Sugar-free treats have taken over the shelves. You’ve probably seen erythritol listed on sodas, protein bars, and even toothpaste. It’s everywhere. Almost zero calories, no sugar spikes, and perfect for keto diets. Sounds like a win, but maybe not.



A new study from the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Colorado Boulder</a> has cracked open a side of erythritol that few expected. It’s not about weight gain or tooth decay. It’s about what this <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificial-sweeteners-erythritol-directly-linked-to-heart-attacks-and-strokes/">sweetener</a> does to your brain’s blood vessels that may elevate the risk of a stroke.



“Our study adds to the evidence suggesting that non-nutritive sweeteners that have generally been purported to be safe, may not come without negative health consequences,” said Professor Christopher DeSouza, who led the study.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sweetener-changes-brain-cells">Sweetener changes brain cells</h2>



The researchers did not yet test this in people. They went straight to the cells that line your brain’s blood vessels. These cells regulate blood flow, keep inflammation in check, and help prevent clots.



The cells were exposed to erythritol for just three hours. The amount used was equal to what you would get from one sugar-free drink. That was all it took to cause noticeable changes.



The cells got stressed. They flooded with free radicals, also called reactive oxygen species or ROS. These unstable molecules damage proteins, DNA, and cell membranes. In response, antioxidant defenses went up, but not enough. 



It was like the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificial-sweetener-erythritol-sugar-substitute-linked-to-blood-clots-heart-disease/">cells</a> knew they were under attack and tried, unsuccessfully, to defend themselves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-blood-vessels-started-misbehaving">Blood vessels started misbehaving</h2>



That same short exposure changed how the cells produced nitric oxide, a molecule that helps blood vessels relax. Less nitric oxide means tighter vessels. That’s bad news when your brain needs steady blood flow.



The total amount of the enzyme that makes nitric oxide didn’t change much, but its function tanked. It stopped doing its job well. 



Erythritol messed with the enzyme's activation at two specific sites. One turned down, one cranked up. The result was about 20 percent less nitric oxide production. This sets the stage for constricted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nutritionists-reveal-the-surprising-health-benefits-of-maple-syrup-including-less-belly-fat/">vessels</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sweetener-makes-brain-vessels-tighten">Sweetener makes brain vessels tighten</h2>



The same cells started pumping out more endothelin-1, a protein that tells blood vessels to tighten up. Compared to normal cells, the erythritol-exposed ones had a 30 percent increase in ET-1. They also had more of its precursor, Big ET-1.



That’s a double whammy. First, blood vessels lose their ability to widen. Then, they get signals to squeeze even more.



“Big picture, if your vessels are more constricted and your ability to break down blood clots is lowered, your risk of stroke goes up,” said first author Auburn Berry. “Our research demonstrates not only that, but how erythritol has the potential to increase stroke risk.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-clots-don-t-stand-a-chance">Clots don’t stand a chance</h2>



Blood clots are tricky. You want your body to stop bleeding when you get a cut. But you also want it to break down unnecessary clots inside vessels. One of the body’s tools for that is tissue-type plasminogen activator, or t-PA.



In this study, the researchers added thrombin, which mimics a clotting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/common-sweetener-can-destroy-some-of-the-most-dangerous-bacteria/">signal</a>. Normally, that should have made the cells release more t-PA. In untreated cells, that’s exactly what happened. A nice 25 percent boost.



In erythritol-treated cells? Nothing. The response was completely muted. Clots form and cells don’t react. That’s the formula for a stroke.



One study tracked over 4,000 people in the U.S. and Europe. The research team found that those with high blood levels of erythritol had more strokes and heart attacks within three years. This happened across both sexes and regardless of other health issues.



The Colorado team didn’t just observe changes. They showed exactly how the sweetener weakens brain vessel cells in ways that match the stroke patterns found in people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sweeteners-may-harm-blood-vessels">Sweeteners may harm blood vessels</h2>



DeSouza and his team exposed real human brain vessel cells to a typical drink-size dose of erythritol. Many people consume several such servings a day. And unlike some substances, erythritol crosses into the brain.



