Rare earth elements are everywhere - in your smartphone screen, in the MRI machine at the hospital, in the battery of an electric vehicle, and even in oil and gas refining. They are a key ingredient of modern life.



As global tensions rise, so does the competition for access to these minerals. Recent headlines show the stakes: China has halted rare earth exports to the United States, and a deal was just signed to secure U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.



Despite their name, rare earth elements aren’t actually scarce; what’s rare is finding them in high enough concentrations to mine economically. These deposits are scattered unevenly across the globe and often buried deep underground, shaping who controls their production and the global supply chain.



Scientists at <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tufts University</a> are trying to better understand how and why rare earth minerals ended up where they did. Their research reveals how the movement of continents over billions of years helped form - and hide - these valuable deposits.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-supercontinents-shaped-rare-deposits">Supercontinents shaped rare deposits</h2>



To explain how this mineral drama began, we need to go back in time. Way back. Earth's surface is always on the move. Over millions of years, massive landmasses shift, collide, and break apart, reshaping the planet in the process.



"Most of us are familiar with <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/supercontinents-101-pannotia-gondwana-and-pangea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pangea</a> - the supercontinent that formed about 300 million years ago and that the current seven continents broke off from to form their present-day arrangement," said Jill VanTongeren, professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences.



"But Pangea is only the most recent supercontinent. Throughout Earth history, there have been at least five major <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/australia-north-america-supercontinent/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">supercontinent</a> cycles - periods when continents all come together and then spread back out again into different pieces. We think this process happens roughly every 500 million years."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-minerals-begin">Where minerals begin</h2>



As these continents drifted apart, they created rifts - places where the Earth's tectonic plates pulled away from each other. These rifting zones became birthplaces for rare earth element-rich magmas.



"As the rocks are pushed apart, they decompress, causing melting. It's kind of like taking the lid off a soda bottle, and the bubbles rise to the surface," said VanTongeren.



"Those early magmas contain the highest abundance of rare earth and other incompatible elements that then enter the crust, either erupting in volcanic centers or solidifying at depth."



Some of these mineral-rich magmas cooled and stayed near the surface. Others got dragged back down into the mantle or remain buried too deep to mine with today’s technology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-race-for-control-resources">A race for control resources</h2>



Today, the number of economically viable rare earth deposits is limited. China dominates the market, with nearly 70% of global production coming from its Bayan Obo mine. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crucial-rare-earth-elements-discovered-coal-mines-united-states/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S.</a> has a smaller operation at Mountain Pass in California, and a few other countries have scattered deposits.



In the late 1990s and early 2000s, China flooded the market with rare earth minerals, driving down prices and shutting down other global producers. That move reshaped global dependence.



In response, the U.S. government took steps to re-establish a domestic supply. Recent investments from the 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act and the Department of Defense aim to restart full operations at the Mountain Pass mine, though it could take up to a decade.



There’s also hope that Ukraine's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-is-on-a-mission-to-map-americas-mineral-wealth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mineral deposits</a> could help diversify supply. But for now, their potential remains unclear.



"Political boundaries and the desire to obtain access to mineral resources have been the source of economic and military conflicts throughout human history," said VanTongeren. "This is likely to continue as the world shifts toward green energy and a greater dependence on rare earth elements in the future."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hunting-for-mineral-deposits">Hunting for mineral deposits</h2>



VanTongeren’s work tracks these mineral stories from source to surface. Her fieldwork has taken her from a ship near Antarctica to platinum mines in South Africa, Morocco’s mountains, and even a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/huge-lithium-deposit-from-volanic-ash-found-in-pennsylvania/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lithium</a> discovery in Maine.



"It's a fascinating area of study partly because it lies at the intersection of science, economics, and politics," she said. Back on the Tufts campus, this intersection takes a more visual form.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tufts-secret-mineral-vault">Tufts' secret mineral vault</h2>



Tucked into the basement of Lane Hall, the P.T. Barnum Mineral Collection offers a glimpse into the Earth’s treasures. It includes thousands of mineral specimens, some collected by Barnum himself. He was an early supporter of Tufts and a major collector of natural history in the 1800s.



"In the late 1800s, it was considered fashionable for many prominent individuals to accumulate their own natural history collections," noted VanTongeren.



"P.T. Barnum was one of the biggest collectors of the time. His collection of animals, plants, and minerals was among the first gifts to Tufts University and part of an endowment to establish Tufts as one of the major natural history museums in the country."



After a fire destroyed the Barnum Museum in 1975, the mineral collection moved to Lane Hall. Now, it’s about to move again - this time to Bacon Hall, the new home for the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-hunt-for-rare-earth-elements">Global hunt for rare earth elements</h2>



VanTongeren hopes this new home will be more than just a storage site. She wants it to become a space that encourages curiosity and exploration, not just for scientists, but for everyone.



