Genetic,Brain,Disorders,,Conceptual,3d,Illustration.,Mutations,In,The,Dna

When folks picture Neanderthals, the image often involves heavy brows, furry pelts, and stone tools. Yet pieces of their DNA are still part of the modern human genome. Recent research suggests that some of these genetic variants inherited from Neanderthals could be linked to autism spectrum disorder.



About 50,000-60,000 years ago, small groups of modern humans trekked out of Africa into Eurasia. They met Neanderthals, exchanged tools, and also exchanged genes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-analysis-reveals-most-recent-modern-human-to-interbreed-with-neanderthals/">through interbreeding</a>. 



It has been estimated that Eurasian-derived populations have approximately <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq3010" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2% Neanderthal DNA</a>, which was acquired during introgression events occurring shortly after anatomically modern humans migrated out of Africa.



Later, some descendants journeyed back to Africa, sprinkling a much thinner dusting of Neanderthal genes across the continent. 



That genetic shuffling means nearly everyone on Earth carries at least a trace of <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-neanderthal-in-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Neanderthal ancestry</a>, though the amount varies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-fragments-big-questions">Small fragments, big questions</h2>



Genetic leftovers can be helpful. Certain <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-06587-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Neanderthal alleles</a> boost immune responses or aid survival at high altitudes. 



Many others never meshed well with our biology and were slowly weeded out by natural selection. Brain-related genes are especially unforgiving; even minor glitches can prove disruptive. 



With the recent sequencing of multiple <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867424001168" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">archaic human genomes</a>, there has been growing interest concerning the influence of archaic human-derived alleles on modern health.



Yet some Neanderthal variants slipped past that filter. They linger in regions tied to perception, memory, and social understanding, sparking curiosity about their subtle effects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-autism-clues-in-neanderthal-dna">Autism clues in Neanderthal DNA</h2>



The study linking autism to Neanderthal DNA was led by researchers from <a href="https://www.clemson.edu/">Clemson University</a> and <a href="https://www.luc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Loyola University</a>.



The authors compared whole-genome data from autistic people, their unaffected siblings, and unrelated controls across diverse ethnic backgrounds. 



They saw that both rare and common Neanderthal-derived variants appeared more often in autistic participants. 



The pattern wasn’t about carrying more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-inject-40000-year-old-neanderthal-dna-gli3-gene-into-mice-with-incredible-results/">Neanderthal DNA</a> overall; it hinged on possessing particular snippets.



One striking theme involved genes that guide how distant brain regions talk to each other. 



Visual-processing circuits appeared to run hotter, while the so-called default mode network, linked to daydreaming and social reflection, ran cooler. 



Those connectivity signatures match traits many autistic individuals report - keen pattern recognition alongside social fatigue.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seeing-the-world-in-sharp-focus">Seeing the world in sharp focus</h2>



Functional MRI scans from the same project confirmed this pattern. People who carried a higher load of the identified <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/inner-ears-of-neanderthals-reveals-catastrophic-population-event-during-their-evolution/">Neanderthal variants</a> - whether autistic or not - showed stronger signaling in visual areas. 



Meanwhile, pathways that normally hum during casual conversation or idle thought stayed quieter. 



The result hints that these ancient genes might sculpt a cognitive profile tuned for intense observation and precise motor planning.



Archaeologists note a similar nuance in Neanderthal craftsmanship and stone tool making skills. 



Their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levallois_technique" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Levallois technique</a> required stepwise planning, spatial reasoning, and sustained focus - skills that resonate with strengths many autistic thinkers display today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-evolutionary-twist">An evolutionary twist</h2>



Why would such variants stick around? One idea points to the small, tight-knit bands <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-and-neanderthals-species-face-structure-evolved-differently/">Neanderthals</a> likely formed. In that setting, visual scouting for game, shelter, or stone resources could outweigh complex social juggling. 



When Homo sapiens groups interbred with them, those advantageous perceptual talents may have proved useful enough to persist.



The study does not argue that Neanderthal DNA “causes” autism. Instead, it suggests that a handful of inherited tweaks can raise the odds of certain traits emerging along a spectrum. 



Those traits might have offered benefits in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-theory-explains-why-neanderthals-vanished-and-homo-sapiens-are-alive-today/">ancestral environments</a> - and still do in fields that prize logic, detail, and pattern spotting.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-neanderthal-contributions-to-autism">Neanderthal contributions to autism</h2>



Researchers stress that genetics is only part of the autism puzzle. Environment, early development, and countless other genes interact in ways science is still charting. 



