Some of the most dramatic climate events in history are the Snowball Earth episodes, which occurred hundreds of millions of years ago. Nearly the entire planet was covered in ice up to a kilometer (0.6 miles) thick during these periods.&nbsp;



The rare Snowball Earth events did not follow regular cycles but lasted for millions to tens of millions of years before being followed by intense <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-global-warming-event-sheds-light-on-earths-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warming</a>. Despite their significance, the details surrounding how these frozen periods ended are still not fully understood.



A new study led by the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Washington</a> (UW) offers a more complete picture of how the last Snowball Earth episode ended and sheds light on why it was followed by a major expansion of life, including the emergence of Earth's first animals.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-changes-in-key-earth-properties">Changes in key Earth properties</h2>



The research, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51412-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>, focuses on ancient rocks known as “cap carbonates,” which are believed to have formed as the planet’s ice sheets thawed.&nbsp;



These rocks provide clues about the state of Earth's atmosphere and oceans roughly 640 million years ago - long before ice cores or <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-largest-ever-solar-storm-discovered-through-tree-rings/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tree rings</a> could record such history.



Study lead author Trent Thomas is a doctoral student in earth and space sciences at UW.



“Cap carbonates contain information about key properties of Earth's atmosphere and ocean, such as changing levels of carbon dioxide in the air or the acidity of the ocean,” said Thomas. "Our theory now shows how these properties changed during and after Snowball Earth.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-formation-of-cap-carbonates-nbsp">Formation of cap carbonates&nbsp;</h2>



Cap carbonates are layered limestone or dolomite rocks with distinct chemical properties. Today, they can be found in more than 50 locations worldwide, including places like Death Valley, Namibia, Siberia, Ireland, and Australia.&nbsp;



These formations are believed to have resulted from the melting of the ice sheets that once covered Earth, triggering significant shifts in atmospheric and oceanic chemistry. The unique sediments were then deposited on the ocean floor.



The rocks are called “caps” because they lie atop the glacial deposits left behind after the Snowball Earth <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-complete-record-of-snowball-earth-found-in-rock-formation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">events</a>, and they’re classified as “carbonates” because they consist of carbon-containing limestone or dolomite.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-animals-appeared-after-the-last-snowball-earth-nbsp">Animals appeared after the last Snowball Earth&nbsp;</h2>



Understanding how these rocks formed helps clarify the carbon cycle during periods of dramatic climate shifts. 



This latest study, which models these environmental changes, also provides clues about the evolution of life on Earth and explains why more complex life-forms emerged following the last Snowball Earth.



“Life on Earth was simple - in the form of microbes, algae, or other tiny aquatic organisms - for over two billion years leading up to Snowball Earth,” said senior author David Catling, a professor of earth and space sciences at UW.&nbsp;



“In fact, the billion years leading up to Snowball Earth are called the ‘boring billion’ because so little happened. Then two Snowball Earth events occurred, and soon after, animals appear in the fossil record.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chemistry-of-a-snow-covered-earth-nbsp">Chemistry of a snow-covered Earth&nbsp;</h2>



The new research offers a framework to explain how these two events may be connected. The study models the chemistry and geology during three distinct phases of Snowball Earth.&nbsp;



During the peak of the icy period, the thick ice sheets covering the planet reflected sunlight, though some open water allowed limited exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. Meanwhile, the cold seawater continued reacting with the ocean floor.



Over time, carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere until it trapped enough heat to warm the planet and melt the ice.&nbsp;



Once this occurred, rainfall began again, and freshwater from glacial melt poured into the oceans, creating a layer of meltwater that floated on top of the denser, salty ocean water.&nbsp;



This layering slowed down ocean circulation. Eventually, ocean mixing resumed, allowing the upper ocean, deep ocean, and atmosphere to interact again.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earth-s-recovery-from-the-snowball-period-nbsp">Earth's recovery from the Snowball period&nbsp;</h2>



“We predict important changes in the environment as Earth recovered from the Snowball period, some of which affected the temperature, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/preparing-for-ocean-acidification-a-silent-killer-of-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acidity</a>, and circulation of the ocean. Now that we know these changes, we can more confidently figure out how they affected Earth’s life,” noted Thomas.



The research team plans to continue exploring how pockets of life that may have survived during Snowball Earth’s tumultuous aftermath could have evolved into the more complex <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-life-and-environment-co-evolved-over-500-million-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">life</a> forms that appeared shortly after.



