Most people worry about the gradual loss of stamina, strength, and mental sharpness that comes with aging. Scientists have been exploring new ideas to tackle these concerns and increase not just our years but also our quality of life. 



An international team has been testing a special approach that raises levels of a natural protein in the body.



Their research was led by Professor Miguel Chillón at the Institute of Neurosciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (<a href="https://web.ub.edu/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UB</a>), and it shines a light on what might someday help people stay healthier for a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/organ-aging-can-predict-diseases-decades-in-advance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">longer period</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-protein-s-kl-and-its-role-in-aging">Protein s-KL and its role in aging</h2>



The protein at the center of this work is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41581-018-0078-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Klotho</a>, and the form used in the experiments is the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26599613/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">secreted version</a> known as s-KL. 



Some studies suggest that Klotho may influence a wide range of biological processes by managing signals that affect inflammation and cell aging.



The name Klotho first appeared in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/36285" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">scientific journals</a> in the late 1990s, when experiments showed that a deficiency of this protein made mice look older and more frail at younger ages.



"We have been working with the Klotho protein for some time, due to its therapeutic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-old-are-you-really-new-tool-measures-aging-from-the-inside-out/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potential</a> for treating neurodegenerative diseases. 



In this study, we wanted to see whether s-KL could also be beneficial for healthy aging by examining a broad range of factors," explained Professor Chillón.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-differences-between-males-and-females">Differences between males and females</h2>



The effects of s-KL weren’t the same for male and female mice. Males showed clearer gains in lifespan and muscle strength, while females responded more strongly in measures of bone structure, especially when treated earlier in life.



These sex-based differences might be tied to how male and female bodies process viral vectors or express the s-KL protein. 



Hormonal factors could also play a role, suggesting future human trials may need sex-specific <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/curiosity-might-help-you-stay-sharp-as-you-age/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">strategies</a> to get the best results.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aging-improvements-with-s-kl-protein">Aging improvements with s-KL protein</h2>



Researchers noticed that mice given s-KL retained better muscle tissue composition, with less of the scarring often linked to older age. They also had stronger performance in tasks that tested endurance and coordination.



Weakened bones can be a big danger in older adults, so it was intriguing that s-KL seemed to keep the inner bone structure more intact. 



This finding aligns with earlier <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16436465/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">observations</a> that Klotho influences mineral balance in bone and may reduce the chances of fractures.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-timing-may-matter">Why timing may matter</h2>



Mice treated at 12 months old showed more pronounced improvements in longevity and physical health than those treated at 6 months. One reason could be that the aging mice produced higher levels of the s-KL protein after treatment, which may have amplified its <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-bodies-begin-breaking-down-two-very-precise-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">effects</a>.



This finding raises an important question: Could middle age be a better window for intervention than early adulthood? If so, the timing of s-KL therapy in humans could be just as critical as the treatment itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-signs-of-brain-support">Signs of brain support</h2>



Aside from the physical improvements, the investigators measured changes in the hippocampus, a region crucial for memory and cognitive ability. 



They detected heightened markers of <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4563705/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">adult neurogenesis</a>, which is the process by which new neurons form in mature brains.



There was also evidence that key immune cells in the brain might be working in a more balanced way. This could help remove cellular waste and reduce the chronic inflammation tied to age-related brain diseases.



The researchers used gene therapy vectors that prompted cells to produce s-KL over an extended period. These vectors included genetic instructions, and once inside the mice, the cells took over production of the protein.



The approach was designed to boost s-KL levels in both the brain and other areas of the body. This helped ensure that many of the organs linked to muscle, bone, and memory got the extra support.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-s-kl-protein-and-human-aging">s-KL protein and human aging?</h2>



Although this study was done in mice, the results open the door to potential <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/defying-time-three-ways-to-slow-biological-aging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">therapies</a> for humans. 



Age-related decline in mobility, memory, and bone strength all contribute to lower independence and quality of life in older adults. A treatment that addresses these together could shift how we think about aging.



Many current drugs only target one issue at a time, like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/outdoor-exercise-amplifies-physical-and-mental-health-benefits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">osteoporosis</a> or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/your-sleep-may-predict-memory-loss-years-in-advance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">memory loss</a>. But the effects of s-KL span across systems. 