"My pie-in-the-sky vision is to set up a mineral gallery with both a permanent exhibit as well as pop-up exhibitions every semester highlighting minerals important for technology, related to other research at the university, or to global events," said VanTongeren.



"I'd like to help bring back Barnum's vision of bringing the beauty of, and an appreciation for, the natural world to campus."



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Global hunt for rare earth elements is underway

Rare earth elements are everywhere - in your smartphone screen, in the MRI machine at the hospital, in the battery of an electric vehicle, and even in oil and gas refining. They are a key ingredient of modern life. As global tensions rise, so does the competition for access to these minerals. Recent headlines show the stakes: China has halted rare earth exports to the United States, and a deal was just signed to secure U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources. Despite their name, rare earth elements...

A new study suggests that the face of an owner can provide positive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-support-can-lower-stress-levels-in-orphaned-elephants/">social</a> reinforcement for dogs. This theory was tested by gathering a group of dogs and presenting them with two choices: a video showing their owner's face and a food reward or a video which showed the back of the owner’s head with the same food reward.&nbsp;



"It is increasingly assumed that domestication has equipped dogs with unique socio-cognitive skills, which raises the possibility of intriguing parallels between the social motivational systems of the two species. However, the positive incentive value of human facial stimuli is a largely unexplored area," explained the study authors. "Here, we investigated whether the owner's face serves as a social reinforcer."



Anna Kis, who studies canine behavior, has found many interesting test results about man’s best friend. For instance, one investigation revealed that - like humans - dogs experience sleep disturbances with less time in deep sleep after a stressful day.&nbsp;



Another study considered the effect of oxytocin on canine social cognition. The research team found that positive interaction with humans can increase oxytocin levels in dogs. Meanwhile, dogs living in shelters exhibit increased levels of cortisol, which is the hormone associated with stress.



For the current study, Kis wanted to understand whether seeing a human caregiver's face could&nbsp; influence a dog in a two-way choice task. Overall, 19 males and 20 females dogs watched both videos. The participating dogs showed a significant selection bias toward food placed next to their owners' faces.&nbsp;



Previous research, and of course, the experience of any pet owner, has shown that dogs find social interaction with humans intrinsically rewarding. These results are in line with previous studies which suggest that dogs perceive neutral human faces as positive rather than negative.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/home">iScience</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

Dogs gain positive reinforcement from their owner's face

A new study suggests that the face of an owner...

Group,Of,Mature,Female,Friends,On,Outdoor,Yoga,Retreat,Walking

Physical and mental activity can help preserve thinking skills and delay <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blueberries-may-protect-our-brains-against-dementia/">dementia</a>, but these benefits may vary for men and women, according to a new study.&nbsp;



The study looked at the effects of physical and mental activities, such as reading or playing card games, on cognitive reserve in the areas of thinking speed and memory.



“We found that greater physical activity was associated with greater thinking speed reserve in women, but not in men,” said study author Judy Pa.&nbsp; “Taking part in more mental activities was associated with greater thinking speed reserve for both men and women.”



Interestingly, greater physical activity was not associated with memory reserve in either men or women.



The research was focused on 758 people with an average age of 76. Some of the individuals had no thinking or memory problems, some had mild cognitive impairment, and some had dementia.&nbsp;



Brain scans were taken, and the participants underwent thinking speed and memory tests. To calculate cognitive reserve, test scores were compared against changes in the brain associated with dementia, such as the total volume of the hippocampus, a key brain region impacted by Alzheimer’s disease.



The participants were asked about their weekly physical activity. For mental activity, they were asked whether they read magazines, newspapers or books, went to classes, and played cards, games or bingo over the last 13 months. They were given one point for each type of activity, for a maximum of three points. On average, the individuals scored 1.4 points for mental activity.&nbsp;



For physical activity, participants took part in at least 15 minutes per week of activities that elevate heart rates such as brisk walking and biking.



Pa said that each additional mental activity corresponded to 13 fewer years of aging in their processing speed -17 years among men and 10 years among women.



“As we have arguably few-to-no effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, prevention is crucial. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment,” Pa said. “To know that people could potentially improve their cognitive reserve by taking simple steps such as going to classes at the community center, playing bingo with their friends or spending more time walking or gardening is very exciting.”



In women, a doubling of the amount of physical activity would be equivalent to an estimated 2.75 fewer years of aging when it comes to processing speed in their thinking skills.



The researchers also looked at whether the relationship between physical and mental activities and cognitive reserve was affected by the gene that carries the strongest risk for Alzheimer’s, called APOE e4. For women, having the gene lessens the effects of the beneficial relationship between physical and mental activities and cognitive reserve.



The study does not prove that physical and mental activities help improve cognitive reserve. It only shows an association. Also, structural and societal factors that affect cognitive reserve, such as education, were not measured in the study.



