In the world of science, it's not every day that a new "rule of biology" emerges. These rules, or biological laws, are like the fundamental <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/evolution-is-not-as-random-as-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">truths</a> of the living world. They describe stability or instability patterns and behaviors that are consistently observed throughout life.



One such rule is Allen's rule,&nbsp;which explains why animals in colder climates have shorter limbs than their counterparts in warmer regions.&nbsp;Now,&nbsp;John Tower,&nbsp;a professor of biological sciences at <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USC Dornsife</a>,&nbsp;is proposing a new rule that challenges our understanding of how <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-evolution-may-be-the-biggest-roadblock-to-solving-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life</a> works.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-selectively-advantageous-instability-of-life">Selectively advantageous instability of life</h2>



Tower's rule revolves around a concept called "selectively advantageous instability," or SAI.&nbsp;This concept suggests that a certain level of instability in biological components,&nbsp;such as proteins and genetic material,&nbsp;can actually be beneficial to cells.



This might seem counterintuitive.&nbsp;We often associate stability with health and well-being.&nbsp;After all,&nbsp;stable systems require less energy and resources to maintain.&nbsp;Hexagons,&nbsp;for example,&nbsp;are a common shape in nature because they are inherently stable and efficient.



But Tower argues that instability is just as fundamental to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-evolution-was-shaped-by-competition-not-just-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life</a> as stability.&nbsp;"Even the simplest cells contain proteases and nucleases and regularly degrade and replace their proteins and RNAs,&nbsp;indicating that SAI is essential for life," Tower explains.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolution-instability-and-life">Evolution, instability and life</h2>



So,&nbsp;how does instability play a role in the scheme of life?&nbsp;Tower believes that SAI is a driving force in evolution.



As cells build and break down unstable components,&nbsp;they essentially exist in two states:&nbsp;one with the unstable component present and one without it.&nbsp;Natural selection can act differently on these two states.&nbsp;



This can lead to a situation where both a normal gene and a mutated version of that gene are maintained in the same population,&nbsp;as each gene might be advantageous in a different state.



This genetic diversity,&nbsp;driven by instability,&nbsp;is what allows cells and organisms to adapt and evolve over time in their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stone-tool-discovery-challenges-entire-theory-of-human-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life</a>.&nbsp;It's like a constant dance between stability and instability,&nbsp;where the right balance can lead to incredible resilience and adaptability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dark-side-of-instability">Dark side of instability</h2>



While SAI can enhance adaptability and evolution, it has a downside. The process of constantly creating and replacing unstable components within cells demands significant energy. This energetic cost can strain cellular resources, potentially leading to inefficiencies over time. 



Tower suggests that SAI could be a key factor in aging.&nbsp;"Creating and then replacing the unstable components within cells comes at the cost of materials and energy.&nbsp;Breaking it down may also require additional energy," he says.



Additionally, SAI allows for the coexistence of normal and mutated genes within the same cell population. While this genetic diversity can be beneficial, it also poses risks. 



If a harmful mutated gene persists alongside a normal gene, it can have detrimental effects. These harmful mutations might contribute to cellular damage and dysfunction, accelerating the aging process. 



Over time, the accumulation of such harmful mutations can impair cell function, leading to age-related decline in tissue and organ systems. 



Thus, while SAI promotes adaptability and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quick-species-adaptability-shapes-long-term-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survival</a> in changing environments, it also introduces vulnerabilities that can impact the aging process and overall cellular health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-beyond-evolution-and-aging">Beyond evolution and aging</h2>



The implications of SAI extend far beyond <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-dinosaurs-influence-human-aging-65-million-years-after-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolution and aging</a>. It has the potential to shed light on a wide range of biological phenomena, from chaos theory and criticality to Turing patterns and even "cellular consciousness."



"Science has been fascinated lately with concepts such as chaos theory,&nbsp;criticality,&nbsp;Turing patterns and 'cellular consciousness,'" says Tower.&nbsp;"Research in the field suggests that SAI plays an important role in producing each of these phenomena."