The study wasn’t designed to track long-term effects, but it does raise a concern. What happens when those cells face erythritol not just for three hours, but every day?



“Given the epidemiological study that inspired our work, and now our cellular findings, we believe it would be prudent for people to monitor their consumption of non-nutrient-sweeteners such as this one,” said DeSouza.



The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00276.2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Applied Physiology</a>. 



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Common sweetener may directly damage the brain

Sugar-free treats have taken over the shelves. You’ve probably seen erythritol listed on sodas, protein bars, and even toothpaste. It’s everywhere. Almost zero calories, no sugar spikes, and perfect for keto diets. Sounds like a win, but maybe not. A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder has cracked open a side of erythritol that few expected. It’s not about weight gain or tooth decay. It’s about what this sweetener does to your brain’s blood vessels that may elevate the risk of a stroke. “Our study...

A team of scientists from <a href="https://plus.cnu.ac.kr/html/en/">Chungnam National University</a> (CNU) in South Korea have recently created two beagle dogs from cloned skin cells altered by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/grapevine-killer-controlled-through-gene-editing-strategy/">gene-editing</a> technologies. The researchers hope that this technique could be used more broadly in the near future to eliminate disease-causing mutations from pedigree dog breeds.



Because of years of inbreeding, pedigree dogs are frequently susceptible to genetic diseases. For instance, some cocker spaniels are known to have brains too large for their skulls, while boxers are often suffering from epilepsy. By using a gene-editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9, the CNU scientists created the beagles by first editing skin cells to mutate a gene (DJ-1) that is associated with degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. They then placed these gene-edited skin cells next to egg cells whose DNA had been removed, and fused them together by using short pulses of electricity. Through this technique, a total of 68 embryos were created and implanted into six surrogate mothers, resulting in two puppies.



The two cloned beagles are now 22 months old and do not show signs of any abnormalities. “DJ-1 KO dogs show partial or complete repression of target gene expression,” the study authors reported.&nbsp;“This technology can be used in further studies to produce pathogenic gene-corrected or disease-modelling dogs.” However, since the diseases linked to the DJ-1 gene are age-related, it is still too early to tell whether the dogs will experience any degenerative diseases as they get older.&nbsp;



Although the first human trials of CRISPR therapies have already been initiated, and scientists hope they are on the brink of reaching the clinics, many researchers remain skeptical about these developments. According to some scholars, gene-editing tools could potentially cause unwanted mutations that may prove dangerous. Others worry that this groundbreaking technology could lead to the creation of “designer babies,” by allowing parents to choose their children’s hair color, height, or even traits such as intelligence. However, regardless of these critical stances, most scientists remain hopeful that these methods could ease the burden of disease in many animals, including humans.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcbiotechnol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12896-022-00749-3#Sec3">BMC Biotechnology</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



---



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;

Cloned beagles created for the first time

A team of scientists from Chungnam National University (CNU) in...

Black carbon - or soot – emitted by vehicles, power plants, residential heating, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-exposed-to-wildfires-are-at-risk-of-deadly-blood-clots/">wildfires</a> is a highly potent absorber of solar radiation that converts incoming light to atmospheric heating. However, since soot is usually mixed with other substances, it has been difficult to estimate its effect on the climate.&nbsp;



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.lanl.gov/">Los Alamos National Laboratory</a> has investigated how soot’s light-reflecting and light-absorbing properties evolve as it ages during the dispersal of wildfire smoke, in order to predict more accurately this substance’s contribution to global warming.



