The International Space Station (ISS) is not just a place to live in space - it’s an experimental laboratory. With astronauts onboard and Earth positioned below, the ISS offers a unique opportunity: long-duration research in microgravity. 



The space station also provides low Earth orbit views of our planet, along with a human crew who support experiments, swap samples, and troubleshoot in real time.



Since its launch, researchers have used the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/">space station</a> to conduct hundreds of studies. These range from characterizing fluid behavior in zero gravity to tracking changes in the human body. Their work advances science by answering questions that can’t be studied on Earth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-science-without-gravity">Science without gravity</h2>



Without Earth's <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/matter-spacetime-gravitational-waves-fabric-of-the-universe/">gravity</a> pulling things down, scientists can run experiments that simply aren’t possible on the ground. For example, hot air doesn't rise. Flames take on a spherical shape. Fluids stop behaving the way they do in a glass of water.



This gives researchers a rare opportunity to examine physical, chemical, and biological processes in new ways. 



By eliminating variables like surface tension or capillary movement, they can get a much clearer picture of how things actually work.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-orbiting-lab-sees-it-all">Orbiting lab sees it all</h2>



The space station orbits Earth in about 90 minutes, traveling at 17,500 miles per hour from about 250 miles above the surface. 



This low vantage point means the ISS is able to make observations of the planet both in daylight and darkness, and from various angles and lighting conditions.



By being outside&nbsp;<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-is-shrinking-earths-atmosphere-and-thats-bad-for-satellites/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Earth's atmosphere</a>&nbsp;and magnetic field, the ISS carries instruments that could not be used on Earth. 



That makes it possible to study space radiation, neutron stars, and other phenomena - along with how materials and living organisms behave in space.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-iss-crew-makes-science-possible">ISS crew makes science possible</h2>



Other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/space-debris-issue-growing-exponentially-worse-now-threatens-working-satellites/">satellites</a> can carry instruments, but only the ISS has a living, breathing crew to run the science. Human operators are key. They adjust setups, monitor changes, fix problems, and pack samples for return to Earth.



This flexibility is critical for complex research on the ISS. It also means scientists can get a second chance if something doesn’t go as planned. 



Since experiments can stay on the station for months or even years, there's plenty of time to refine ideas and gather more data.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-body-changes-in-space">Body changes in space</h2>



Because the space station has been operating for over two decades, scientists have been able to track long-term changes - including how space affects the human body. One example: vision changes that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astronauts-can-survive-mars-space-journey-but-their-kidneys-will-be-permanently-damaged/">astronauts</a> began noticing after spending months in orbit.



Scientists launched the Fluid Shifts investigation in 2015 to understand what was happening. They suspected that in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/microgravity-causes-big-problems-with-human-gene-expression/">microgravity</a>, fluids move from the lower to the upper body, increasing pressure in the head and possibly changing eye shape.



The study asked whether increased fluid pressure was the cause of these vision changes.



It ran through 2020 and tracked multiple astronauts over time. It marked a major step toward understanding the effects of spaceflight on human health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-research-on-the-space-station">Research on the space station</h2>



Research on the space station takes time. First, scientists have to identify a question and come up with a possible answer. Then, they design an experiment to test it, decide what data to collect, and figure out how.



Getting that experiment into space is its own process. NASA reviews proposals based on scientific value and relevance. 



Once approved, studies are scheduled for future missions - often many months away. Training, hardware development, flight procedures, and data collection plans all need to be worked out.



Once the experiment is on board, astronauts begin collecting data. After that, the real work begins: analyzing results and writing them up. That alone can take a year or more.



Before a study is published, it goes through peer review. One analysis found that peer review alone takes an average of 100 days. Editors may also ask for revisions or more analysis before giving the green light.



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



One challenge with human research on the International Space Station is the limited number of subjects. With only about six people on board at any given time, gathering enough data takes longer.



Consider the Lighting Effects study, which tested whether adjusting the station’s lighting could improve <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-prepares-the-brain-for-the-future-while-protecting-memories-of-the-past/">sleep</a>, mood, and performance by syncing with astronauts’ circadian rhythms.



Because researchers needed data from several astronauts, the study ran from 2016 to 2020. Other long-term human studies have looked at heart muscle loss and nutrition, including how to grow fresh food in space.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-space-station-research-takes-time">Space station research takes time</h2>



Research in physical science can often move more quickly. Scientists can send up batches of materials and collect results faster. But even then, one round of experiments often leads to more questions.



<a href="https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/iss-research/msg/bass/">The Burning and Suppression of Solids </a>(BASS) series ran from 2011 to 2017, studying how different fuels behave in space. That work led to the Saffire series, which began in 2016 and ended in 2024.



These fire safety demonstrations helped answer critical questions about how to prevent and put out fires in space.



Scientific breakthroughs don’t happen overnight, especially not in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shifts-in-earths-orbit-triggered-ancient-megadroughts/">orbit</a>. But the space station gives researchers something priceless: time, access, and the ability to keep going.



The payoff? New insights into how our bodies work, how materials behave, and how we can prepare for longer missions. That’s not just useful for life in space - it helps improve life back on Earth, too.



