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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Global hunt for rare earth elements is underway

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

After years of field and laboratory work, and the collection and analysis of thousands of samples of feces, scientists have been able to develop a detailed reconstruction of chimpanzee (Pan troglodites) population structure and historical patterns of isolation, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/assisted-migrations-could-help-species-survive-climate-change/">migration</a> and connection across the species’ range. Apart from giving support to the existence of four separate subspecies of chimps, the method can also be used to identify any illegally traded, confiscated or orphaned chimp to its place of origin, within about 100 kilometers.&nbsp;



Study first author Claudia Fontsere is an expert at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint center of CSIC and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona, Spain.



“Chimpanzees are an endangered species with massive population declines in recent years,” said Fontsere. “Our efforts to describe the current genomic diversity of this species are an attempt to provide a fine-scale map of connectivity between populations that can be of service to conservationists as a baseline and guide to build upon their conservation efforts.”&nbsp;



The research was conducted under the auspices of the Pan African Program (PanAf) that coordinated the sampling of thousands of chimpanzee fecal samples at 48 locations across the species’ range. This was followed by years of effort to develop successful methods to retrieve and enrich the portions of the host DNA (hDNA) of interest, and then to analyze and compare the results for the 828 individual chimps involved.&nbsp;



Previously, only 59 whole chimpanzee genomes had been sequenced and this gave limited information about geographical differences. And, although large datasets from thousands of geo-referenced fecal samples do exist, the genetic analysis used on these samples only focused on very small fragments of the entire genome, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms on a few autosomal, sex-linked, or mtDNA markers.&nbsp;



In the current study, the researchers focused on the entire genetic sequence of chromosome 21, which is the smallest contiguous nuclear sequence in the chimpanzee genome. Using this chromosome provided a wealth of genomic sequence data that was helpful for inferring chimpanzee population structure and relationships between subspecies. Since the fossil record and the existence of ancient DNA are limited for chimpanzees, the analysis of population genetics for this species is restricted to the use of modern DNA.



“Since we are using sequencing of a whole chromosome with thousands of independent markers, compared to few microsatellite markers, we have a much broader view of the genome [that] is needed to refine and describe the very complex evolutionary history of chimpanzees,” said study co-lead author Tomas Marques-Bonet, principal investigator from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE).&nbsp;



“Impressively, we are doing it with non-invasive samples, which, in a sense, are the best of all worlds - a valuable source of genomic DNA but collected in a way that animals never need to be contacted or disturbed beyond researchers existing in their habitat.”



The findings support the existence of four distinct subspecies of chimpanzees. These subspecies are often geographically separated by the presence of large rivers, such as the Ubangi River, which would have been a barrier to gene transfer most of the time, but not always. During peak glacial periods, lower river levels may have allowed migrations between the groups, thus introducing new genetic variations.



“We were able to show, using different analyses that look at very old and more recent variation, that the history of chimpanzees is complex, much like that of our own species,” said co-lead author Mimi Arandjelovic, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.



“Chimpanzee subspecies were indeed separated in the past but have since also experienced genetic exchange between populations. This nicely explains why different studies aiming at reconstructing different ancestral periods have come to different conclusions about the evolutionary history of chimpanzees.”



By using genetic sequences on chromosome 21, the researchers were able to discover many new variations in the genes, in comparison with previously published chimpanzee whole genomes. They hypothesize that these rare variations likely emerged recently (during the past few hundreds to thousands of years), and are probably specific to particular geographic locations. The experts thus used the rare variant data from 434 samples of sufficient quality, in 38 locations, to develop a strategy to deduce the genetic origin of fecal samples.&nbsp;



“Just by our sampling method, we have discovered around 50 percent more, and new, genetic variants on chromosome 21 than previous studies,” said Fontsere. “Our dataset has been key in understanding recent and past gene flow between populations where previous sampling gaps impeded their study. Also, it has allowed us to describe if populations have been isolated recently or whether there was a historical event that did so.&nbsp;By characterizing the genomic singularities of each community or population, we also created a map that links genomic information to geographic location so that we were able to devise a strategy to infer the geographic location of chimpanzee individuals.”



