Astronomers caught a star system at the moment when solid grains began to form planets. This snapshot reveals how planets first start to form, just as Earth once did.



The infant star HOPS-315 sits about 1,300 light-years, roughly 7.6 quadrillion miles, away in the constellation Orion. Around it whirls a disc of gas and dust where heat is high enough to bake rock yet cool enough for those rocks to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-giant-planets-form/">re-form</a>.



<a href="https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/melissa-mcclure#tab-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Melissa McClure</a> of Leiden University led the international team that pieced together these first moments of planetary assembly. Their finding gives researchers a live laboratory that mirrors the opening chapter of the Solar System’s own story.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-planets-form-from-early-solids">How planets form from early solids</h2>



In primitive meteorites, tiny calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions tell us that the Solar System’s clock started ticking <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1226919" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">4.567 billion</a> years ago. Those inclusions condensed from a searing vapor and seeded every terrestrial planet we know.



Because the clock starts with condensation, catching that step beyond the Sun has been an astronomer’s white whale. 



The new observation marks the first time any telescope has seen <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/cp/d2cp02188a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gas-phase silicon monoxide</a> (SiO) alongside freshly crystallizing silicates in the same patch of a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/protoplanetary-disk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">protoplanetary disc</a>.



McClure’s team spotted the minerals within an orbit comparable to our asteroid belt. That match matters, for it pins early <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-planets-form-its-much-more-complicated-than-we-thought/">chemistry</a> to a region that later fed Earth with water and metals.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crystals-forming-around-hops-315">Crystals forming around HOPS-315</h2>



The James Webb Space Telescope (<a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JWST</a>) collects infrared light that pierces the dust cocoon shrouding HOPS-315, revealing the distinct fingerprint of hot SiO molecules. Those molecules glow at about 2,200°F, a temperature that vaporizes most common rocks.



<a href="https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/home/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ALMA</a>, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, then measured the same region at millimeter wavelengths and mapped where the glow comes from. 



By combining the two views, scientists confirmed that both gas and solid forms of silicon occupy a ring no farther than 2 astronomical units from the star.



Handling these observations is tricky because HOPS-315 also drives a jet rich in SiO. The team disentangled the jet’s signal from the disc’s by checking velocities, the jet gas races outward, whereas disc material <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/july-2025-skywatching-bright-planets-and-a-summer-constellation/">orbits</a> sedately.



A final check involved comparing the brightness of different SiO lines. The ratio matched laboratory predictions for vapor that is actively condensing, adding yet another layer of confidence to the result.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-planets-forming-from-gas-and-crystals">Planets forming from gas and crystals</h2>



Crystalline silicates appear where cooling vapor meets a sharp fall in temperature. The presence of both phases at one location means condensation is happening right now, not long ago nor far away in another part of the disc.



“This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc, or anywhere outside our Solar System,” said <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/astro/people/core-faculty/ebergin.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Edwin Bergin</a> of the <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/astro" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a>, a co-author on the study. 



He adds that the minerals are the same kind locked inside 4.5-billion-year-old meteorites on Earth’s shelves.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://cdn.eso.org/images/wallpaper5/eso2512a.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/solar-system-forming_HOPS-315_ESO_1s.webp" alt="This is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation. Together with data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), these observations show that hot minerals are beginning to solidify. In orange we see the distribution of carbon monoxide, blowing away from the star in a butterfly-shaped wind. In blue we see a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, also beaming away from the star. These gaseous winds and jets are common around baby stars like HOPS-315. Credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al." class="wp-image-1978595"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation. Together with data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), these observations show that hot minerals are beginning to solidify. In orange we see the distribution of carbon monoxide, blowing away from the star in a butterfly-shaped wind. In blue we see a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, also beaming away from the star. These gaseous winds and jets are common around baby stars like HOPS-315. Click image to enlarge. Credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.</figcaption></figure>



“We’re really seeing these minerals at the same location in this extrasolar system as where we see them in asteroids in the Solar System,” said co-author, Logan Francis from the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (<a href="https://affoa.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AFFOA</a>). 



He notes that the condensation zone sits at almost the same orbital radius as our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroids-found-in-the-main-belt-are-the-smallest-ever-detected/">asteroid belt</a>. 



The mineral grains measure less than a micrometer across, yet they mark the first step toward kilometer-scale planetesimals. Electrostatic forces will make them clump for thousands of years until <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/astronomers-announce-evidence-suggesting-that-our-solar-system-has-nine-planets-again/">gravity</a> takes over.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hops-315-mirrors-earth-s-origins">HOPS-315 mirrors Earth’s origins</h2>



Laboratory studies show that minerals rich in silicon and oxygen condense first, followed quickly by iron-nickel alloys and then more volatile compounds. 



Seeing hot SiO vapor around HOPS-315 hints that a similar chemical parade is marching there.



By estimating the star’s luminosity and the disc’s temperature gradient, McClure’s group concludes that crystalline silicates could mass about a tenth of the Moon. That is plenty to seed multiple rocky planets if subsequent growth is efficient, as models suggest.