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What 20 years of space station research means for life on Earth

The International Space Station (ISS) is not just a place to live in space - it’s an experimental laboratory. With astronauts onboard and Earth positioned below, the ISS offers a unique opportunity: long-duration research in microgravity. The space station also provides low Earth orbit views of our planet, along with a human crew who support experiments, swap samples, and troubleshoot in real time. Since its launch, researchers have used the space station to conduct hundreds of studies. These range from characterizing fluid behavior in zero gravity to...

In recent years, bumblebees and other important insect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orchids-evolved-fringed-petals-to-support-pollinators/">pollinators</a> have faced significant population declines. By analyzing a wide range of museum collections, two new studies led by the <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> and the <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/">Natural History Museum</a> have examined how climate change has affected bumblebees over more than a century.&nbsp;



An analysis of bumblebee wings showed signs of stress associated with increasingly hotter and wetter conditions, while a genomic sequencing study of over one hundred bumblebee museum specimens dating back more than 130 years ago has highlighted how environmental stress may lead to genetic diversity loss in these insects.



The first study – published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13788">Journal of Animal Ecology</a> – has investigated the morphology of bee specimens dating back to 1900. By using digital image, the experts examined the asymmetry in bumblebee wings as an indicator of climatic stress which affected their normal growth. An analysis of four UK bumblebee species has revealed increased markers of stress (higher wing asymmetry) as the 20th century progressed from its lowest point around 1925.&nbsp;



Further investigations showed that all the species displayed a consistently higher proxy of stress in the second half of the century. Moreover, the researchers found that, in hotter and wetter years, bees showed higher wing asymmetry.



“With hotter and wetter conditions predicted to place bumblebees under higher stress, the fact that these conditions will become more frequent under climate change means bumblebees may be in for a rough time over the 21st&nbsp;century,” said study senior author Richard Gill, an expert in the impact of environmental stress on insect populations at the Imperial College London.



In a second parallel study, published in the journal <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.13945">Methods in Ecology and Evolution</a>, scientists sequenced the genomes of over a hundred bumblebee museum specimens, and found evidence of a relatively consistent rate of DNA degradation – a feature confirming the major role of environmental stress in the loss of bumblebees’ genetic diversity over the past 130 years.



&nbsp;“These studies showcase the value of leveraging museums specimens to go back in time and unlock the past’s secrets. But what we have done is just the beginning, and by continuing our work with these vital public collections and collaborating with curators we can only discover more,” Dr. Gill 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;

Bumblebees increasingly stressed over the past century

In recent years, bumblebees and other important insect pollinators have...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.nus.edu.sg/">National University of Singapore</a> has revealed the choices that male spiders make to maximize their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-explain-spiders-complex-mating-choreography/">mating</a> success. The males have evolved mating strategies to improve their reproductive chances, despite the risk of being cannibalized by their mates.



The researchers explored whether male spiders use cannibalism countering strategies by focusing on two mating tactics. One tactic is based on the “better charged palp” hypothesis. This theory predicts that male spiders selectively make use of their paired sexual organs, known as pedipalps or palps, which contain more sperm for their first copulation.&nbsp;



The other tactic, referred to as the “fast sperm transfer” hypothesis, predicts accelerated insemination when the risk of female cannibalism is high.



The researchers performed comparative tests on five species of orb-web spiders with varying levels of female sexual cannibalism and sexual size dimorphism.&nbsp;



The experts found that male spiders choose one of the paired sexual organs with more sperm for the first copulation with a cannibalistic female. Also, a male transfers significantly more sperm if a female is cannibalistic or when the female is of a much larger physical size. These results support both predictions, providing credibility for the male mating syndrome.



“This study sheds light on how male mating syndrome relates to the levels of sexual cannibalism and suggests that evolutionary arms races do take place, and that animal biology and diversity are importantly shaped by sexual conflict," said Professor Daiqin Li, who led the research.



The experts are planning future studies to better understand the rationale behind male palp choice.&nbsp;



“The large diversity of extant spiders globally indicates that these findings may not apply to all sexually dimorphic and cannibalistic spiders," said Professor Li. "Due to sexual selection, the palpal anatomy can undergo rapid changes, such that mechanisms behind sperm transfer of various species may differ."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio/">Communications Biology</a>.



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

Male spiders transfer more sperm when mating with cannibals

A new study from the National University of Singapore has...

A massive <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/europe-is-experiencing-its-worst-drought-in-500-years/">drought</a> in the American Southwest is currently drying up the Colorado River and draining the country’s largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. On Tuesday, August 18, 2022, the federal government announced that the Colorado River will start operating in a Tier 2 shortage condition for the first time in history starting in January 2023, as this unprecedented drought has taken a severe toll on Lake Mead. This means that Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico will need to significantly reduce their use of water from the Colorado River at the beginning of next year.



According to experts from the <a href="https://www.doi.gov/">U.S. Department of the Interior</a>, in January 2023, Lake Mead’s water level will decrease to 1,050 feet above sea level, which is the required threshold for declaring a Tier 2 shortage. Of the targeted states, Arizona will need to face the largest water cuts – 592,000 acre-feet, or 21 percent of the state’s annual allotment of river water.