Tower believes that SAI is so widespread in biology and has such far-reaching consequences that it could be considered a new rule of biology.&nbsp;This rule challenges our traditional view of stability and highlights the importance of embracing instability in our understanding of life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-embracing-the-paradox">Embracing the paradox</h2>



The idea that instability is essential for life might seem paradoxical,&nbsp;but it's a reminder that life is a dynamic and ever-changing process.&nbsp;It's a constant dance between order and chaos,&nbsp;stability and instability.&nbsp;And it's this delicate balance that allows life to thrive and evolve.



"Even the simplest cells contain proteases and nucleases and regularly degrade and replace their proteins and RNAs,&nbsp;indicating that SAI is essential for life," Tower notes. 



So,&nbsp;while stability might seem like the ideal state,&nbsp;it's the instability that keeps life moving forward.&nbsp;It's the spark that ignites evolution,&nbsp;the engine that drives adaptation,&nbsp;and the force that shapes the diversity of life on Earth.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fragi.2024.1376060/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Frontiers in Aging</a>.



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New rule of biology: Instability is key to evolution and life

In the world of science, it's not every day that a new "rule of biology" emerges. These rules, or biological laws, are like the fundamental truths of the living world. They describe stability or instability patterns and behaviors that are consistently observed throughout life. One such rule is Allen's rule,&nbsp;which explains why animals in colder climates have shorter limbs than their counterparts in warmer regions.&nbsp;Now,&nbsp;John Tower,&nbsp;a professor of biological sciences at USC Dornsife,&nbsp;is proposing a new rule that challenges our understanding of how life works. Selectively advantageous...

A team of neuroscientists has identified the region of the human brain that is dedicated to perceiving the barriers which define the traversable space around us, such as walls or ceilings, so that we can navigate safely through our environment. 

This <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-region-value-decisions/">brain</a> region processes our spatial constraints at incredibly fast speeds and likely contributes to our instant sense of new surroundings. The research is shedding new light on the complex computations performed by our brains to help us get around. 

Study senior author Dr. Nikolaus Kriegeskorte is a principal investigator at Columbia University's <a href="https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/">Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute</a>.

“Vision gives us an almost instant sense where we are in space, and in particular of the geometry of the surfaces - the ground, the walls - which constrain our movement. It feels effortless, but it requires the coordinated activity of multiple brain regions,” said Dr. Kriegeskorte. “How neurons work together to give us this sense of our surroundings has remained mysterious. With this study, we are a step closer to solving that puzzle.”

Using two cutting-edge brain-imaging technologies, the researchers examined the mental responses of volunteers as they were shown images of various three-dimensional scenes. The image may depict a typical room with three walls, a ceiling, and a floor, but then was abruptly changed by the removal of a wall or a ceiling. 

“By doing this repeatedly for each participant as we methodically altered the images, we could piece together how their brains encoded each scene,” said study first author Dr. Linda Henriksson.

The occipital place area (OPA), an intermediate-level stage of cortical processing, stood out in the brain scans of the participants.

“Previous studies had shown that OPA neurons encode scenes, rather than isolated objects,” said Dr. Kriegeskorte. “But we did not yet understand what aspect of the scenes this region's millions of neurons encoded.”

After analyzing the brain scans, the team discovered that the OPA activity represented the geometry of the scenes. The OPA activity patterns reflected the presence or absence of each component, such as a ceiling or a wall, and projected a detailed picture of the overall configuration.

The brain region seemed to ignore the surface appearance of the various components in order to focus solely on the geometric patterns. The OPA managed to get a sense of a room's layout in just 100 milliseconds.

“The speed with which our brains sense the basic geometry of our surroundings is an indication of the importance of having this information quickly,” said Dr. Henriksson. “It is key to knowing whether you're inside or outside, or what might be your options for navigation.”

In the future, the research team plans to incorporate virtual reality technology to create more realistic 3D environments for participants to experience. 

“We would like to put these things together and build computer vision systems that are more like our own brains, systems that have specialized machinery like what we observe here in the human brain for rapidly sensing the geometry of the environment,” said Dr. Kriegeskorte.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Our brains can map the physical barriers of a room in just 100 milliseconds

A team of neuroscientists has identified the region of the...

