years ago. These are some of the park’s youngest rocks - but also among its least explored.



Study co-author William Parker explained that the Owl Rock exposures are tucked away in extremely remote areas. Few teams have been able to study them in detail.



In 2011, a research group led by Kay Behrensmeyer decided to take on the challenge. Braving the rugged terrain - complete with rattlesnakes and wild horses - they went in search of mammal-like fossils. 



What they found instead was a densely packed bonebed, full of life from a vanished world.



“That’s the fun thing about paleontology: you go looking for one thing, and then you find something else that’s incredible that you weren’t expecting,” said Kligman, who started working at the site during his PhD studies in 2018.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-life-buried-by-floods">Ancient life buried by floods</h2>



Back in the Triassic, this part of Arizona was located near the equator and sat in the center of the supercontinent <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/supercontinents-101-pannotia-gondwana-and-pangea/">Pangaea</a>. 



The land was semi-arid, with winding river channels and a seasonal flood cycle. One of those floods likely buried the animals that are now preserved in the bonebed.



The fossil layer was so dense with tiny remains that collecting them onsite was impossible. Instead, researchers carved out large blocks of sediment, wrapped them in plaster, and brought them back to the lab.



Many of these blocks were sent to the Smithsonian’s FossiLab, where volunteers spent thousands of hours carefully exposing the bones. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-fossils-major-clues">Small fossils, major clues</h2>



The rivers teemed with fish like coelacanths and freshwater sharks. Giant amphibians - some stretching over six feet long - swam through the streams. On land, armored herbivores and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-crocodile-like-beast-was-a-terrifying-predator/">crocodile-like predators</a> ruled.



At the same time, smaller creatures were starting to make their mark. The team identified early frogs, relatives of today’s tuataras, and a turtle with spike-like armor that could fit in a shoebox. 



The remains of a small pterosaur were also hidden among the layers - just one part of a fossil record that shows how quickly new groups were emerging and spreading across Pangaea.



“This suggests that turtles rapidly dispersed across Pangaea, which is surprising for an animal that is not very large and is likely walking at a slow pace,” said Kligman.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pterosaur-that-perched-like-a-bird">Pterosaur that perched like a bird</h2>



One of the most exciting finds was a jawbone with teeth still in place. It belonged to a small pterosaur, one of the first vertebrates capable of powered flight. This early flier could have perched on a person’s shoulder.



The pterosaur fossil was uncovered by Suzanne McIntire, a volunteer who spent 18 years working in the FossiLab.



“What was exciting about uncovering this specimen was that the teeth were still in the bone, so I knew the animal would be much easier to identify,” McIntire said.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pterosaur_Eotephradactylus-mcintireae_Arizona_illustration_credit-Brian-Engh_1big.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pterosaur_Eotephradactylus-mcintireae_Arizona_illustration_credit-Brian-Engh_1s.webp" alt="An artist's reconstruction of the fossilized landscape, plants and animals found preserved in a remote bonebed in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The newly described pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintireae is seen eating an ancient ray-finned fish alongside an early species of turtle and an early frog species, with the skeleton of an armored crocodile relative lying on the ground and a palm-like plant growing in the background. Credit: Brian Engh" class="wp-image-1977432"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An artist's reconstruction of the fossilized landscape, plants and animals found preserved in a remote bonebed in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The newly described pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintireae is seen eating an ancient ray-finned fish alongside an early species of turtle and an early frog species, with the skeleton of an armored crocodile relative lying on the ground and a palm-like plant growing in the background. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Brian Engh</figcaption></figure>



The wear on the teeth gave scientists a clue about the pterosaur’s diet. It likely fed on armored fish that were common in the area. 



The new species was named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, which translates to “ash-winged dawn goddess." This title honors McIntire, who retired last year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-exactly-is-a-pterosaur">What exactly is a pterosaur?</h2>



Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that existed during the time of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-did-dinosaurs-come-from-missing-fossils-hold-the-secret/">dinosaurs</a>. They were the first animals with backbones to evolve powered flight, well before birds or bats came on the scene.



Powered by skin stretched across an extended fourth finger, they ranged in size and shape from something no larger than a crow to giants with wings up to 30 feet or more.



Pterosaurs were not dinosaurs. They formed their own group of reptiles and possessed special adaptations for flight. Some flew above coastlines, while others preyed on fish or small land animals inland.