“Black carbon or soot is the next most potent climate-warming agent after CO2 and methane, despite a short lifetime of weeks, but its impact in climate models is still highly uncertain. Our research will clear up that uncertainty,” said study lead author James Lee, a climate researcher at the Los Alamos National Lab.&nbsp;



The scientists sampled smoke from several wildfires over two summers in the Western United States, including the Medio Fire in New Mexico in 2020 and aged plumes from fires in California and Arizona. Months after these wildfires were extinguished, the smoke plumes can linger in the upper atmosphere, and form organic aerosols that condense around black carbon particles. Some of these aerosols focus light on the soot, increasing its absorption. However, the quantity of absorbed light depends on the size of the aerosols and how they coat the soot.



“Wildfires emit soot and organic particles that respectively absorb and scatter the sunlight to warm or cool the atmosphere to a varying net effect, depending on the composition of the smoke mixture,” said study senior author Manvendra Dubey, an expert in climate, energy, and air quality research at the Los Alamos Lab. “This mixing evolves over time as smoke from large megafires disperses globally. We discovered a systematic relationship between the increase in light absorption efficiency of soot with age due to the growth in organic coatings.”



By analyzing 60 million smoke particles, the researchers managed to account for variations in the amount of organic coating on each particle, and used existing absorption models to determine how much light energy each particle absorbed in order to infer the total black carbon absorption of the plumes. They found that current climate models generally overestimate how much radiation is absorbed by black carbon, leading to large uncertainties and biases in wildfire climate effects.



“When smoke plumes remain in the lower troposphere and don’t experience temperatures below freezing, black carbon absorption can be predicted by an empirical relationship related to the ratio of coating material to black carbon volume in the plume. This simple parameterization is suitable for incorporation into complex earth systems models to determine the climate impact of black carbon,” the authors concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="about:blank">Geophysical Research Letters</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;

Exploring the climate-warming effects of wildfire soot

Black carbon - or soot – emitted by vehicles, power...

The first&nbsp;fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex&nbsp;was discovered in 1902, in Montana’s Hell Creek Formation. Subsequently, similar finds were few and far between, with only another three specimens being excavated by 1980. However, since then, more than two dozen additional specimens have been uncovered. As the sample has grown, scientists have identified some variation between specimens that has become the subject of discussion and further investigation.&nbsp;



Some scientists have asserted that the variations in tooth and femur measurements of 38 Tyrannosaurus specimens are distinct enough to represent three separate species. These experts proposed naming the two new species T. regina and T. imperator. However, in a rebuttal of this provocative hypothesis, paleontologists from the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a> and Carthage College reanalyze the fossil specimens and find that the variations fall well within what can be expected from different individuals in a single species, that of T. rex.&nbsp;



“Recently, a bold theory was announced, to much fanfare: what we call&nbsp;T. rex&nbsp;was actually multiple species,” explained Steve Brusatte, co-author of the paper refuting these claims. “It is true that the fossils we have are somewhat variable in size and shape, but as we show in our new study, that variation is minor and cannot be used to neatly separate the fossils into easily defined clusters.”&nbsp;



“Based on all the fossil evidence we currently have,&nbsp;T. rex&nbsp;stands alone as the single giant apex predator from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs in North America,” said Brusatte, who is currently a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh but conducted his Ph.D. work at the Museum. “Tyrannosaurus rex&nbsp;remains the one true king of the dinosaurs,” he said.



The original paper, published in the journal Evolutionary Biology in March 2022, asserted that variation in the size of the second tooth in the lower jaw, and in the robustness of the femur in T. rex specimens, indicated the presence of multiple species. The authors of the rebuttal paper, published today in the same journal, took their own measurements of the same specimens and found different results. They also analyzed data on variation from 112 species of birds – which are all descended from theropod dinosaurs – in addition to data from four non-avian theropod dinosaurs.



“Their study claimed that the variation in&nbsp;T. rex&nbsp;specimens was so high that they were probably from multiple closely related species of giant meat-eating dinosaur,” said James Napoli, co-lead author of the rebuttal study and a graduating doctoral student in the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate School. “But this claim was based on a very small comparative sample. When compared to data from hundreds of living birds, we actually found that&nbsp;T. rex&nbsp;is&nbsp;less&nbsp;variable than most living theropod dinosaurs. This line of evidence for proposed multiple species doesn’t hold up.”



