Scientists have proposed a new explanation for dark matter and how the elusive substance that anchors galaxies might have taken shape in the newborn universe.



The scenario begins with weightless particles zipping through the cosmic furnace and ends with a chill population of massive pairs that could still be drifting through space today.



The work - carried out by physicists at <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dartmouth College</a> - offers predictions that astronomers can check against existing observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the after-glow of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/if-the-big-bang-theory-is-correct-what-exactly-happened/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Big Bang</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-particles-after-the-big-bang">Particles after the Big Bang </h2>



“Dark matter <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/existence-of-dark-matter-confirmed-by-new-study/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">started its life</a> as near-massless relativistic particles, almost like light,” said Robert Caldwell, senior author of the study. “That’s totally antithetical to what dark matter is thought to be - it is cold lumps that give galaxies their mass.”



In the model designed by Caldwell and undergraduate researcher Guanming Liang, countless high-energy quanta filled the universe just after the Big Bang. These particles, similar to the photons that carry light, hurtled about at near-light speed.



Under certain conditions, two such quanta could lock together because their spins pointed in opposite directions, rather like the attraction between the north and south poles of tiny magnets. 



The moment they bonded, the new entity’s energy plummeted and its inertia skyrocketed. Within a flash it went from a racing ray to a hefty relic.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-sudden-drop-in-energy"><a></a>A sudden drop in energy</h2>



“The most unexpected part of our mathematical model was the energy plummet that bridges the high-density energy and the lumpy low energy,” Liang explained.



The researchers liken the transformation to steam condensing into water - a hot, diffuse gas suddenly collapses into a cooler, denser phase.



“At that stage, it's like these pairs were getting ready to become dark matter,” Caldwell said. “This phase transition helps explain the abundance of dark matter we can detect today. It sprang from the high-density cluster of extremely energetic particles that was the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-planets-formed-in-the-harsh-early-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">early universe</a>.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cooper-pairs-as-a-clue"><a></a>Cooper pairs as a clue</h2>



The paper introduces a brand-new particle to trigger the shift, yet the authors argue that nature already provides a parallel. In certain superconducting metals, two <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massless-dirac-electrons-seen-moving-in-four-dimensions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">electrons</a> with opposite spins form so-called Cooper pairs that glide without electrical resistance.



“We looked toward superconductivity for clues as to whether a certain interaction could cause energy to drop so suddenly,” Caldwell noted. “Cooper pairs prove that the mechanism exists.”



If the analogy holds, the relic pairs born in the cosmic dawn would have cooled into a nearly pressure-free state - a key hallmark of the unseen matter whose <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/theory-gravity-exists-without-mass-so-dark-matter-does-not-exist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gravity</a> sculpts galaxies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-simple-model-for-dark-matter">A simple model for dark matter</h2>



Dark matter accounts for roughly eighty-five percent of all mass, yet the universe’s overall energy density has fallen dramatically since its first moments.



Liang points out that the new theory addresses both facts at once: “Structures get their mass due to the density of cold dark matter, but there also has to be a mechanism wherein energy density drops to close to what we see today.”



The abrupt condensation of massless quanta into massive pairs drains energy from the radiation budget while boosting the matter budget, squaring theory with observation.



“The mathematical model of our theory is really beautiful because it's rather simplistic - you don't need to build a lot of things into the system for it to work,” said Liang. “It builds on concepts and timelines we know exist.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-signature-written-in-ancient-light">A signature written in ancient light</h2>



Because the transition would have left the paired particles almost motionless, the team predicts a distinctive imprint on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/universe-more-complicated-less-clumpy-than-it-should-be-cosmic-microwave-background-cmb/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cosmic microwave background</a>.



The CMB has already been mapped by satellites and ground-based projects, and more precise surveys are under way at the Simons Observatory in Chile and in planned CMB Stage-4 experiments.



“It's exciting,” Caldwell said. “We're presenting a new approach to thinking about and possibly identifying dark matter.”



The researchers emphasize that their proposal is testable: if future CMB data reveal the subtle pattern predicted by their equations, the case for heavy pairs born from light-like quanta will strengthen. If not, the idea will need revision or replacement - exactly how science should proceed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-dark-matter-research">Future of dark matter research</h2>



For now the paper stakes out a middle ground between theoretical elegance and observational reach. 



Upcoming missions will either expose the predicted CMB trace or tighten the limits on how dark matter could have formed. Either outcome will refine our view of the invisible framework that holds the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-than-one-big-bang-may-explain-cosmic-expansion-without-dark-matter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cosmos</a> together.



Should the ancient sky bear the scar of those primordial pairings, physicists might finally glimpse how ghostly matter traded light speed for lasting weight - and reshaped the universe in the process.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.191004" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Physical Review Letters</a>.



