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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https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3
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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 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. https://youtu.be/Ug657J67iEo?si=w96YjGMsg939LD_3 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...

Worldwide, about 2.5 billion adults now carry extra pounds, and nearly 890 million meet the medical definition of obesity, according to the latest <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a> fact sheet. 



A fresh analysis from Spain offers a surprisingly straightforward message about meal timing: when you eat may matter as much as what you eat.



<a href="https://www.isglobal.org/en/-/overnight-fast-and-early-breakfast" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Luciana Pons‑Muzzo</a> of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health <a href="https://www.isglobal.org/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">(ISGlobal)</a> led the five‑year project that tracked more than 7,000 middle‑aged volunteers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meal-timing-matters">Meal timing matters</h2>



The study belongs to the rising field of <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1516940/full" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chrononutrition</a>, the science of meal timing and its effects on metabolism. Researchers looked beyond calories and food groups to see whether shifting the clock could shift the scale.



They focused on <a href="https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">body mass index (BMI)</a>, a ratio of weight to height that clinicians use as a quick screening tool for weight‑related risk. 



Volunteers who regularly ate breakfast before 8:30 a.m. and waited at least twelve hours before the next day’s first bite logged the lowest long‑term BMI.



“Our results … suggest that extending the overnight fast could help maintain a healthy weight,” said Pons‑Muzzo in the team’s summary.



Earlier work agrees. A 2024 systematic <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39485353/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> of 54 trials found that meal‑timing strategies, especially eating earlier in the day, were consistently linked to modest weight loss and better blood‑sugar control.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-spanish-cohort-revealed">What the Spanish cohort revealed</h2>



Participants logged typical meal times, sleep habits, physical activity and medical history, then repeated the drill five years later. 



The pattern was clear: every hour that breakfast crept later added about 0.3 kg/m² to BMI, while every extra hour of overnight fasting shaved off roughly the same amount.



Women generally scored lower BMIs than men but showed the same timing trend. A small cluster of men who skipped breakfast until after 2 p.m., and often smoked, drank and exercised little, had the highest average BMI.



Importantly, researchers adjusted for diet quality using a Mediterranean‑<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mixed-diets-offer-health-benefits-and-lower-carbon-footprint/">diet</a> score, so the timing effect stood apart from food choice. That finding hints that the body’s internal clocks, not just its calorie ledger, guide weight gain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-meal-timing-syncs-with-body-clocks">How meal timing syncs with body clocks</h2>



Human <a href="https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">circadian rhythms</a> prime our organs to burn and store energy at specific times. Morning light boosts insulin sensitivity and revs metabolism, while late‑night eating collides with hormonal signals that favor fat storage.



Clinical data back that up. In a 12‑week Chinese <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35443107/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trial</a>, adults on an eight‑hour early eating window lost as much weight as peers on standard calorie restriction, but they did so without counting calories.



Harvard’s Nutrition Source <a href="https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/healthy-weight/diet-reviews/intermittent-fasting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">notes</a> that time‑restricted plans typically trim 7–11 lb over ten weeks, largely because shortening the eating window curbs unplanned snacking. 



When breakfast moves earlier, dinner often follows. That shift stretches the natural overnight fast, letting glucose and insulin settle before sleep and aligning digestion with daylight activity.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-fasting-fits-in-everyday-life">Where fasting fits in everyday life</h2>



The Spanish team examined one flavor of <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intermittent fasting</a>: simply lengthening the no‑food stretch between dinner and breakfast. Volunteers who hit at least 12 hours did best; many managed 13–14 without noticing.



That routine meshes with typical workdays and family meals, unlike alternate‑day fasts or 24‑hour fasts that some find extreme. It also skirts the nutrient gaps that can arise when entire days are skipped.



“This practice has no effect on body weight,” noted <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Camille-Lassale" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Camille Lassale</a>, a senior co‑author, echoing controlled trials showing that later, compressed eating windows can backfire in the long run. She cautioned that skipping breakfast altogether did not help.&nbsp;



For most people, the simplest tactic is to push dinner a bit earlier, say, 6 p.m., and aim for breakfast around 7 a.m. The 13‑hour fast that results is long enough to trigger metabolic benefits yet short enough to fit social life.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changing-meal-timing-habits">Changing meal timing habits</h2>



Meal timing is easy to adjust, but it is not a magic shield. The review found weight loss from timing strategies averaged only 3–4 percent of starting weight, meaningful but modest.



Shift‑workers, parents of infants, and those with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-identify-a-cellular-switch-mitochondria-that-could-reverse-type-2-diabetes/">diabetes</a> should talk with a clinician before stretching fasts, because irregular schedules or medications might require tailored plans.



Scientists still debate how much of the benefit comes from biology versus simple <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spicy-foods-can-slow-down-eating-and-cut-calorie-intake/">calorie</a> trimming. Large U.S. trials are under way to test whether early‑time‑restricted eating keeps pounds off for several years and whether it protects the heart.



As Pons‑Muzzo pointed out, firm guidelines must wait for “more robust evidence.” For now, eating breakfast soon after sunrise and closing the kitchen early remain low‑risk steps that line up with how our bodies tick.



The study is published in the <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-024-01639-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity</a>.



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Scientists identify two key habits for losing weight without dieting

Worldwide, about 2.5 billion adults now carry extra pounds, and nearly...

Striped,Frogfish,Antennarius,Striatus,Indonesia

The hairy frogfish looks more like a tuft of drifting seaweed than a hunter. Yet beneath the mop of filaments sits an anglerfish that can inhale prey faster than most cameras can blink.



Marine ecologist Dr. Maarten De Brauwer of <a href="https://research.csiro.au/environomics/our-people/early-career-researchers-separate-bios/dr-maarten-brauwer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Curtin University</a> first noticed that the fish’s lure shines neon orange under blue light, while the rest of the body stays dull. 



His team’s 2016 field <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-016-1493-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a> on Philippine reefs linked that glow to free‑swimming worms that share the same color and size.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hairy-frogfish-hides-by-copying-reef-textures">Hairy frogfish hides by copying reef textures</h2>



The hairy frogfish belongs to the anglerfish <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/frogfish-lure-their-prey-with-a-built-in-fishing-rod-and-bait/">family</a>, but instead of lurking in the deep it prowls coral rubble in tropical shallows. 



A coat of branching spinules lets it copy the texture of algae, sponge, or coral until the head seems to vanish into the seafloor.



Individuals can swap pattern and shade within weeks, shifting from lemon yellow to mottled black as sediment, light, and growth change around them. 



That rapid makeover is a textbook example of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022519323002801" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Batesian mimicry</a>, a tactic where harmless looks discourage predators while inviting unsuspecting prey.