The authors of the new study also took issue with how the different groupings for the three putative species were determined statistically, using the tooth and femur measurements. In the original study, the statistical analysis defined the number of putative groups before the test was run, which is not an acceptable method for testing the hypothesis, according to the authors of the new study. In their new analysis, they used a different statistical technique to determine how many clusters exist within the data, and did not start out with any advanced assumptions. They found that the measurement data are best considered as a single group, representing only one species – T. rex.



“The boundaries of even living species are very hard to define: for instance, zoologists disagree over the number of living species of giraffe,” said co-author Thomas Holtz, from the University of Maryland and the National Museum of Natural History. “It becomes much more difficult when the species involved are ancient and only known from a fairly small number of specimens. Other sources of variation –changes with growth, with region, with sex, and with good old-fashioned individual differences – have to be rejected before one accepts the hypothesis that two sets of specimens are in fact separate species. In our view, that hypothesis is not yet the best explanation.”



“T. rex&nbsp;is an iconic species and an incredibly important one for both paleontological research and communicating to the public about science, so it’s important that we get this right,” said co-author David Hone from Queen Mary University of London. “There is still a good chance that there is more than one species of Tyranosaurus out there, but we need strong evidence to make that kind of decision.”



According to Brusatte, the results of the new study confirm that “Tyrannosaurus rex&nbsp;remains the one true king of the dinosaurs.”&nbsp;



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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

New study refutes the claim that T. rex was multiple species

The first&nbsp;fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex&nbsp;was discovered in 1902,...

Declining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/early-animals-evolved-oxygen/">oxygen</a> levels – due to rising water temperatures caused by climate change and pollution – represent significant problems for fish and other aquatic organisms. A new study led by <a href="https://www.ru.nl/en">Radboud University</a> has found that larger fishes are more likely to experience oxygen deficiency in warming water than smaller fishes. Moreover, marine fishes appear to be less tolerant of oxygen-depleted water than freshwater fishes. These findings will help scientists predict which aquatic species are at risk due to habitat changes caused by human activities and global warming.



Biologists have long debated the role of oxygen in the sensitivity of fish to warming water. “Many oxygen hypotheses are being fiercely debated. The problem is that the various effects are lumped together. For example, some studies look at how fish respond to oxygen levels in the water but do not account for the temperature of the water or the size of the fish. As a result, the reported patterns are variable,” said study lead author Wilco Verberk, an expert in Aquatic Ecology at Radboud University.



By systematically separating the various effects and compiling data on tolerance to oxygen deficiency from 195 fishes, Professor Verberk and his colleagues discovered that larger fishes are more sensitive to oxygen stress, but only in warmer water. Surprisingly, when the water is cold, the effect seems to be reversed. Moreover, a similar effect was observed in fishes with relatively large cells.



“Many people think that all animal species have the same cell size, but some animals have large cells, and some have small cells, even within the same species. There are many advantages to having small cells, especially in warm water. For example, small cells have relatively more membrane area, which is needed to absorb oxygen from their surrounding environment,” Professor Verberk explained.



“The explanation probably involves different selection pressures on freshwater fish during their evolutionary history,” Verberk said. “In the ocean, the temperature is relatively stable, but in fresh water the fish are more often confronted with higher temperatures. Fluctuations in oxygen levels are also larger in rivers and especially in lakes, for example, due to the presence of algae.”



Further research is needed to clarify whether these findings apply to different fish species in order to reliably map the effect of climate change on marine and freshwater ecosystems.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/GCB.16319">Global Change Biology</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Which types of fish suffer from oxygen starvation?