Even so, identifying concrete Neanderthal contributions helps explain why autism exists worldwide, independent of culture or upbringing. 



It also reframes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/placenta-hormones-may-have-driven-human-brain-evolution/">neurodiversity</a> as a legacy of humanity’s mixed heritage rather than a modern anomaly.



Many families notice clusters of analytical talent - mathematicians, engineers, visual artists - scattered among autistic and non-autistic relatives alike. The new findings offer a biological thread connecting those shared gifts.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-next">What happens next?</h2>



“We hope this research will lead to further investigation into the ongoing influences of ancient hybridization between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neanderthals-and-humans-had-multiple-waves-of-contact/">Homo sapiens and Neanderthals</a> in brain development, human intelligence, and overall human health, as well as spur work into additional clinical resources for this complex population,” the research team wrote.



Future projects will likely probe other neurodevelopmental conditions, explore how Neanderthal variants interact with modern lifestyles, and refine personalized supports. 



As we continue to discover, the story of human evolution didn't stop with one lineage replacing another. It wove their strengths together, leaving fingerprints that guide our thoughts, perceptions, and innovations in modern humans to this day.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-024-02593-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Molecular Psychiatry</a>.



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Scientists link autism to Neanderthal DNA found in modern humans

When folks picture Neanderthals, the image often involves heavy brows, furry pelts, and stone tools. Yet pieces of their DNA are still part of the modern human genome. Recent research suggests that some of these genetic variants inherited from Neanderthals could be linked to autism spectrum disorder. About 50,000-60,000 years ago, small groups of modern humans trekked out of Africa into Eurasia. They met Neanderthals, exchanged tools, and also exchanged genes through interbreeding. It has been estimated that Eurasian-derived populations have approximately 2% Neanderthal DNA, which was...

A new comprehensive study on sleep disorders in older adults has been conducted by researchers at <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/">Concordia University</a>. The team has found that middle-aged and older adults who suffer from insomnia symptoms are more likely to develop <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/digital-devices-can-actually-improve-our-memory-skills/">memory</a> loss disorders, such as dementia.



By using data from the <a href="https://www.clsa-elcv.ca/">Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging</a>, the experts were able to collect information from over 26,000 adults between the ages of 45 and 85.&nbsp;



To conduct the analysis, the researchers compared self-reported evaluations from an initial report in 2019 and a follow-up evaluation in 2022. They found that individuals with declining sleep quality in the three years between evaluations were more likely to report memory decline.&nbsp;



“We found that insomnia specifically was related to worse memory performance compared to those who have some insomnia symptoms alone or no sleep problems at all. This deficit in memory was specific, as we also looked at other cognitive function domains such as attention span multi-tasking.[sic] We only found differences in memory," said study co-lead author Nathan Cross, a postdoctoral fellow at the Sleep, Cognition and Neuroimaging Lab.



According to the analysis, individuals with worsening insomnia had more psychological distress, including depression and anxiety, due to their insomnia. They were also more likely to have a higher BMI and smoke.&nbsp;



The researchers discovered that women with insomnia perform better than men with the disease, which puts men at a greater risk of developing memory decline.&nbsp;



Despite the grim findings, the authors are optimistic about the results of their study. According to Cross, the good news is that sleep disorders like insomnia can be treated.&nbsp;



“This highlights the importance of properly diagnosing and managing insomnia as early as possible in older adults. Adequately treating insomnia disorder might become an important preventive measure for cognitive decline and mitigate the incidence of dementia in later life," said Cross.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sleep/zsac176/6649765?guestAccessKey=be5fbfeb-51c4-4760-b838-33a967348324">SLEEP</a>.



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

Insomnia may lead to memory loss in adults

A new comprehensive study on sleep disorders in older adults...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> has evaluated the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/food-production-environmental-impact/">environmental impacts</a> of over 57,000 food products that people consume on a daily basis. While many previous studies have assessed the environmental impact of food commodities such as fruits, wheat, or beef, most food products contain a variety of different ingredients that all have an impact on the environment during processes of production, harvesting, transporting, and processing. Better understanding the environmental footprint of each of these processes and ingredients could enable the transition to a more sustainable food system, while also improving people’s health.