The research was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.



Learn more about brain health at <a href="http://www.brainandlife.org/">BrainandLife.org</a>, home of the <a href="https://www.aan.com/">American Academy of Neurology</a>’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

Physical activity preserves thinking skills among women

Physical and mental activity can help preserve thinking skills and...

Tiktaalik is an iconic fossil species of lobe-finned fish discovered by scientists in 2004, on Ellesmere Island&nbsp;in&nbsp;Nunavut, Arctic Canada. What set this extinct species apart was that, in addition to having typical fish characteristics like gills, scales and fins, it also had some features of tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates), like strong bones in the fins that would have enabled it to support its weight on land. Tiktaalik’s combination of features are thought to show the&nbsp;evolutionary transition&nbsp;between swimming <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/clownfish-adapt-their-size-to-fit-their-environment/">fish</a> and their descendants, the four-legged vertebrates.



Some people have jokingly admonished Tiktaalik for dragging itself out of the water and giving rise to four-legged land vertebrates. After all, if Tiktaalik had not done this, humanity would not be around today to endure the ravages of disease, war and modern life. And now it seems that a new fossil fish, found at the same time and in the same area as Tiktaalik, shows evidence of opting to return to living in open water, rather than taking the terrestrial option.



Scientists from the laboratory of Neil Shubin, PhD, who co-discovered&nbsp;Tiktaalik&nbsp;in 2004, now describe a fossil species that closely resembles&nbsp;Tiktaalik&nbsp;but has features that made it more suited to life in the water.&nbsp;The fossil remains include the fish’s partial upper and lower jaws, portions of its neck, and its scales. In addition, a complete pectoral fin is also present and this where the differences from Tiktaalik are obvious.



Qikiqtania wakei&nbsp;had a pectoral fin with a distinct humerus bone that lacked the ridges indicating muscles and joints that would have enabled it to walk on land. Instead,&nbsp;its upper arm was smooth and curved, more suited for a life of paddling underwater.&nbsp; The uniqueness of the arm bones of&nbsp;Qikiqtania&nbsp;suggest that it returned to paddling the water after its ancestors began to use their appendages for walking.&nbsp;



“At first we thought it could be a juvenile&nbsp;Tiktaalik, because it was smaller and maybe some of those processes hadn’t developed yet,” Shubin said. “But the humerus is smooth and boomerang shaped, and it doesn’t have the elements that would support it pushing up on land. It’s remarkably different and suggests something new.”



Shubin, who is the Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the <a href="https://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a>, found the fossil&nbsp;days before&nbsp;Tiktaalik&nbsp;was discovered, at a site about one mile east on southern Ellesmere Island in the territory of Nunavut in northern Arctic Canada. The name&nbsp;Qikiatania&nbsp;comes from the Inuktitut word Qikiqtaaluk or Qikiqtani, the traditional name for the region where the fossil site is located. The species name&nbsp;wakei&nbsp;is in memory of the late David Wake, an eminent evolutionary biologist from the University of California at Berkeley.



Shubin and his field partner, Ted Daeschler from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, collected the specimens from a quarry after spotting a few promising looking rocks with distinctive, white scales on the surface. But they sat in storage, mostly unexamined, while the team focused on preparing&nbsp;Tiktaalik.



It was fifteen years before postdoctoral researchers Justin Lemberg and Tom Stewart put one of the larger blocks of rock through a CT scanner and realized it contained what they thought was a fossilized pectoral fin. Unfortunately, it was too deep inside the rock to get a high-resolution image and they would have to remove parts of the block to get closer to the fin. And then came COVID, and laboratories were forced to close down.&nbsp;



“We were trying to collect as much CT-data of the material as we could before the lockdown, and the very last piece we scanned was a large, unassuming block with only a few flecks of scales visible from the surface,” said Lemberg, who is now doing cultural resource management fieldwork in Southern California. “We could hardly believe it when the first, grainy images of a pectoral fin came into view. We knew we could collect a better scan of the block if we had the time, but that was March 13th, 2020, and the University shut down all non-essential operations the following week.”



The scientists were able trim pieces off the block and send it for another CT scan within a few months, and this time the resulting images were much clearer, revealing a nearly complete pectoral fin and upper limb, including the distinctive humerus bone. Their exciting results are published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“That’s what blew our minds,” Shubin said. “This was by no means a fascinating block at first, but we realized during the COVID lockdown when we couldn’t get in the lab that the original scan wasn’t good enough and we needed to trim the block. And when we did, look at what happened. It gave us something exciting to work on during the pandemic. It’s a fabulous story.”



