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...

Today’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/linking-national-parks-could-help-mammals-survive/">mammals</a> range in body size from pygmy shrews, with a mass of around 2g, to blue whales that weigh 180 tons. These vastly different body sizes are associated with different growth rates. Not only do large mammals grow faster than reptiles, they also grow faster than small mammals. However, this is not the case with dinosaurs.&nbsp;



The meat-eating theropod dinosaurs that once roamed the Earth also had wildly differing body sizes. Some were likely only a few kilograms in mass, while others, such as the giant T. rex, weighted in at around 8 tons. Recently, scientists investigating differences in growth rates between dinosaur species found, to their surprise, that there was no relationship between body size and growth rate in these dinosaurs.&nbsp;



“Most animals are thought to evolve to be larger by growing faster than their ancestors, but this study shows that it’s just as likely that bigger and smaller animals grew for longer or shorter periods of time during growth spurts,” said Michael D. D’Emic, a paleontologist at Adelphi University and lead author of the study.



The research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adc8714">Science</a>, makes use of data from fossil bones to estimate the growth rates of different species of dinosaurs. The bones of dinosaurs show lines of arrested or slowed growth every year, leaving marks like tree rings that indicate the animal’s age and can be used to estimate the rate of growth.&nbsp;



“Rings like these are called cortical growth marks,” said D’Emic. “Widely spaced rings indicate faster growth and narrowly spaced rings tell us that an animal was growing more slowly.”



D’Emic, along with <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/">Ohio University</a> professor Patrick O’Connor and Ph.D. student Riley Sombathy, and a team of international researchers, measured about 500 growth rings in the fossilized bones of about 80 different species of theropods.&nbsp;



“We found that there was no relationship between growth rate and size,” said D’Emic. “Some gigantic dinosaurs grew very slowly, slower than alligators do today. And some smaller dinosaurs grew very fast, as fast as mammals that are alive today.”&nbsp;



This made sense to co-author Thomas Pascucci, whose graduate thesis contributed to the project: “Extinct animals like dinosaurs inspire awe because of how different they seem from our modern world, but they were animals that grew under similar constraints and environmental factors as those that exist today,” he said.



According to O’Connor, this study opens the door to future investigations of how animals regulate their growth. “Alteration of different growth control mechanisms, at molecular or genetic levels, likely accounts for the range of developmental strategies our team observed in theropod dinosaurs. Future studies of living organisms provide an opportunity to elucidate mechanisms related to the evolution of body size in vertebrates more generally.”



Sombathy hopes to take up some of those investigations in future: “One of the things that interests me most about the results is the apparent decoupling between growth rate and body size. My Ph.D. dissertation will investigate the impacts of growth rate and body size on bone shape and function.”



“This has really important implications because changes in rate versus timing can correlate to many other things, like how many or how large your offspring are, how long you live, or how susceptible to predators you are,” D’Emic added. “Hopefully this research spurs investigations into other groups, both alive and extinct, to see what developmental mechanisms are most important in other types of animals.”



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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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Large dinosaurs did not necessarily grow faster

Today’s mammals range in body size from pygmy shrews, with...

Although <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/acts-of-kindness-can-help-relieve-depression/">depression</a> and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, and are the most common forms of mental illness, current treatments show limited success in relieving the symptoms. This has led to increased investigation into alternative approaches, including the use of psychedelic experiences combined with psychotherapy. This approach has yielded significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms.



Published research on this approach mostly reflects the use of a top-down approach in analyzing the relationship between psychedelic effects and mental health outcomes, meaning that researchers have developed their own hypotheses before the study starts. A drawback of this approach is that it does not provide an understanding of the different types of subjective experiences brought on by the use of psychedelic substances. In addition, it does not allow analysis of the relationship between subjective experience and beneficial mental health outcomes.



A new study, published in the&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.042">Journal of Affective Disorders</a>, has now taken an alternative, bottom-up approach using data collected from users of psychedelic substances and a machine learning analytic procedure involving cluster analysis. This has enabled the researchers to elucidate specific subtypes of the psychedelic experience and how these subtypes might be related to different mental health outcomes.



Data were collected from nearly 1,000 respondents who answered questions about their previous, non-clinical experiences with psychedelic drugs. They included users of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, Ayahuasca, mescaline, peyote cactus and 5-MeO-DMT, the natural psychedelic substance in the venom of the Colorado River toad. The survey was anonymous, and included people who reported having a moderate to strong psychedelic experience in the past, associated with subsequent changes to their symptoms of anxiety and depression.



The participants completed online questionnaires and evaluated the extent to which their psychedelic experience was mystical (evoking a sense of pure awareness, positive mood and/or transcendence of time and space that is difficult to describe in words), psychologically insightful (eliciting acute insight into memories, emotions, relationships, behaviors or beliefs), or challenging.&nbsp;



Outcomes assessed in the survey included depression and anxiety symptom levels and ratings of satisfaction with life and psychological flexibility – one’s capacity to act in ways that are consistent with one’s values regardless of whatever might be experienced, internally or externally – before and after using the psychedelic.



