Recent research using the James Webb Space Telescope (<a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JWST</a>) has provided new insights into the early stages of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/black-holes-shaped-the-universe-before-galaxies-existed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxy</a> formation, suggesting that galaxies evolved significantly faster and were less chaotic than previously believed. 



This discovery challenges long-standing theories about the early Universe, which was thought to be tumultuous with frequent collisions and unformed stars.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-through-the-cosmic-lens-jwst-s-revolutionary-observations">Through the cosmic lens: JWST's revolutionary observations</h2>



The JWST, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and the largest and most powerful space telescope ever constructed, allowed astronomers to observe galaxies as they existed between eight to 11.5 billion years ago. 



Remarkably, this period is just a couple of billion years after the formation of the Universe, which is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old.



An international team of astronomers, including researchers from <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Durham University</a> in the UK, utilized the advanced capabilities of the JWST to detect bar formations in these <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-galaxy-jwst-er1g-dark-matter-einstein-ring-mystery-solved/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ancient galaxies</a>. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-galaxy-evolution">Understanding galaxy evolution </h2>



Bars, which are elongated strips of stars within disc or spiral galaxies, play a crucial role in the maturation of galaxies by directing gas towards the central regions and fostering star formation.



"The presence of a stellar bar in a disc galaxy indicates that the galaxy hosts in its main part a dynamically settled disc and that bar-driven processes are taking place in shaping its evolution," wrote the researchers.



"Studying the cosmic evolution of the bar fraction in disc galaxies is therefore essential to understand galaxy evolution in general." 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-galactic-maturity">Surprising galactic maturity</h2>



The team's observations revealed that almost 20 percent of the 368 disc galaxies studied exhibited bars - double the proportion observed in previous studies using the Hubble Space Telescope. 



Zoe Le Conte, the lead author and a PhD researcher at Durham University’s Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, expressed surprise at the findings. She stated: "Galaxies in the early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ceers-2112-ancient-galaxy-looks-strikingly-similar-to-ours/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Universe</a> are maturing much faster than we thought. This is a real surprise because you would expect the Universe at that stage to be very turbulent."



"We find that many more bars were present in the early Universe than previously found in Hubble studies, implying that bar-driven galaxy evolution has been happening for much longer than previously thought," noted study co-author Dr. Dimitri Gadotti. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-galaxy-evolution-theories">Implications for galaxy evolution theories</h2>



These findings necessitate a reevaluation of existing models of galaxy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-galactic-explosion-provides-clues-about-galaxy-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolution</a>. The presence of bars in such a high percentage of early galaxies indicates a more settled phase in their development, contrary to the previously held belief of a chaotic early Universe. 



"The fact that there are a lot more bars is what’s very exciting," said Dr. Gadotti. Moreover, the research team plans to delve deeper into the cosmic timeline, aiming to explore bar formation in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/galaxies-like-our-own-milky-way-are-not-unique/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxies</a> even further back in time, up to 12.2 billion years ago. 



This could provide further clues about the mechanisms behind bar growth and its impact on galaxy evolution.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-beyond-the-horizon-future-galactic-explorations">Beyond the horizon: Future galactic explorations</h2>



Durham University has played a significant role in the scientific development of the JWST, particularly through its contributions to the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and the optics for the Near Infrared Spectrograph's Integral Field Unit. These instruments are pivotal in probing the mysteries of galaxies and black holes.



As researchers continue to harness the JWST's unprecedented capabilities, our understanding of the Universe's earliest days is set to expand, potentially rewriting the cosmic rulebook on galaxy formation and evolution. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-about-galaxy-evolution">More about galaxy evolution</h2>



Galaxy evolution is like a cosmic dance, where galaxies, vast collections of stars, gas, and dust, change and morph over billions of years. It's a grand narrative of birth, growth, and sometimes even destruction. 



Galaxies come in different shapes and sizes, from majestic spirals to more amorphous ellipticals, each with its own story to tell. Gravity plays a starring role, pulling galaxies together into groups and clusters, fostering mergers and collisions that can dramatically reshape their structures. 