“The goal is to have a simpler, and more rigorous quantitative way to inform consumers about the tens of thousands of different items they might buy in a grocery store,”&nbsp;said study co-author David Tilman, an ecologist at the <a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara</a>.



The analysis revealed that beef and lamb take the greatest toll on the environment, with impacts far superseding those of other products on the higher end of the environmental impact scale, such as chicken, fish and seafood, or nuts. By contrast, plant-based grocery foods like rice or flat-breads, as well as processed drinks such as sodas or energy drinks were rated at the lowest impact level among the food products that were assessed.



According to the scientists, diets that include healthy, less processed foods also tend to be healthier for the environment. Thus, plant-based foods are on the healthier end of the scale for both humans and the environment, while highly-processed grains or dairy products verge towards the less-healthy end.



“The healthiest diets that we know of are variants on the classical Mediterranean diet, which has many servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and whole grains,” Dr. Tilman explained. “Whole grain has the advantage of having fiber, which helps slow the rate at which starch becomes sugars.” Other healthy, nutritious, and environmentally-friendly diets include vegetarian and pescatarian diets.



Further research is needed to refine the scientists’ assessment, since there is a lot of variability in the proportion and type of ingredients in similar foods, which can lead to differences in health and environmental impacts. However, if more comprehensive information about the impacts of food products on both human health and the environment becomes more widely available, consumers will be able to make better, more informed choices for their diets.



“I hope this information ends up on packages. And I hope because it’s on packages that companies that make different foods will willingly tell us the exact ingredients and amounts in their foods, so we can give the most rigorous, honest evaluation of their product,” Dr. Tilman concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2120584119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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

Food products need environmental impact labels

A new study led by the University of Oxford has...

Shouting,A,Angry,Chimpanzee.,The,Chimpanzee,(pan,Troglodytes),Shouts,In

Rainforest trees are supported by massive roots forming large flat buttresses. Male <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-use-surprisingly-complex-vocal-sequences/">chimpanzees</a> often drum with their hands and feet on these roots, sending messages that can be heard across over a kilometer through these dense, humid forests. Now, a team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/">University of St Andrews</a> has found that chimpanzees in Uganda’s Budongo Forest have their own signature style when drumming on these three roots.&nbsp;



These specific rhythms allow the chimpanzees to send information revealing who is where, and what they are doing. Interestingly, only drumming activities performed while traveling appear to carry specific signatures, suggesting that chimpanzees can control whether they want to reveal their identity and location to conspecifics.&nbsp;



“We could often recognize who was drumming when we heard them, and it was a fantastic way to find the different chimpanzees we were looking for – so if we could do it, we were sure they could too. It’s lovely to finally show how it works,” said study senior author Catherine Hobaiter, a primatologist at St Andrews.



“One thing that has always been a puzzle is why chimpanzees greet each other but very rarely seem to say goodbye. Our results might help to explain this – chimpanzees are rarely really out of contact, even when kilometers apart these long-distance signals allow them to keep in touch with who is where. It’s as though they have their own social media that allows them to check in through the day.”



The investigation revealed that chimps use different patterns of beats, with some individuals having a regular rhythm resembling that of rock or blues drummers, while others having more syncopated and variable jazz-like rhythms. They often combine these drums with long-distance calls, called “pant-hoots.”



“This really looks like chimp social media. Indeed, we also found that chimpanzees drum more often when they’re alone or in small groups. This means that they drum to know where others are and decide whether to join them or not,” said study lead author Vesta Eleuteri, a PhD student in the evolution of cognition and communication at the <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/">University of Vienna</a> and visiting researcher at St Andrews.&nbsp;



&nbsp;“I was surprised that I was able to recognize who was drumming after just a few weeks in the forest. But their drumming rhythms are so distinctive that it’s easy to pick up on them. For example, Tristan – the John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) of the forest – makes very fast drums with many evenly separated beats. His drumming is so fast that you can barely see his hands! Ben, the alpha male, also has a peculiar style: he makes two closely following beats separated by one or two more distant beats.”



In future research, the scientists aim to investigate group differences to clarify whether there are different drumming “cultures” among different chimpanzee populations.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.07.013">Animal Behavior</a>.



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

Chimpanzees use distinctive drumming styles to communicate

Rainforest trees are supported by massive roots forming large flat...