The new fossil contributes to what is known about those early birds and how they expanded around the globe.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2505513122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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North America's oldest known pterosaur discovered in a petrified forest

In the arid, fossil-rich landscape of Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, a team of paleontologists stumbled across something unexpected. The experts found the fossilized jawbone of a pterosaur that may be the oldest ever found in North America. The discovery came from a remote site that revealed not just one remarkable creature, but a whole ecosystem preserved in stone. The study was led by scientists from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and Petrified Forest National Park. The research introduces a new pterosaur species alongside more...

New research led by the <a href="https://www.nioz.nl/en">Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research</a> (NIOZ) has found that a type of bacteria (Rhodococcus ruber) can eat and actually digest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-a-planetary-emergency/">plastic</a> particles. By using a model study with plastic in artificial seawater in the laboratory, the experts calculated that bacteria can break down about one percent of the fed plastic per year into carbon dioxide and other harmless substances.



“But this is certainly not a solution to the problem of the plastic soup in our oceans. It is, however, another part of the answer to the question of where all the ‘missing plastic’ in the oceans has gone,” said study lead author Maaike Goudriaan, a doctoral student in Microbiology and Biogeochemistry at NIOZ.



For these experiments, the scientists manufactured a special type of plastic with a distinct form of carbon (13C) in it. When fed to the bacteria after pretreatment with UV radiation mimicking sunlight in a bottle of simulated seawater, the special version of carbon appeared as CO2 above the water. “The treatment with UV light was necessary because we already know that&nbsp;sunlight partially breaks down plastic&nbsp;into bite-sized chunks for bacteria,” Goudriaan explained. “This is the first time we have proven in this way that bacteria actually digest plastic into CO2&nbsp;and other molecules.”



While scientists already knew that this bacterium&nbsp;can form a so-called biofilm on plastic in nature, and that the plastic disappears under that biofilm, this study is the first to prove that the bacteria actually digest the plastic.



By calculating the total breakdown of plastic into CO2, the researchers found that the bacteria can break down about one percent of the available plastic per year. “That’s probably an underestimate,” Goudriaan said. “We only measured the amount of carbon-13 in CO2, so not in the other breakdown products of the plastic. There will certainly be&nbsp;13C in several other molecules, but it’s hard to say what part of that was broken down by the UV light and what part was digested by the bacteria.”



However, as Goudriaan stresses, microbial digestion is far from being a solution to the major problem of plastic pollution. “These experiments are mainly a proof of principle. I see it as one piece of the jigsaw, in the issue of where all the plastic that disappears into the oceans stays. If you try to trace all our waste, a lot of plastic is lost. Digestion by bacteria could possibly provide part of the explanation.”



Further research is needed to investigate whether bacteria&nbsp;also eat plastic “in the wild,” with some promising results already arising from experiments with real sea water and sediment collected from the Wadden Sea floor. “The first results of these experiments hints at plastic being degraded, even in nature. A new PhD student will have to continue that work. Ultimately, of course, you hope to calculate how much plastic in the oceans really is degraded by bacteria. But much better than cleaning up, is prevention. And only we humans can do that,” Goudriaan concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114369">Marine Pollution Bulletin</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



—



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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Bacteria can eat and digest plastic

New research led by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea...

Despite the existence of many mechanisms that prevent reproduction between two different species in nature, hybridization is a widespread phenomenon that has shaped the genomes many of today’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-than-350-new-species-discovered-in-2022/">species</a>, humans included. When the genomes of two different species are combined through successful reproduction, this provides a source of genetic novelties that can be crucial in helping populations adapt to changing environments. Understanding the evolution of hybrid genomes is therefore important because it can shed light on how species barriers become established, on the costs and benefits of hybridization, and on the function of genes and their interactions.&nbsp;



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> were aware that two species of wood ants, Formica aquilonia&nbsp;and&nbsp;F.&nbsp;polyctena have bred and formed populations of hybrids in several different locations in Finland. The researchers took advantage of these known hybrid populations to measure how rapid and predictable the evolution of genomes is in the wild, after hybridization has taken place. In this case, predictability applies to the genetic outcome after hybridization, and the question of whether, if one could redo the same hybridization, the genetic results would be similar.&nbsp;



The scientists collected 39 ants from the three different hybrid populations in the forests in southern Finland, close to the Tvärminne Zoological Station. They then generated whole-genome DNA sequences from these individuals and compared them with genomes from 10 individual ants of both parent species, found within and outside the ranges where the hybrids and parental species overlap. In order to do this, they collaborated with scientists from Scotland and Portugal, and used supercomputers from the Finnish IT center for science (CSC). In total, the researchers analyzed about 1.6 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms from locations throughout the ant genomes.