Through these encounters, galaxies exchange material, triggering bursts of star formation or feeding supermassive black holes lurking at their centers. 



Over time, galaxies age and evolve, their populations of stars changing as old stars fade away and new ones are born. Yet, amidst this dynamism, there's a certain elegance to the cosmic ballet, as galaxies continue their journey through the vast expanse of the universe, leaving behind clues to their histories for astronomers to decipher.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/530/2/1984/7653430" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</a>.



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Early galaxy formation occurred much faster than we thought

Recent research using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has provided new insights into the early stages of galaxy formation, suggesting that galaxies evolved significantly faster and were less chaotic than previously believed. This discovery challenges long-standing theories about the early Universe, which was thought to be tumultuous with frequent collisions and unformed stars. Through the cosmic lens: JWST's revolutionary observations The JWST, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and the largest and most powerful space telescope ever constructed, allowed astronomers to observe galaxies as they...

A team of researchers have identified mechanisms within the human brain that may explain the “Uncanny Valley,” the phenomenon that causes some more than others to feel unsettled by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/robots-autonomous-vehicles-blame-wrongdoing/">robots</a> and virtual agents that are too human-like. This discovery is published in the <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/">Journal of Neuroscience</a>.

"Resembling the human shape or behavior can be both an advantage and a drawback," explained Professor Astrid Rosenthal-von der Pütten, Chair for Individual and Technology at <a href="http://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/~a/root/?lidx=1">RWTH Aachen University</a>. "The likability of an artificial agent increases the more human-like it becomes, but only up to a point: sometimes people seem not to like it when the robot or computer graphic becomes too human-like."

The Uncanny Valley phenomenon was translated from a Japanese expression coined by robotics professor Masahiro Mori in 1978. Although the phenomenon is well known and documented, the mechanisms behind it were a mystery until now.

"For a neuroscientist, the Uncanny Valley is an interesting phenomenon," said Dr. Fabian Grabenhorst, a Sir Henry Dale Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a>. "It implies a neural mechanism that first judges how close a given sensory input, such as the image of a robot, lies to the boundary of what we perceive as a human or non-human agent. This information would then be used by a separate valuation system to determine the agent's likability."

To see which mechanisms are responsible for the Uncanny Valley phenomenon, the team studied brain patterns in 21 healthy individuals during two separate tests, each of which used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures blood flow changes within the brain as a proxy for how active different regions are.

During the first test, the participants were asked to rate images of humans, artificial humans, android robots, humanoid robots and mechanoid robots, in terms of likability and human-likeness. And during the second test, participants were then asked which of these agents they would trust to purchase a personal gift for them. The research team found that participants generally preferred gifts from humans or from the more human-like artificial agents, but not those that were closest to the human/non-human boundary.

Having measured the participants’ brain activity during these two tests, the researchers could identify which areas of the brain caused the Uncanny Valley phenomenon and connected it to brain circuits that are crucial in processing and evaluating social cues, like facial expressions. They noted that some of the brain areas near the visual cortex deciphered how human-like the images were, and was able to create a spectrum of “human-likeness” based on the activity of the artificial agents. 

The team also found that the medial prefrontal cortex, the wall of neural tissue sandwiched between the left and right brain hemispheres, was also important in the Uncanny Valley phenomenon. The medial prefrontal cortex contains a generic valuation system that judges all kinds of stimuli, such as reward values and social stimulus like pleasant touch.

In this study, the medial prefrontal cortex worked in two separate parts to stimulate the Uncanny Valley — one area converted the human-likeness signal into a ”human detection” signal, which over-emphasized the line between human and non-human stimuli and reacted most strongly to human agents compared to artificial agents.

And the second part, called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), meshed this signal with a likability evaluation to produce an activity pattern similar to the Uncanny Valley response.

"We were surprised to see that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex responded to artificial agents precisely in the manner predicted by the Uncanny Valley hypothesis, with stronger responses to more human-like agents but then showing a dip in activity close to the human/non-human boundary — the characteristic 'valley,’" Dr. Grabenhorst said.

