In the arid, fossil-rich landscape of Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, a team of paleontologists stumbled across something unexpected. The experts found the fossilized jawbone of a pterosaur that may be the oldest ever found in North America.



The discovery came from a remote site that revealed not just one remarkable creature, but a whole ecosystem preserved in stone.



The study was led by scientists from the Smithsonian’s <a href="https://www.si.edu/museums/natural-history-museum">National Museum of Natural History</a> and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Petrified Forest National Park</a>. The research introduces a new pterosaur species alongside more than 1,000 other fossils.



Some of these include one of the world’s oldest turtle specimens. Together, the fossils paint a vivid picture of life just before one of Earth’s biggest mass extinctions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-life-before-mass-extinction">Life before mass extinction</h2>



The pterosaur fossils come from rock layers that date back to the Late <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-did-not-impact-dinosaur-abundance-in-the-triassic/">Triassic</a> period. During this time, ancient amphibians and crocodile-like reptiles lived side by side with animals that would go on to shape the future of the planet, including early turtles, frogs, and flying reptiles.



“The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities, where we start seeing groups that thrive later in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-were-not-the-only-animals-that-grew-fast-during-the-mesozoic/">Mesozoic</a> living alongside these older animals that don’t make it past the Triassic,” said study lead author Ben Kligman.



This glimpse into prehistoric life is especially valuable because it dates to just before the end-Triassic extinction - about 201.5 million years ago - when massive volcanic eruptions dramatically altered Earth’s climate. 



The event wiped out roughly 75% of all species, paving the way for dinosaurs to rise to dominance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fossils-hidden-by-ash">Fossils hidden by ash</h2>



Direct fossil evidence from just before this extinction is hard to come by. Few fossil-rich outcrops from this time exist, but Petrified Forest National Park is one of the rare exceptions. 



Known for its colorful layers of petrified wood and Triassic fossils, the park has long been a treasure trove for paleontologists.



One rock layer, called the Owl Rock Member, has proven especially important. It’s full of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fire-and-ice-volcanic-ash-plays-a-surprising-role-in-cloud-formation/">volcanic ash</a>, which helped scientists date it precisely to around 209 million years ago. These are some of the park’s youngest rocks - but also among its least explored.



Study co-author William Parker explained that the Owl Rock exposures are tucked away in extremely remote areas. Few teams have been able to study them in detail.



In 2011, a research group led by Kay Behrensmeyer decided to take on the challenge. Braving the rugged terrain - complete with rattlesnakes and wild horses - they went in search of mammal-like fossils. 



What they found instead was a densely packed bonebed, full of life from a vanished world.



“That’s the fun thing about paleontology: you go looking for one thing, and then you find something else that’s incredible that you weren’t expecting,” said Kligman, who started working at the site during his PhD studies in 2018.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ancient-life-buried-by-floods">Ancient life buried by floods</h2>



Back in the Triassic, this part of Arizona was located near the equator and sat in the center of the supercontinent <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/supercontinents-101-pannotia-gondwana-and-pangea/">Pangaea</a>. 



The land was semi-arid, with winding river channels and a seasonal flood cycle. One of those floods likely buried the animals that are now preserved in the bonebed.



The fossil layer was so dense with tiny remains that collecting them onsite was impossible. Instead, researchers carved out large blocks of sediment, wrapped them in plaster, and brought them back to the lab.



Many of these blocks were sent to the Smithsonian’s FossiLab, where volunteers spent thousands of hours carefully exposing the bones. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-small-fossils-major-clues">Small fossils, major clues</h2>



The rivers teemed with fish like coelacanths and freshwater sharks. Giant amphibians - some stretching over six feet long - swam through the streams. On land, armored herbivores and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-crocodile-like-beast-was-a-terrifying-predator/">crocodile-like predators</a> ruled.



At the same time, smaller creatures were starting to make their mark. The team identified early frogs, relatives of today’s tuataras, and a turtle with spike-like armor that could fit in a shoebox. 



The remains of a small pterosaur were also hidden among the layers - just one part of a fossil record that shows how quickly new groups were emerging and spreading across Pangaea.



“This suggests that turtles rapidly dispersed across Pangaea, which is surprising for an animal that is not very large and is likely walking at a slow pace,” said Kligman.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pterosaur-that-perched-like-a-bird">Pterosaur that perched like a bird</h2>



One of the most exciting finds was a jawbone with teeth still in place. It belonged to a small pterosaur, one of the first vertebrates capable of powered flight. This early flier could have perched on a person’s shoulder.



The pterosaur fossil was uncovered by Suzanne McIntire, a volunteer who spent 18 years working in the FossiLab.



“What was exciting about uncovering this specimen was that the teeth were still in the bone, so I knew the animal would be much easier to identify,” McIntire said.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pterosaur_Eotephradactylus-mcintireae_Arizona_illustration_credit-Brian-Engh_1big.jpg"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pterosaur_Eotephradactylus-mcintireae_Arizona_illustration_credit-Brian-Engh_1s.webp" alt="An artist's reconstruction of the fossilized landscape, plants and animals found preserved in a remote bonebed in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The newly described pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintireae is seen eating an ancient ray-finned fish alongside an early species of turtle and an early frog species, with the skeleton of an armored crocodile relative lying on the ground and a palm-like plant growing in the background. Credit: Brian Engh" class="wp-image-1977432"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An artist's reconstruction of the fossilized landscape, plants and animals found preserved in a remote bonebed in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The newly described pterosaur Eotephradactylus mcintireae is seen eating an ancient ray-finned fish alongside an early species of turtle and an early frog species, with the skeleton of an armored crocodile relative lying on the ground and a palm-like plant growing in the background. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Brian Engh</figcaption></figure>



The wear on the teeth gave scientists a clue about the pterosaur’s diet. It likely fed on armored fish that were common in the area. 



