This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. 



Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space.



In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow.



Since Tuesday, the moon has looked larger than usual, and it’ll keep that appearance through Friday. By Thursday morning, as people head out for their morning commute. Depending on the weather in your area, Thursday night being the best time to see the full Hunter's supermoon..



And let's not forget the dazzling Orionids meteor shower, where you can catch glimpses of shooting stars streaking across the sky, resulting from debris left by Halley's Comet.



There's truly something for everyone in this celestial display. So, grab a warm jacket, perhaps a pair of binoculars for a closer look.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-80-000-year-old-time-traveler">80,000-year-old time traveler</h2>



Meet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-anticipated-comet-of-2024-returns-this-weekend-after-80000-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS</a>, a celestial wanderer that's been on an 80,000-year long odyssey. 



From the outermost regions of our solar system, this comet embarks on an interminable journey around the sun. The last time it paid us a visit, our ancestors were just crafting civilizations.



Although its closest Earth pass was on October 12, it remains visible for the remainder of the month. 



So, how do you spot it? An hour into the sunset, turn your sight to where the sun has sunk and voila. The elusive comet, while difficult to sight with the naked eye, could be seen with a pair of binoculars. 



Don't miss this rare chance to witness a phenomenon that won't return for another 80,000 years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hunter-s-supermoon">Hunter's Supermoon</h2>



Next up...mark your calendars for October 17, 2024. The night sky is all set to parade the Hunter's Moon, but this year it's not just a full moon -- <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hunters-supermoon-prepares-to-illuminate-the-october-skies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">it's a supermoon</a>! 



This phenomenon occurs when the moon is at its closest to Earth during its full phase, making it larger and brighter.



The Hunter’s Moon got its name from the historical practice of hunters utilizing the bright moonlight to track game and gather food in preparation for winter. This full moon rises soon after sunset, extending the period of illumination more than usual.



As it ascends, the Hunter’s Moon appears particularly large and orange, a visual effect produced by its lower position on the horizon and the scattering of light in the atmosphere.



This lunar phase holds cultural significance across various traditions, representing a time for preparation and gathering, underscoring the importance of readiness for the impending colder months.



The Hunter’s Moon is generally in October -- although once every four years it makes an appearance in November.



While contemporary life may not depend on this extra light to hunt or complete outdoor tasks, the Hunter’s Moon remains a fascinating reminder of nature’s rhythms and the cyclical changes of the seasons.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-puts-the-super-in-the-supermoon">What puts the 'super' in the supermoon?</h3>



So, you might ask, "What's so super about the supermoon?" As Anna Gammon-Ross, a seasoned astronomer from the <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Museums Greenwich</a> explains, a supermoon occurs when a full moon is nearest to Earth in its orbit. 



This cosmic alignment results in a moon that's roughly 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. On seeing the radiant orb hanging low in the sky, you'd agree that the supermoon does indeed earn its name.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shooting-stars-orionids-meteor-shower">Shooting stars: Orionids meteor shower</h2>



The Orionids meteor shower is one of the highlights of the October night sky. These meteors are actually tiny bits of dust left behind by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/orionids-meteor-shower-peaks-this-weekend-heres-what-to-expect/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Halley's Comet</a> as it travels through the solar system. 



When Earth passes through this trail of debris, the particles slam into our atmosphere at incredible speeds -- up to 148,000 miles per hour! As they burn up, they create those bright streaks of light we love to watch.



What's cool about the Orionids is that they're known for their fast and bright meteors, often leaving glowing trails that last for a few seconds. 



The best time to catch them is in the early morning hours before dawn, when the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/betelgeuse-one-of-our-brightest-stars-will-vanish-from-sight-next-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">constellation Orion</a> (which gives the meteor shower its name) is high in the sky. 



Just find a comfy spot away from city lights, let your eyes adjust to the darkness, and enjoy the show -- no special equipment needed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skywatching-101">Skywatching 101</h2>



All set to behold these cosmic spectacles? Here are some tips to enhance your experience:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Search for a location far from city lights to escape light pollution. </li>



<li>Always check the weather. Clear skies are your best pals for skywatching. </li>



<li>Bring your binoculars. For the supermoon, they are optional, but they'll help with the comet and make meteor watching more fun. </li>



<li>Comfort is key. Dress warmly and consider bringing a blanket or a chair. </li>



<li>Patience is a virtue. Allow around 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.</li>
</ul>



These celestial showstoppers make for some spectacular photography opportunities. 



For the supermoon, a camera with manual settings, plus a tripod for steadiness, can help capture stunning shots. 



For the meteors, a wide-angle lens with a long exposure setting can help you nab a shooting star.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-wonders-to-watch">More wonders to watch</h2>



October's skywatching doesn't end with the comet, supermoon, and meteor shower. 



Throughout the month, Venus brightly greets morning risers, while Saturn and Jupiter are earlier night visitors. 



Mars is a bit elusive but worth seeking out. Several constellations, such as Cassiopeia and Perseus, also adorn the night sky. 



If you're a novice stargazer, a smartphone app can help you navigate the starry expanse.



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Hunter's supermoon, a comet, and Orionids meteors are sharing the sky tonight

This week, the October sky is treating us to a brilliant display that you won't want to miss -- the Hunter's supermoon, a rare comet, and the Orionids meteor shower. Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is a rare comet making its journey past Earth, offering a unique opportunity to witness its tail of icy particles glistening against the dark canvas of space. In addition, this week features the biggest supermoon of the year, Hunter's supermoon, which will illuminate the night with a breathtaking orangish glow. Since Tuesday, the...

A new study led by thy <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> has revealed that flamingos prefer to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rare-birds-and-bees-flock-to-gardens-with-rare-plants/">flock</a> with individuals they are compatible with. The research suggests that flamingo societies are more complex than what was previously realized.&nbsp;



In a collaboration with experts at the Wildfowl &amp; Wetlands Trust (WWT), the team analyzed the personalities and social behavior of Caribbean and Chilean flamingos.&nbsp;



"This research aimed to document how personality traits (aggressive, exploratory, submissive) influence the social network structure of highly social animals in a captive environment," wrote the study authors.