Isotopic <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.02631" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work</a> on chondrules indicates that the earliest building blocks in our own <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jupiters-past-how-the-young-gas-giant-shaped-our-solar-system/">Solar System</a> formed within the first million years, a timescale now testable in real time with HOPS-315.



Matching astronomical data to isotope chronometers promises a much sharper picture of planet formation than meteoritic studies alone.



The discovery may also shed light on why Earth contains less carbon than nebular models predict. If early minerals trap oxygen and silicon immediately, carbon may remain gaseous longer and get pushed outward before it can join newborn worlds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-in-watching-planets-form">What’s next in watching planets form</h2>



Over the next year, ALMA will return to HOPS-315 to look for water ice farther out in the disc. 



If water lines up beyond the silicate ring, astronomers can test whether rocky seeds migrate inward before they acquire ice mantles, a step that may explain why Earth ended up with oceans.



JWST will track how the SiO signature evolves. A steady decline would show vapor freezing out, whereas a surge could hint at heating bursts from magnetic flares or spiral shocks.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://youtu.be/0j-MH6_QlBA?si=3P8FgBE0O2TTWsnM
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Witnessing the dawn of a new solar system. Credit: ESO</figcaption></figure>



Beyond the specifics of HOPS-315, the result boosts confidence that rocky planets are common. If condensation begins so early, many stars may launch planet formation well before their gas discs disperse, leaving time for worlds to migrate, collide, and settle into stable orbits.



Astronomer Elizabeth Humphreys at ESO, who was not involved in the study, said she was “really impressed” that the team could pinpoint the first solids. 



She argues that the synergy of Webb and ALMA is revealing a Universe “in which the steps toward life-bearing planets start earlier than we dared hope.”



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09163-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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Astronomers capture the birth of a new solar system for the first time ever

Astronomers caught a star system at the moment when solid grains began to form planets. This snapshot reveals how planets first start to form, just as Earth once did. The infant star HOPS-315 sits about 1,300 light-years, roughly 7.6 quadrillion miles, away in the constellation Orion. Around it whirls a disc of gas and dust where heat is high enough to bake rock yet cool enough for those rocks to re-form. Melissa McClure of Leiden University led the international team that pieced together these first moments of...

Koalas are threatened by habitat loss, climate change and diseases, including the Koala retrovirus (KoRV). This virus is known to cause serious illness in koalas, such as cancer, and is now becoming established as an endogenous retrovirus (ERV) within the population.



In a new study from <a href="https://www.uu.se/en">Uppsala University</a>, researchers have discovered more about retroviral establishment among koalas. By analyzing the koala genome, the experts have found new ERV lineages beyond the Koala retrovirus.



"Retroviruses have left their legacy in host genomes over millions of years as endogenous retroviruses, and their structure, diversity, and prevalence provide insights into the historical dynamics of retrovirus–host interactions. In bioinformatic analyses of koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) whole-genome sequences, we identify a recently expanded ERV lineage (phaCin-β) that is related to the New World squirrel monkey retrovirus," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"This ERV expansion shares many parallels with the ongoing koala retrovirus (KoRV) invasion of the koala genome, including highly similar and mostly intact sequences, and polymorphic ERV loci in the sampled koala population."



According to study lead author Mette Lillie, many of the new ERVs are only found in a few koala individuals, which indicates that they are relatively new. "It may even indicate an ongoing establishment in the population."



After looking at the distribution pattern of ERVs in the koala population and comparing how their lineages differ, the researchers concluded that additional active retroviruses may be discovered in koalas and other animal species that share the same environment. The findings may ultimately help in the search for retroviruses in Australian fauna that have not yet been identified.



"The ERVs that have been left behind after retrovirus infections in the past now make it possible to uncover historical interactions between retroviruses and animal species, such as mapping how virus transmission has taken place," said study co-cuthor Patric Jern. "Variations in ERV distribution patterns within host populations can also be valuable as genomic markers, for example in management and protection of endangered species.'



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">PNAS</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

New retroviruses have been found in koalas

Koalas are threatened by habitat loss, climate change and diseases,...

A lot of focus has been placed on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by limiting the production and consumption of livestock animals. However, a recent study led by scientists from the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> has shown that the transport of food in general is responsible for a massive three gigatons of emissions annually, which is equivalent to almost 20 percent of all food-related emissions.&nbsp;



The study, published today in&nbsp;the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natfood/">Nature Food</a>, suggests that the emissions resulting from transporting foodstuffs are up to seven times higher than previously estimated, and also far exceed the emissions caused by transporting other commodities. For example, transport accounts for only seven percent of industry and utilities emissions. The authors emphasize that there is an urgent need to reduce transport emissions and therefore consumers should focus on eating locally-produced foods.



“Our study estimates that global food systems, due to transport, production, and land use change, contribute about 30 percent of total human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. So, food transport – at around six percent – is a sizeable proportion of overall emissions," explained study lead author Dr.&nbsp;Mengyu Li. “Food transport emissions add up to nearly half of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/">direct emissions from road vehicles</a>."