“Every sector in every state has a responsibility to ensure that water is used with maximum efficiency,” said Tanya Trujillo, the Department of the Interior’s assistant secretary for water and science. “In order to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the Colorado River System and a future of uncertainty and conflict, water use in the Basin must be reduced.”&nbsp;



Last year, the Department declared a first, Tier 1 shortage on the Colorado River. However, due to extremely low levels of precipitation this year, the situation has further deteriorated.&nbsp;



“We thought we were good, but the last few years have been so dry that we realized those tier reductions weren’t enough and aren’t enough,” explained Bill Hasencamp, the Colorado River resource manager at the <a href="https://www.mwdh2o.com/">Metropolitan Water District of Southern California</a>. “So the two things we’re focused on is how do we get through the next three years without the system crashing, and then how do we develop a long term plan to sustain the Colorado River.”



Since negotiations between the affected states are already starting to heat up, experts are asking strong federal government interventions that could be acted on immediately.&nbsp;



“We kind of need the federal government to make some threats to spur action,” said John Fleck, an expert in Water Resources at the University of New Mexico. “Progress seems to happen when the federal government comes in and says to states, you need to do this or we’re going to do something you don’t like,” he concluded.&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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Water cuts ahead for Arizona and Nevada as Colorado River shrinks

A massive drought in the American Southwest is currently drying...

Reputation is an important component in social interactions of animals living in groups, and plays a significant role in the establishment of cooperation. However, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/">University of Veterinary Medicine</a> in Vienna, Austria, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-domesticated-america-10000-years/">dogs</a> have significant difficulties in remembering incidences of human generosity in food-giving situations, and thus may have no concept of gift-giving reputation.&nbsp;



While previous studies argued that dogs cooperate with humans because they can form an understanding of their reputations – for instance, whether a particular individual is usually offering or withholding food – this new study shows that this may not be the case. The scientists devised a series of experiments to test this ability in dogs, as well as in their closest ancestors, wolves.



In a first experiment, the animals were prompted to observe an interaction between two humans and another animal, with a “generous” person offering food and a “selfish” one withholding it. The second experiment tested whether animals formed reputations after interacting directly with the generous and selfish humans. 



Statistical analyses of the results have shown that, in most cases, the generous handler did not appear to have a better reputation either with the dogs or the wolves, after either indirect observation or direct experience of humans’ generosity regarding food.



“We found that dogs and wolves, at the group level, did not differentiate between a generous or selfish partner after indirect or direct experience, but wolves were more attentive towards the generous person during the observation phase and some dogs and wolves did prefer the generous partner, at least after indirect and direct experience was combined," wrote the researchers.



"Our study suggests that reputation formation may be more difficult than expected for animals and we emphasize the importance of context when studying reputation formation in animals."



However, some significant limitations of the study include the fact that it only investigated the behavior of a small number of animals - six dogs and nine wolves – and that these animals were not food deprived before the experiments.&nbsp;



“In this study, there was only a small cost of not receiving a food reward if the animals chose the selfish partner,” explained the study authors. “Further, the trainer fed the subject every time he/she went back to the starting point for the next trial and the animals were not food-deprived before the test, thus they may not have been very motivated to choose the generous partner.”



Further research with a larger number of animals placed in a variety of contexts is needed to confirm these findings, and to clarify whether animals are more likely to gauge and act according to a human’s reputation while in a dangerous or stressful situation, or if they are particularly hungry.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0271590">PLoS One</a>.



---



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

Dogs may not understand humans’ generosity

Reputation is an important component in social interactions of animals...

There’s a lot of talk about how crops might suffer under climate change. New research from <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> finds that staple crops such as soy, corn, and rice will all be hurt by a warming climate. The researchers also found one staple crop that is expected to be unfazed by climate change - breadfruit, a native of the Pacific Islands.&nbsp;



Because the starchy fruit is resistant to climate change and grows well in areas with food insecurity, the researchers predict it could become more common as a staple food in other places as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Breadfruit is a neglected and underutilized species that happens to be relatively resilient in our climate change projections,” said study senior author Daniel Horton. “This is good news because several other staples that we rely on are not so resilient. In really hot conditions, some of those staple crops struggle and yields decrease. As we implement strategies to adapt to climate change, breadfruit should be considered in food security adaptation strategies.”



Despite its name, breadfruit is a starchy, seedless plant that has been boiled, fried, roasted or fermented for thousands of years. Like many other staples, breadfruit can also be made into flour.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Nyree Zerega is the director of the <a href="https://plantbiology.northwestern.edu/">Program in Plant Biology and Conservation</a>, a partnership between Northwestern and the Chicago Botanic Garden.&nbsp;



“Breadfruit trees can live for decades and provide a large amount of fruits each year. In some cultures, there is a tradition to plant a breadfruit tree when a child is born to ensure the child will have food for the rest of their life," said Zerega.