"Data were collected from separate flocks of captive Caribbean (Phoenicopterus ruber) and Chilean flamingos (Phoenicopterus chilensis) to identify relationships between birds and examine opportunities for social support."



The researchers found that birds of both species were more likely to spend time with flamingos that shared similar personalities.



“Our previous research has shown that individual flamingos have particular ‘friends’ within the flock,” said Dr. Paul Rose. “In this study, we wanted to find out whether individual character traits explain why these friendships form. The answer is yes - birds of a feather flock together."



“For example, bolder birds had stronger, more consistent ties with other bold birds, while submissive birds tended to spend their time with fellow submissive flamingos.”



Study co-author Fionnuala McCully said that, like humans, flamingos appear to carve out different roles in society based on their personality.&nbsp;



“For example, we observed groups of aggressive birds which attempt to dominate rivals and tend to get in more fights."



“Meanwhile, the role of submissive birds may be more complex than simply being lower down the pecking order – they may be using a different approach to get what they need."



“The various different personality groups provide social help to their members, for example by supporting each other in the many squabbles that take place in flamingo flocks," said McCully.



Among the Caribbean flamingos, personality types were associated with certain social roles within a group. This was not the case, however, among the Chilean birds. Further research is needed to understand these behavior patterns.



“Our findings need further investigation, both to help us understand the evolution of social behaviour and to improve the welfare of zoo animals," said Dr. Rose. “But it is clear from this research that a flamingo's social life is much more complicated than we first realised.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29315-3">Scientific Reports</a>.



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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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Flamingos of a feather flock together

A new study led by thy University of Exeter has...

New research conducted by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/deforestation-in-the-amazon-hits-new-record-high/">deforestation</a> leads to reduced rainfall across large areas of the tropics. Although people inhabiting these regions have often complained that the climate gets hotter and drier once trees from these areas are cleared, this is the first study to identify a clear link between the loss of tree cover and significant declines in rainfall.



The experts examined the impact of forest loss on rainfall patterns in three areas of the tropics – the Amazon, Congo, and Southeast Asia – that have recently experienced rapid land-use changes. By using satellite observations from 2003 to 2017, they identified the areas where forests have been cleared, and compared rainfall data from these regions to data from nearby locations where forests have not been lost.



The analysis revealed that tropical forest loss led to reductions in rainfall throughout the entire year, including in the dry season, when any further drying severely impacts plant and animal ecosystems. However, the largest decline in precipitation was observed in the wet season, with nearly 0.6 mm a month reduction in rainfall for each percent of forest cover loss.



“Tropical forests play a critical role in the hydrological cycle through helping to maintain local and regional rainfall patterns,” said study lead author Callum Smith, a doctoral student in Environmental Sciences at Leeds.&nbsp;



“The reduction in rainfall caused by tropical deforestation will impact people living nearby through increased water scarcity and depressed crop yields.&nbsp;Tropical forests themselves rely on moisture to survive and remaining areas of forest will be impacted by a drier climate.”&nbsp;



According to the scientists, the loss of tree cover disrupts the process in which moisture from leaves is returned to the atmosphere through a mechanism called evapotranspiration, where it eventually forms rain clouds.&nbsp;



Besides impacting natural ecosystems, reductions in rainfall are also detrimental to agriculture and hydropower plants and are thus likely to affect not only the healthy functioning of forests, but also local communities. In addition, these declines have a negative impact on biodiversity, increase the risks of forest fires, and reduce carbon sequestration.



These problems will likely get worse by the end of the century, with researchers estimating that, if the rate of deforestation in the Congo was to continue as before, rainfall in the region could be reduced by eight to 12 percent, severely affecting both biodiversity and farming, while threatening the viability of the Congo forests, which are among the world’s largest carbon stores.



“The study shows the critical importance of tropical forests in sustaining rainfall. Although there have been efforts to halt deforestation, the loss of forest cover in the tropics has continued. There needs to be renewed efforts to stop forests being lost and to regenerate lost and degraded areas,” concluded senior author Dominick Spracklen, a professor of Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions at Leeds.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05690-1.">Nature</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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Deforestation in the tropics linked to reduced rainfall

New research conducted by the University of Leeds has found...

Although it is a widespread belief that humans contribute the most to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-linked-to-a-higher-risk-of-stroke/">air pollution</a>, there are also vast amounts of pollutants emerging from natural sources. According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a> (UCR), if global temperatures rise by four degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, harmful plant emissions and dust will also increase by as much as 14 percent.



“We are not looking at human emissions of air pollution, because we can change what we emit,” said study lead author James Gomez, a doctoral student in Global Climate and Environmental Change at UCR. “We can switch to electric cars. But that may not change air pollution from plants or dust.”



Plants constantly produce and emit chemicals called biogenic volatile compounds (BVOCs), which give rise, for instance, to the smell of a freshly-mowed lawn or the sweetness of ripe strawberries. While on their own, BVOCs are benign, once they react with oxygen, they produce organic aerosols which, when inhaled, can lead to infant mortality and childhood asthma, as well as lung cancer and heart disease in adulthood.



Two factors projected to continue to increase due to climate – atmospheric carbon dioxide and temperature - will both boost BVOC production. However, as the scientists stress, growing plants can still help the environment by reducing the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. Moreover, BVOCs from small gardens will not be harmful.



“Your lawn, for example, won’t produce enough BVOCs to make you sick. It’s the large-scale increase in carbon dioxide that contributes to the biosphere increasing BVOCs, and then organic aerosols,” Gomez explained.



The second largest contributor to pollution from natural sources will likely be dust from the Saharan desert which, as the climate warms, will be blown around the globe, leading to hazardous amounts of air pollution in Africa, the eastern U.S., and the Caribbean. Moreover, due to West African monsoons, dust over Northern Africa is likely to further increase.