“Prior to our study, most of the attention in sustainable food research has been on the high emissions associated with animal-derived foods, compared with plants. Our study shows that, in addition to shifting towards a plant-based diet, eating locally is ideal, especially in affluent countries," said co-author Professor&nbsp;David Raubenheimer.



The researchers analyzed the emissions from transporting various goods in 37 different economic sectors, such as vegetables and fruit, livestock, coal and manufactured items. They considered the transport emissions resulting from both domestic and international transport, both within the producing country and within the country to which the goods were exported. They accounted for both the distances travelled and the masses of goods transported.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The findings revealed that rich countries contribute disproportionately to the emissions resulting from transporting foodstuffs. The United States, India, and Russia are the top food transport emitters, overall, but high-income countries in general contribute more to these emissions. For example, wealthy countries such as the United States, Germany, France, and Japan constitute 12.5 percent of the world’s population yet generate nearly half (46 percent) of food transport emissions.



Australia was found to be the second largest exporter of food transport emissions, given the breadth and volume of its primary production. Transport emissions are also food-type dependent. With fruit and vegetables, for example, transport generates nearly twice the amount of emissions as production. This is partly due to the fact that they require temperature-controlled transportation in order to ensure they arrive at their destination in fresh condition. The transport of fruit and vegetables contributes over a third of all food transport emissions.



The authors suggest that consumers need to choose locally produced foods that are in season, rather than out-of-season foods that need to be transported from a distance. They calculate that if the global population ate as ‘locavores’ (people who only eat food grown or produced within a 100-mile (161km) radius), this would reduce food transport emissions by 0.38 gigatons, an amount that is equivalent to emissions generated from driving one ton to the Sun and back, 6,000 times.



Although the authors acknowledge this scenario is not realistic because many regions cannot be self-sufficient in food supply, they say there are things that richer countries can do to reduce their food transport emissions. These include using cleaner energy vehicles and encouraging businesses to use production and distribution methods that reduce emissions.&nbsp;



Also, according to co-author Professor Manfred Lenzen, there is considerable potential for peri-urban agriculture to nourish urban residents. “Both investors and governments can help by creating environments that foster sustainable food supply,” Professor Lenzen said. &nbsp;



In addition, the attitude of consumers is of paramount importance. Supply of foods is driven by demand, meaning that the consumer has the ultimate power to change this situation. “Changing consumers’ attitudes and behavior towards sustainable diets can reap environmental benefits on the grandest scale,” said Professor Raubenheimer.



“One example is the habit of consumers in affluent countries demanding unseasonal foods year-round, which need to be transported from elsewhere. Eating local, seasonal alternatives, as we have throughout most of the history of our species, will help provide a healthy planet for future generations."



The term "locavore" was the Oxford Word of the Year in 2007. Now, 15 years later, the researchers of the current study highlight its relevance again. More than ever, the consumers of the world need to recognize the inappropriateness of choosing to eat foods from the far-flung corners of the Earth.&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

Eating locally produced foods can reduce transport emissions

A lot of focus has been placed on reducing greenhouse...

A team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a> (OSU) has found that frog-eating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bats-play-an-active-role-in-plant-pollination/">bats</a> trained by scientists to associate a phone ringtone with a tasty food reward were able to remember what they learned for up to four years in the wild. While many previous studies have documented long-term memory in a wide range of animals living in captivity – including sea lions, tortoises, dolphins, birds, and primates – this is one of the first attempts to investigate how memory functions in animals living in the wild.



“Being able to study memory in the wild is important,” said study co-author&nbsp;Gerald Carter, an assistant professor of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at OSU. “You can’t necessarily extrapolate from the wealth of data we have on animals in the lab to what they’re facing in the wild, where there are many more things they have to remember. The environment is different and the brain is different in the wild versus captivity.”



The scientists acquainted 49 bats with a series of phone ringtones which attracted their attention, and trained them to associate flying toward just one of these tones with receiving a baitfish reward. Afterwards, all bats were microchipped and returned to the wild. Between one and four years later, eight of these bats were recaptured and exposed again to the reward-related ringtone. While all of them flew toward the sound, six flew all the way to the speaker and immediately grabbed the reward, suggesting that they expected to find food when primed with the familiar ringtone. By contrast, control bats without previous training to recognize the tones, mostly twitched their ears in response to the sounds, but did not fly toward their source.



“I was surprised – I went into this thinking that at least a year would be a reasonable time for them to remember, given all the other things they need to know and given that long-term memory does have real costs. Four years strikes me as a long time to hold on to a sound that you might never hear again,” said study lead author May Dixon, a postdoctoral researcher in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at OSU.



“The study taught us a lot because there are relatively few studies of long-term memory in wild animals and we don’t have systematic understanding of long-term memories in nature yet. If we can collect additional data on different species of bats, we could pick this apart and see what life histories select for long memories.”