This catalog of genomic diversity in wild chimp populations has important conservation applications. It can help ensure that confiscated chimpanzees from the illegal pet trade are placed into sanctuaries in their countries of origin, as mandated by international standards. In addition, the sequencing of confiscated chimps or wildlife products, such as trophies or bushmeat, can identify hotspots of poaching to which the relevant authorities can be directed. This is particularly useful when dealing with endangered species that need to be protected urgently.&nbsp;



The authors of the study state that retrieving useful hDNA from fecal samples is challenging for many reasons. The samples usually contain only small amounts of rather poor quality DNA, and can be contaminated with the DNA from dietary organisms. In this study, some 100 fecal samples contained DNA that was very similar to that of chimpanzees, but that came from other primate species. The researchers concluded that this was due either to chimpanzees including these primate species in their diets, or due to the erroneous collection of the feces of other primate species by the field workers.&nbsp;



Despite these challenges, the use of feces has the advantage that many samples may be collected with negligible disturbance or interference to the animals. The researchers now feel that the methods they’ve developed for chimpanzees can be used with other great apes and primates. Their findings in chimpanzees confirm that fecal samples, although more complex than blood samples, are a good source of host DNA for any species



The PanAf continues to analyze data collected over eight years from 18 countries across Africa, at over 40 temporary and long-term research and conservation sites. The goal is to understand the evolutionary and ecological drivers of chimpanzee cultural and behavioral diversity.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-genomics/fulltext/S2666-979X(22)00062-3">Cell Genomics</a>.



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

Genetic catalog of chimpanzees will help conservation efforts

After years of field and laboratory work, and the collection...

Scientists have previously documented a variety of intricate mating behaviors in the animal kingdom, such as the elaborate dances of the birds-of-paradise or the geometric seafloor sculpting of the white-spotted pufferfish. Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> has found that, in order to woo receptive females, male wolf <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/spiders-are-using-their-webs-to-extend-their-hearing/">spiders</a> (Schizocosa stridulans) will often perform appendage-scraping, abdomen-quivering, leg-tapping performances that can last up to 45 minutes.



“Females prefer to mate with males that can produce more complex signals than others,” said study lead author Noori Choi, a doctoral student in Biology at the University of Nebraska. “We wanted to understand why the males use complex signals instead of just simple ones. The complex signals take a lot of energy and time to produce and can even increase the risk of (attracting) predators.”&nbsp;



By analyzing the courtship routines of 44 wolf male spiders, Choi and his colleagues discovered that the nine successful males that managed to mate with the females produced more complex vibratory signals than the 35 males which were turned down. In addition, the successful males were more likely to direct their intricate performances to woo heavier females, which usually give birth to larger, healthier clusters of spiderlings.



The scientists were surprised to find that, as the courtship ritual went on, the successful males ramped up the complexity of their performance, suggesting that they may have been responding to signs of interest from the females. “Signalers are paying attention to the receivers, they’re paying attention to their environment, and they’re adjusting accordingly,” said study senior author Eileen Hebets, a professor of Biology at Nebraska. “We see that in lots of other animal groups, but people who work on other animal groups are often surprised when they see stories of spiders engaging in these sophisticated behaviors.”



According to Professor Hebets, females are not necessarily looking for the biggest, loudest, or strongest males. “But maybe they're looking for a male that is really athletic and can coordinate all of these different signals into one display,” she said. Alternatively, females may just be better at processing complex signals, or may simply prefer novel sounds. “There are a lot of studies which show that animals prefer novelty, in some capacity,” Professor Hebets added. “Increasing complexity, especially through time, you could almost think of as novelty - the males constantly changing things up to keep the females’ interest.”



Further research is needed to elucidate the structure and functions of this fascinating behavior, in order to better understand the sexual dynamics at play between males and females wolf spiders.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0052">Biology Letters</a>.



---



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

Male wolf spiders perform elaborate dances to woo females

Scientists have previously documented a variety of intricate mating behaviors...

In the event of a deadly pandemic or global catastrophe, one way to save humankind is a safe refuge. To ensure a portion of the human population can stay alive, safe refuge can take place on an island, or in extremely remote places like&nbsp; the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-moon-volcanoes-may-provide-astronauts-with-drinking-water/">moon</a> or under water.&nbsp;



In a new study published by the <a href="https://www.sra.org/">Society for Risk Analysis</a>, experts say the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that a refuge may not need to be geographically isolated or in an exotic location. The authors explore how and why both China and Western Australia served as successful refuges during the first two years of the pandemic. A pandemic refuge is a place with low medical risk where a pathogen has not spread significantly.