This points toward the possibility of a more unified strategy to aging - one that works with the body’s existing repair mechanisms rather than replacing them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-s-kl-protein-research">What’s next for s-KL protein research?</h2>



If we can find a viable delivery method, s-KL could make a significant contribution to improving people’s quality of life and helping to build the healthiest society possible.



Scientists continue to explore whether direct protein administration or refined gene-based aging options might work best for humans. They plan to keep studying how s-KL weaves into different biological pathways.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/molecular-therapy/fulltext/S1525-0016(25)00120-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Molecular Therapy</a>.



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Protein discovered that boosts lifespan, muscle, and brain power with just one dose

Most people worry about the gradual loss of stamina, strength, and mental sharpness that comes with aging. Scientists have been exploring new ideas to tackle these concerns and increase not just our years but also our quality of life. An international team has been testing a special approach that raises levels of a natural protein in the body. Their research was led by Professor Miguel Chillón at the Institute of Neurosciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UB), and it shines a light on what might someday...

A lack of fresh snowfall is causing Greenland to become warmer, according to a new study from <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth College</a>. The experts report that a weather pattern is pushing snowfall away from parts of Greenland's ice sheet. As a result, older and darker snow is exposed that does not reflect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sunlight-may-provide-millions-with-safe-drinking-water/">sunlight</a> as well as fresh snow.  

"As snow ages, even over hours to a few days, you get this reduction in reflectivity, and that's why the fresh snow is so important," explained Professor Erich Osterberg, the principal investigator of the study.

Without light-colored snow on its surface, the ice sheet loses its reflectivity, or albedo, and absorbs more heat from the sun. 

The researchers determined that the lack of snowfall has been driven by "atmospheric blocking." This is characterized by persistent high-pressure systems that can hover over a region for weeks at a time.

Blocking events have increased over Greenland since the mid-1990s, pushing snowstorms to the north and holding warmer air over Western Greenland. The systems also reduce light-blocking cloud cover.

"It's like a triple whammy effect," said Professor Osterberg. "This all contributes to Greenland melting faster and faster."

The researchers noted that the result of warmer air is not just less snowfall, but also an entirely different type of snow exposed on the surface.

As snowflakes melt, they become rounded and less reflective. This causes the snow surface to become darker. The experts found that a one percent change in reflectivity across Greenland's ice sheet could cause an additional 25 gigatons of ice to be lost over three years.

"Fresh snow looks like what you would draw in a kindergarten class or cut from a piece of paper - it's got all these really sharp points, and that's because it's extremely cold in the atmosphere when the snow falls," said study first author Gabriel Lewis.

"Once it falls and sits on the surface of the ice sheet in the sun, it changes shape and the snow grains become larger over time."

According to the study, the Greenland ice sheet has warmed by about 2.7 degrees Celsius since 1982. The continent is experiencing the greatest melt rates in at least 450 years, and these rates are likely the fastest in the last 7,000 years.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Lack of fresh snowfall causes Greenland to melt faster

A lack of fresh snowfall is causing Greenland to become...

Decades after the Griffon Vulture vanished from its <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-bonds-are-key-to-breeding-success-among-pelicans/">breeding</a> ground in the Eastern Balkan Mountains, the bird has made a remarkable return to the region, according to a study published by <a href="https://pensoft.net/">Pensoft</a>.  

Three local conservation organizations, including the <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/policy-insight/species/birds-of-prey-in-the-uk/why-should-we-protect-birds-of-prey/">Birds of Prey Protection Society</a>, have been working on a long-term restoration program to bring vultures back to their former breeding range in Bulgaria since 2009.

"The Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus is a Western Palearctic cliff-nesting social obligate scavenger and one of the largest birds of prey in Europe. It used to be widespread and numerous in Bulgaria up to the 1940s, but became less frequently observed and likely became extinct as a breeding species around the 1970s," wrote the researchers.

"The Eastern Balkan Mountains and the area of the town of Kotel were amongst the last sites where breeding of the species was reported."

Between 2009 and 2020, a total of 153 Griffon Vultures were tagged and released from five sites in Bulgaria. The first successful reproduction was reported as early as 2016. 