Sight alone does not give the trick away, because even the fish’s eyes carry radiating stripes that obscure the pupil. 



Only the stubby “arm” formed by the first dorsal spine, called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/illicium-zoology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">illicium</a>, rises above the camouflage like a tiny fishing pole.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-the-glowing-lure-helps-the-hairy-frogfish">How the glowing lure helps the hairy frogfish</h2>



“These observations indicate a novel function, prey capture, for biofluorescence in coral reef fishes,” wrote De Brauwer. 



Under daylight the illicium ends in a dull worm‑shaped tassel, but blue‑filtered lamps reveal intense <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59528-9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">biofluorescence</a> that converts blue light to orange. 



The idea fits a wider pattern, because a survey of 180 fish species found <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0083259" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">glowing pigments</a> clustered in cryptic reef lineages. 



<a href="https://www.amnh.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Museum of Natural History</a> ichthyologist <a href="https://www.amnh.org/research/staff-directory/john-s-sparks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr. John Sparks</a> noted that “biofluorescence is especially common and morphologically variable in cryptically patterned coral‑reef lineages,” hinting at communication or hunting value.



By matching the fluorescent worms that drift over sandy bottoms at night, the lure likely acts as a living decoy. 



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deep-sea-anglerfish-defy-evolutionary-expectations/">fish</a> twitches the tip in arcs and pulses that copy the jellied plankton’s swim, drawing curious gobies and cardinalfish within lunging range.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fastest-strikes-on-record">Fastest strikes on record</h2>



Once a victim lines up, the mouth opens twelve times wider than its resting size, pulling in water and prey through rapid <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/striated-frogfish/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suction feeding</a>. 



High‑speed videos have timed the attack at just six milliseconds, making the frogfish one of the quickest predators recorded.



That burst happens because elastic ligaments around the jaw store energy while the fish crouches. Releasing the latch snaps the head forward, creating a pressure wave that drags prey inward before the target knows it moved. 



The stomach then stretches like a balloon, letting a four‑inch frogfish swallow a meal almost twice its own length. Mouth, stomach, and even gill covers reset within minutes, ready for the next ambush without swimming far.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hairy-frogfish-lives-without-swimming">Hairy frogfish lives without swimming</h2>



Frogfish seldom swim, preferring a slow shuffle powered by limb‑like pectoral and pelvic fins. The gait looks clumsy, yet it lets the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-frog-day-2025-protecting-natures-tiny-guardians/">animal</a> creep through branching corals or over sponges without stirring mud.



<a href="https://fishbase.se/summary/Antennarius-striatus.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FishBase</a> records show the species from New Jersey to Brazil and across the Indo‑Pacific, at depths ranging from tide pools to 720 feet. 



Most adults settle below 100 feet where wave surge is gentle, but juveniles often lurk among shore grass beds that teem with shrimp.



Males change color during courtship, trailing females to the surface where a buoyant ribbon of up to 288,000 eggs drifts free. Larvae hatch in open water and later drop to the bottom, beginning the camouflage dance anew.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-findings-mean">What the findings mean</h2>



“Aggressive mimicry allows a predator to masquerade as something harmless to approach prey,” wrote marine zoologist <a href="https://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/Journals/44.3/299.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">John E. Randall</a>. Aggressive mimicry, where a predator disguises itself as the prey’s food, shows up in a handful of reef hunters.&nbsp;



The fluorescent lure adds a light signal to that illusion, effective only for animals with visual pigments tuned to blue and green. Future lab tests will measure how often fish reject non‑fluorescent lures compared with glowing ones, refining ideas about sensory ecology.



Understanding these cues may also improve non‑invasive survey methods that use fluorescence to spot cryptic species on night dives. Conservation teams already trial blue‑light transects to count seahorses and pipefish that vanish under white lamps.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-protect-hairy-frogfish">How to protect hairy frogfish</h2>



Antennarius striatus sits on the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/16406979/115354869#assessment-information" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">IUCN list</a> as “Least Concern,” but habitat loss threatens local populations on polluted coasts. 



Collectors sometimes trawl adults for the aquarium trade, yet demand remains modest compared with bright reef staples like clownfish.



Protecting rubble fields and sea‑grass beds will likely benefit the frogfish alongside countless small invertebrates. Marine parks can also restrict night fishing with lights that might interfere with fluorescent signaling.



Citizen scientists armed with blue torches contribute valuable sightings through photo databases. Each image builds a map of occurrence, molt timing, and lure color that researchers can mine for long‑term trends.



The study is published in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-016-1493-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coral Reefs</a>.



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Nature amazes: 'Hairy frogfish' walk on the seafloor and use lures to catch dinner

The hairy frogfish looks more like a tuft of drifting...

Hope isn’t just a nice feeling - it is a lifeline. While happiness and gratitude often get the spotlight in discussions around well-being, new research shows that hope might be even more important. 



A recent study from researchers at the <a href="https://missouri.edu/">University of Missouri</a> challenges long-held assumptions about hope. It’s not about wishful thinking - hope gives life depth, purpose, and direction.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-powerful-emotional-force">A powerful emotional force </h2>



For years, hope has been primarily linked to motivation and setting goals. But this latest research suggests that there’s something deeper going on. 



Hope is not just about achieving things. It’s a powerful emotional force that helps us feel like our lives matter.



Study lead author Megan Edwards earned a doctorate at Mizzou and is now a postdoctoral scholar at Duke University.



"Our research shifts the perspective on hope from merely a cognitive process related to goal attainment to recognizing it as a vital emotional experience that enriches life's meaning," said Edwards. "This insight opens new avenues for enhancing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/houseplants-boosted-psychological-well-being-during-covid-19-lockdown/">psychological well-being</a>.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hope-isn-t-a-luxury-it-s-essential">Hope isn’t a luxury - it’s essential</h2>



The study, conducted in the Department of Psychological Sciences, included six experiments and more than 2,300 participants from different backgrounds. 



The team looked at a wide range of positive emotions - amusement, excitement, contentment, happiness. But again and again, one emotion stood out.



Only hope consistently predicted a stronger sense of meaning in life. This isn’t just an abstract idea. Feeling like your life has meaning has real-world effects. It’s tied to better relationships, improved physical health, higher income, and greater emotional well-being.



“<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/we-often-undervalue-the-most-meaningful-experiences-in-life/">Experiencing life as meaningful</a> is crucial for just about every good thing you can imagine in a person's life,” said study co-author Professor Laura King.