The new species was named Eotephradactylus mcintireae, which translates to “ash-winged dawn goddess." This title honors McIntire, who retired last year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-exactly-is-a-pterosaur">What exactly is a pterosaur?</h2>



Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that existed during the time of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-did-dinosaurs-come-from-missing-fossils-hold-the-secret/">dinosaurs</a>. They were the first animals with backbones to evolve powered flight, well before birds or bats came on the scene.



Powered by skin stretched across an extended fourth finger, they ranged in size and shape from something no larger than a crow to giants with wings up to 30 feet or more.



Pterosaurs were not dinosaurs. They formed their own group of reptiles and possessed special adaptations for flight. Some flew above coastlines, while others preyed on fish or small land animals inland.



The new fossil contributes to what is known about those early birds and how they expanded around the globe.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2505513122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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North America's oldest known pterosaur discovered in a petrified forest

In the arid, fossil-rich landscape of Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, a team of paleontologists stumbled across something unexpected. The experts found the fossilized jawbone of a pterosaur that may be the oldest ever found in North America. The discovery came from a remote site that revealed not just one remarkable creature, but a whole ecosystem preserved in stone. The study was led by scientists from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and Petrified Forest National Park. The research introduces a new pterosaur species alongside more...

Forests are in a delicate dance with climate change. They absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide and host abundant biodiversity, but are increasingly threatened by disturbances associated with climate change, such as extreme weather and wildfires.&nbsp;



A new study quantifies risks to forests across carbon storage, biodiversity and forest loss from disturbance, such as fire or drought. The results show that in some regions, forests are experiencing clear and consistent risks. In other regions, the risk profile is less clear.



“Large uncertainty in most regions highlights that there's a lot more scientific study that's urgently needed,” explained William Anderegg, inaugural director of the University of Utah’s <a href="https://wilkescenter.utah.edu/">Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy</a>.



Anderegg assembled a team of researchers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Sweden. Their task was to assess climate risks to the world’s forests that span many continents and host vastly different biodiversity.



Previous research has investigated one dimension of climate risk, either carbon storage, biodiversity, or risk of forest loss. For this new global analysis the team went after all three dimensions.



“These dimensions of risk are all important and, in many cases, complementary. They capture different aspects of forest resilience or vulnerability,” said Anderegg.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Carbon storage: Forests absorb about a quarter of the carbon dioxide that’s emitted into the atmosphere, buffering the planet from the effects of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. The results showed that global gains in carbon storage can be expected by the end of the century. The researchers also found higher risk of carbon loss in southern boreal (just south of the Arctic) forests and the drier regions of the Amazon and African tropics.



Biodiversity: the researchers found that the highest risk of ecosystems shifting from one “life zone” to another due to climate change could be found at boundaries of biomes – at the current transition between temperate and boreal forests. Forests of the boreal regions and western North America faced the greatest risk of biodiversity loss.



Disturbance: The risk of events like drought, fire or insect damage that could wipe out forests. Using satellite data and observations of disturbances between 2002 and 2014, the researchers projected future temperatures and precipitation to see how much more frequent these events could become. The boreal forests, again, face high risk under these conditions - as well as the tropics.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Forests store an immense amount of carbon and slow the pace of climate change,” said Anderegg. “They harbor the vast majority of Earth's biodiversity. And they can be quite vulnerable to disturbances like severe fire or drought. Thus, it's important to consider each of these aspects and dimensions when thinking about the future of Earth's forests in a rapidly changing climate.”



Based on these results, Western North America seems to have a consistently high risk to forests. Preserving these forests will require action.&nbsp;



“First we have to realize that the quicker we tackle climate change, the lower the risks in the West will be,” said Anderegg. “Second, we can start to plan for increasing risk and manage forests to reduce risk, like fires.”



The recently-launched Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy at the University of Utah aims to provide cutting-edge science and tools for decision-makers in the US and across the globe. For this study, the authors built a <a href="https://wilkescenter.utah.edu/tools/globalforestclimaterisk/">visualization tool of the results</a> for stakeholders and decision-makers.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Climate risks threaten the future of the world's forests

Forests are in a delicate dance with climate change. They...

The natural world is full of complex phenomena that are not easily understood at first glance. Over the centuries, naturalists have proposed numerous biological “rules” or “laws” to explain apparent patterns that are observed in nature, and then researchers have collected data that either supports or disproves the generalizability of these rules. Scientists studying a species of small mouse from the Andes Mountains in Patagonia think they may have come up with a new biological rule that explains the variation in size within populations of these mice.&nbsp;



Ecologists are familiar with Gause’s law, for example, which states that two species competing for the same resource cannot coexist successfully together – one species will lose the competition.&nbsp; And biologists who study patterns in animal morphology will be familiar with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen%27s_rule">Allen's rule</a>&nbsp;stating that the body shapes and proportions of endotherms will be different in warm and cold climates in order to maximize or minimize heat loss respectively. There are numerous such biological rules, all of them helping biologists to identify and understand patterns that they observe in nature.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The species of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-the-genetic-diversity-of-the-wild-house-mouse/">mouse</a> that features in the current research is the shaggy soft-haired mouse,&nbsp;Abrothrix hirta. Biologist Pablo Teta of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia” in Buenos Aires, Argentina, began studying the mice as part of his doctoral thesis. He noticed that the mice varied considerably in terms of body size, with some being much bigger than others. He was initially convinced that he was looking at two different species, but analysis of the mouse DNA confirmed that these all belonged to the same species. So began a quest to understand the cause of this variation in mouse body size.&nbsp;



