Most people have heard that black holes slowly lose mass through cosmic decay, radiating tiny amounts of energy. This idea has circulated for decades and suggests that nothing is truly permanent.



Experts now propose that other extremely dense <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/magnetar-flares-create-gold-platinum-uranium-in-seconds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">objects</a> might follow a related path. Their findings reveal a shorter timeline for everything, though not short on any human timescale.



Heino Falcke, a black hole researcher at <a href="https://www.ru.nl/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Radboud University</a>, stands at the forefront of this investigation. He collaborated with quantum physicist Michael Wondrak and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom to figure out how quickly these processes might happen.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-view-on-cosmic-decay">New view on cosmic decay</h2>



Scientists have long known about ideas related to black hole evaporation through a process first outlined by <a href="https://projecteuclid.org/journals/communications-in-mathematical-physics/volume-43/issue-3/Particle-creation-by-black-holes/cmp/1103899181.full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stephen Hawking</a>. The classic picture involves a black hole shedding mass over an incredibly long interval, eventually leaving no trace. 



Recent <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.14734" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> suggests that dense objects like neutron stars and white dwarfs might follow similar decay patterns, though at a snail’s pace.



Researchers wondered how these timelines compare to old predictions. They took the mathematics behind black hole evaporation and applied it to other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-space-cosmic-rays-from-supernova-sparked-rapid-earth-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">celestial bodies</a>. The ultimate result? Those bodies still vanish, just more rapidly than many figured before.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-faster-fade-for-dense-objects">Faster fade for dense objects</h2>



“So the ultimate end of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/monster-in-the-shadows-giant-black-hole-emerges-from-cosmic-dust/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">universe</a> comes much sooner than expected, but fortunately it still takes a very long time,” said Heino Falcke. 



That statement might sound contradictory at first, but it sums up the team’s surprising takeaway. Ultimately, for everyday life, these timescales are beyond huge.



There is even a calculation for the disappearance of the Moon. The process would drag on for around 10^90 years. The details rest on <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/physics/research/gravitational-physics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gravitational physics</a> equations and the idea that curving spacetime might gradually convert mass into particles that eventually slip away.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-neutron-stars-and-white-dwarfs-reveal">What neutron stars and white dwarfs reveal</h2>



Neutron stars have densities so immense that a teaspoon of their material on Earth would outweigh a mountain. Given their density, cosmic decay could affect these stellar remnants, causing them to evaporate too.



The group uncovered that neutron stars might take about the same time to fade as <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/universe/black-holes/types/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stellar black holes</a> in the same mass range.



These results highlight a fresh perspective on gravitational physics. They show that events at a star’s surface could mirror those at the fringes of a black hole’s boundary, with subtle differences in how each body might reabsorb part of its own radiation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-denser-objects-lose-mass-faster">Why denser objects lose mass faster</h2>



Dense <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blazar-cosmic-objects-defy-classification-can-rapidly-change-its-identity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">objects</a> lose mass through minute particle streams. More density means an object’s gravitational pull is stronger, which changes how energy flows away. 



Draining that stored energy requires creative math, plus insights from quantum mechanics and general relativity.



A white dwarf, much less dense than a neutron star, might hold out for around 1078 years. That timeline sounds wildly big, yet it is significantly shorter than earlier guesses in the range of 101100 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cosmic-decay-physics-and-math">Cosmic decay: Physics and math</h2>



“By asking these kinds of questions and looking at extreme cases, we want to better understand the theory, and perhaps one day, we unravel the mystery of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/black-hole-radiation-may-actually-be-a-catalyst-for-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hawking radiation</a>,” said Walter van Suijlekom, professor of mathematics at Radboud University.



That blend of math, astrophysics, and quantum ideas drives this line of work.



Probing new models can spur lively debates. Some wonder if there are hidden factors that might stretch these rates. 



Others note that experimental tests in labs are tricky at best because these processes are far too slow to detect directly.



Any attempt to grasp cosmic timescales boggles the mind. Changes in star systems usually unfold in billions of years. 



These calculations push things far beyond that, highlighting a universe that still has an expiration, even if it is unimaginably distant.