By December of 2020, the local population had grown to more than 80 permanently present individuals, including about 25 breeding pairs and more than 30 chicks.

"Why vultures of all creatures? Because they were exterminated, yet provide an amazing service for people and healthy ecosystems," explained Elena Kmetova-Biro, initial project manager for the Green Balkans NGO.

According to the experts, many of the vultures were killed shortly after release  due to electrocution. 

"The birds predominantly forage on feeding sites, where the team provides dead domestic animals collected from local owners and slaughterhouses," said the researchers.

"We, however, consider the establishment phase of the reintroduction of Griffon Vulture in this particular site as successfully completed."

"The population is still dependent on conservation measures (supplementary feeding, isolation of dangerous power lines and accidental poisoning prevention), but the area of the Eastern Balkan Mountains can currently be regarded as a one of the only seven existing general areas for the species in the mainland Balkan Peninsula and one of the five which serve as population source sites."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://bdj.pensoft.net/">Biodiversity Data Journal</a>.

---

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Griffon Vultures have made a remarkable recovery in Bulgaria

Decades after the Griffon Vulture vanished from its breeding ground...

Yoga and breathing exercises can improve attention and decrease hyperactivity in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A team of psychologists at <a href="https://urfu.ru/en/">Ural Federal University</a> also found that after special exercise training, children with ADHD could engage in complex activities for longer without getting tired. 

Study lead author Sergey Kiselev is the head of the Laboratory of Brain and Neurocognitive Development at UrFU. "We have revealed that body-oriented training has positive effect on executive abilities in children with ADHD," wrote Kiselev. 

ADHD is associated with the impaired development of a child's nervous system. The symptoms of ADHD, including inattention, excessive activity, and impulsive behavior, often emerge at the age of seven or at the beginning of regular education.

"For children with ADHD, as a rule, the part of the brain that is responsible for the regulation of brain activity - the reticular formation - is deficient," said Kiselev. "This leads to the fact that they often experience states of inadequate hyperactivity, increased distraction and exhaustion, and their functions of regulation and control suffer a second time." 

"We used a special breathing exercise based on the development of diaphragmatic rhythmic deep breathing - belly breathing. Such breathing helps to better supply the brain with oxygen and helps the reticular formation to better cope with its role. When the reticular formation receives enough oxygen, it begins to better regulate the child's state of activity."

In addition to breathing exercises, the experts focused on exercises with polar states "tension-relaxation." The children were trained three times a week for two to three months.

"Exercise has an immediate effect that appears immediately, but there is also a delayed effect," explained Kiselev. "We found that exercise has a positive effect on regulation and control functions in children with ADHD and one year after the end of the exercise." 

"This happens because the child's correct breathing is automated, it becomes a kind of assistant that allows better supply of oxygen to the brain, which, in turn, has a beneficial effect on the behavior and psyche of a child with ADHD."

The training method was developed by the Russian neuropsychologist Anna Semenovich as part of a neuropsychological correction technique, and the UrFU team tested how well this approach helps children with ADHD. Kiselev noted that while the study showed that yoga and breathing exercises have a positive effect, further research is needed. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/">Biological Psychiatry</a>.

---

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Breathing exercises improve focus in children with ADHD

Yoga and breathing exercises can improve attention and decrease hyperactivity...

A new study from <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/">Tufts University</a> has identified the gene that controls sexual preference in male corn borer moths. The researchers were surprised to find that mating preference in the male is driven by a protein that changes pheromone detection in the brain, rather than affecting the pheromone receptors themselves. 

The research complements a previous study which pinpointed the gene expressed in the sex glands of females that regulates the production of pheromones.

The identification of these two genes will ultimately provide a better understanding of how the pheromones of 160,000 moth species have evolved. The research may also help experts answer the long-standing question of why mating preferences evolve and change in the first place, considering that any change could reduce the chances of reproductive success.

One of the most obvious explanations that mating preferences evolve is that males and females of the same species rely on pheromone signals to find each other. The European corn borer has been used as a model for how one species can split into two ever since two different pheromone types were discovered 50 years ago.