Since previous studies have shown that, in other animal species such as the fruit fly, long-term memory is actually detrimental, further research is needed to clarify whether these skills are an asset or a liability for wild frog-eating bats.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.031">Current Biology</a>.



Image Credit: Marcos Guerra



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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;

Frog-eating bats have a long-term memory

A team of researchers led by the Ohio State University...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.yorku.ca/">York University</a> in Canada has discovered that the local environment plays a crucial role in the health and diversity of the gut microbiome of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wild-bees-struggle-to-recover-after-extreme-weather-events/">wild bees</a>. These findings could help detect invisible stressors and early indicators of potential threats for wild bee populations. Moreover, establishing a baseline of what a healthy microbiome looks like in wild bees will allow scientists to compare species across populations and continents, and better understand how diseases and harmful microbiota are introduced and transmitted.



“We can really dissect bee health in a very systematic way looking at population genetics and parasite pathogen loads, healthy microbiomes, and deviations,” said study corresponding author Sandra Rehan, an expert in Wild Bee Genomics, Environment, and Conservation at York. “The long-term goal is really to be able to use these tools in order to detect early signatures of stress and habitats in need of restoration or conservation. To develop it almost like a diagnostic tool for bee health.”



By using metagenomic analyses, the scientists sequenced the genomes of three species of carpenter bees (a type of wild bee) in North America, Australia, and Asia to shed more light on these bees’ microbiomes, diet and viral load, and environmental DNA.



Unlike species of social bees such as bumblebees or honeybees, solitary bees get their microbiome – which is crucial for their health – from the environment in which they live and forage for food, instead of inheriting it from their nest mates. “This may make them better bio-indicators as they are much more sensitive to their environment,” Professor Rehan explained.



The researchers found beneficial bacteria that helped with metabolic and genetic functions in all three carpenter bee species, including, for instance, a species of Lactobacillus – a bacterium which is found across most bee lineages, and protects against prevalent fungal pathogens, boosts the immune system, and facilitates nutrient uptake. However, in a previous <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/edn3.291">study</a>, Professor Rehan discovered that adult carpenter bees living in cities lacked this beneficial microbe.&nbsp;



“This raises red flags,” she said. “We are continuing those studies to look at more nuanced urban, rural comparisons, and long-term data to really understand these environmental stressors. Anytime we characterize a microbiome and see deviations from what we know to be normal, it can give us an indication of a population or species in threat.”



In future research, the scientists aim to investigate and compare the microbiomes of a larger variety of wild bee species. “The long-term goal is really to be able to use these tools to detect early signatures of stress in wild bees and thereby identify habitats in need of restoration or preservation. We are excited to be building the tools for a new era of wild bee research and conservation,” Professor Rehan concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03535-1">Nature Communications Biology</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;

Clues to bee health found in their gut microbiome

A new study led by York University in Canada has...

Over recent years, wildfires have raged across the world, postng significant hazards to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humans-pass-on-gut-microbes-to-urban-wildlife/">wildlife</a> and local populations. However, wildfires have been a long-standing part of Earth’s systems for hundreds of millions of years. A new study describes the earliest record of wildfire found to date.&nbsp;



“Wildfire has been an integral component in earth-system processes for a long time and its role in those processes has almost certainly been underemphasized,” said study lead author Ian Glasspool.



In samples from Wales and Poland, the researchers found 430-million-year-old charcoal produced by wildfires. The discovery represents the earliest record of wildfire - taking place 10 million years earlier than previously thought. Wildfire has three essential ingredients: fuel, ignition (which comes in the form of lightning strikes), and sufficient atmospheric oxygen.



“It looks now as though our evidence of fire coincides closely with our evidence of the earliest land plant macrofossils. So as soon as there’s fuel, at least in the form of plant macrofossils, there is wildfire pretty much instantly,” said Glasspool.



During the Silurian period, the types of plants that existed 430 million years ago would have looked very different. Flat-lying plants barely even an inch tall would have covered much of the landscape, with the occasional knee-height plant. The ancient fungus Prototaxites would have stood nearly 30 feet tall, towering over the landscape. These Silurian plants would have been dependent on water for reproduction and would not have been found in seasonally dry areas.



“The Silurian landscape had to have enough vegetation across it to have wildfires propagated and to leave a record of that wildfire,” said Gastaldo. “At points in time that we’re sampling windows of, there was enough biomass around to be able to provide us with a record of wildfire that we can identify and use to pinpoint the vegetation and process in time.”



Silurian plant life was able to provide a sufficient source of fuel. The other crucial factor for early wildfires was atmospheric oxygen levels. Currently, oxygen makes up 21 percent of the gasses in the planet’s atmosphere. However, atmospheric levels had essentially zero oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere for the first part of the planet’s history.



Modern burn experiments indicate that wildfires are unlikely to occur below levels of 16 percent atmospheric oxygen. “If you drop below that level you might initiate a fire but it’s not going to propagate,” said Glasspool. “So when you look at the probability of finding charcoal in the record, you’re really only going to find charcoal if that fire was able to propagate, and you can put a minimum threshold value on atmospheric oxygen when you find charcoal.”