Since they have a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, both organic aerosols and dust fall into the category of PM2.5 airborne pollutants, which are among the most dangerous pollutants. According to the experts, the increase in naturally sourced PM2.5 pollution is directly proportional with rises in CO2 levels. “The more we increase CO2, the more PM2.5 we see being put into the atmosphere, and the inverse is also true. The more we reduce, the better the air quality gets,” Gomez said. Thus, in order to have a positive effect on future air quality, CO2 emissions will need to decrease sharply.



“The results of this experiment may even be a bit conservative because we did not include climate-dependent changes in wildfire emissions as a factor. In the future, make sure you get an air purifier,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00688-7">Nature Communications Earth &amp; Environment</a>.



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



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Air pollution will increase dramatically in a hotter climate

Although it is a widespread belief that humans contribute the...

A recent study led by the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> has found that Australia’s rarest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scavenging-birds-rise-climate-change/">bird of prey</a> – the red goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus) – is currently facing extinction, with the Cape York Peninsula the only region in Queensland known to support breeding populations at the moment. According to the experts, this shocking discovery requires urgent governmental action to amend this bird’s national conservation status from “vulnerable” to “endangered,” so it can be afforded greater conservation priority.



“Over four decades the red goshawk has lost a third of its historical range, which is the area that’s it’s previously been known to occupy,” said study lead author Christopher MacColl, a doctoral student in Earth and Environmental Sciences at Queensland. “It’s barely hanging on in another 30 percent of regions it has previously been known to inhabit.”



With its striking reddish-brown plumage, deeply fingered wing tips, heavy yellow legs, and enormous talons, this unique predator has long captivated bird watchers. By analyzing four decades of sightings from citizen scientists, MacColl and his colleagues unfortunately discovered highly concerning population trends, with the species now extinct in New South Wales and the southern half of Queensland.



“There has been a noticeable decline in North Queensland too, leaving Cape York Peninsula as the last place in the state still known to support breeding populations,” MacColl said. “The Top End, Tiwi Islands, and Kimberley are the red goshawk’s last remaining stronghold, making northern Australia critical to its ongoing survival.”



Although the threats driving this species’ decline require further investigation, the scientists believe that habitat loss and degradation most likely played a decisive role. “An increase in agricultural, mining, and gas projects across northern Australia pose a real risk to a species like this, given what we’ve observed throughout its eastern range,” explained study senior author James Watson, a professor of Conservation Science at Queensland.



In order to stop this dramatic decline in red goshawk populations, governments and communities should be more proactive in conserving remaining habitats.



“Northern Australia supports the largest intact tropical savanna ecosystem in the world and hosts an abundance of biodiversity. Conservation efforts aimed at securing an emblematic species like the red goshawk in these areas will benefit many other species given the species is a top-predator,” Watson concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2172735">Emu – Austral Ornithology</a>.



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



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Australia’s rarest predatory bird is facing extinction

A recent study led by the University of Queensland has...

Baleen whales are known to use an array of different feeding strategies; they lunge at <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-do-great-grey-owls-capture-prey-beneath-snow/">prey</a>, create bubble nets, use flick feeding, bottom feeding and lobtail feeding. And then, as recently as 2011, a new method of feeding was identified in whales on opposite sides of the Earth’s oceans. Termed trap feeding in a study of humpback whales off Vancouver Island, Canada, and tread-water feeding in a study of Bryde’s whales in the Gulf of Thailand, these behaviors had never been seen before … or had they?



Both types of feeding involve the whale suspending itself vertically in the water column, with its lower jaw level with the water surface and the upper jaw held wide open. The whale remains in this position, motionless, for some time, waiting for small fish and other prey to swim into its mouth. Some say the prey swim towards the whale’s mouth thinking it is a place of shelter, whereas others suggest the whale regurgitates some small pieces of what it has just eaten and this attracts prey towards its mouth. Whatever the reason, the prey that enter the whale’s wide-open mouth are soon swallowed.



Australian researchers from <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> have now found evidence that this apparently novel behavior has actually been described before, in ancient accounts of sea creatures that date back more than 2,000 years. These accounts relate to sea monsters and mythical beasts in Old Norse sources, as well as to a type of whale first described in a 2nd century Alexandrian manuscript that documents zoological information brought to Egypt from India and the Middle East by early natural historians like Herodotus, Ctesias, Aristotle, and Plutarch, as well as by merchants and other travellers.



Dr. John McCarthy first noticed intriguing parallels between marine biology and historical literature while reading about Norse sea monsters.



“It struck me that the Norse description of the hafgufa was very similar to the behaviour shown in videos of trap feeding whales, but I thought it was just an interesting coincidence at first. Once I started looking into it in detail and discussing it with colleagues who specialise in medieval literature, we realised that the oldest versions of these myths do not describe sea monsters at all, but are explicit in describing a type of whale,” said Dr. McCarthy.



“That’s when we started to get really interested. The more we investigated it, the more interesting the connections became and the marine biologists we spoke to found the idea fascinating,” he added.



The researchers describe the striking parallels in visual appearance and other characteristics between the feeding behaviour of the trap/tread-water feeding whales and the hafgufa of medieval Old Norse literature. The hafgufa was thought by post medieval scholars to be a fantastical creature, in the ilk of krakens and mermaids, but closer examination of earlier sources demonstrates that it was referred to explicitly as a “type” of whale.