Analysis of the results shows that individuals who rated their experiences as highly mystical and insightful consistently reported improvements in the symptoms of their anxiety and depression. It also suggests that a challenging experience while on these substances, one that feels frightening or destabilizing, can have beneficial results, especially in the context of mystical and insightful experiences. This could be helpful for practitioners to know as they guide patients through clinical trials testing the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.



“Sometimes the challenge arises because it’s an intensely mystical and insightful experience that can, in and of itself, be challenging,” said senior author&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/about/faculty-staff/faculty-directory/davis-alan/">Alan Davis</a>, assistant professor and director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpdre.org/">Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education</a>&nbsp;in <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">The Ohio State University</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://csw.osu.edu/">College of Social Work</a>.&nbsp;



“In the clinical research setting, folks are doing everything they can to create a safe and supportive environment. But when challenges do come up, it’s important to better understand that challenging experiences can actually be related to positive outcomes.”



The data analysis suggested three distinct subtypes of psychedelic experiences:



<ul><li>High scoring, combining high scores on the mystical and insightful assessments with moderate scores on the challenging assessment.</li><li>Low scoring, with low to moderate scores on mystical and insightful experiences and low scores on the challenging scale.</li><li>Positive scoring, with high scores for mystical and insightful experiences and low scores on the challenging assessment.</li></ul>



“The group that had the highest insightful and mystical experiences and low challenging experiences showed the most benefit in terms of remission of anxiety and depression symptoms and other longer lasting benefits to their life,” said first author&nbsp;<a href="https://childmind.org/bio/aki-nikolaidis-phd/">Aki Nikolaidis</a>, an affiliate of Ohio State’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE) and a research scientist in the Center for the Developing Brain at the Child Mind Institute.



When the researchers included only data from participants who had used psilocybin and LSD, the same patterns emerged: three distinct subtypes that were associated with the same outcomes, including benefits to mental health even after a challenging experience. That replication speaks to the importance of the subjective experience for psychedelics users, Nikolaidis said.



“Identifying subtypes that exist regardless of which psychedelic you take answers an interesting question,” he said. “But the fact that we found that they’re associated with specific outcomes, and replicated that finding, really shows why it’s important to understand the powerful nature of what is happening subjectively and its potential to yield a beneficial outcome.”



Davis said he will be watching to see if these subtypes of experiences apply in the clinical setting, where psilocybin-assisted therapy is being studied&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cpdre.org/projects">at Ohio State</a>&nbsp;for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder among military veterans.



“Finding the variety of other outcomes that these subtypes might be related to is an interesting next step,” he said. “These could include adaptive or functional outcomes in people’s quality of life or wellbeing, or a better understanding of their life’s purpose or relationships.”



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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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Insightful psychedelic experiences may improve mental health

Although depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, and...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-malaria-colder-areas/">Malaria</a> is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) that is carried and transmitted by mosquitoes. In humans, symptoms usually start out mild (fever, chills, and headaches), but the infection can sometimes turn lethal within 24 hours. Although scientists have long been aware that apes can also be infected with this parasite, little has been known about how malaria affects them and how deadly it is.&nbsp;



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="http://archive">Washington University in St. Louis</a> (WUSTL) has found that many species of great apes get malaria and – according to evidence from wild bonobos – the disease appears to harm them too.



“We don’t yet have a good handle on the symptoms and mortality risk,” said study lead author Emily Wroblewski, an assistant professor of Biological Anthropology at WUSTL. “The number of infected animals in captivity that have exhibited disease symptoms has been limited. Sometimes they show symptoms like fever and other things that might be associated with infection, and sometimes not. And in the wild these things are very difficult to track.”



Analyses of DNA in apes’ feces has revealed that malaria is widespread across the geographical ranges of wild chimpanzees and gorillas, with these species of great apes harboring at least 12 Plasmodium species, seven of which are closely related to the parasite causing about 95 percent of human deaths. However, bonobos appeared to have escaped infection in all but two locations where scientists have studied them in the wild.&nbsp;



This provides experts the opportunity to compare infected populations – in which 38 percent of bonobos had detectable malaria parasites in their feces – to uninfected bonobos from ten other regions across their natural range in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to better understand some basic facts about how malaria impacts the health and mortality of great apes.



The scientists discovered that, in areas where the parasite was detected, bonobos were more likely to have particular variants of an immune gene (Papa-B), which are very similar to a human variant (HLA-B*53) that is associated with protection from developing severe and more deadly disease, suggesting that humans and bonobos may share similar immune mechanisms.&nbsp;



“To us, this means that there is a selective advantage to individuals having these protective variants, because those individuals are more likely to survive their infection and reproduce, causing that variant to rise in frequency,” Wroblewski explained.



