The Moon faces a constant spray of charged particles from the Sun, yet it keeps a whisper thin envelope of atoms swirling above its dusty plains. 



Two rival explanations, blasts from micrometeorites and the steady pickoff from the solar wind, have battled for decades.



New experiments with Apollo 16 samples now show that sunlight’s particle stream is far less efficient at stripping atoms than assumed, reshaping the story of how the Moon maintains its scant <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-meteorites-provide-a-window-into-the-early-solar-system/">atmosphere</a>. The finding forces scientists to rethink long-held estimates of erosion rates.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-new-look-at-moon-dust">A new look at Moon dust</h2>



Professor Friedrich Aumayr of the Institute of Applied Physics at <a href="https://www.tuwien.at/en/phy/iap" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TU Wien</a> led the new study, which drilled into the physics of ion bombardment. His team combined lunar dust tests with detailed computer models to expose hidden quirks in the rock’s texture.



Earlier models treated the surface of the Moon as a smooth glassy slab, so every incoming particle knocked something loose. 



Real lunar soil is a messy mix of sharp grains and tiny gaps, making it hard for ions to travel. Instead of blasting atoms into space, they bounce around and quickly lose energy.



That nuance matters because the team measured sputter yields up to ten times lower than the textbook value, a shift great enough to topple decades of balance sheets. It means a smaller share of the exosphere comes from ion <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-earth-got-its-water-meteorite-reveals-surprising-new-clues/">impacts</a> than models predicted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-solar-wind-doesn-t-remove-much-dust">Solar wind doesn’t remove much dust</h2>



In space science slang, sputtering is the ping pong ejection of atoms when fast ions strike a surface. The effect shapes everything from comet tails to Europa’s glow, yet its efficiency depends on the microscopic landscape it meets and has proven devilishly hard to pin down.



“Using a specially developed quartz crystal microbalance, we were able to measure the mass loss of lunar material due to ion bombardment with extremely high accuracy,” said Johannes Brötzner, lead author of the study. 



Researchers bombarded Apollo grains with helium ions at roughly 135 miles per second, mirroring average <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meteorite-from-the-moon-tells-a-detailed-story-about-lunar-volcanoes/">solar</a> wind speeds.&nbsp;



The experiment fed into 3D models that traced every collision inside the dust’s labyrinth. Most ions got trapped, so only about 0.01 atoms escaped per helium ion - a much lower sputter yield.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-moon-s-atmosphere-comes-from-dust">Moon’s atmosphere comes from dust</h2>



The lower yield dovetails with a 2024 isotopic study that analyzed potassium and rubidium in Apollo samples and declared micrometeorite impacts the main gas supplier. 



Independent agreement between laboratories using such different tools is rare in planetary science and strengthens the verdict.



Together, the papers imply that tiny dust bullets vaporize far more material than the solar wind can sputter during quiet solar periods. Impact vaporization also lofts atoms with lower energies, matching density patterns recorded by NASA’s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/ladee/in-depth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LADEE</a> orbiter during its 2013-2014 mapping campaign.&nbsp;



Shelf life estimates now show that the exosphere would bleed away in just a few lunar days if micrometeorites paused, confirming how transient each atom really is. 



The result gives mission planners an environmental baseline for predicting dust behavior around future landers and rovers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lessons-for-future-missions">Lessons for future missions</h2>



The timing is handy for NASA’s Artemis campaign, which aims to send astronauts to the lunar south pole later this decade. 



Accurate erosion rates help engineers judge how solar arrays, optical sensors, and habitat seals will fare during prolonged stays under relentless particle weather.



A better grasp of sputtering also guides remote sensing, because instruments that sniff sodium or helium must subtract the solar wind component before inferring recent impacts. Without that correction, mission scientists could mistake a quiet patch of sky for a lull in incoming dust.



The same physics applies beyond the Moon. When ESA and JAXA’s BepiColombo probe begins full science operations at Mercury in 2027, its instruments will need to separate signals from both sputtering and impacts. 



The new sputter yield curve will help scientists translate those signals into details about Mercury’s surface chemistry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-moon-s-dynamic-atmosphere">The Moon's dynamic atmosphere</h2>



By trimming the solar wind contribution, the study revises timelines for how quickly space weather alters the Moon’s atmosphere, darkens surface dust, and erases tracks or tool marks.



Equipment left by Apollo crews may thus last longer unaltered, offering historians and tourists clearer snapshots of early human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-meteorites-can-be-traced-to-three-asteroid-families/">exploration</a> on future visits.