Seth Baum, a geographer and executive director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute in Washington, D.C., and Vanessa Adams, a geographer at the University of Tasmania, conducted a case study of China and Western Australia. These locations were selected as they are both political jurisdictions that share their borders with others yet managed to keep COVID-19 infections low. From March 2020 to January 2022, China’s estimated cases per 100,000 people were 1,358 compared to 98,556 in the United States and 142,365 in India. Western Australia’s official cases were 48.8.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Previously, research showed that good candidates for a refuge are on island nations like Iceland, Australia and New Zealand, largely based on their success in keeping COVID-19 infections low.&nbsp;



However, the study suggests that geographic isolation on islands is not a prerequisite for refuge.&nbsp; “China is a very clear case in point,” said Baum. “It has succeeded despite having the world’s longest land border.”&nbsp;



Both the differences and similarities were examined between China and Western Australia. China is authoritarian, collectivist, and heavily populated in the most populous region of the world. Western Australia is democratic, individualist, and sparsely populated in one of the most remote regions of the world.&nbsp;



However, the similarities between the two jurisdictions are important. For example, both have a high degree of centralization and a high capacity for self-isolation -- China via its authoritarian government, and Western Australia via its social isolation and strong economy. Both also have strong in-group cohesion and have been highly motivated to avoid pathogen spread.&nbsp;



“This is encouraging because it suggests that pandemic refuges can provide a high degree of economic support for outside populations during pandemics, an important element for achieving the global objective of refuges – the continuity of civilization,” said Baum.&nbsp;



“Pandemic refuges are a risk management policy concept worthy of serious consideration, alongside other public health measures such as vaccines and physical distancing," said Adams.



---



By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A pandemic refuge can exist in an unlikely place

In the event of a deadly pandemic or global catastrophe,...

Paleobotanist David Greenwood has collected fossil plants from southern Australia for decades. Along with climate scientists and other paleobotanists, Greenwood has started to recreate the ancient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-plants-thrive-under-environmental-stress/">environment</a>.&nbsp;



The fossil ecosystem examined by the team existed 55 to 40 million years ago, during the Eocene epoch. This was a time when Earth was much warmer - with tropical weather and palm trees at the poles. Dry continents like Australia were much wetter and lusher. The researchers can understand a lot about rainfall and temperature patterns on ancient Earth by looking at plants.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“For example, if a plant has large leaves and it is left out in the sun and doesn’t get enough water, it starts to shrivel up and die because of excess evaporation,” said study co-author Tammo Reichgelt of the <a href="https://uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut</a>. “Plants with large leaves also lose heat to its surroundings."



"Finding a large fossil leaf therefore means that most likely this plant was not growing in an environment that was too dry or too cold for excess evaporation or sensible heat loss to happen. These and other morphological features can be linked to the environment that we can quantify. We can compare fossils to modern floras around the world and find the closest analogy.”



The research suggests that the Earth was quite sensitive to CO2, with the poles amplifying the warming effect, a phenomenon that is poorly represented in climate models.&nbsp;



“Southern Australia seems to have been largely forested, with primary productivity similar to seasonal forests, not unlike those here in New England today,” said Reichgelt. “In the Northern Hemisphere summer today, there is a big change in the carbon cycle, because lots of carbon dioxide gets drawn down due to primary productivity in the enormous expanse of forests that exists in a large belt around 40 to 60 degrees north."&nbsp;



"In the Southern Hemisphere, no such landmass exists at those same latitudes today. But Australia during the Eocene occupied 40 degrees to 60 degrees south. And as a result, there would be a highly productive large landmass during the Southern Hemisphere summer, drawing down carbon, more so than what Australia is doing today since it is largely arid.”



The researchers hope that their study will further the understanding of how our planet warms and improve climate change models for the future.&nbsp;



The research was published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/25724525">Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology</a>.



---



By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Hotter ancient Earth had palm trees at the poles

Paleobotanist David Greenwood has collected fossil plants from southern Australia...

Planet,Moon,And,Shadows,In,The,Water.,Elements,Furnished,By

While it is known that the circadian clocks possessed by animals are set by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sunlight-helps-green-sea-turtles-with-tumors-recover/">sunlight</a> and darkness, little is known about the role of moonlight in the timing of daily behavior. A growing collection of research confirms that there is a connection between animal behavior and lunar cycles.&nbsp;Now, a study from the <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/">University of Vienna</a> provides new insight into how moonlight affects animal reproduction.