In their publication in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652699">Journal of Biogeography</a>, Teta and his colleagues propose that the mice on the western slopes of the Andes are bigger because that side of the mountain range gets more rain, which means there’s more plentiful food for the mice to eat. This represents a potentially brand new rule that may explain variations in animal sizes on different faces of the same mountain.&nbsp;



“There are a bunch of ecogeographic rules that scientists use to explain trends that we see again and again in nature,” said Noé de la Sancha, a research associate at Chicago’s <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a>, an assistant professor of Environmental Science and Studies at DePaul University, and the paper’s corresponding author. “With this paper, I think we might have found a new one: the rain shadow effect can cause changes of size and shape in mammals.”



Initially, the researchers used statistical analyses to compare the measurements of 450 A. hirta skulls from museum collections, in order to identify a pattern in body size. They then tried to explain the variations using different biological rules. Bergmann’s rule, which states that larger individuals are found in colder environments, didn’t fit the data; there wasn’t a strong correlation between mouse size and how far north or south the specimen lived. Other rules that emphasize the importance of temperature, precipitation or latitude didn’t help explain the variation in the data either.&nbsp;



The team applied 19 other, different biological rules that emphasize the roles of different bioclimatic factors, but none of them explained the observed data pattern. Until the researchers considered the effect of longitude, that is. It appeared that the variation in body size fitted an east-west pattern, with mice on the western slopes of the Andes being significantly bigger than those inhabiting the eastern slopes.&nbsp;



De la Sancha and his colleagues realized this might be related to what biologists call the resource rule. “This rule suggests that where there are more resources, individuals from the same species tend to be larger than where there are fewer resources. For instance, some deer mice that are found in deserts and other habitats tend to be smaller in drier portions of their habitats. Another hypothesis suggests that some animals tend to be smaller in mountains versus adjacent plains in North America. Our study found a mixed result of these rules.”



The sizes of mice seemed to be following the resource rule, but the question still remained: why were there more resources on the western slopes of the southern Andes than on the eastern slopes? De la Sancha had a “Eureka!” moment while teaching a class of undergraduates at Chicago State University.



“Believe it or not, when I was teaching ecology, one of the things that I was teaching about was the rain shadow effect,” said de la Sancha. In the middle of his lecture, de la Sancha realized that the rain shadow could explain why there was more food on the western side of the Andes, and thus, why the mice there were bigger. “That same day, I went home and wrote to Pablo. I was like, ‘Dude, we need to talk about the rain shadow.’”



A rain shadow is an area of significantly drier land on the side of a mountain range that faces away from the prevailing wind. In the case of the Andes, air over the ocean gathers water vapor that rises and is carried onshore by the prevailing westerly wind. As the altitude increases, the air becomes colder and the water vapor condenses and forms rain. Rain therefore precipitates readily on the west-facing slopes of the mountains. However, the wind that continues to travel inland over the high peaks and onto the east-facing slopes will have lost all its moisture by the time it gets over the mountains. As a consequence, the eastern slopes fall within a rain shadow area and will be significantly drier.&nbsp;



“Essentially, one side of the mountain will be humid and rainy, and the other will have cold, dry air. On some mountains, the difference is extreme. One face can be a tropical rainforest, and the other side will be almost desert-like,” said de la Sancha. “There is a rain shadow effect in most mountains on the planet, we see this phenomenon all over the world.”



The rain shadow indeed neatly matched up with the rodents’ body sizes – the first time, to de la Sancha’s knowledge, that anyone has demonstrated the effects of the rain shadow on mammal size. And while so far it’s only been shown for one species of mouse, de la Sancha suspects that he and his colleagues have hit on a larger truth which may perhaps even form the basis of a new biological rule.&nbsp;



“It’s exciting, because it could potentially be something that's more universal. We think it may be more of a rule than an anomaly,” said de la Sancha. “It’d be worthwhile to test it on lots of different taxa.”



The shaggy soft-haired mice may have guided the researchers to propose their new hypothesis, but they and many of their fellow mammals, may be in for a rough time ahead. “The scary part is that we show that, at least to some extent,&nbsp;climate patterns are important to determine the mice’s morphology – their shape and size – either directly or indirectly through the resources they can find,” said de la Sancha.&nbsp;



“With climate change, we know we’re going to see dramatic changes in temperature throughout the year, and changes in precipitation. While they might not be the most important variables affecting the mice’s well-being, they are important in determining available food sources."&nbsp;



If the weather patterns change and affect the plants that grow in the region, the mice might no longer be able to thrive as they once did. Plus, de la Sancha notes, animals are already moving up mountains to escape the effects of climate change. “At a certain point, you run out of mountain. There’s nowhere else to go. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but it doesn’t seem good.”



The unclear future of these mice in the face of climate change, according to de la Sancha, is a good reason to study animals like mice that often go unnoticed. “It’s important to understand how little we know about most small mammals. They can be good indicators of long-term changes in our environment. We need to study them more. Our findings also show why museum collections are so important. This study was based on museum collections from Argentina, Chile, and the US; it’s an amalgamation of years and years of collecting and big data sets.”



“This paper would not have been possible without museum collections and highlights the importance of museum- and collection-based research and its support worldwide,” said Teta. “This type of research helps us better understand the big-picture; universal rules of how life on Earth works.”