Its feeding strategy, as revealed in a mid-13th century Old Norse didactic text known as Konungs skuggsjá (the King's Mirror), shows several elements in common with trap or tread-water feeding that has so recently been described to science. In all instances this technique involves the creature holding its jaws wide open, emitting a smell or scent, attracting small fish to come nearer to its mouth, and then shutting its jaws on the catch and swallowing the prey.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers considered whether humpback and Bryde’s whales release an odor when they open their mouths, and they concluded that this is more likely to be related to the regurgitation of some previously swallowed prey that then attracts fish and other animals towards the whale’s wide-open mouth.&nbsp;



The hafgufa remained part of Icelandic myths until the 18th&nbsp;century, but it seems to have gained some fantastical traits as time went by. It appears that the Norse manuscripts may have drawn on medieval bestiaries, a popular type of text in the medieval period. Bestiaries describe large numbers of real and fantastical animals and often include a description of a creature very similar to the hafgufa, usually named the ‘aspidochelone.’



Both the hafgufa and aspidochelone are sometimes said to emit a special perfume or scent that helps to draw the fish towards their stationary mouths. The hafgufa appears in other Old Norse manuscripts as well, including a legendary saga composed late in the 13th century. There are also earlier descriptions of similar creatures but referred to with different names. For example, the Physiologus (The Naturalist), a Greek text compiled in Alexandria ca. 150–200 CE offers an account of a whale which, it says, the Greeks called aspidochelone, but the Icelandic version referred to as an apsido.



This whale was described, in the text, as feeding by opening its mouth and exhaling a kind of good-smelling odor, the smell of which made small fish gather themselves in its mouth. When enough had gathered to fill its mouth, the whale closes its mouth and swallows them. Despite the different names, the creature’s feeding technique is unchanged. The similarities with the recently described trap feeding and tread-water feeding of some modern whales are clear.&nbsp;



Study co-author Dr. Erin Sebo says this may be another example of accurate knowledge about the natural environment preserved in forms that pre-date modern science.



“It’s exciting because the question of how long whales have used this technique is key to understanding a range of behavioral and even evolutionary questions. Marine biologists had assumed there was no way of recovering this data but, using medieval manuscripts, we’ve been able to answer some of their questions," said Dr. Sebo.



“We found that the more fantastical accounts of this sea monster were relatively recent, dating to the 17th&nbsp;and 18th&nbsp;centuries and there has been a lot of speculation amongst scientists about whether these accounts might have been provoked by natural phenomena, such as optical illusions or under water volcanoes. In fact, the behavior described in medieval texts, which seemed so unlikely, is simply whale behavior that we had not observed but medieval and ancient people had.”&nbsp;



It’s not known why this feeding strategy has only recently been identified in whales, but scientists speculate that it may be the result of changing environmental conditions, or due to the fact that whales are being more closely monitored than ever before by drones and other modern technologies. It is possible that this type of motionless foraging may be a strategy that works well when schools of fish are dispersed at low density, making it a waste of energy to employ rapid feeding techniques such as lunge feeding.&nbsp;



The researchers state that biologists have often tried to link the historical accounts of the hafgufa/aspidochelone with real and familiar marine species, but have not succeeded, concluding instead that these were mystical animals based partly on fantasy. However, the similarity in feeding behavior between these legendary animals and the trap feeding/tread-water feeding recently described, cannot be dismissed easily. This tradition of feeding by remaining motionless at the surface and having prey swim into a wide-open mouth, has remained remarkably consistent for over 1,500 years.&nbsp;



“Similarities between the hafgufa/aspidochelone traditions and cetacean trap feeding and tread-water feeding strategies have not been recognized despite several previous attempts to link the creature to a real sea creature," wrote the study authors. "This is because trap feeding and tread-water feeding have only been recorded comparatively recently but the parallels are striking.”



The findings of this study indicate that there may be much more to learn about ocean life from medieval and historical documents that predate human pressures on the marine environment.



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mms.13009">Marine Mammal Science</a>.



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



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Trap feeding whales help explain beasts in ancient literature

Baleen whales are known to use an array of different...

The Antarctic is a rugged environment, and scientific research in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biodiversity-loss-can-lead-to-total-ecosystem-collapse/">ecosystem</a> can be grueling and often impossible. However, thanks to improvements in satellite technology, researchers led by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a> were recently able to comb through over 100,000 images of the Antarctic Peninsula. The team reviewed satellite images taken between 2017 and 2021 to understand the differences in glacial behavior during colder and milder periods.



Glaciers are known to move approximately one kilometer (0.62 miles) yearly. However, researchers recently discovered that the ice flows up to 22 percent faster in the summer than in the cooler months. Experts believe this is due to increased ocean temperatures and melting snow, which increases lubrication and the rate of glacial slide. The finding is significant because it can provide insight into what the Antarctic could look like as temperatures and sea levels rise.



Knowing how fast glaciers are melting and moving is especially important, considering that the Antarctic Peninsula is the largest frozen freshwater reservoir in the world and is especially vulnerable to warming temperatures. Between 1992 and 2017, melting ice on the peninsula caused global sea levels to rise by 7.6mm, which may significantly impact climate change.



“The Antarctic Peninsula has seen some of the most rapid warming of any region on Earth. Continuing work like this will help glaciologists monitor how quickly change is occurring, enabling accurate assessments of how Earth’s ice will respond to climate change," explained study co-author Dr. Anna Hogg.



Craig Donlon of the European Space Agency concludes by explaining how satellite images will continue to be a game changer for scientists:



“This study highlights how high-resolution satellite images can help us monitor how the environment is changing in remote regions," said Donlon. "Future satellites, such as the family of Copernicus Sentinel expansion missions, promise to bring enhanced continuity and capabilities that will spearhead further insight into the characteristics and processes governing ice mass balance and sea-level rise.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01131-4">&nbsp;Nature Geosciences</a>.



Image Credit: Dr Anna E. Hogg, University of Leeds



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Antarctic glaciers are flowing faster in the summer

The Antarctic is a rugged environment, and scientific research in...

A biocomputer powered by human brain cells, known as "organoid intelligence," could be developed within our lifetime. Researchers at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> expect such technology to expand the capabilities of computing and create new fields of study.