The researchers cultivated breadfruit under conditions reflecting two possible climate scenarios: one with an unlikely high amount of carbon and a second under a more likely scenario where carbon levels out. Under both conditions, breadfruit growth was relatively unaffected.&nbsp;



Next, the scientists identified places where breadfruit cultivation could be expanded - mainly in sub-Saharan Africa - and found that many of these places already suffer food insecurity. Breadfruit may be a possible solution as well as a future global solution.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Climate change further emphasizes the need to diversify agriculture, so the world doesn’t rely on a small number of crop species to feed a large number of people,” Zerega said.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/climate/">PLOS Climate</a>.&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

Food of the future: breadfruit is resistant to climate change

There’s a lot of talk about how crops might suffer...

Salt marshes along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts are ecosystems that burst with life. Several species of crabs make their homes in this seemingly inhospitable habitat that is covered with water half the time and exposed to the terrestrial elements the rest of the time. For Dr. David Johnson, an ecologist at William &amp; Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, these salt marshes have provided opportunities for fascinating research over the past 20 years. However, while doing research in a Virginia salt marsh at low tide last September, he and his colleagues saw something they’d never seen before.



In a paper set to be published in September in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19399170">Ecology</a>, Johnson records that he noticed a blue crab,&nbsp;Callinectes sapidus, lying in a water-filled hollow in the mud, long after the tide had receded. Blue crabs are aquatic predators and have adaptations that enable them to swim and capture their prey underwater, not crawl around in the air on an exposed mud flat. Johnson supposed that the blue crab had miscalculated and was forced to shelter in the hollow until the tide returned and it could access its subtidal habitat again.&nbsp;



However, as he watched, he saw the blue crab dart out of its hollow and ambush a fiddler crab (Minuca pugnax) that was passing by. The blue crab retreated hastily into its muddy hollow and proceeded to eat the fiddler crab. Johnson then noticed numerous large claws of deceased male fiddler crabs littering the edges of several other water-filled hollows nearby. He and his colleagues had discovered the unusual behavior of an aquatic predator leaving the water in order to hunt.&nbsp;



“It was amazing because here was an aquatic predator – one that lives, eats, breathes, and breeds under water – feeding out of the water,” said Johnson. “It was like crocodiles ambushing wildebeests in Africa.”&nbsp;



Johnson and colleagues – VIMS PhD student Serina Wittyngham; VIMS Laboratory and Research Associate Leah Scott; and Dr. Cora Baird of the University of Virginia – believe these ambush-style attacks from pits at low tide are the first ever recorded for the blue crab or any other swimming crab, save for an earlier anecdotal account from Dr. Richard Heard of the University of Southern Mississippi. The blue crab’s genus name&nbsp;Callinectes, Greek for “beautiful swimmer,” attests to its aquatic nature.&nbsp;



“It was really hot – 95 degrees – and the tide wasn’t going to return for another three hours,” said Johnson. “But this aquatic crab had figured out a way to feed at low tide: dig shallow pits that fill with water and wait for prey to come to you. One crab was 70 meters away from the shoreline. That’s 800 body lengths. It’d be like if I dove a mile&nbsp;underwater and hid behind a rock to ambush fish that swam by.”&nbsp;



Both biologists and wary fiddler crabs have long known that blue crabs enter the salt marsh ecosystem to feed when the tide is high. During this time, fiddler crabs usually hide in their burrows to avoid becoming prey. But at low tide, when the mud flats are exposed, the habitat becomes the domain of the fiddler crabs because there are no aquatic predators to disturb them from feeding on the local detritus and algae. Or that is what the biologists thought.&nbsp;



“Blue crabs have been known to dash a few feet onto land to snatch fiddler crabs before returning to the water to dismember and eat them,” says Johnson, “But the behavior we saw was different. Blue crabs were not chasing their prey on land; they were waiting on land for their prey to come to them. It’d be like if you went to an Italian restaurant and were suddenly dragged under the table by a giant octopus.”&nbsp;



In order to find out how common this blue crab behavior was, and whether it was a successful strategy, Johnson returned to the same marsh two weeks later to quantify blue crab densities and sizes, and to assess the number of ambush attacks. He also obtained 37 hours of video footage that recorded what happened on the mud flat in his absence.&nbsp;



The data showed that blue crabs occurred at a density of between 0 and 0,6 per square meter of salt marsh. Most of the blue crabs present (83 percent) were juveniles, and the water-filled hollows were pretty much the size of a crab, indicating that crabs were probably excavating their own hollows. This was corroborated by video footage showing the crabs scooping mud out with their claws. But the blue crabs were not loyal to their pit and would move into an empty one – or a water-filled footprint – and even evict a neighbouring blue crab if its muddy patch looked more suitable.&nbsp;



Out of the 33 attacks captured on 37 h of video, 11 (33 percent) were successful. That’s three times as efficient as a polar bear and about the same success rate as a domestic tabby. Mostly, a blue crab attacked a fiddler crab that walked in front of it, but could also ambush those that walked along side, or even to the rear. Johnson estimated that a blue crab would chase its prey up to 5&nbsp;cm away from the pit if the initial ambush was unsuccessful.&nbsp;