Solar storms can boost ion levels 100-fold, making sputtering briefly dominant again. Tracking those surges will be a task for upcoming CubeSats that hitch rides on Artemis rockets, offering real time context for surface experiments.



Aumayr is already eyeing similar tests with dust from volcanic mare regions to see whether glassy beads behave differently. His group is also adapting the setup for icy terrain, which could refine erosion estimates for moons like Europa and Enceladus.



“Our study provides the first realistic, experimentally validated sputtering yields for actual lunar rock,” said Aumayr. Planetary scientists outside the project are taking note, saying the work turns a page in space weather textbooks.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02546-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Communications Earth &amp; Environment</a>.



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Apollo samples reveal what really created the Moon’s atmosphere

The Moon faces a constant spray of charged particles from the Sun, yet it keeps a whisper thin envelope of atoms swirling above its dusty plains. Two rival explanations, blasts from micrometeorites and the steady pickoff from the solar wind, have battled for decades. New experiments with Apollo 16 samples now show that sunlight’s particle stream is far less efficient at stripping atoms than assumed, reshaping the story of how the Moon maintains its scant atmosphere. The finding forces scientists to rethink long-held estimates of erosion rates....

In a new study from the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/">University of Utah</a>, researchers have found that some mammals drastically shift the timing of their daily activities in urban <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baboons-behave-differently-in-urban-areas/">environments</a>. The experts say that this is likely to minimize encounters with humans.



"Wildlife are under continuous pressure to adapt to new environments as more land area is converted for human use and human populations continue to concentrate in suburban and exurban areas," wrote the study authors. "This is especially the case for terrestrial mammals, which are forced to navigate these habitat matrices on foot. One way in which mammals may occupy urbanized landscapes is by altering their temporal activity behavior."



In collaboration with community volunteers, the team set up a network of more than 300 trail cameras throughout urban sites in the Salt Lake Valley, as well in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The cameras documented almost 20,000 sightings of mammals during the summer months of 2018 and 2019. The most abundant animals were coyotes, mule deer, raccoons, squirrels, and skunks.



The footage revealed that mammals in the city behaved very differently from their country relatives. Coyotes shifted their activities into the nighttime hours, while deer and squirrels moved their activity to daytime hours. In the forest, the squirrels, deer, and coyotes were most active at dawn and dusk.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, these behavioral shifts have consequences for interactions between species. Squirrels adopted a schedule that decreased their interaction with humans, but deer increased their human interaction. In addition, coyotes had less interaction with both deer and squirrels, reducing the availability of their prey.&nbsp;



"Typically, studies have found that mammals increase their nocturnal activity within urbanized environments to avoid overlap with humans," wrote the researchers. "However, to date, the majority of studies on this topic have focused on single species, and studying whether this trend holds across an entire community has important ecological implications."



"Specifically, understanding how differences in species temporal activity response alters predator-prey dynamics and sympatric interspecies competition can provide insight into urban wildlife community assembly and provide a mechanistic understanding of species co-occurrence within these systems."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-ecology-and-conservation">Global Ecology and Conservation</a>.



---



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

Mammals change their schedules to adapt to city life

In a new study from the University of Utah, researchers...

Early seafarers in the Pacific managed to populate some of the most remote and isolated islands in the world. This achievement, undertaken in open canoes without modern navigation technology, is one of the greatest feats of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dads-lead-young-birds-on-their-first-migration/">migration</a> in human history. These adventurers eventually populated habitable islands in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia and left us to wonder exactly how it all happened.



A new study by researchers from the <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/">Australian National University</a> (ANU), the University of New South Wales and the University of Papua New Guinea has now shed additional light on how the Lapita peoples may have used Papua New Guinea as a springboard for traveling to the Pacific islands. The term “Lapita” refers to an ancient Pacific culture with genetic origins in Southeast Asia, more specifically in what is today Taiwan and the Philippines. These seafaring people are believed by archaeologists to be the common ancestors of the contemporary cultures of the Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian islands.