Image Credit: NASA, ESA and M. Montes (University of New South Wales)



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Where did dark matter come from? The answer may be surprisingly simple

Scientists have proposed a new explanation for dark matter and how the elusive substance that anchors galaxies might have taken shape in the newborn universe. The scenario begins with weightless particles zipping through the cosmic furnace and ends with a chill population of massive pairs that could still be drifting through space today. The work - carried out by physicists at Dartmouth College - offers predictions that astronomers can check against existing observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, the after-glow of the Big Bang. Particles after the...

A team of experts at <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a> set out to investigate whether the boldness of city bats is a trait that is genetically inherited or if it is a behavior that is learned. During a project in which urban fruit bats were adopted by rural mothers and vice versa, the researchers found that the pups behave like their adoptive mothers rather than their biological moms.&nbsp;



The experiment revealed that pups born in the country and adopted by urban mothers were bolder, taking more risks than those adopted by rural mothers.



"We wanted to find out whether boldness is transferred genetically or learned somehow from the mother," said study co-author Professor Yossi Yovel. "Our findings suggest that this trait is passed on to pups by the mothers that nurse and raise them, even when they are not their biological mothers."



Study lead author Dr. Lee Harten explained that while most animals do not live in an urban environment, some species thrive in it. "We are trying to understand how they do this."



"Fruit bats are an excellent example of a species that has adapted well to the human environment of the city. Bat colonies thrive in Tel Aviv and other cities, while other colonies still live in rural areas."



"Research has shown that city-adapted fruit-bats tend to be bolder and take more risks than those living in the wild. We wanted to examine, under laboratory conditions, whether this trait is genetic or acquired."



The research involved 86 mother-pup pairs of fruit bats: 61 pairs from four urban colonies and three rural colonies. The experts conducted experiments that were designed to investigate the behavioral differences between the two groups, with a central focus on their boldness, or willingness to take risks.&nbsp;



Prior to the experiments, the team demonstrated that urban bats could immediately complete a task that involved entering an unknown box to find food. The urban bats, on the other hand, were much more intimidated by the scenario and took several hours to enter the box. 



"Similar results were observed in past experiments with birds: birds living in the city take more risks than birds of the same species residing in rural areas. Our study was the first to test this issue in bats," said Professor Yovel.



Next, the researchers wanted to determine whether pups inherit or learn to take risks. They presented the same box experiment to the young pups who had never searched for food on their own. The study revealed that the urban pups, just like their parents, were bolder and learn faster than rural pups.



"These findings first led us to think that boldness is hereditary - passed on genetically from the urban parents to their pups. However, we know that young pups are still exposed to their mothers after birth. We decided to check whether pups learn from their mothers or are influenced by them in some other way."



The researchers introduced a cross-adoption method where pups born to urban mothers were raised by rural mothers, and vice versa. The team noted that this is the first "nature vs. nurture" study for boldness in urban animals.



"We found that the pups behaved like their adoptive mothers, not like their biological mothers. This means that boldness is an acquired rather than hereditary trait, passed on in some way from mother to young pup. We hypothesize that the agent may be some substance in the mother's milk," explained Dr. Harten.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-021-01131-z">BMC Biology</a>.



---



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

Fruit bat pups take after their adoptive mothers

A team of experts at Tel Aviv University set out...

It is usually challenging to identify the exact proportions of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fossils-reveal-a-previously-unknown-mass-extinction-event/">fossil</a> animals that are excavated out of the rock. Seldom is a fossilized skeleton discovered in its entirety. Instead, the component bones tend to be disarticulated, jumbled up, and commonly dispersed by factors such as weather, water movement and scavenger activity.



This was the case when the first specimen of a Supersaurus&nbsp;was uncovered in 1972 in a bonebed at Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry in Colorado. Brian Curtice, currently a paleontologist at the Arizona Museum of Natural History, describes the accumulation of tightly-packed fossils originally found in the bonebed as a "bone salad" that made it very difficult to know which bones to allocate to the newly discovered Supersaurus.&nbsp;



Field worker Jim Jensen, who collected and prepared fossils for Brigham Young University in Utah, excavated that bone salad and published his findings some years later. Among the bones that he discovered was an 8-foot-long scapulocoracoid – two fused bones that make up the shoulder girdle in adult dinosaurs and other reptiles. The size of this bone identified Supersaurus as being potentially one of the longest dinosaurs ever discovered. The public was intrigued at the time that a dinosaur larger than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.livescience.com/25024-brachiosaurus.html">Brachiosaurus</a>, then considered the longest dinosaur, could have existed.