Children,With,Rucksacks,Riding,On,Bikes,In,The,Park,Near

According to data from the <a href="https://nhts.ornl.gov/">National Household Travel Survey</a>, about 11 percent of American <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/good-news-for-active-children-moving-helps-them-learn/">children</a> walk or bike to and from school. Now, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> (ASU) and <a href="https://www.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers University</a> has found that young children who do this are more likely to continue such heathy habits as they age. Thus, if children are taught early to actively commute, they will often keep doing so later in their educational career.



“The walk to school is a wonderful moment in the day that provides children a glimpse of living an active lifestyle,” said study co-author David Tulloch, a professor of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers. “When people start walking early, it can have a lasting impact on their health.”



To clarify whether active commuting persists over time, the scientists surveyed parents and caregivers from 587 households about the school travel habits of their children on two different occasions two to four years apart, between 2009 and 2017, in four predominantly low-income cities in New Jersey (Camden, New Brunswick, Newark and Trenton).



The analysis revealed that over three quarters of children who engaged in active commuting at the beginning of the study continued to do so two to four years later, while those who did not perform such activities early on were less likely to start later.&nbsp;



“Most kids don’t achieve the 60 minutes per day of physical activity that they’re recommended to get,” said study lead author Robin DeWeese, an assistant professor of Health Solutions at ASU. “Active commuting to school is one way to get more of that activity.” To promote such activities, “schools and communities [should] encourage active commuting during early grades as that may yield benefits even for students in higher grades.”



The scientists found that active commuting varied according to demographic features and perceptions of the safety of the neighborhood. Children with at least one parent born outside the U.S. were less likely to actively commute, while children of parents who perceived their neighborhood safe from crime were over 2.5 times more likely to engage in active commuting.



However, the greatest barrier to active commuting appeared to be the distance between home and school, which often increases as children age, because middle and high schools are larger and less prominent than elementary schools. Thus, the likelihood of active commuting tends to decrease in high school.



According to the researchers, smarter urban design, infrastructure improvements, remote drop-offs, or “walking school buses” (groups of students chaperoned by volunteer parents) could encourage children to actively commute from a young age.



“One of the most visited tourist sites in New York City is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thehighline.org/">High Line</a>, a green walkable space with no cars. We should be doing this type of planning everywhere – especially in school zones,” Tulloch concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101718">Preventive Medicine Reports</a>.



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

Children who actively commute are likely to make it a habit

According to data from the National Household Travel Survey, about...

The air in UK public schools doesn't meet the safety standards issued by the World Health Organization. Air pollution has serious consequences, especially for developing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-on-playgrounds-help-protect-children-from-air-pollution/">children</a> who spend 30 percent of their day in polluted schools. According to a new paper published in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231022003685?via%3Dihub">Atmospheric Environment</a>, there are straightforward ways to remedy the situation.&nbsp;



The health impacts of air pollution include behavioral problems; increased risk of cancer; and respiratory, lung, and brain diseases.



"Everybody, especially our children, deserves to live and work where the air is as clean and safe as possible," said study co-author Prashant Kumar. "Unfortunately, the reality is far from ideal, with many of our schools unwittingly exposing children to harmful pollutants. The problem is particularly bad at schools near busy roads."



Scientists with the <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk/">University of Surrey</a> Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) explored three ways to reduce indoor air pollution in schools. They tested installing a green screen along the school's perimeter and putting air purifiers in classrooms. The team also implemented a "school streets" initiative, which prevents cars from driving past schools at drop-off and pick-up times.&nbsp;



The researchers found that all of these methods improved air quality. Air purifiers lead to a 57 percent decrease in indoor air pollution, and the school streets initiative reduced pollutants by 36 percent. In addition, green screens reduced outdoor contaminants by up to 44 percent.



"Our partnership with Arup, Global Action Plan and the University of Surrey has shown there are practical ways that we can protect children in and around schools and can help guide schools to implement these solutions," said Kate Langford with the Health Effects of Air pollution program at <a href="https://urbanhealth.org.uk/">Impact on Urban Health</a>.



"These measures now need to be combined with efforts from local authorities at regional and national levels to improve air quality and create healthier places for children to live, learn and play."&nbsp;



"My simple plea to decision-makers in the UK is this: simple actions speak louder than words," said Kumar. "By giving every school resources to implement one of the measures detailed in our research, they could make a world of difference to tens of thousands of children in this country."&nbsp;



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

Simple actions can reduce air pollution in schools

The air in UK public schools doesn't meet the safety...