"Many species synchronize their physiology and behavior to specific hours. It is commonly assumed that sunlight acts as the main entrainment signal for ∼24-h clocks. However, the moon provides similarly regular time information," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"We have explored the marine bristle worm Platynereis dumerilii to investigate the role of moonlight in the timing of daily behavior. We uncover that moonlight, besides its role in monthly timing, also schedules the exact hour of nocturnal swarming onset to the nights’ darkest times."



According to the researchers, the study provides an explanation for the phenomenon that daily clocks from flies to humans can exhibit plastic run-times.



The marine bristle worm Platynereis dumerilii releases its eggs and sperm freely into the ocean. The males and females rise from seagrass to the water's surface, and the timing of this activity is critical for the survival of the species.



Scientists were already aware that bristle worms release eggs and sperm on just a few days of the month. The new study reveals that the worms also synchronize reproductive activities during very specific hours of each night.&nbsp;



“We show that moonlight determines when, precisely, during the night the worms start their reproductive behavior, which is always during the darkest portion of the night,” explained study first author Martin Zurl.&nbsp;



Rather than acting as the direct stimulus for swarming, moonlight changes the circadian clock period length, said the researchers. The time of moonlight changes every day by about 50 minutes, and it is the plasticity of the circadian clock that allows the worms to adjust to these changes.&nbsp;



In collaboration with the lab of Charlotte Helfrich-Förster at the University of Würzburg, the experts demonstrated that the specific decoding of moonlight extends the daily clocks of other species besides bristle worms.&nbsp;



“Our work reveals that there is an ecological meaning behind the observation that the circadian clock of an individual can run with different speeds,"&nbsp; explained study co-author Kristin Tessmar-Raible.&nbsp;



Humans also exhibit circadian plasticity, noted the researchers. For example, patients with bipolar disorder often shift their behavioral and physiological cycles in correlation with their mood switches.



Ultimately, the study authors hope that their work will help to understand the origin and consequences of biological timer plasticity, as well as its interplay with natural timing cues.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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

How moonlight affects the circadian clocks of animals

While it is known that the circadian clocks possessed by...

Domestic cats are responsible for deaths of up to 270 million wild animals every year, and that is just in Britain, according to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204621003017?via%3Dihub">Landscape and Urban Planning</a>. The experts report that cats living next to natural areas have larger home ranges, and prey on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/releasing-goldfish-is-a-threat-to-native-wildlife/">wildlife</a> in nearby natural habitats.



For the investigation, the researchers tracked the amount of prey captured by&nbsp;79 domestic cats living across Berkshire and Hampshire. They compared the predation rates of cats in urban and suburban areas. The study revealed that cats living near natural areas killed more than twice as many animals.



The experts say that the domestic cat is "a predator of global significance." They suggest that restricting cat access is needed in areas where sensitive wildlife is found.



The researchers estimate that domestic cats living on the boundary of natural areas are responsible for about 34 deaths each year. Suburban cats, on the other hand, kill an average of 15 animals during the same time frame.



The experts discovered that urban and suburban cats killed similar numbers of birds, but those on the boundary of green spaces killed more mammals. In urban areas, blackbirds were the most common targets, while domestic cats in natural areas killed more robins.&nbsp;



The cats also killed rabbits, voles, bats, hedgehogs, and squirrels. According to study lead author Dr. Tara Pirie, domestic cats are causing more harm than just killing wildlife.&nbsp;



"Just the presence of a predator can cause wildlife to change their behavior either reducing feeding through heightened vigilance or staying away from a nest leaving it exposed, for example," said Dr. Pirie.



‘This can reduce the survival of both adults and offspring. Cats can also carry diseases such as [parasite] Toxoplasma gondii which can be transmitted to wildlife, again reducing their survival rate."



Dr. Rebecca Thomas from Royal Holloway explained that cats are a non-native species that can reach incredibly high densities. The team estimates that there are about 9.5 million pet cats in Britain alone.



---



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

Domestic cats kill hundreds of millions of animals each year

Domestic cats are responsible for deaths of up to 270...

Group,Of,Friends,Wearing,Protection,Mask,At,The,Restaurant,-

In almost two and a half years after the beginning of the Covid-19 <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-world-is-still-unprepared-for-the-next-pandemic/">pandemic</a>, scientists have not yet managed to fully explain how features of the coronavirus turn some gatherings into superspreading events, while others do not lead to such a widespread transmission of the virus.&nbsp;



In a new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0089347">Physics of Fluids</a>, scientists from Canada and the United States have created a model connecting current biological knowledge about Covid-19 superspreading events with how such events have occurred in the real world to shed more light on this strange phenomenon. The analysis revealed that 80 percent of infections occurring at superspreading events arose from only four percent of those who carried the virus in those locations, called index cases.