“Seeing infected populations differ from uninfected populations in this immune trait suggests that bonobos experience increased mortality or costs to their reproductive success because of their infection. The differences between the bonobo populations provides the first evidence of any kind, albeit indirect, that a wild great ape suffers any sort of consequences from their infection.”



Further research is needed to investigate how this particular immune gene variant protects both bonobos and humans. Better understanding these protective mechanisms could lead to the development of new treatments and vaccines for humans. Moreover, since many great apes are already endangered by anthropogenic factors, clarifying how diseases affect them is important for their future protection.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36623-9">Nature Communications</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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How does malaria impact wild African apes?

Malaria is a devastating infectious disease caused by a vector-borne...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.cheoresearch.ca/">Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute</a>, teens and young adults who reduced their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-you-use-social-media-affects-your-sense-of-happiness/">social media</a> use by 50 percent experienced significant improvements in how they felt about their weight and overall appearance in just a few weeks, compared to peers who maintained the same levels of social media use.



“Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the development of body image issues, eating disorders, and mental illness,” said study lead author Gary Goldfield, a senior scientist at the CHEO Research Institute. 



“Youth are spending, on average, between six to eight hours per day on screens, much of it on social media. Social media can expose users to hundreds or even thousands of images and photos every day, including those of celebrities and fashion or fitness models, which we know leads to an internalization of beauty ideals that are unattainable for almost everyone, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with body weight and shape.”



The experts enrolled a cohort of 220 undergraduate students aged 17 to 25 (76 percent females, 23 percent males, and one percent other), who were regular social media users (at least two hours per day) and exhibited symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the first week of the experiment, all participants were asked to use social media as they normally would, while researchers tracked their screentime. 



Afterwards, half of the them were instructed to reduce their social media use to a maximum of one hour per day. At both the beginning and end of the experiment, participants had to rate how they feel about their overall appearance and weight.



The experiment revealed that, after three weeks, individuals who reduced their social media use had a significant improvement in how they regarded both their overall appearance and weight, regardless of gender.



“Our brief, four-week intervention using screentime trackers showed that reducing social media use yielded significant improvements in appearance and weight esteem in distressed youth with heavy social media use,” Goldfield explained. 



“Reducing social media use is a feasible method of producing a short-term positive effect on body image among a vulnerable population of users and should be evaluated as a potential component in the treatment of body-image-related disturbances.”



In a future larger study, the scientists plan to investigate if reduction in social media use can be maintained for longer periods of time and whether this could lead to even greater psychological benefits.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-ppm0000460.pdf">Psychology of Popular Media</a>.&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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Reducing social media use improves body image in teens

According to a new study led by the Children’s Hospital...

People have been taught for decades that our planet <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-global-warming-event-sheds-light-on-earths-future/">Earth</a> is made up of four layers - the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. This assumption has been widely accepted in scientific circles. But now, a study from <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/">Australian National University</a> has revealed evidence of a fifth layer - a giant metal ball named the “innermost inner core."



Whilst this has come as a surprise to many, this was not the case for some scientists. “The existence of an internal metallic ball within the inner core, the innermost inner core, was hypothesized about 20 years ago, and we now provide another line of evidence to prove the hypothesis," explained Dr. Thanh-Son Phạm from ANU’s Research School of Earth Sciences.&nbsp;



The experts were able to come to their conclusion by studying the seismic activity produced during 200 earthquakes and tremors across the last decade. In particular, they studied how fast the seismic waves passed through the inner core of the earth.&nbsp;



These waves travel directly through the Earth’s center and come out at the opposite side of the earthquake’s trigger point (also known as the antipode), before finally returning to the point of the earthquake.&nbsp;



“By developing a technique to boost the signals recorded by densely populated seismograph networks, we observed, for the first time, seismic waves that bounce back-and-forth up to five times along the Earth’s diameter. Previous studies have documented only a single antipodal bounce," explained Dr. Pham.



Not only will this technological advancement help us to better understand our planet in its current state, but it also shows great potential for helping researchers learn more about the past and future of Earth.&nbsp;



According to study co-author Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić, the findings are exciting because they provide a new way to probe the Earth’s inner core and its centermost region.



“This inner core is like a time capsule of Earth's evolutionary history," said Professor Tkalčić. “It’s a fossilized record that serves as a gateway into the events of our planet’s past. Events that happened on Earth hundreds of millions to billions of years ago."