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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

Are animals bigger on the rainy side of the mountain?

The natural world is full of complex phenomena that are...

Rising demands for renewable energy and electric vehicles are currently sparking a high demand for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-recover-energy-from-discarded-batteries/">batteries</a> which store generated energy and power engines. However, until now, the batteries behind these sustainable solutions are not sustainable themselves. To solve this problem, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a> has created a zinc battery with a biodegradable electrolyte from a surprising source: crab shells.



“Vast quantities of batteries are being produced and consumed, raising the possibility of environmental problems,” said study lead author Liangbing Hu, an expert in Materials Innovation at the University of Maryland. “For example, polypropylene and polycarbonate separators, which are widely used in Lithium-ion batteries, take hundreds or thousands of years to degrade and add to environmental burden.”



Batteries use electrolytes to shuttle ions back and forth between electrically charged terminals. These electrolytes can be liquids, pastes, or gels, and many current batteries use highly flammable or corrosive substances for this function. However, the new battery – which can store power from large-scale solar and wind sources – uses a gel electrolyte made from a biodegradable material called chitosan.



“Chitosan is a derivative product of chitin. Chitin has a lot of sources, including the cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of crustaceans, and squid pens,” Dr. Hu explained. “The most abundant source of chitosan is the exoskeletons of crustaceans, including crabs, shrimps, and lobsters, which can be easily obtained from seafood waste. You can find it on your table.”&nbsp;



Since it contains biodegradable electrolytes, two thirds of this battery could be broken down by microbes. Under the action of these microorganisms, the chitosan electrolyte itself can vanish completely in about five months, leaving behind the metal component – zinc, rather than lead or lithium, as in the case of older batteries – which could then be recycled. “Zinc is more abundant in Earth’s crust than lithium. Generally speaking, well-developed zinc batteries are cheaper and safer,” said Dr. Hu.



Next, the scientists aim to make even more environmentally-friendly batteries. “In the future, I hope all components in batteries are biodegradable. Not only the material itself but also the fabrication process of biomaterials,” Dr. Hu concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2022.07.015">Matter</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;

Scientists create sustainable batteries from crab shells

Rising demands for renewable energy and electric vehicles are currently...

Much of the world’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unchecked-emissions-could-kill-90-percent-of-marine-species/">emissions</a> rely on the critical success of the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">2015 Paris Agreement</a>. A new study is the first to assess how effective governments will be at implementing their commitments.



The findings reveal that countries with the boldest pledges are also the most likely to achieve their goals. For example, Europe has both the strongest commitments that are also the most credible. While findings suggest the U.S., with a less ambitious commitment, is not expected to meet its goal.



The study from the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego</a> School of Global Policy and Strategy surveyed registrants of the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process/bodies/supreme-bodies/conference-of-the-parties-cop">Conference of Parties (COP)</a>, consisting of more than 800 diplomatic and scientific experts who have participated in climate policy debates. This expert group includes those who are “in the room” when key policy decisions are made and can evaluate what will likely be achieved.&nbsp;



The participants rated member nation's "ambition" -&nbsp; how much each country has pledged to do in comparison to what they possibly could do to avert a climate crisis. The experts were also asked to evaluate which nations have pledges that are credible.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The pledges outlined in the accords are legally non-binding, thus the success of the agreement centers around confidence in the system that when governments make promises, they are going to live up those promises,” said study lead author David Victor, professor of industrial innovation at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy.



“Our results indicate that the framework of the agreement is working pretty well. The Paris Agreement is getting countries to make ambitious pledges; last year nearly all countries updated those pledges and made them even more ambitious. What’s needed next is better systems for checking to see whether countries are actually delivering what they promise.”



Overall, Europe’s goals were rated as the most ambitious and credible, followed by China, Australia, South Africa and India. The U.S. and Brazil come in last place in the credibility category and second to last, after Saudi Arabia, in terms of ambition.



Experts from North American countries were the most pessimistic about their pledges - both in their drive and ability to achieve climate goals in the agreement.



“The benefit of this data set is that diplomatic and scientific experts have the best working knowledge about political and administrative realities of their home country,” Victor said. “It is difficult to get empirical information on national laws and regulations and climate change policy in particular is highly complex. To truly gauge the success of the Paris Agreement, you need to incorporate the judgement, intuition and expertise from those with real-world experience negotiating these policies.”



"From all the responses, it’s clear the U.S. is clearly in trouble - even with the recent Inflation Reduction Act being signed into law, which happened after our study ended. While the legislation is a big step in the right direction, it doesn’t deliver the same investment many other counties have already committed. I think the major questions our study raises are ‘how does the U.S. boost its credibility’ and ‘why is credibility a problem.’”



The researchers also found that nations with stable governments are more likely to have bold pledges that are highly credible.&nbsp;&nbsp;



China and other non-democracies are expected to comply with their pledges because they have administrative and political systems that make it easier to implement complex national policies to align with international commitments. China is also on track to achieve its goals due to the country’s economic downturn.



The rationale behind why countries have honored their pledges varies. Wealthy countries are driven to address climate change, while developing countries that are most vulnerable are driven by the immediate need to address pollution and grow their economies through climate action.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01454-x">Nature Climate Change</a>.



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

Paris Agreement: which countries are honoring their pledges?

Much of the world’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions...