The early settlers of these islands left behind few clues for scientists to reconstruct their journeys – these include clearly related languages on widely scattered island groups,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2013.12257">sweet potatoes</a>, stone tools and, in a few places, great stone statues of human figures. But they did leave some very distinctive ceramic ware. It was the discovery of just such a sherd of beautifully decorated Lapita pottery on Brooker Island, in 2017, that led ANU researcher Dr Ben Shaw to initiate further study on this island.&nbsp;



“Lapita cultural groups were the first people to reach the remote Pacific islands such as Vanuatu, around 3,000 years ago. But in Papua New Guinea where people have lived for at least 50,000 years, the timing and extent of Lapita dispersals are poorly understood,” Dr Shaw said.&nbsp;“For a long time, it was thought Lapita groups avoided most of Papua New Guinea because people were already living there.”&nbsp;Although fragments of the unique pottery have been found on mainland Papua New Guinea, archaeologists believed the Lapita people never settled in this area.



Excavations at Brooker Island extended back through the remnants of human habitation to a time of around 4,000 years ago. The findings, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a> show the presence of characteristic Lapita pottery with intricate dentate stamp decorations down to a time of around 3,000 years ago.&nbsp;



“We found lots of Lapita pottery, a range of stone tools and evidence for shaping of obsidian [volcanic glass] into sharp blades,” Dr Shaw said.&nbsp;



These finds are fairly typical of other Lapita archaeological sites in archipelagos in the region. However, on Brooker Island the excavation went below this level and revealed a complete change in artefacts, behavior and remains.&nbsp;



“As we dug deeper, we reached an even earlier cultural layer before the introduction of pottery. What amazed us was the amount of mammal bone we recovered, some of which could be positively identified as pig and dog. These animals were introduced to New Guinea by Lapita and were associated with the use of turtle shell to make tools,”&nbsp;explained Dr Shaw.&nbsp;



The findings provide the earliest evidence for Lapita-introduced animals, turtle bone technology and repeated obsidian import in southern New Guinea 3,480–3,060 years ago. This timing is synchronous with the establishment of the earliest known Lapita settlements, some 700 km away.



The researchers inferred from these findings that Lapita cultural groups introduced pottery to the site around 3,000 years ago. They found it more difficult to explain the presence of the other, older artefacts in the lower layers, however. Either the early inhabitants were Lapita people who were only temporarily based at the site and did not have time to make pottery before they moved off somewhere else, or the inhabitants were Papuans who had acquired domesticated pigs and dogs from Lapita groups at other island sites (Papuan cultures are not associated with the use of pottery).&nbsp;



What is certain is that the site gives evidence that interactions between the Lapita people and the Indigenous Papuans took place. This is supported by genetic analysis of several Lapita skeletal remains from other archaeological sites that identifies the presence of an admixture of Papuan genes.



Lapita culture can thus be seen as a complex mixture of cultural elements introduced from Southeast Asia and from long-established cultures in Papua New Guinea. The evidence points to a migration of Lapita people, first through the inhabited landscapes of Southeast Asia and then further southwards and eastwards to populate the hitherto uninhabited islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. The site at Brooker Island gives evidence of Papua-Lapita interactions at the frontier of expansion into these new ecosystems.&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to Dr Shaw, later Lapita dispersals through Papua New Guinea, and interactions with Indigenous populations profoundly influenced the region as a global centre of cultural and linguistic diversity.&nbsp;



“It is one of the greatest migrations in human history and finally we have evidence to help explain why the migration might have occurred and why it took place when it did,” he said.&nbsp;



“We had no indication this would be a site of significance, and a lot of the time we were flying blind with the areas we surveyed and when looking for archaeological sites, so it is very much like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.”&nbsp;



---



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

Unraveling one of the greatest feats of human migration

Early seafarers in the Pacific managed to populate some of...

Around the world, bees are facing many threats, including toxic pesticides, climate change, disease, and habitat loss. An international research team led by <a href="https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/home/">Julius-Maximilians-University</a> (JMU) Würzburg has investigated the impact of pesticides on the reproduction of wild bees. The experts have discovered that pesticide exposure interferes with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lunar-cycles-have-a-secret-influence-on-human-reproduction/">reproduction</a> among wild bees in the very earliest phase - the mating phase.&nbsp;



The results of the study revealed that exposure to agrochemicals reduces the fitness of both male and female bees. This indicates that the decline of wild bees in agricultural areas may be the result of their reduced fertility due to pesticides.



To identify the factors that may be contributing to the decline of wild bees, the researchers focused on the early stages of the insects' reproduction. They exposed horned mason bees to a non-lethal dose of the fungicide fenbuconazole. When choosing a partner to mate with, female mason bees evaluate males based on signals such as their odor and thoracic vibrations.&nbsp;



"If the fungicide has an effect on male quality signals, this should increase the likelihood that pesticide-exposed males will be rejected by females," explained study lead author Samuel Boff.&nbsp;



"We also found that the pesticide-exposed males vibrate their thoracic muscle less and also had a different odor composition than the un-exposed males. The decline in bee populations in agricultural landscapes could therefore be explained by the effect of pesticides on insect mating behavior."