Specifically, some researchers are curious about what the makeup of the innermost inner core could teach us about a major global event that has not been studied. The seismic wave analysis has led to the conclusion that the innermost inner core has a crystalline alloy structure that is very different from the outer sections, essentially presenting scientists with a whole new chapter of planetary evolution to investigate.&nbsp;



“There are still many unanswered questions about the Earth’s innermost inner core, which could hold the secrets to piecing together the mystery of our planet’s formation,” said Professor Tkalčić.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36074-2">Nature Communications</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Solid metal ball discovered within Earth’s inner core

People have been taught for decades that our planet Earth...

When we were children, many of us experienced the illusion that summers or other periods of time were much longer than how we perceive the passage of a similar amount of time in adulthood. Now, a team of scientists led by <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a> in Hungary has investigated empirically whether the perception of time changes with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aging-female-monkeys-focus-more-on-meaningful-relationships/">age</a> and, if so, how and why.



The experts enrolled a cohort of participants from three age groups (4-5, 9-10, and above 18 years old) and asked them to watch two one-minute long videos. The samples were extracted from a popular animated series, and were balanced in visual and acoustic features, expect for one feature – eventfulness. While one clip consisted of a rapid succession of events (a policemen rescuing animals and then arresting a thief), the other was a monotonous, repetitive sequence (six prisoners escaping on a rowing boat). After watching the videos, the participants were asked which was longer.&nbsp;



The answers revealed that, while two-thirds of the pre-kindergartners perceived the eventful video as longer, three-fourths of the adults felt the same thing about the uneventful one. The middle group, in which participants expressed a similar but more moderate bias than the adults, helped researchers estimate a shift in time perception occurring around the age of seven.



To explain these differences in time perception between age groups, the experts relied upon the concept of “heuristics,” which was introduced in Cognitive Science by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, and refers to our ability to use mental shortcuts or proxies to help us make fast decisions. Since our brain does not have a reliable central clock or a direct sensory mapping of durations (unlike in the case of distances or pitch), we must use a proxy to get a handle on temporal passage.&nbsp;



According to the scientists, children use a “representativeness heuristics” to measure time. For instance, they ask themselves which video they can talk more about. 



Since the eventful video was packed with actions and consisted of several episodes, they could talk more about it and they thus felt that it was longer. However, between six to ten years of age, children learn the concept of “absolute” or “universal” time, which is conceptualized as a physical entity independent of the events that it connects, and can help us make appointments, organize our tasks, and follow timelines by clocking the time. 



With such a development, our representativeness heuristics for measuring time changes into a “sampling heuristics,” which helps us check the flow of time by frequently sampling it, for instance, by looking at a clock or watching the traffic flow.



Thus, as adults, when we watch a captivating movie, our mind becomes highly immersed in the story, while during a boring movie, we are going to repeatedly check our watch or think about something else, and all of these distractions will enable us to sample the flow of absolute time.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, these two types of heuristics can explain the rather bizarre switch at about age seven and give rise to the persistent bias that uneventful meetings, for example, are much longer than they actually are. However, more research is needed to properly understand the mystery of time and how our minds can make sense of it.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-27419-4">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.&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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Children and adults perceive time differently

When we were children, many of us experienced the illusion...

An international research team has recently discovered that Daurian redstarts, a passerine bird <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/among-californias-bird-species-there-are-winners-and-losers/">species</a>, have evolved a strategy to avoid cuckoo brood parasitism. Cuckoo birds and other brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species to be incubated and raised.



Cuckoo birds are weary of people and usually nest far from human-dominated environments. The researchers found that Daurian redstarts in northeastern China purposefully choose nesting sights near or even inside human settlements. As a result, their risk of becoming a host is reduced.&nbsp;



The Daurian redstart has two breeding periods per season. During the first breeding event, cuckoos are not present. However, the cuckoos migrate to the area during the second breeding event.



The researchers noticed that the Daurian redstarts nested farther away from human settlements during the first breeding period, and then moved closer to human settlements in the second period when cuckoos were present. The experts concluded that the birds moved their nests closer during the second breeding period to avoid parasitism.



Moreover, the researchers were able to elicit this anti-parasitism strategy by presenting cuckoo models and artificial calls. Although these simulations were conducted during the first egg-laying period, the Daurian redstarts were motivated to move closer to human environments in response to the simulations. This suggests that the Daurian redstarts change their nesting behavior in response to the presence of cuckoos, regardless of the breeding period.



“We were able to show experimentally for the first time that Daurian redstarts adapt their nesting behavior depending on whether they notice cuckoos in the area,” said Jinggang Zhang, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.bi.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence</a>.&nbsp;



We must wonder about the ecological impacts of this interaction in an ever-changing environment.&nbsp;



“Urbanization affects habitats and animal populations around the world in many ways. Cuckoos may have to adapt to this development by venturing closer to human settlements as well, or by expanding the range of host species,” said Bart Kempenaers, a director at the institute.&nbsp;



A second study conducted by the researchers demonstrates the cuckoo’s adaptability. Daurian redstarts have two colored eggs - red and blue. The research team found that female cuckoos showed a “clear preference for nests with blue eggs”&nbsp; in the hopes that the foster parents will not reject the parasitic egg.