An international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> has recently named eight new species of day gecko in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanilla-cultivation-can-boost-biodiversity-in-madagascar/">Madagascar</a>. According to the study authors, all of the geckos are less than three inches in length - no longer than a pointer finger.&nbsp;



Over the last several decades, the researchers had studied the small geckos from the subgenus Domerguella and thought five separate species existed. However, DNA analysis has revealed there might be as many as 17 new species.&nbsp;



Madagascar is well known for its species diversity and endemism; over 150 new reptile species have been described in the last 30 years. Nevertheless, the researchers were surprised at the number of different species they had been studying without realizing it.&nbsp;



"These results highlight how important it is that we continue to collect samples across Madagascar, even of species we think we understand. There is still very much more to discover," said Dr. Frank Glaw, Curator of Herpetology at the Zoologische Staatssammlung München in Munich, Germany.



Many of the recently described species in Madagascar have been small. Dr. Mark D. Scherz, the last author of the study, explained that smaller animals have more restricted movement.&nbsp;



"Domerguella are tiny, at just five to seven centimetres (or roughly two inches) from the nose to the tip of the tail. We think that their small size may play a role in the way they speciate. Because small animals are generally less able to move from one area to another, and are more likely to get isolated by barriers like rivers cropping up between populations. This could explain why we have seen these kinds of patterns in the tiny frogs, chameleons, and now also geckos that we have been studying in Madagascar," said Dr. Scherz.



Unfortunately, like many species found in Madagascar, these tiny lizards are threatened with extinction. Dr. Fanomezana Ratsoavina, manager of the Unit for Zoology and Animal Biodiversity at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, elaborated on the status of the newly discovered geckos.&nbsp;



"The five species we knew before were mostly thought to be unthreatened, but the eight new species are all either probably endangered or critically endangered. This shows how important it is to continue to work to discover, describe, and assess the conservation status of the wildlife of Madagascar."



The paper is published in the journal <a href="https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/">Zootaxa</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

Eight new species of gecko discovered in Madagascar

An international team of researchers led by the University of...

A new study published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16368">Global Change Biology</a> has found that, without immediate and strong actions to mitigate climate change, global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/value-freshwater-fish/">fish</a> supplies will not be able to be recover to sustainable levels. By projecting the impact that various global temperature rises and ranges of fishing activities would have on biomass (the amount of fish by weight in a specific area) from 1950 to 2100, the experts discovered that climate change has reduced fish stocks in 103 out of the 226 marine regions studied, and that these stocks will struggle to recover under most projected global warming levels over the 21st century.



“More conservation-oriented fisheries management is essential to rebuild over-exploited fish stocks under climate change. However, that alone is not enough,” said study lead author William Cheung, an expert in marine ecosystems at the <a href="https://www.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a> (UBC). “Climate mitigation is important for our fish stock rebuilding plans to be effective.”



By using computer models to identify the climate change levels at which over-exploited fish stocks cannot rebuild, the scientists found that, if global temperatures exceed 1.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, fish stocks will not be able to rebuild themselves. In a worst-case scenario (above 4.5 degrees warming), if people all over the world fished only three quarters of the annual sustainable catch, fish stock will still be unable to rebuild.



“Tropical ecoregions in Asia, the Pacific, South America and Africa are experiencing declining fish populations as species both move further north to cooler waters and are also unable to recover due to fishing demands,” Dr. Cheung said “These regions are the ones that feel the effects of global warming first and our study shows that even a slight increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius could have a catastrophic effect on tropical nations that are dependent on fisheries for food and nutrition security, revenue, and employment.”&nbsp;



In a scenario in which nothing is done to mitigate global warming and overfishing beyond sustainable targets occurs, global fish stocks are estimated to drop to 36 percent of the current levels. Sadly, due to climate change, the world is unlikely to ever return to historical levels of fish stocks.



“We are at a turning point. What we need is a coordinated global effort to develop practical and equitable marine conservation measures to support effective biomass rebuilding under climate change. These need to recognize the ways that marine biodiversity contributes to livelihood and economies, particularly in tropical marine ecoregions, as well as requiring more stringent limits on fishing activities to achieve greater biomass rebuilding potential,” Dr. Cheng 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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Without strong action, global fish stocks could collapse

A new study published in the journal Global Change Biology...

A team of researchers from <a href="https://www.gwu.edu/">George Washington University</a> (GW) has recently investigated how the human brain processes objects in its visual system, and found that object <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bats-have-superior-acoustic-perception-but-still-fly-into-walls/">perception</a> strongly depends on people’s prior knowledge and experience of the specific objects. These findings could have important implications in a variety of applied settings, including medical displays, cognitive assistants, and product and environmental design.



“Since the way we perceive objects determines how we interact with them, it is important to visually process them quickly and with high detail,” explained study senior author&nbsp;Sarah Shomstein, a professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at GW. “However, the way our eyes perceive and process an object can be different depending on what we know about this object. Our study shows, for the first time, that if we recognize an object as a tool, we perceive it faster but with less detail. If we recognize an object as a non-tool, we perceive it slower but with higher detail.”



The scientists showed participants images of objects which can be easily manipulated by hand, such as coffee mugs, screwdrivers, or snow shovels, as well as of objects that are rarely manipulated by hand, like a potted plant, a fire hydrant, or a picture frame. For half of the experiment a small gap could be cut out at the bottom of each object, while for the other half, the object would flicker on the computer screen. The participants were asked to report the presence of the gap or flicker, in order for the researchers to assess the speed and detail of object processing, and to identify the brain regions responsible for object perception.



The results revealed that objects usually manipulated by hand are perceived faster than non-manipulable objects, making it easier for participants to notice the flicker, while objects that are usually not manipulated by hand are perceived with greater detail, making it easier to spot the small gaps in them.