Scientists identify why Earth’s magnetic field jerks every few years. Geomagnetic jerks are unpredictable events that suddenly speed up changes in the Earth's <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-earths-magnetic-fields/">magnetic field</a>, making its progression hard to predict over the long term. The magnetic jerks were first described in 1978, and geophysicists have been working for decades to understand their underlying forces. 

Records of magnetic jerks date back as far as 1901, and a new event occurs about every 6 to 12 years. The strength of the activity is not consistent across the globe, which means  only certain regions may be impacted. In 1949, for example, a magnetic jerk was documented in North America that could not be detected in Europe.

Beyond protecting our planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation, the magnetic field affects numerous human activities including  the flight of low-altitude satellites. It is important for experts to be able to understand its behavior and predict its evolution. 

The Earth's magnetic field is produced by the circulation of matter within its metallic core, through the energy released when this core cools. There are two known types of movements that cause variations in the magnetic field. Movements that result from slow convection can be measured on the scale of a century, and movements that result from rapid hydromagnetic waves can be detected on the scale of a few years. 

Experts have theorized that the rapid hydromagnetic waves play a role in the geomagnetic jerks. However, the driving force behind rapid waves, and their interaction with slow convection, has been a mystery. 

To investigate, Julien Aubert of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris">University of Paris </a> teamed up with Christopher Finlay of the <a href="https://www.dtu.dk/english">Technical University of Denmark</a> to develop a computer simulation that closely resembled the physical conditions of our core. The simulation required the equivalent of 4 million hours of calculation, which was achieved using a supercomputer.

The researchers were able to project the series of events that lead to geomagnetic jerks, which arise in the simulation from hydromagnetic waves emitted in the inner core. The jerks originate in rising blobs of metal that form in the planet's core 25 years before the corresponding jerk takes place.

As the molten matter rises up to reach the outer surface of the Earth's core, it produces powerful waves along the magnetic field lines near the core. The team explained that this results in “sharp changes” in the flow of liquid beneath the magnetic field.

According to the study authors, the jerks “represent a major obstacle to the prediction of geomagnetic field behavior for years to decades ahead.” However, the digital reproduction and comprehension of these jerks will help to improve these predictions. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists identify why Earth’s magnetic field jerks every few years

Scientists identify why Earth’s magnetic field jerks every few years....

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> has developed a technique of studying landslide activity by analyzing the sand in mountain rivers. The research will help provide new insight into natural hazards in mountainous regions.

Landslides are often triggered by extreme rainfall events or earthquakes in hilly areas. In 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal triggered more than 25,000 landslides. Studying the history of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fatal-landslides-human-activity/">landslide</a> activity can help people living in threatened areas to better understand and mitigate their risk. 

The long-term behavior of landslide activity in any given region is very difficult to measure. The new technique enables the experts to investigate how often landslides occur in a region and how long the sediment produced from landslides remains within a river system before being transported downstream.

Study co-author Todd Ehlers is a professor in the Department of Geosciences at the <a href="https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/university.html">University of Tübingen</a> in Germany.

“Our approach is based quite simply on taking a handful of sand from a river and measuring the chemistry of the sediments,” said Professor Ehlers. “When combined with computer models we can determine how much landslide activity exists upstream of the location where the sediment was collected, and how long landslide produced sediment was in the river before being flushed out.”

Previous studies were unable to fully determine how often landslides occur or the extent of the erosion that is caused. “What is surprising in this study is that we figured out a way to address both limitations that previous studies have struggled with,” said Professor Ehlers.

[caption id="attachment_1871744" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Chomrong-in-the-Himalaya.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1871744" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Chomrong-in-the-Himalaya.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="488" /></a> Landslide near Chomrong in the Himalaya of central Nepal, Image Credit: David Whipp[/caption]

The findings will help scientists assess how active and significant landslides are in a region, and also how long these events dump sediment into the rivers.

“Sediment in these steep landscapes is transported downstream surprisingly quickly,” explained study lead author Professor David Whipp. “While sediment in many river systems may be stored for tens of thousands of years, our results suggest most of the sediment in the steep Himalayan mountains remains in the river system for no more than ten years.”