"That means we now know - at the molecular level - how chemical matchmaking aids in the formation of new species. Similar genetic changes to pheromone preference could help explain how tens of thousands of other moth species remain separate," said study co-author Professor Erik Dopman.

"This is the first moth species out of 160,000 in which female signaling and male preference genes have both been identified," said study co-author Astrid Groot of the University of Amsterdam. "That provides us with complete information on the evolution of mate choice and a way to measure how closely these choices are linked to evolving traits and populations."

The ability to predict mating preferences could also help control reproduction in pest insects. The European corn borer is a significant agricultural pest that is known to feed on 250 different kinds of plants. In the United States alone, nearly $2 billion is spent each year to monitor and control these moths. 

One method of controlling the European corn borer moth is genetically modified "Bt corn," which expresses insecticidal proteins. However, moths in Nova Scotia are now evolving resistance to Bt corn.

"Our results can help to predict whether Bt resistance could spread from Nova Scotia to the Corn Belt of the U.S., or whether assortative mating could prevent or delay it," said study co-author David Heckel at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

"Bt corn has enabled a huge reduction in the use of chemical insecticides, and it should be a high priority to preserve its ecological benefits as long as possible."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Mating secrets uncovered in European corn borer moths

A new study from Tufts University has identified the gene...

More than 50 years after jaguars vanished from the United States, a team of conservation biologists led by the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> (WCS) is proposing a plan to reintroduce them. 

According to the experts, there is a stretch of two million acres in the central mountains of Arizona and New Mexico where up to 150 jaguars could live.

“The jaguar lived in these mountains long before Americans did,” said study lead author Eric Sanderson, WCS senior conservation ecologist.

In 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the potential for reintroducing jaguars, but did not look far enough north. The investigation concluded that there was only enough space for six jaguars in the entire country.

There are still some jaguar populations in Mexico, and the cats occasionally cross the border. However, the researchers explained that due to factors such as habitat destruction, transport infrastructure, and constrictions in the landscape, the natural re-establishment of jaguars from Mexico is not possible any time soon. 

“The Southwest’s native wildlife evolved with jaguars," said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “They have a storied and vital place in our canyons and forests, so we should plan an intelligent and humane reintroduction program.”

The researchers suggest that bringing jaguars back to the United States could provide the species with an important refuge in the face of climate change.

“The Central Arizona and New Mexico Recovery Area is vast, covered with suitable vegetation, and well populated with potential prey," wrote the experts.  "Given its elevation and latitude, it may provide an important climate refuge for the species in the future, though further research is required."

Bringing endangered jaguars back to the country could boost their overall numbers. The study authors also noted that recent reintroduction efforts, such as the rewilding of jaguars in Argentina’s Iberá wetlands, have demonstrated the potential for success.

"This represents a turning point for this iconic wild cat, identifying a path forward for restoration of the jaguar to its historic range in the United States," said Dr. Sharon Wilcox of the Defenders of Wildlife. “It should serve as the starting point for a renewed conversation among stakeholders.”

“Restoring jaguars to the northernmost portions of their historic range is an issue of importance for both the US and Mexico," said Juan Carlos Bravo of Wildlands Network Mexico and Borderlands.

“Our paper provides an initial step for both countries to draft together a roadmap of what that major rewilding effort may look like.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/25784854">Conservation Science and Practice</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Jaguars could be reintroduced to the United States

More than 50 years after jaguars vanished from the United...

Dreams are meant to be weird to throw a little chaos into our everyday lives and keep us alert, according to a new theory. In the overfitted brain hypothesis, Professor Erik Hoel of <a href="https://www.tufts.edu/">Tufts University</a> argues that dreams happen to make our understanding of the world less simplistic and more well-rounded.

"There's obviously an incredible number of theories of why we dream," said Professor Hoel. "But I wanted to bring to attention a theory of dreams that takes dreaming itself very seriously - that says the experience of dreams is why you're dreaming."

The overfitted brain hypothesis suggests that dreams throw random data into our brains to prevent them from becoming too familiar with the "training set" of our everyday lives. 

A type of machine learning called a neural network has a structure that mimicks the way neurons signal to one another in the human brain. Training data is used to improve the accuracy of neural networks over time. 

When it comes to training, however, neural networks may start to assume that the training set is a perfect representation of anything it may possibly encounter.