The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001914">PLOS Biology</a>, showed that, for the three different hybrid populations, hybridization between the two ant species occurred only about 125 years ago, which equates to 50 ant generations. After hybridization, the three distinct hybrid populations evolved independently towards the same genetic outcome. This means that, today, the genomes of ants from the hybrid populations are remarkably similar to one another in terms of their genetic composition, even though they started out being dissimilar at the time of hybridization.&nbsp;



To explain this unexpected finding, the researchers tested for evidence of gene flow between the hybrid populations, and between hybrids and parental species. They found no evidence of gene flow and concluded that other mechanisms must be involved to explain this rather rapid evolution of the three hybrid populations towards a similar genome. They suggest that natural selection against deleterious genes in the hybridizing species with the lowest effective population size&nbsp;(and presumably higher load of disadvantageous alleles) could explain how the hybrid populations became genetically similar over such a short time.



When asked whether these results represented a small step or giant leap in knowledge, researcher Pierre Nouhaud, from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki responded, “A bit of both! Finnish wood ants give the opportunity to observe multiple, very recent hybridization events, and the amount of predictability we found, despite this recency, is remarkably high, which is quite novel. In the meantime, our study also confirms previous results obtained in a handful of species, including humans, suggesting the patterns we see in wood ants are quite general.”&nbsp;



“On an evolutionary timescale, we are dealing with recent events, less than 50 ant generations, which had very little time to leave footprints in DNA sequences,” adds Nouhaud. “This means it can be hard to distinguish between competing hypotheses. In our study we performed computer simulations considering different evolutionary scenarios to take this uncertainty into account and ensure our results are robust.”



The researchers emphasize that hybrid genomes provide powerful insights into evolution because they are exposed to strong, and often opposing, selective forces. In this way, evolution has shaped the hybrid genomes in a predictable manner, such that the genomes of the different hybrid populations are now similar. This indicates that selective pressures were similar for each hybrid population and this led to the removal of deleterious genes from the genomes.



“Since hybridization is also frequent in many other species than ants, our results could help understand its consequences more generally,” concludes docent Jonna Kulmuni, from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki. “On the long term, our work would help better apprehend the impact of hybridization in the wild and assess whether it could help species cope with changing environments,” she says.&nbsp;



Next, the ant research group will monitor the genetic composition of hybrid populations over multiple years to find evidence for adaptation and test whether hybrids can combine temperature ranges from both species, which might help wood ants deal with warming climate. According to Nouhaud this could be quite important because wood ants are key species of boreal forests: they provide food for many species, contribute to nutrient cycling, and hunt many other insects. Without them, Finnish forests would certainly look quite different.



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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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Hybrid ants evolve rapidly to remove deleterious genes

Despite the existence of many mechanisms that prevent reproduction between...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California, Santa Cruz</a> has investigated how different populations of red <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-urchin-behavior-drives-destruction-of-kelp-forests/">sea urchins</a> – a commercially valuable species – responded to changes in their environments. The analysis revealed that red sea urchin populations in Northern and Southern California are both adapted to their local environmental conditions, but differ in their vulnerability to future climate change and ocean acidification.&nbsp;



Although sea urchins in Southern California are already adapted to warmer conditions, the scientists estimate that further warming of the habitats may be more than they can tolerate.



“Red sea urchins from the Southern California population were much more sensitive to environmental changes than those from Northern California, and we think that is likely because they are already closer to some kind of thermal limit,” said study senior author Kristy Kroeker, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz.



The scientists examined the effects of three key environmental variables in sea urchins’ habitat: water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH (a variable measuring the level of ocean acidification). All of these variables are affected by climate change, which is warming the oceans, reducing oxygen levels in the water, and increasing acidification through the absorption of CO2 by seawater.



Currently, Northern California sea urchin populations are already adapted to more acidic, less oxygenated, and colder conditions than their Southern Californian counterparts. By exposing sea urchins from both populations to projected future conditions simulated in the laboratory, the researchers found that Northern California sea urchins experienced lower mortality than the Southern Californian ones.



“Despite the Northern California populations being in more acidic, lower-oxygen conditions in the future, it was the Southern California populations that were much more impacted,” said Kroeker.&nbsp;



This is surprising since the Northern Californian populations are already adapted to seasonal changes in which temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH all decrease in concert. With climate change, this so-called “covariance structure” will be broken: while dissolved oxygen and pH will decrease further, temperatures will rise.



“It’s breaking down the environmental covariance structure they’re adapted to, so our prediction was that this would make them more vulnerable. But that’s not what we found,” Kroeker said.