By using real-world occupancy data from over 100,000 restaurants across 10 major US cities, the researchers examined several features ranging from viral loads to the occupancy and ventilation of social contact settings. They found that the main feature driving the high variability in superspreading events was the number of viral particles found in index cases, followed by the overall occupancy of the settings.



“While there are uncertainties and unknowns, it appears it is rather hard to prevent a superspreading event if the person carrying high viral load happens to be in a crowded place,” said study lead author Swetaprovo Chaudhuri, an expert in turbulent reacting flows and propulsion at the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/">University of Toronto</a>.



Professor Chaudhuri and his colleagues also discovered that the variability between infection events was significantly higher than expected – a situation called overdispersion, which, in this case, indicates a strong heterogeneity in individual infectivity.&nbsp;



“It is now well known that Covid-19 is airborne, and that is probably the dominant pathway of transmission. This paper connects indoor airborne transmission to the evolution of the infection distribution on a population scale and shows the physics of airborne transmission is consistent with the mathematics of overdispersion,” explained Professor Chaudhuri.&nbsp;



“To mitigate such superspreading events, vaccination, ventilation, filtration, mask wearing, reduced occupancy – all are required. However, putting them in place is not enough; knowing what size, type, and parameters can mitigate risk to certain acceptable levels is important,” he concluded.



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

What do we know about Covid-19 superspreading events?

In almost two and a half years after the beginning...

Cities are noisy, busy places that burst with activity. And wherever that activity is associated with the use of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/electricity-may-be-the-cheapest-energy-source-by-2050/">electricity</a>, the flow of current through electrical cables and wires induces magnetic fields. So the patterns of induced magnetism in a city reflect the characteristics of the power network, as well as the usage of electricity by the city’s industries, businesses and residents.&nbsp;



In a recent study of the magnetic fields of two United States cities, researchers from the U.S. and Germany investigated the kinds of information that can be extracted from magnetic field sensors in various parts of a city. They collected magnetic field data continuously during a four-week period, using synchronized measurements with a network of sensitive magnetometers which were placed at locations such as elevators in high-rise apartment blocks, subways, bridges and sidewalks.&nbsp;



“A city is viewed as a physical system akin to a distant astronomical object that can be studied using a variety of multispectral techniques,” said Vincent Dumont, from <a href="https://www.lbl.gov/">Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory</a>. “In short, our project was inspired by our desire to apply what we learned practicing fundamental physics research to the study of cities.”



The researchers compared the magnetic footprint of two very different U.S. cities, Berkeley, California, and the Brooklyn borough of New York City. They propose that examining a city's magnetic footprint can be used to monitor the health of that city, specifically in terms of optimizing its efficient use of energy and as a possible early warning system for trouble with pollution. Magnetic field activity from various sources in the city can provide insight into what is going on during a 24-hour period.



In the results of the study, published today in the <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0088264">Journal of Applied Physics</a>, the researchers found that Berkeley reaches an almost zero level of magnetic field activity during the night, while Brooklyn’s magnetic activity continues throughout the day and night.&nbsp;



“Again, not too surprisingly, we discovered that ‘New York never sleeps,’ or more seriously, that there are indeed a number of magnetic signatures specific to each city,” said Dumont.&nbsp;



“This work builds on our earlier experiments conducted around the city of Berkeley, in the San Francisco Bay Area,” he explained. “We identified the dominant sources of magnetic signals – which, not too surprisingly, turned out to be the trains of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, and learned to glean weaker signals from this dominant background.”



In recent years, the approach of studying cities by their magnetic ‘noise,’ as measured by magnetic field sensors, has become more popular and has been pursued in particular by the Center for Urban Science and Progress in New York. The researchers hope their network magnetometry and smart data analysis combination can become a valuable tool for future multidisciplinary studies in urban science.&nbsp;



“We hope this line of research will be picked up and further developed both by the members of our team as well as others, hopefully within cities around the world,” said Dumont.



Techniques using data from magnetic field sensors are particularly useful for fundamental physics research, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory experiment for the detection of gravitational waves or the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic Physical Searches collaboration for dark matter searches.