Jensen also excavated other large bones that he thought belonged to two other species of sauropod dinosaurs. When he published his findings, in 1985, &nbsp;in the journal <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol45/iss4/7/">Great Basin Naturalist</a>, he announced the discovery of three new sauropod dinosaurs from the quarry – apart from Supersaurus (that had been named by a journalist in the initial post-discovery media frenzy), he named Ultrasaurus and Dystylosaurus from the bone evidence found in the bonebed.&nbsp;



However, Jensen wasn't a trained paleontologist, and he made some mistakes with his analysis. This has led to much debate between paleontologists over the years, who have questioned the validity of the two other new genera. Some, such as Curtice, believe that the bones were misidentified and actually all belong to a single Supersaurus skeleton.&nbsp;



Curtice said Jensen's theory that the bones belonged to three different dinosaurs never checked out. "He was caught up in the moment," Curtice said. "He wasn't classically trained."&nbsp;



Now, some 50 years after the initial discovery, Curtice has re-evaluated some of the original bones, as well as looking at bones that have been excavated subsequently from the large blocks of rocks and fossils that were transferred at the time from the quarry to the laboratory. He has also compared all the bones with those of two other fossilized skeletons of Supersaurus (nicknamed Jimbo and Goliath) that have subsequently been discovered in Wyoming.



He feels there is a good case for reclassifying Jensen’s three species as a single one, namely Supersaurus.



Among the as yet unstudied bones from the rock blocks, Curtice identified five new neck vertebrae, one new back vertebra, two new tail vertebrae and a left pubis bone. This gave him a more complete picture of the skeleton of Supersaurus and helped him estimate the overall length of the beast more accurately.&nbsp;



However, many of the bones have still not been excavated, or are missing from the deposit, so determining the overall length is still a challenge.&nbsp;



"It should have 15 or 16 neck bones and we have six of them," Curtice said. "So the big challenge is 'Wait, which six do we have?' They don't come with numbers on them."



Curtice found that the vertebrae became smaller by a certain percentage the further they were from the body, and this allowed him to estimate the lengths of the missing bones.&nbsp;He calculated that, depending on the placement of one nearly 4.5-foot-long (1.3 m) neck vertebra,&nbsp;Supersaurus&nbsp;measured either 128 feet or 137 feet in overall length.&nbsp;



"That is a crazy length – longer than three yellow school buses, nose to tail," Curtice said. "And considering we never find the largest individual in the fossil record, how much longer could these animals have gotten?"



The other, more recent fossil Supersaurus discoveries, Jimbo and Goliath, supported Curtice’s estimates of length. "What's shocking to me is how close in length Goliath and Jimbo are," said Curtice. "If you get three animals that are within a few feet of one another, now we know, 'OK, that's the average.'"



Unfortunately, researchers have yet to formally identify Goliath as a&nbsp;Supersaurus&nbsp;in a peer-reviewed journal and, until that time, including its measurements for comparison can only be tentative.&nbsp;



The conclusions drawn from the new research "seem reasonable," said Matt Lamanna, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, who was not involved with the research. "I can't really weigh in on the exact length estimate, but it's clear that there is a very, very large diplodocid sauropod in that quarry."



The research would be strengthened if the dinosaur nicknamed Goliath were to be formally identified as a&nbsp;Supersaurus, especially because Curtice is using it to inform his analysis, Lamanna said. "I think the final verdict will come when this Goliath specimen is published, when this additional material from Dry Mesa is published. I want to see it go through formal peer review."



"I think it will be pretty exciting when he does [publish]," Lamanna added. "I think he's very probably correct."



While he awaits the publication of the identity of Goliath, and the peer review of his own research, Curtice presented his findings at the annual meeting of the <a href="https://vertpaleo.org/">Society of Vertebrate Paleontology</a> earlier this month. Even the "shorter" size estimate of Supersaurus is record-breaking; at 128 feet (39 m), the dinosaur would have been longer&nbsp;than other contenders for this record. And with a neck of at least 50 feet long (15 m), Supersaurus already holds the record for the dinosaur with the longest neck. One thing is for sure though, when Supersaurus wandered the plains of Colorado and Wyoming, some 150 million years ago, it was an exceptionally large animal.



In conclusion, Curtice states that Supersaurus&nbsp;may be the longest dinosaur on record, but it's not the heaviest. That honor likely goes to the superheavy titanosaur&nbsp;Argentinosaurus, which weighed upward of 90 tons (82 metric tons) and came close to being twice as heavy as&nbsp;Supersaurus&nbsp;was.



---



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

Supersaurus may be the longest dinosaur ever discovered

It is usually challenging to identify the exact proportions of...

New research led by the <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> has found that good <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nutritional-value-of-crops-varies-by-location/">nutrition</a> may be the best anti-aging drug that we can find. By comparing the metabolic effects of a healthy diet with those provided by medications that promote healthy aging, the scientists discovered that none of the drugs that they studied were more beneficial to the organism than proper nutrition.



In a pre-clinical study involving mice, the researchers found that consuming a proper balance of calories and macronutrients had significantly more benefits on protecting against aging than three common drugs that are prescribed to treat diabetes and slow the aging process (metformin, rapamycin, and resveratrol).