When blue crabs were nestled unbecomingly in water-filled hollows, their muddy covering and motionless waiting disguised them both to their potential prey and to passing predators, such as gulls, herons and egrets. “A laughing gull, a known blue-crab predator, walked within centimeters of a blue crab in a pit, but didn’t appear to notice it,” said Johnson.&nbsp;



The scientists also plan to explore another tantalizing observation from their initial fieldwork, which was actually focused on yet another crustacean, the purple marsh crab&nbsp;Sesarma reticulatum. “Sesarma&nbsp;creates denuded areas in the salt marsh by grazing on&nbsp;cordgrass,” said Johnson. He thinks this more open landscape may in turn help the blue crabs by making it easier for them to dig pits and chase down their fiddler crab prey. Initial measurements support his hypothesis: the researchers found almost twice as many blue crabs in grazed areas than in areas with plants, and higher fiddler crab densities as well.



The discovery that&nbsp;Callinectes&nbsp;feeds in salt marshes during low tide suggests these environments are more important to blue crabs than previously thought. “Our observations underscore how vital salt marshes are to blue crab production and the blue crab fishery,” said Johnson.



He also thinks the blue crab’s feeding strategy provides a mechanism that allows nutrients and energy to flow between salt marshes and their adjacent estuaries. “Blue crabs feeding in salt marshes at low tide offer a fascinating opportunity to study how predator behavior can affect the movement of energy from one ecosystem to another,” said Johnson. “Just like crocodiles link the river to the savanna, and grizzlies carry the energy of salmon into the forests of the Pacific Northwest, blue crabs connect the salt marsh to the estuary.”



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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

Aquatic blue crabs ambush their prey on land

Salt marshes along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts are...

Plants are pretty much unique among living organisms because they can trap the energy of sunlight and use it to make organic molecules that are rich in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-we-recover-energy-from-discarded-batteries/">energy</a>. In this way they create their own fuel that has no unwanted byproducts and that fulfils all their energy needs. Imagine if humans could develop a similar photosynthetic surface that used only water, carbon dioxide and energy from the sun to make green fuels. Well, this is exactly what scientists from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> have been working on.



Although renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels have become significantly cheaper and more available in recent years, industries such as shipping remain wholly dependent on fossil fuels. Switching to green energy for an industry such as shipping is a tall order and the subject has received little to no attention in terms of changes that can be made to slow global warming. Around&nbsp;<a href="https://unctad.org/webflyer/review-maritime-transport-2018">80 percent of global trade</a>&nbsp;is transported by cargo vessels powered by fossil fuels, so the contribution by this sector to climate change is probably not insignificant.&nbsp;



For several years, Professor Erwin Reisner’s research group at Cambridge has been working to address this problem by developing sustainable solutions to petrol which are based on the principles of photosynthesis. In 2019, they developed an&nbsp;‘<a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/artificial-leaf-successfully-produces-clean-gas">artificial leaf</a>’ that makes syngas – a key intermediate in the production of many chemicals and pharmaceuticals – from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. Their prototype generated fuel by combining two light absorbers with suitable catalysts. However, it incorporated thick glass substrates and moisture protective coatings, which made the device heavy to transport and to deploy.



“Artificial leaves could substantially lower the cost of sustainable fuel production, but since they’re both heavy and fragile, they’re difficult to produce at scale and transport,” said Dr. Virgil Andrei from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, the paper’s co-lead author.



“We wanted to see how far we can trim down the materials these devices use, while not affecting their performance,” said Reisner, who recently led a new research project aimed at slimming down the artificial leaves to make them more adaptable. “If we can trim the materials down far enough that they’re light enough to float, then it opens up whole new ways that these artificial leaves could be used.”



For the new version of the artificial leaf, the researchers used technology from the electronics industry, where miniaturization techniques have led to the creation of smartphones and flexible displays, revolutionizing the field.



The researchers faced the challenge of placing light absorbers onto lightweight substrates and then coating them with waterproofing material to protect them from water infiltration, all the while keeping the structure light enough to float. They overcame these obstacles by using thin-film metal oxides and materials known as perovskites, which can be coated onto flexible plastic and metal foils. The devices were covered with micrometer thin, water-repellent, carbon-based layers that prevent moisture infiltration. They ended up with a device that not only works, but also looks like a real leaf. And it floats on water.



The researchers tested the photoelectrochemical (PEC) artificial leaves on the River Cam and have published their findings in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04978-6">Nature</a>. The experts report that their lightweight, leaf-like PEC devices can split water into oxygen and hydrogen (as happens in plant leaf cells during photosynthesis) and reduce carbon dioxide to produce fuel at rates comparable to those found in photosynthesizing leaves. In addition, the artificial leaves weight less than 100 mg cm−2 and can be scaled up to produce larger structures that can still sustain similar production rates.&nbsp;



“This study demonstrates that artificial leaves are compatible with modern fabrication techniques, representing an early step towards the automation and up-scaling of solar fuel production,” said Dr. Andrei. “These leaves combine the advantages of most solar fuel technologies, as they achieve the low weight of powder suspensions and the high performance of wired systems.”