Qikiqtania&nbsp;is slightly older than&nbsp;Tiktaalik&nbsp;but not by much. The team’s analysis of its position on the tree of life places it, like&nbsp;Tiktaalik,&nbsp;adjacent to the earliest creatures known to have finger-like digits. But even though&nbsp;Qikiqtania’s distinct pectoral fin was more suited for swimming, it wasn’t entirely fish-like either. Its curved paddle shape was a distinct adaptation, different from the jointed, muscled legs or fan-shaped fins we see in tetrapods and fish respectively today.



Unfortunately for Qikiqtania, its own adaptation ultimately did not help it to survive in the evolutionary race – we do not see evidence of this type of pectoral fin adaptation in today’s fish. However, the find does help us to understand that there was a diversity of different forms around in ancient times and that most of them ended up becoming extinct. Animal evolution can’t be explained in terms of a straight line that connects prehistoric forms to living creatures today. The story of&nbsp;Qikiqtania&nbsp;shows that some animals stayed on a different path that ultimately didn’t work out.&nbsp;



“Tiktaalik&nbsp;is often treated as a transitional animal because it’s easy to see the stepwise pattern of changes from life in the water to life on land. But we know that in evolution things aren’t always so simple,” said Stewart, who will be joining the faculty at Penn State University this summer. “We don’t often get glimpses into this part of vertebrate history. Now we’re starting to uncover that diversity and to get a sense of the ecology and unique adaptations of these animals. It’s more than simple&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

Fossil fish from Tiktaalik’s time chose life in the water

Tiktaalik is an iconic fossil species of lobe-finned fish discovered...

Warm-bloodedness, or endothermy, is one of the most fascinating traits that arose sometime during the evolution of vertebrates. Early vertebrates, including fish and amphibians, were all cold-blooded, or ectothermic, meaning that they did not regulate their body temperatures but rather reflected the ambient temperature of their surroundings. But more modern vertebrates (birds and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/many-small-mammals-in-the-uk-tested-plastic-positive/">mammals</a>) use metabolic heat to keep their temperatures constant. When, in evolutionary time, this change occurred, is a topic of great interest for scientists.&nbsp;



There are several different forms of evidence for endothermy in dinosaurs - including their bone structure and largish brains, their distribution in colder regions, and their ability to move relatively fast. However, none of this evidence is conclusive. Now, in a new study published in&nbsp;the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>, scientists suggest an interesting relationship between metabolic rate and the size of vertebrate ear canals that may help shed light on the time when ancient mammal ancestors became warm-blooded.



Evidence of endothermy does not fossilize easily. Most dinosaur fossils don’t record the skin covering, which might be hair or feathers if the animal were warm blooded. The fossil record also does not indicate whether most dinosaurs behaved in a way that matched an active, warm-blooded metabolism or a slow, cold-blooded one.&nbsp;



A team of researchers, led by scientists from London’s Natural History Museum, the University of Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Técnico, and the Field Museum in Chicago have discovered that animals’ inner ears may provide an indirect clue about their body temperatures.



The inner ears of all vertebrate animals contain tiny canals, filled with fluid, that help them balance. The fluid may be viscose or runny, depending on the temperature of the animal. Ectothermic animals have more viscous fluid because their body temperatures are lower – and associated with this increased viscosity is the fact that the ear canals need to be wider in order for the thicker fluid to move appropriately. Endotherms are warmer and so their ear canal fluid is runnier and requires only narrow ear canals through which to travel.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Until now, semicircular canals were generally used to predict locomotion of fossil organisms. However, by carefully looking at their biomechanics, we figured that we could also use them to infer body temperatures,” said study co-lead author Romain David. “This is because, like honey, the fluid contained inside semicircular canals gets less viscous when temperature increases, impacting function. Hence, during the transition to endothermy, morphological adaptations were required to keep optimal performances, and we could track them in mammal ancestors.”



The researchers compared the sizes of the inner ear canals of 341 animals, including 243 living species and 64 extinct ones. They found that mammal ancestors didn’t develop the kinds of inner ear structures ideal for warm-blooded animals until 233 million years ago, which is nearly 20 million years later than scientists had previously proposed for the evolution of warm-bloodedness.&nbsp;



In addition, they found that when those smaller semicircular canals did show up in the fossil record, they were accompanied by other, rather rapid changes like the evolution of whiskers, fur and specialized backbones in proto-mammals. And these changes all appeared in the fossil record rather rapidly, in evolutionary terms. The evolution of fur and warm-bloodedness at about the same time gives support to the ear canal hypothesis because fur traps the body heat generated by a higher metabolism, helping to keep the body at the high temperature it needs in order to thrive.



“Contrary to current scientific thinking, our paper surprisingly demonstrates that the acquisition of endothermy seems to have occurred very quickly in geological terms, in less than a million years,” said study co-lead author Ricardo Araújo. “It was not a gradual, slow process over tens of millions of years as previously thought, but maybe was attained quickly when triggered by novel mammal-like metabolic pathways and origin of fur.”