“Diet is a powerful medicine. However, presently drugs are administered without consideration of whether and how they might interact with our diet composition – even when these drugs are designed to act in the same way, and on the same&nbsp;nutrient-signaling pathways&nbsp;as diet,” explained study senior author Stephen Simpson, a professor of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney.



The liver plays a fundamental function in regulating metabolism in animals and humans. By examining the impact of both diet and medications on mice in 40 different combinations of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, calories, and drug content, Professor Simpson and his colleagues found that calorie intake and a proper balance between protein, fats, and carbohydrates have more benefits on liver function than pharmaceuticals.&nbsp;



Furthermore, protein and the total number of calories the mice consumed had a strong impact on the body’s metabolic pathways and on processes that control how cells function. In fact, all three examined pharmaceuticals appeared to dampen cells’ metabolic response to dieting instead of fundamentally re-shaping cellular function.



“We discovered dietary composition had a far more powerful effect than drugs, which largely dampened responses to diet rather than reshaped them.”



“Given humans share essentially the same nutrient-signaling pathways as mice, the research suggests people would get better value from changing their diet to&nbsp;improve metabolic health&nbsp;rather than taking the drugs we studied,” Prof. Simpson concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550413121005283?via%3Dihub">Cell Metabolism</a>.



---



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

Diet is the most powerful weapon against aging

New research led by the University of Sydney has found...

Strawberry flavor is favored by many in their beverages, confectionaries and baking. Yet, a strong strawberry flavor (that is, taste and aroma) is difficult to obtain from natural sources. Wild strawberries, that have the strongest aroma and taste, are hard to find and rather small in size, which makes it expensive to get enough of their flavor compounds to introduce into other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/anti-inflammatory-foods-lower-the-risk-of-dementia/">foods</a>.&nbsp;



To overcome this problem, many companies make synthetic strawberry flavor to add to foods such as ice creams, sweets and desserts. However, new research from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explains how scientists have been able to manipulate an edible fungus to make a wild strawberry-like aroma from waste fruit that remains after the process of extracting juice from black currants.&nbsp;



There are several species of fungi that can break down plant matter and simultaneously use the rotting food to produce pleasant smelling compounds such as vanillin, raspberry ketone and benzaldehyde, which has an almond-like aroma. One particular edible brown-rot fungus,&nbsp;Wolfiporia cocos, breaks down a variety of foods, including tea and carrot peels, and releases fruity and floral aromas in the process.&nbsp;



Dr. Holger Zorn from the Justus Liebig University, along with his colleagues, used waste pomace from the black currant juice industry on which to grow the fungus. Pomace is the term used to describe the left-over pulp, seeds and skins of the fruits after the juice has been extracted. It is considered a waste product and is usually thrown away. But this nutrient-rich substrate is perfect for growing cultures of W. cocos.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers first grew W. cocos&nbsp;with black currant pomace as the fungus’ only source of nutrition, which resulted in the production of fruity and floral aromas. However, when the team added ammonium nitrate, sodium L-aspartate monohydrate, monopotassium phosphate and a few other substances to the medium, the fungus culture released an aroma similar to that of wild strawberries.&nbsp;



The team then used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-MS-O) to identify the exact compounds that contributed to the scent. Ten trained olfactory panelists then assessed combinations of these compounds to select the one most like a wild strawberry aroma. According to the panel, the most intense odors were perceived when the compounds (R)-linalool, methyl anthranilate, geraniol and 2-aminobenzaldehyde were present.&nbsp;



The researchers then combined artificial versions of these four compounds into a wild strawberry smell and found that the sensory experts rated it as being very similar to the wild strawberry-like odor from the cultivated fungus.&nbsp;



The researchers conclude that, by growing the fungus W. cocos&nbsp;on food waste, they have been able to develop a cost-effective and sustainable system for producing a wild strawberry aroma that is suitable for use as a natural flavoring agent in foods.&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/jafcau">Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry</a>.



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

Wild strawberry flavor for foods, from a fungus

Strawberry flavor is favored by many in their beverages, confectionaries...

Grandmothers are important caregivers in many societies and can enrich the lives of their grandchildren with their love, kindness and knowledge. In modern societies, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dads-who-spend-more-time-with-their-kids-have-different-brain-structures/">caregiving</a> by engaged grandmothers has been associated with better outcomes for their grandchildren in terms of academic, social, behavioral and physical health parameters. 