This is the first time that clean fuel has been generated on water, and if scaled up, the artificial leaves could be used on polluted waterways, in ports or even at sea, and could help reduce the global shipping industry’s reliance on fossil fuels.&nbsp;While additional improvements will need to be made before they are ready for commercial applications, the researchers say this development opens whole new avenues in their work.



“Solar farms have become popular for electricity production; we envision similar farms for fuel synthesis,” said Dr. Andrei. “These could supply coastal settlements, remote islands, cover industrial ponds, or avoid water evaporation from irrigation canals.”



“Many renewable energy technologies, including solar fuel technologies, can take up large amounts of space on land, so moving production to open water would mean that clean energy and land use aren’t competing with one another,” said Professor Reisner. “In theory, you could roll up these devices and put them almost anywhere, in almost any country, which would also help with energy security.”



Image Credit: Virgil Andrei



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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

"Artificial leaves" may be a future source of green fuel

Plants are pretty much unique among living organisms because they...

The world is "woefully underprepared" for a massive volcanic eruption, according to a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) and the University of Birmingham. The experts also warm that a catastrophic volcanic eruption is more likely than we think.



"Data gathered from ice cores on the frequency of eruptions over deep time suggests there is a one-in-six chance of a magnitude seven explosion in the next one hundred years. That's a roll of the dice," said study co-author and CSER researcher Dr. Lara Mani. "Such gigantic eruptions have caused abrupt climate change and collapse of civilisations in the distant past."



Unfortunately, when most people think about apocalyptic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-will-climate-change-affect-extreme-weather-events/">events</a>, they don't think about volcanoes. Therefore, resources to study volcanic eruptions and ways to mitigate damage are not made available to volcanologists.&nbsp;



"Hundreds of millions of dollars are pumped into asteroid threats every year, yet there is a severe lack of global financing and coordination for volcano preparedness," said Dr. Mani. "This urgently needs to change. We are completely underestimating the risk to our societies that volcanoes pose."



The world is more populated and economically interdependent than ever, so we are even more vulnerable to a severe volcanic eruption.&nbsp;



"The last magnitude seven eruption was in 1815 in Indonesia," said study co-author Dr. Mike Cassidy, a visiting CSER researcher. "An estimated 100,000 people died locally, and global temperatures dropped by a degree on average, causing mass crop failures that led to famine, violent uprisings and epidemics in what was known as the year without summer."



"We now live in a world with eight times the population and over forty times the level of trade. Our complex global networks could make us even more vulnerable to the shocks of a major eruption."



The researchers stress that volcanologists need more resources. "Volcanologists have been calling for a dedicated volcano-monitoring satellite for over twenty years," said Dr. Mani. "Sometimes we have to rely on the generosity of private satellite companies for rapid imagery."



Although it may seem far-fetched, we must start thinking of ways to curb volcanic eruption destruction.



"Directly affecting volcanic behaviour may seem inconceivable, but so did the deflection of asteroids until the formation of the NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office in 2016," said Dr. Mani "The risks of a massive eruption that devastates global society is significant. The current underinvestment in responding to this risk is simply reckless."&nbsp;



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

Catastrophic volcanic eruption is more likely than we think

The world is "woefully underprepared" for a massive volcanic eruption,...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.org/">Cedars-Sinai Medical Center</a> in Los Angeles has found that the majority of people who were infected with the Omicron <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/omicron-is-surging-but-may-cause-less-severe-illness/">variant</a> of SARS-CoV-2 did not even know they had the virus. By analyzing antibody levels of a group of 2,479 Cedars-Sinai healthcare workers and patients, the scientists discovered that, among the 210 individuals with new Covid antibodies, 56 percent were unaware of any recent infection. These findings suggest that the Omicron variant is indeed milder, often leading to asymptomatic cases, compared to previous variants.



Previous studies have estimated that at least 25 percent and possibly as many as 80 percent of people infected with Omicron are asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, such as sore throat, runny nose, headaches, or fatigue. As part of their research about the effects of Covid-19 and the impact of vaccines, doctors and scientists from Cedars-Sinai began collecting blood samples from healthcare workers over two years ago, and – just before the first Omicron surge in the fall of 2021 – expanded their cohort to include also patients.&nbsp;



New seropositive analyses revealed that 56 percent of the people who had Covid-related antibodies have not been aware that they had recent infections. Of the study participants who were unaware, only 10 percent reported having any recent symptoms, which were so mild that they attributed to common colds or other type of infections.&nbsp;



“More than one in every two people who were infected with Omicron didn’t know they had it,” said study senior author Susan Cheng, the director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.org/programs/heart.html?s_kwid=&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwwJuVBhCAARIsAOPwGATk0RiCU36IlxUGq-AecCSGEGyLMNB4D-eCdVGPOgFBElwFpE2QxGMaAh3YEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds">Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai</a>.&nbsp;



Although undoubtedly good news, these findings also suggest that the rampant transmission of Omicron – which in fact did lead to a huge number of hospitalizations and deaths – may be exacerbated by the level of mild and asymptomatic infections that go undetected. “Our study findings add to evidence that undiagnosed infections can increase transmission of the virus,” said study lead author Sandy Y. Joung, a researcher at Cedars-Sinai. “A&nbsp;low level of infection awareness has likely contributed to the fast spread of Omicron.”&nbsp;



“We hope people will read these findings and think, ‘I was just at a gathering where someone tested positive,’ or, ‘I just started to feel a little under the weather. Maybe I should get a quick test.’ The better we understand our own risks, the better we will be at protecting the health of the public as well as ourselves. Awareness will be key for allowing us to move beyond this pandemic,” Dr. Cheng concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen">JAMA Network Open</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;

Omicron: most people never knew they were infected

A new study led by the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in...