“Computing and artificial intelligence have been driving the technology revolution but they are reaching a ceiling,” said Thomas Hartung. “Biocomputing is an enormous effort of compacting computational power and increasing its efficiency to push past our current technological limits.”



For nearly two decades, scientists have used tiny organoids (lab-grown tissues that resemble organs) to run experiments without human or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/do-animals-have-mirror-neurons-that-spark-aggression/">animal</a> testing.&nbsp;



Recently, researchers have been using brain organoids with neurons and other features that sustain functions like learning and remembering. Experimenting with brain organoids creates vast opportunities for research on how the brain works, and allows scientists to do a wide array of testing that cannot ethically be done to human brains.&nbsp;



In 2012, Hartung grew and assembled brain cells into functional organoids using cells from human skin samples. Each organoid contains about 50,000 cells, which is comparable to the size of a fruit fly’s nervous system.&nbsp;



Now, Hartung envisions utilizing brain organoids&nbsp; as “biological hardware” to build a futuristic computer. This technology could help alleviate the high energy-consumption demands of supercomputing that are becoming unsustainable.&nbsp;



While computers can process calculations involving numbers and data faster than humans, the human brain is still unmatched due to its unique ability to make complex logical decisions.



Hartung expects it will still take decades before organoid intelligence can power a system as smart as a mouse. He does, however, foresee a future where biocomputers support superior computing speed, processing power, data efficiency, and storage capabilities. This would require program funding,&nbsp; increased production of brain organoids as well as training them with artificial intelligence.&nbsp;



Organoid intelligence could also revolutionize drug testing research for neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegeneration, said Lena Smirnova who co-leads the investigations.



“We want to compare brain organoids from typically developed donors versus brain organoids from donors with autism,” said Smirnova. “The tools we are developing towards biological computing are the same tools that will allow us to understand changes in neuronal networks specific for autism, without having to use animals or to access patients, so we can understand the underlying mechanisms of why patients have these cognition issues and impairments.”



In the meantime, the ethical implications of working with organoid intelligence will be assessed by scientists, bioethicists, and members of the public who have been embedded within the team.



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://journal.sapub.org/fs/">Frontiers in Science</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Future computers may be powered by brain cells

A biocomputer powered by human brain cells, known as "organoid...

For the past 70 years, humanity has become more and more reliant on plastic materials for a variety of functions. In this time, an estimated 6 billion tons of plastics have ended up being deposited in the environment where they gradually degrade and fragment into micrometer- and nanometer-sized particles. These micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) have become widely distributed throughout the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-risk-linked-to-specific-environmental-pollutants/">environment</a> and the food chain, and have been found in the tissues of humans and other mammals.&nbsp;



Previous studies have confirmed that MNPs entering in food can cross the intestinal barrier into the blood stream, and MNPs have been found in the tissues of laboratory rats and fish. Furthermore, pregnant rats fed plastics in their food had offspring that suffered an array of unhealthy outcomes affecting the brain, testicles, liver, immune system and metabolism. Placental tissues in humans, both maternal and fetal have also been shown to contain these tiny particles of plastic, but there has never been a study confirming that MNPs can cross the placenta from mother to offspring.&nbsp;



In a new investigation by Rutgers scientists, pregnant rats were fed specially marked nanoscale plastics to determine whether these could cross the placenta and infiltrate the tissues of their unborn pups. The researchers hypothesized that the carboxylated red fluorescent 25 nm (PS25C)&nbsp;polystyrene spheres would cross the intestinal barrier of the mother rats and then also cross the placenta and enter the blood stream and tissues of the unborn pups.&nbsp;



The five experimental rats were fed liquid containing the 25 nm polystyrene balls on day 19 of their pregnancy. Control rats were not fed in this way. After 24 h, the rats were sacrificed and images were made of their tissues, and of the tissues of their pups. The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano13040720">Nanomaterials</a>, showed that the MNPs had not only crossed the intestinal and placental barriers within 24 h, but they had permeated the livers, kidneys, hearts, lungs and brains of the unborn offspring.&nbsp;



“Much remains unknown, but this is certainly cause for concern and follow-up study,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://mae.rutgers.edu/philip-demokritou">Philip Demokritou</a>, the Henry Rutgers Chair and professor in nanoscience and environmental bioengineering at the&nbsp;<a href="https://sph.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers School of Public Health.</a>



“The use of plastics has exploded since the 1940s due to their low cost and versatile properties. From 9 billion metric tons produced over the last 60 years, 80 percent ended up in the environment, and only 10 percent was recycled,” said Demokritou, who also holds appointments at Rutgers’ School of Engineering and directs the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Research Center at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute.



“Petroleum-based plastics are not biodegradable, but weathering and photooxidation break them into tiny fragments. These tiny fragments, called micro-nano-plastics, are found in human lungs, placentas and blood, raising human health concerns. As public health researchers, we are trying to assess the health risks from such an emerging contaminant to inform policymakers and develop mitigation strategies. The goal is also to increase the reuse and recycling of plastics and even replace them with biodegradable, biopolymer-based plastics. This is part of our bigger societal goal towards sustainability.”



The results confirm the hypothesis of the researchers, that MNPs can cross the placental barrier and permeate the tissues of the unborn offspring. They also suggest the potential for the maternal–fetal transfer of nanoscale polystyrene MNPs.&nbsp;



The researchers acknowledge that the investigation involved only polystyrene MNPs, of a single specific size, and that this is not representative of the variety of environmental MNPs to which animals and humans are exposed. However, they were able to prove, for the first time, that plastics of this size can cross the placental barrier and affect the tissues of the offspring.&nbsp;



It is estimated that the average human ingests and inhales around 5 g of MNPs a week, a quantity that is equal to the mass of a credit card. It hasn’t yet been shown whether this amount, ingested unavoidably by a pregnant woman, will have similar effects on an unborn child, although some studies suggest plastics do affect human embryonic development, said Demokritou.



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



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Plastics can be passed from mothers to unborn babies

For the past 70 years, humanity has become more and...