Better knowledge of exotic decay can guide how we interpret ancient remnants. If these estimates hold, the universe’s inventory of black holes, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/when-two-neutron-stars-collide-kilonova-explosion-very-bad-things-happen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neutron stars</a>, and other dense bodies eventually runs out far earlier than some old predictions claimed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-revising-cosmic-timelines">Revising cosmic timelines</h2>



Revising cosmic timelines does not upend everyday astronomy, since these events are so far off. Yet it refines how scientists tally the lifetime of matter. 



Anyone who assumes that a star corpse lasts forever might have to rethink that stance now.



It also raises a question about the deep structure of spacetime. If space itself nudges these bodies toward decay, the nature of gravity might be more flexible than once supposed. 



Each object’s density appears to determine how quickly it joins the dust bin of cosmic history.



The study is published in the <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.14734" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics</a>.



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Cosmic decay: The universe will end sooner than we thought

Most people have heard that black holes slowly lose mass through cosmic decay, radiating tiny amounts of energy. This idea has circulated for decades and suggests that nothing is truly permanent. Experts now propose that other extremely dense objects might follow a related path. Their findings reveal a shorter timeline for everything, though not short on any human timescale. Heino Falcke, a black hole researcher at Radboud University, stands at the forefront of this investigation. He collaborated with quantum physicist Michael Wondrak and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-may-be-more-similar-to-humans-than-expected/">Chimpanzees</a> are known to interact with dead members of their species, often revisiting corpses, and even showing signs of mourning-like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-uncovers-4000-years-of-foraging-behavior-among-albatrosses/">behaviors</a>. But do they show recognition and preference when it comes to skeletons belonging to their conspecifics? 



A new study led by <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en">Kyoto University</a> has answered affirmatively, by arguing that chimpanzee skulls possess face-like cues, general contours, and eye-nose-teeth arrangements that likely activate a network of brain areas that originally evolved to detect and process faces. In other words, chimpanzees seem to know when a skull is chimpanzee-like due to their brains’ inherent capacity to detect faces (a phenomenon called “pareidolia”).



Previous research has found that African elephants also show more interest in elephant skulls and tusks than in any other stimuli. However, since elephant skulls lose many important facial traits such as their ears or trunks, the recognition mechanisms might be different than in the case of chimpanzees, most probably relying on the elephants’ past experiences. 



According to study lead author André Gonçalves, a primatologist at Kyoto University, chimpanzee skulls still retain the general facial arrangements, suggesting that pareidolia may indeed be the mechanism behind chimpanzee’s interactions with their dead conspecifics. Pareidolia “explains why we see illusory faces in things like clouds and rocks, and primate skulls are as face-like as anything in nature,” he explained.



To test this hypothesis, Dr. Gonçalves and his colleagues conducted a series of three experiments using an eye-tracker to map where chimpanzees are looking and for how long. The results revealed that not only do the chimpanzees show the most preference for chimpanzee faces, they also have a strong attentional bias towards chimpanzee skulls, looking the longest and most intently at their teeth.



“When a wild chimpanzee finds a skull, it will likely be attentive to it like no other inanimate object in his surroundings as it bears a resemblance to one of its own,” Dr. Gonçalves said. Further research is needed to fully map the brain mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon, and to investigate whether other species of primates exhibit similar behaviors.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.210349">Royal Society Open Science</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&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

Chimpanzees can recognize the skulls of their conspecifics

Chimpanzees are known to interact with dead members of their...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin-Madison</a> has developed detailed maps of bird <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/higher-levels-of-biodiversity-reduce-extinction-risks-in-birds/">biodiversity</a> across the entire United States in order to help conservation managers focus their efforts in areas where they are more likely to help endangered bird populations. 



Since many resources previously available to conservation managers – such as species range maps – are both too broad and not rigorously tested for accuracy, the new maps focus on individual counties or forests rather than on whole states or regions, and are based on both detailed observations of birds and various environmental factors that affect bird ranges, such as forest cover or temperature levels in specific areas.



“With these maps, managers have a tool they didn’t have before that allows them to get both a broad perspective as well as information at the level of detail that’s necessary for their action plans,” said study co-author Anna Pidgeon, a professor of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at UW-Madison.