Honey bees fly out of the hive each day in search of flowers with nectar and pollen. Once they have loaded up with these delicacies, they head back to the hive to make a deposit and inform other workers where the successful foraging locations are. All of this relies on a bee’s ability to process wide-field visual motion information, to navigate using environmental queues and to fly directly back home. Research now shows that certain common <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neonicotinoids-kill-bees-and-threaten-hundreds-of-species/">pesticides</a> interfere with a bee’s brain in such a way that it may no longer be able to navigate its way around or fly home successfully.



“Here we show that commonly used insecticides like sulfoxaflor and the neonicotinoid imidacloprid can profoundly impair the visually guided behavior of honeybees. Our results are reason for concern because the ability of bees to respond appropriately to visual information is crucial for their flight and navigation, and thus their survival,” said study lead author Dr. Rachel H Parkinson, an expert in the Department of Zoology at the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>.&nbsp;



Insects show an innate&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienting_response">orienting</a>&nbsp;behavior whereby they correct their body position in order for them to continue moving in a straight trajectory if they have gone off course by mistake. Known as the optomotor response, this position-stabilizing behavior is switched on by whole-field visual motion on the left and right of the flying or walking insect. The response is crucial for insects to adjust to unexpected perturbations in their flight path, such as a breeze blowing them to one side, so that they can continue to move in a straight line.&nbsp;



Dr. Parkinson and colleagues worked with four groups of wild-caught worker honey bees, with between 22 and 28 bees in each group. They exposed the bees to videos of vertical bars that moved from left to right, or vice versa, across two screens placed in front of the bees and watched their walking response. Variations in the speeds of the bars on the two screens “trick” the bee into thinking that it has suddenly been pushed off-course and is turning to one side. A healthy optomotor response will instruct the bee’s motor system to perform a corrective adjustment in the form of a turn that takes the bee back to an illusory straight line mid-way between the optic flow from the right and from the left.&nbsp;



Prior to testing the optomotor response in the experimental honey bees, the researchers allowed them to drink unlimited 1.5 molar sucrose solution over five days. However, although one group received pure sucrose solution, the other groups received sucrose contaminated with either 50 ppb (parts per billion) imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid insecticide), 50 ppb sulfoxaflor, or 25 ppb imidacloprid and 25 ppb sulfoxaflor simultaneously.&nbsp;



Neonicotinoid insecticides disrupt visual motion detection in locusts, resulting in impaired escape behaviors, but it had not been shown previously whether these insecticides disrupt wide-field motion detection in honeybees.&nbsp;When the researchers compared the efficiency of the optomotor responses in the four groups of bees, they found that the bees were nowhere near as efficient at making the expected adjustments if they had ingested pesticides.&nbsp;



All bees responded less efficiently to the simulated optic flow when the bars were narrow or moving slowly (i.e., seemed far away) than when they were wide or moving fast (i.e., seemed close by). But for any width and speed of bars, the bees that had ingested pesticides performed poorly compared to the control bees. For example, they turned quickly in one direction only and didn’t respond to changes in the direction of movement of the bars, or failed to show any turning response at all. The asymmetry between left and right turns was at least 2.4 times greater for pesticide-exposed bees than for control bees.



The poor optomotor responses in pesticide-exposed honey bees were accompanied by alterations in the expression of genes in their brains, particularly genes related to detoxification and the presence of stress. But these genetic changes were relatively weak and highly variable across bees, and unlikely to be the sole explanation for the observed strong impairment of the optomotor response. Exposure to sulfoxaflor led to small but noticeable increases in dead brain cells, primarily in the optic lobes which are important for processing visual information. 



“Neonicotinoid and sulfoximine insecticides activate neurons in the insect brain and are not always recycled fast enough to prevent toxicity. The effects we observed could be due to a type of rewiring in the brain: to prevent neural damage by reducing the sensitivity of neurons to these compounds,” said Dr. Parkinson.



“To fully understand the risk of these insecticides to bees, we need to explore whether the effects we observed in walking bees occur in freely flying bees as well. The major concern is that, if bees are unable to overcome any impairment while flying, there could be profound negative effects on their ability to forage, navigate, and pollinate wildflowers and crops."



"The results add to what the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the World Health Organization, have identified as&nbsp;the “rapidly growing body of evidence [which] strongly suggests that the existing levels of environmental contamination [from neonicotinoid pesticides] are causing large-scale adverse effects on bees and other beneficial insects.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/finsc.2022.936826/full">Frontiers in Insect Science</a>.