“This cornerstone of psychological functioning is not a rare experience - it is available to people in their everyday lives and hope is one of the things that make life feel meaningful.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-sets-hope-apart">What sets hope apart</h2>



So what sets hope apart from other positive emotions? It isn’t just about feeling good in the moment - it’s about feeling like tomorrow might be better than today.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-does-happiness-come-from-it-depends-on-who-you-are/">Happiness</a>, for example, is often tied to what’s happening right now. A fun event, a compliment, a good day. 



Gratitude reflects on what has already happened - what you’ve received or survived. But hope is forward-looking. It lives in possibility, and that’s what gives it power.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-getting-through-the-tough-times">Getting through the tough times</h2>



Hope helps people move through hard times, not by pretending things are perfect, but by allowing them to imagine that things could improve. 



It’s that sense of potential - even when things are rough - that keeps people going. Hope is what helps someone apply for a job after a rejection, try again after a setback, or get out of bed when life feels heavy.



And unlike fleeting moments of happiness, hope can stick around. It can grow quietly, even in tough conditions, shaping how we see our lives and what we believe is possible.



This emotional staying power might explain why hope plays such a strong role in shaping how meaningful life feels. It’s not just a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/houseplants-improve-mood-and-productivity/">mood</a> - it’s a mindset. One that’s deeply connected to resilience, purpose, and mental health.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-simple-ways-to-build-hope-daily">Simple ways to build hope daily</h2>



You don’t need a big life overhaul to build hope. The researchers suggest simple, practical habits that can make a real difference. 



Start by noticing the good moments - even something as small as a peaceful morning or a kind gesture. These small wins remind us that things can go right.



In chaotic times, look for small chances to move forward. Even tiny steps can help you feel more in control. 



Recognize and celebrate progress - in yourself and others. Whether it’s healing, learning something new, or simply getting through a tough week, every step forward can fuel hope.



Taking care of something - a plant, a pet, or another person - reinforces the idea that the future matters.



And above all, remember that nothing stays the same forever. Hard times don’t last. Change is always possible, and hope begins with believing that.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-the-research-is-going">Where the research is going</h2>



This study opens up a lot of questions, and the researchers are already looking ahead. They plan to dig deeper into how hope works in the middle of serious challenges. 



Can it help people find meaning even when they’re going through <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cats-mourn-the-loss-of-other-pets-similar-to-human-grief/">grief</a>, illness, or major setbacks? That’s what they want to find out next.



One thing is clear: hope isn’t just a feel-good emotion. It’s something we need to live well. And it’s something we can practice every day. 



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Femo0001513">Emotion</a>.



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Experts identify the simple emotion that gives life meaning - and it's not happiness

Hope isn’t just a nice feeling - it is a...

Scientists discovered human footprints preserved in ancient mud at White Sands, New Mexico. These footprints appear to date back to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) - a period during the last Ice Age roughly 23,000 years ago when glaciers were at their largest.



This finding sparked a lot of interest because it suggested that humans were in North America much earlier than previously believed. However, some experts questioned the accuracy of the dating methods. 



<a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7586" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The original study</a> used radiocarbon dating on plant seeds and pollen, which some argued might not have been reliable enough.



A few years later, the same research team returned to the White Sands footprints and obtained new dates from highly reliable sources. 



<a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh5007" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Those results</a> showed the same timeline of 20,000 to 23,000 years ago, reconfirming that humans were present far south of the ice sheets during the Last Glacial Maximum. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-confirming-human-arrival-in-north-america">Confirming human arrival in North America</h2>



Back in 2012, Vance Holliday, an archaeologist and geologist at the <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Arizona</a>, got a rare chance to study one of the most unusual landscapes in America - the otherworldly dunes of White Sands, New Mexico.



Now, Holliday is back again with new research that offers fresh evidence to settle the debate, once and for all. This time, the team used <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radiocarbon-could-be-key-in-predicting-earths-future/">radiocarbon dating</a> on ancient mud found with the footprints. An independent lab handled the analysis.



The results? The mud dated between 20,700 and 22,400 years old - lining up with the original footprint age range. That makes three different materials (seeds, pollen, and now mud) dated by three different labs, all telling the same story.



"It's a remarkably consistent record," said Holliday, also a professor emeritus in the School of Anthropology and the Department of Geosciences, who has spent nearly five decades studying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/archaeologists-discovered-ancient-footprints-that-rewrite-the-story-of-humans-in-america/">early human migration</a> across the Great Plains and the American Southwest.



"You get to the point where it's really hard to explain all this away,” he added. “As I say in the paper, it would be serendipity in the extreme to have all these dates giving you a consistent picture that's in error."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-life-in-the-americas">Human life in the Americas </h2>



For decades, the story of how humans first arrived in America centered on the Clovis culture. Named after artifacts found near Clovis, New Mexico in the 1930s, this group was long believed to represent the earliest known humans to set foot on the continent. 



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-americans-relied-on-mammoths-for-food-and-survival/">Clovis people</a> were thought to have crossed from Siberia into Alaska via the Bering Land Bridge around 13,000 years ago, then spread southward into the rest of North America.



This timeline shaped textbooks, museum exhibits, and generations of archaeological research. It set a clear point of origin for human life in the Americas.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shifting-migration-timeline">Shifting migration timeline</h2>



But the White Sands discovery challenges that foundation. If humans were already walking across the region 23,000 years ago - well before the end of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/disastrous-climate-changes-of-the-last-ice-age-could-happen-again/">last Ice Age</a> - then the Clovis-first model no longer holds up.



It suggests people reached the continent thousands of years earlier, potentially by different routes or under very different conditions.



That changes not just when we think people arrived in America, but how they lived, moved, and adapted. It opens new questions about migration patterns, technology, and survival in prehistoric landscapes that looked nothing like the ones we know today.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-new-story-of-human-arrival-in-america">New story of human arrival in America </h2>



Thousands of years ago, the White Sands region was a series of lakes. As the lakes dried, the wind sculpted gypsum into dunes. The footprints were found in the bed of an ancient stream that once fed into one of those lakes.



"The wind erosion destroyed part of the story, so that part is just gone," Holliday said. "The rest is buried under the world's biggest pile of gypsum sand."