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

A city’s unique magnetic signature can reveal its state of health

Cities are noisy, busy places that burst with activity. And...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/megalodons-grew-larger-in-cold-water/">Megalodons</a> (Otodus megalodon) were megatooth sharks that swam the world’s oceans between 23 and 3.6 million years ago. They reached enormous proportions, some measuring as much as 20 meters, and their giant teeth are found regularly in fossil deposits. In comparison, the largest great white sharks today reach a total length of only six meters. There has been much discussion of the reasons for this gigantism, as well as for the eventual extinction of the giant shark species. Competition for food has been proposed as a possible contributory factor.



In a study published today in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>, scientists have used a rather novel way in which to assess the diet of extinct megalodons. Diet is usually determined using the ratios of stable isotopes of nitrogen, or carbon, in the tooth collagen or dentine of an animal. These ratios are affected by the relative amounts of meat and plant matter in the animal’s diet. However, in the case of fossilized animals, the organic proteins have decomposed and mineralized, and may not be suitable for analysis any more.&nbsp;



In the current study the researchers analyzed the ratios of stable zinc isotopes (64Zn / 66Zn) in the enamel of fossil and modern shark teeth from around the world, in order to determine the trophic level at which the animal fed. Previous research has shown that carnivores have a lower ratio of the two zinc isotopes, herbivores have the highest, and omnivores are somewhere in the middle. Zinc stable isotope analysis of tooth enamel tissue, the highly mineralized part of teeth, is comparable to nitrogen isotope analysis of tooth collagen, but is a less established method.



“On the timescales we investigate, collagen is not preserved, and traditional nitrogen isotope analysis is therefore not possible,” explains lead author Jeremy McCormack, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a>.&nbsp;



“Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, that diet-related zinc isotope signatures are preserved in the highly mineralized enameloid crown of fossil shark teeth,” added Professor Thomas Tütken of the Johannes Gutenberg University’s Institute of Geosciences.



Using this new method, the researchers compared the tooth zinc isotope signature of multiple extinct Early Miocene (20.4 to 16.0 million years ago) and Early Pliocene (5.3 to 3.6 million years ago) species with those of modern sharks.&nbsp;



“We noticed a coherence of zinc isotope signals in fossil and modern analogue taxa, which boosts our confidence in the method and suggests that there may be minimal differences in zinc isotope values at the base of marine food webs, a confounding factor for nitrogen isotope studies,” explained Sora Kim, a professor at the University of California Merced.



The researchers also analyzed the zinc isotope ratios in megalodon teeth from the Early Pliocene and those in the teeth of earlier megatooth sharks,&nbsp;Otodus chubutensis, from the Early Miocene. They compared the results with those from modern great white sharks in order to understand the position of these various species in their respective food webs.



“Our results show, that both megalodon and its ancestor were indeed apex predators, feeding high up their respective food chains,” said Professor Michael Griffiths of William Paterson University. “But what was truly remarkable is that zinc isotope values from Early Pliocene shark teeth from North Carolina, suggest largely overlapping trophic levels of early great white sharks with the much larger megalodon.”



“These results likely imply at least some overlap in prey hunted by both shark species,” noted Professor Kenshu Shimada at DePaul University, Chicago. “While additional research is needed, our results appear to support the possibility for dietary competition of megalodon with Early Pliocene great white sharks.”



New isotope methods such as zinc can potentially provide a unique window into the past, as illustrated by this current study. “Our research illustrates the feasibility of using zinc isotopes to investigate the diet and trophic ecology of extinct animals over millions of years, a method that can also be applied to other groups of fossil animals including our own ancestors,” concluded McCormack.



---



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

Great white sharks may have sped up Megalodon extinction

Megalodons (Otodus megalodon) were megatooth sharks that swam the world’s...

Normally, ocean fjord waters are stratified into distinct layers, one stacked on top of the next. During storms, these layers can be mixed, which can cause the floor of a fjord to become oxygenated. Storms can also cause a release in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/impacts-of-methane-emissions-are-greatly-underestimated/">methane</a> from fjords.&nbsp;



Now, research from the <a href="https://www.gu.se/en">University of Gothenburg</a> estimates that the amount of methane emissions from fjords is more than the total emissions from all of the deep ocean waters globally combined. This is interesting because fjords cover only 0.13 percent of earth’s oceans compared to the 84 percent covered by deep oceans.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“It’s been known for some time that many fjords have anoxic environments closest to the bottom and that methane forms in the bottom sediment. Usually, only a small portion of this gas ever reaches the atmosphere because it gets broken down as it ascends through the more oxygen-rich waters closer to the surface. But in our research, we recorded large emissions of methane when the water in the fjord was mixed during storm events, for example,” said Stefano Bonaglia, a researcher in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.