These discoveries suggest that water temperature is a critical variable for red sea urchins. Thus, with already warmer temperatures, the Southern Californian coastal waters may not have to get much warmer to reach temperatures inhospitable to their inhabitants.



“We should not assume that a species’ vulnerability to climate change is the same across its whole range. Each population is adapted to local conditions, and not all populations are going to respond similarly to global climate change,” Kroeker concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade2365">Science Advances</a>.&nbsp;



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



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Some red sea urchins will tolerate climate change better than others

A new study led by the University of California, Santa...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University&nbsp;</a>(ELTE) in Hungary has investigated whether companion <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-are-more-aware-of-actions-than-objects/">dogs</a> and pigs would show their owners the location of a food reward that is out of reach for them, but accessible to the owners.&nbsp;



The experts discovered that only if the owners were present in the room, pigs paid them as much attention as dogs did. However, when the reward was also in the room, only dogs tried to direct the attention of the owners to the location of the reward. The findings suggest that directing humans’ attention to relevant locations may not be something that every domestic animal can do.



Referential communication is the act of directing someone’s attention to a specific object in the environment. Humans use this type of communication regularly through language and gestures. Scientists have long pondered whether some species of animals have similar capacities.



“Domestic animals seem especially predisposed to referentially communicate with humans,” said study lead author Paula Pérez Fraga, a doctoral student in the Neuroethology of Communication at ELTE. “However, some human-socialized wild animals can do this as well, thus domestication might not be key for this communicative ability to emerge after all. We noticed that a shared characteristic among these species is that they use many visual signals when communicating with their conspecifics. Could this be a necessary characteristic&nbsp;for animals to engage in referential communication with humans?”



In order to test this hypothesis, the scientists compared the behavior of similarly raised companion dogs and pigs. The animals entered a room where they were either alone with the owner, alone with a hidden food reward, or together with the owner and the reward. While dogs are known to rely heavily upon visual communications, pigs are less visually-oriented creatures.



“We expected an increase of referential communicative behaviors when both the owner and the food reward were present, meaning that the animal was directing the attention of the human to the food location,” said study senior author Attila Andics, an expert in Ethology at ELTE. “We found that when pigs and dogs were alone with their owners, they paid similar attention to her/him. However, after the experimenter hid the reward, only dogs tried to show their owners where it was. Pigs, in contrast, just tried to find the way to take it themselves.”



"We suggest that pigs might lack important characteristics that are crucial for the emergence of this sort of communication. Although we know that dogs are especially skillful in communicating with humans, other animals like horses, cats, and even kangaroos can referentially communicate with us, and all of them rely heavily upon visual communication when interacting with their mates. Pigs, on the contrary, don’t,” Pérez Fraga concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26503-5">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.&nbsp;



—



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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Pigs lack the skills for referential communication

A new study led by the Eötvös Loránd University&nbsp;(ELTE) in...

Keeping domestic cats indoors is best for their health and the environment, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a>. The experts report that humans are primarily responsible for the risks associated with free-roaming cats, such as threats to native animal populations and the potential for disease transmission.



"Free-roaming domestic cats (Felis catus) are known to pose threats to ecosystem health via transmission of zoonotic diseases and predation of native wildlife," wrote the study authors. "Likewise, free-roaming cats are also susceptible to predation or disease transmission from native wildlife."



The researchers analyzed data from the D.C. Cat Count, a survey that included 60 wildlife cameras across 1,500 sites. The cameras revealed where the cats frequently overlapped with native wildlife.



“We discovered that the average domestic cat in D.C. has a 61% probability of being found in the same space as racoons - America’s most prolific rabies vector - 61% spatial overlap with red foxes, and 56% overlap with Virginia opossums, both of which can also spread rabies,” explained study lead author Daniel Herrera. “By letting our cats outside we are significantly jeopardizing their health.”



The survey cameras also revealed the native animals that were commonly preyed upon by domestic cats, including grey squirrels, chipmunks, cottontail rabbits, groundhogs, and white footed mice. The experts noted that by hunting these animals, cats can reduce biodiversity and degrade ecosystem health.



“Many people falsely think that cats are hunting non-native populations like rats, when in fact they prefer hunting small native species,” explained Herrera. “Cats are keeping rats out of sight&nbsp; due to fear, but there really isn’t any evidence that they are controlling the non-native rodent population. The real concern is that they are decimating native populations that provide benefits to the D.C. ecosystem.”



Overall, the study showed that the presence of cats increased with human population density, yet decreased with tree cover and other natural features that are associated with a greater presence of wildlife. Herrera said that these associations run counter to arguments that free-roaming cats are simply stepping into a natural role in the ecosystem by hunting wildlife.