With dozens of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-moon/">Moon</a> missions planned for the coming decade, a new era of lunar exploration is on the rise. However, since all of these missions will soon be operating on and around the Moon, different teams will need to be able to communicate and fix their positions independently from Earth, thus requiring a commonly agreed upon way of keeping time on the Moon. This is part of a larger effort to agree a common ‘<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/lunanet-empowering-artemis-with-communications-and-navigation-interoperability/">LunaNet</a>’ architecture that will cover lunar communication and navigation services.



“LunaNet is a framework of mutually agreed-upon standards, protocols, and interface requirements allowing future lunar missions to work together, conceptually similar to what we did on Earth for joint use of GPS and Galileo,” explained Javier Ventura-Traveset, <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a>’s Moonlight Navigation Manager. “Now, in the lunar context, we have the opportunity to agree on our interoperability approach from the very beginning, before the systems are actually implemented.”



According to ESA navigation system manager Pietro Giordano, defining a common lunar reference time that is internationally accepted and towards which all lunar systems and users can refer to is of utmost importance and urgency to ensure the proper functioning and communication of future Moon missions.



“Interoperability of time and geodetic reference frames has been successfully achieved here on Earth for Global Navigation Satellite Systems; all of today’s smartphones are able to make use of existing GNSS to compute a user position down to meter or even decimeter level,” said Jörg Hahn, a chief engineer at ESA.



“The experience of this success can be re-used for the technical long-term lunar systems to come, even though stable timekeeping on the Moon will throw up its own unique challenges – such as taking into account the fact that time passes at a different rate there due to the Moon’s specific gravity and velocity effects.”



Although all the terrestrial satellite navigation systems, such as the United States’ GPS or Europe’s Galileo, operate on their own distinct time systems, they nevertheless posses fixed offsets relative to each other down to a few billionths of a second, as well as to the UTC Universal Coordinated Time global standard (the timing used for internet, banking, and aviation operations).



Scientists are now debating whether a single organization should be responsible for setting and maintaining lunar time, and whether this time should be kept synchronized with Earth time or be set on an independent basis on the Moon. Devising such a system is currently facing significant challenges, since clocks on the Moon run faster than their equivalents on Earth and their exact rate depends upon on their position on the Moon.&nbsp;



Moreover, the agreed time system will also need to be practical for astronauts, which will require a common ‘selenocentric reference frame,’ similar to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame on Earth, which allows consistent measurements of precise distances between any locations on Earth.



“Throughout human history, exploration has actually been a key driver of improved timekeeping and geodetic reference models. It is certainly an exciting time to do that now for the Moon, working towards defining an internationally agreed timescale and a common selenocentric reference, which will not only ensure interoperability between the different lunar navigation systems, but which will also foster a large number of research opportunities and applications in cislunar space,” concluded Ventura-Traveset.



&nbsp;—



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



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How can we keep up with the time on the Moon?

With dozens of Moon missions planned for the coming decade,...

By simulating ancient Earth conditions in the laboratory, a team of scientists led by <a href="https://cuni.cz/UK-1.html">Charles University</a> in the Czech Republic and <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> in the U.S. has found that without a set of specific amino acids, ancient proteins would not have evolved into life as we know it today. These findings, detailing how amino acids shaped the genetic code of ancient microorganisms, shed new light on the origins of life on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/solid-metal-ball-discovered-within-earths-inner-core/">Earth</a>.&nbsp;



“You see the same amino acids in every organism, from humans to bacteria to archaea, and that’s because all things on Earth are connected through this tree of life that has an origin, an organism that was the ancestor to all living things,” said study co-author Stephen Fried, a chemist at Johns Hopkins. “We’re describing the events that shaped why that ancestor got the amino acids that it did.”



The scientists mimicked primordial protein synthesis of four billion years ago in a laboratory setting by using an alternative set of amino acids which were highly abundant before life emerged on our planet. They discovered that ancient organic compounds integrated the amino acids best suited for protein folding into their biochemistry, suggesting that life emerged and thrived on Earth not only because some amino acids were available in ancient environments, but mainly because some of them were particularly efficient in helping proteins adopt specific shapes to perform crucial functions.



“Protein folding was basically allowing us to do evolution before there was even life on our planet. You could have evolution before you had biology, you could have natural selection for the chemicals that are useful for life even before there was DNA,” Fried explained.



Although the primordial Earth had hundreds of amino acids, all living beings use just 20 of these compounds – what scientists refer to as “canonical” amino acids. In its first billion years, our planet’s atmosphere consisted of a mixture of gases such as ammonia and CO2 which, by reacting with high levels of UV radiation, gave rise to some of these acids, while others arrived from meteorites. How the rest of them emerged remains an open question which the researchers are currently investigating. “We’re trying to find out what was so special about our canonical amino acids,” Fried said. “Were they selected for any particular reason?”



“To have evolution in the Darwinian sense, you need to have this whole sophisticated way of turning genetic molecules like DNA and RNA into proteins. But replicating DNA also requires proteins, so we have a chicken-and-egg problem. Our research shows that nature could have selected for building blocks with useful properties before Darwinian evolution,” he added.



Finally, the fact that many of these canonical amino acids arrived from space suggests that such compounds may be abundant in other parts of the universe, possibly giving rise to life there too. “The universe seems to love amino acids. Maybe if we found life on a different planet, it wouldn’t be that different,” Fried concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c12987">Journal of the American Chemical Society</a>.&nbsp;



—



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



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New clues about the origins of life on Earth

By simulating ancient Earth conditions in the laboratory, a team...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a> has found that, due to a combination of rising sea levels and climate change, highly destructive hurricanes and tropical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/distant-storms-trigger-sneaker-waves-on-the-pacific-coast/">storms</a> could become much more likely to hit coastal regions in quick succession. According to the experts, in areas such as the Gulf Coast, such back-to-back hurricanes could occur as frequently as once every three years.