To get a closer look, the University of Arizona team returned in 2022 and 2023. They dug fresh trenches through the lake beds.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/first-human-footprints_white-sands-new-mexico_Alkali-Fat-basin-map_UWisconsin_1s.webp" alt="The northern Tularosa Basin showing the area of the White Sands (“Gypsum Sand Dunes”), the Alkali Fat deflation basin, modern Lake Lucero, and present-day Lost River, which drains southwest across the distal piedmont until it is buried by the gypsum dunes (see also fig. S4). The 1204-m contour line approximates the proposed extent of paleolake Otero (15). It was likely more extensive given the &gt;4 m of lake beds at “G.” The two field areas (red dots) are as follows: “G” is the area of Gypsum Overlook, the Central study area, and WHSA Locality 2; “Loc 1” is a stratigraphic section along the west margin of Alkali Flat. The brown pattern at G is the area of exposures of deposits linked to paleolake Otero and overlain by truncated Holocene dunes (31). The inset shows the location of the White Sands and the Tularosa Basin within New Mexico [based on figure 1 in (31)]. Image credit: X. Gong and A. Cowart, University of Wisconsin Cartography Lab." class="wp-image-1974696"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The northern Tularosa Basin showing the area of the White Sands (“Gypsum Sand Dunes”), the Alkali Fat deflation basin, modern Lake Lucero, and present-day Lost River, which drains southwest across the distal piedmont until it is buried by the gypsum dunes. The 1204-m contour line approximates the proposed extent of paleolake Otero. It was likely more extensive given the >4 m of lake beds at “G.” The two field areas (red dots) are as follows: “G” is the area of Gypsum Overlook, the Central study area, and WHSA Locality 2; “Loc 1” is a stratigraphic section along the west margin of Alkali Flat. The brown pattern at G is the area of exposures of deposits linked to paleolake Otero and overlain by truncated Holocene dunes. The inset shows the location of the White Sands and the Tularosa Basin within New Mexico. Click image to enlarge. Credit: X. Gong and A. Cowart, University of Wisconsin Cartography Lab.</figcaption></figure>



Jason Windingstad, a doctoral candidate in environmental science, had previously worked in the area as a consulting geoarchaeologist and agreed to join the project.



"It's a strange feeling when you go out there and look at the footprints and see them in person," Windingstad said. "You realize that it basically contradicts everything that you've been taught about the peopling of North America."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-missing-artifacts">The missing artifacts</h2>



Of course, one big question still hangs in the air: where are the tools, shelters, or other remains you’d expect from ancient people? It's a fair concern, the researchers admit.



Some of the footprints were part of quick trackways - paths that could’ve been walked in just a few seconds. That short window of time may explain the lack of material left behind.



"These people live by their artifacts, and they were far away from where they can get replacement material. They're not just randomly dropping artifacts," Holliday said. "It's not logical to me that you're going to see a debris field."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-early-human-arrival-in-north-america">Early human arrival in North America </h2>



While he always believed the 2021 results were solid, he says it’s good to have new data that reinforces them.



"I really had no doubt from the outset because the dating we had was already consistent," Holliday said. "We have direct data from the field – and a lot of it now."



This additional evidence strongly supports the idea that the footprints were made during the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/what-the-ice-age-can-tell-us-about-future-el-nino-events/">Last Glacial Maximum</a>. It gives scientists greater confidence that humans were present in North America much earlier than most theories had assumed.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adv4951" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Science Advances</a>.



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Footprints rewrite the timeline of human arrival in North America

Scientists discovered human footprints preserved in ancient mud at White...

Reconciling space and time has been one of the most profound challenges in physics. One of the thorniest is how to stitch together the rules that steer subatomic particles and the rules that sculpt galaxies.



Quantum mechanics nails the small stuff; general relativity nails the large. Yet the two frameworks still talk past each other.



For decades, researchers have tried weaving extra spatial dimensions, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cozmic-simulations-of-milky-way-use-strange-physics-laws-to-study-alternate-universes-cozmic/">exotic particles</a>, or string-like objects into a single narrative. Each attempt solved one snag but left another dangling. 



A new proposal shifts focus from space to time, arguing that the clock-ticking we take for granted may be richer - and far stranger - than a single forward march through seconds, minutes, and hours.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-puzzle-that-refuses-to-disappear">Puzzle that refuses to disappear</h2>



Quantum theory treats gravity as an afterthought, while relativity makes gravity the stage on which everything plays out. 



Reconciling those viewpoints matters for any extreme environment where tiny distances meet titanic mass, such as the heart of a black hole or the earliest split-second after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-than-one-big-bang-may-explain-cosmic-expansion-without-dark-matter/">Big Bang</a>. 



Observatories now catch ripples in spacetime from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/merging-quasars-cosmic-dawn-reveal-how-early-universe-formed/">colliding black holes</a>, and particle colliders probe ever-higher energies. A unified picture is therefore no longer an ivory-tower wish.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fresh-take-on-time-and-space">Fresh take on time and space</h2>



After years of probing the equations, associate research professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cSOlP38AAAAJ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gunther Kletetschka</a> of the <a href="https://www.uaf.edu/uaf/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Alaska Fairbanks</a> argues that the fault line lies not in space but in how we count moments. 



He recently published a mathematical framework in Reports in Advances of Physical Science that treats time as possessing three independent directions. Space, in this view, is secondary - an emergent feature that rides on a multi-lane tempo.



“These three time dimensions are the primary fabric of everything, like the canvas of a painting,” Kletetschka explains. “Space still exists with its three dimensions, but it's more like the paint on the canvas rather than the canvas itself.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-three-layers-of-time">Three layers of time</h2>



In Kletetschka’s formulation, one time dimension governs the quantum playground. A second bridges that microscopic arena with familiar human experience. A third influences cosmic structure and the slow <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/powerful-forces-have-made-the-structure-of-the-universe-messier/">evolution of the universe</a> at large. 



Day-to-day events feel ordinary because the extra time-like directions hide their influence unless energies are colossal or masses are immense.



Earlier attempts at three-dimensional time often stayed abstract. “Earlier 3D time proposals were primarily mathematical constructs without these concrete experimental connections,” he notes. 



Kletetschka’s model reproduces the measured masses of electrons, muons, quarks, and other <a href="https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Standard Model</a> residents with remarkable accuracy. That success nudges the idea out of speculation and into the territory of testable science.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flipping-the-picture-of-space-and-time">Flipping the picture of space and time</h2>



Standard thinking treats matter and energy as things that unfold inside spacetime. Kletetschka flips that picture. All particles, fields, and even energy itself emerge as different ways in which the triple-layered tempo can twist. 



“My work transforms the concept from an interesting mathematical possibility into a physically testable theory with multiple independent verification channels,” he writes. 



If mass is a shadow cast by bent time, the long-standing mystery of why particles carry the particular masses they do may finally find a natural explanation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-math-to-measurement">From math to measurement</h2>



A good theory must stick its neck out. This one predicts <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-category-of-particles-discovered-in-the-subatomic-realm-paraparticles/">new particles</a> that current accelerators might glimpse if they reach higher energies or analyze collision debris with sharper algorithms. 



It also forecasts subtle shifts in the spectrum of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/expanding-our-view-of-the-universe-with-faint-gravitational-waves/">gravitational waves</a> and tweaks in the rate at which dark energy seems to push galaxies apart.