Furthermore, the same areas in the brain signaled evaluations when participants decided whether or not to accept a gift from a robot. When participants rejected gifts from human-like artificial agents, the amygdala, a region of the brain responsible for emotional responses, was activated.

"We know that valuation signals in these brain regions can be changed through social experience,” Dr. Grabenhorst continued. “So, if you experience that an artificial agent makes the right choices for you — such as choosing the best gift — then your ventromedial prefrontal cortex might respond more favorably to this new social partner." This could have implications for how artificial intelligence is designed in the future.

"This is the first study to show individual differences in the strength of the Uncanny Valley effect, meaning that some individuals react overly and others less sensitively to human-like artificial agents," Professor Rosenthal-von der Pütten said. "This means there is no one robot design that fits — or scares — all users. In my view, smart robot behavior is of great importance, because users will abandon robots that do not prove to be smart and useful."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Phonlamai Photo

Uncanny Valley: Why some people feel so unsettled by robots

A team of researchers have identified mechanisms within the human...

On October 19, 2017, the first-ever interstellar object to pass through our solar system was spotted by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 (PanSTARRS1) telescope, which is located at the University of Hawaii's Haleakala Observatory. 

The object, named Oumuamua, was particularly intriguing to experts because it exhibited features of both <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/americans-asteroid-protection-lunar-base/">asteroids</a> and comets. Telescopes on Earth had only a few short weeks to follow and capture images of the mysterious object.

The unusual characteristics of Oumuamua led some scientists to speculate that it was an alien spacecraft that was sent from a distant civilization to study our solar system. 

However, a new study co-led by Matthew Knight, a researcher in the Department of Astronomy at the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a>, has concluded that Oumuamua was a naturally occurring object and not a spacecraft.

"We have never seen anything like Oumuamua in our solar system. It's really a mystery still," said Knight. "But our preference is to stick with analogs we know, unless or until we find something unique. The alien spacecraft hypothesis is a fun idea, but our analysis suggests there is a whole host of natural phenomena that could explain it."

Oumuamua was red in color with an elongated shape and moved in an odd spinning pattern. According to Knight, its motion through our solar system is especially puzzling. The object appeared to accelerate along its trajectory, yet astronomers could find no evidence of the gaseous emissions that are known to enable this acceleration.

"The motion of Oumuamua didn't simply follow gravity along a parabolic orbit as we would expect from an asteroid," said Knight. "But visually, it hasn't ever displayed any of the cometlike characteristics we'd expect. There is no discernable coma - the cloud of ice, dust and gas that surrounds active comets - nor a dust tail or gas jets."

The researchers considered a number of ways that Oumuamua could have escaped from its home system. For example, the object could have been ejected by a gas giant planet orbiting another star. The team believes that Oumuamua is the first of many interstellar visitors. 

"In the next 10 years, we expect to begin seeing more objects like Oumuamua," said Knight. "We may start seeing a new object every year. That's when we'll start to know whether Oumuamua is weird, or common. If we find 10-20 of these things and Oumuamua still looks unusual, we'll have to reexamine our explanations."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natastron/">Nature Astronomy</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Oumuamua was a natural object, not an alien spacecraft

On October 19, 2017, the first-ever interstellar object to pass...

Holocaust survivors lived through years of terror, loss, grief, starvation, illness and physical, mental and emotional pain under the Nazi regime.

A new study shows that the stress of surviving such deep trauma left permanent biological and psychological marks on survivors’ brain structure – changes that could even potentially be passed down to their children and grandchildren, researchers said.

"After more than 70 years the impact of surviving the Holocaust on brain function is significant. We revealed substantial differences in the brain structures involved in the processing of emotion, memory and social cognition, in higher level of stress but also of post-traumatic growth between Holocaust survivors and controls,” Dr. Ivan Rektor of <a href="https://www.muni.cz/en">Masaryk University</a> said in a press release. “Early results show this is also the case in children of survivors, too."