Long have humans gazed at birds with a mix of envy and awe. It was these feathered fliers that first inspired us to take to the air in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-worlds-largest-flying-dinosaur-jumped-before-takeoff/">flying</a> machines. Still, even now, much of how birds are able to move across the skies with such grace remains largely mysterious.&nbsp;



In a new study, engineers have explored how birds can maneuver so well in flight. Study lead author Christina Harvey is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a>.



“Birds easily perform challenging maneuvers and they’re adaptable, so what exactly about their flight is most useful to implement in future aircraft?” said Professor Harvey.&nbsp;



After earning a bachelors of science in engineering, Harvey focused her research on gulls as she pursued a master's degree in zoology. “Gulls are very common and easy to find, and they’re really impressive gliders,” she said.&nbsp;



Harvey’s professional interest in gulls has continued as she finished her PhD in aerospace engineering and carried out more research on the birds.&nbsp;



In a paper published earlier this year in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04477-8">Nature</a>, Harvey and other scientists looked at flight dynamics of 22 bird species. Unlike most studies that focus on aerodynamics, the researchers looked at other factors as well.&nbsp;



Some airplanes are designed to be stable - like a jetliner that returns to steady flight after turbulence. Planes like fighter jets that must maneuver quickly are better being designed as unstable. The research shows that birds are capable of both unstable and stable flight, unlike planes.&nbsp;



Harvey’s new research builds upon this previous study. The team used 3D models of gulls and gull wings inside a wind tunnel to look at how the birds respond to perturbations while in flight. The research is important in understanding how gulls fly, but also in how we might design an airplane modeled after birds.&nbsp;



Professor Harvey expressed one of the lingering questions that is raised by her research: “The flight qualities analysis asks: if you built an aircraft exactly like a gull, would a human be able to fly it?”



Many other questions about bird flight and its application to engineering still remain as the researchers continue their studies.&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2204847119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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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

Bird flight inspires the design of future aircraft

Long have humans gazed at birds with a mix of...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.ecu.edu.au/">Edith Cowan University</a> (ECU) have recently discovered that noise may help enhance <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/forgetting-may-actually-be-a-form-of-learning/">learning</a> for some people. More specifically, the experts explored the effects of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) in several situations.



Transcranial random noise stimulation is not what we typically think of as noise. Impulses come from electrodes attached to the head, emitting a weak current that passes through certain sections of the brain.&nbsp;



Study lead author Dr. Onno van der Groen explained the potential benefits of tRNS: "The effect on learning is promising: it can speed up learning and help people with neurological conditions. So, people with learning difficulties you can use it to enhance learning rate, for example."



"It's also been trialed on people with visual deficits, such as after stroke and traumatic brain injury. When you add this type of stimulation during learning, you get better performance, faster learning and better attention afterwards as well."



Dr. van der Groen said that tRNS works by utilizing neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to make new connections. "If you learn something, there has to be neuroplastic changes in your brain, which allows you to learn this information. And this is a tool to enhance this neuroplasticity."



"If you do 10 sessions of a visual perception task with the tRNS and then come back and do it again without it, you'll find you perform better than the control group who hasn't used it."



However, transcranial random noise stimulation won't create a "new level" of intelligence. "The question is, if you're neurotypical, are you already performing at your peak," said Dr. Van der Groen.



"There's a case study where they tried to enhance the mathematical skills of a super mathematician; with him, it didn't have much of an impact on his performance, presumably because he is already a top performer in that area. But it could be used if you're learning something new."



Although research is still in the beginning stages, Dr. van der Groen feels that due to its safety, more research will be conducted in the future to explore the medical benefits of this new technology.&nbsp;



"We're working on a study where we send the equipment to people, and they apply everything themselves remotely. So in that regards, it's quite easy to use."



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763422001919?via%3Dihub">Neuroscience</a>.



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

"Random noise" may provide a new path to faster learning

Researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) have recently discovered that...