Because the three-fold tempo respects cause-and-effect ordering, it dodges the paradoxes that plague other multi-time ideas. 



That internal consistency means experimental teams can design clear yes-or-no tests rather than hunt for ambiguous signatures. 



If upcoming runs at the <a href="https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Large Hadron Collider</a> or next-generation detectors find the suggested fingerprints, the payoff could be huge. 



“The path to unification might require fundamentally reconsidering the nature of physical reality itself,” Kletetschka points out.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



Beyond unifying <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gravity-could-be-the-definitive-clue-that-the-universe-is-a-computer-storing-information/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gravity</a> and <a href="https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsquantum-mechanics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quantum mechanics</a>, a layered time, with space as a byproduct, offers tidy answers to several irritations in modern theory. 



It naturally yields exactly three particle families, accounts for quirks in mirror-symmetry breaking, and explains why time, as experienced by humans, seems to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/time-may-not-just-move-forward-experts-say-it-could-rewind/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flow in a single direction</a>. 



None of those results require bolting on hidden spaces or hypothetical superpartners.



Skepticism remains healthy, of course. Independent groups will tear apart the mathematics and compare it with existing data from cosmology, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/strange-radio-waves-anita-experiment-coming-from-under-the-antarctic-ice-defy-particle-physics/">neutrino observatories</a>, and precision atomic clocks. 



Yet the framework’s ability to recover known numbers while offering falsifiable predictions grants it a seriousness that many speculative models lack.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-proving-this-theory-on-time-and-space">Proving this theory on time and space</h2>



Physics advances when provocative ideas survive an assault of evidence. The suggestion that time itself boasts three axes is provocative indeed. 



Within a decade, instruments aimed at gravitational waves, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ground-based-telescopes-detect-light-from-the-cosmic-dawn/">cosmic microwave background polarization</a>, and high-energy particle scatterings will likely confirm or contradict the key forecasts. Either result will sharpen our view of nature’s fundamental script.



For now, the proposal reminds us that the universe may still harbor surprises in the very notion of “before” and “after.” 



If time truly comes with extra directions, then what we think of as matter, motion, and gravity could be nothing more than intricate choreography on an unseen temporal stage.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2424942425500045" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reports in Advances of Physical Sciences</a>.



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Time has three dimensions and space is just a byproduct, according to a new theory

Reconciling space and time has been one of the most...

In 1859, Darwin proposed that evolution worked slowly - even for creatures like the worm. Tiny changes, stacked over time, led species to gradually become something new.



But even he had to admit the fossil record didn’t back that up. It was missing too many pieces - too many “in-between” species. He chalked it up to a broken archive: most of the story was lost.



Then, in 1972, scientists Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge made a bold claim. Maybe <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/octopuses-and-squids-defy-the-slow-pace-of-evolution/">species don’t evolve slowly</a> at all. Maybe they stay mostly the same for millions of years, and then - bang - something dramatic happens.



This idea, called “punctuated equilibrium,” could explain why so many transitional fossils are missing. But decades later, scientists still argue about whether it’s the rule or just a rare exception.



Now, researchers at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) - a joint center between the <a href="https://www.csic.es/en/csic">Spanish National Research Council</a> (CSIC) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) - have found compelling genomic evidence that supports the “bang” theory of evolution. And the evidence comes from a very unexpected place: worms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-worms-and-evolution-s-missing-chapter">Worms and evolution's missing chapter</h2>



The team sequenced, for the first time, high-quality genomes of several earthworm species. They compared these to the genomes of other annelids like <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/first-proof-of-leeches-jumping-captured-on-video/">leeches</a> and bristle worms. 



The work was painstaking - done at a level of detail usually reserved for human genome studies. And it filled a major gap. Until now, scientists lacked complete genomes for many invertebrates, which made it hard to study evolution at the chromosomal level.



That changed with this study. The new genomes allowed the researchers to look back more than 200 million years.



Rosa Fernández is the lead researcher of the IBE’s Metazoa Phylogenomics and Genome Evolution Lab.



“This is an essential episode in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breakthrough-discoveries-about-the-evolution-of-life-on-land/">evolution of life</a> on our planet, given that many species, such as worms and vertebrates, which had been living in the ocean, now ventured onto land for the first time,” she said. What the team found was not slow, steady change. It was upheaval.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-worms-that-broke-all-the-rules">Worms that broke all the rules</h2>



The worm genomes didn’t just shift gradually, as traditional Neo-Darwinian models would expect. They shattered. Then they reassembled in totally new ways.



“The enormous reorganization of the genomes we observed in the worms as they moved from the ocean to land cannot be explained with the parsimonious mechanism Darwin proposed; our observations chime much more with Gould and Eldredge’s theory of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crocodiles-have-not-changed-much-in-200-million-years/">punctuated equilibrium</a>,” Fernández said.



In simple terms: these marine worms broke their DNA into pieces, stitched it back together in a new order, and kept going. It wasn’t just odd - it was unheard of.



Across most species, including sponges, corals, and mammals, genomic structure tends to stay surprisingly stable. This was something else entirely.



“The entire genome of the marine worms was broken down and then reorganized in a completely random way, in a very short period on the evolutionary scale,” said Fernández. “I made my team repeat the analysis again and again, because I just couldn’t believe it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surviving-dna-chaos">Surviving DNA chaos</h2>



Normally, that kind of chaos would spell extinction. But in this case, the worms didn’t just survive. They adapted. 



The research team found that annelid genomes are much more structurally flexible than those of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/over-half-of-the-worlds-vertebrates-reside-in-the-tropics/">vertebrates</a>. That flexibility could allow genes in different parts of the genome to change positions without losing function.



The shift to land was a massive environmental change. Suddenly, these animals had to breathe air, deal with sunlight, and navigate new terrains. The genomic rewiring may have helped them adapt quickly by creating new gene combinations.



“You could think that this chaos would mean the lineage would die out, but it’s possible that some species’ evolutionary success is based on that superpower,” said Fernández.



The study suggests that some genes didn’t just move - they fused with others. These new “genetic chimeras” may have played a role in helping the worms handle life on land.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evolution-isn-t-orderly-for-worms">Evolution isn’t orderly for worms</h2>



This finding also raises a bigger question: is genome stability really all that important?



“It seems from this study that conserving the genomic structure at the linear level - i.e., where the genes are more or less in the same place in different species - may not be as essential as had been thought,” said Fernández. 



“In fact, stability could be the exception and not the rule in animals, which could benefit from a more fluid genome.”