“Across the world we’re seeing huge species losses. In North America, three billion birds have been lost since 1970. This is across virtually all habitat types,” added study lead author Kathleen Carroll, a postdoctoral researcher in Wildlife Conservation at the same university. “And we’re seeing a disconnect between what scientists produce for conservation and how that translates to boots-on-the-ground management.”



In order to address these problems, Dr. Carroll and her colleagues produced data-driven maps of bird biodiversity by extrapolating observations of birds from scientific surveys to mile-by-mile predictions of where specific species actually live. The predictions were based on factors such as rainfall, forest coverage, or the extent of human influence on the environment, such as the presence of urban areas or farms.



The scientists clustered individual species by habitat, diet, behavior, or conservation status, grouping them in “guilds” such as fruit eaters or forest dwellers.&nbsp;The final maps cover 19 different guilds at resolutions of 0.5, 2.5, and 5 kilometers. According to the researchers, the 2.5 km resolution maps provided the best balance of accuracy and usefulness for realistic conservation needs.&nbsp;



“We see this being really applicable for things like forest management action plans for the U.S. Forest Service,” explained Dr. Carroll. “They can pull up these maps for a group of interest, and they can get a very clear indication of what areas where they might want to limit human use.” In addition, these maps could also help private land conservancies decide where to prioritize their frequently limited resources to maximize biodiversity protection.&nbsp;



The researchers plan to extend their analyses down to individual species instead of guilds made up of different species in order to help conservation managers aiming to protect specific species improve their work.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.2624">Ecological Applications</a> and the full set of maps are available for download from the open-access website <a href="https://datadryad.org/stash/landing/show?id=doi%3A10.5061%2Fdryad.vq83bk3v0">Dryad</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

Maps of bird populations can help protect biodiversity

A new study led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison has...

Tardigrades – colloquially known as water bears or moss piglets – are eight-legged segmented micro-animals that are found everywhere on Earth, from mountaintops to deep <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-acidification-reduces-the-hatching-success-of-a-keystone-fish-species/">oceans</a>, and from tropical rainforests to polar regions. Although they are only about 0.5 millimeters-long when fully grown, they are among the most resilient species of animals, being able to survive extreme conditions, such as high temperatures and pressures, dehydration, or even exposures to massive amounts of radiation.&nbsp;



However, since they are so small, they can only travel very short distances by themselves. This made scientists wonder how it is possible that they populate the entire biosphere, exhibiting a genetic diversity of over 1,400 species. A new study led by the <a href="http://international.amu.edu.pl/">Adam Mickiewicz University</a> in Poland has found that these fascinating creatures can travel long distances by clinging to the bodies of larger, more mobile animals, such as snails.



In a laboratory experiment, the scientists placed a number of tardigrades belonging to the species&nbsp;Milnesium inceptum&nbsp;by themselves in a box. In a second box, they put tardigrades together with a species of snail that can be found in their natural habitats (Cepaea nemoralis), while in a third box they put together tardigrades, snails, and moss – a plant species on which tardigrades often reside in nature.&nbsp;



After three days, the researchers checked how many tardigrades remained in the same location and how many of them moved. They discovered that tardigrades only left their original location in the box with snails but no moss. These findings suggests that they might be picked passively by moving snails, a phenomenon that is less likely if they are embedded in moss.



“This emphasizes the role of the fine-scale dispersion of tiny animals,” said study lead co-author Milena Roszkowska, a doctoral student in Bioenergetics at the Adam Mickiewicz University. “Short-distance transportation of invertebrate animals may have a significant impact on their genetic diversity.”



Sadly, the researchers discovered that some of the tardigrades died from contact with the snails’ mucus. However, since these animals reproduce asexually, only one needs to survive the journey in order to establish a population in a new area. Thus, snail travel could still remain a viable and effective way for tardigrades to populate new habitats.



Further research is needed to clarify whether this type of transport occurs in natural environments too, and, if so, how often. In the future, scientists aim to conduct field studies to explore the patterns of movement of these fascinating organisms in the wild.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-08265-2">Nature Scientific Reports</a>. ---



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

Tardigrades can hitch rides on snails to travel farther

Tardigrades – colloquially known as water bears or moss piglets...