“These habitat relationships suggest that the distribution of cats is largely driven by humans, rather than natural factors,” noted Professor Travis Gallo. “Since humans largely influence where cats are on the landscape, humans also dictate the degree of risk these cats encounter and the amount of harm they cause to local wildlife.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.1048585">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</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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Humans are responsible for the risks of free-roaming cats

Keeping domestic cats indoors is best for their health and...

Computer,And,Beer,On,A,Wooden,Desk,Or,Table.,Modern

A new study published in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/12/5/690/htm">Journal of Personalized Medicine</a> has identified several genes and their variants that trigger a variety of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-use-is-not-an-addictive-behavior/">addictive</a> behaviors. Besides confirming previous discoveries that addiction could be genetically determined, these recent findings also indicate possible overlaps between different types of disorders influenced by the same genes.



While previous research has mainly focused on identifying relationships between genetic variants and one specific type of addiction, this new study examined a broad spectrum of substance and non-substance addictions and their possible associations to 32 gene polymorphisms, or variants.



The researchers collected DNA samples from 3003 young adults from Hungarian high schools, colleges, and universities and surveyed them about their alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption, as well as about their engagement in other seven potentially addictive behaviors: internet use, gaming, social networking sites use, gambling, eating, exercising, and hair pulling.



“It has been previously proven that a strong genetic influence exists in case of different addictions. Heritability, which is the measure of genetic contribution to a trait, is estimated to be between 50 percent and 70 percent for addictions, and the rest is environmental effects,” said study co-author Csaba Barta, an associate professor of Molecular Biology at the <a href="https://semmelweis.hu/english/">Semmelweis University</a> in Budapest, Hungary.&nbsp;



“However, the specific genetic variants and their neurobiological roles in addiction are not so well known. We found 29 nominally significant associations in the current study, and nine of those remained significant after statistical correction for multiple testing.”



The analysis revealed that some genes and their variants can make people susceptible to both the use of certain substances and other potentially addictive behaviors. For instance, one of the genes,&nbsp;FOXN3&nbsp;and its so-called&nbsp;rs759364 A&nbsp;allele (variant), was linked to more frequent alcohol consumption. However, the same allele was also associated with a higher occurrence of internet use and online gaming.&nbsp;



“These findings can contribute to the scientific knowledge on addictions which affects millions of people worldwide,” said study co-author Zsolt Demetrovics, a professor of Psychology at <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a>.&nbsp;



“A novelty of the PGA [Psychological and Genetic Factors of Addictions] study is that it explores the relationships between substance use and non-substance-related addictive behaviors in detail. It could bring us closer to understanding the overlap between the vulnerability of different types of potentially addictive behaviors. For example, being vulnerable to problematic alcohol use might also pose an increased risk for gambling, video game use, or working addiction. This could be a relevant consideration also when planning treatment interventions,” he concluded.



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



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Alcohol use linked to internet addiction

A new study published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine...

The tropical Pacific Ocean is home to most of the islands on Earth, including reef islands and atoll reefs. A new study led by <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> in Australia has found that Southeast Asian regions of the Pacific produce more <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">fish</a> than all the world’s largest coastal upwelling areas combined, despite many scientists previously believing that tropical oceans are low in both nutrients and phytoplankton productivity.



According to the experts, transient short-lived wind events trigger the formation of massive phytoplankton blooms – which occupy the base of many marine food webs – close to tropical reef islands, such as the disputed Spratly Island in the South Island Sea, as well as a variety of other islands in the Pacific Ocean.



“The key here is that the tropical Pacific contains thousands of such islands, which implies that tropical wind events can create a large network of marine ecosystems existing year-round and spanning thousands of kilometers, possibly forming one of the largest upwelling biomes on Earth,” said study lead author Jochen&nbsp;Kaempf, an associate professor of Coastal Oceanography at Flinders.



Upwelling is a physical process which enriches oceans’ surface waters with dissolved nutrients, thus fueling the production of phytoplankton. The scientists discovered that coastal winds are the main drivers of the most productive upwelling systems on our planet, including those forming on the coasts of California and Peru-Chile, which are major global fish producers.