“We were surprised to find such a clear preference for nests with blue eggs," said Kempenaers. "Our observations suggest that cuckoo females are quite sensitive to characteristics of the nest and do not just dump their eggs in any host nest they can find."&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.047">Current Biology.</a>



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Birds move closer to humans to avoid brood parasites

An international research team has recently discovered that Daurian redstarts,...

Intermittent fasting has gained popularity of late and has been associated in the press with various health benefits including <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cut-your-gym-time-in-half-by-lowering-weights/">weight</a> reduction, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, extended longevity and improved cognitive function. However, the vast majority of fasting research has been conducted with animals, and evidence of health improvements from fasting in humans is preliminary at best.&nbsp;



A new study from scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at <a href="https://www.mountsinai.org/locations/mount-sinai/about/history">Mount Sinai Hospital introduces</a> a note of caution to those wishing to use fasting as a route to improved health. Their study on mice found that skipping meals triggers a response in the brain that negatively affects immune cells and may make the mice less able to fight off infections.&nbsp;



“There is a growing awareness that fasting is healthy, and there is indeed abundant evidence for the benefits of fasting. Our study provides a word of caution as it suggests that there may also be a cost to fasting that carries a health risk,” says lead author Filip Swirski, PhD, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Icahn Mount Sinai. “This is a mechanistic study delving into some of the fundamental biology relevant to fasting. The study shows that there is a conversation between the nervous and immune systems.”



Not much is understood about the mechanisms by which fasting brings about the beneficial changes observed, but studies of humans fasting between dawn and dusk during Ramadan have indicated that inflammatory cytokines are suppressed in fasting individuals. Cytokines are crucial in the immune system for controlling the growth and activity of other immune cells.&nbsp;



In the current study, researchers aimed to better understand how fasting affects the immune system in mice. They analyzed two groups of mice, one that ate breakfast immediately after waking and the other that had no breakfast. Fasting mice were kept from eating for a few hours, or up to 24 hours, before being given food. Their blood was sampled after waking up and then four hours and eight hours later.



The results, published in the journal Immunity, show distinct differences in blood characteristics between the fed and the fasting mice. Specifically, the researchers saw a difference in the number of monocytes, which are white blood cells that are made in the bone marrow and travel through the body, where they play many critical roles, from fighting infections, to repairing tissues and preventing heart disease and cancer.



After waking, all mice had the same levels of monocytes in their blood. But after four hours, 90 percent of these important immune system cells had disappeared from the bloodstream of the fasting mice. Monocyte levels in mice that didn’t skip breakfast were unchanged from the initial values. The researchers discovered that monocytes in fasting mice had travelled back to the bone marrow, where they remained inactive.&nbsp;



While hibernating in the bone marrow, the monocytes underwent significant changes. They aged differently and survived for longer than they would have in the bloodstream. In addition, the production of new monocytes in the bone marrow declined while the hibernating cells were present.&nbsp;



Once food was again given to the fasting mice, the monocytes hiding in the bone marrow flooded back into the bloodstream within a few hours. This surge of altered monocytes resulted in increased levels of inflammation that would have made their bodies less able to fight infections.



This study is among the first to find a connection between the brain and the behavior of these immune cells during fasting. Researchers found that specific regions in the brain controlled the monocyte response during fasting. This study demonstrated that fasting elicits a stress response in the brain and this instantly triggers a large-scale migration of these white blood cells from the blood to the bone marrow, and then back to the bloodstream, shortly after food is reintroduced.



Dr. Swirski emphasized that while there is also evidence of the metabolic benefits of fasting, this new study is a useful advance in the full understanding of the body’s mechanisms.



“The study shows that, on the one hand, fasting reduces the number of circulating monocytes, which one might think is a good thing, as these cells are important components of inflammation. On the other hand, reintroduction of food creates a surge of monocytes flooding back to the blood, which can be problematic. Fasting, therefore regulates this pool in ways that are not always beneficial to the body’s capacity to respond to a challenge such as an infection,” explains Dr. Swirski. “Because these cells are so important to other diseases like heart disease or cancer, understanding how their function is controlled is critical.”



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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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Skipping breakfast may have unwanted immune effects

Intermittent fasting has gained popularity of late and has been...

Galaxy.,Elements,Of,This,Image,Furnished,By,Nasa.

An international team of astrophysicists has discovered mysterious objects hiding in images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Six potential galaxies were identified that emerged so early in the universe’s history - and are so massive - that they should not be possible under cosmological theory.