People who share the same <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-may-be-more-similar-to-humans-than-expected/">cultural</a> or geographical background have similar visual experiences while listening to music, according to a new study led by <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>. When listening to instrumental music, study participants in Michigan and Arkansas imagined very similar scenes, while listeners in China visualized completely different stories.&nbsp;



“These results paint a more complex picture of music’s power,” said study lead author Professor Elizabeth Margulis, who is the director of Princeton’s Music Cognition lab. “Music can generate remarkably similar stories in listeners’ minds, but the degree to which these imagined narratives are shared depends on the degree to which culture is shared across listeners.”



The experts recruited more than 600 participants from regions of two continents, including two suburban college towns in Arkansas and Michigan. Some of the participants were from Dimen, a village in rural China where residents have little access to Western media.



Listeners from all three regions were presented with the same instrumental songs: 60-second samples of Western and Chinese music. The participants were asked to describe the stories they envisioned during each music sample.



To quantify the similarities in the listeners' imaginary stories, the researchers used large amounts of natural language data processing.



“Being able to map out these semantic overlaps, using tools from natural language processing, is exciting and very promising for future studies that, like this one, straddle the border between the humanities and the sciences," said Margulis.



The results showed that individuals from similar backgrounds imagined strikingly similar stories. The narratives described by Chinese listeners were very different from those described by Americans.



For Americans, one particular musical piece prompted visions of a sunrise over a forest, with waking animals and chirping birds. During the same song, individuals from Dimen shared a vision of a man blowing a leaf on a mountain, singing a song to his beloved.&nbsp;



“It’s amazing,” said study co-author Benjamin Kubit. “You can take two random people who grew up in a similar environment, have them listen to a song they haven’t heard before, ask them to imagine a narrative, and you’ll find similarities."



"However, if those two people don’t share a culture or geographical location, you won’t see that same kind of similarity in experience. So while we imagine music can bring people together, the opposite can also be true - it can distinguish between sets of people with a different background or culture.”



The music selected for the study had never appeared in a movie or any other setting that would prescribe visuals, explained the researchers. Still yet, within each regional group, hundreds of listeners shared similar visuals.&nbsp;



“It’s stunning to me that some of these visceral, hard-to-articulate, imagined responses we have to music can actually be widely shared,” said Margulis.&nbsp;



“There’s something about that that’s really puzzling and compelling, especially because the way we encounter music in 2022 is often solitary, over headphones. But it turns out, it’s still a shared experience, almost like a shared dream. I find it really surprising and fascinating - with the caveat, of course, that it’s not universally shared, but depends on a common set of cultural experiences.”



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

Music sparks strikingly similar visuals among people of the same culture

People who share the same cultural or geographical background have...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en">Kyoto University</a> has discovered that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-mentally-track-their-owners-whereabouts-based-on-sound/">cats</a> are able to recognize the names of their feline companions, and sometimes also those of their owners. These findings provide evidence for the first time that domestic cats can link a human or feline companion’s name and corresponding face without explicit training.



In a first experiment, the scientists recruited 48 cats (19 living in households and 29 in cafés) and showed them digital photos of a cat they lived it. At the same time, a stranger would call either the true name of the cat in the picture or a completely unrelated one. “Household cats paid attention to the monitor for longer when the wrong name was called, indicating an ‘expectancy violation effect’,” the study authors reported, suggesting that they were confused by the incorrect, unexpected name. This effect was not observed in the café cats.



Afterwards, the researchers performed a similar experiment on other 26 household cats. This time, however, the cats were shown pictures of their owners. Although the strength of the connection between facial cues and names appeared stronger when looking at pictures of fellow felines, the “expectancy violation effect” was often present during mismatches between the pictures and names of their owners too.



Various factors influence the likelihood that cats will remember their owners’ and feline companions’ names, such as the size of the family they live in, and the duration of time they lived there. According to the scientists, the larger the family and the longer the cats lived there, the more likely they are to remember a name.



“Our interpretation is that cats living with more people have more opportunities to hear names being used than cats living with fewer people, and that living with a family for a longer time increases this experience,” explained the authors. 



“In summary, house cats matched at least their companion cats’ names and faces, and possibly their human family members’ names. This is the first evidence that domestic cats link human utterances and their social referents through everyday experiences.”