This surprising discovery is evidence of the powerful force of the water flowing in Himalayan mountain rivers during the annual monsoon season, which transports massive volumes of sediment downstream.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/">Science Advances</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: David Whipp

A record of landslide activity can be found in the sand of mountain rivers

A team of researchers led by the University of Helsinki...

Forest ‘glow’ helps reveal its CO2 storage and photosynthesis capacity. Satellites are becoming increasingly important in how we monitor the Earth’s climate, greenhouse gas emissions, water levels, cloud cover, and even photosynthesis. 

In the first study of its kind, researchers from the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a> have found a way to monitor GPP and photosynthesis in evergreen forests using satellites. 

Forests can store large amounts of carbon and so monitoring photosynthesis is an accurate way for researchers to track global carbon levels and measure how much CO2 is being stored. 

The total amount of chemical energy produced by the process of photosynthesis is called <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-working-climate-change/">Gross Primary Production (GPP)</a>, and for deciduous forests, satellites can easily track GPP because of the seasonal changes that impact leaf growth and color. 

In the spring and summer, deciduous trees see a spike in chlorophyll in their leaves in preparation for photosynthesis. In the fall and winter, chlorophyll levels drop, and trees lose their leaves. 

For evergreen trees which remain green all year round, it’s challenging to measure photosynthesis and carbon uptake. 

In the new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found a way to use solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) emitted by evergreen trees to monitor seasonal changes in photosynthesis and GPP.Forest ‘glow’ helps reveal its CO2 storage and photosynthesis capacity 

SIF occurs when chlorophyll levels return from a dormant state, and a photon is emitted which produces a faint “glow” not visible to the naked eye. 

Satellites can now detect SIF glow, and the researchers used scanning spectrometers to measure SIF in an evergreen forest in Colorado. 

The team found that fluorescence was a reliable indicator of seasonal chlorophyll changes matching the same patterns found in deciduous forests. 

Having a way to monitor GPP in both evergreen and deciduous forests will help researchers understand how climate change is impacting forests over a large scale. 

“Ultimately, measuring the small fluorescent glow from plants will allow us to see exactly timing and magnitude of carbon uptake from the terrestrial biosphere. This will help us understand how forests are responding to climate change and suggest how they might respond to future climate change,” said Troy Magney, research scientist of the <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> and a lead author of the study. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Troy Magney

Forest ‘glow’ helps reveal its CO2 storage and photosynthesis capacity

Forest ‘glow’ helps reveal its CO2 storage and photosynthesis capacity....

A new study led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has revealed that a simple process of converting one greenhouse gas into another would not only help to mitigate <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-heat-northeast/">climate change</a>, but could also be very profitable. 

The researchers investigated the potential for converting methane into carbon dioxide, which is a much less potent driver of global warming. The experts found that swapping methane for carbon dioxide would have a significant net benefit for the climate.

Study lead author Rob Jackson is a professor of Earth System Science in Stanford's School of Earth, Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences. “If perfected, this technology could return the atmosphere to pre-industrial concentrations of methane and other gases,” said Professor Jackson. 

Methane emissions from rice cultivation, cattle, or other sources can be extremely difficult and expensive to eliminate. “An alternative is to offset these emissions via methane removal, so there is no net effect on warming the atmosphere,” said study co-author Chris Field.

Methane is challenging to capture from the air because its concentration is so low. The study authors propose that a crystalline material called zeolite could act essentially as a sponge to soak up methane.

[caption id="attachment_1872896" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/methane.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1872896" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/methane.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="433" /></a> Converting methane (CH4) to carbon dioxide (CO2) using catalytic materials called zeolites (CUII and FEIV). Image Credit: Jackson, et al. 2019 Nature Sustainability / Artist: Stan CoffmanCredit: Jackson, et al. 2019 Nature Sustainability / artist: Stan Coffman[/caption]

“The porous molecular structure, relatively large surface area and ability to host copper and iron in zeolites make them promising catalysts for capturing methane and other gases,” explained study co-author Ed Solomon.