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‘Snowball Earth’ event set the stage for complex life

Some of the most dramatic climate events in history are the Snowball Earth episodes, which occurred hundreds of millions of years ago. Nearly the entire planet was covered in ice up to a kilometer (0.6 miles) thick during these periods.&nbsp; The rare Snowball Earth events did not follow regular cycles but lasted for millions to tens of millions of years before being followed by intense warming. Despite their significance, the details surrounding how these frozen periods ended are still not fully understood. A new study led by...

Less than a week into the new year of 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/lawsuit-launched-challenging-epas-failure-to-protect-endangered-species-from-hundreds-of-harmful-pyrethroid-pesticides-2022-01-06/">the Center for Biological Diversity announced its intention to sue</a>&nbsp;the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approving 300 pyrethroid insecticides over the past six years, without considering their potential harm to endangered species. The EPA is no stranger to such lawsuits; environmental groups have&nbsp;<a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/89/i38/Pesticides-Endangered-Species.html">sued the agency repeatedly for decades</a>&nbsp;for failing to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when registering pesticides. The law requires the EPA to consult with other federal agencies when a pesticide has the potential to harm endangered species or their critical habitats, but the agency has rarely done this without litigation first being initiated.&nbsp;



But now, in what can be described as a paradigm shift, the EPA is taking the issue seriously and is being more proactive about assessing these substances’ compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA), according to a feature article in&nbsp;Chemical &amp; Engineering News, an independent news outlet of the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a>.



Senior Editor Britt E. Erickson writes that in&nbsp;January 2022, the agency rolled out a policy stating it would now evaluate how active ingredients could impact endangered species before new pesticides are introduced to the market, instead of waiting to be sued after products are already commercially available. The EPA also appointed Ya-Wei “Jake” Li, a lawyer with experience in chemical regulation and endangered species conservation, as deputy assistant administrator for pesticide programs. Li’s top priority is improving the pesticide office’s compliance with the ESA.



“Incorporating ESA assessments into the registration process for new pesticides is a key component of EPA’s larger effort to meet the Agency’s ESA obligations efficiently and effectively,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-endangered-species-act-protection-policy-new-pesticides">Li said in a Jan. 11 statement announcing the policy</a>.



With the new policy, EPA also committed to consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service when appropriate. This is the process that is meant to take place when assessing the potential effects of a new pesticide, but it has not been successfully employed in many instances in the past. One of the issues is that the different agencies use different methods and criteria to determine the thresholds and risks of a pesticide for endangered species.&nbsp;



For example, in the case of malathion, the EPA predicted that nearly all endangered species would be negatively impacted, whereas the Fish and Wildlife Service stated that less than 5 percent would experience such consequences. Some groups say that the EPA’s models overestimate pesticide usage and potential impacts, forcing companies and farmers to use mitigation measures that aren’t necessary. In the meantime, litigation is likely to continue as a way to keep focusing attention on the issue.



Some environmental groups welcome the EPA’s change in approach, but are worried that the policy will only be applied to include new pesticide products, and not to the countless, toxic products already on the market.&nbsp;



The Center for Biological Diversity is urging the EPA to systematically evaluate pesticides by class for their potential to harm endangered species. In its latest intent-to-sue notice to the EPA, the group suggests starting with pyrethroids because of their acute toxicity to several endangered species.



“Despite pyrethroid pesticides representing one of the most dangerous and harmful groups of pesticides for aquatic wildlife, as well as causing significant harm to other wildlife and plants, the EPA has failed to take a single action to implement any on-the-ground conservation actions to protect any endangered species from these toxic chemicals,” the Center writes in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/pesticides_reduction/pdfs/Center-Notice-of-Intent-to-Sue-on-Pyrethroid-Class-of-Pesticides.pdf">Jan. 6 letter to EPA</a>&nbsp;administrator Michael Regan.



Although stakeholders are generally encouraged that the EPA is talking to parties on all sides of the issue in order to chart a path forward, they remain doubtful that this will be the year that the agency comes up with a workable plan to address the risks of pesticides to endangered species.&nbsp;



According to Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity, if the agency fails to address the backlog of pesticides that have not undergone endangered species consultations, “we’ll bring lawsuits, class by class, to address the violations and force a queue to develop. We really do want to make sure that the most important places are protected,” he says, so that there aren’t “spraying or applications happening in a way that pushes species towards extinction.”