“We believe that this (Asia-Pacific) upwelling biome provides critical feeding habitats for migratory marine species such as sea turtles, tuna, and whales,” Kaempf explained. “For instance, pygmy blue whales migrate from their feeding habitat in upwelling regions of southern Australia to their breeding grounds in Indonesian waters, where they seem to gather near Christmas Island and volcanic arc islands of the Banda Sea. Our findings suggest that this behavior is primarily feeding-related.” &nbsp;



These findings opens new paths for examining the phytoplankton bloom mechanisms in tropical oceans, especially in the light of new worrisome phenomena caused by climate change, such as sea-level rise, enhanced wave erosion, and shifts in tropical rainfall and winds patterns.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10872-022-00673-2">Journal of Oceanography</a>.



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



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Tropical winds support the world's most productive ocean systems

The tropical Pacific Ocean is home to most of the...

Tree leaves have highly different lifespans. For instance, monkey puzzle tree leaves can live for over two decades, and Picea growing in the Chinese Gongga Mountains can thrive for thousands of years, growing in harsh environments with leaves that last about 20 years. On the other hand, maple leaves last only a season, and blueberry leaves may survive for just three months.&nbsp;



According to a recent study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.add5667">Science Advances</a>, these major differences are driven by the “economic” choices faced by different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/in-tropical-forests-lightning-strikes-the-most-resilient-trees/">trees</a>.



“We already knew that conifers and other evergreen trees make longer-living leaves the closer they are to the poles,” said study lead author Han Wang, an expert in Plant Ecology at the <a href="https://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/">Tsinghua University</a> in Beijing. “Deciduous trees do the opposite. Their longest lasting leaves are found at the tropics.”



“And we knew that long-lived leaves tend to be tougher and thicker, and more expensive to build. Now, we have identified the major environmental factors at play, and summarized them in two equations. These leaf economic traits are fundamental to the carbon cycle and nutrient economy.”



The scientists tested their equations on data about thousands of tree species from hundreds of ecosystems worldwide. “Each species is essentially taking a punt on the best way to maximize carbon absorption,” said study co-author Ian Wright, a plant ecologist at the <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au/">Macquarie University</a> in Australia.



“Evergreen conifers growing in poor soil in areas with a long cold winter can only thrive if they make long term investments in their leaves. Whereas deciduous trees, like the maple, race to create new leaves and capture carbon in the summer sun before leaf-drop in autumn. The economically rational decision for a maple tree is to invest in fast growing, cheap but flimsy leaves.”



These findings have the potential of turning Ecology into a predictive science that will enable the construction of better, more accurate global and regional climate models, while allowing land managers to better model forests and other types of vegetation in order to predict how climate change will affect a variety of ecosystems, and farmers to better estimate crop yields and the impact of climate change on agriculture.



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



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

Why do some leaves live longer than others?

Tree leaves have highly different lifespans. For instance, monkey puzzle...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.kennesaw.edu/">Kennesaw State University</a>, overall patient care significantly suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, when <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-daily-dose-of-coffee-may-protect-you-from-covid-19/">Covid-19</a> surges swamped hospitals across the United States. According to study author Weiwei Chen, an assistant professor of Economics at Kennesaw, non-Covid patients had poorer outcomes in hospital overwhelmed with large numbers of Covid infections. For instance, the probability of an in-hospital death were 1.2 times higher among non-Covid patients than before the onset of the pandemic.



“Multiple factors contributed to the increase in mortality rates with Covid spikes, but resource constraints seem to be the main reason, which includes, for example, healthcare worker burnout, staff shortages, and reduced bed space,” Chen explained.



Although these findings are largely negative, some patterns observed during the study period may point to ways of alleviating overcrowding and improving patient outcomes in the future, such as discharging hospital patients to home care as an alternative treatment option.



“A major implication is that it is going to be very important to monitor patient outcomes at hospitals during pandemics in real time, even though it may be very difficult. That is the best way to ensure the best possible patient outcomes,” said Professor Chen.



These findings could have important implications for better preparation in the event of future pandemics or other large-scale illnesses.&nbsp;



“The study is among the first to quantify the impact of Covid-19 surges on hospital discharge outcomes, particularly among non–Covid-19 patients. Increased mortality odds among non–Covid-19 patients imply that the quality of care was compromised as hospitals fought against Covid-19," noted Professor Chen.&nbsp;



"Although no sizable changes were found in the odds of discharges to other hospitals, the growth of discharges to home care shows the promise of home health care as an alternative care option during the pandemic. As the pandemic evolves, it is vital to have timely feedback on patient outcomes to help providers maintain and improve quality of care and learn for the future."



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2022.89264">American Journal of Managed Care</a>.&nbsp;



—



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.

Mortality rates spiked among non-Covid patients during pandemic

A new study led by the Kennesaw State University, overall...