Further studies are needed to clarify how cats learn the associations between names and faces and what motivates them to do so. 



“One possible explanation has to do with competition,” the authors hypothesized. “For example, a cat might receive food when the owner calls her name but not when she calls another cat’s name. The fact that humans are probably not in competition with cats might explain the weaker association between human names and faces.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10261-5">Scientific Reports</a>.



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

Cats can learn the names of their companions

A new study led by Kyoto University has discovered that...

April’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/longest-full-moon-of-the-year-will-peak-saturday/">full moon</a> – which will be brightest on Saturday, April 16, at 2.55 p.m. ET, but will appear full until Monday morning – is called the Pink Moon. This name is not connected to the moon’s color though, but to the blooming in the Northern Hemisphere of a brightly-colored flower, the wild ground phlox (Phlox subulata, also known as the “creeping phlox” or “moss pink”), which typically coincides with the arrival of this moon.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In the Christian tradition, the Pink Moon is known as the Paschal Full Moon, since Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the moon rises. For Hindus, this moon marks Hanuman Jayanti, the feast of the Hindu monkey deity Lord Hanuman. Buddhists of Sri Lanka call it Bak Poya, and celebrate Buddha’s visit to the country, where he prevented a war by settling the disputes between Sri Lankan chiefs.



According to the <a href="https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-april">Old Farmer’s Almanac</a>, Native American names for April’s full moon were homages to the coming of spring. Thus, the Dakota tribe called it “the moon when the streams are again navigable,” the Tingit dubbed it “the budding moon of plants and shrubs,” and the Oglala “the moon of the red grass appearing.” Other Native American names refer to the reappearance of certain animals, such as “the moon when the ducks come back” (Lakota), “the moon when the geese lay eggs” (Dakota), “the frog moon” (Cree), or the “fish moon” (among several coastal tribes). Various folklore traditions claim that the period from the full moon through the last quarter of the moon is best for killing weeds, cutting timber, pruning, mowing, and planting below-ground crops.



However, in some parts of the world, this moon does not mark the arrival of spring. In New Zealand, for instance, the Māori people's traditions connected to this moon reflect the fact that April is an autumn month in the Southern Hemisphere. The Māori call this moon “Paenga-whāwhā,” describing the period when it rises as a time when “all straw is now stacked at the borders of the plantations.”



Regardless of its various cultural or religious connotations though, April’s full moon will offer a spectacular view to people from both hemispheres. If the skies are not cloudy, people everywhere in the world can enjoy a beautiful astronomical event throughout this entire weekend.



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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

The Pink Moon will light up the sky this weekend

April’s full moon – which will be brightest on Saturday,...

According to a study published in&nbsp; <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environmental-pollution">Environmental Pollution</a>, recent findings have indicated that some tropical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-plants-with-long-roots-may-help-store-carbon-underground/">plants</a> can remove toxic metals and metalloids from the soil.&nbsp;



Although some metals naturally occur in soil, they are usually not at levels harmful to the environment. Metals reach toxic levels in the top layers of soil over time due to air pollution from sources like vehicle emissions and construction activities.&nbsp;



Phytoremediation is the use of plants to rid the soil of toxins. Although phytoremediation requires a long-term commitment, the researchers believe it’s preferable to some alternative technologies, including soil washing and acid leaching. These methods are often more expensive and use harsh chemicals.



Removing the contaminated soil is another option, but the process often leaves behind unhealthy soil with low fertility. Moreover, removing the contaminated soil could expose animals, including humans, to heavy metals.&nbsp;



Researchers from <a href="https://www.ntu.edu.sg/">Nanyang Technological University</a>, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Singapore’s National Parks Board (NParks) wanted to determine whether phytoremediation is viable in Singapore, where remediation is especially important because of the limited availability of land.&nbsp;



Before determining if phytoremediation was an option, researchers had to find out if they had toxic soil in the environment. They used the Dutch Standard, a measure adopted by the Singapore government, to determine the threshold of acceptable contaminant levels.