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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

EPA takes new stance on pesticide risks to endangered species

Less than a week into the new year of 2022,&nbsp;the...

Climate change is expected to lead to a significant increase in temperature-related mortality, according to a new study led by <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> (UCL) and the University of Reading. Researchers estimate that, under a warming scenario of 2°C from pre-industrial levels, temperature-related <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfire-pollution-increases-mortality/">mortality</a> in England and Wales during the hottest days of the year will increase by 42 percent, leading to around 166 deaths per day.



At the current global warming level of approximately 1.21°C there is a slight decrease in temperature-related mortality in winter and a minimal increase in the summer. However, scientists argue that mortality rates may increase exponentially if temperatures rise above 2°C, with a 3°C warming leading to a 75 percent spike in mortality risk during heatwaves.



“The increase in mortality risk under current warming levels is mainly notable during heatwaves, but with further warming, we would see risk rise on average summer days in addition to escalating risks during heatwaves,” said study lead author Dr. Katty Huang, a postdoctoral researcher in Meteorology at UCL.



“What this means is that we shouldn’t expect past trends of impact per degree of warming to apply in the future. One degree of global warming beyond 2°C would have a much more severe impact on health in England and Wales than one degree warming from pre-industrial levels, with implications for how the NHS can cope.”



In England and Wales, temperature is currently associated with around nine percent of total population mortality. However, most of these deaths are related to the side effects of cold weather. As this new study shows, if climate change is not urgently curbed, this situation can change dramatically.



“As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change impacts report recently showed, it is increasingly common to examine how different levels of mean global warming raise the risk of significant harm to people and society,” explained study senior author Andrew Charlton-Perez, a professor of Meteorology at the University of Reading.



“Our study shows that because death rates will go up significantly if countries experience very high temperatures, limiting the average global rise in temperatures is likely to have substantial benefits for the overall health of the population.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac50d5">Environmental Research Letters</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

Temperature-related deaths could rise exponentially

Climate change is expected to lead to a significant increase...

Using thousands of acoustic recordings of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pigs-recognize-human-faces/">pigs</a>, from their births to deaths, an international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ku.dk/english/">University of Copenhagen</a> has managed to understand what emotions each type of grunt expresses in a variety of situations. By shedding more light on the psychological states of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/disposable-masks-are-increasingly-impacting-marine-animals/">animals</a>, these findings can be used to improve their welfare.



Until now, animal welfare has focused almost exclusively on the physical health of livestock by employing several systems that can automatically monitor animals’ physical condition. However, according to an increasing number of scientists, animals’ mental health and well-being should also be taken into consideration. Understanding what emotions animals feel in various situations could help farmers maximize the psychological well-being of their livestock.



In order to shed more life on pigs’ emotional life, researchers used 7,414 acoustic recordings from 411 pigs in different scenarios, from birth to death. In a next step, they devised and trained a machine learning algorithm that could decode whether a pig was experiencing a positive emotion (such as “happy” or “excited”) or a negative one (“scared” or “stressed”).



The scientists found that positive situations such as huddling with littermates, nursing, or running freely elicited shorter grunts, with minor fluctuations in amplitude, while negative situations such as missed nursing, social isolation, fighting, or castration were associated with high-frequency calls, such as screams and squeals.&nbsp;



“There are clear differences in pig calls when we look at positive and negative situations. In the positive situations, the calls are far shorter, with minor fluctuations in amplitude. Grunts, more specifically, begin high and gradually go lower in frequency. By training an algorithm to recognize these sounds, we can classify 92 percent of the calls to the correct emotion,” explained study co-leader Elodie Briefer, a professor of Animal Behavior and Communication at the University of Copenhagen.



“With this study, we demonstrate that animal sounds provide great insight into their emotions. We also prove that an algorithm can be used to decode and understand the emotions of pigs, which is an important step towards improved animal welfare for livestock.”



Professor Briefer and her colleagues hope that this algorithm might pave the way for a new platform for farmers to keep track of their animals’ psychological well-being.&nbsp;



“We have trained the algorithm to decode pig grunts. Now, we need someone who wants to develop the algorithm into an app that farmers can use to improve the welfare of their animals,” concluded Professor Briefer.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07174-8">Nature Scientific Reports</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

Pigs reveal emotions through their grunts

Using thousands of acoustic recordings of pigs, from their births...