That idea has serious implications. In humans, similar genomic breakdowns are seen in cancer. There’s even a term for it: chromoanagenesis. It refers to catastrophic chromosome reorganization in cancer cells. The difference? In humans, it's a disease. In these worms, it was a survival strategy.



The comparison could open up new ways to study how genomes work - and how they break.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-evidence-challenges-darwin">DNA evidence challenges Darwin</h2>



The debate between slow change and sudden leaps isn’t settled. But this study adds strong support for the idea that both models might be right, depending on the circumstances.



“Both visions, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/charles-darwins-complete-research-library-published-for-the-first-time/">Darwin’s</a> and Gould’s, are compatible and complementary," Fernández said. "While Neo-Darwinism can explain the evolution of populations perfectly, it has not yet been able to explain some exceptional and crucial episodes in the history of life on Earth."



"Those events included such as the initial explosion of animal life in the oceans over 500 million years ago, or the transition from the sea to land 200 million years ago in the case of earthworms. This is where the punctuated equilibrium theory could offer some answers.”



And this might just be the beginning. There are thousands of invertebrate species we know almost nothing about. Their genomes may hold more surprises - and more exceptions to the rules we thought we understood.



“There is a great diversity we know nothing about, hidden in the invertebrates, and studying them could bring new discoveries about the diversity and plasticity of genomic organization, and challenge dogmas on how we think genomes are organized,” Fernández concluded.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02728-1">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.



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Earthworm DNA is changing how we understand evolution, possibly proving Darwin wrong

In 1859, Darwin proposed that evolution worked slowly - even...

Earth’s first continents were supposed to be forever. Their deep roots, more than 120 miles thick, once looked too cold and too strong for the mantle to pry loose.



Now a modeling study led by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4cfO_zwAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Professor Shaofeng Liu</a> at the <a href="https://en.cug.edu.cn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">China University of Geosciences</a> shows that even the most time‑tested crust can unravel in slow motion as tectonic forces switch direction and tempo.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-continental-crust-the-basics">Understanding continental crust - the basics</h2>



Earth's continental crust forms the solid, outermost shell of our planet's lithosphere, making up the continents and continental shelves. It consists primarily of granitic rocks, which are less dense than the basaltic rocks of the oceanic crust. 



This difference in composition and density allows the continental crust to "float" higher on the mantle, creating the familiar topography of mountains, plateaus, and valleys. 



Unlike the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-sunken-oceans-discovered-between-earth-core-and-mantle/">oceanic crust</a>, which is geologically young and typically recycled back into the mantle via subduction zones, continental crust can be billions of years old, preserving a long and complex geological history.



Continental crust forms through processes such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/volcanic-arc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">volcanic arc accretion</a>, crustal thickening, and the intrusion of magmatic bodies over time. 



Tectonic activity, such as the collision of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hidden-forces-discovered-cause-earths-continents-to-rise-great-escarpment/">continental plates</a>, contributes to the thickening and elevation of the crust, leading to the formation of major mountain ranges like the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/stunning-and-mysterious-red-sprite-lightning-storm-captured-in-photos-himalayas/">Himalayas</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-origins-of-stubborn-crust">Origins of stubborn crust</h2>



A craton is a continental kernel that formed two billion years ago and cooled until it became buoyant and stiff. Its keystone is a thick lithosphere that locks the block in place while the planet’s younger plates drift overhead.



For decades geologists imagined these keels as geological life preservers. The notion began to wobble when seismic <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-earth-053018-060342" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">images</a> under eastern China revealed a missing bottom half and unusually hot mantle rock where cold mantle should sit.



The <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JB031104?af=R" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">North China Craton</a> once spanned nearly 500,000 square miles and carried Archean rocks older than 2.5 billion years. 



In the late Jurassic it collided with the buoyant Izanagi oceanic plate. That odd convergence forced a wide, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031920104001165" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shallow subduction</a> slab to flatten out beneath the continent.



Liu’s team ran <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019AGUFM.T54B..07L/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">four‑dimensional mantle‑flow models</a> that replay 200 million years of plate motion, crustal strain, and rising and sinking mantle. 



The simulations reproduced a 4,000‑mile‑wide horizontal slab trapped at depths of 255-410 miles, matching seismic tomography pictures from Asia to the western Pacific. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-continental-crust-rollback-and-flat-slabs">Continental crust, rollback, and flat-slabs</h2>



Flat‑slab subduction squeezes the overlying crust, so the region from the Korean peninsula to the Taihang Mountains shortened, rose, and shed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sediment-in-the-great-blue-hole-reveals-an-alarming-storm-record/">sediment</a> into thrust‑top basins. At the peak of compression the continental crust thickened by roughly 54 percent.



A change in relative plate motion around 136 million years ago flipped the script. The overriding block turned south, the slab’s down-going edge began to peel back toward the ocean trench, and the compressed highlands relaxed.



Rollback created a negative pressure zone, geoscientists call it a “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X18301114" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">large mantle wedge</a>,” between the retreating slab and the thick lithosphere. Hot melt from that wedge metasomatized the keel, lowering its viscosity and density.



“Ancient lithosphere can be broken apart, and this disintegration can be caused by this special form of subduction occurring near oceanic plates, revealing how the continents evolved over Earth's history,” explained Liu. 



The crust above responded by stretching. Seismic <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JB020296" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> show that eastern North China’s lithosphere is now less than 75 miles thick, barely half its original heft. 



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



North America offers a younger analog. The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X15005099" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wyoming flat‑slab</a> episode that began about 90 million years ago under today’s Rocky Mountains lifted the land, dehydrated the keel, and invited later volcanic tears as the slab rolled back.



South America’s Andean plate margin shows similar early compression followed by back‑arc rifting where the slab retreats. Each case hints that proximity to an active margin, not age, dictates a craton’s fate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-does-any-of-this-matter">Why does any of this matter?</h2>



Craton keels influence ore deposits, geothermal gradients, and even the way continents bob in response to ice‑sheet loss. 



Destroying a keel can relocate <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fire-and-ice-volcanic-ash-plays-a-surprising-role-in-cloud-formation/">volcanic</a> arcs and open mineral pathways that concentrate copper, gold, and critical rare metals.



The process also changes surface height. Liu’s model predicts more than 2,000 feet of dynamic uplift and subsidence across eastern China since the Jurassic. 



That back‑and‑forth may shape long‑term river courses and flood histories from the Yellow River to the Bohai Sea.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-understanding-craton-vulnerability">Understanding craton vulnerability</h2>



Not all cratons face the same level of risk. Liu’s findings point to a key factor: <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-geographic-isolation-shaped-global-species-habitat/">geographic</a> location. 



Cratons deeply embedded within continental crust interiors, like the Kaapvaal in southern Africa, remain insulated from subduction-related disruption and show few signs of thinning.