“The differences in perception between ‘mugs’ and ‘plants’ in both speed and detail of perception means that these objects are sorted by the visual system for processing in different brain regions,” said study lead author Dick Dubbelde, a recent doctoral graduate at GW. “In other words, your knowledge of the object’s purpose actually determines where in the brain object processing will occur and how well you will perceive it.”



Moreover, if researchers interfered with object recognition by making it harder to realize if the object is manipulable or not – for instance, by turning it upside-down – the differences in the speed and detail of perception vanish.



These findings – published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976221097497">Psychological Science</a> - could explain individual differences in object perception, by showing that previous knowledge and experience structures perception.&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;

Past experiences can literally change how we see things

A team of researchers from George Washington University (GW) has...

According to a new study presented at the <a href="https://www.ersnet.org/congress-and-events/congress/">European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress</a> in Barcelona, Spain, the impact of breathing diesel <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/car-exhaust-erectile-dysfunction/">exhaust</a> fumes may be more severe for females than males. By measuring changes in people’s blood caused by exposure to diesel exhaust, the scientists found more modifications of blood components related to inflammation, infection, and cardiovascular diseases in females than in males.



“We already know that there are sex differences in lung diseases such as asthma and respiratory infections,” said study lead author Hemshekhar Mahadevappa, an expert in chronic inflammatory diseases at the <a href="https://umanitoba.ca/">University of Manitoba</a> in Canada. “Our previous research showed that breathing diesel exhaust creates inflammation in the lungs and has an impact on how the body deals with respiratory infections. In this study, we wanted to look for any effects in the blood and how these differ in females and males.”



The researchers enrolled ten healthy, non-smoker participants – five women and five men – and exposed them for four hours to filtered air, and for other four hours to air containing diesel exhaust fumes at different concentrations (20, 50, and 150 micrograms of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) per cubic meter), with a month break in between each exposure.



After each exposure, the participants donated blood samples, which were analyzed through a well-known analysis technology called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to detect changes in the levels of different proteins from blood plasma following exposure to diesel exhaust.



The analysis revealed levels of 90 proteins which were clearly different between the female and male volunteers following exposure to diesel exhaust. Some of these proteins are known to play a critical role in inflammation, damage repair, blood clotting, cardiovascular disease, and immunity.



“These are preliminary findings, however they show that exposure to diesel exhaust has different effects in female bodies compared to male and that could indicate that air pollution is more dangerous for females than males,” said study senior author Neeloffer Mookherjee, an associate professor of Internal Medicine and Immunology at the University of Manitoba.



“This is important as respiratory diseases such as asthma are known to affect females and males differently, with females more likely to suffer severe asthma that does not respond to treatments. Therefore, we need to know a lot more about how females and males respond to air pollution and what this means for preventing, diagnosing, and treating their respiratory disease.”



Further research is needed to clarify the function of these proteins in order to better understand their role in the differences between male and female bodily responses to air pollution.



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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;

Air pollution is more dangerous to females

According to a new study presented at the European Respiratory...

Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that have come under threat in recent decades as a consequence of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/past-variability-may-help-forests-cope-with-climate-change/">climate change</a>. This has fueled a surge in research on the basic biology of corals with a view to restoring reefs that have been damaged by ocean heating and acidification. Reef restoration depends on the successful recruitment of juvenile corals and this is difficult to quantify using current 3D modeling techniques because the juveniles are so very small and cryptic.&nbsp;



This problem has led marine biologist Dr. Kate Quigley to develop a new method for monitoring coral size and growth that relies on the use of dental scanning equipment. Digital 3D scanning is commonly used in dentistry and implant manufacturing because measurements need to be accurate right down to the μm scale in order to produce highly accurate molds. Intraoral dental scanners are also safe to use on live tissue, whereas previous 3D modeling methods often involved destroying the corals in order to measure them.&nbsp;



Dr. Quigley, a senior research scientist at the Minderoo Foundation, has published details of the new method in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.13959">Methods in Ecology and Evolution</a>. She was inspired to develop the new scanning method by a visit to her dentist.&nbsp;



During her visit, Dr. Quigley remarked on the similarities between coral and human teeth – both being calcium-based and requiring measuring tools that can withstand wet surfaces. “One day, I was at the dentist, and they rolled out this new scanning machine. I knew immediately that it was something that could apply to scanning very small corals given that corals and teeth actually share many similar properties. The rest is history!”



Although the older technologies involved in 3D modeling of coral reefs have seen substantial improvement and development in the recent past, they are really only applicable to objects in the size range of meters to centimeters. They lack capability in the millimeter and micron (μm) size range, which is what is necessary when measuring the early life stages of corals. Understanding the critical life stage of juvenile coral allows scientists to predict ecosystem changes, the impacts of disturbance and the potential for reefs to recover.



“At the moment, it is difficult to accurately measure very small objects in 3D, especially if you are interested in measuring small live animals, like coral, without hurting them. During my PhD it would take half a day to produce one scan, and I was interested in scanning hundreds of corals at a time," said Dr. Quigley.



To assess the effectiveness of these dental scanners, namely the ITero Element 5D Flex, Dr. Quigley measured juvenile corals from different species and size classes. The corals were originally collected from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and included species with complex branching morphology, as well as those with simple branching and those that have a flatter, encrusting life form. The trial was conducted at the National Sea Simulator at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, where the corals were temporarily removed from their indoor aquarium to have their surface areas and volumes scanned.&nbsp;



On average it took less than three minutes to scan and build a model of each individual coral compared to over four hours with previous methods – a 99 percent decrease in the time required to carry out such measurements. Dr. Quigley recorded equally fast and precise performances when measuring and comparing models of dead skeletons and living coral tissue, thus removing the need to sacrifice live animals in order to take measurements.