Experts fix this issue by throwing some disorganization into the training. One such method is called "dropout," a technique in which some data is randomly ignored. This is comparable to the random chaos that is introduced into our brains as we sleep. 

"The original inspiration for deep neural networks was the brain," said Professor Hoel. "If you look at the techniques that people use in regularization of deep learning, it's often the case that those techniques bear some striking similarities to dreams."

According to Professor Hoel, the brain creates a weirded version of the world in dreams, the mind's version of dropout, to counteract its familiarity with everyday life. 

"It is the very strangeness of dreams in their divergence from waking experience that gives them their biological function."

Professor Hoel noted that there is already evidence from neuroscience research to support the overfitted brain hypothesis. For example, it has been shown that the most reliable way to prompt dreams about something that happened in real life is to repeatedly perform a new task during your waking hours. 

Professor Hoel argues that when you over-train on a novel task, the condition of overfitting is triggered, and your brain attempts to then generalize for this task by creating dreams.

Unlike artificial neural networks that can simply be turned off, the brain is constantly learning new things. Dreams may contribute just enough strangeness to keep the brain alert and ready for the unexpected. 

"Life is boring sometimes," said Professor Hoel. "Dreams are there to keep you from becoming too fitted to the model of the world."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/patterns/home">Patterns</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dreams keep the brain from becoming too familiar with everyday life

Dreams are meant to be weird to throw a little...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> describes why fairness is not enough to make people feel valued in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/workplace-burnout-disease/">workplace</a>. The researchers found that individuals need "distinctive treatment," or recognition of their unique talents and qualities, to gain a sense that they are appreciated.

While the importance of fairness is widely accepted, distinctive treatment is often overlooked, explained the researchers.

"Organizations and other groups often recognize the importance of members treating each other fairly - with dignity and without bias," said study lead author Dr. Christopher Begeny.

"In six studies of workplaces and other groups, we find that this is indeed key to fostering individuals' sense of belonging. However, individuals also need to be shown that they have some distinct value to the group."

"When colleagues or fellow group members show interest and appreciation for an individual's more distinguishing qualities, that individual benefits."

Dr. Begeny said that this kind of distinctive treatment has real benefits for mental health too, including less anxiety and depression.

"To be clear, fair treatment is a must - but our studies show it's also woefully insufficient on its own."

"Individuals need to feel more than inclusion. As well as 'fitting in,' they need to 'stand out' - to feel that they have some distinct value and worth that they bring to the group."

The results of the study suggest that not only is there is no conflict between "fitting in" and "standing out" in groups, but that the two actually complement each other.

In order for organizations to incorporate distinctive treatment in the workplace, Dr Begeny said it helps to have supervisors with the time and energy to recognize and tap into the special skills and knowledge of the individuals on their team.

"Another method is to create well-developed systems of mentorship, allowing people to share their experience and expertise."

"This can also foster a workplace culture that is not just inclusive, but value-affirming - where people regularly seek each other out for advice, which is beneficial to both parties."

"Expressing distinctive treatment does not simply mean sending out a mass email saying 'if anyone has any ideas about this project, please let me know'.

"It's about going to an individual, or small group of individuals, and saying, 'hey, I really think your insights and perspectives could be an asset to this project. Would you be willing to offer your thoughts?'

Dr. Begeny explained that distinctive treatment is not a passive process of hearing people when they have ideas to share, but involves taking the initiative to learn what an individual has to offer and showing recognition and appreciation for it.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Distinctive treatment is needed to show people their value

A new study from the University of Exeter describes why...

More than one-third of the world's food production is threatened by climate change, according to a study from <a href="https://www.aalto.fi/fi">Aalto University</a>. The experts report that at the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, large farming regions will be pushed into <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rewilding-the-ocean-will-help-mitigate-impacts-of-climate-change/">climate</a> conditions in which no food is grown today.

"Our research shows that rapid, out-of-control growth of greenhouse gas emissions may, by the end of the century, lead to more than a third of current global food production falling into conditions in which no food is produced today - that is, out of safe climatic space," said study co-author Professor Matti Kummu.