The brain functioning of healthy, older people has seldom been investigated, with more attention being paid to elucidating the neural problems related to dementia and other aging disorders. However, in a recent study scientists have, for the first time, scanned grandmothers’ brains while they looked at photos of their young grandchildren, in order to understand how brain activity may relate to the benefits that they bring to their families.&nbsp;



A total of 50 grandmothers with grandchildren between 3 and 12 years of age participated in the study. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify the areas of the brain that became active when they viewed pictures of a grandchild, an unknown child, the same-sex parent and an unknown adult.&nbsp;



In addition, the participating grandmothers completed questionnaires about their involvement as grandmothers, and provided details such as how much time they spent with their grandchildren, the activities they shared and how much affection they felt for them.



The results showed that viewing grandchild pictures activated areas involved with emotional empathy (insula and secondary somatosensory cortex) and movement (motor cortex and supplementary motor area) in the brains of the grandmothers.



“What really jumps out in the data is the activation in areas of the brain associated with emotional empathy,” said study lead author James Rilling, <a href="https://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory</a> professor of Anthropology. “That suggests that grandmothers are geared toward feeling what their grandchildren are feeling when they interact with them. If their grandchild is smiling, they’re feeling the child’s joy. And if their grandchild is crying, they’re feeling the child’s pain and distress.”



This was in contrast to the grandmothers’ neural responses to their adult child. When viewing images of their adult child, grandmothers showed stronger activation in areas of the brain associated with cognitive empathy (temporo-parietal junction and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex), indicating that they were trying to understand what their child was thinking or feeling, but from a cognitive (intellectual) rather than an emotional perspective.&nbsp;



“Young children have likely evolved traits to be able to manipulate not just the maternal brain, but the grand maternal brain,” said Professor Rilling. “An adult child doesn’t have the same cute ‘factor,’ so they may not illicit the same emotional response.”



“I can relate to this research personally because I spent a lot of time interacting with both of my grandmothers,” said study co-author Minwoo Lee. “I still remember warmly the moments I had with them. They were always so welcoming and happy to see me. As a child, I didn’t really understand why.”



“Here, we’re highlighting the brain functions of grandmothers that may play an important role in our social lives and development. It’s an important aspect of the human experience that has been largely left out of the field of neuroscience.”



Researchers in Professor Rilling’s lab focus on the neural basis of human social cognition and behavior. Although neural correlates of maternal behavior have been well studied by other neuroscientists, the Emory team has done novel research on the neuroscience of fatherhood, in addition to this new study on neural correlates of grandmaternal caregiving.



“We often assume that fathers are the most important caregivers next to mothers, but that’s not always true,” said Rilling. “In some cases, grandmothers are the primary helper.”



When compared with the brain activity shown by fathers who viewed photos of their children, grandmothers showed stronger activity in the brain regions involved with emotional empathy and motivation.&nbsp;



Grandmothers are important caregivers in many societies and previous research has shown that their involvement with the family may bring tangible evolutionary benefits. For example, a study of the traditional Hadza people of Tanzania, showed that foraging by grandmothers improved the nutritional status of their grandchildren. Another study of traditional communities showed that the presence of grandmothers decreases their daughters’ interbirth intervals and increases the number of grandchildren.



The neural evidence derived in this current study appears to support the hypothesis that that there is a global caregiving system in the brain, and that grandmothers are part of this system.&nbsp;



“Our results add to the evidence that there does seem to be a global parenting caregiving system in the brain, and that grandmothers’ responses to their grandchildren maps onto it,” said Professor Rilling.



Although the study has some limitations, such as the fact that only mentally and physically healthy grandmothers who were involved with their grandchildren took part, it does invite further research. “It would be interesting to also look at the neuroscience of grandfathers and how the brain functions of grandparents may differ across cultures,” said Lee.



Professor Rilling interviewed all the participants personally. “It was fun. I wanted to get a sense of the rewards and challenges of being a grandmother.” He stated that the main challenge many of them reported was trying not to interfere when they disagreed with the parents over how their grandchildren should be raised and what values should be instilled in them.



“Many of them also said how nice it is not to be under as much time and financial pressure as they were when raising their children. They get to enjoy the experience of being a grandmother much more than they did being parents.”



The study is published in the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.



---



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

How a grandmother's brain reacts to the sight of her grandchildren

Grandmothers are important caregivers in many societies and can enrich...

Mother,And,Son,Buying,Green,Peas,At,Market

Over half of the globe’s population currently lives in urban areas, a figure which will increase to 68 percent by 2050. According to scientists, increased urbanization drives changes in climate, land use, biodiversity, and human diet. A new study published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.10.012">One Earth</a> has found that the widely accepted myths that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urbanization-forces-tiger-snakes-to-inbreed/">urbanization</a> negatively impacts food diversity are not always correct.



"We can't simply assume that urbanization exclusively, negatively impacts food biodiversity," said study lead author Karl S. Zimmerer, a professor of Environment and Society Geography at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a>.



Professor Zimmerer and his colleagues explored the intersection of urbanization and agrobiodiversity (biodiversity in food production and consumption) in four areas: land use, supply chains, food access and foodways, and urban infrastructure and food retail.