Study senior author Ken Angielczyk said that he is excited by how the study helps answer one of the longest-standing questions about the evolution of mammals.



“The origin of mammalian endothermy is one of the great unsolved mysteries of paleontology. Many different approaches have been used to try to predict when it first evolved, but they have often given vague or conflicting results,” said Angielczyk. “We think our method shows real promise because it has been validated using a very large number of modern species, and it suggests that endothermy evolved at a time when many other features of the mammalian body plan were also falling into place.”



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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

Ear canals may reveal when mammals became warm-blooded

Warm-bloodedness, or endothermy, is one of the most fascinating traits...

A recent survey study led by the <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/">University of Minnesota</a> has found that nearly one in three species are at risk of extinction by the end of the 21st century, due to multiple drivers of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-biodiversity-crisis-is-actually-worse-than-we-thought/">biodiversity</a> loss including climate change, human rampant production and consumption, or environmental pollution. While all living organisms will face significant threats, insects and plants are considered to be the most endangered.&nbsp;



The survey received 3,331 responses from experts in biodiversity from 187 countries, covering all the main groups of species, ecosystems, and habitats.&nbsp;



“While considering the types of species and ecosystems they know best, experts estimated that about 30 percent of species have been globally threatened or driven extinct since the year 1500,” said study lead author Forest Isbell, an associate professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Minnesota.&nbsp;



“Experts also acknowledged substantial uncertainty around their estimates, with perhaps as few as 16 percent or as many as 50 percent of species threatened or driven extinct over this time.”



According to Professor Isbell and his colleagues, global biodiversity loss and its impacts may be significantly greater than previously thought, due to higher estimates provided for understudied taxa and underrepresented experts.&nbsp;



“This paper includes the perspectives of a very wide range of experts and allows us to assess less known taxa as well as give a voice to underrepresented experts in the global literature,” said study co-author Patricia Balvanera, a professor of Ecosystem and Sustainability Research at the <a href="https://www.unam.mx/">National Autonomous University of Mexico</a>.



“Experts who identify as women and who are from the Global South have provided significantly higher estimates for past biodiversity loss and its impacts. Also, experts who identify as women disproportionately study the taxa that experts estimate are most threatened.”



The scientists encourage biodiversity specialists to use these findings to learn how their own perspectives may differ from those of others, and to ensure that a wide range of perspectives is included when conducting global biodiversity assessments, setting conservation goals, and implementing new policies aiming to safeguard biodiversity.



“Since biodiversity is highly regional in nature, the attempt of our study to bring together the opinions of regional experts from around the world is unprecedented,” said co-author Akira Mori, a professor of Ecology at the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html">University of Tokyo</a>. “From the perspective of social and cultural diversity and inclusiveness, even if they are not necessarily complete, I believe we have presented certain suggestions for future international policy discussions.”



Urgently increasing conservation efforts and investments is crucial for removing the threat of extinction for one in three species that may otherwise disappear by the end of the century.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2536">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</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;

One in three species could vanish this century

A recent survey study led by the University of Minnesota...

In a win for biodiversity, scientists from <a href="https://www.gwu.edu/">George Washington University</a> have discovered three new species of black-bellied salamander (Desmognathus quadramaculatus). These new <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/one-in-three-species-could-vanish-this-century/">species</a> inhabit the southern Appalachian mountains in the eastern United States.&nbsp;



The species were hidden in plain sight because they are known as cryptic species, which are species that do not look very different. For more than 100 years, scientists believed the salamanders all belonged to the same group.&nbsp;



“Black-bellied salamanders have been commonly studied for over 100 years,” said lead researcher R. Alexander Pyron.



“In 2002, a cryptic dwarf species was discovered, and, in 2005, DNA evidence began to suggest there were still more. It wasn’t until our NSF-funded research in 2020 that we were able to sequence genome-scale data to figure out there were actually five similar-looking species.”



The researchers began to take a closer look at the black-bellied salamander and noticed slight morphological, genetic, and geographic differences between individuals. Some were different sizes, different shapes, or had their own unique color patterns.&nbsp;



Through genetic analysis, the experts determined that there are five species of black-bellied salamander - three of which were unknown to scientists. The new species are D. gvnigeusgwotli, D. kanawha, and D. mavrokoilius.



Pyron said that black-bellied salamanders have been miscategorized for a long time. “After looking at multiple specimens, we see obvious and substantial phenotypic variation between most lineages.”



“In fact, the name ‘quadramaculatus,’ which was used for over 120 years, is not the correct name for any of these five species. We tracked down the original specimens at museums in Philadelphia and Paris and found that they belonged to a totally separate species. This raises the question of how ‘cryptic’ they ultimately are.”



According to the researchers, this discovery offers opportunities to learn about the new black-bellied salamanders. These cryptic species may have more secrets to reveal.