In contrast, edge-bound cratons like those in eastern Asia or the western Americas lie close to active <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/subduction-zone-science" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subduction zones</a>, where flat-slab intrusion and rollback can apply persistent stress from below. 



These external pressures, not internal heat or plume activity, may be the primary agents of their eventual undoing.



Continents have always been works in progress. The new results argue that, given the right push and pull, even the oldest rock on the planet can be trimmed, thinned, and finally removed from below.



The study is published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01513-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Geoscience</a>.



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Scientists discover that the oldest continental crust on Earth is disintegrating

Earth’s first continents were supposed to be forever. Their deep...

Bluebottles - also known as Portuguese man o’ war - are jellyfish-like marine creatures with long, stinging tentacles that often wash up on beaches. It's been widely assumed that bluebottles all belong to a single species, but a new global genetic survey has revealed otherwise.



Dr. Samuel H. Church of <a href="https://www.yale.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yale University</a> coordinated the genome work with Australian colleagues, including Professor Kylie Pitt from Griffith University. Their findings overturn two centuries of scientific classification.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-four-species-of-bluebottles">Four species of bluebottles</h2>



The team sorted the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/portuguese-man-o-war.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">specimens</a> into Physalia physalis, P. utriculus, P. megalista, and a newly named Physalia minuta, the last discovered in waters south of New Zealand. Each species carries distinctive sail colors and float shapes - traits once dismissed as harmless variation.



Genetic markers show the four <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-jellyfish-day-2024-protecting-the-health-of-our-oceans/">lineages</a> do not interbreed, even when they occupy the same stretch of ocean. This pattern means evolution is at work in the open sea, not only along coastlines or around islands.



“We were shocked, because we assumed they were all the same species,” said Professor Pitt. Her remark echoes a long‑held textbook view now overturned.



Every colony is a <a href="https://twilightzone.whoi.edu/explore-the-otz/creature-features/siphonophore/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">siphonophore</a> - a floating commune of genetically identical zooids that act as one animal. The arrangement lets a bluebottle grow long feeding tentacles while the gas‑filled float keeps the colony at the surface, a lifestyle that defines the <a href="https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/neuston-in-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-and-the-impact-of-cleanup/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neuston</a> layer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-differences-go-beyond-appearance">Differences go beyond appearance</h2>



Raw genomes alone rarely hint at an animal’s appearance, so the researchers combed through 4,000 beach photographs. Color signatures and sail angles in the pictures matched the genetic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-phantom-jelly-discovered-exposed-ecosystem-under-antarctic-iceberg/">lineages</a> one by one.



Citizen scientists had, in effect, been taking field notes for years without knowing it. Their uploads supplied location data that helped map where each species turns up during different wind seasons. 



Machine‑learning tools flagged subtle differences, such as a deep‑purple crest on P. megalista or the small, clear float on P. minuta. Laboratory vouchers later verified those traits under a microscope.



The public photo trove also clarified left‑handed versus right‑handed sails, a feature that decides which way a bluebottle is blown. Such handedness now appears tied to species identity rather than simple developmental chance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ocean-currents-separate-bluebottle-species">Ocean currents separate bluebottle species</h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/jellyfish-more-than-just-a-snack-for-predatory-fish/">Ocean</a> circulation models recreated likely drift paths from hatchling to adult, revealing corridors that keep populations apart. Prevailing winds in the Pacific sweep P. utriculus west toward Australia, while the South Equatorial Current loops P. megalista into the Atlantic.&nbsp;



The new species, P. minuta, hugs eddies of the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924796319300259" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tasman Front</a>, a route that spirals larvae southward before they ever cross open ocean. Because gonads detach and sink below the surface to spawn, deep water layers also partition gene flow.



Subtle climate shifts could shuffle these corridors and mix the species in the future, but for now the lines stay crisp. That stability gives evolutionary forces room to sculpt body size, venom genes, and reproductive timing without interference. 



The finding challenges a common idea that wind‑powered drifters form one gigantic, well‑mixed population. Instead, even a creature built for travel can remain genetically provincial.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bluebottle-stings-vary-by-species">Bluebottle stings vary by species</h2>



<a href="https://sls.com.au/bluebottlewatch-a-new-research-project-to-develop-a-bluebottle-prediction-tool-for-our-beaches/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Surf Life Saving Australia</a> ranks bluebottle contact as a leading reason for first‑aid calls, spurring a research grant to build a beach sting forecast. 



Knowing which species is likely to arrive could sharpen those alerts, because tentacle length and venom chemistry differ among the four.



During the summer of 2017, more than <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-01/bluebottle-stings-up-900-per-cent-in-queensland/8313970" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">38,000 people</a> were treated for bluebottle stings in Queensland alone - a spike of 900 percent over the prior season. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forecasting-bluebottle-seasons">Forecasting bluebottle seasons</h2>



Public health planners can now add species identity to their toolbox instead of relying on wind direction alone.



Lighter winds often carry the smaller P. minuta onto sheltered south‑facing bays, where novice swimmers gather. 



Lifeguards armed with species‑level forecasts might adjust patrols or signage accordingly. Thermal anomalies that favor jellyfish blooms may not boost every bluebottle equally, given their genetic split.



Future sting seasons could therefore hinge on which lineage catches the breeze rather than on sheer water temperature.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-population-structure-in-the-ocean">Hidden population structure in the ocean </h2>



The bluebottle story joins other case studies of copepods and pteropods that show hidden population structure in the high seas. 



Collectively, these results overturn the old axiom that “everything is everywhere” once an organism can drift. Marine cleanup projects often claim surface life is sparse, implying little ecological risk when skimming plastics. 



Evidence of partitioned diversity urges far more caution before nets sweep across convergence zones.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-broader-implications-of-the-research">Broader implications of the research </h2>



Pharmaceutical scouts have isolated novel peptide toxins from P. physalis, but untapped species may hold different compounds with medical promise. A four‑species framework sets a clearer path for bioprospecting teams.&nbsp;



Climate models aiming to forecast <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-robots-are-exploring-the-oceans-role-in-climate-control/">oceanic carbon</a> cycling need accurate species counts because each colony’s buoyant gas is nearly 13 percent carbon monoxide. Four distinct production rates could alter estimates of gas exchange at the air–sea interface.



Researchers who track long‑range migrants, from sea turtles to seabirds, can now refine diet studies. Predator scat may tell which bluebottle species dominates a given flyway, adding another layer to ecosystem maps.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-toxin-genes-in-bluebottle-species">Toxin genes in bluebottle species </h2>



Work is already under way to test whether the four lineages differ in toxin genes, an angle that could explain regional differences in sting severity. 