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

Honey bees cannot fly straight after ingesting pesticides

Honey bees fly out of the hive each day in...

It is not only the land that is currently experiencing extreme weather events, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-activities-are-fueling-more-extreme-heatwaves/">heatwaves</a>, but also the world’s seas and oceans. For instance, in the Mediterranean Sea, water temperatures are now up to 5°C higher than the average. Although scientists have already started investigating marine heatwaves, relatively little is known about how they co-occur with other extreme events in the ocean, creating “compound events” that are a major risk to marine ecosystems and contribute to climate change.



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.oeschger.unibe.ch/">Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research</a> (OCCR) has investigated such compound events, focusing on the combination of marine heatwaves with stressors such as high acidity levels in the oceans. 



“For the first time, we have quantified the frequency of compound events in which marine heatwaves happen together with extreme acidity,” said study lead author Friedrich Burger, a postdoctoral fellow at OCCR.



By using monthly observations from the surface open ocean from 1982 to 2019, the scientists found that marine heatwaves and extreme ocean acidity occur relatively often together. Thus, the negative impacts of past marine heatwaves were probably exacerbated by extreme acidic conditions. 



“We can show that these compound events are most common in the subtropical oceans, but comparably rare in the high latitudes and tropical Pacific,” said Dr. Burger.



The co-occurrence of heatwaves and acidity extremes in subtropical oceans is caused by an increase in acidity at higher temperatures. However, if ocean warming causes other effects too – such as less mixing of the more acidic subsurface water with surface water – heatwaves can also reduce acidity and decrease the frequency of compound events, as it happens in the Southern Ocean or the tropical Pacific. 



"To determine the relative frequency of combined extreme events, it is crucial to understand the effects of heatwaves on the circulation, biology, and chemistry of the respective ocean region,” said study co-author Jens Terhaar, an oceanographer at the <a href="https://www.unibe.ch/">University of Bern</a>.



According to the experts, such compound extreme events will continue to increase in frequency due to climate change and continuing CO2 emissions, with climate modelling showing that the number of days in which marine heatwaves and high acidity events co-occur will increase 22-fold at a global warming of 2°C&nbsp;above pre-industrial levels. Such events may irreversibly damage marine ecosystems and pose significant threats to fisheries. Thus, urgently curbing greenhouse emissions is essential for safeguarding marine biodiversity.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32120-7">Nature Communications</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;

Compound events could irreversibly damage the ocean

It is not only the land that is currently experiencing...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/home.html">Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research</a> (Leibniz-IZW) has investigated the influence of maternal, social, and ecological factors during early life on the survival and reproductive fitness of female adult <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spotted-hyenas-change-their-foraging-behavior-to-adapt/">spotted hyenas</a> (Crocuta crocuta). The analysis revealed that the social status of the mother had a positive effect on the reproductive success of the next generation, while being born to an elderly mother or growing up during a period of environmental stresses such as massive rainfall reduced survival and longevity. 



However, the experts suggest that the combination of specific conditions during early life may matter more than just the simple accumulation of either beneficial or adverse conditions in predicting life prospects in hyena populations.



The scientists analyzed data from the life histories of 666 female spotted hyenas from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania from 1987 to 2020 to assess how a variety of maternal, social, demographic, and ecological factors affected their evolutionary fitness (how many of an individual’s offspring reach reproductive age and manage to pass their genes to the next generation).



“Through careful analyses of the long-term data we were able to show clearly, for example, that female offspring of elder mothers have a significantly shorter lifespan and raise fewer young than those of mothers in their prime age,” said study lead author Morgane Gicquel, an expert in Ecological Dynamics at Leibniz-IZW. The investigation also revealed that daughters benefited if they did not have siblings, if were the dominant rather than the subordinate cubs in twin litters, or if their mothers had a high social status.



“We were surprised to find that maternal social status, litter size, and offspring dominance status only mattered to hyena offspring in the first few years, namely for survival to adulthood and for age at first reproduction, but that they did not influence longevity or lifetime reproductive success,” Gicquel explained.



“In contrast, we found both short-term and long-term effects for the number of lactating&nbsp;adult females&nbsp;in a clan,” said study senior author Sarah Benhaiem, a behavioral ecologist at Leibniz-IZW. “As the number of lactating female clan members increased, growth rate, survival to adulthood, and lifetime reproductive success of the offspring decreased. This could be related to more frequent conflicts and increased competition among breeding females.”



The scientists also discovered that ecological factors, such as increases in rainfall in the first six months of their lives, reduced the changes of female hyenas of surviving to adulthood, possibly due to increased parasite load and transmission of pathogens, or the flooding of communal dens, leading to cubs drowning at an early age. “In terms of climate change, it now rains more in the Serengeti than ever before - quite in contrast to many other areas in Africa. In the light of these insights, this might have a long-term negative effect on the population,” concluded Leibniz-IZW director Heribert Hofer.



The study is published in the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13785">Journal of Animal Ecology</a>.&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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Early life has long-term effects on the health of hyenas

A new study led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

[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

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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

[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



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

[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



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

[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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

[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

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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"

[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



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

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

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