An extinct <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/endangered-shark-species-secretly-added-to-pet-food/">shark</a> species known for its massive size grew larger in colder waters, according to a remarkable new study led by Professor Kenshu Shimada of <a href="https://www.depaul.edu/">DePaul University</a>. Megalodon was a "big tooth" shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago.



Even though Megalodon is assumed to have been an enormous, terrifying beast, this species is only known from teeth and vertebrae in the fossil record. Despite the uncertainty, scientists still believe that the sharks grew in lengths of at least 50 feet, and possibly as much as 65 feet.



The researchers set out to investigate the body size patterns of Otodus megalodon throughout various regions throughout time. They analyzed records of geographic occurrences of Megalodon teeth along with their estimated total body lengths.



“Our findings suggest a previously unrecognized body size pattern for the fossil shark, notably following a geography-driven ecological pattern known as Bergmann’s rule," explained Professor Shimada.



“The main conclusion of this study is that not all geographically different Megalodon individuals grew to gigantic sizes equally. The common notion that the species reached 18–20 m TL should be applied primarily to populations that inhabited cooler environments."



In the mid-1800s, German biologist Carl Bergmann proposed that larger animals are better suited for cooler climates because their size helps them retain heat more efficiently than animals with smaller bodies.&nbsp;



"Scientists constantly search for rules of life that help us predict natural patterns, and it seems that Bergmann's rule applied to Otodus megalodon," said study co-author Victor Perez.



Interestingly, the researchers determined that nursery areas for Megalodon are located near the equator, where water is warmer.&nbsp;



“It is still possible that O. megalodon could have utilized nursery areas to raise young sharks. But our study shows that fossil localities consisting of smaller Megalodon teeth may instead be a product of individual sharks attaining smaller overall body sizes simply as a result of warmer water,” explained study co-author Harry Maisch.



"The results of this study have important implications for understanding how modern climate change is rapidly accelerating marine habitat shifts to more polar latitudes in apex predators such as sharks,” said study co-author Michael Griffiths.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ghbi20/current">Historical Biology</a>.



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

Megalodons grew larger in cold water

An extinct shark species known for its massive size grew...

Last week in Nairobi, Kenya, the <a href="https://www.unep.org/environmentassembly/">United Nations Environmental Assembly</a> agreed to a mandate for the discussion of a legally binding treaty for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-waste-grows-relentlessly-as-recycling-falls-short/">plastic</a>. This mandate provides the guidelines for the treaty making process. 



The proposed treaty will address the full life of plastic products from production to disposal. The contract is to be drawn up by an International Negotiating Committee (INC) and ratified within the next two years.&nbsp;



If this treaty mandate becomes fully realized, it will be one of the most important international environmental laws in history, along with the Paris Climate Agreement.&nbsp;



The treaty mandate also reflects many of the demands called for by civil society groups, scientists and environmental non-profits. One of the non-profits pushing for legal changes to how we deal with plastics is the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The mandate calls for tackling the problem of all plastic garbage in any environment, stepping away from an early draft that only included the severely limited “marine plastics." The treaty should be legally binding, allowing for additional voluntary actions. It would also have technical and financial support, the details of which are still to be specified.&nbsp;



An important detail of the mandate is that it plans to tackle plastic from the beginning of production, not just after it becomes trash. This means slowing a quickly ballooning plastic creation industry. Plastic is set to increase four fold by 2050, while using up to 13 percent of global carbon budgets.&nbsp;