The process may be achieved using a large system with electric fans forcing air through tumbling chambers or reactors full of powdered or pelletized zeolites and other catalysts. According to the researchers, the trapped methane could then be heated to form and release carbon dioxide.

The study authors believe that, with strategies like these, it may actually be possible to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to pre-industrial levels. Furthermore, if market prices for carbon offsets rise to $500 or more per ton this century, each ton of methane removed from the atmosphere could be worth more than $12,000.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natsustain/">Nature Sustainability</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Could converting methane to CO2 be a profitable climate mitigation strategy?

A new study led by Stanford University has revealed that...

The beginning phases of artificial intelligence are all around us, from the algorithms that determine which advertisements you see online, to spam filters, to virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri. 

Have we reached the era of AI? As its name implies, artificial intelligence is  a system that learns on its own, improving on past mistakes. 

Although machine learning and AI seem to be two terms that are used interchangeably, there are some definite differences. Most of today’s touted AI programs are actually using machine learning and filtering through readily available data. 

Google’s DeepMind is probably one of the most authentic examples of artificial intelligence, and in 2016, the DeepMind machine beat an expert human player at “Go,” an extremely complicated game. 

But despite DeepMind’s many accomplishments, the race for AI is ongoing. 

Many countries are scrambling to be the first to develop a true artificial intelligence system capable of learning on its own and taking on any task it’s given. 

These innovations are just around the corner, and as true AI becomes more and more of a reality, the question remains -- how do we ensure that these machines don’t go rogue or take over of the world as so many popular sci-fi films like to imagine?

Steve Omohundro, an AI researcher, along with Dr. Kailtyn Regehr, will tackle the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificia-intelligence-socially-responsible/">ethical considerations of AI</a> in a new episode of the podcast <a href="https://www.howresearchers.com/">How Researchers Changed the World</a>. 

Regehr and Omohundro will discuss why ethical questions need to be addressed now rather than later as advancements in AI technology continue. 

For example, if a company designs an AI system to win at chess no matter what, will it be able to teach itself how not to get switched off? What ethical safety measures should be built into an AI system? 

“Should these systems be allowed to vote? Should they be full citizens? Should they be viewed as servants? Should they be viewed as slaves? Are they just machines?” asked Steve Omohundro.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Tatiana Shepeleva

How do we ensure that artificial intelligence is ethically designed?

The beginning phases of artificial intelligence are all around us,...

Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change. In November of 2017, researchers at the <a href="https://www.salk.edu/">Salk Institute for Biological Studies</a> in San Diego launched the <a href="https://www.salk.edu/harnessing-plants-initiative/">Harnessing Plants Initiative</a> in an effort to exploit the natural ability of plants to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and combat <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/arctic-warming-cost-trillions/">climate change</a>. 

The Salk team, led by executive director Professor Joanne Chory, was granted $35 million last week through The Audacious Project at the TED 2019 conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

“Every year plants and other photosynthetic organisms take up an incredible amount of CO2 - like twentyfold more than we ever put up when we burn fossil fuels - but then at the end of the growing season most plants just die, and they decompose, and it goes back up as CO2. That's been a real problem,” Professor Chory told <a href="https://www.wired.com/">WIRED</a> at the TED conference. 

According to the Salk Institute, plants capture 746 gigatons of CO2 and then release 727 gigatons of CO2 back into the atmosphere on a yearly basis. This natural system would work perfectly well if not for an additional annual contribution of 37 gigatons of CO2 from human activities. Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change 

The researchers aim to engineer plants that can take up more CO2 and also store it for much longer in the soil.

“There are a lot of geoengineering efforts to come up with ways of pulling carbon dioxide out of the air,” said chemical biologist Joseph Noel. “Plants do this anyway, so why not try a biological solution as well.”

Plants have roots made of a protective substance called suberin, which is the same material as the cork in a wine bottle and is very effective in capturing carbon. If the world’s crop plants were modified to have larger and deeper roots, the CO2 may remain buried in the dirt for hundreds of years as opposed to being released after fall harvest. 