“For the first time, this new method will allow scientists to measure thousands of tiny corals fast, accurately and without any negative health impacts on the coral. This has the potential to expand large-scale monitoring of ocean health and for up-scaling coral reef restoration.”



While this is a huge improvement in terms of cutting down the time involved to monitor these small marine animals, the technology can only be used to make measurements out of the water. The scanning instrument is not waterproof and it relies on the use of lasers. In addition, the 3D scans still need to be processed manually, which is a slow process. Dr. Quigley hopes to create an automatic analysis pipeline from scanning to measurement in future, potentially using AI.



“Potentially the scanner could be made completely waterproof. However, it is unclear how well the laser technology would work completely submerged underwater. We have taken this technology on the boat before and brought up wild and laboratory-reared corals for measurement, so we are getting there!”



“The pairing of both rapid data acquisition and processing in this way has the potential to significantly improve our understanding of coral biology for pressing questions around conservation in this important biological system.”



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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

Dental scanning equipment helps monitor young corals

Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that have come under...

Blue light is emitted by computer and laptop screens, by fluorescent lights, flat-screen televisions, cell phones and tablets. It is also a component of natural light that emanates from the Sun, but our exposure to it has increased drastically due to our widespread use of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/digital-devices-can-actually-improve-our-memory-skills/">devices</a> that employ LED technologies. In fact, many humans today are exposed to blue light throughout most of the waking day. Blue light (BL) waves are only marginally less energetic than UV radiation and so it is natural to wonder whether exposure to BL is dangerous for our eyes and our bodies in general.&nbsp;



There is already accumulating evidence that BL exposure causes damage to retinal cells in vitro and in vivo. Previous experiments using live mice and fruit flies have shown that retinal cells are damaged by blue light, and that lifespan is shortened, but the effects of this form of radiation on cells other than those in the retina have not been investigated before. In addition, the cellular mechanisms underlying these effects are currently unknown.&nbsp;&nbsp;



A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fragi.2022.983373/full">Frontiers in Aging</a> reports on the effects of BL exposure in fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, and also investigates whether blue light has a greater impact on individuals as they age. The researchers also conducted analyses of fly brains and respiratory pathways to understand the ways in which flies were affected by exposure to blue light.&nbsp;



“Excessive exposure to blue light from everyday devices, such as TVs, laptops, and phones, may have detrimental effects on a wide range of cells in our body, from skin and fat cells, to sensory neurons,” said Dr. Jadwiga Giebultowicz, a professor at the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University and senior author of this study. “We are the first to show that the levels of specific metabolites – chemicals that are essential for cells to function correctly – are altered in fruit flies exposed to blue light.”



The researchers first measured the survival rate of flies that were raised and kept in constant darkness, and then transferred to constant BL conditions at different ages across the lifespan. The results showed that the older the flies were when exposed to blue light, the lower their survival rate was, when compared with flies of the same age that remained in constant darkness.&nbsp;



Furthermore, when flies were exposed to a temporary (10 day) session of BL at young or middle age, their subsequent survival once returned to constant darkness was significantly reduced and the middle-aged flies were affected more severely than the young flies. This indicates that the phototoxic effects of blue light persist, even after this stressor is removed, and that the severity of the effects depends on the age at which BL exposure occurred.



Throughout the experiments, the researchers used fruit flies that were genetically modified to produce no compound eyes. This enabled them to prove that the effects on fly lifespan were independent of any impacts that the BL may have had on their retinal cells.&nbsp;



In order to understand what was happening to the fruit flies that died prematurely, the researchers investigated the brains and respiratory function of older flies. Their results showed that the brains of flies exposed to BL as older individuals were characterized by many small patches where tissue had died – the control flies kept in darkness did not show anywhere near this extent of neurodegeneration. Furthermore, brain deterioration was worse in flies if they were exposed to BL as older adults than it was if exposure occurred during the young life of a fly. This finding shows that BL is an environmental stressor that impacts organisms more severely with advancing age.



To investigate the causes of age-related light sensitivity, the researchers focused on mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are the tiny structures within cells where oxygen is used to produce energy from substrates such as glucose. They compared oxygen consumption in mitochondria obtained from the cells of young and old flies that were exposed to BL, with oxygen consumption in the mitochondria of control flies that were kept in the dark. The results showed that mitochondrial activity and the production of energy was impaired in flies (both young and old) that were exposed to BL.



The experts also compared the levels of metabolites in the mitochondria of head cells in flies. “To understand why high-energy blue light is responsible for accelerating aging in fruit flies, we compared the levels of metabolites in flies exposed to blue light for two weeks to those kept in complete darkness,” explained Giebultowicz. The researchers found significant differences in the levels of various metabolites; in particular, they found that the levels of succinate were increased, but glutamate levels were lowered.



“Succinate is essential for producing the fuel for the function and growth of each cell. High levels of succinate after exposure to blue light can be compared to gas being in the pump but not getting into the car,” said Giebultowicz. “Another troubling discovery was that molecules responsible for communication between neurons, such as glutamate, are at the lower level after blue light exposure.”



The changes recorded by the researchers suggest that exposure to BL is associated with suboptimal performance of cells and that this may be the cause of cell death and the acceleration of the aging process in flies.&nbsp;



“LEDs have become the main illumination in display screens such as phones, desktops and TVs, as well as ambient lighting, so humans in advanced societies are exposed to blue light through LED lighting during most of their waking hours. The signaling chemicals in the cells of flies and humans are the same, so the there is potential for negative effects of blue light on humans,” explained Giebultowicz.