“It is promising that the mandate will look at plastic across its entire life cycle, shifting us away from problematic end-of-pipe interventions like <a href="http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=GdeV-2BGRacAcdsd-2Fwwx16crl6aSP-2BjvGNOf3Ef2ZY-2BvGt7I1tvnoC7p1johgbLG7x4hpsAM7sRqKLCB0H3xs3Itm0Sxd6mn-2Bau604BhedOifUHsvA0ivSO436fHeyNu7CusVkzfJVzHt9v2XqLvdGYBJS7YP-2B8jlR1HG0myCEQF0-3DLcR8_CAutWfm8j05RwFS7sOyY4Te5MWVtGwYBuuvxnmVSDT70wrYq6on4oO5ji6MjyScWQvs213UDg9jiBOHKEZcc8PdHmJuFOjLaud3CNJGxx5fENYWvJqI0GTKRDnYg4yw8LkXbGPCZCvv7-2BjOtgGxI064ZsXAXBJb3QYJze8B65-2BBrismslyz3C5Q-2B3bYP1tDkD1zuvhfBxLEO-2FXBnA3IXHGqikJL6h26nKXarzZHwYN3iKZWcQMyHdWrAvWThSFwSwwGKYEe-2FTdvaCaO2xIhSiNril4tb-2BQaDIl8T3pKzWM7-2FuZ1TraKed-2Bsz73aitKKEeGcu6RVKyYVSBenwzTkqmFSFvis3voz7MKQMJmAnUpGHAXyRu7mnto-2B2TltQ8GB-2BuKHcDExRcxfuLwWKzk4ctA-3D-3D">waste incineration</a>, and instead addressing the issue further upstream, in its production phase,” stated Niven Reddy, GAIA Africa Coordinator. “This milestone could not have happened without a global movement pushing decision makers every step of the way.”&nbsp;



&nbsp;Another promising aspect of the treaty mandate is the inclusion of waste pickers as stakeholders. This is a hopeful step towards environmental justice for some of the world’s most disempowered people.&nbsp;



Moving forward, advocates for change will need to stay vigilant against misleading insertions from plastic industries, which could water down the proposed international law and slow change necessary to maintain global environmental health.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

International plastic treaty could become reality

Last week in Nairobi, Kenya, the United Nations Environmental Assembly...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2022/02/15/JNEUROSCI.2123-21.2022">JNeurosci</a> has found that feeling nostalgia can decrease activity in pain-related brain areas, thus reducing individuals’ perception of low-grade physical <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bull-ants-have-a-ferocious-sting-that-causes-long-term-pain/">pain</a>. Thus, nostalgia could prove to be a drug-free way to alleviate low levels of pain, such as headaches or mild clinical pain.&nbsp;



A team of researchers from the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity of adults of both sexes, while they were watching nostalgic images featuring scenes and items from an average childhood, such as cartoon television shows, schoolyard games, or popular candy. Some of the participants were placed in a control group and watched images depicting corresponding scenes from modern life.



During the experiment, participants were asked to rate the nostalgia levels of the images and the pain of external thermal stimuli that were applied by the experimenters. The scientists found that viewing nostalgic images reduced pain ratings compared to viewing control images. However, the strongest effects were noticed on low rather than higher-intensity pain.



“As a predominately positive emotion, nostalgia serves various adaptive functions, including a recently revealed analgesic effect,” wrote the study authors. “The current fMRI study aimed to explore the neural mechanisms underlying the nostalgia-induced analgesic effect on noxious thermal stimuli of different intensities. Human participants’ (males and females) behavior results showed that the nostalgia paradigm significantly reduced participants’ perception of pain, particularly at low pain intensities.”



According to the researchers, viewing nostalgic images reduced activity in the left lingual gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus, two regions of the brain implicated in pain perception. Moreover, activity in the thalamus – a brain area involved in relaying information between the body and the cortex – appeared to be linked to both nostalgia and pain ratings.



“Notably, anterior thalamic activation during the nostalgia stage predicted posterior parietal thalamus activation during the pain stage, suggesting that the thalamus might play a key role as a central functional linkage in the analgesic effect,” explained the authors.



Further research is needed to fully understand why does the perception of nostalgic images have this analgesic effect and to clearly map all the brain areas involved in this process.



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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

Feelings of nostalgia can relieve pain

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

People,,Men,,Leisure,,Friendship,And,Celebration,Concept,-,Happy,Male

Many studies have examined the link between drinking <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/small-amounts-of-alcohol-have-big-impacts-on-brain-health/">alcohol</a> and brain health, with ambiguous results. Strong evidence exists that heavy drinking causes significant changes in brain structure, such as severe reductions in gray and white matter across the brain. However, some studies suggest that moderate drinking may not have much impact on brain health, or even that light drinking is beneficial for the brains of older adults.



However, these earlier investigations lacked the power of large datasets. A new study led by the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> has analyzed data for over 36,000 adults and found that alcohol consumption even at levels most would consider modest, such as a few beers or glasses of wine per week, carry major risks to the brain and are associated with reductions in the overall brain volume.



“The fact that we have such a large sample size allows us to find subtle patterns, even between drinking the equivalent of half a beer and one beer a day,” said study corresponding author Gideon Nave, an assistant professor of Marketing at the University of Pennsylvania. “Having this dataset is like having a microscope or a telescope with a more powerful lens. You get a better resolution and start seeing patterns and associations you couldn’t before.”