Image Credit: Todd Pierson, Kennesaw State University



This study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mapress.com/bn/article/view/bionomina.27.1.1">Bionomina</a>.



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

Three new black-bellied salamanders were hidden in plain sight

In a win for biodiversity, scientists from George Washington University...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.izs.it/">Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Teramo</a> (IZSAM) has found that free-ranging <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-origin-of-horse-domestication-has-finally-been-revealed/">horses</a> have higher levels of stress, compared to the ones living in stables under human management. This is likely due to factors including the pervasive danger of predators, the continuous need to search for food and water, and the more complex social dynamics characterizing wild horse populations.



The experts analyzed the cortisol levels of 47 horses, divided into three groups: 16 horses belonging to the State Police of Ladispoli, where they carried field work and training, 16 engaged in public order services at the Rome State Police, and 15 living in the wild in the mountains of the Abruzzo region. None of these horses had any acute or chronic pathologies at the beginning of the study.



“Cortisol is considered to be a valid indicator of stress, according to scientific literature. So its amount in the horsehair can be an ‘archive,’ providing information about the animal’s chronic status of well-being,” said study lead author Francesco Cerasoli, a researcher in Animal Welfare at IZSAM.



The analysis revealed that the cortisol levels were higher in the wild mountain horses than in the two groups kept in stables and involved in intense work activities. “This evidence contradicts some common beliefs stating that a free-raging animal, capable of expressing its natural behavior, would experience higher levels of well-being than the one at work and managed by humans” Cerasoli said.



“Our study shows that the animals managed by State Police, although subjected to work and/or public order service, an activity presumably rich in stressful factors, experience lower cortisol levels. Our conclusion is that proper management by humans seems more respectful of horses’ well-being than a pure nature condition.”



This study – published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/14/1739">Animals</a> - sheds new light on the factors that contribute to equine well-being. In the future, such methods could be extended to other species too in order to reliably assess their stress levels, and could become a point of reference for animal welfare, a field of research which is sparking growing interest recently.



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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;

Wild horses have higher stress levels than domestic ones

A new study led by the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of...

According to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL098574">Geophysical Research Letters</a>, reconstructing how natural communities located near a rapidly advancing and retreating glacier in Alaska have responded to fast-paced warming events in the past could help predict their responses to climate change in the future.&nbsp;



While studying once-buried layers of trees that had been plowed down by glaciers in the 19th century, researchers from the <a href="https://www.uaf.edu/">University of Alaska Fairbanks</a> (UAF) have noticed that tree rings in the Glacier Bay National Forest had compressed growth during the late 1800s, as the La Perouse glacier advanced and pushed a bubble of cold air out into the woods.



“Then we had this idea to monitor the size and intensity of the cold microclimate around the ice using temperature sensors,” said study lead author Benjamin Gaglioti, an ecologist at UAF. “If the glacier went back and forth and this microclimate influenced the surrounding forest, we could use it as an experiment” to assess how ecosystems may respond to climate change in the future.



By using historical accounts, tree cores, and aerial imagery, Gaglioti and his colleagues found that the glacier rapidly advanced hundreds of meters during the late 19th century, remained stable during the early 20th century, and began retreating around 1950. These microclimate changes were clearly reflected in the tree rings from the surrounding forest, which exhibited a slowdown of growth as the glacier advanced and an increase in growth rates as it retreated.



“That was stunning to me,” Gaglioti said. “Because of the glacier’s advance and retreat, the La Perouse forest experienced some of the fastest rates of historical cooling and warming on Earth, but climate models indicate these rates of change will&nbsp;become more common in the next century. Studying these types of glacier-adjacent ecosystems can help us understand how they may respond to the unprecedented rate of warming in the future.”



In future studies, the scientists aim to compare how different species of trees have responded to microclimate changes in the vicinity of the glacier in order to better understand the effects of large magnitude cooling and warming on entire forests. In addition, similar microclimates elsewhere can be used to examine climate sensitivities of other ecosystems, ranging from microorganisms to mammals.



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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;

Fluctuating glaciers shed new light on climate change

According to a new study published in the journal Geophysical...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a> has found that the scaly-breasted wren, a small, unassuming brown <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/songbirds-teach-children-duets/">songbird</a> from Central and South America known for its whistle-like chirps, has an amazing time-keeping ability. The experts found that the songbird always plays its tunes in an identifiable pattern - starting with a blast of chirps followed by alternating intervals of chirps and pauses, with the pauses between the chirps getting progressively longer. After the pause reaches about ten seconds in length, the birds start repeating the song.