Declining oxygen levels – due to rising water temperatures caused...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucalgary.ca/">University of Calgary</a>, nearly six percent of children who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-can-reliably-detect-long-covid-cases/">Covid-19</a> reported symptoms three months later. The experts found that initial hospitalization of two or more days, four or more symptoms at the initial ED visit, and age 14 or older were associated with higher risk of developing long Covid.



“We found that in some children, illness with Covid-19 is associated with reporting persistent symptoms after three months,” said study senior author Stephen Freedman, a professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Calgary. “Our results suggest that appropriate guidance and follow-up are needed, especially for children at high risk for long Covid.”



The study included 1,884 children with Covid-19, who were followed-up for 90 days. Long Covid was found in almost ten percent of hospitalized children and five percent in those who were discharged from the ED. The most reported symptoms were fatigue, cough, and shortness of breath.



“Reported rates of long Covid in adults are substantially higher than what we found in children,” said study co-author Nathan Kuppermann, a professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a>. “Our findings can inform public health policy decisions regarding Covid-19 mitigation strategies for children and screening approaches for long Covid among those with severe infections.”



“Our finding that children who had multiple Covid-19 symptoms initially were at higher risk for long Covid is consistent with studies in adults,” added study co-author Todd Florin, an attending physician at <a href="https://www.luriechildrens.org/">Lurie Children’s Hospital</a> and associate professor of Pediatrics at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a>.&nbsp;



“Unfortunately, there are no known therapies for long COVID in children and more research is needed in this area. However, if symptoms are significant, treatment targeting the symptoms is most important. Multidisciplinary care is warranted if symptoms are impacting quality of life,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2794484">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;

What are the risks of long Covid in children?

According to a new study led by the University of...

To save the world’s oceans, scientists are racing to find more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sustainable-farming-is-good-for-farmers-well-being/">sustainable</a> ways to make products such as Omega-3 fatty acids, biodiesel, aquaculture and livestock food. New research from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> discovered a simple, low-cost way to extract bioactives from single-cell algae oil – using waste sulfur from industries such as petrochemical production.&nbsp;



The research team built upon their existing body of work in sulfur chemistry to develop the innovative algae oil production process. The new method involves using waste sulfur to produce enriched saturated triglycerides from sustainably produced algae oil.&nbsp; &nbsp;



A single sulfur reaction is used to simultaneously produce polymers from polyunsaturated triglycerides and enrich saturated triglycerides for various value-added applications. The sulfur reaction can draw up to 90 percent of the unsaturated triglycerides from cultured single-cell algae.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“In this case, the algae oil is reacted with sulfur. The polyunsaturated triglycerides form polymers with many established uses, such as environmental remediation," explained Professor Justin Chalker. "The saturated triglycerides remain unreacted in this process, for recovery and ultimate conversion to value-added substances such as biodiesel."



"The unreacted oil is enriched in saturated triglycerides, which can be isolated by extraction for potential use in biodiesel production," wrote the study authors. "In this way, a single batch of sustainably produced algae oil can be converted into multiple useful products in a single step."



Professor Munish Puri has been working on single-cell oils to produce new materials for nutritional supplements, meat free alternatives, biodiesel and other products.



“There is growing interest in the bio-based production of lipids from algae,” said Professor Puri. “Single-cell thraustochytrids are especially attractive in this regard, as they can produce over 50 percent of their weight as triglycerides."



“But despite their promise, there remains a need for versatile downstream processing to enrich these so-called ‘single-cell oils’ into fatty acid classes based on degree of unsaturation. And that’s what this novel approach is helping to address.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the American Chemical Society journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/ascecg">ACS Sustainable Chemistry &amp; Engineering</a>.



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

Experts develop a new method for making fish oil

To save the world’s oceans, scientists are racing to find...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/birds-could-rapidly-lose-the-traits-that-make-them-unique/">Birds</a> have additional cones in their retina which allow them to see ultraviolet colors that are invisible to humans. A new study from <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> has revealed that, when it comes to colors that are visible to birds, hummingbirds have a plumage diversity that exceeds the known colors of all other bird species combined. The experts report that their discovery increases the total of known bird-visible plumage colors by 56 percent.