Each potential galaxy may have existed at the dawn of the universe roughly 500 to 700 million years after the Big Bang. They’re also gigantic, containing almost as many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sunflower-sea-stars-could-help-save-kelp-forests/">stars</a> as the Milky Way Galaxy. Calculations suggest that there shouldn’t have been enough matter at that time to form so many stars so quickly.



“You just don’t expect the early universe to be able to organize itself that quickly. These galaxies should not have had time to form.” said study co-author Professor Erica Nelson of the University of Colorado Boulder.



The James Webb Telescope was launched in December 2021 and is the most powerful telescope ever sent into space. Last year, four galaxies were spotted that likely coalesced from gas around 350 million years after the Big Bang. Those objects, however, are miniscule in size compared to the new galaxies.



More data is needed to confirm the size and date these galaxies formed. It is also possible that they could be a different object entirely.&nbsp;



Last year, Professor Nelson and her colleagues from the United States, Australia, Denmark and Spain, formed a team to investigate the data James Webb was sending back to Earth.&nbsp;



Nelson was peering at a postage stamp-sized section of one image when she spotted a few “fuzzy dots” of light that looked way too bright to be real. “They were so red and so bright. We weren’t expecting to see them.”



In astronomy, red light usually equals old light. The universe has been expanding since the dawn of time. As it expands, galaxies and other celestial objects move farther apart, and the light they emit stretches out. The more the light stretches, the redder it looks to human instruments.



“The Milky Way forms about one to two new stars every year,” said Professor Nelson. “Some of these galaxies would have to be forming hundreds of new stars a year for the entire history of the universe.”



The researchers will continue to collect more information about the newly discovered objects. “If even one of these galaxies is real, it will push against the limits of our understanding of cosmology,” said Professor Nelson.



The research is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05786-2">Nature</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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James Webb captures galaxies that are too old to exist

An international team of astrophysicists has discovered mysterious objects hiding...

According to a new study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s <a href="https://accscientificsession.acc.org/">Annual Scientific Session Together with the World Congress of Cardiology</a>, getting good sleep might play a key role in protecting against cardiovascular and other types of diseases, and possibly even influence life expectancy. The experts found that about eight percent of deaths from any cause could be attributed to poor sleep patterns, and that young people who have better sleep habits are incrementally less likely to die prematurely.&nbsp;



“We saw a clear dose-response relationship, so the more beneficial factors someone has in terms of having higher <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-reduces-sleep-quality-elevates-disease-risk/">quality of sleep</a>, they also have a stepwise lowering of all cause and cardiovascular mortality,” said study co-author Frank Qian, an internal medicine resident physician at <a href="https://www.bidmc.org/">Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center</a> and clinical fellow in Medicine at <a href="https://hms.harvard.edu/">Harvard Medical School</a>. “I think these findings emphasize that just getting enough hours of sleep isn’t sufficient. You really have to have restful sleep and not have much trouble falling and staying asleep.”



The scientists analyzed data from 172,321 participants in the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/index.htm">National Health Interview Survey</a> between 2013 and 2018 (average age 50, 54 percent women, two-thirds White, 14.5 percent Hispanic, 12.6 percent Black, and 5.5 percent Asian). By linking the participants to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ndi/index.htm">National Death Index</a> records, the researchers were able to investigate the association between individual and combined sleep factors and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. During the period that participants were followed (4.3 years), 8,681 individuals died (30 percent from cardiovascular disease, 24 percent from cancer and 46 percent due to other causes).



In order to determine the relationship between sleep quality and health/life expectancy, the researchers assessed five different factors of quality sleep: ideal sleep duration (seven to eight hours per night); difficulty falling asleep less than two times per week; trouble staying asleep less than two times per week; not using any sleep medication; and feeling rested after waking up at least five days per week.



The analysis revealed that, compared to participants who had zero to one favorable sleep factors, those who had all five were 30 percent less likely to die for any reason, 21 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular issues, 19 percent less likely to die from cancer, and 40 percent less likely to die from other causes (such as accidents, infections, or neurodegenerative conditions). Surprisingly, among men and women who reported having all five quality sleep measures, life expectancy was 4.7 years greater for men and only 2.4 years greater for women compared to those with none or only one of the factors. Further research is needed to explore these sex differences.



“Even from a young age, if people can develop these good sleep habits of getting enough sleep, making sure they are sleeping without too many distractions and have good sleep hygiene overall, it can greatly benefit their overall long-term health. It’s important for younger people to understand that a lot of health behaviors are cumulative over time. Just like we like to say, ‘it’s never too late to exercise or stop smoking,’ it’s also never too early. And we should be talking about and assessing sleep more often,” Qian concluded.



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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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High quality sleep increases life expectancy

According to a new study presented at the American College...