“Our results revealed there were regions where levels of heavy metals and metalloids were relatively high and could affect the environment and the health of flora and fauna in Singapore," explained study co-author Professor Tan Swee Ngin.&nbsp;



"This would call for preventive actions, such as our method of using plants to remove these toxic materials, to be employed to minimise heavy metal contamination.”



The next step was to see which plants were good phytoremediators. The team studied 46 plant species to determine if they were viable candidates for phytoremediation. They found that 12 species effectively extracted heavy metals and metalloids such as cadmium, arsenic, lead, and chromium from the soil. Effective species included Cow Grass (Axonopus compressus, Brake Fern (Pteris vittata), and the Indian Pennywort (Centella asiatica).



The team is now testing the plants in areas with high concentrations of heavy metals to see how effective they are in an urban setting. Additionally, they are examining the use of inorganic particles to encourage plant growth and improve their ability to absorb contaminants. Using these compounds may speed up the remediation process.



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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

Plants may remove toxic metals from soil

According to a study published in&nbsp; Environmental Pollution, recent findings...

Scientists who study past climate changes cannot go back in time to witness exactly what the conditions were like. Instead, they make use of models to infer past climatic scenarios based on the climatic changes that have been witnessed and recorded within the past couple of centuries.&nbsp;



For climate scientist Alexander Thompson, this approach proved unsatisfactory. Thompson, a postdoctoral research associate in earth and planetary sciences in Arts &amp; Sciences at the Washington University in St. Louis, was troubled by a problem with models of Earth’s atmospheric temperatures since the start of the Holocene, some 11,000 years ago. Many of these simulations showed temperatures warming gradually and consistently over time, in tandem with slowly increasing levels of atmospheric CO2. To Thompson, this was not an accurate representation.



When he used proxy records to reconstruct past climate, he found evidence of a peak in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/limiting-global-warming-to-1-5c-is-out-of-reach/">warming</a> between 9,000 and 6,000 years ago. Proxy records are the imprints created during the past by living organisms or other factors that reflect aspects of climatic and atmospheric conditions. For example, tree rings, ice cores, sediment cores and the shells of tiny marine organisms all indicate the climatic conditions at the time that they were formed.&nbsp;



For Thompson, it was the pollen records that were most revealing. They gave him a clue that the role of vegetation in past climatic change may have been more significant than previously thought. He observed that warmer temperatures in the early Holocene brought plants – and then came even warmer temperatures, indicating that the presence of vegetation may have been an important factor.&nbsp;



“Pollen records suggest a large expansion of vegetation during that time,” Thompson said. “But previous models only show a limited amount of vegetation growth. So, even though some of these other simulations have included dynamic vegetation, it wasn’t nearly enough of a vegetation shift to account for what the pollen records suggest.”



In reality, there were very large changes to vegetative cover during the Holocene, the current geological epoch. Early in this period, the Sahara Desert in Africa grew greener and became more of a grassland. Vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere, including the coniferous and deciduous forests in the mid-latitudes and the Arctic, also thrived.



Thompson took evidence from pollen records and designed a set of experiments with a climate model known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cesm.ucar.edu/">Community Earth System Model (CESM)</a>, one of the best-regarded models of its type. He ran updated simulations with this model to account for a range of changes in vegetation that had not been considered previously. The results, published today in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>, indicate that changing vegetation was likely a key driver of changes in global temperatures over the past 10,000 years.



“Expanded vegetation during the Holocene warmed the globe by as much as 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit,” Thompson said. “Our new simulations align closely with paleoclimate proxies. So this is exciting that we can point to Northern Hemisphere vegetation as one potential factor that allows us to resolve the controversial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1407229111">Holocene temperature conundrum</a>.”



It was during the Holocene that human settlements first became established, along with agriculture and other aspects of civilization. These processes were likely to have been affected by climatic conditions and therefore many scientists and historians are interested in understanding how and when the climate changed during this period.&nbsp;



“Overall, our study emphasizes that accounting for vegetation change is critical,” Thompson said. “Projections for future climate change are more likely to produce more trustworthy predictions if they include changes in vegetation.”



Thompson conducted this research work as a graduate student at the University of Michigan. He is continuing his research in the laboratory of climate scientist&nbsp;<a href="https://eps.wustl.edu/people/bronwen-konecky">Bronwen Konecky</a>&nbsp;at Washington University.