Scientists have long argued that intact <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-forests-are-more-resilient-and-productive/">forests</a> are major climate regulators and harbors of biodiversity. Unfortunately, such forests are currently disappearing at an alarming rate. While agriculture has previously been considered the main culprit behind forest loss, a new study led by <a href="https://www.fudan.edu.cn/en/">Fudan University</a> in China has found that multiple industries are in fact to blame too.&nbsp;



For instance, for forest loss associated with the 2014 world economy, more than 60 percent was related to final consumption of non-agricultural products, including minerals, metals, and wood-related goods. Moreover, according to the experts, international trade markets should also be taken into account when designing conservation strategies.



“Regional land use change is no longer simply driven by local demand; it is also indirectly influenced by international markets and the surging consumption of land-based products,” the study authors explained. “Countries with forest conservation goals can import finished land-based products via global supply chains, displacing land-use pressure and related eco-environmental impacts outside their own territory borders.”



By using multi-source geographic information data and economic modelling, the scientists evaluated both the direct and the indirect causes of forest loss. While previous research has largely focused on deforestation (the complete removal of tree cover), this new study also highlighted the insidious roles played by degradation and fragmentation.



“Even the removal of narrow tracts of forests can affect overall forest structure and composition. Considering the exceptional conservation value of intact forest landscapes in terms of stabilizing terrestrial carbon stocks and harboring biodiversity, intact forest landscapes loss displacement can also reflect potential indirect driving forces behind carbon emissions and biodiversity loss,” the authors wrote.



“It is widely thought that beef production drives deforestation in the Amazon, but it is hard for consumers to realize that the production of highly processed equipment may involve timber and metals produced at the expense of intact forest and that services provided by tertiary sectors may be supported by electricity generated from oil and gas associated with this loss. The more dispersed nature of intact forest loss drivers and their indirect links to individual final consumers call for stronger government engagement and supply-chain interventions,” they concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2022.12.006">One Earth</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.

Forests face threats from multiple industries

Scientists have long argued that intact forests are major climate...

In November 2018, the Camp Fire – one of the deadliest and most destructive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/record-breaking-wildfire-years-are-just-getting-started/">wildfires</a> in California history – wiped out 239 square miles, destroying 18,804 structures and killing 85 people. Three years later, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California, San Diego</a> examined the psychological consequences of this devastating fire, and found that exposure to “climate trauma” resulted in increased mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression.



The scientists enrolled 27 individuals directly exposed to the Camp Fire (for instance, their homes were destroyed), 21 indirectly exposed (who witnessed the wildfire, but were not directly affected), and 27 control individuals. All participants were asked to perform a series of cognitive tests, while their brain activity was measured by electroencephalography (EEG).



The analysis revealed that fire-exposed individuals displayed increased activity in brain areas involved in cognitive control and interference processing (the ability to cope with intrusive, disturbing thoughts).



“To function well day-to-day, our brains need to process information and manage memories in ways that help achieve goals while ignoring or dispensing with irrelevant or harmful distractions,” said study senior author Jyoti Mishra, an associate professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego. &nbsp;



“Climate change is an emerging challenge. It is already well-documented that extreme climate events result in significant psychological impacts. Warming temperatures, for example, have even been linked to greater suicide rates. As planetary warming amplifies, more forest fires are expected in California and globally, with significant implications for mental health effects.”



“In this study, we wanted to learn whether and how climate trauma affected and altered cognitive and brain functions in a group of people who had experienced it during the Camp Fire. We found that those who were impacted, directly or indirectly, displayed weaker interference processing. Such weakened cognitive performance may then impair daily functioning and reduce wellbeing.”&nbsp;



While none of the participants from the control group reported any trauma, 67 percent of the individuals directly exposed to the wildfire and 14 percent of those indirectly exposed reported struggling with traumatic effects even years after the event.



These findings could help guide efforts to develop resiliency intervention strategies in case of future similar events. “As the planet warms, more and more individuals will face extreme climate exposures, like wildfires, and having therapeutic tools that can address underlying neuro-cognitive issues will be an important complement to other socio-behavioral therapies,” Mishra concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000125">PLOS Climate</a>.



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



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“Climate trauma” chronically affects survivors of wildfires

In November 2018, the Camp Fire – one of the...