“Rising sea levels and climate change make sequential damaging hurricanes more likely as the century progresses,” said study lead author Dazhi Xi, a postdoctoral fellow in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton. “Today’s extremely rare events will become far more frequent.”



Questions about the increasing frequency of sequential hurricanes emerged in recent years, particularly after a destructive hurricane season in 2017, when Hurricane Harvey struck Houston, followed very soon by Irma in South Florida and Maria in Puerto Rico. Similarly, in 2021 Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana, followed shortly by Tropical Storm Nicholas that made a landfall as a hurricane in Texas.



By running computer simulations that took into account both a moderate and a high carbon emissions scenario, the scientists found that, in both cases, the chance of sequential, destructive hurricanes will increase dramatically, with areas along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast most likely to experience such devastating effects.



“The proportion of storms that can have an impact on communities is increasing,” said study co-author Ning Lin, an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton. “The frequency of storms is not as important as the increasing number of storms that can become hazardous.”



According to the researchers, this phenomenon is driven by two main factors: rising sea levels and increased precipitation due to climate change. As sea levels rise, storm surges will become more threatening to coastal communities since the baseline water level will already be higher, while, due to higher air temperatures caused by climate change, storms will intensify and carry more water.



These findings highlight the need for community planners and regional emergency officials to recognize this emerging threat and seek urgent improvements in both resilience and response. Communities will need to deal with increased flooding threats by hardening systems that remove floodwater and protecting critical infrastructure such as transportation, water systems, and power grids. At the same time, emergency response teams will have to be prepared to handle multiple storms or hurricanes occurring in quick succession.&nbsp;



“If a power system requires 15 days to recover from a major hurricane, we cannot wait that long in the future because the next storm can hit before you can restore power, as in the case of Nicholas following Ida. We need to think about plans, rescue workers, resources. How will we plan for this?” Lin concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01595-7">Nature Climate Change</a>.&nbsp;



—



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



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Back-to-back hurricanes will soon become common

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

Living organisms need <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rapid-changes-in-oxygen-linked-to-first-mass-extinction/">oxygen</a> in order to respire, which involves converting stored chemical energy into useful forms such as heat and kinetic energy. They require this energy in order to move, grow, reproduce and carry out all their daily activities. Plants produce oxygen via the process of photosynthesis, but animals have to take it in from the air or water in which they live.&nbsp;



Oxygen is not very soluble in water and it diffuses slowly through this medium. This means that aquatic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to low oxygen conditions, known as hypoxia. If levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) are too low, aquatic organisms are affected. Fish and other aquatic species may die, altering the food chains and community structure in the ecosystem.&nbsp;



Although a lot of research on hypoxia (the depletion of DO below levels known to be harmful to fish and other aquatic aerobic life) has been conducted in lakes, as well as in coastal and marine ecosystems, not much is known about the prevalence of hypoxia in rivers or streams. Overall, it was thought to be a rather rare occurrence when rivers or streams experienced hypoxia, but little research has been done. Oxygen levels are usually related to the photosynthetic activity of plants, and the flow of water; moving water carries more oxygen than water that stands still.



Until now, the prevalence and dynamics of hypoxia outbreaks in inland rivers and streams has not been known. A new study led by&nbsp;Professor Joanna Blaszczak from the <a href="https://www.unr.edu/">University of Nevada, Reno</a> shows hypoxia is not a rare event in the world’s rivers and streams at all. On the contrary, it is far more common than was once thought.&nbsp;



The team of researchers used data from published reports to assess the distribution, frequency, and global extent of riverine hypoxia using 118,369,376 paired DO and water temperature measurements from 125,158 unique locations in 93 countries and territories across six continents. The data spans over 100 years from 1900 to 2018.



The report, published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lol2.10297">Limnology and Oceanography Letters</a>, defines hypoxia as having an oxygen concentration of less than 2 milligrams per liter of water. According to the findings, hypoxia was recorded in rivers and streams in 53 countries, with 12.6 percent of all locations in the study exhibiting at least one hypoxic measurement over the study period.&nbsp;



“Hypoxia in coastal waters and lakes is widely recognized as a detrimental environmental issue, yet we have lacked a comparable understanding of hypoxia in rivers,” said Professor Blaszczak, who is with the University’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unr.edu/cabnr">College of Agriculture, Biotechnology &amp; Natural Resources</a>. “While 12.6 percent might not seem like a huge percentage, previously it was generally thought that occurrences of hypoxia in rivers and streams were exceedingly rare. Having demonstrated the presence of hypoxia in one of every eight river locations is definitely a game changer in terms of how we need to think of and give attention to the issue of hypoxia in rivers and streams."



Professor Blaszczak explained that, in the past, DO readings were taken manually with a hand-held probe. However, advances in measuring hypoxia over the past 15 years, using field-deployable dissolved oxygen sensor technology, have enabled researchers to measure oxygen levels constantly, and far more accurately. The team found that oxygen levels are higher during the day than at night, because photosynthesis takes place during the hours of daylight, enriching the water with oxygen.



“Photosynthesis by algae produces oxygen that is released into the water column,” explained Professor Blaszczak. “So, you’re not getting a true picture of hypoxia occurrence if you only measure during the day. Hypoxic conditions are much more likely to develop in the early morning hours, after the lack of photosynthesis all night. The newer technology allows for us to capture that data.”



The data showed that that hypoxia in rivers was most present in warmer, smaller and lower-gradient, stiller waters, where oxygen isn’t being “stirred” into the water from turbulence. Blaszczak says the research found these conditions occur most often in rivers that drain naturally occurring wetlands, as well as in rivers draining some urban areas, where human actions have created hypoxic conditions.