The researchers define 'safe climatic space" as those areas where 95 percent of crop production currently takes place. Food production in these regions rely on a combination of three climate factors: rainfall, temperature, and aridity.

"The good news is that only a fraction of food production would face as-of-yet unseen conditions if we collectively reduce emissions, so that warming would be limited to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius," explained Professor Kummu.

Shifts in rainfall and aridity, combined with a warming climate, are particularly threatening to food production in South Asia and the Sahel region of Africa. 

"Food production as we know it developed under a fairly stable climate, during a period of slow warming that followed the last ice age. The continuous growth of greenhouse gas emissions may create new conditions, and food crop and livestock production just won't have enough time to adapt," said study co-author Matias Heino.

The researchers investigated the outcomes associated with two future emissions scenarios - one in which carbon dioxide emissions are cut radically and one in which emissions continue growing unhalted.

The study was focused on how climate change would affect 27 food crops and seven different types of livestock. The experts accounted for the capacity for each region to adapt to changes. 

The analysis revealed that in 52 of the 177 countries studied, including most European countries, food production would remain entirely in the safe climatic space in the future.

By contrast, in many countries that are already vulnerable - such as Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Guyana and Suriname - up to 95 percent of current food production could fall outside of safe climatic space.

Overall, 20 percent of the world's crop production and 18 percent of global livestock production under threat are located in countries with a low capacity to adapt to change.

"If we let emissions grow, the increase in desert areas is especially troubling because in these conditions barely anything can grow without irrigation. By the end of this century, we could see more than 4 million square kilometres of new desert around the globe," said Professor Kummu.

The study supports the conclusion of a massive collection of scientific studies thatt he world needs urgent action to prevent the potentially catastrophic consequences of climate change. 

"We need to mitigate climate change and, at the same time, boost the resilience of our food systems and societies - we cannot leave the vulnerable behind. Food production must be sustainable," said Heino.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/home">One Earth</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

One-third of food production threatened by climate change

More than one-third of the world's food production is threatened...

Scientists at <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/">Johns Hopkins Medicine</a> are describing why insects are much smarter than what you would expect. After meticulously counting the neurons in fruit flies and three species of mosquitos, the experts found that their brains contained an average of 200,000 cells. 

A human brain contains 86 billion neurons, while a rodent brain contains about 12 billion. According to the researchers, the average number of brain cells found in the insects likely represents a "floor" for the number needed to execute complex tasks. 

"Even though these brains are simple (in contrast to mammalian brains), they can do a lot of processing, even more than a supercomputer," said Dr. Christopher Potter.

"They enable the insects to navigate, find food and perform other complicated tasks at the same time, and our study offers one answer to the question of how many brain cells come together to conduct these behaviors."

According to Dr. Potter, those who study insect behavior and brain function have long suspected these insects must have hundreds of thousands of brain cells. In collaboration with Dr. Joshua Raji, he searched for documentation to support this theory, but came up without any proof.

The experts set out to find their own proof using a relatively simple counting method called an isotropic fractionator, which is a method used to determine the cellular composition of nervous tissue.

First, Dr. Raji broke down all of the brain tissue of individual insects. Then, he used a pipette to break apart the tissue and distribute the cells evenly through a buffered solution.

Dr. Potter said the most challenging part of the technique was the microdissection of a brain that is smaller than the tip of a pencil. "It takes a really steady hand and lots of practice."

The solution that contained the brain cells was spread on a microscope slide and placed on top of a small grid. Dr. Raji thoroughly counted the cells on each slide.

The experiment revealed that the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, had 199,380 brain cells plus or minus 3,400. 

For three species of mosquito, the researchers found 217,910 plus or minus 6,180 in Aedes aegypti; 223,020 plus or minus 4,650 in Anopheles coluzzii; and 225,911 plus or minus 7,220 in Culex quinquefasciatus.

The brain cells in each species were made up of about 90 percent neurons, while the rest are most likely supportive cells called glia, explained the experts. 

Dr. Potter said that researchers have determined the number of brain cells in only a few species of insects, including wasps and ants. "It would be interesting to apply this approach to social insects like bees, and see if there are differences between queens and drones."