In our daily lives we are exposed to numerous objects that we need to recognize. For example, if something flies past the window at dusk, we would probably like to know whether this was a bird, a bat or a drone. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-engineer-their-petals-to-be-visually-attractive-to-bees/">Visual</a> object recognition is seldom based on what our eyes perceive alone, but is influenced by the context and by our prior experiences. In addition, a new experimental study shows that what we see can also be modified by sounds that we hear at the same time, meaning that sounds can alter the way in which we perceive visual cues.&nbsp;



The research study, published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09567976221121348">Psychological Science</a>,&nbsp;suggests that relevant audio cues can help us to recognize objects more quickly and accurately, but can also alter our visual perception. If we see a bird and hear birdsong, we quickly identify a bird. But if the presence of a bird is associated with the call of a squirrel, we become less sure of what we are looking at. The brain therefore makes use of audio input to help us decide what, exactly, we are seeing.&nbsp;



“Your brain spends a significant amount of energy to process the sensory information in the world and to give you that feeling of a full and seamless perception,” said study lead author Jamal R. Williams from the UC San Diego. “One way that it does this is by making inferences about what sorts of information should be expected.”&nbsp;



In the natural world, sounds are reliable predictors of the objects that cause them – dogs bark and cats meow. In this way, sounds provide independent and informative cues about the visual world. However, when we use these trusted audio cues during the early stages of identifying a visual object, they can lead us to selectively process only certain aspects of the visual features.



Williams explained that “informed guesses” based on audio input can help us to process information more quickly, but they can also lead us astray when what we’re hearing doesn’t match up with what we expect to see.&nbsp;



The researchers conducted three experiments in which participants were shown ambiguous images of objects morphing into other objects. For example, a plane became a bird and the images shown to participants could come from anywhere along the process and have features of both a plane and a bird.



In the first experiment, 40 participants were presented with ambiguous figures and, at the same time as they were trying to discriminate the nature of the object, the researchers played either a sound related to the image (birdsong or the buzz of a plane), or an unrelated sound (such as a hammer hitting a nail). After exposure to the image, participants were asked to recall which stage of the object morph they had been shown.&nbsp;



To identify the stage that they recalled, the participants used a sliding scale that could be moved in either direction, more towards a recognizable bird or more towards a recognizable plane. The results revealed that participants made their object-morph selection more quickly when they heard related (versus unrelated) sounds and that they shifted their object-morph selection to match more closely the related sounds that they had heard.&nbsp;The findings indicate that, when visual input is not clear-cut, the role of relevant sounds may modulate our visual perception.



“When sounds are related to pertinent visual features, those visual features are prioritized and processed more quickly compared to when sounds are unrelated to the visual features. So, if you heard the sound of a birdsong, anything bird-like is given prioritized access to visual perception,” Williams explained. “We found that this prioritization is not purely facilitatory and that your perception of the visual object is actually more bird-like than if you had heard the sound of an airplane flying overhead.”&nbsp;



The researchers wondered at what stage of visual recognition the audio input was having its influence – was this during the stage of visual discrimination or during the time that the participants made their decision about the object’s identity. The second experiment presented 105 participants with similar ambiguous images but coincided the audio stimuli with either the object recognition stage (when the image was on the screen) or the decision-making stage (after the image was removed and the participant had to choose its identity).&nbsp;&nbsp;



Once again, the audio input was found to influence participants’ speed and accuracy when the sounds were played while participants were viewing the object morph, but it had no effect when the sounds were played while they reported which object morph they had seen.&nbsp;The researchers concluded that real-world sounds primarily affect the perceptual process, and not the decisional process.



In the third and final experiment, the researchers played the sound to 40 participants before the object morphs were shown to them on screen. The aim of this was to test whether prior audio input influenced visual perception by affecting people’s expectations and priming them to pay more attention to certain features of the objects. This was also found to have no effect on participants' object-morph selections.&nbsp;



The experts conclude that, when taken together, these findings suggest sounds alter visual perception only when audio and visual input occur at the same time.&nbsp;



“Our results suggest that naturalistic auditory information alters the representations of objects we see. Specifically, we found that visual features of object representations are shifted toward features that are congruent with a concurrent auditory stimulus: the same ambiguous object (e.g., a 50 percent seal and 50 percent hammer morph) was perceived as more hammer-like when paired with a hammer sound and more seal-like when paired with the sound of seal barking," wrote the study authors.



“This process of recognizing objects in the world feels effortless and fast, but in reality it’s a very computationally intensive process,” said Williams. “To alleviate some of this burden, your brain is going to evaluate information from other senses.”&nbsp;



The researchers would like to build on these findings by exploring how sounds may influence our ability to locate objects, how visual input may influence our perception of sounds, and whether audiovisual integration is an innate or learned process.&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



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Sounds can change the way we see things

In our daily lives we are exposed to numerous objects...

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



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

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

[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



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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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

[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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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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