Professor Richard Prum is an ornithologist who has spent years studying the nanostructures that give birds their colorful plumage. He was surprised by what he found in hummingbirds.



“We knew that hummingbirds were colorful, but we never imagined that they would rival all the rest of the birds combined,” said Professor Prum.&nbsp;



For the investigation, study lead author Gabriela Venable collected data on the wavelengths of light reflected by feathers from 114 species of hummingbirds. This data was compared with colors found in 111 other bird species, including parrots and penguins.



Based on what they know about the visual abilities of birds, the researchers were able to identify plumage colors as seen by the birds themselves.



"Coloration has many functions in the lives of animals, including sexual and social communication, crypsis, aposematism, thermoregulation, and more. The phenomenon of animal coloration involves a cascade of physical and biological events beginning with the transmission of ambient light through an animal’s habitat and incident on its body, interacting with pigments and optical nanostructures in the animal integument, and reflecting back into the environment," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"The sensory component occurs when this light is transmitted through another individual’s eye and is absorbed by ocular pigments, leading finally to a perception of color. The field of sensory ecology encompasses research on all aspects of this cascade of phenomena."



The colors found in hummingbirds include saturated blues, blue-greens, and deep purples that are most variable on the animals’ crowns and throats. These parts of the body play a key role in mating displays and social interactions.



“Watching a single hummingbird is pretty extraordinary,” said Professor Prum. “But the combination of versatile optical structures and complex sexual displays make hummingbirds the most colorful bird family of all.”



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



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

Hummingbirds have more colors than all other birds combined

Birds have additional cones in their retina which allow them...

Online videos of shark attacks are highly popular, attracting millions of views. However, their violent nature usually gives rise in viewers to highly negative attitudes towards sharks. Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> (NC State) has found that positive videos of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-important-deserve-protections/">sharks</a> could be a useful tool for shark conservation, by contributing to changing people’s attitudes in these predators’ favor, and hopefully helping to reverse the massive decline (71 percent) in shark populations since the 1970s.



“We need to find ways to protect these important species – they help regulate oceanic food webs and influence prey dynamics,” said study lead author Justin Beall, a doctoral student at NC State. “Popular representations of sharks are that they are dangerous animals that seek out opportunities to harm humans. Think of the movie ‘Jaws,’ for example. We need to explore ways to foster human tolerance of sharks, a key component of their conservation.”



Since previous studies have shown that online videos can help build support for other predators such as wolves, Beall and his colleagues wanted to assess whether shark videos could have a similar effect too. By surveying 325 people before and after they watched a series of shark videos on YouTube – some of them positive, showing non-aggressive shark behavior, and some negative, depicting shark attacks and bites - the researchers found that the type of video the participants wants strongly influenced their attitudes, acceptance, and intentions towards sharks.



In contrast to those who watched negative clips, participants who watched positive ones showed greater acceptance and more positive attitudes towards these creatures, and reported greater intentions to help them: their average attitude score increased by 70 percent, their acceptance score by 130 percent, and their intentions to support shark conservation by 46 percent.



“Wildlife agencies and other organizations communicating about wildlife should investigate using YouTube for the conservation of multiple species, and especially for large, carnivorous species that often struggle to gain public support,” Beall said.



Unfortunately, despite the potential benefit of positive videos, many of the negative ones had significantly more views. “How do we get people to look at the good clips?” asked study co-author M. Nils Peterson, a professor in the State Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology program at NC State. “Many people are into the entertainment value of ‘Shark Week,’ but not many people go to the beach and say, ‘I wish we could see more sharks.’ How do we leverage people’s enthusiasm for shark conservation?” Further research is needed to answer these questions.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acv.12808">Animal Conservation</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;

Shark videos could contribute to conservation efforts

Online videos of shark attacks are highly popular, attracting millions...