The study looked at the brain function of 56 people with an average age of 79 to 80 years old. Twenty-eight of the group were Holocaust survivors, while the other half served as controls. The Holocaust survivors had significantly less gray matter on average, with those who were under 12 at the time of the Holocaust showing the worst effects. This is despite the fact that many participants reported being satisfied with their personal and professional lives after tthe end of World War II.

Previous research has also shown that post-traumatic stress disorder – both in combat veterans and survivors of childhood trauma – can be linked to reduction of gray matter, the researchers noted.

The team is now looking at the brain function of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Early results point toward reduced connectivity in areas of the brain that deal with emotions and processing memories. Researchers are moving ahead with further research to determine whether the brain function changes are the result of nature – a change in Holocaust survivors’ DNA that was passed down to their descendants – or nurture due to growing up in the home of a parent who had undergone significant trauma.

The study isn’t the first to find that the effects of trauma may be passed down through the generations. Research on soldiers in the U.S. Civil War found that the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/10/trauma-inherited-generations/573055/">sons of prisoners of war</a> – children born after the war ended and their fathers returned home – were much more likely to die young than sons of soldiers who had not been prisoners. The effect was more widespread among children of men who had been prisoners in 1863 and 1864, when conditions in prisons on both sides became drastically worse.

Another study found that children born during the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/science/dutch-famine-genes.html?module=inline">Dutch Hunger Winter</a> suffered physical effects that may have been passed down to their descendants.

"Our hope is that these findings and our ongoing research will allow us to understand more about the effect of these experiences in order to focus therapy to support survivors' and their descendants' resilience and growth,” Rektor said. “We may also reveal strategies that Holocaust survivors used to cope with trauma during their later lives and to pass on their experience to further generations.”

The study will be presented today at the <a href="https://www.ean.org/oslo2019/5th-Congress-of-the-European-Academy-of-Neurology-Oslo-2019.3649.0.html">5th European Academy of Neurology Congress</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Praszkiewicz / <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock.com</a>

Trauma left biological mark on brains of Holocaust survivors

Holocaust survivors lived through years of terror, loss, grief, starvation,...

The good, the bad, and the memories: How the brain makes decisions. It was long theorized that the frontal cortex of the brain was the region where decisions are made. The orbital frontal cortex of the brain sits above the eye sockets and is considered the seat of higher-order thinking because of its role in the development of higher cognition processes. 

Calculations made in the frontal cortex were believed to influence <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-addiction-drugs/">decision making</a>. 

But now, researchers from <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale</a> have identified not one but three distinct circuits that connect to different brain regions and which are responsible for good and bad decision-making. 

The study was published in the journal Neuron. 

Having a better understanding of how decisions are processed and stored in the brain could help researchers tackle addiction, which is characterized by flawed decision-making. 

“Specific decision-making computations are altered in individuals with mental illness,” said Jane Taylor, the senior author of the study. “Our results suggest that these impairments may be linked to dysfunction within distinct neural circuits.”

Although the researchers studied decision making in rats, the results apply to human decision-making. 

“Because we used a test that is equivalent to those used in studies of human decision- making, our findings have direct relevance to humans and could aid in the search for novel treatments for substance abuse in humans,” said Stephanie Groman, a lead author of the study. 

The researchers conducted tests with rats who were given a choice between performing an action and receiving a reward or not getting a reward. During these actions, the researchers manipulated the brain circuits of the rats and found that decision making was not isolated to the orbital frontal cortex. 

Instead, the researchers identified three brain circuits that connected the orbital frontal cortex to other regions in the brain. 

This complex circuitry was activated during decision making and was responsible for either good decisions, bad decisions, or deciding which past choices should be committed to memory. 

“There are at least three individual processes that combine in unique ways to help us to make good decisions,” said Groman. 

If the rats made the right decision, one that ended in a reward, one of the brain circuits were activated, but another was activated if the rat made the wrong choice and received no reward. The third circuit stored past experiences and decisions to help the rat with future choices. 