COVID-19 has affected people in almost all countries and territories in the world. Some of these are low-resource countries where free <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/do-wind-instruments-spread-covid-19/">COVID</a> testing is not available, nor is the testing of waste water to give warning of imminent waves of the disease. In these countries, an affordable, accessible, non-invasive method of identifying those who have COVID-19 would help to manage and control the spread of the disease more effectively.&nbsp;



This is what led scientists from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands to design a mobile phone app that identifies COVID-19 sufferers from the sound of their voices. One of the main symptoms of this disease is inflammation in the upper respiratory tract and vocal cords, which usually leads to changes in the patient’s voice. The scientists wondered whether these symptoms could be used as an accurate method of diagnosis, and set about collecting data from the voices of ill and well people.



Their results were presented recently at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain.&nbsp;



Ms. Wafaa Aljbawi from the Institute of Data Science at Maastricht University, and her supervisors - Dr Sami Simons, pulmonologist at Maastricht University Medical Centre, and Dr Visara Urovi, also from the Institute of Data Science - used data from the University of Cambridge’s crowd-sourcing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.covid-19-sounds.org/en/">COVID-19 Sounds App</a>&nbsp;that contains 893 audio samples from 4,352 participants, 308 of whom had tested positive for COVID-19. They then analyzed the voice sounds using a technique called Mel-spectrogram analysis, which identifies different voice features such as loudness, power and variation over time.&nbsp;



“In this way we can decompose the many properties of the participants’ voices,” said Ms. Aljbawi. “In order to distinguish the voice of COVID-19 patients from those who did not have the disease, we built different artificial intelligence models and evaluated which one worked best at classifying the COVID-19 cases.”&nbsp;



The experts found that one model, called Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM), out-performed the other models. LSTM is based on neural networks, which mimic the way the human brain operates and recognizes the underlying relationships in data. It works with sequences, which makes it suitable for modelling signals collected over time, such as from the voice, because of its ability to store data in its memory.&nbsp;



At the congress of the <a href="https://www.ersnet.org/">European Respiratory Society</a>, Ms. Aljbawi reported that the AI model they had decided to use was accurate in identifying positive cases of COVID-19 in 89 percent of cases, whereas the accuracy of lateral flow tests varied widely depending on the brand of test kit used. Also, lateral flow tests were considerably less accurate at detecting COVID infection in people who showed no symptoms.



“These promising results suggest that simple voice recordings and fine-tuned AI algorithms can potentially achieve high precision in determining which patients have COVID-19 infection,” she said. “Such tests can be provided at no cost and are simple to interpret. Moreover, they enable remote, virtual testing and have a turnaround time of less than a minute. They could be used, for example, at the entry points for large gatherings, enabling rapid screening of the population.”



The app is installed on a user’s mobile phone and then, to make use of it, the user first reports some basic information about demographics, medical history and smoking status, and records some respiratory sounds. These include coughing three times, breathing deeply through the mouth three to five times, and reading a short sentence on the screen three times.&nbsp;



The app’s overall accuracy was 89 percent, the same as its ability to detect positive cases correctly (the true positive rate or ‘sensitivity’). Its ability to identify negative cases correctly (the true negative rate or ‘specificity’) was 83 percent.



In contrast, lateral flow tests have a sensitivity of 56 percent, but a higher specificity rate of 99.5 percent. This would mean that the tests misclassify infected people as COVID-19 negative more often than the scientists’ AI model.&nbsp;



“These results show a significant improvement in the accuracy of diagnosing COVID-19 compared to state-of-the-art tests such as the lateral flow test,” said Ms. Aljbawi. “The lateral flow test has a sensitivity of only 56 percent, but a higher specificity rate of 99.5 percent. This is important as it signifies that the lateral flow test is misclassifying infected people as COVID-19 negative more often than our test. In other words, with the AI LSTM model, we could miss 11 out 100 cases who would go on to spread the infection, while the lateral flow test would miss 44 out of 100 cases."



“The high specificity of the lateral flow test means that only one in 100 people would be wrongly told they were COVID-19 positive when, in fact, they were not infected, while the LSTM test would wrongly diagnose 17 in 100 non-infected people as positive. However, since this test is virtually free, it is possible to invite people for PCR tests if the LSTM tests show they are positive,” added Ms. Aljbawi.



The researchers say that their results need to be validated with larger numbers of participants. Since the start of this project, 53,449 audio samples from 36,116 participants have now been collected and can be used to improve and validate the accuracy of the model. They are also carrying out further analysis to understand which parameters in the voice are influencing the AI model.



The researchers conclude that deep-learning can indeed detect subtle changes in the voice of COVID-19 patients. This method of diagnosis is free, readily available contactless and non-invasive, and can be used, in conjunction with other testing methods, to diagnose COVID-19 cases rapidly and accurately.