According to the researchers, on a city’s fringe, crop lands, orchards, and dairy farms could supply a large variety of products, making cities locally self-sufficient and agrobiodiverse. In Hanoi, Vietnam, for example, urban and peri-urban agriculture provide 62 to 83 percent of vegetables as well as significant amounts of meat. By contrast, large metropolitan areas in the U.S. are far from being self-sufficient.&nbsp;



"Most urbanization in coming decades will be based in Africa," said Zimmerer. "Asian cities have already grown, but increases will be much higher in Africa. The interesting thing is Africa will be dotted by large, peri-urban, and urban spaces with small farms and gardens. Nutrition and food security will be paramount."



Since cities are usually not self-sufficient, local, national, and international supply chains are crucial to provide the necessary amount and diversity of food. However, such supply chains are known to drive increasingly standardized and biologically simplified products, thus often having a negative impact on agrobiodiversity.



Nevertheless, people living in large urban areas are often of varied cultural ancestry and carry with them the diverse foodways of their respective cultures, thus potentially helping to diversify the foods available for all the inhabitants in those areas.



Finally, urban infrastructure and food retail, including supermarkets, groceries, convenience or corner stores, restaurants and other eateries, open-air markets, and street vendors provide a variety of dietary options that non-urban spaces often lack.



Thus, the relationship between urbanization and agrobiodiversity is more complex than previously thought, and should be further investigated in order to open new paths for sustainable development based on a cultivation of food diversity and an increase in food security.&nbsp;



---



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

Urbanization does not always decrease food diversity

Over half of the globe’s population currently lives in urban...

Guinea,Pig,Friends

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0451-21.2021">eNeuro</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-process-speech-in-the-same-way-as-humans/">speech</a> sounds elicit similar neural responses and stimulate the same brain areas in humans, macaques, and guinea pigs. These findings may help better understand and diagnose auditory processing deficits.



The brain’s responses to sounds (“frequency following responses,” or FFRs) can be recorded by small electrodes placed on the scalp, and are generally used by clinicians to quickly asses infants’ hearing capacities in order to find out whether they may develop disorders such as dyslexia or autism.&nbsp;



If the infants’ brains produce electrical responses to sounds played through tiny headphones, their neural pathways connecting the ears to the high-level information processing areas of the brain are functional. However, until recently, this method lacked specificity.



“These tests can only tell us that something is off – but we don’t know what that ‘off’ is,” said study co-author Bharath Chandrasekaran, a professor of Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburg’s <a href="https://www.shrs.pitt.edu/">School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences</a>.&nbsp;



“Understanding the source and mechanism of FFR generation would allow for the development of specific markers of speech impairments, which would be instrumental in improving clinical diagnostics of auditory processing deficits.”



Until recently, scientists thought that FFRs arise deep inside the brain stem. However, by combining electroencephalographic recordings from the scalp with recordings from electrodes placed inside the skull, the researchers found that FFRs are generated also in the auditory cortex of the brain, only a few centimeters away from the skull surface. Moreover, they appeared to be similar across mammals such as humans, monkeys, and guinea pigs.



“Recognizing the similarities between animal and human FFRs will allow us to study neural circuitry of sound processing in much greater detail,” said study lead author Nike Gnanateja Gurindapalli, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. “These explorations will further pave the way for new models of auditory processing in both typical and impaired auditory systems, which can eventually be used to infer auditory deficits using simple and effective non-invasive tools in the clinic.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Since FFRs were traditionally thought to be passively generated outside the cortex, scientists did not typically account for a person’s attention and alertness during FFR recordings. This new discovery will change the way FFRs are collected and interpreted and will open pathways for the development of better biomarkers of auditory processing deficits, leading to faster, more accurate, and non-invasive diagnostics.



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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

Speech sounds elicit similar brain responses in humans and guinea pigs

A new study published in the journal eNeuro has found...

Prior to the massive 2019-20 wildfires in Australia, a species of assassin <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spiders-can-track-the-scent-of-killer-ants-to-avoid-them/">spider</a> known as the “pelican spider” was found only in the Western River Wilderness Protection Area on Kangaroo Island (KI). Unfortunately the area burned severely, leaving scientists to suspect that pelican spiders had been completely wiped out by the fires.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Recently, two pelican spiders were discovered alive in northern Kangaroo Island. The discovery of the surviving spiders was the result of research carried out under a grant acquired by the <a href="https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/">Southern Australia Museum</a> (SAM) to survey the bushfire damage.&nbsp;



“This is the first time the species has been found since high severity fires burnt their only known collecting locality. We have been surveying for the spiders since the fires, so it was an amazing feeling to finally find one,” said Dr. Jessica Marsh, an honorary research associate at SAM.