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Image Credit:Shutterstock/PopTika

The good, the bad, and the memories: How the brain makes decisions

The good, the bad, and the memories: How the brain...

In collaboration with researchers at <a href="https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/default.aspx">Ben-Gurion University</a> in Israel, experts at <a href="http://www.ucla.edu/">UCLA</a> have developed a tool to predict how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gut-microbiome-promotes-healthier-aging/">gut microbiome</a> will change over time. 

The new computational modeling method uses snapshots of the microbial community found in an individual's gut to identify the various types of microbes present, which are indicative of future transformation.

The combination and amount of microbes in the gut is a strong indicator and contributor to a person's health. A better understanding of how this microbial community composition changes over time could provide key insights into health and disease. It is not yet clear, however, to what extent microbial composition at any given time influences future composition.

To investigate, the research team developed the Microbial community Temporal Variability Linear Mixed Model (MTV-LMM), which made it possible to observe temporal changes in the microbial composition of the gut. Testing revealed that MTV-LMM can predict such changes with more accuracy than existing models used for the same purpose.

Using MTV-LMM, the researchers were able to confirm that gut microbiome community composition can be accurately predicted based on earlier observations of the community in both infants and adults. Furthermore, when the model was applied to data from 39 infants, the team identified a key shift around the age of 9 months in how the gut microbiome changes over time.

"Our approach provides multiple methodological advancements, but this is still just the tip of the iceberg," said study co-author Liat Shenhav. "Modeling the temporal behavior of the microbiome is a fundamental scientific question, with potential applications in medicine and beyond."

The team will continue their work to further improve the prediction accuracy of the model and to explore additional applications. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/">PLOS Computational Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Alpha Tauri 3D Graphics

New tool can predict changes in the composition of the gut microbiome

In collaboration with researchers at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, experts...

Mars may have been able to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-experiment-life-mars/">support life</a> far earlier than Earth, according to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0380-0.epdf?referrer_access_token=jtLxYGtdiiEwMpp-v8eLgtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NqE6DHi19HY4jS6O-4qsom5JxVG2QDZPwe5u5RokWbYIU_xtd1E5KIAgVKG0MM2SnG0l8VOjcj46QnTvoExFMR-9NZ7iDf96PNE08wZZ_Fkqd9SBNIliQDbXXdcQh6vHU3Jt5mTUbu5srCafjSjFek-y1RDh40MF9r3uZJYlZHjUzzQCCmQm9GcK-H38rKPsLt4Ok8eNnvgl2FpDxIgl1BsqX1rEIP1tAGxnhotVo_ww%3D%3D&amp;tracking_referrer=www.dailymail.co.uk">Nature Geoscience</a>. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uwo.ca/">University of Western Ontario</a> discovered that a period known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, when the inner solar system was inundated with meteorite and asteroid impacts, ended earlier for Mars than previously realized. 

It was long thought that Mars was impacted by the Late Heavy Bombardment until 3.8 billion years ago. 

However, after analyzing meteorites from Mars’ southern Highlands that were knocked into space and crashed into Earth, the researchers found that Mars stopped being hit by comets and asteroids 4.48 billion years ago. 

This would have made it possible for life to develop between 4.2 and 3.5 billion years ago, 500 million years before life began to flourish on Earth. 

The researchers analyzed zircon and baddeleyite grains in the meteorites. Only 120 known specimens from Mars’s crust that fell to Earth are known to exist. 

By dating the zircon, the researchers were able to more accurately estimate when the Late Heavy Bombardment ceased for Mars as zircon contains decaying radioactive uranium. 

The meteorites can also show signs of exposure to high pressure indicative of a major impact, but the researchers found that the samples were formed after the Late Heavy Bombardment. 

“We found none of these bombardment signatures in the Mars zircon and baddeleyite grains,” Desmond Moser, the lead author of the study, told <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2207355-mars-meteorite-assault-stopped-500-million-years-earlier-than-thought/">New Scientist</a>. “We know there was a giant impact on Mars, but it has to be older than 4.48 billion years ago.“The implication is that there could have been platform hosting life as much as half a billion years earlier than previously thought it was possible in the inner solar system.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Dotted Yeti

Mars may have been able to support life long before Earth

Mars may have been able to support life far earlier...