The counting technique used for this study is a simple one that most researchers could perform, said Dr. Potter, and it is an opportunity for any researcher to contribute the counts to scientific literature.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</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

Some insects have more than 200,000 brain cells

Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine are describing why insects are...

Many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/animals-rarely-try-to-avoid-inbreeding/">animals</a> will not be able to survive climate change, and predicting how individual species will respond can be very challenging. In a new study from <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/">McGill University</a>, scientists have used genome sequencing to reveal that some animals, like the threespine stickleback fish, can adapt remarkably quickly to extreme new environments. 

According to the researchers, the findings could help scientists forecast the evolutionary future of stickleback populations.

Threespine stickleback fish are known to be very resilient. They can live in both seawater and freshwater, and under a wide range of temperatures. The researchers set out to investigate the genetic foundation of such adaptations.

"The modern version of Darwin's idea of evolution by natural selection posits that organisms with genes that favor survival and reproduction will tend to leave more offspring than their peers, causing the genes to increase in frequency over generations. As a result, populations become adapted or better-suited to their environments over time," explained study lead author Alan Garcia-Elfring.

"However, this process has typically been studied retrospectively, in populations that adapted to their current environments long in the past. This can make it difficult to understand the sequence of events - for example, which traits were most important and when - that led to their adaptation."

To study natural selection among threespine stickleback fish, the experts tracked six populations before and after seasonal changes to their environment through genome sequencing. 

In estuaries along the coast of California, dramatic seasonal shifts take place that range from wet winters to dry summers. The habitat structure changes, as well as the balance of saltwater and freshwater, which means that fish must rapidly adapt to survive from season to season. 

For example, when sandbars form during dry summer months, estuaries become temporarily shut off from the ocean. Such conditions present a unique opportunity for experts to study natural selection in real time.

"These changes probably resemble the habitat shifts experienced by stickleback populations when they colonized many newly created freshwater lakes from the ocean after the glaciers receded 10,000 years ago" said Professor Barrett. "We hope to gain insight into the genetic changes that may have resulted from natural selection long in the past."

The researchers discovered genetic changes in the stickleback fish driven by seasonal shifts in habitat that were comparable to differences found between long-established freshwater and saltwater populations. 

"These genetic changes occurred in independent populations over a single season, highlighting just how quickly the effects of natural selection can be detected," said Alan Garcia-Elfring.

"The findings are important because they suggest that we may be able to use the genetic differences that evolved in the past as a way to predict how populations may adapt to environmental stressors like climate change in the future."

The research highlights the importance of studying species that adapt to dynamic environments to gain a better understanding of how natural selection works. 

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1365294x">Molecular Ecology</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Stickleback fish provide new insight into natural selection

Many animals will not be able to survive climate change,...

Dinosaur,Model,In,The,Jungle,At,Phu,Kum,Khao,Dinosaur

After the largest mass extinction in Earth's history, herbivores rapidly evolved to eat different types of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plant-diversity-will-decline-along-with-rainfall-in-dry-regions/">plants</a>, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a>. The researchers discovered that herbivores with powerful jaws to chew tougher plants, including some of the earliest dinosaurs, were the most successful. 

The Permian-Triassic extinction event, also known as the Great Dying, took place about 250 million years ago and wiped out at least 90 percent of all species.  The Triassic Period that followed was a time of great change when many new plants and animals emerged. 

"I wanted to focus on the plant-eaters, including some of the first dinosaurs," said Dr. Suresh Singh. "The main animals in any ecosystem tend to be the herbivores, and we found that they show remarkable evidence of specialization in the turbulent times after the great mass extinction." 

"In fact, the environmental shocks that killed so many species, such as global warming and acid rain, were still returning from time to time, but the survivors were set on exploring new diets."

"We were surprised to be able to identify definite specializations among the herbivores," said Dr. Tom Stubbs. "We call these groups, the ingestion generalists, prehension specialists, durophagous specialists, shearing pulpers, and heavy oral processors; these names reflect the power of their jaws, their teeth, and the kinds of plants they would likely have been eating."

Professor Emily Rayfield noted that it may seem hypothetical to identify the diets of animals that died over 200 million years ago. 

"But we measured hundreds of fossil jaws and compared their shapes with living animals, and we estimated key functional values from the fossil jaws such as mechanical advantage and bite force, measuring the leverage of the jaws and how fast or forcefully they could shut," explained Professor Rayfield.