According to the <a href="https://beta.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a> (NSF), better understanding the impact of climate change on our daily lives – in terms of increased wildfire frequency, lengthier allergy seasons, or changes in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-key-genes-that-drive-insect-migration/">insect</a> populations and pollination processes – will help us rise to the challenge of climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience.



Climate change has been steadily increasing the frequency of wildfires all over the world. In western U.S., for example, average fire events are up to four times the size, triple the frequency, and much more widespread in the 21st century than in the previous two decades. 



Moreover, hotter and drier nights are significantly hindering overnight wildfire suppression strategies, making it more difficult to deal with such extreme phenomena. Besides the immediate damage to ecosystems these fires cause, the particle pollutants from the smoke are a significant health hazard, leading to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.



Another problem affecting a large proportion of the world’s population is the increased duration and intensity of allergy seasons. Changes in temperature and precipitations have led not only to longer allergy seasons, but also to increased pollen concentrations, which can give rise to respiratory diseases, or exacerbate pre-existing ones. Scientists argue that, in the U.S., the pollen season will soon last around 19 days longer than in the past years, and pollen emissions will increase by at least 16 percent.



Finally, the massive impact of climate change on insects is another issue that people around the globe will have to deal with. Climate change is currently affecting the balance of microbes in floral nectar, thus significantly endangering the health of pollinators and, potentially, humans, by reducing the availability of fresh foods. However, pollinators are not the only insects affected by rising temperatures. For instance, several species of ticks have been spreading beyond their normal ranges, increasing the risk of tick-borne diseases such as Lyme Disease or Erlichiosis.



According to NSF experts, a changing climate needs urgent climate action and resilience technologies. Planting flora that could sequester carbon or increasing our reliance on sustainable energy, for example, could help curbing greenhouse gas emissions and reduce global warming, thus decreasing the risks of extreme weather events and safeguarding vulnerable ecosystems.&nbsp;



&nbsp;---



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;

Understanding climate change can increase resilience

According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), better understanding the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> in Beijing has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-can-be-prompted-to-repeat-their-recent-actions/">dogs</a> tend to wag their tails to the right when they are in the proximity of people they are familiar with. According to the experts, this phenomenon is caused by the fact that the left side of the brain, which controls the right side of the body, is the place where positive emotions – such as those triggered by meeting a beloved person – are processed.



By using a 3D motion tracking system, the scientists studied how ten beagles wagged their tails when they were with humans for one five-minutes session per day over a period of three days. In total, the researchers analyzed more than 21,000 wagging bouts, including the distance and speed with which their tails moved. The results revealed that, as the dogs get to know a person, they start wagging their tails more frequently to the right and less frequently to the left.



“The switch to right-sided wagging suggests the dogs are perceiving the stranger in a more positive light given the passage of time,” said Deborah Wells, an expert in dog behavior at <a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/">Queen’s University Belfast</a>, who was not involved in the study.



“Positive and negative emotional states have been associated with left- and right-sided activation of the prefrontal cortex in humans,” explained study senior author Yong Zhang, a professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese University of Sciences.&nbsp;



“We speculate that tail wagging toward the left might be accompanied by right brain activation, while tail wagging toward the right side may be accompanied by left brain activation in the prefrontal cortex.”



According to the study authors, these findings reveal the sophisticated features and organization of dogs’ tail-wagging behavior during interactions with humans, providing a useful paradigm for analyzing dogs’ social behaviors and their underlying neural mechanisms.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222010197">iScience</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;

Dogs wag their tails to the right for people they love

A new study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences...