During the Silurian, atmospheric oxygen levels were equal to current levels. This was determined by analyzing charcoal. Oxygen would have been raised to near present levels by increased photosynthesis from terrestrial plant life impacting the oxygen cycle. This means that fires would have been a significant global phenomenon during the Silurian. Wildfires at the time were playing an important role in sediment movement and carbon and phosphorus cycling.



The research is published by The <a href="https://www.geosociety.org/">Geological Society of America</a> in the journal Geology.



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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

Earliest record of wildfire pushed back by ten million years

Over recent years, wildfires have raged across the world, postng...

Our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/remote-learning-causes-sleep-and-behavior-issues/">sleep</a> efficiency tends to decrease across our lifetime. In a recent study, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia were surprised to find sleep efficiency stabilized from ages 30 to 60. 



True sleep time is difficult to measure, as most assessments are self-reports of sleep, explained study first author Dr. Shaoyong Su.



For the investigation, participants wore accelerometers on their wrist 24 hours a day for seven consecutive days. While the device does not measure sleep time, measuring movement can give some indication of whether you are asleep or not, noted study co-author Dr. Vaughn McCall.



“We confirmed previous findings based on subjective measurement,” said Dr. Su. “People think children and adolescents sleep later and we found this. And, during middle age people sleep less and our findings support that objectively." He said that in addition, sleep duration is increased for those age 60 and older.



The researchers found that generally, nighttime sleep decreases as our age increases.&nbsp; However, the ‘U’ shape emerged as sleep duration dropped significantly from age 10 into the 50s, getting longer after that.&nbsp;



A graph of how long Americans sleep forms a U-shaped pattern across our lives, with age 40 being the low point and hours of sleep starting to creep back up about age 50. Increased sleep later in life may reflect that most Americans retire in their 60s and don’t get up as early.&nbsp;



Sleep efficiency - the time you actually sleep versus the time you have dedicated to sleep - also tends to decrease with age. The study found, however, that this was stabilized from ages 30 to 60. This indicates that adults maintain sleep efficiency for a long period, but may get the least sleep in their busy middle age.



Females were found to sleep longer than males but go to sleep later, particularly as they get older, and are interrupted by childcare duties.&nbsp;



The study showed that males and females were equally sleep efficient since females are more likely to report worse quality and more disturbances. While more study is needed to understand gender differences in sleep, these differences should be considered in treatment of sleep health. 



Young American adults aged 20 had the latest clock time for sleep onset (CTSO), the time participants actually went to sleep. High school students had the biggest weekday/weekend differences between the time they went to sleep and awakened, which aligned with the school year.



For school-age children, the CTSO was 9:30 pm, while 25 percent of children ages 6 to 13 had a CTSO close to 11 pm. These patterns could reflect changes during adolescence, but could also be influenced by fatigue, behavioral problems and less academic success.



Moving into their 20s, a lot of people transition to work life and the CTSO begins to reverse. ‘’You hit the years where you are raising children and you are working and then what happens around the time of retirement? Your whole schedule begins to change,” said Dr. McCall, and the CTSO gets later again.



Black Americans tended to have some of the most troublesome sleep parameters, going to sleep later, sleeping less hours and less efficiently. Mexican Americans had the earliest sleep onset and longest sleep time but were not necessarily efficient sleepers. The findings point to the need for more research on racial disparities in sleep that take into account social and cultural factors.



“One thing we cannot overestimate is the impact of sleep,” noted Dr. Wang. Without sufficient sleep, you overuse your body, she said, and your ability to adjust to less sleep decreases with age.



While insufficient sleep itself is a risk factor of health problems from obesity to cardiovascular disease, it may also be an indicator of disease. How we sleep is like a “canary in a coal mine," as sleep complaints may be an indication of mental or physical health problems.



“I don’t look at our findings necessarily as a benchmark of perfect health,” said Dr. McCall. “I look at this as a benchmark of what is happening in America.”



Our natural instincts are to go to sleep when it gets dark and wake up with the light, but life obligations interfere with our internal circadian clocks, the investigators explained. .



Babies’ sleep patterns tend to follow these more natural circadian rhythms, Su notes. The days before television, the internet and mobile phones, likely had more of us sleeping like babies, McCall says.



“Is it in the biology of a 20-year-old to always go to bed late or is it due to the fact that they have friends that they are engaged with and they have parties and college keg night? I think there is a lot of societal influence here,” said Dr. McCall. “Life gets in the way.”



The <a href="https://www.thensf.org/how-many-hours-of-sleep-do-you-really-need/">National Sleep Foundation</a> says healthy adults need seven to nine hours of sleep, those over 65 need seven to eight hours and babies, young children and teens need more sleep than healthy adults to enable growth and development. Newborns, who rarely sleep through the night, need 14 to 17 hours including naps.