This study is the first to investigate the natural time-keeping ability of an animal in the wild rather than under observation in the laboratory. In laboratory experiments, for most animals (including humans) it is difficult to determine how much time has passed after just a second or two: the longer an interval of time, the worse animals are at estimating its passage. However, for the wild wrens, 43 percent of the songs consistently kept time for their entire duration, with the intervals holding the established pattern even as the pauses increased in length.&nbsp;



The scientists were amazed to discover that, in the case of two of the songs, the wren’s time-keeping accuracy was higher than that of an average professional musician. “It is a really remarkable change from short intervals to long intervals in the same song,” said study lead author Carlos Antonio Rodriguez-Saltos, who conducted this research during a postdoctoral fellowship at UT Austin.



These findings raise questions about how timing might play into the mating displays of the wrens. “If females are especially interested in a male’s ability not just to produce the right notes but also the timing of their production, then the pressure is on,”&nbsp;explained Susan Healy, an expert in bird behavior at the <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">University of St Andrews</a> who was not involved in the study.



According to senior author Julia Clarke, a professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at UT Austin, this research proves the importance of studying birds in their natural environments. “We take wild birds for granted, and natural populations are dwindling, so this is urgent. This case shows how studying birds can provide huge new insights into cognition and timekeeping,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.06.004">Animal Behavior</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Songbird keeps time better than some professional musicians

A new study led by the University of Texas at...

In the UK, exotic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pet-owners-are-happier-than-people-who-dont-have-pets/">pets</a> are on the rise - and so are the number of snakebites. A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15563650.2022.2077748">Clinical Toxicology</a> reveals that the rate of exotic snakebites has increased over the course of a decade.



According to the UK National Poisons Information Service (NPIS), 321 patients suffered exotic snakebites from 68 different species in the last 11 years. Among these patients, 15 had severe symptoms. This included a reptile conservationist who previously survived a bite from an eastern green mamba but died after being bitten by a king cobra.



The World Health Organization (WHO) considers more than 250 species of poisonous snakes native to Asia, Africa and Latin America as medically important. Encountering these dangerous species is no longer limited by geography. Snake ownership has increased in the UK, where one in 100 households now own a pet snake.



“The prospect of being bitten by an exotic (non-native) snake (in the UK) is still remote, with bites typically occurring in those keeping such snakes as part of their occupation or hobby,” explained study lead author Pardeep Jagpal. “Rapid access to expert clinical advice and the availability of appropriate anti-venom are important considerations when these accidents occur.”



The researchers reviewed telephone calls involving snakebites between January 2009 and December 2020. They excluded enquiries about the European adder – the only species of poisonous snake native to the UK – or where the identity of the snake was unknown.



Of the 321 exotic snakebites in 300 patients:



<ul><li>207 (64.5%) of bites occurred in males – and 10 people were bitten more than once.</li><li>72 (22.5%) of bites occurred in children – 13 of whom were aged five or under.</li><li>184 (57.3%) of bites were inflicted by snakes of the family Colubridae, including hognose snakes, king snakes and false water cobras.</li><li>30 (9.3%) of bites were by Viperidae species, including western diamondback rattlesnakes and copperheads.</li><li>14 (4.3%) of bites were by Elapidae species – most commonly by Indian cobras, monocled cobras and king cobras. &nbsp;</li></ul>



The majority of the snake bites had either no symptoms or mild to moderate symptoms. However, fifteen bites involved severe symptoms caused by the front-fanged Viperidae or Elapidae. In total, seventeen people received antivenom treatment.



Study co-author Professor David Warrell of the University of Oxford is a world leading figure in tropical medicine, and the founding director of the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Wellcome Trust-Mahidol University Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme, Thailand.



“Most of these bites occur to fingers, hands and wrists following deliberate handling interaction by people who keep snakes as part of their occupation or hobby," said Professor Warrell.&nbsp;



"While ownership of many poisonous species requires a special licence in the UK, it is recognized that some individuals may keep these snakes illegally – meaning the true numbers of exotic snakebite injuries may be underestimated."



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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

Exotic snakebites have increased over the last decade

In the UK, exotic pets are on the rise -...

Bali mynas (Leucopsar rothschildi) are medium-sized, starling-like birds that are indigenous to Indonesia. Their striking white plumage, long crests and blue eye patches make them attractive to caged-bird enthusiasts all over the world. Sadly, the trade in these birds is one of the factors that has led to their virtual <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-plants-are-facing-extinction-in-the-scottish-mountains/">extinction</a> in the wild. However, there are over a thousand individuals kept in zoos and bird parks, and it is hoped that these captive-bred birds will help resurrect the natural populations.&nbsp;



Currently in Bali, Indonesia, there are several captive breeding programs that produce the myna birds specifically for rewilding into the areas where there are still natural populations. The remaining natural populations total only an estimated 50 birds, despite many decades of trying to bolster these populations by reintroducing captive-bred birds. Either the introductions do not cope well with life in natural surroundings, or the illegal trade in these beautiful birds is continuing unabated from within the nature reserves.&nbsp;



Whatever the reason, it is critically important that those birds introduced into wild areas are strong and resourceful, and are the individuals most likely to survive the obstacles in their wild habitats. With this in mind, a team led by Dr Rachael Miller of <a href="https://aru.ac.uk/">Anglia Ruskin University</a> (ARU) designed ways to test how 22 captive Bali mynas responded to being presented with novel objects and food items, and how well they tackled and solved simple problems.&nbsp;



“We selected the Bali myna for this study specifically because they are on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 50 adults in the wild in Indonesia, but there is a captive breeding program of almost 1,000 birds in zoos around the world,” explained Dr Miller.