According to the researchers, this study is the first to demonstrate that a fungicide with low toxicity disrupts the reproduction of bees in the mating phase.&nbsp;



"Our study shows that the early stages of bee reproduction must be included in the risk assessment of pesticides," said study co-author Professor Thomas Schmitt.



Boff hopes for broader testing of different pesticides on bee behavior and their chemical signals so that bees can be more effectively protected.



"The results provide evidence that can help to understand how pesticides might lead to reduced bee populations world-wide, especially in crop sites," wrote the researchers. "Our study on mating behavior and sexual signals sheds the light on a new path to explore the impact of environmental stressors on insect decline."&nbsp;



"Due to the importance of bees for pollination service provision, we stress the need for the inclusion of mating experiments on safety test programs of chemical products used in agriculture, to understand the effect of pesticides on the reproductive system of beneficial insects such as bees."



The study is published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652664">Journal of Applied Ecology</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

Pesticides make it harder for male bees to attract mates

Around the world, bees are facing many threats, including toxic...

A new study led by <a href="http://eng.hubu.edu.cn/">Hubei University</a> has found that, after males of the orb-weaving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-explain-spiders-complex-mating-choreography/">spider</a> Philoponella prominens mate with a female, they use a joint in their first pair of legs to quickly undertake a split-second catapult. The spiders launch themselves away from their sexual partners at high speeds reaching up to 88 centimeters per second. According to the experts, they do this in order to avoid being eaten by the female in an act of sexual cannibalism.



“We found that mating was always ended by a catapulting, which is so fast that common cameras could not record the details clearly,” said study lead author Shichang Zhang, an associate professor of Life Sciences at Hubei University.



Professor Zhang and his colleagues made this fascinating discovery while studying sexual selection in this species of spiders, who live in rather large groups of up to 300 individuals. Of the 255 successful couplings that the scientists observed, 152 ended with male catapulting, which all managed to survive their sexual encounters. The other three males were killed and eaten by the females.



Using high-resolution cameras, the researchers calculated an average peak-speed of catapulting spiders of approximately 65 cm/s, and an acceleration of about 200 m/s2.&nbsp; While soaring through the air, the males spin around 175 times per second. In order to perform such impressive feats, the spiders initially fold their tibia-metatarsus joint against the female. At the moment they release it, hydraulic pressure allows for extremely rapid expansion.



“We observed that males that could not perform the catapulting were cannibalized by the female. It suggests that this behavior evolved to fight against female’s sexual cannibalism under strong predation pressure of females,” Professor Zhang explained.



“Females may use this behavior to judge the quality of a male during mating,” he added. “If a male could not perform catapulting, then kill it, and if a male could perform it multiple times, then accept its sperm.”



In future research, the scientists aim to explore the role that the catapulting abilities of male spiders may play to ensure mating success.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00485-7">Current 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

Male spiders catapult away from sex partners to avoid being eaten

A new study led by Hubei University has found that,...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a> has identified a lesser-known form of ozone that seems to be playing a large role in heating the Southern Ocean – which is one of the Earth’s major cooling systems - by removing a large amount of carbon dioxide and excess heat from the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-atmosphere-is-expanding-due-to-climate-change/">atmosphere</a>. While many previous studies have described the ozone layer in the stratosphere and its crucial role in protecting humans and animals from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation, researchers have now discovered that a form of ozone closer to the ground (tropospheric ozone) can be highly damaging for your planet, by significantly warming up the Southern Ocean.



“People haven’t paid much attention in the past to tropospheric ozone in terms of ocean heat uptake. Based on our models, they should be,” said study lead author Wei Liu, a climate scientist at UC Riverside.



Together with an international team of scientists, Dr. Liu explored climate model simulations with changes in ozone levels between 1955 and 2000. These simulations aimed to isolate both stratospheric and tropospheric ozone from other influences on Southern Ocean temperatures, allowing the researchers to assess how each factor contributes to ocean temperature rises.



While both factors were found to significantly contribute to warming, scientists were surprised to discover that tropospheric ozone played a larger role in this process. “Historically, about a third of the ocean’s warming is attributable to ozone. For this third, about 40 percent is from the stratosphere, and the rest is troposphere,” said Dr. Liu.