Another puzzle lies in the handedness trait, which might be hardwired by alleles rather than molded by early winds.



Field biologists plan to tag floats with tiny temperature loggers to see how much time each species spends in sun‑baked surface water. Results should reveal whether thermal tolerance helped split the lineages in the first place.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)00682-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Current Biology</a>.



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Scientists were shocked to find that bluebottles are not one species

Bluebottles - also known as Portuguese man o’ war -...

Female honey bees inherit genes from their father and mother (the queen), but they don't all end up playing the same role. 



Some female bees end up becoming queens that reproduce, while others become workers that never lay eggs, and spend their lives caring for their sisters. What causes this dramatic difference?



New research points to a tug-of-war between parental genes, with mother's and father's genes pulling the developing bee larva in different directions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-parental-genes-in-a-bee-s-fate">The role of parental genes in a bee's fate</h2>



Scientists at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Penn State</a> have identified the molecular mechanism that tips the balance between <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-are-queen-honey-bees-failing-faster/">queen</a> and worker. The study reveals how the bee’s parents’ genes literally compete during a critical window of development.



“Imagine if your mother's genes and your father's genes were in constant disagreement about how you should develop - that is essentially what genomic imprinting is, and we see that it happens across the tree of life: from honey bees to humans,” explained Sean Bresnahan, lead author of the study.



“We found that this genetic ‘argument’ can be detected during a critical developmental window where a honey bee larva becomes either a queen or a worker.”



That window slams shut just 192 hours after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/world-honey-bee-day-protecting-our-vital-pollinators/">egg</a> is laid. By then, the bee's genes lock it into its destiny.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-exploring-differences-in-bee-genes">Exploring differences in bee genes</h2>



To study the differences between the genes inherited from the mother bee (matrigenes) and those from the father bee (patrigenes), the researchers used a technique called instrumental insemination. It allowed them to control which queen mated with which drone.



The team then tracked how gene expression varied in the resulting bee larvae by analyzing RNA - the molecules that carry instructions from DNA to make proteins - and comparing gene activity based on whether it came from mother or father.



“We found patrigenes were expressed at higher levels in queen-destined larvae, and matrigenes were expressed at higher levels in worker-destined larvae,” Bresnahan said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-tug-of-war-between-bee-genes">A tug-of-war between bee genes</h2>



The team didn’t stop there. They wanted to know what these parent-specific genes were actually doing. By analyzing the cellular pathways that the genes influenced, they spotted a clear pattern.



“We saw a striking match between the expression of matrigenes and patrigenes in the same pathway,” noted Bresnahan.



“If a matrigene had increased expression then a patrigene would have decreased expression in the same pathway, or vice versa, showing that the two genes were working against each other."



"If one gene showed parent-specific expression, another gene in the same pathway showed parent-specific expression from the opposite parent.”



So it wasn’t just random. The maternal and paternal genes seemed to be locked in direct opposition, battling over the bee’s fate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-dna-methylation-this-time">Not DNA methylation this time</h2>



In many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/where-mammals-live-depends-more-on-climate-than-human-activities/">animals</a> and plants, the mechanism that drives this kind of genetic conflict is a process called DNA methylation. It adds chemical tags to DNA that affect whether genes are turned on or off. 



But in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/artificial-diet-offers-hope-for-saving-endangered-honey-bees/">honey bees</a>, previous research had shown that methylation doesn’t play this role. So the team looked at another possibility: histones. 



DNA isn’t just floating around loose in cells. It’s wound tightly around proteins called histones, forming a structure known as chromatin. The shape and structure of chromatin help regulate which genes are accessible and active.



Changes to histone proteins - through chemical tags placed on them - can also affect gene expression without altering the DNA itself.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bee-genes-are-affected-by-histones">Bee genes are affected by histones</h2>



Using a technique developed by study co-author Shaun Mahony, the researchers targeted histone-bound DNA. They isolated and analyzed the tagged histone proteins and the DNA they interacted with.



“We found that, in honey bees, parent-of-origin expression is regulated by histone modifications,” Bresnahan said.



This means chemical changes to histones - not the DNA itself - help determine which parental genes are active. And those gene activities ultimately decide if a larva will become a queen or a worker.



“What we're seeing in honey bees isn't actually that unusual when you take a step back - histone-based mechanisms for parent-of-origin effects are more widely utilized across the tree of life than DNA methylation-based systems,” explained Bresnahan.



“We see these chromatin-mediated imprinting mechanisms in flowering plants and in placental mammals as well. So, honey bees, and maybe other social insects, might be using the more ancestral toolkit for mediating these genetic conflicts,” he stated.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-this-research-matters">Why this research matters</h2>



Understanding how this parental conflict works could have real-world implications. For example, it might lead to new ways to breed bees with desired traits, such as resilience or productivity.



Christina Grozinger, co-author on the study, said her lab plans to explore how these genetic dynamics affect behaviors like nursing, where some worker bees specialize in caring for young.



The project also has reach beyond insects. Bresnahan now studies how genetic conflict shapes traits in humans - especially those related to maternal-child health during pregnancy.



“The skills I developed studying parent-of-origin effects translate directly to my current studies of maternal-child health mediated through the placenta,” Bresnahan said. 



“I am particularly interested in parent-of-origin gene expression associated with placenta-mediated traits, like early-life programming of metabolic and neuropsychiatric disease risk, that could help us better understand pregnancy complications and offspring health outcomes.”



This study peels back another layer in the mystery of how similar <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-can-detect-insect-dna-in-air-samples/">DNA</a> can lead to dramatically different lives - whether in bees, humans, or plants. And it reminds us that the story of inheritance is not just about what genes we get, but also about which ones win the argument.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-025-03628-0">Genome Biology</a>.



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Parental genes affect whether a bee becomes a queen or a worker

Female honey bees inherit genes from their father and mother...

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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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



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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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Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features northwest Lesotho in South Africa.



According to ESA, Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies completely above 1,000 m in elevation. The country is famous for its tall mountains and narrow valleys, and is known as Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky."



Out of a population of around two million people, about 80 percent live in rural areas. More than 75 percent of these people are engaged in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-will-have-a-global-impact-on-agriculture/">agriculture</a>, including rainfed cereal production and animal grazing.&nbsp;



ESA reports that the country’s agricultural system faces a growing number of issues, with climate-related vulnerabilities such as drought, floods and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. 



Diamonds are amongst the minerals found in the mountains. Indeed, Lesotho can truly be called the Kingdom in the Sky. Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable, and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination. the Kingdom of Lesotho (Sotho: 'Muso oa Lesotho) is an enclaved country in southern Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2 (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million.



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&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> Staff Writer 



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.

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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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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