In 2015, the Gorkha earthquake in Nepal registered a moment magnitude (MW) of 7.8, and partially ruptured a 120-km by 80-km patch of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) – a detachment that separates the underthrusting Indian plate from the overriding Himalayan orogeny. 

The earthquake occurred in a region known as the Himalayan orogenic belt, which frequently produces large earthquakes that can impact population centers for a distance of over 2500 km.

The Gorkha earthquake in particular has highlighted important questions about <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/accelerated-himalayan-glacier-melting/">Himalayan</a> formation and seismic hazards – including how to distinguish between different possible geometries of the MHT, and how to better define the locations and structural causes of rupture segmentation in the orogenic belt. 

To help answer these questions, professor Bai Ling from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the <a href="http://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> led a study that found the rupture length of the Gorkha earthquake was likely controlled by spatial variations in the MHT.

[caption id="attachment_1874518" align="aligncenter" width="594"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/rupture.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-1874518" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/rupture.png" alt="" width="594" height="592" /></a> Map view of the MHT and a cross-section passing through the Gorkha earthquake. Image Credit: BAI Ling[/caption]

The study combined seismic waveforms from several different deployments – including 22 seismic stations ITP had deployed along the China-Nepal border with an average elevation of 4.5 km prior to the earthquake. Researchers were able to determine source parameters of the earthquakes, along with velocity structures and discontinuity topography of the source area by using arrival times and waveform modeling.

Published in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>, results of this study showed that the MHT exhibited clear lateral variation along the geologic strike, with the Lesser Himalayan ramp having moderate dip on the MHT beneath the mainshock are, and a flatter and deeper MHT below the eastern end of the aftershock zone. 

Moving forward, the next steps are to image the entire 2,500-km Himalayan front in order to determine the morphology of the MHT and the likely controls of the maximum magnitude of rupture that can be handled in different parts of the convergence zone. 

Ultimately, improving our understanding of how these seismic events occur and affect the surrounding areas may help us better predict the events and keep the communities in the area as safe as possible.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Studio Pospichal

Experts uncover controlling factors behind Himalayan earthquake rupture

In 2015, the Gorkha earthquake in Nepal registered a moment...

Bones belonging to two different <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/israel-site-occupied-neanderthals/">Neanderthals</a> in Europe have recently had their nuclear genome sequences analyzed by researchers at the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index.html">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a>. 

A femur bone belonging to a male Neanderthal was discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, Germany in 1937, while the maxillary bone of a Neanderthal girl was found in 1993 in Scladina Cave, Belgium. Both individuals lived around 120,000 years ago, predating most of the Neanderthals whose genomes have been previously sequenced.

Through their analysis of the nuclear genomes of these Neanderthals, the researchers were able to determine that these early Neanderthals in Western Europe were more closely related to the last Neanderthals who lived in the same region as much as 80,000 years later, than they were to the contemporaneous Neanderthals living in Siberia. 

[caption id="attachment_1874514" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/femur.png"><img class="wp-image-1874514" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/femur.png" alt="" width="650" height="351" /></a> Femur of a male Neandertal, Image © Oleg Kuchar, Museum Ulm[/caption]

“The result is truly extraordinary and a stark contrast to the turbulent history of replacements, large-scale admixtures and extinctions that is seen in modern human history,” says Kay Prüfer, who supervised the study.

Although the nuclear genome of the male Neandertal from Germany is similar to that of later Neanderthals, the mitochondrial genome is quite different. An earlier report had shown that over 70 mutations distinguished it from the mitochondrial genomes of other Neanderthals.

In their study, the researchers suggest that early European Neanderthals may have inherited DNA from a currently unknown population. Stéphane Peyrégne, who led the analysis, concludes, 

“This unknown population could represent an isolated Neanderhtal population yet to be discovered, or may be from a potentially larger population in Africa related to modern humans.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/iurii

Early Neanderthals lived in Europe 120,000 years ago

Bones belonging to two different Neanderthals in Europe have recently...

Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction. A 2017 report from the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that more than 7 million people die every year as a result of the negative health effects of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/smoking-ages-20-years/">smoking</a>. In a new study, experts at the <a href="https://www.tu-dortmund.de/en/">Technical University of Dortmund</a> in Germany are working to engineer nicotine-free tobacco to help people overcome their addiction to nicotine and reduce this number of fatalities.

"Nicotine‐free (or nicotine reduced) cigarettes may contribute to reduce the number of smokers and nicotine consumption, thus reducing the risk of death from tobacco use," wrote study authors Felix Stehle and Julia Schachtsiek. Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction.

"Most genes involved in the nicotine biosynthesis in tobacco are known and well characterized. This opens the possibility to employ genetic engineering approaches to alter the alkaloid content of the plant, and in particular to reduce the nicotine content."

The team used the CRISPR gene-editing technique to deactivate six enzymes involved in the production of nicotine. The result is a tobacco plant which contains the lowest level of nicotine to date. 

The researchers modified a tobacco strain that normally contains 16 milligrams of nicotine per gram to contain just 0.04 milligrams of nicotine per gram, which is a reduction of 99.7 per cent. Prior to this study, the lowest level of nicotine in any tobacco was 0.4 milligrams per gram. 

According to a WHO report, clinical trials involving low-nicotine cigarettes showed that smokers did not increase the amount they smoked to compensate for the reduced nicotine intake. The WHO experts also proposed that lowering the nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels may be an effective strategy to eliminate smoking worldwide. 

The study will be published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14677652">Plant Biotechnology Journal</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction

Scientists engineer low-nicotine tobacco to help combat nicotine addiction. A...

From vibrant reds, greens, yellows, and blues, birds have some of the most striking and distinct colorings compared to other animals.

Melanin pigment is the key to these vivid feathers, and it is responsible for black, reddish brown, and grey feathers as well as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-shiny-feathers-trees/">iridescence</a>. 

Luckily, melanin pigment can fossilize, whereas feathers, which are made of keratin, are not preserved in prehistoric fossils. 

Researchers can use the fossilized pigments to help determine the colors of ancient birds, but the color blue remained evasive, and it was not known if blue could be preserved like other pigments. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> have identified blue color tones in prehistoric birds and discovered which birds were predominantly blue.

Birds use the melanin pigments to create both structural iridescent and non-iridescent colors. The melanin packages called melanosomes can look like small spheres to cylinders and measure less than one-thousandth of a millimeter. 

By examining the melanosomes in fossils, researchers can reconstruct the color of the feathers. 

But blue is a non-iridescent structural color and difficult to reconstruct. If a bird has blue coloring, its feathers contain an array of cavities that scatter blue light. The only way to determine a blue bird’s coloring is the dark melanin that absorbs unscattered light. 

The researchers discovered that the melanosomes in blue feathers are distinctly different from feathers that are black or brown, but similar to those found in grey feathers. 

After comparing modern birds and their feather colors to closely related fossil specimens, the researchers were able to determine that the prehistoric bird Eocoracias brachyptera was blue. 

“The overlap with grey colour may suggest some common mechanism in how melanosomes are involved in making grey colouration and how these structural blue colours are formed,” said Frane Barbarovic, the leader of the study. “Based on these results in our publication we have also hypothesized potential evolutionary transition between blue and grey colour.”

Blue, although a common color in the animal kingdom, is still somewhat of a mystery to biologists as far as what purpose it serves for some species. 

By having a better understanding of which ancient birds were blue, researchers may be able to piece together the evolutionary purpose and advantages blue coloring provides birds.

The results of the study were published in the journal Interface. 

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Reconstruction by Marta Zaher, PhD at the University of Bristol

Scientists identify blue tones in ancient fossilized feathers

From vibrant reds, greens, yellows, and blues, birds have some...