According to Dr. Liu and his colleagues, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from products such as pesticides, automobiles, or tobacco smoke are the gases that form the building blocks of tropospheric ozone, together with nitrogen oxides produced by combustion, and carbon monoxide from gas stoves, furnaces, or automobile exhaust. Most of these products could be modified to produce fewer VOCs.&nbsp;



“Tropospheric ozone is an air pollutant. If we reduce our production of this, we get the dual benefits of less air pollution and most likely, less Southern Ocean warming as well,” concluded Dr. Liu.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01320-w">Nature Climate Change</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

Lesser-known form of ozone contributes the most to global warming

A new study led by the University of California, Riverside...

Recent research led by the <a href="http://www.upv.es/en/">Valencia Polytechnic University</a> (UPV) in Spain has discovered that disease-causing amoebas that live on organic leafy vegetables can shelter human pathogens such as Pseudomonas, Salmonella, or Helicobacter, and thus represent a potential risk to human <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eat-for-a-healthy-planet-reduce-the-demand-for-animal-agriculture/">health</a>.



Foodborne illnesses from eating contaminated fresh produce are common and can have serious effects on human health, particularly when fruits and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dirty-dozen-fruits-and-vegetables-packed-with-pesticides/">vegetables</a> are eaten raw. Currently, there is a growing demand for organically grown fruits and vegetables, as people aim to eat healthier diets and fear potential contamination from pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and herbicides. However, during growth, harvest, transportation, and further handling, these products are often contaminated with pathogens from human or animal sources while getting into contact with soil, air, rain, irrigation water, insects, or during industrial processing.



The scientists found that vegetables can be contaminated with protozoa such as free-living amoebae (FLA) that feed on bacteria, but can also act as hosts to pathogenic bacteria that can resist FLA digestion (the so-called “Trojan horses”).



“Food and food-related environments create an ideal meeting place for free-living amoebae and pathogenic bacteria," explained study lead author Dr. Yolanda Moreno, an expert in Water and Environmental Engineering at UPV. “However, comparatively little is known about the occurrence and diversity of free-living amoebae on organic vegetables and their role in transmitting human pathogens.”



Dr. Moreno and her colleagues collected 17 samples of lettuce and spinach from local supermarkets in Valencia between November 2020 and May 2021, and used a metagenomic technique that identifies DNA in all bacteria contained by FLA. The main bacterial types the researchers identified were Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas (each found in about 10 percent of vegetable samples), which rarely cause disease in humans. However, a third of the samples contained 52 potentially disease-causing bacteria, including Legionella,&nbsp;Salmonella, and&nbsp;Arcobacter. In addition, the FLA species&nbsp;Vermamoeba vermiformis,&nbsp;which frequently causes severe infections in humans, was found in 19 percent of vegetable samples, while&nbsp;Acanthamoeba castellanii, that can cause blindness and encephalitis, were identified in 63 percent of samples.



“The presence of bacteria of public health concern contained inside the free-living amoebae suggests that they are vehicles that can easily transmit pathogens capable of reaching humans and causing health problems through contaminated organic vegetables”, said Dr. Moreno.&nbsp;



“Contamination can arise as a consequence of treating soil with organic fertilizers such as manure and sewage sludge, and from irrigation water. Leafy greens are particularly susceptible to fecal contamination due to their proximity to the ground and the likelihood of humans consuming them without cooking.”&nbsp;



These findings highlight the need to educate the public on how to safely and properly handle fresh organic vegetables before eating them fresh or slightly cooked. However, larger studies in more countries are needed to better understand the microbiological quality and safety of organic vegetables.



The study is be presented at this year’s <a href="https://www.eccmid.org/">European Congress of Clinical Microbiology &amp; Infectious Diseases</a> (ECCMID) in Lisbon, Portugal (23-26 April).



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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

Organic vegetables often harbor human pathogens

Recent research led by the Valencia Polytechnic University (UPV) in...

According to a new study presented at the <a href="https://www.seismosoc.org/annual-meeting/">Seismological Society of America’s Annual Meeting</a>, the presence of diamonds deep in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-day-resolutions-misconceptions-about-recycling-plastics/">Earth</a> suggests that fluids play an essential role in generating earthquakes at depths where high pressures should keep brittle failure from happening.&nbsp;



Although fluid-assisted faulting in subducted slabs 300 to 700 kilometers deep – in the transition zone between the upper and lower mantle - may explain deep earthquakes, evidence for this process was scarce until recently. However, the discovery of diamonds formed in this transition zone (“sublithospheric diamonds”) provide clear evidence of the presence of fluids carried by subducting slabs, since these diamonds’ internal growth structure indicate that they are formed from fluids moving through host rock.