Monitoring methane is increasingly important as global climate change continues to impact us all. Scientists estimate that methane accounts for 30 percent of the greenhouse effect. Although oceans naturally release some methane, human activity has increased eutrophication and created anoxic environments on ocean floors. All of this is especially true in fjords and drives their high methane releases.&nbsp;



“This is because in fjords, carbon-rich sediment is deposited from marine plants and animals as well as from materials entering the fjords from the surrounding land via streams that flow into them," explained Bonaglia.&nbsp;



"As fjords are relatively protected from ocean currents, the water tends to remain stratified in layers at different temperatures and with different concentrations of salt and oxygen. The layers closest to the fjord floor are anoxic regions where methane gas forms as the material in the sediment decomposes,”&nbsp;



Although the current research was carried out in Sweden, the same effects have been seen in fjords in Canada. The researchers hope that by understanding this effect, greenhouse gases will be budgeted and accounted for more accurately in the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/23782242">Limnology and Oceanography Letters</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Large amounts of methane are released from fjords

Normally, ocean fjord waters are stratified into distinct layers, one...

Green,Leaves,Of,Medicinal,Cannabis,With,Extract,Oil.medical,Marijuana,Flower

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/indoor-cannabis-smoke-endangers-public-health/">cannabis</a> component widely used for a variety of medical purposes, such as to improve sleep or boost energy. Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), another cannabis component that can induce sedation, euphoria, and cognitive and motor impairment, CBD does not appear to intoxicate people. Instead, scientific studies have shown that CBD has calming and pain relief effects, making it useful for wide range of medical conditions, including sleep disorders, anxiety, or various types of pain.&nbsp;



Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> has discovered that this cannabis component has no impact on people’s driving or cognitive abilities, even if consumed in high doses of up to 1,500 mg.



“Though&nbsp;CBD is generally considered ‘non-intoxicating,’ its effects on safety-sensitive tasks are still being established,” said study lead author&nbsp;Danielle&nbsp;McCartney, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/lambert/">Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics</a>. “Our study is the first to confirm that, when consumed on its own, CBD is driver-safe.”



In order to test this, Dr. McCartney and her colleagues asked 17 participants to undertake simulated driving tasks after consuming either a placebo or 15, 300, or 1,500 mg of CBD. The participants had to try to maintain a safe distance between themselves and another vehicle, and “drive” along simulated highways and rural roads.&nbsp;



In order to cover the range of CBD plasma concentrations at different times, they had to complete these tasks twice – first, between 45 and 75 minutes after taking the treatment, and then again after 3.5 to four hours.&nbsp;



The scientists measured participants’ control of the simulated car, as well as their cognitive functioning and subjective experiences, and concluded that no dose of CBD induced feelings of intoxication or impaired their driving or cognitive performance.&nbsp;



“We do, however, caution that this study looked at CBD in isolation only, and that drivers taking CBD with other medications should do so with care,” Dr. McCartney warned.



The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02698811221095356">Journal of Psychopharmacology</a>.&nbsp;



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

High doses of CBD do not affect driving abilities

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabis component widely used for a...

The "most powerful meteor storm in generations" could light up North America’s skies on Tuesday morning. Americans can look up to watch the meteor storm between 00:45 and 01:17 am ET. According to Forbes, there could be an outburst of between 1,400 to 100,000 meteors.



The storm will be the result of a dying comet, SW3. Its fragments are predicted to cross through the Earth’s orbital path, and become visible in the skies above the United States and Canada.&nbsp;



The SW3 comet is responsible for the fragments of dust that cause the Tau Herculids meteor shower. In 1995, the SW3 split into large fragments, and has fragmented even further since.&nbsp;



The Earth could have a direct interaction with the debris from the comet for the very first time. NASA remains uncertain on whether the debris will reach the Earth this year, as they have cautioned the event will be "all or nothing."