The study was carried out over a six-week period at three UK zoological collections – Waddesdon Manor (National Trust/ Rothschild Foundation), Cotswolds Wildlife Park and Gardens, and Birdworld, and researchers monitored the behavior of birds exposed to novel foods and other objects, along with their ability to solve simple problems. These novel items were of types likely to be encountered by myna birds in new surroundings.



The results, published in the&nbsp;journal&nbsp;<a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos">Royal Society&nbsp;Open Science</a>, show that neophobia (irrational fear of new objects) is a factor for some birds. Overall, birds presented with a food item took longer to touch or handle it if there was also a novel item present in the food bowl. This hesitancy was affected by age, with adult birds proving to be more neophobic than juveniles. The researchers also discovered that those birds that quickly touched familiar food that was placed beside a new object were also the quickest to solve problem-solving tasks.



The researchers believe that gathering this type of behavioral data can aid in new conservation strategies. Behavioral flexibility is crucial for an individual’s adaptability and survival, and so pre-release training and identifying specific birds for release could help with the successful reintroduction of endangered species, such as the Bali myna, into the wild.



"Neophobia can be useful in that it can help birds avoid unfamiliar dangers, but it can also impact their adaptation to new environments, such as through an increased reluctance to approach new foods," said Dr. Miller.



“An understanding of behavioral flexibility, specifically how species and individuals within that species respond to novelty and approach new problems, is vital for conservation, particularly as the world is becoming increasingly urbanized. Many species need to adapt to human-generated environmental changes and how an animal responds to novelty can predict post-release outcomes during reintroductions."



This new study is part of a larger project, which aims to combine avian cognition and behavior research with conservation, to help threatened species.



“As part of active conservation of the Bali myna, there is a need to continually release birds to try to boost the small, wild population. Now we have data on the behavioral flexibility of these birds, this can help to inform which birds may be best suited for reintroduction. Our study has already identified that releasing juvenile Bali myna[s] may potentially be more successful than releasing adult birds, at least in terms of adaptability to new environments,” said Dr Miller.



“Our data can also help with developing training before release, where captive birds may learn to increase fear responses to traps or people, if they were to be introduced in areas where poaching takes place, or to decrease neophobia by exposure to unfamiliar but safe food sources in areas with low resources. We believe the overall project findings will be able to help not just the Bali myna, but hopefully many other endangered species."



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Neophobic birds are less likely to adapt to rewilding

Bali mynas (Leucopsar rothschildi) are medium-sized, starling-like birds that are...

In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)00719-X">Cell</a>, researchers have delved deeper into horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between plants and insects. They discovered that about 1,400 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-force-the-plants-they-infect-to-feed-them/">bacteria</a>, virus, fungi, and plant genes had been transferred across 218 insect species over the last hundreds of millions of years.



Study senior author Xing-Xing Shen is an evolutionary biologist at Zhejiang University. While HGT is a common phenomenon among microbes, Shen wanted to explore its impacts on insects further.



“Previous studies have shown that HGT may have contributed to insect biodiversity, but nobody knew how large a role it plays in this process, '' said Shen. “Since there are a lot of high-quality insect genomes available for our analysis, I thought that now is a good time to systematically investigate how prevalent HGT is in insects.”



“There were HGT events everywhere we looked,” said Shen. “However, we don’t know whether these transfers of genes are beneficial to the insects, or even the functions for most of these genes."



Jianhua Huang, who studies insect gene functions at Zhejiang University, assisted in the study and was impressed with the findings. “Shen walked into my office with a list of more than 1,400 genes, and we had to decide where to start,” said Huang.&nbsp;



The researchers decided to start with LOC105383139, a prevailing foreign gene that has been with moths and butterflies since they shared a common ancestor more than 300 million years ago. “This gene was horizontally introduced into nearly all moths and butterflies from a donor in the bacterial genus Listeria,” explained Huang.



The researchers discovered that when they removed the gene from diamondback moths, the effects were devastating for moth reproduction.



“Surprisingly, we saw those moths lacking this gene cannot produce many viable eggs,” said Huang. “Then, we found that the gene influences the male courtship behavior.”



The experts hope their research can be used as genetic weaponry to suppress insect populations.



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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

Insects have inherited hundreds of genes from microbes

In a new study published in the journal Cell, researchers...

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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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