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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

Changes in vegetation are a key driver of global temperatures

Scientists who study past climate changes cannot go back in...

New research shows that more carbon is stored in decomposing peat swamps in the Lowland Peruvian Amazon (LPA) than previously thought and these swamps need protection. The scientists who carried out the research found small but increasing areas of deforestation across the region. Deforestation has lead to an eleven fold uptick in carbon emissions driven by mining from 2000 to 2016.&nbsp;



The international team of scientists used satellite imagery and field data to map and model peat thickness in Peru’s lowland Amazon swamps. The study was led by Dr. Adam Hastie, a postdoctoral researcher in the School of GeoSciences at the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a>.



“We knew that Peru contained substantial peatlands but we previously only had ground data from a few regions, and we didn't realize how extensive the peatlands were," said Dr. Hastie.



"Our high-resolution maps can be used to directly inform conservation and climate mitigation policies and actions such as Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement, to avoid further degradation and CO2 emissions.”



With the new data, the research shows that the peatlands contain double the amount of carbon previously estimated. This means that the peatlands contain 5.4 billion tons of carbon in a mere 5 percent of the landmass of Peru.&nbsp;



Tropical peatlands have one of the greatest concentrations of carbon contained in any landscape. Unfortunately, agriculture and other forms of development are destroying the massive amounts of stunning biodiversity as well as releasing the carbon contained therein.



“Peatlands are increasingly recognized as carbon hotspots and a key component of the planet’s carbon cycle," said&nbsp; Dr. Ian Lawson from the University of St. Andrews.



"They store half of all the soil carbon on the planet, but they’re vulnerable to human pressures. It’s important for all of us that we know where they are so that we can protect them and help to mitigate climate change."



Next, the researchers plan to look at the carbon storage of other parts of the Amazon in an effort to better understand the problem and hopefully determine how to fix it.



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a>.



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

Peat swamps are carbon hotspots that need urgent protection

New research shows that more carbon is stored in decomposing...

An international research team has enumerated the ways in which consumption causes extinction. The study is published as an assessment of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). This is a lead up to the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-15).



According to the IPBES report, approximately one million <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ocean-acidification-reduces-the-hatching-success-of-a-keystone-fish-species/">species</a> are threatened with extinction, many quite soon. The research examined over 5,000 species in 188 nations and found that consumption in North America, Europe and East Asia is driving a lot of extinction in other countries. The report was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Nature: Scientific Reports</a>.&nbsp;



Lead researcher Amanda Irwin is an expert in the Integrated Sustainability Analysis research group at the University of Sydney. She compared the extinction crisis to climate change but with less publicity.&nbsp;



“These crises are occurring in parallel,” said Irwin. “The upcoming COP-15 will hopefully raise the profile of the other human-driven natural crisis of our generation – irreparable biodiversity loss – and our findings can provide valuable insights into the role that global consumption plays as one of the drivers of this loss.”



In 16 of the countries examined in the report, extinction is driven from countries abroad. However, in 96 countries or roughly half those studied, extinction is primarily driven by domestic consumption. Overall, global trade drives 29.5 percent of the worldwide extinction risk footprint. The greatest cause of extinction risk comes from food, beverage and agriculture, equaling about 39 percent. The construction sector came in second contributing about 16 percent to the global extinction risk footprint.&nbsp;



“The complexity of economic interactions in our globalized world means that the purchase of a coffee in Sydney may contribute to biodiversity loss in Honduras. The choices we make every day have an impact on the natural world, even if we don’t see this impact.”



Some biodiversity hotspots such as Madagascar, home of the adorable Malagasy giant jumping rat, have 66 percent of the extinction risk footprint coming from abroad. Others, like Colombia, home to the beautiful Nombre de Dios streamside frog have 93 percent of extinction risk domestically.&nbsp;



Although the situation is complicated by local differences, the study highlights the need for global trade to be reconsidered and hopefully new laws enacted with nations taking responsibility for driving the crisis. It’s also a reminder to consumers that their choices have consequences.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.



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

Consumer choices are fueling the extinction crisis abroad

An international research team has enumerated the ways in which...