Joseph Grinnell, born in 1877, was an American field biologist and zoologist who served as the first director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Vertebrate_Zoology">Museum of Vertebrate Zoology</a>&nbsp;and a professor at the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley">University of California, Berkeley</a>. One of Grinnell’s goals for the museum was to build a specimen collection of the fauna of California, a project he began in 1908, with his first field expedition to the Colorado Desert. Over time, he surveyed the birds, mammals and other vertebrates of California, right up until he died, in 1939.



Grinnell developed a systematic and detailed protocol for recording field observations involving not only the specimens he collected, but also written records kept in notebooks and journals. He kept accounts of species’ behaviors, made maps, took photographs of collecting sites and documented weather conditions, vegetation types, vocalizations and other evidence of animal presence.&nbsp;



These very detailed records have enabled scientists at UC Berkeley to conduct a subsequent resurvey of most of the original sites, and to compare the numbers of animals with Grinnell’s original findings in order to understand they ways in which animal populations have changed.&nbsp;



In a report published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn0250">Science Advances</a>, the biologists present the latest results from the <a href="https://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell/">Grinnell Resurvey Project</a>, particularly those relating to the numbers of birds and small mammals at the sites first surveyed by Grinnell, more than a century ago. The researchers were able to resurvey the birds at 71 of the original sites in L.A. and the Central Valley, and to use the comparisons to identify how shifts in climate and land use may have contributed to changes in the bird populations.



The study revealed that urbanization and much hotter and drier conditions in L.A. have driven declines in more than one-third of bird species in the region over the past century. Meanwhile, agricultural development and a warmer and slightly wetter climate in the Central Valley have had more mixed impacts on biodiversity.



Study senior author Steven Beissinger is a professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley and a researcher at the&nbsp;<a href="https://mvz.berkeley.edu/">Museum of Vertebrate Zoology</a>.



“It's pretty common in studies of the impact of climate change on biodiversity to only model the effects of climate and not consider the effects of land use change,” said Professor Beissinger. “But we’re finding that the individual responses of different bird species to these threats are likely to promote unpredictable changes that complicate forecasts of extinction risk.”



In L.A., the experts found that 40 percent of bird species were present at fewer sites today than they were 100 years ago, while only 10 percent were present at more sites. Meanwhile, in the Central Valley, the proportion of species that experienced a decline (23 percent) only slightly outnumbered the proportion that increased (16 percent). In many cases, opposing responses to climate and land use change by bird species, where one threat caused a species to increase while another caused the same species to decline, moderated the impacts of each threat alone.



“The Central Valley had less change, in general – there were winners and losers,” Beissinger said. “Whereas in L.A., we saw mostly losers.”



To identify the roles of land use change and climate change in determining current bird numbers, the researchers analyzed historical maps of urban development and agriculture to establish how the landscape at each study site has been modified since Grinnell’s original survey. They also obtained data on historical average temperatures and rainfall at each site.



In L.A., they found that species such as Anna’s hummingbird and the American crow were able to tolerate the hotter and drier conditions, and the level of urban development, thus experiencing what the researchers call a population “windfall.” Other species, such as the western meadowlark and the lark sparrow, were negatively impacted by both categories of change, experiencing instead a “double whammy.”



Species that experienced mixed impacts include the black phoebe, the great egret, the house wren and the blue-gray gnatcatcher.



“Our findings really highlight the fact that we’ve got climate and land use change happening at the same time, creating happy conditions for some species, while other species are declining from the same changes,” Beissinger said. “Sometimes, species might also be pushed and pulled in different directions from the climate and land use changes.”



Bird species in the Central Valley also experienced a combination of windfalls, double whammies and mixed impacts, but the proportion of species that experienced windfalls was much higher in the Central Valley than in L.A. and nearly offset the proportion that experienced double whammies.



“There are some species that have been able to persist under the agricultural changes, and some that even colonized and increased because of those changes. But they tend to be species that are more common and widespread, and the more sensitive species are the ones that started disappearing when the natural grasslands were replaced by agriculture,” Beissinger explained. “In the urban areas, there are just fewer species that are able to find what they need and avoid the city hazards.”



The detailed field notes kept by Grinnell and his field biologists enabled Bessinger and his team to locate the original study sites, and to construct a historical baseline of California’s bird life at the turn of the 20th century. The notes are so detailed that the researchers were able to reconstruct the birds encountered on each day in the field, and to account for the ways in which new technologies, such as better binoculars and field guides, have made it easier for contemporary biologists to detect birds.&nbsp;



“In those days, they didn't have fancy binoculars. They didn't have recordings of bird calls. So, they had to get in and learn the birds through the resources that were available. Oftentimes that was from specimens in museums. Sometimes that was through popular guides or handbooks,” said Bessinger. “Grinnell was ahead of his time in the way that he was taking field notes, and he was really draconian in also making all his students take those notes.”



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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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Among California’s bird species, there are winners and losers

Joseph Grinnell, born in 1877, was an American field biologist...