The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association and is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</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

Americans get the least sleep in their 40s

Our sleep efficiency tends to decrease across our lifetime. In...

Worsening environmental pressures due to climate change, such as sea temperature rises, are causing catastrophic losses of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/corals-need-our-help-to-survive-global-warming/">corals</a> all over the world. As the waters of the Great Barrier Reef (the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem) warm, subtropical corals are migrating south in search of cooler waters. Sydney’s coastline has recently become home to a new subtropical species of coral (Pocillopora aliciae), raising the question whether this place could become a refuge for corals displaced by climate change.



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/">University of Technology Sydney</a> (UTS) has analyzed the metabolism of these new corals under current and future warming scenarios, and found that these invading subtropical corals will survive and thrive in their new habitat. However, the experts argue that warming could pose significant problems for the native Sydney coral species.&nbsp;



“While we found these corals possess the machinery to withstand large changes in temperature, those temperatures could kill the existing corals in Sydney. This is incredibly important when we consider the future of Sydney’s precious ecosystems,”&nbsp;said study senior author Jennifer Matthews, a coral biologist at UTS.



“The ecological services and economic revenue of the Sydney marine environment make it a very valuable ecosystem, but it is under continuous threat from climate change and urbanization, causing increased stormwater inflows and habitat modification.”



However, according to study co-author Brigitte Sommer (a marine ecologist at UTS), increasing the biodiversity and complexity of Sydney’s marine ecosystems could bring significant benefits, by turning this region into a refuge for reef fish, coral crabs, and potentially other coral species.



“Determining which coral species will be able to migrate poleward in warming seas and how they will interact with local species is critical so we can protect these dynamic ecosystems into the future,”&nbsp;she explained.



“We are continuing to examine how corals can live and breed in temperate, or suboptimal, environments, and how we might use this knowledge to help us to protect Australia’s reefs into the future,” concluded Dr. Matthews.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-022-02277-0">Coral Reef</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;

How will climate change affect Sydney’s coral reefs?

Worsening environmental pressures due to climate change, such as sea...

Coastlines all over the world are rapidly urbanizing. Yet, how this increased human presence near the oceans is impacting aquatic species is not yet clearly understood. A research team led by the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> has now tracked the movements of three shark species (bull, nurse, and great hammerhead) in relation to the city of Miami. Considering the chemical, noise, and light <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-is-deadlier-than-cigarettes-or-alcohol/">pollution</a> emanating from this large coastal city, scientists expected sharks to avoid the areas near the metropolis. Surprisingly, they found that this is quite often not the case.



Some animals, such as racoons or pigeons, are known to thrive in cities: these so-called “urban exploiters” frequently become dependent on human food remains. Other species, known as “urban adapters,” may be able to live in some urbanized areas, but rely mostly on natural environments. On the other hand, “urban avoiders” such as wolves are highly sensitive to human disturbances, and can rarely be found in cities or even their proximity.



“Few studies have investigated the movements of ocean predators in relation to urbanization, but since other studies have shown that land predators are urban avoiders, we expected sharks to be too,” said study lead author Neil Hammerschlag, director of the University of Miami’s Shark Research and Conservation Program. “We were surprised to find that the sharks we tracked spent so much time near the lights and sounds of the busy city, often close to shore, no matter the time of day.”



According to Dr. Hammerschlag and his colleagues, the behavior of these sharks resembles that of urban adapters. The scientists speculate that sharks may be attracted to shore by land-based activities, including the discarding of fish carcasses. The relatively high use of urban-impacted areas by these creatures may have consequences for both sharks and humans.



“By spending so much time close to shore, sharks are at risk of exposure to toxic pollutants as well as fishing, which could impact their health and survival,” explained Dr. Hammerschlag. Moreover, although <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shark-attacks-may-be-a-simple-case-of-mistaken-identity/">shark attacks</a> on humans are quite rare, some areas close to the shore should be avoided by human swimmers in order to reduce the probability of potentially dangerous encounters with sharks, and to promote human-shark peaceful coexistence.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v691/p1-17/">Marine Ecology Progress Series</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;

Sharks come closer to coastal cities than previously thought

Coastlines all over the world are rapidly urbanizing. Yet, how...

A new botanical survey of southwest Ohio conducted by the <a href="https://www.uc.edu/">University of Cincinnati</a> (UC) has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/managing-invasive-species-can-improve-climate-resilience/">invasive species</a> introduced in the United States over the past century are gradually crowding out many native plants, threatening a large variety of ecosystems that depend upon them. These non-native species include plants such as the Amur honeysuckle, the porcelain berry, the winged euonymus, the European buckthorn, or the Oriental bittersweet.