By analyzing data from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/">UK Biobank</a>, containing genetic and medical information about half a million British middle-aged and older adults, Professor Nave and his colleagues have found that going from zero to one unit of alcohol per day (approximately half a beer) did not make much of a difference for brain volume, but increasing from one to two or two to three units was associated with reductions in both gray and white matter. In fact, consuming two units of alcohol per day was associated with changes in the brain equivalent to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/space-travel-may-cause-premature-aging/">aging</a> two years.



“These findings contrast with scientific and governmental guidelines on safe drinking limits,” said study co-author Henry Kranzler, the director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.med.upenn.edu/csa/">Penn Center for Studies of Addiction</a>. “For example, although the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/">National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism</a>&nbsp;recommends that women consume an average of no more than one drink per day, recommended limits for men are twice that, an amount that exceeds the consumption level associated in the study with decreased brain volume.”



Future research is needed to assess what are the effects of binge drinking on brain health. “This study looked at average consumption, but we’re curious whether drinking one beer a day is better than drinking none during the week and then seven on the weekend. There’s some evidence that binge drinking is worse for the brain, but we haven’t looked closely at that yet,” Professor Nave concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5">Nature Communications</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

Moderate drinking can cause premature brain aging

Many studies have examined the link between drinking alcohol and...

According to a new <a href="https://bcse.org/factbook/">report</a> released on Thursday, March 3, 2022 by the <a href="https://about.bnef.com/">Bloomberg New Energy Finance</a> (Bloomberg NEF), solar and wind energy grew last year at the fastest rate in the history of the United States, and now account for a record 13 percent of the country’s power generation. 



Coming soon after after the grim <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ipcc-report-window-to-secure-a-liveable-future-is-rapidly-closing/">United Nations report</a> warning that humanity must act immediately to curb climate change in order to secure a livable future, the new Sustainable Energy in America Factbook&nbsp;offered some good news about what&nbsp;has already been done in this direction.



“It was not that long ago that critics of clean energy would snicker and say that its contributions amounted to a rounding error compared to total generation,”&nbsp;said Ethan Zindler,&nbsp;head of the Bloomberg NEF. “That's definitely no longer the case. Anyone who still calls clean energy 'alternative energy' is just so, so 2009.”



Renewable energy production in the United States, obtained from hydroelectric dams, wind turbines, and solar arrays, grew more than four percent last year, and – together with nuclear energy – met 40 percent of United States’ demand for carbon-neutral energy sources.



“Ten years ago that would have been unfathomable. Six years ago, people would have been incredulous,” said Dan Whitten, the vice president for public affairs at the <a href="https://www.seia.org/">Solar Energy Industries Association</a>.



Although natural gas remains the largest source of U.S. electricity generation (38 percent) and power from coal-fired plants increased slightly in 2021 (to 22 percent), the future for renewable energy is looking very bright, with a record of 37.3 gigawatts of wind and solar power installed last year. Considering that one gigawatt is enough to power over 750,000 homes, this new record provides hope that increasingly more Americans will use sustainable energy that will not harm the climate.



The use of renewable energy is likely to increase substantially over the following years, as federal and private investments in clean energy are rising, with $105 billion invested in the U.S.&nbsp;last year, and a total of&nbsp;$755 billion&nbsp;invested globally to aid the transition to carbon-neutral energy.&nbsp;



Although more investments are needed to continue this upward trend in the use of carbon-neutral energy sources and help the world reach its goal of maintaining temperature rises to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the costs of not meeting this goal will be significantly higher, according to Lisa Jacobson, the President of the <a href="https://bcse.org/">Business Council for Sustainable Energy</a> (BCSE).



“We are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, and it is extremely costly,” she warned. Thus, investments should continue in order to save our planet from the devastating effects of global warming.



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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

Solar and wind energy use hit new records in the United States

According to a new report released on Thursday, March 3,...

On Friday, March 4, 2022 a new chapter of the pandemic has started in New York City: wearing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/disposable-masks-are-increasingly-impacting-marine-animals/">masks</a> in schools, restaurants, bars and many other public places will no longer be required and customers can enter such locations without a proof-of-vaccination or a negative test result. 