A new study conducted by the <a href="http://english.iap.cas.cn/">Institute of Atmospheric Physics</a> at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/">UK Met Office</a> has reviewed a series of unprecedented climate extremes in China, North America, and Europe in 2021. The experts described the occurrence of an unusually high number of extreme weather events in these regions over the past year, and most were likely caused by a mix of internal, natural variability and anthropogenic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/growing-perennial-grasses-could-help-curb-climate-change/">climate</a> change.



In 2021 – the sixth warmest year since 1881 - the weather in China was marked by many unusual events, including rapid transitions from cold to warm extremes and sandstorms in the spring, massive droughts in the southern part of the country and severe thunderstorms and floods in the eastern regions in the spring, debilitating heatwaves and persistent heavy rainfall in the Henan and Hubei provinces in the summer, and a widespread cold surge during autumn.&nbsp;



The United States also witnessed extreme cold conditions early in the year, while western Canada faced record-breaking heatwaves in the summer. Europe was not spared either: the catastrophic floods from July killed at least 243 people in countries including Germany, Belgium, and Austria.&nbsp;



This short review, published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00376-022-2063-9">Advances in Atmospheric Sciences</a>, is expected to serve as a reference for future climate events attribution, process understanding, and high-resolution modelling of extreme events.&nbsp;



“Our report has highlighted the need to develop an operational real-time system of rapid event attribution in China to facilitate the understanding of climate extremes, and further, to adapt to and mitigate the ongoing climate change,” explained study lead author Tianjun Zhou, an expert in climate modelling at the Institute for Atmospheric Research.



“Although individual events cannot usually be attributed themselves to climate change, the likelihood of some of them has been altered as a part of climate change,” added study co-author Dr. Robin Clark, a researcher studying climate extremes at the UK Met Office.



If measures to mitigate global warming are not urgently taken, the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events will likely increase significantly over the next years and decades, putting at risk a large number of ecosystems, and creating increasingly harsh conditions for all forms of life on our planet, including humans.



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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

Unusual number of climate extremes struck in 2021

A new study conducted by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/clouds-have-an-amplifying-effect-on-global-warming/">Clouds</a> come in a large variety of shapes, sizes, and types. All of these features control the effect they have on the climate. For instance, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> (UW) has found that splintering of frozen liquid droplets to form ice shards inside Antarctic clouds dramatically affect these clouds’ ability to reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere, leading to a substantial warming of the Southern Ocean.



“Southern Ocean low clouds shouldn’t be treated as liquid clouds,” said study lead author&nbsp;Rachel Atlas, a doctoral student in Atmospheric Sciences at UW. “Ice formation in Southern Ocean low clouds has a substantial effect on the cloud properties and needs to be accounted for in global models.”



Atlas and her colleagues used observations from a <a href="https://www.washington.edu/news/2018/02/05/uw-atmospheric-scientists-flying-through-clouds-above-antarcticas-southern-ocean/">2018 field campaign</a> focused on an in-depth investigation of Southern Ocean clouds, as well as data collected by NASA’s CERES satellite and the Japanese satellite Himawari-8.&nbsp;



Their analyses revealed that the peculiar nature of Antarctic clouds has a strong impact on the Southern Ocean and climate in general. Since ice particles form, grow, and fall out of the clouds very efficiently, the clouds’ coverage and reflectance are significantly reduced, allowing more sunlight to reach the waters.&nbsp;



“The ice crystals deplete much of the thinner cloud entirely, therefore reducing the horizontal coverage. Ice crystals also deplete some of the liquid in the thick cores of the cloud. So the ice particles both reduce the cloud cover and dim the remaining cloud,” Atlas explained.



Since in February – which is summer in the Southern Ocean – approximately 90 percent of the sky is covered with clouds, and at least 25 percent of these clouds are affected by the type of ice formation that decreases their reflectance, a massive amount of solar radiation can reach the ocean, substantially warming its upper layers.



“The Southern Ocean is a massive global heat sink, but its ability to take heat from the atmosphere depends on the temperature structure of the upper ocean, which relates to the cloud cover,” Atlas concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021AV000454">AGU Advances</a>.



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

Ice shards in Antarctic clouds heat up the Southern Ocean

Clouds come in a large variety of shapes, sizes, and...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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