Pelican spiders are especially vulnerable to fire as they inhabit highly flammable environments.



“The spider lives in leaf litter that is suspended at around knee height in low lying vegetation – a habitat which is highly flammable, even in low severity fire. It is found near creeklines in open eucalypt vegetation communities,” explained Dr. Marsh.



Assassin spider populations were previously impacted by prescribed burns on Kangaroo Island, which highlights the vulnerability of the spiders to fire. The pelican spider was always rare and limited in range, so any threat is likely to be severe.



“A section of the Western River Wilderness Protection Area was burnt in a prescribed burn in 2015 and was not impacted by the 2019/20 bushfires. Post-fire surveys of the area have revealed that the elevated litter layer has still not yet formed in the vegetation and no habitat for assassin spiders was found, illustrating how even lower severity and planned burns can be a threat to this species. This also highlights its vulnerability, due to the length of time taken for suitable habitat to re-establish post-fire," said Dr. Marsh.



“Like other species of assassin spiders, the Kangaroo Island species has a very small distributional range and restricted dispersal abilities making it particularly susceptible to major threats, such as prescribed and wild bushfires, feral pigs and increased fragmentation of native vegetation.”



As of now though, there’s still some hope that pelican spiders will survive for a while longer.&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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spiders found on Kangaroo Island were thought to be extinct

Prior to the massive 2019-20 wildfires in Australia, a species...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/">University of Nottingham</a> has found that exercise increases the body’s endocannabinoids (the cannabis-like substances that our bodies produce), which helps reduce inflammation and can thus have potential therapeutic applications for conditions such as arthritis, cancer, or heart disease.&nbsp;



The research team tested 78 people with arthritis, among whom 38 performed 15 minutes of muscle strengthening exercises every day for six weeks, while 40 did nothing. At the end of the study, participants who exercised had more gut microbes that produced anti-inflammatory substances called “short-chain fatty acids” or SCFAs, lower levels of cytokines (inflammatory substances modulating immune responses), and higher levels of endocannabinoids.



“Exercise is known to elicit a feeling of euphoria, referred to as a “runner’s high”, which recent studies indicate is the result of activation of the endocannabinoid system. The role of this system in modulating inflammation,&nbsp;muscle strength,&nbsp;and energy metabolism&nbsp;is now widely documented in humans and in other mammals,” explained the study authors.&nbsp;



The scientists found that the increase in endocannabinoids was strongly linked to changes in the gut microbiome and the anti-inflammatory substances produced by gut microbes. At least one third of the anti-inflammatory effects of the gut microbiome was caused by this significant increase in endocannabinoids.



“Our study clearly shows that exercise increases the body’s own cannabis-type substances which can have a positive impact on many conditions,” explained study first author Amrita Vijay, a research fellow in the University of Nottingham’s <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/medicine/">School of Medicine.</a>



“In this study we show that circulating levels of endocannabinoids are consistently associated with higher levels of SCFAs, with higher microbiome diversity and with lower levels of the pro-inflammatory genus&nbsp;Collinsella. We also show statistically that the anti-inflammatory effects of SCFAs are up to one third mediated by the endocannabinoid system,” the authors wrote.



“As interest in cannabidiol oil and other supplements increases, it is important to know that simple lifestyle interventions like exercise can modulate endocannabinoids,” Dr. Vijay concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19490976.2021.1997559">Gut Microbes</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

Exercise increases the body’s own cannabis-like substances

A new study led by the University of Nottingham has...

A new study carried out by researchers from the <a href="https://illinois.edu/">University of Illinois</a> looked at how partners in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/natural-disasters-may-boost-relationship-satisfaction/">relationship</a> react to close proximity with each other. The scientists found that when older couples in particular are close to each other, a complex series of interactions occur to synchronize their heartbeats.&nbsp;



Study lead author Dr. Brian Ogolsky is an expert in the U of I Department of Human Development and Family Studies.



“Relationship researchers typically ask people how they're doing and assume they can recall properly and give meaningful answers," said Dr. Ogolsky.



"But as couples age and have been together for a long time, they laugh when we ask them how satisfied or how committed they are. When they have been married for 30 or 40 years, they feel that indicates commitment in itself,”



In an effort to collect more objective data on the nature of relationships, Dr. Ogolsky and colleagues used Fitbits to monitor heart rates as well as proximity monitors. Sensors were installed in the couples’ houses to monitor proximity and heart rate in real time.&nbsp;



“We were looking for more objective ways to measure relationship dynamics, and we know that being around other people has psychological benefits. So, physical proximity seemed like a strong candidate," explained Dr. Ogolsky.



"We’re not focusing on cause and effect, but on co-regulation, which happens when heart rates move in a synchronous pattern. That is, when the partners are close, their heart rate patterns indicate an interaction that is collectively meaningful in some way.”