“I think it’s up to the seismological community at this point to try to understand why fluids would be important,” said study lead author Steven Shirey, a geochemist of the <a href="https://carnegiescience.edu/">Carnegie Institution for Science</a>.&nbsp;“We know fluids are down there, we know they’re moving, and the petrology of the diamonds tell you that, because these diamonds always form in regions of the mantle where fluids are moving. Diamonds tell you there is a crack or vein relationship with host mantle. You have to have fluids moving through host rock in veins or cracks and equilibrating with it.”



According to Dr. Shirey and his colleagues, deep earthquakes – occurring 500 to 700 kilometers below the Earth’s surface, appear to happen only in the slabs which can transport water or that can carry carbonate deep enough to trigger melting. At such depths, water or carbonate fluids could be triggering the earthquakes, or the earthquakes could trigger fluid release, or both things could happen.



The distinctive chemistry and inclusions of sublitospheric diamonds are telltale signs of their origin from the subducted oceanic plate. They indicate that fluid-bearing rock does make its way into the mantle, and is carried by cold subducting slabs, ultimately giving rise to deep earthquakes. Further research is needed to map the precise locations where these earthquakes form, by clarifying the position of the slabs.



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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

What can diamonds reveal about the formation of earthquakes?

According to a new study presented at the Seismological Society...

Bacteria in the ocean are incredibly numerous and play important roles in the marine ecosystem, some of which we may not yet understand. Despite their plentitude, there are many gaps in our knowledge of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-day-is-the-perfect-time-to-support-the-ocean-decade/">ocean</a> microbes. New research sought to investigate one of the most basic aspects of the lives of marine bacteria - do they actively hunt or merely drift through the water consuming whatever they encounter? The science suggests the former.&nbsp;



An international group of scientists led by researchers at the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/">University of Technology Sydney</a> (UTS) used microchips to peer into the world of microbes. What they discovered is that bacteria move in ways comparable to larger animals when foraging.&nbsp;



“We had some idea that microbes could swim around their immediate environment to find and exploit food patches, but the only available evidence came from laboratory experiments, which are often not very realistic or representative of natural environments," said study lead author and microbial ecologist Dr. Jean-Baptiste Raina.



"This kind of behavior had never been comprehensively examined in the environment among natural populations of microbes. Now, for the first time, we’ve been able to show that the swimming behaviour of microbes in the natural environment is governed by the attraction of bacteria to specific chemical cues, which dictates important processes and interactions that structure the base of the marine food web.”



The scientists created bacteria traps in order to investigate the microbes feeding preferences and found that certain chemicals that the bacteria consume create “feeding frenzies.” The scientists say that the behaviors and preferences of bacteria can have important implications.&nbsp;



“When we think about how small a bacterium is, it is easy to dismiss the consequences of its behavior," explained study senior author Professor Justin Seymor.



"However, because marine bacteria are so numerous and diverse, the way they find, consume and recycle chemicals in seawater can have a profound influence on processes that control global climate and the productivity of the marine food web."



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



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

Marine bacteria hunt with purpose

Bacteria in the ocean are incredibly numerous and play important...

Many things have changed in the two years since the beginning of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mental-illness-increases-risk-of-breakthrough-covid-infections/">COVID-19</a> pandemic: a series of innovative vaccines have been developed and distributed to a large number of people, highly efficient antiviral treatments are now available (although mostly in richer countries). And, with the fulminant passage of the highly contagious yet less severe Omicron variant through most of the world, there is currently a massive amount of natural immunity among most of the globe’s population. 



With restrictions such as mask wearing or social distancing eased or even dropped completely in many countries, more responsibility in calculating the risks of coronavirus infections now lie on the shoulders of each individual.&nbsp;



Several scientists - such as Katelyn Jetelina (a professor of Epidemiology at the <a href="https://sph.uth.edu/campuses/dallas">University of Texas School of Public Health</a>) or Cameron Byerley (an associate professor of Mathematics Education at the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a>) - have recently tried to quantify individual risks engendered by COVID, depending upon factors such as age, vaccination status, or comorbidities. “We’re doing a really terrible job of communicating risk,” said Dr. Jetelina. “I think that’s also why people are throwing their hands up in the air and saying, ‘Screw it.’ They’re desperate for some sort of guidance.”