“We don't want to change photosynthesis, because plants are already so good at it,” said Professor Chory. “But we want them to make bigger roots and deeper roots with more suberin. We think we can get them to make 20 times what they make now pretty easily.”

According to WIRED, the team believes that their method has the potential to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 20 to 46 percent. 

“These plants will be stronger and more sustainable,” said Professor Chory. “The old adage is, feed the soil not the plant.”

Currently, the researchers are experimenting with ways to engineer crop plants with increased suberin and root systems that are bigger and grow deeper into the ground. 

The team is working as quickly as possible. Beyond the swift action needed to mitigate climate change, Professor Chory is suffering from Parkinson's disease. 

“My days are going to be numbered in a way that I can see,” she told WIRED. “So that gives me a sense of urgency.”

Salk President Rusty Gage expressed his gratitude for Professor Chory’s work and leadership. 

“Joanne’s passion and commitment, as well as her decades of research into the biology of plants, has set the foundation for this revolutionary and ambitious approach,” said Professor Gage. “We are immeasurably proud of her and the entire Salk plant biology team for taking such a leadership role in combating climate change.”

For more information on the Harnessing Plants Initiative, check out this <a href="https://youtu.be/JSv5UkuRV-A">video</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change

Harnessing the power of plants to fight climate change. In...

Scientists at <a href="http://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a> have found antiseptic properties in three plants which were recommended for use on soldiers injured in the Civil War. The study revealed that extracts from the white oak, tulip poplar, and the devil's walking stick offer natural protection from dangerous <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/bacteria-travel-thousands-miles/">bacteria</a> associated with wound infections. 

During the Civil War, the Confederate Surgeon General commissioned a guide to traditional plant remedies that could assist physicians who faced shortages of conventional medicines. The current study identified three plants from the guide as containing antimicrobial activity against one or more strains of the drug-resistant bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Study senior author Cassandra Quave is an assistant professor at Emory's Center for the Study of Human Health and an ethnobotanist, which means that she studies how plants are used in traditional healing practices. 

“Our findings suggest that the use of these topical therapies may have saved some limbs, and maybe even lives, during the Civil War,” said Professor Quave. “Ethnobotany is essentially the science of survival - how people get by when limited to what's available in their immediate environment. The Civil War guide to plant remedies is a great example of that.”

If the researchers can identify the active ingredients responsible for the antimicrobial activity, they will be able to improve upon modern wound care. 

“It is my hope that we can then test these molecules in our world-renowned models of bacterial infection,” said study co-author Daniel Zurawski. “I've always been a Civil War buff. I am also a firm believer in learning everything we can garner from the past so we can benefit now from the knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors.”

“I was surprised to learn that far more Civil War soldiers died from disease than in battle,” said study first author Micah Dettweiler. “I was also surprised at how common amputation was as a medical treatment for an infected wound.”

Francis Porcher, a botanist and surgeon from South Carolina, compiled a book of medicinal plants found in the Southern states, including plant remedies used by Native Americans and enslaved Africans. Published in 1863, “Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests” described 37 species for treating gangrene and other infections. 

Based on Porcher's specifications, the Emory team collected extracts from white oak bark and galls, tulip poplar leaves, and the devil's walking stick leaves. Lab tests showed that extracts from the white oak and tulip poplar inhibited the growth of S. aureus, while the white oak extracts also inhibited the growth of A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae. 

“Plants have a great wealth of chemical diversity, which is one more reason to protect natural environments,” said Dettweiler. “I'm interested in plants because, even though they don't move from place to place, they are extremely powerful and important.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/scientificreports">Scientific Reports</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: Stephen Nowland, Emory University

Plants used as Civil War injury remedies prove effective against tough bacteria

Scientists at Emory University have found antiseptic properties in three...

A new information service provided by the Copernicus Earth Observation Programme of the European Union may ultimately change how meteorologists deliver information about the weather. Climate observations may be incorporated into weather reports to raise awareness about how extreme weather events are influenced by <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>. 

The long-term goal of the <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/">Copernicus Climate Change Service</a> (C3S) is to "provide a wide range of users with timely and reliable information about extreme weather events and how they relate (or not) to anthropogenic climate change."