Meteor showers happen when the Earth passes through comet or asteroid debris. Meteor showers can recur annually, and as a result, can be predicted.&nbsp;



Meteor storms, however, are less predictable. They happen when the Earth passes through a narrow and dense clump of space dust, turning into thousands of fast-moving stars. These fast moving stars provide an amazing show for star-gazers.&nbsp;



The Tau Herculids meteor shower is a pattern associated with the Hercules constellation, the fifth largest constellation in the sky. 



In 1930, SW3 was spotted by German observers Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann.&nbsp;In 1995, it unexpectedly became 400 times brighter, visible from the naked eye. This is because the comet’s core split into four, releasing gas and debris.&nbsp;



By 2006, the comet had shattered into 68 pieces, and has now likely broken down even further. Computer modeling suggests that fragments have spread out of its orbit like tentacles. These fragments could become visible once the Earth plows into them. And this is set to happen on May 31st for the first time since 1995. 



The result could be a dramatic meteor storm, depending on the concentration of debris Earth passes through. If visible, the meteor shower could last for up to two hours.&nbsp;



Bill Cooke, who leads NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center, explained that if the debris from SW3 was traveling more than 220 mph (354 km/h) when it separated from the comet, we might see a meteor shower.&nbsp;



'If the debris had slower ejection speeds, then nothing will make it to Earth and there will be no meteors from this comet," said Cooke. "It's a perfect opportunity for space enthusiasts to get out and experience one of nature's most vivid light shows."



The best view will be from the southwest of the USA and Mexico, and could also be seen from the southeastern provinces of Canada.



For more information, here are some details that outline the differences between an asteroid, meteorite and other space rocks:&nbsp;



<ul><li>&nbsp;An asteroid is a large chunk of rock left over from collisions or the early solar system.</li><li>A comet is a rock covered in ice, methane and other compounds with an orbit much further out of the solar system.</li><li>A meteor is a flash of light in the atmosphere when debris burns up. The debris itself is known as a meteoroid. Most are vapourised in the atmosphere.</li><li>If the meteoroid makes it to Earth, it is called a meteorite.</li><li>Meteors, meteoroids and meteorites originate from asteroids and comets.</li><li>For example, if Earth passes through the tail of a comet, the debris burns up in the atmosphere, forming a meteor shower.</li></ul>



Here is a predicted schedule for the remaining meteor showers of 2022:&nbsp;



<ul><li>Delta Aquarids: July 30 – 25 per hour – Steady stream over days</li><li>Alpha Capricornids: July 30 – 5 per hour – Yellow slow fireballs</li><li>Perseids: August 12-13 – 100 per hour – Bright, fast meteors with trains</li><li>Draconids: October 8-9 – 10 per hour – From comet Giacobini-Zimmer</li><li>Orionids: October 21-22 – 25 per hour – Fast with fine trains</li><li>Taurids: October 10-11 (Southern), November 12-13 (Northern) – 5 per hour – Very slow</li><li>Leonids: November 17-18 – 10 per hour – Fast and bright</li><li>Geminids: December 14-15 – 150 per hour – Bright and plentiful, few trains</li></ul>



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Powerful meteor storm may light up North America's skies

The "most powerful meteor storm in generations" could light up...

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing it with probiotics and prebiotics, aiming to create a treat that satisfies cravings while supporting gut health. 



The challenge lies in maintaining chocolate's beloved texture and flavor while adding health benefits.



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Probiotics - beneficial microbes that balance gut bacteria and aid digestion - are typically fragile and can be destroyed by stomach acid or processing. 



Prebiotics act as food for these microbes, helping them thrive. Together, they form "synbiotics," a powerful health combination.



Researchers Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh from India's Jaypee Institute of Information Technology took an innovative approach, using natural prebiotics like corn and honey instead of complex processing methods. 



They created five chocolate varieties: a control and four synbiotic versions containing different combinations of prebiotics, probiotics (Lactobacillus strains), and flavor enhancers (cinnamon or orange).



Laboratory simulations of human digestion showed the probiotics remained viable for over five hours, suggesting they could survive long enough to benefit gut health.



Taste tests were positive, with researchers particularly enjoying the orange-flavored variety, describing it as having "vibrant citrus notes" complementing the "rich cocoa" with a "luxurious" texture.



This research represents just the beginning. With further refinement of strains, textures, and flavors, chocolate could evolve beyond mere indulgence to become a functional food that nourishes while it delights.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c00741" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Food Science &amp; Technology</a>.

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

Scientists are transforming chocolate into a functional food by infusing...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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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