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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

Smartphone app can detect COVID-19 infection in your voice

COVID-19 has affected people in almost all countries and territories...

For decades, archaeologists struggled to understand past peoples, while ecology has focused on current <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ecosystems-moving-north/">ecosystems</a>. However, both of these well-established scientific disciplines generally neglect the crucial questions of how humans and nature interacted and shaped each other across different geographical places and time periods. In order to fill these knowledge gaps and provide insights into how to solve today’s sustainability challenges, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.santafe.edu/">Santa Fe Institute</a> (SFI) has now defined a new field of scientific inquiry, archeoecology, which attempts to examine the complex interplay between humans and the ecosystems they were embedded in.



While archeologists or paleobiologists might investigate a particular relationship, such as how humans in New Guinea raised cassowaries during the Late Pleistocene, archeoecology aims to take a much broader view. “It’s about understanding the whole ecological context, rather than focusing on one or two species,” said study co-author Jennifer Dunne, an ecologist and Vice President for Science at SFI.



According to Dunne and her archaeologist colleague Stefani Crabtree, archaeoecology’s mission is to examine the past 60,000 years of interplay between humans and ecosystems, by showing not only how humans impacted nature, but also how the ecosystems they lived in shaped human culture and dynamics. To achieve this, archeoecology weaves together research questions, methods, data, and modeling tools from archaeology, ecology, and paleoecology. “What it’s doing is breaking down a traditional, but unnecessary, disciplinary separation between archaeology and ecology,” Dunne explained.



With humanity facing the interconnected crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, archaeoecology could yield critical insights to help us navigate these contemporary environmental challenges. For instance, using an archaeoecological lens to analyze the situation of the Aral Sea during the height of the Silk Road can clarify how Soviet Union’s 1960s water diversion project and the subsequent desiccation of the Aral Sea impacted both the surrounding ecosystems and human communities.



“Every ecosystem on the planet is impacted by humans in one way or another,” Crabtree said. “It's naïve to look at just the last 100 years because people have been impacting ecosystems everywhere for many thousands of years. We need to understand the past to understand our present and future. Archaeoecology helps with that. We can learn from these experiments with sustainability in the past,” she concluded.



An in-depth definition of this new discipline and examples of its possible applications can be found in an article published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.07.010">Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.



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

Archeoecology will examine the history of humans and nature

For decades, archaeologists struggled to understand past peoples, while ecology...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a> has found that some prehistoric mammals were born almost independent from their parents and grew up twice as fast as most of today’s mammals, features which gave them a significant edge over other animals after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-impact-crater-dates-back-to-the-end-of-the-dinosaurs/">dinosaurs</a> went extinct.&nbsp;



The scientists used dental analysis to uncover the life history of Pantolambda bathmodon, a member of the earliest known group of herbivores from the post-dinosaur era which grew to approximately the size of a sheep. By examining razor-thin sections of this animal’s teeth, and using laser to vaporize the teeth to expose their chemical constitution, the experts identified the mammal’s daily growth lines, known as “bands.”



The analyses revealed major transitions in P. bathmodon’s early life, such as high levels of zinc deposited at birth, and enrichment with barium during the suckling period, providing evidence that these animals’ mothers were pregnant for under seven months and gave birth to single, well-developed infants, sporting a mouthful of teeth. They were most likely mobile from the first day after birth, and suckled for less than two months before becoming fully independent.



Although the gestation period is similar to that of today’s mammals, P. bathmodon has probably lived and died more rapidly. According to the researchers, they were ready to mate before their first birthday, and lived only three to four years on average – a rather short lifespan compared to the roughly 20 years lifespan of modern mammals of similar size.



“When the asteroid knocked off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, some mammals survived, and they ballooned in size really quickly to fill the ecological niches vacated by T. rex and Triceratops and other giant dinosaurs,” said study senior author Steve Brusatte, a professor of Paleontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh.



“Being able to produce large babies, which matured for several months in the womb before being born, helped mammals transform from the humble mouse-sized ancestors that lived with dinosaurs to the vast array of species, from humans to elephants to whales, that are around today.”



“Our research opens the most detailed window to date into the daily lives of extinct mammals. This unprecedented level of detail shows the kinds of lifestyles that make placental mammals special evolved early in their evolutionary history,” added study lead author Gregory Funston, a paleontologist at the same university.