In recent years, a new field of climate science research has emerged known as “extreme event attribution," which investigates the relationship between human-induced climate change and severe weather. 

While individual weather events may not be directly caused by climate change, factors such as global warming are setting up conditions which increase the likelihood that a major storm or event will occur. Advancements in technology are enabling scientists to more accurately identify these types of connections.

According to a report in <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/">New Scientist</a>, experts using the climate change attribution approach compare real-world weather observations with computer models of a world without human-induced global warming. 

"It’s good this is now happening,” said climate scientist Peter Stott of the UK Met Office. "People of course ask the question with extreme weather events, of how they are linked to climate change."

<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/">Carbon Brief</a> recently mapped and analyzed 260 extreme weather events across the globe for which attribution studies had been previously conducted. The analysis revealed that 68 percent of the weather events were made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change. 

Stott told New Scientist that intense weather reminds us just how vulnerable we are, like the recent deadly heatwave in India. He said that it is important to know if our susceptibility is due to natural variability or if it can be linked to a warming world. "Is this just bad luck or is climate change adding to the risks? That’s where the attribution comes in."

The Copernicus system is expected to be up and running next year. The <a href="https://www.dwd.de/EN/Home/home_node.html">German Meteorological Service</a> DWD is also developing a climate attribution system that will likely be implemented in 2020. "Attribution can provide answers here. With the knowledge, the public or politicians get a better picture of the effects of climate change," said Frank Kreienkamp of DWD. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Scherbinator

Weather reports may start to include the role of climate change

A new information service provided by the Copernicus Earth Observation...

Serotonin is an important chemical in the body which is known to play a role in mood, memory, social behavior, appetite, and cognition. While this compound is also known to influence sleep, previous studies have produced conflicting evidence as to whether serotonin promotes sleepiness or wakefulness. 

To investigate, a team of researchers at <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/">Caltech</a> focused on a region of the brainstem called the raphe nucleus, which is responsible for both manufacturing and releasing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/serotonin-expedite-learning-process/">serotonin</a> to other brain regions. These structures are found in a wide range of organisms from fish to humans, and the experts used zebrafish as a model for the study. 

The researchers genetically modified zebrafish so that their raphe did not produce serotonin. The mutant fish were found to sleep about half as much as they would normally sleep. The fish also slept much less than usual when the raphe was completely removed. 

"This suggests that serotonin produced by the raphe is required for the fish to get normal amounts of sleep," explained study lead author Grigorios Oikonomou.

In another experiment, zebrafish were modified so that their raphe could be activated by light. When the researchers shined a light on the fish, it put them straight to sleep. Activating the raphe in fish that did not synthesize serotonin, however, had no effect on sleep.

The researchers believe that the firing of neurons in the raphe and their release of serotonin is a way for the brain to build up sleep pressure. For example, they found that zebrafish lacking serotonin showed reduced sleep pressure.

"There are two main factors that control sleep. One is the circadian clock -  when it is light during the day, the body is awake, and when it gets dark, the body knows to sleep. The other factor is called homeostatic sleep pressure," explained Oikonomou.

"When you wake up in the morning, you have just gotten rest, and so you're energetic. As the day goes on, you get tired and sleepy, so there is a building of pressure to sleep. If you don't sleep that night, your sleep pressure is even higher, and you are even more tired the next day even though it's light outside, and your circadian clock dictates that you should be awake." 

"The theory is that, in order to sleep, you need to have high sleep pressure and the circadian clock needs to be aligned with the time of day - nighttime for diurnal creatures like us and daytime for nocturnal animals."

The research may help to explain some of the sleep-related side effects of common antidepressant drugs that increase serotonin levels in the brain.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</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: Caltech

New study suggests that serotonin promotes sleep, not wakefulness

Serotonin is an important chemical in the body which is...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.uni-leipzig.de/en/">University of Leipzig</a> have discovered that immune cells are activated when the bacteria found in fermented foods is detected. According to the study, both humans and great apes have cell receptors that recognize metabolites from these types of bacteria and signal the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sleep-helps-kill-infection/">immune system</a>. 