Fossil records dating as far back as the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cambrian-fossils-china/">Cambrian period</a> have shown significant ebbs and flows of evolution and extinction. However, rather than depicting a bell-shaped curve of rapid diversification and plummeting extinctions, the fossil record shows fat-tailed distribution, with outlier events occurring with higher-than-expected probability — a shape that scientists have had a hard time explaining.

Andy Rominger, a <a href="https://www.santafe.edu/">Santa Fe Institute</a> Omidyar Fellow, worked with colleagues Miguel Fuentes of <a href="http://www.uss.cl/">San Sebastián University</a>, and Pablo Marquet of <a href="http://eap.ucop.edu/OurPrograms/brazil/Pages/pontifical_catholic_univ.aspx">Pontifical Catholic University</a> to investigate the odd pattern. Their investigation is published in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

Rather than looking at the big picture first, the team analyzed the fluctuations among clades, or groups of organisms that share a common lineage.

"Within a lineage of closely related organisms, there should be a conserved evolutionary dynamic. Between different lineages, that dynamic can change," Rominger explained.

Related organisms within clades often find an adaptive strategy and stick to it. But between the clade-specific fitness peaks, there are voids of seemingly empty space. "It turns out, just invoking that simple idea, with some very simple mathematics, described the patterns in the fossil record very well,” Rominger said.

In 2009, Fuentes used the same “simply mathematics” — called superstatistics — to explain the stock market’s ebbs and flows, which oddly enough, depicted a similar fat-tailed pattern.

"In biology, we see these crashes and explosions too, in terms of biodiversity," Rominger said. "We wondered if Fuentes' elegant approach could also describe the evolutionary dynamics we see in the fossil record."

Their findings will hopefully help other scientists better understand evolutionary processes that lead to extinction and evolution, and to interruptions that make way for new life forms.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Mesa Shumacher/Santa Fe Institute

Scientists finally understand the universal pattern in fossil record

Fossil records dating as far back as the Cambrian period...

A study led by <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/">University of Tokyo</a> graduate student Yuuki Wada has recently uncovered a connection between lightning strikes and two kinds of gamma-ray activity. The researchers found that weak gamma-ray glows from thunderclouds often precede <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/lightning-strike-twice/">lightning bolts</a> and their coinciding intense gamma-ray flashes.

For decades, scientists have known that lightning generates electromagnetic radiation in the form of gamma rays. In the city of Kanazawa in central Japan, Wada and her colleagues installed radiation monitors onto buildings as a network to detect radiation coming from the sky. 

"Forever, people have seen lightning and heard thunder. These were the ways we could experience this power of nature," said Wada. "With the discovery of electromagnetism, scientists learned to see lightning with radio receivers. But now we can observe lightning in gamma rays - ionizing radiation. It's like having four eyes to study the phenomena."

During thunderstorms, weak emissions called gamma-ray glows last about a minute, while much more intense terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) occur as lightning strikes. Both types of gamma-ray activity occur in regions of thunderclouds that are positioned between layers of varying charge. 

"During a winter thunderstorm in Kanazawa, our monitors detected a simultaneous TGF and lightning strike. This is fairly common, but interestingly we also saw a gamma-ray glow in the same area at the same time," explained Wada. "Furthermore, the glow abruptly disappeared when the lightning struck. We can say conclusively the events are intimately connected and this is the first time this connection has been observed."

The researchers plan to further investigate and to explore the possibility that gamma-ray glows do not just precede lightning strikes, but may actually cause them. 

"Our finding marks a milestone in lightning research and we will soon double our number of radiation sensors from 23 to about 40 or 50. With more sensors, we could greatly improve predictive models," said Wada. "It's hard to say right now, but with sufficient sensor data, we may be able to predict lightning strikes within about 10 minutes of them happening and within around 2 kilometers of where they happen. I'm excited to be part of this ongoing research."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsphys/">Communications Physics</a>. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earrh.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: 2019 Yuuki Wada

Weak gamma-ray glows often occur just before lightning bolts

A study led by University of Tokyo graduate student Yuuki...

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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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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



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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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[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...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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



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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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