The study was carried out with ten participating heterosexual couples aged 64 to 88 who had been together from 14 to 65 years. The researchers called the participants every morning to remind them to wear their Fitbits and tracking device and again at night for a survey on their well-being and relationship.&nbsp;



The scientists found that sometimes the wife’s heartbeat would lead the synchronization and sometimes the husbands would, in an intricate dance of relationship physiology dynamics. Interestingly, the dynamics in each couple changed on a regular basis, making predictions about a couple impossible beyond predictions for a particular day.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/spr">Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</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

Older couples have synchronized heart rates

A new study carried out by researchers from the University...

Dietary interventions such as intermittent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/intermittent-fasting-improves-health/">fasting</a> and caloric restriction are believed to delay age-related disease and boost longevity. Despite their popularity, it is not yet clear just how anti-aging diets may produce such remarkable health effects.&nbsp;



In a new study from <a href="https://www.aaas.org/">AAAS</a>, a team of experts led by Mitchell Lee set out to investigate anti-aging dietary interventions.&nbsp;Beyond separating fact from fiction, the researchers wanted to determine whether the interventions share the same life-extending mechanism.&nbsp;



In model organisms like mice, flies and yeast, dietary interventions appear to delay or reverse the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-have-identified-anti-aging-drugs-using-ai-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">molecular mechanisms of aging</a>. According to the study authors, it is not currently possible to know whether similar diets affect biological aging in people.



"We evaluated several of the most popular antiaging diets, including caloric restriction, intermittent fasting, fasting-mimicking diets, ketogenic diets, time-restricted feeding, protein restriction, and essential amino acid restriction," wrote the researchers.



"By characterizing these nutritional interventions in comparison with classical caloric restriction (CR), we gained numerous insights. Many studies fail to control for reduced caloric intake in the diet group, making their effects impossible to decouple from CR."



"Although often presented as uniformly beneficial, the effects of CR on life span are highly dependent on genotype and, in some cases, cause reduced survival. Despite their limitations, these studies have greatly improved our understanding of the cellular response to low nutrient availability."



"A picture is beginning to emerge of a complex network composed of multiple signaling pathways that converge on key molecular hubs; foremost among these is the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)."



The experts explained that because mTOR and its components are well-studied drug targets, there continues to be considerable interest in pharmacologically targeting this network to increase longevity and health span.&nbsp;



"Human studies, both correlative and controlled, are consistent with health benefits conferred by a CR diet. However, it remains unresolved whether these benefits are a consequence of modulating the aging process itself or are simply the result of avoiding obesity," explained the researchers.



In conclusion, the researchers said that future studies should focus on a better understanding of the cellular and molecular mediators of anti-aging diets.&nbsp;



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

Do anti-aging diets actually work?

Dietary interventions such as intermittent fasting and caloric restriction are...

A new study of the small but charismatic White Crowned Manakin indicates that it may actually be more than one species of tropical bird. The research also suggests this unexpected <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/enormous-loss-of-crop-diversity-found-in-recent-decades/">diversity</a> is inherent in the landscape of South America itself.&nbsp;



Study lead author Dr. Jacob Berv conducted the research while a Ph.D. student in the <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>, and is currently a Life Sciences Fellow at the University of Michigan.



“We found that the White-crowned Manakin probably originated in the highland forests of the Andes Mountains in northern Peru," explained Dr. Berv.



"Today, this bird is also found across the Amazon Basin, in the lowland rainforests of Brazil, Peru, and many other countries, including parts of Central America.”



The wide and varied landscape of South and Central America, ranging from mountains to lowland forest, is the driver behind speciation.&nbsp;



"This study shows that there is a lot of evolutionary history embedded in what is commonly referred to as a 'single widespread' species in Amazonia," said study co-author Camila Ribas of Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research.



"The White-crowned Manakin is an example of a phenomenon that is probably more the rule than the exception in Amazonia—diversity is vastly underestimated by the current taxonomy."



At roughly 2.5 million years, manakins spread into the Andes, where many remain today. The remaining populations became isolated from the other tropical birds in insulated pockets of habitat created by mountains and rivers.&nbsp;



Over time, these separate populations drifted apart from each other in terms of evolution, becoming different species with different mating rituals, songs and plumage. The differences in mating behavior are especially important for their definitions as different species.&nbsp;



"In order to understand evolutionary processes in Amazonia we need many more studies like this one, with dense geographical sampling," said Ribas. "For this we need to support biological collections that are able to accumulate samples through time."



Dr. Bev echoed this sentiment and emphasized the need for more research. "We’ve basically just scratched the surface."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/molecular-phylogenetics-and-evolution">Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution</a>. 



Image Credit: White-crowned Manakin by Phillip Edwards, Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology



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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

Isolated tropical birds may represent new species

A new study of the small but charismatic White Crowned...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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



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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"

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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