The investigation was focused on the 80 million years that followed the mass extinction event. 

"We were able to map the evolution of all the functional characters relating to feeding across the evolutionary tree and through time," said Dr. Armin Elsler. 

"We found to our surprise that, during this time, several new groups diversified as herbivores, and they seemed to take over their roles by pushing potential competitors aside, not necessarily by wiping them out."

Plants were also diversifying throughout the Triassic, and certain aspects of the evolution of herbivores can be linked to the availability of new kinds of plant food. 

"One key thing was the expansion of groups that were able to handle tough plant material, with powerful jaws for chopping and chomping," explained Dr.  Singh. 

"This reflects the drying conditions especially in the Late Triassic, when many softer plant groups became less common, and dry-adapted conifers for example, spread worldwide. These changes combined with strictly enforced niche separation drove patterns of extinction as the generalist, hardy herbivores thrived, as other herbivores died out."

"This kind of macroecological analysis represents a huge amount of work," said Professor Mike Benton. "But it sheds real light on key processes at an ecological level and helps explain why some groups died out and were replaced by others such as the first dinosaurs." 

"We can be reasonably certain of the results because we have excellent data on the geological ages of the specimens, their relationships to each other, and the key features of their jaws and teeth that correspond to their ancient diets. What was once quite a speculative kind of project has now become much more analytical and testable."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Herbivores evolved powerful jaws to survive the Triassic

After the largest mass extinction in Earth's history, herbivores rapidly...

A new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_Centre_for_Environmental_Research">UFZ</a> study has revealed that dams release twice as much carbon as they store. Up until now, it was believed that dams store enough carbon to compensate for their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ghost-forests-release-greenhouse-gas-emissions-in-tree-farts/">emissions</a>.

Streams transport large amounts of organic matter, such as leaves and other plant materials, along with the carbon that it holds. If the water is dammed, this material gradually builds at the bottom of the water. 

"Because of the lack of oxygen, the degradation processes are much slower down there. As a result, less carbon dioxide is released. The carbon contained is stored in the sediment of the dam for a longer time," explained Dr. Matthias Koschorreck. "It had been assumed that dams store about the same amount of carbon than they release as greenhouse gases." 

In previous studies, the UFZ team demonstrated that if carbon-containing material comes into contact with atmospheric oxygen after it has been covered by water, the release of carbon dioxide is accelerated. 

"Areas of water that are drying out thus release considerably more carbon than areas covered by water," said study co-author Philipp Keller. "If large amounts of water are released by a dam, large areas are suddenly exposed. But these areas had not been considered when calculating the carbon balance. This is the knowledge gap that we close with our work."

For the investigation, the researchers analyzed satellite imagery that contains monthly data on the size of water surface areas from around 6,800 dams worldwide between 1985 and 2015. For these three decades, the scientists were able to determine exactly when, where, and for how long the dams were not completely filled and how large the dry areas were. 

The study revealed that, on average, 15 percent of the total reservoir surface was not covered by water. This finding allowed the scientists to calculate the carbon released from these areas. 

"Our calculations show that carbon emissions from dams had been significantly underestimated. On a global average, they release twice as much carbon as they store," said Koschorreck. "Their image as a net carbon store in the global carbon cycle must be reconsidered."

The experts also found that the magnitude of dam water level fluctuations depends on their use and location. 

"Fluctuations were more pronounced in dams used for irrigation than in those used for hydropower generation," said Keller. "And in places where the annual precipitation pattern is more uniform - such as near the poles and around the equator - there were fewer large fluctuations in water levels than in the intermediate latitudes, where larger areas of the dams were often dry for much longer periods."

"We hope that our study raises the awareness that areas that are drying out must also be considered when balancing carbon fluxes of natural inland waters," said Koschorreck. 

To gain a better understanding of the carbon balance of dams, the team plans to investigate the release of both carbon dioxide and methane, as well as the role of vegetation, in areas that have become dry.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Dams release twice as much carbon as they store

A new UFZ study has revealed that dams release twice...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Is chocolate the next nutritional powerhouse?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[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

[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



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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