In July 2013, sea stars of several different species began to die along the northwest Pacific coast, all the way from Washington to Baja California. Populations of the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides), among other species, were decimated by what became known as sea star wasting <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-u-s-is-alarmingly-unprepared-for-zoonotic-diseases/">disease</a> (SSWD) and numbers declined by more than 97 percent. Since then, there have been few signs of recovery, and the species is now considered critically endangered. The ecological consequences have been massive.



The sunflower sea star is one of the largest in the world, reaching more than 1m in diameter. It is a highly mobile and voracious predator that hunts down a range of invertebrate prey, including bivalves, gastropods, echinoderms, crabs and carrion of any origin. In particular, they readily prey on purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), that are important herbivores in several different marine and coastal ecosystems.&nbsp;



The loss of&nbsp;sunflower sea stars in parts of British Columbia and California has been associated with drastic changes in community structure in the forests of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) in the nearshore waters off these regions. With fewer predators, sea urchin populations exploded and the herbivores began to graze the kelp to the ground.&nbsp;



The occurrence of a simultaneous marine heatwave in the same area compounded the problems as warm temperatures are also a major stressor of kelp forests. The action of the sea urchins has led kelp forests to collapse along the California coast, where they have been replaced by so called “barrens” – areas where sea urchins have settled in abundance and have grazed away the seaweeds and left very little primary production upon which to feed.



There is now growing interest in understanding how to control sea urchin numbers and encourage the recovery of kelp forests. With this in mind, a research team including scientists from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a>, the University of Oregon, the University of Washington, and The Nature Conservancy has undertaken a study into the feeding habits of sunflower sea stars, focusing particularly on whether they will consume the starving sea urchins that are typical of barren ecosystems and, if so, how fast can they eat them. 



The findings, published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1897">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>, indicate that these sea stars play a much more important role in kelp forest health than was previously thought. In fact, the researchers suggest that sunflower sea stars may be key in controlling urchin density and therefore kelp forest growth.



“What we saw suggests a clear link between the crash of sea stars, the explosion in sea urchin populations and the decline in kelp,” said Sarah Gravem, a research associate in the Oregon State College of Science. “It also points to sea star recovery as a potential key tool for kelp forest recovery.”



The researchers collected 24 sunflower sea stars and kept them in laboratory tanks for four months while conducting feeding experiments. They found that the sea stars consumed urchins at an average rate of 0.68 per day, and that they even ate the starving individuals that are associated with urchin barrens. In fact, they consumed the starving urchins 21 percent more rapidly than they did the well-fed urchins that are typically found in healthy kelp forests. The authors report that this rate of consumption is sufficient to maintain and even restore the health of kelp forests.&nbsp;



“Eating less than one urchin per day may not sound like a lot, but we think there used to be over 5 billion sunflower sea stars,” said Gravem. “We used a model to show that the pre-disease densities of sea stars on the U.S. West Coast were usually more than enough to keep sea urchin numbers down and prevent barrens.”



Bull kelp is an important commercial commodity that is harvested for use in medicines and fertilizers, and as feed in aquaculture. Kelp forests thrive in cold waters and form a crucial habitat for a large number of other species, both invertebrates and vertebrates. Their sensitivity to certain growing conditions means climate change and a warming ocean are particularly problematic for them.



Researchers have long suspected that the sea star decline upset the balance between predators and herbivores in kelp forest ecosystems, allowing the herbivore populations to go unchecked. The overabundance of urchins was thought to place additional pressure on kelp forests that are already stressed by marine heatwaves. However, prior to the current study, the relationship between sea stars, urchins and kelp had not been quantified.



“This study addresses that gap, and the findings are significant and somewhat surprising,” said principal investigator Aaron Galloway of the University of Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. “We found that these stars are eager consumers of purple urchins and, most importantly, they even eat the nutritionally poor, starving ‘zombie’ urchins.”



Other important predators of purple sea urchins, such as sea otters, are generally known to avoid eating starving urchins from barrens, where the dense underwater carpets of urchins have devoured all available food and can live for years in an emaciated state, waiting for the kelp to grow back.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers emphasize the need for sunflower sea stars in the remaining kelp forests in order to prevent overgrazing by urchins. Since sea star recovery has been negligible since the SSWD event, they also support the reintroduction of sea stars that have been bred in captivity. These individuals may be able to aid in the recovery of kelp forests that have become barrens because they eat the emaciated urchins that reside there.&nbsp;



The authors conclude that sunflower sea star recovery may be an effective and long-lasting method to control sea urchin populations and restore kelp forest ecosystems.



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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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Sunflower sea stars could help save kelp forests

In July 2013, sea stars of several different species began...

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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?

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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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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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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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



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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



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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



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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



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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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



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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



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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



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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



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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

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