When temperatures are rising, ant colonies need to make collective <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/red-pandas-face-shrinking-habitats-and-tough-decisions/">decisions</a>. While each ant feels the heat rising beneath its feet, they carry along as usual, until they suddenly reverse course, with the whole group evacuating their nest. A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.rockefeller.edu/">Rockefeller University</a> has found that, in such situations, ants as a group behave similar to networks of neurons in the brain.&nbsp;



By developing a new experimental setup to rigorously analyze decision-making in ant colonies, the researchers discovered that when a colony evacuates its nest due to rising temperatures, its decision is a function of both the magnitude of the heat increase and the size of the colony. Thus, ants combine sensory information with the parameters of their group in order to arrive at a collective response – a process similar to how neural networks in the brain give rise to decisions.



“We pioneered an approach to understand the ant colony as a cognitive-like system that perceives inputs and then translates them into behavioral outputs,” said study senior author Daniel Kronauer, an expert in Social Evolution and Behavior at Rockefeller. “This is one of the first steps toward really understanding how insect societies engage in collective computation.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Decision-making consists of a series of computations meant to minimize costs and maximize benefits. For example, in a type of decision-making called sensory response thresholding, an animal has to detect sensory input such as heat exceeding a certain level to produce a costly behavior, like moving away.



The scientists exposed ant colonies of 36 workers and 18 larvae to rising temperatures, and found that, when the temperature exceeded 34 degrees Celsius, the ants evacuated their nest. Surprisingly though, if the size of the colony was larger - about 200 individuals – the ants only evacuated the nest when temperatures rose to 36. “It seems that the threshold isn’t fixed. Rather, it’s an emergent property that changes depending on the group size,” said Professor Kronauer.



According to the scientists, pheromones – the invisible chemical messengers that pass information among ants – play a crucial role in structuring this collective behavior. It is not yet clear though why larger colonies would require higher temperatures to pack up shop. A hypothesis is that the larger the colony size, the more onerous it is to relocate.



In future studies, the researchers aim to refine their theoretical model by interfering with more parameters - such as tempering the level of pheromones in the ants’ enclosures or creating genetically altered ants with different abilities to detect temperature changes - and observing how the insects respond.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“What we’ve been able to do so far is to perturb the system and measure the output precisely. In the long term, the idea is to reverse engineer the system to deduce its inner workings in more and more detail,” Kronauer concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2123076119">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</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;

Ant colonies behave like neural networks when making decisions

When temperatures are rising, ant colonies need to make collective...

A new study led by the <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/">University of Waterloo</a> in Canada has identified the ten financial actors with the most influence on the fossil fuel economy and outlined the major role they can potentially play in helping de-carbonize our planet’s future. The analysis revealed that these ten most influential actors – including investment advisors, governments, and sovereign wealth funds – own 49.5 percent of potential greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s largest energy companies.



“This shows us that both investors and governments can be at the forefront of change if citizens and clients urge them to de-carbonize,” said study lead author Truzaar Dordi, a doctoral candidate in Sustainability Management at the University of Waterloo. “A concentrated number of investors with the potential to influence the trajectory of the fossil fuel industry is either a problem, or an opportunity, depending on how you see things.”



“If they’re serious, capital markets can enable a low-carbon transition within the top coal, oil, and gas reserve owners in the world. Recent pledges to reduce carbon exposure in investment portfolios and engagement with the fossil fuel industry indicate we may already be moving in that direction,” he added.



In their article, Dordi and his colleagues have outlined specific ways in which these 10 financial actors could make changes that may help mitigate global warming, including public disclosures of a scheduled phase-out of fossil fuel financing, rigorous assessments of a portfolio’s exposure to climate risk in a 2°C warmer world, and alignments of investment portfolios with a 1.5°C scenario.



“Individually, reducing the demand for fossil fuels by driving and flying less and turning off the air-conditioner are great. We should keep doing that. But we also need to reduce our production of fossil fuels, which these 10 actors can lead. Without them, we simply won’t have what it takes to meet our emissions targets and avoid catastrophe,” Dordi concluded.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210422422000636?dgcid=author#!">Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions</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;

Ten financial actors could change the fate of Earth's climate

A new study led by the University of Waterloo in...

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[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



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"

[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

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