“We used a fairly strong blue light on the flies – humans are exposed to less intense light, so cellular damage may be less dramatic. The results from this study suggest that future research involving human cells is needed to establish the extent to which human cells may show similar changes in metabolites involved in energy production in response to excessive exposure to blue light."



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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

Blue light exposure may cause premature aging

Blue light is emitted by computer and laptop screens, by...

Over and under highway <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/losing-wildlife-will-be-very-costly-for-some-countries/">wildlife</a> crossings are designed to help animals move safely across roadways. It's an attempt to maintain animal movement and genetic connectivity. However, we are now learning about another benefit of these crossings.&nbsp;



A recent study published in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03611981221108158">Transportation Research Record</a> found that wildlife crossings in Washington state save approximately $235,000 to $443,000 every year per structure. The state has 22 wildlife bridges and underpasses.&nbsp;



The researchers found that every year, there are one to three fewer wildlife collisions per mile in a 10-mile radius around each wildlife crossing.



"Wildlife crossing structures not only benefit the ecosystem but may also improve road safety," said study author Wisnu Sugiarto, an economics doctoral student at <a href="https://wsu.edu/">Washington State University</a>.



Evidence suggests that other states,&nbsp; including North Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming, also experience fewer wildlife collisions due to wildlife crossing structures.



Sugiarto analyzed accident data from the Washington State Department of Transportation from 2011 to 2020 and information associated with 13 bridges and underpasses in the state. The study compared collisions before and after the crossings were built. He also analyzed another area in the state that never had crossings for a control.&nbsp;



The most common crossings are wide bridges and underpasses, with the bridges being much more expensive. Although bridges may be more expensive, they may also be more effective. Sugiarto found that bridges led to a more significant reduction in wildlife collisions because deer, the animal most likely to be involved in a crash, prefer bridges to underpasses.&nbsp;



Many wildlife collisions occur due to simple misfortune. The drivers often drive safely but happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.&nbsp;



"We often talk about things that we can and cannot control," said Sugiarto. "From a driver point of view, they may choose to drive safely, but still, unfortunately, there are animals that cross the road, and they end up hitting them. This shows there's something we can do about these collisions."



The good news is that we may begin to see more of these bridges across the country in the future, thanks to the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which allocates $350 million to a Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program.&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

Wildlife crossings save lives and money in Washington state

Over and under highway wildlife crossings are designed to help...

An international team of paleontologists led by <a href="https://vt.edu/">Virginia Tech</a> has recently discovered, named, and described a new sauropodomorph – a long-necked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-impact-crater-dates-back-to-the-end-of-the-dinosaurs/">dinosaur</a> – which is, thus far, the oldest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Africa. The almost intact skeleton of Mbiresaurus raathi&nbsp;was found in northern Zimbabwe over the course of two digging operations, in 2017 and 2019. The creature is estimated to have been six feet long and to weigh between 20 and 65 pounds.



“The discovery of&nbsp;Mbiresaurus raathi&nbsp;fills in a critical geographic gap in the fossil record of the oldest dinosaurs and shows the power of hypothesis-driven fieldwork for testing predictions about the ancient past,” said study lead author Christopher Griffin, a former PhD student in Geology at Virginia Tech.



“These are Africa’s oldest-known definitive dinosaurs, roughly equivalent in age to the oldest dinosaurs found anywhere in the world. The oldest known dinosaurs — from roughly 230 million years ago, the Carnian Stage of the Late Triassic period — are extremely rare and have been recovered from only a few places worldwide, mainly northern Argentina, southern Brazil, and India.”



“Early dinosaurs like&nbsp;Mbiresaurus raathi&nbsp;show that the early evolution of dinosaurs is still being written with each new find and the rise of dinosaurs was far more complicated than previously predicted,” added study co-author Sterling Nesbitt, an associate professor of Geosciences at Virginia Tech.



The discovery of M. raathi – alongside a larger assortment of Carnian-aged fossils – sheds new light on dinosaur migration. Like all continents, Africa was once part of the supercontinent called Pangea, characterized by a climate divided into strong humid and arid latitudinal belts, with more temperate belts spanning higher attitudes and vast deserts extending across the lower tropics.



“Because dinosaurs initially dispersed under this climatic pattern, the early dispersal of dinosaurs should therefore have been controlled by latitude,” Dr. Griffin explained. “The oldest dinosaurs are known from roughly the same ancient latitudes along the southern temperate climate belt what was at the time, approximately 50 degrees south.” Zimbabwe – where M. raathi was discovered – falls along this climate belt, bridging a geographical gap between southern Brazil and India during the Late Triassic Age.



At the beginning, these dinosaurs were restricted by climatic belts to southern Pangea, and only later in history dispersed worldwide, during a period of intense worldwide humidity known as the Carnian Pluvial Event. After these migrations, barriers returned, mooring the dinosaurs in distinct provinces across Pangea for the remainder of the Triassic Period. Further research is needed to clarify the behavioral and migration patterns of M. raathi, as well as the role it played among the early dinosaurs.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05133-x">Nature</a>.



Image Credit: Virginia Tech



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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;

Africa’s oldest known dinosaur recently discovered

An international team of paleontologists led by Virginia Tech has...

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



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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.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



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Designing crops that can beat the heat

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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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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How does salt makes things taste better?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" 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 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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" 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 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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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