Comparing the risks of being hospitalized or dying from a COVID infection with the risks entailed by engaging in other activities such as driving, participating in wars, or taking drugs, these experts came up with rather optimistic and reassuring statistics. For instance, while an average 40-year-old vaccinated more than six months ago faces the same chance of being hospitalized after an infection as someone does of dying in a car accident in the course of 170 cross-country road trips, an average unvaccinated 65 years old person is as likely to die from an Omicron infection as a person using heroin for one year and a half. However, an average vaccinated and boosted senior 65 or older faces a risk of dying from COVID only slightly higher than that of a soldier fighting for a year in the Afghanistan war from 2011.



While such statistical and probabilistic analyses are indeed reassuring, the fact that the coronavirus is still circulating widely in many areas of the world, while a large number of immunocompromised individuals cannot much rely on vaccines or previous infections to protect them, placing the burden of risk assessment completely on the shoulders of individuals is perhaps not yet the best course of action. 



“As much as we wouldn’t like to believe it, we still need a society-wide approach to the pandemic, especially to protect those who can’t benefit fully from vaccination,” said Anne Sosin, an expert in Health Equity at <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a>.



An in-depth discussion of COVID risks, together with comparisons with other activities, can be found in Dr. Jetelina’s open-access article “<a href="https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/understanding-risk?s=r">Understanding Risk</a>,” while Dr. Byerley’s interactive online tool which allows people to adjust their age, vaccination status, or health background in order to predict the risks a coronavirus infection might entail can be accessed <a href="https://www.covidtaser.com/comparison-mobile6">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

How do we quantify the risk of a COVID infection?

Many things have changed in the two years since the...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.uab.cat/web/universitat-autonoma-de-barcelona-1345467954774.html">Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona</a> have presented a brand new perspective on how early humans adapted to climate change. The evidence was discovered in the remains of ancient marine mollusk shells.



"Current global climate warming is having, and will continue to have, widespread consequences for humans. Looking to the past, multiple climatic and environmental changes have long been thought to have shaped human evolution and behavior," wrote the researchers.



According to the experts, the "8.2 ka event" was the largest and most abrupt climate change event of the past 11,700 years. This was caused by meltwater from North American lakes flooding into the North Atlantic and stopping ocean circulation systems.



"The influx of cold water into the Atlantic Ocean led to a reduction of sea surface salinity and a decline of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), provoking a reduction in sea surface temperatures (SST) across the North Atlantic," explained the researchers. "The cooling effects of this event have been documented in proxies from the Greenland ice cores and across Europe."



Study lead author Asier García Escárzaga and colleagues used stable carbon isotope analyses to examine marine mollusk shells that were collected in the El Mazo cave along the European Atlantic coast. El Mazo has a long stratigraphic sequence of 1,500 years, with especially high chronological resolution of each archaeological layer.



The results showed that colder ocean water temperatures led to changes in the availability of different shellfish species. For example, one of the most commonly consumed species decreased during the 8.2 ka event, while another commonly harvested species increased.



The results also revealed a major increase in mollusk exploitation by humans. This activity was indicated by a decrease in average mollusk size and evidence of increased harvesting in more dangerous coastal areas.&nbsp;



"A decrease in shell size was also observed at El Mazo during this colder period, something that has been variously linked to either changes in sea surface temperatures or a higher human pressure on coastal resources, mostly in the form of demographic increase and additional resource pressure," wrote the study authors.



"At El Mazo, a clear reduction in shell size for the three most dominant mollusc species can be seen during the 8.2 ka event. Given that each of these species have well-documented differences in temperature tolerance, it seems that changes in sea surface temperatures cannot be considered responsible for changes in shell size."



The researchers propose that humans were flocking to the Atlantic coast as a refuge during the cold event. Despite the influx of people, however, the fossil evidence suggests that humans living around El Mazo managed to avoid over-exploiting their coastal resources. The experts found that the average mollusk size very rarely decreased below 20 millimeters, which has since been established as the minimum size needed to guarantee long-term species survival.&nbsp;



“Our results suggest an ongoing application of local marine ecological knowledge by some of the last foragers in western Europe, despite major changes to climate and demography," explained García-Escárzaga.