“We think that their babies’ longer gestation period could have nurtured large body sizes faster than other mammals, which may be why they became the dominant mammals of today,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05150-w">Nature</a>.



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

Prehistoric mammals grew fast and died young

A new study led by the University of Edinburgh has...

Last week, California became the first state to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, with the <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/">California Air Resources Board</a> (CARB) approving an ambitious phase-out plan which will require all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in California to be <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biden-lays-out-plan-for-electric-vehicle-charging-stations/">electric vehicles</a> or other types of zero-emissions vehicles. Now, other states such as Washington, Massachusetts, or Virginia are discussing their intentions to follow in the Golden State’s footsteps and implement similar initiatives.



Recently, the federal <a href="https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview">Clean Air Act</a> has allowed California to set more stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards than those currently implemented by the federal government, while offering the possibility of other states to set similar rules. About 16 states have opted to adopt California’s standards, meaning that a gas-powered car ban could apply to almost one third of the country’s auto market.



For instance, Washington started adopting California’s emissions standards in 2020 and has committed to reduce vehicle-related emissions by 68 percent by 2030. Other states, such as Massachusetts and Virginia, have also aligned their vehicle emission standards with those of California and plan to phase out gas-powered cars too.



Currently, electric vehicles account for about 5.6 percent sales in the United States – with a much higher percentage in California (16 percent), which is the largest automobile market in the country. Although automakers are generally supportive of the idea of producing and selling more electric vehicles, they have expressed skepticism that the ban on gas-powered cars could be implemented by 2035, due to the fact that there are not enough electric vehicle charging stations to accommodate a massive surge in demand, as well as the difficulty to get enough raw materials to make batteries for so many electric cars.



“These are complex, intertwined and global issues well beyond the control of either [California regulators] or the auto industry,” concluded John Bozzella, the president of the <a href="https://www.autosinnovate.org/">Alliance for Automotive Innovation</a>.&nbsp;



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

California moves to ban gas-powered cars by 2035

Last week, California became the first state to ban the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.calpoly.edu/">California Polytechnic State University</a> and the <a href="http://www.unm.edu/">University of New Mexico</a> (UNM) has found that stock market investors predict that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-legalization-reduces-designer-drug-poisonings/">cannabis legalization</a> may reduce conventional pharmaceutical sales by billions of dollars. 



By analyzing how the stock market returns of publicly traded pharmaceutical firms responded to medical and recreational cannabis legalization events, the experts discovered that stock market returns were 1.5 to two percent lower at ten days following a cannabis legalization event, and that the implication for the annual sales from this reduction were in the billions of dollars.



While previous studies have investigated how cannabis access reduces the consumption of various types of medications, such as opioids, or focused on its impact on certain groups, like Medicaid patients, this is the first study to comprehensively analyze the overall effect of cannabis legalization on pharmaceutical firms across all products and types of patients.&nbsp;



Since the cost of pharmaceutical products remains a critical barrier to healthcare for many Americans, cannabis could offer a more affordable solution. Moreover, unlike other drugs which are designed to target specific health conditions, cannabis is used to treat a wide variety of problems – ranging from headaches and muscle spasms to depression or anxiety. These factors could make cannabis a major competitor in drug markets, which – in a scenario of full federal legalization – could reduce conventional pharmaceutical sales by 11 percent, regardless of the fact that currently, there is no standardization, clear dosing instructions, or health insurance coverage related to cannabis use.



&nbsp;“Currently, cannabis patients and their providers have little information to guide them towards the most effective treatment for their condition,” said study co-author Sarah Stith, an expert in Applied Microeconomy at UNM. 



“The future of cannabis medicine lies in understanding the prevalence and effects of the plants’ components beyond THC and CBD and identifying ways to categorize cannabis by measurable characteristics that are known to yield specific effects. Mimicking conventional pharmaceuticals through standardization may not be the optimal endpoint for cannabis, as the variability inherent in the cannabis plant is likely driving its ability to treat so many conditions.”&nbsp;



Thus, conventional pharmaceutical manufacturers may benefit from investing in cannabis markets rather than lobbying against them, while regulatory policies should facilitate further research to clarify the risks and benefits of using cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0272492">PLoS ONE</a>.



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

Pharmaceutical companies could lose billions to cannabis

A new study led by the California Polytechnic State University...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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