By focusing on undeveloped parts of cemeteries, banks of the Mill Creek, and public parks that have remained protected from development during the past two centuries, the scientists found that many species that were initially introduced as ornamental plants have now spread and are flourishing in the wild.&nbsp;



One of the most invasive species is the Amur honeysuckle, a woody shrub originating from Asia, which has delicate white flowers in the spring and red berries in the fall. According to a survey from 1961, this plant started to grow in some parts of Hamilton County, but had not yet spread in the wild in other places in Ohio. Now, it is found everywhere in the state, crowding out virtually all other low-lying vegetation.&nbsp;



“Amur honeysuckle is now the most abundant woody plant in Hamilton County. It has escaped into the wild and is propagating on its own,” said study lead author Denis Conover, a professor of Biology at UC. “One bush can produce thousands of seeds that get dispersed by birds and mammals.”



According to Professor Conover, in places where these introduced plants are found, there is often less biodiversity to support wildlife and the native food chains. Once they take hold, eradicating them is labor-intensive, time consuming, and expensive.



“Native plants just don’t have a chance. Everything that depends on the native plants — insects, birds — can be lost,” he said. “When they introduce nonnative plants to the United States, they can also import fungal diseases that can wipe out native trees, which is what happened with the American chestnut.”



Besides the Amur honeysuckle, the researchers found dozens of other examples of foreign species that have taken root in southwest Ohio’s forests, including the tree of heaven, the common privet, the lesser periwinkle, the Norway maple, the Amur cork tree, and the white poplar, as well as various herbaceous species such as the lesser celandine, the garlic mustard, and the Japanese knotweed.



“The spread of nonnative invasive species into wooded natural areas in southwestern Ohio threatens the continued survival of native flora and fauna. Efforts by park managers and volunteers to control invasive plant species has become a major part of their duties. This effort will be required in perpetuity and will be at great expense both monetarily and timewise due to collateral damage to native plants, wildlife, and humans caused by the extensive use of herbicides, chainsaws, and other mechanical equipment,” the authors concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3368/er.40.2.94">Ecological Restoration</a>.&nbsp;



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

Invasive plants are taking over Ohio’s forests

A new botanical survey of southwest Ohio conducted by the...

According to the latest annual report from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (<a href="https://epic.uchicago.edu/">EPIC</a>), air pollution currently takes over two years off the global life expectancy – more than alcohol, smoking, or terrorism. The experts found that particulate air pollution (a combination of dust, smoke, fumes, and pollen) has remained high even during the lockdowns triggered by the Coronavirus <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-unearth-the-origins-of-the-black-death-pandemic/">pandemic</a>, leading to a variety of health hazards.



Air pollution can lead to cardiovascular disease, strokes, lung cancer, and other respiratory diseases. While smoking cigarettes cuts life expectancy by 1.9 years, drinking alcohol by eight months, and terrorism by just nine days, the newly released Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) has shown that particulate pollution is on track to reduce global average life expectancy by a staggering 2.2 years.



“It would be a global emergency if Martians came to Earth and sprayed a substance that caused the average person on the planet to lose more than two years of life expectancy,” said report lead author Michael Greenstone, the director of EPIC. “This is similar to the situation that prevails in many parts of the world. Except we are spraying the substance, not some invaders from outer space.”



Last year, the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) updated its guideline on the acceptable level of air pollution that people could safely breathe, from a recommended ceiling of 10 µg/m3 to 5 µg/m3. According to this revised benchmark, 97 percent of the global population lives in areas where air pollution exceeds the recommended level.&nbsp;



The researchers found that South Asia is the most polluted region – with Bangladesh the most polluted country and New Delhi in India the “most polluted megacity in the world,” reaching average annual pollution levels over 21 times higher than the limit set by WHO. If pollution is not urgently curbed, residents of South Asia could lose up to five years of life expectancy.&nbsp;



Even more developed regions, such as the United States and Europe, have air quality levels that fail to meet WHO’s recommendation, with 92.8 percent of the United States and 95.5 percent of Europe living in areas exceeding the recommended pollution ceiling. However, China – which reached peak levels of pollution in 2013 – has been more successful in curbing emissions, by prohibiting new coal-fire powered plants in certain areas, requiring already existing plants to reduce emissions, and restricting road traffic in major cities. These measures helped reduce particulate pollution by almost 40 percent, adding about two years to the life expectancy of China’s residents.



Since air pollution is deeply intertwined with climate change, tackling it would also help protect our planet’s climate. “Policy can simultaneously reduce dependence on fossil fuels that will allow people to live longer and healthier lives and reduce the costs of climate change,” the authors concluded.



The full report can be found <a href="https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/reports/">here</a>.



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

Air pollution is deadlier than cigarettes or alcohol

According to the latest annual report from the Energy Policy...

The origins of the most devastating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/investing-in-nature-is-needed-to-avoid-the-next-pandemic/">pandemic</a> that humankind experienced – the plague (also known as the Black Death) outbreak that killed more than half of Europe’s population in the space of only seven years in the 14th century – has been debated by historians for centuries. A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04800-3">Nature</a> has found genetic evidence that this pandemic emerged on the territory of what is now Kyrgystan in the 13th century, before mutating into several strains and spreading across Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa.