The techniques used in the study could be extremely useful for other studies seeking to determine the significance of climate change on marine environments. The research also provides new clues to help predict the nature of future climate change and the impacts on human societies.&nbsp;



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



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

Mollusk shells reveal new clues about past climate change

Researchers at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have presented a...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.uu.nl/en">Utrecht University</a>, scientists have investigated the mental well-being of shelter dogs by examining stress hormones.&nbsp;



"Dogs can suffer from chronic stress in environments that are sub-optimal to their needs, such as in many kennel environments," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"Chronic stress may exceed the animals’ adaptive capacity and thus, threaten its welfare state. Chronic stress may even elicit medical and behavioral problems in the long term. Therefore, to improve canine welfare, reliable and feasible non-invasive indicators of long-term stress levels need to be evaluated."



It comes as no surprise that shelter dogs are stressed. They are exposed to lots of other dogs, strange humans and are more isolated from the outside world.



"We know that a shelter is not a stress-free environment for dogs, even though staff members do their best to achieve the highest possible welfare," said lead researcher Janneke Van der Laan. "Even if you organize a shelter in the best possible way, there are still stress factors, such as crowds of other dogs and not being able to go outside as often as usual. And most important: the dog is gone from their old, familiar environment.”



The scientists carried out the research by measuring levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that is found in humans as well as dogs. The cortisol levels can be measured from hair samples, so the research team collected hair from dogs at the beginning of their stay at a shelter, throughout the course of their stay, and after they were adopted out.  



"In addition to the cortisol measurements in hair, we also measured cortisol values in the dogs’ urine. This gives a short-term picture while the hair measurements show the long term," explained van der Laan.



"We took daily measurements in the shelter for over a year. After adoption, the new owners - after clear instructions - cut the dogs hair and sent it to us. They were helpful and enthusiastic, and were very interested in what their dog had experienced before adoption.”



The dogs' cortisol levels started at the same levels of other domestic dogs but rose during their time at the shelter, peaking after six weeks. Fortunately, these stress levels fell at about the same rate when dogs found new homes and ultimately returned to normal. One surprising (and so far unexplained) result was that smaller dogs exhibited higher cortisol levels than their larger counterparts.&nbsp;



The study shows that even a shelter like the one used, which does its best to improve welfare for animals, is a stressful place for dogs. The research highlights the need to get dogs adopted as soon as possible to good homes.&nbsp;



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



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

Shelter dogs have high levels of stress

In a new study from Utrecht University, scientists have investigated...

A team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> in UK and Stellenbosch University in South Africa has recorded sounds made by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/humpback-whales-travel-thousands-of-miles-to-mate/">humpback whales</a> at the Vema Seamount in the Atlantic Ocean, a few hundreds of miles west of the South African coast. The recordings revealed a variety of calls, including an “impulsive sound” – dubbed “gunshot” by the scientists – that has never been recorded before.



The researchers used moored hydrophones deployed during the Southern Hemisphere spring of 2019 to record the whales’ calls. These calls were detected during a period of 11 days, and were categorized into continuous “song” and shorter “non-song” calls. 



Among the over 600 non-song calls recorded, the most common one was a low “whup,” which is known to be used between mothers and calves to help them locate each other. Occasionally though, whales also “whup” while feeding. Other sounds included “grumble” calls – which are also emitted by whales while feeding – as well as a more mysterious “gunshot” call, whose significance is still unknown.



“We still don’t fully understand what the “gunshot” call means, and it is fantastic to record it in humpback whales for the first time,” said&nbsp;study co-author Dr. Kirsten Thompson, a population biologist at the University of Exeter. “It really shows how much we still have to learn about these incredible animals.”



According to Dr. Thompson, the “whup” and “grumble” calls confirm that the whales passing through&nbsp;the Vema Seamount during their long migration to the polar regions are feeding. “Seamounts can provide rich habitat for all sorts of migratory species and we urgently need widespread protection of the global oceans to ensure these habitats can persist.”



Although the area around the Vema Seamount was heavily overfished after its discovery in 1959, it is now closed for fishing and recognized as a vulnerable marine ecosystem in need of protection due to its unique biodiversity. However, no legally binding international agreement exists to protect the network of seamounts in the high seas.



“50 years ago, governments came together to turn around the fate of humpback whales. Now they have a chance to secure the progress already made and protect the high-seas habitats that whales rely on. While such large areas of our oceans remain unprotected, these ecosystems are highly vulnerable. A coherent and connected network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across our oceans is urgently needed to ensure seamounts like Vema are protected,” concluded Dr. Thompson.



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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

Humpback whale calls reveal mysterious gunshot sound

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter 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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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