“We as people managing waters often influence these conditions - by extracting water, building dams and increasing the amount of organic matter released into rivers, for example,” said Professor Blaszczak. “We can set up these conditions of very low flows. Rivers surrounded by wetlands and urban areas had about the same probability of hypoxia occurrence. That shows that while it can occur naturally, we also can create these conditions that are conducive to hypoxia.”&nbsp;



The widespread, short-term occurrence of hypoxia in rivers across the globe was concerning to the researchers. Not only does low oxygen concentration threaten the lives of aquatic organisms, but it also stimulates the release of methane and nitrous oxide, both of them greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change.&nbsp;



“There’s just nothing good about hypoxia in rivers or other bodies of water,” said Professor Blaszczak. “We can’t eliminate it completely, but we can certainly do a better job of monitoring it and take actions to prevent it, rather than to stimulate it.”



The dataset on river and stream hypoxia across the globe will help researchers to monitor the changes in future. Blaszczak says that, looking at data from 1950 to 2018, there does not seem to have been an overall global increase in hypoxic conditions in rivers. This is a positive finding, even though there are some locations, such as in the U.S. state of Florida, where the presence of hypoxia has become far more extreme.&nbsp;



She embarked on leading the study after attending a workshop in September 2018, held in Switzerland and convened by Jim Heffernan and Tom Battin from Duke University. The workshop aimed to advance the global understanding of the dynamics of hypoxia in rivers and streams and was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation.



Professor Blaszczak suggests that more monitoring with the newer technology is key to mitigating the harmful effects of hypoxia in rivers in future.



“We need to further develop our capacity to identify when and where rivers are vulnerable to the development of hypoxic conditions, so that we can guide river management in the face of continuing climate and land-use change. Supporting ongoing monitoring and expanding monitoring to regions where data is sparse is essential."



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



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Hypoxia is a serious problem in rivers worldwide

Living organisms need oxygen in order to respire, which involves...

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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

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.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?

[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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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

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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 



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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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.

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> is focused on the melt ponds that emerge during the spring and summer on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere.



"Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image," says ESA.



"When snow and ice melts atop glaciers, water flows in channels and streams and collects in depressions on the surface. These melt ponds can speed up the melting of the surrounding ice since they greatly reduce the ice’s ability to reflect sunlight."



"This can create a positive feedback where an increasing number of melt ponds absorb more heat which causes ice cover to melt even faster."



According to ESA, Greenland has been hit with a late-season heatwave that began in early September. This caused the type of melt event that usually occurs in the middle of summer.



"In a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change, scientists found that major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now ‘inevitable’ even if the burning of fossil fuels were to halt overnight," says ESA. "Using satellite observations of Greenland ice loss and ice cap from 2000 to 2019, the team found the losses will lead to a minimum rise of 27 cm regardless of climate change."



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.

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes a new map of Mars that is providing insight into the planet’s watery past. The map also reveals where future missions could safely land on Mars.&nbsp;



The map has been created over the last decade using observations of water-rich rocks and mineral deposits. The images were captured by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.



"A big surprise is the prevalence of these minerals, with the map revealing hundreds of thousands of water-affected locations in the oldest parts of the planet," says ESA. "The new data will help answer exciting questions about Mars’ climate history, whether water was globally persistent or confined to short, intense episodes, and whether the conditions were ever suitable for life."



"Specifically, the map shows the locations and abundances of aqueous minerals. These are from rocks that have been chemically altered by the action of water in the past, and have typically been transformed into clays and salts."



According to John Carter of the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), our collective understanding of Mars has been oversimplified. He explained that planetary scientists have tended to think that only a few types of clay minerals on Mars were created during its wet period, then as the water gradually dried up, salts were produced across the planet.



The new map shows that the composition of Mars is much more complicated than what we thought. For example, while many salts formed after Martian clays, there are some salts that are presumed to be older than some of the clays.&nbsp;



“The evolution from lots of water to no water is not as clear cut as we thought, the water didn’t just stop overnight. We see a huge diversity of geological contexts, so that no one process or simple timeline can explain the evolution of the mineralogy of Mars. That’s the first result of our study. The second is that if you exclude life processes on Earth, Mars exhibits a diversity of mineralogy in geological settings just as Earth does,” said Carter.



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes how cavefish adapted to a sedentary lifestyle over tens of thousands of years. 



The experts found that the muscle metabolism of cavefish has been genetically reprogrammed over time. As a result, the animals have experienced major changes in their morphology and behavior. Despite these changes, however, the cavefish remain healthy and fit.



The research may provide new clues about the evolutionary consequences of prolonged physical inactivity in humans.&nbsp;



“It’s no surprise that people are moving less and less as technology has advanced,” said Rohner. “With cavefish, we have a unique system where we can study what might happen if people remained couch potatoes over very, very long periods of time.”



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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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.

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">NASA Earth Observatory</a> some of the most incredible waves in the world, as seen by Landsat satellites.



"With more than 370,000 miles of coastline on Earth, there are plenty of places where epic waves build up, curl over, and hurtle toward the shore.- much to the thrill of surfers," says NASA. "There are some places where these waves are so magnificent that they can be seen from space."



"With the broad perspective of satellites, we can see how these iconic waves develop into the world’s tallest, longest, fastest, and heaviest."



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> describes why satellite images and measurements of our planet have become "essential to our survival, offering a new outlook of our world."&nbsp;



Rising sea levels pose one of the biggest societal threats associated with climate change. According to ESA, satellite altimeter missions such as Copernicus Sentinel-6 are essential in monitoring global and regional changes in sea level.



"Unbeknown to many, the island of Crete, Greece, plays an important role in the Copernicus satellite altimetry constellation and on an international stage," reports ESA.



"Satellite altimetry data have to be continuously monitored at the ESA’s Permanent Facility for Altimetry Calibration where different techniques have pioneered the use of transponders to provide the best measurements to validate satellite altimeters in space soon after launch."



Dr. Craig Donlon explains that, by understanding planet Earth through satellite measurements, we are able to find evidence of change.&nbsp;



Video Credit: European Space Agency&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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...