In 2011, scientists sequenced for the first time the genome of Yersinia pestis, a bacterium that spread from rodents to humans via fleas and entered the Mediterranean in 1347 on trade ships transporting goods from territories around the Black Sea, leading to a massive, deadly outbreak. Further genetic analyses retrieved from grave sites throughout Europe and southern Russia have shown that, before the plague ravaged Europe, there was an explosion in diversity of plague strains.&nbsp;



Now, by analyzing genetic material from the teeth of seven bodies exhumed from Kara-Digach and Burana - two cemeteries located near Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgystan - researchers have found a single plague strain that appears to be the most direct ancestor of the major diversification event that led to the Black Death pandemic.&nbsp;



“We found that the ancient strains from Kyrgyzstan are positioned exactly at the node of this massive diversification event,” said study lead author Maria Spyrou, a postdoctoral researcher in the history and evolution of infectious diseases at the University of Tübingen. 



“It is like finding the place where all the strains come together, like with coronavirus where we have Alpha, Delta, Omicron all coming from this strain in Wuhan,” added study senior author Johannes Krause, the director of the Max Planck Institute.



Further evidence to back up these claims came from comparing the ancient strain found in Kyrgystan with plague strains from modern-day rodents. The scientists discovered that the modern plague strains most closely related to the ancient strains belong to wild rodents (such as marmots) living in the Tian Shan mountains, very close the two burial grounds.&nbsp;



“We found not just the ancestor of the Black Death, but we actually found the ancestor of the majority of plague strains that are circulating in the world today,” explained Krause.&nbsp;



While there is still much the scientists don’t know – such as from which animals the disease first spilled over into humans – understanding the origins of the biggest pandemic in human history could help us prepare for and possibly prevent future pandemics.&nbsp;



“Just like Covid, the Black Death was an emerging disease, and the start of a huge pandemic that went on for some 500 years. It’s very important to understand actually in what circumstances did it emerge,” Krause 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;

Scientists unearth the origins of the Black Death pandemic

The origins of the most devastating pandemic that humankind experienced...

Irrigation can be a powerful tool for increasing global food supply. In fact, more than a billion additional people can be fed through sustainable irrigation without converting natural spaces into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/european-farmland-is-a-huge-reservoir-of-microplastics/">farmland</a>, according to a new study by Lorenzo Rosa of the <a href="https://carnegiescience.edu/">Carnegie Institution for Science</a>.&nbsp;



“Population trends indicate that we will need to double global food production by 2050,” explained Rosa. “To accomplish this, we will either need to clear more land or farm more efficiently, despite the increased stresses of a warming world.”



Converting land into farms can further exacerbate climate change, while reducing biodiversity. Using modern technology, low crop yields in existing farmland could be improved.&nbsp;



However, these intervention strategies must be evaluated to determine which ones will lead to a greater increase in food production, while maintaining the lowest environmental impact.&nbsp;



Climate change is expected to both shift precipitation patterns and increase heat stress on plants. This means that rain alone cannot be relied on to support the increasing demand for food.&nbsp;&nbsp;



One strategy for improving the productivity of farmland is irrigation. Irrigated crops are twice as productive than those that rely only on rainfall. However, irrigation already accounts for between 85 and 90 percent of human water consumption.&nbsp;



Is it possible to use irrigation to increase food production without creating water shortages? To do so, we must consider sustainable irrigation methods. Sustainable irrigation uses groundwater and local available water sources without depletion beyond what precipitation can replace.&nbsp;



To maximize agricultural productivity while minimizing environmental impacts of water use, Rosa set out to determine which strategies could be utilized. He found that under current conditions, there is enough water available from local, renewable sources to expand sustainable irrigation over 35 percent of farmland around the world. This would boost crop productivity to feed 1.4 billion more people.&nbsp;



Sounds simple - but factoring in the effects of climate change makes this much more complex. As temperatures rise, water could start to evaporate faster, decreasing the efficiency of irrigation. On the other hand, elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could make crops grow somewhat more productively, which might offset this concern. These competing factors demonstrate the need for further research.



The study indicates that constructing long-term water storage reservoirs could enable sustainable irrigation to feed 1.2 billion more people than relying on renewable water resources alone.



Specifically, the United States, Russia, Brazil, and Nigeria were identified as having the greatest potential for sustainable irrigation under extreme warming conditions using water storage facilities. This could also be feasible in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa.



Despite this, many factors remain unknown, such as the potential effects on water quality due to increased fertilizer, and the socioeconomic and land-use impacts of constructing infrastructure. However, the study makes a clear case that sustainable irrigation could alleviate poverty and hunger, while decreasing environmental risks.



“Ensuring sufficient and equitable access to food while reducing agriculture’s environmental impacts is one of the greatest societal challenges of the 21st century,” concluded Rosa.&nbsp;



Thoughtful uptake of irrigation could potentially help meet our growing demands for food with minimal impacts.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac7408">Environmental Research Letters</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

Sustainable irrigation could feed feed 1.4 billion more people

Irrigation can be a powerful tool for increasing global food...

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

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" 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 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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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



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Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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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