These relaxation measures have increased in frequency in other American states too, as well as many countries across the globe, as the highly-contagious Omicron variant is starting to subside, giving rise to hopes that the Coronavirus pandemic is entering its endemic phase.



However, while many scientists argue that Omicron is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00007-8">intrinsically less severe</a> than other coronavirus variants such as Delta, affecting the upper respiratory tract rather than the lungs, others warn that it is far from being just a “simple cold” and that people should continue to be vigilant. For instance, an expert panel advising Japan’s health ministry announced on March 2 that the fatality rate from Omicron was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-03/omicron-is-40-deadlier-than-seasonal-flu-japanese-study-finds">40 percent higher</a> than that of seasonal flu.



Omicron’s virulence – especially in populations with low levels of previously acquired immunity from vaccination or prior infection - is nowhere more visible today than in <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/05/asia/hong-kong-covid-crisis-intl-hnk-dst/index.html">Hong Kong</a>. For much of the pandemic, Hong Kong was a model of success in the fight against the Coronavirus. Their “zero Covid” approach kept cases and deaths very low, and allowed daily activities to continue in a relatively normal way.&nbsp;



However, once the Omicron wave started, Hong Kong has witnessed a terrifying spike in cases, hospitalization, and deaths. Today, bodies are piling up in hospital hallways because officials can’t move the dead fast enough.



Part of the reason for this gruesome situation – reminiscent of India’s near collapse under the Delta wave from the spring of 2021 – is Hong Kong’s low vaccination rates, particularly among the elderly. For instance, only about 30 percent of people over 80 are vaccinated.&nbsp;



According to Karen Grepin, an associate professor at the <a href="https://sph.hku.hk/">School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong</a>, the “zero Covid” approach was so successful before that the citizens of Hong Kong have “started to believe that even the minuscule risk associated with vaccination was higher than the risk of Covid” and are now “paying for that complacency.”&nbsp;



By contrast, other countries that followed a “zero Covid” policy but had a highly vaccinated population, such as Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore are faring much better during their (unavoidable) Omicron waves. This shows that, while Omicron may indeed be less pathogenic than other variants, it still poses a high risk for immunologically naïve populations, and highlights once more the importance of vaccination, particularly among vulnerable populations.&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

Omicron wreaks havoc among immunologically naïve populations

On Friday, March 4, 2022 a new chapter of the...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/">Liverpool John Moores University</a> (LJMU) has found that giant, long-necked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sauropod-dinosaurs-lived-only-in-earths-warmer-regions/">sauropod</a> dinosaurs such as diplodocus had a gait that was most similar to that of a hippopotamus. In this so-called “diagonal gait,” each step of a front leg is in tandem, or very closely followed by, the hind leg from the opposite side. 



Such a gait allowed for efficient walking while maintaining diagonal limb support throughout the step cycle, which was very important for these huge, wide-gauged creatures.



The sauropods – a group of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived between 200 million and 66 million years ago - were among the largest animals to have ever walked the Earth, some of them weighing the equivalent of 14 African elephants. Scientists have previously thought that these creatures used to walk like elephants, employing a “lateral gait,” with the two limbs on the same body side tending to move forward one after the other.



“Everybody always assumed that sauropods walked like modern elephants,” said study lead author Jens Lallensack, a paleontologist at LJMU. “But they didn’t, and we think that’s because the sauropods were just so much broader.”



Four-footed animals use different gaits, such as trots, walks, or pace gaits. In a trot, one diagonal pair limb - such as the hind right and front left legs - moves together, followed by the other diagonal limb pair. A large number of mammals use trots while running, while reptiles use this type of gait at slow speeds.



By analyzing fossilized Lower Cretaceous sauropod footprints from three sites in Arkansas, Dr. Lallensack and his colleagues&nbsp;have found that the sauropod gait was most similar to a trot, while still presenting slight differences.&nbsp;



When most animals trot, the two diagonal limbs land at the same time. In the case of sauropods though, the front foot touched down just before the hind, diagonal one. This particular gait allowed them to have at least one foot on the ground on both the left and right sides of the body at all times, preventing them to sway from side to side and lose their balance.&nbsp;



“Sauropods chose a gait that maximized stability, but still allowed for efficient walking,” concluded Dr. Lallensack.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.02.012">Current Biology</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Giant sauropods walked more like hippos than elephants

A new study led by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)...