Lactic acid bacteria are those that turn milk into yogurt and cabbage into sauerkraut. The consumption of these bacteria can offer many health gains, yet these benefits are not entirely understood on a molecular level. Scientists have also not been able to pinpoint how ingesting lactic acid bacteria may affect the immune system.

For the current study, researchers were analyzing proteins on the surface of cells called hydroxycarboxylic acid (HCA) receptors. While most animals have two types of this receptor, humans and great apes have three types. 

The team discovered that a metabolite produced by lactic acid bacteria, known as D-phenyllactic acid, binds strongly to the third HCA receptor and alerts the immune system. The experts believe that the third HCA receptor appeared in a common ancestor of humans and great apes, which enabled them to consume foods that are starting to rot, such as fruits picked up off the ground.

[caption id="attachment_1873033" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/fermented.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873033" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/fermented.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="316" /></a> D-phenyllactic acid is absorbed from lactic acid bacteria fermented food and triggers HCA3-dependent migration in human monocytes. Image Credit: Claudia Stäubert[/caption]

The findings provide new insight into the evolutionary history of microbes and their human hosts. The research may ultimately lead to a better understanding of the positive health benefits associated with fermented foods. 

"We are convinced that this receptor very likely mediates some beneficial and anti-inflammatory effects of lactic acid bacteria in humans," said study lead author Claudia Stäubert. "That is why we believe it could serve as a potential drug target to treat inflammatory diseases."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/">PLOS Genetics</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fermented foods offer health perks by activating the immune system

Researchers at the University of Leipzig have discovered that immune...

Earth's magnetic north is shifting at an unprecedented rate, according to a new report from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> (ESA). While scientists believe that this point has always wandered, exactly what is driving the recent acceleration remains unknown. 

“While this has some practical implications, scientists believe that this sprint is being caused by tussling magnetic blobs deep below our feet,” explains the ESA.

The geographic North Pole is in a fixed location, but magnetic north has been known to shift since it was first measured in 1831. Since then, it has been drifting slowly from the Canadian Arctic towards Siberia.

As a result, the World Magnetic Model (WMM) has to be modified every few years with the pole’s current location so that navigation systems such as those used by ships, Google maps, and smartphones are up to date. Recently, the WMM had to be updated sooner than usual because of the pole’s accelerated speed. 

Between 1990 and 2005, magnetic north shifted from a speed of 0-15 kilometers a year to its current speed of 50-60 kilometers a year. In 2017, it crossed the international date line within 390 kilometers of the geographic North Pole and continues to dive south.

“ESA’s Swarm mission is not only being used to keep track of magnetic north, but scientists are using its data to measure and untangle the different magnetic fields that stem from Earth’s core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere,” states the ESA.

“Our magnetic field exists because of an ocean of superheated, swirling liquid iron that makes up the outer core. Like a spinning conductor in a bicycle dynamo, this moving iron creates electrical currents, which in turn generate our continuously changing magnetic field.” 

This means that tracking changes in the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/earths-magnetic-field-nearly-collapsed/">magnetic field</a> can give experts insight into how the iron in the core moves.

“Several theories have been proposed to explain this behaviour but, since they rely upon changes in the small-scale magnetic field, they cannot explain the recent trajectory of the pole,” explains Phil Livermore from the University of Leeds.

“Using data collected over two decades by satellites, including ESA’s Swarm trio, we can see that the position of the north magnetic pole is determined largely by a balance, or tug-of-war, between two large lobes of negative magnetic flux at the boundary between Earth’s core and mantle under Canada and Siberia.”

According to the ESA, changes in the pattern of core flow between 1970 and 1999 elongated the Canadian lobe and weakened its signature on Earth's surface, causing the pole to move toward Siberia more quickly. Over the next decade, the north magnetic pole is predicted to wander 390-660 more kilometers in the direction of Siberia.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab

What is driving the movement of Earth’s magnetic north?

Earth's magnetic north is shifting at an unprecedented rate, according...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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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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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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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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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



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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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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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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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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

[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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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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...