A recent press release from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that enforcement data has declined for ten years. From 2018 to 2021, there was a decline in the number of inspections, criminal investigations, and prosecutions by about 50 percent compared to averages between 2002 and 2017. The amount of fines paid by violators was also down by 28 percent for civil cases and by 49 percent for criminal cases.&nbsp;



A small sign of hope is that in the fiscal year 2021, fines were closer to normal when adjusted for inflation. Unfortunately, the number of cases referred to the justice department by the EPA for civil prosecution was less than 50 percent of the annual average for 2002-2017 and criminal cases opened and polluters charged was at its second lowest in twenty years. Fines and incarceration rates were at their lowest.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Eric Schaeffer is the executive director of the <a href="https://environmentalintegrity.org/">Environmental Integrity Project</a> and former director of the Office of Civil Enforcement at the EPA.&nbsp;



“From a long-term perspective based on twenty years of data, almost every measure of performance - inspections, criminal investigations, civil cases referred to or concluded by the Justice Department, criminal defendants charged, civil penalties or criminal fines paid, cleanup costs recovered from polluters - points to a serious decline in EPA’s capacity to enforce our environmental laws. That is a wake-up call the Biden Administration needs to answer before it is too late,” said Schaeffer.&nbsp;



“While the last four years saw new lows, EPA enforcement’s decline really began in the second term of the Obama Administration when the budget ax fell hard on EPA.”



Although fluctuations in enforcement from year to year are to be expected, the current numbers seem to reflect systematic decline. Over the last ten years, EPA has lost 700 enforcement staff, approximately 22 percent of its whole workforce.&nbsp;



The problem doesn’t fall entirely on the shoulders of presidents. Biden requested increases in staff for the EPA, but a dysfunctional Congress seems unlikely to approve it. The nominee for lead of EPA’s enforcement program, David Uhlmann, was put forward on June 22, 2021, yet is still waiting to be confirmed by the Senate.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



On his first day in the oval office, Biden pledged to “hold polluters accountable, including those who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities.”&nbsp;



Without cooperation from the legislature, and states to rebuild and empower the EPA and other government institutions, it’s unlikely a commitment he can keep.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

EPA enforcement of environmental laws has seriously declined

A recent press release from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...

Mussel,On,A,Sandy,Beach.,Background.,Close-up.

Mussels attach themselves tenaciously to rocks and other substrates to survive the pummeling of harsh <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/invasive-species-can-hitchhike-on-ocean-plastic/">ocean</a> waves. The secret to their powerful bond is a type of natural glue. Made of multiple proteins, this “glue” coats the mussel’s foot and sticks it to surfaces.&nbsp;



Engineers have sought to understand this “glue” better and create their own version of the substance. Now, researchers at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> think they’ve cracked the code of the mussel glue.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, in an attempt to mimic the mussel’s glue, they somehow improved upon it. The new substance, which is made of protein-like polymers, could be useful for medicine.&nbsp;



“The polymer could be used as an adhesive in a biomedical context, which means now you could stick it to a specific tissue in the body,” said Northwestern’s Nathan Gianneschi. “And keep other molecules nearby in one place, which would be useful in wound healing or repair.”



In the natural mussel glue, there are chains of amino acids that give the substance the properties of being stretchy, sticky and strong. This is very hard for researchers to replicate. Study first author Or Berger found a way to mimic these same properties in the lab, placing the amino acid building blocks into a synthetic polymer.&nbsp;



“Proteins arrange amino acids as chains, but instead we took them and arranged them in parallel, on a dense synthetic polymer backbone,” said Gianneschi. “This was the same thing we have begun to do for controlling specific biological interactions, so the same platform technology we will use for future therapeutics has really become potentially interesting in materials science.”



After creating their version of mussel glue, the scientists tested the substance alongside the native glue. They put both substances on glass plates and then watched to see which would adhere more cells to the plate. It turned out that their synthetic glue held more cells than the native mussel glue.



“We actually didn’t mean to improve on the mussel’s properties," said Berger. "We only meant to mimic it, but when we went and tested it in several different assays, we actually got better properties than the native material in these settings.”



The scientists already have other ideas of nature-based synthetic materials, such as those inspired by substances found in insect legs and wings.&nbsp;



The study is published in the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/jacsat">Journal of American Chemistry Society</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Glue inspired by mussels may help heal the human body

Mussels attach themselves tenaciously to rocks and other substrates to...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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