The Universe contains many types of massive formations that shape our understanding of how stars and galaxies group together. Astronomers have long studied these sprawling patterns, which give valuable clues about where matter gathers and where it remains thinly spread. 



These features define how cosmic evolution unfolds and guide current theories of how the universe expands.



Recently, a team of experts announced a giant find. This collection of galaxy clusters surpasses previous giants by orders of magnitude.



This study adds fresh insights by demonstrating that our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/interstellar-tunnel-found-that-connects-our-solar-system-to-other-stars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cosmic neighborhood</a> can still surprise us with unexpected details about how matter arranges itself across unimaginable distances.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-galaxy-clusters-distribution">Galaxy clusters distribution</h2>



Hans Böhringer from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (<a href="https://www.mpe.mpg.de/main" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MPE</a>) coordinated the effort in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Physics (<a href="https://www.mpp.mpg.de/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MPP</a>) and teams in Spain and South Africa. 



Their work relied on the ROSAT X-ray satellite’s survey, which singled out clusters of galaxies by detecting the energetic radiation these huge clusters emit. 



These data allowed the researchers to build a three-dimensional map of our cosmic vicinity.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_3D-model_credit-MPE_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_3D-model_credit-MPE_1s.webp" alt="Three-dimensional representation of the Quipu superstructure. Credit: MPE" class="wp-image-1960534"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Three-dimensional representation of the Quipu superstructure. Credit: MPE</figcaption></figure>



“If you look at the distribution of the galaxy clusters in the sky in a spherical shell with a distance of 416 to 826 million light-years, you immediately notice a huge structure that stretches from high northern latitudes to almost the southern end of the sky,” explains Böhringer.



By tracing each cluster’s position in space, his team pinpointed how matter spreads out in swirling patterns of galaxies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-quipu-superstructure">The Quipu superstructure</h2>



The researchers named this discovery “Quipu,” taking inspiration from the knotted string recording system once used by the Incas. 



Observed as a long strand with smaller threads branching off, the Quipu superstructure contains 68 galaxy clusters with a combined mass of about 2.4 × 10^17 solar masses. 



Its size of roughly 1.4 billion light-years makes Quipu the largest superstructure ever accurately measured, surpassing the Sloan Great Wall’s 1.1 billion light-years.



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_illustration_credit-MPE_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quipo_superstructure_illustration_credit-MPE_1s.webp" alt="Distribution of galaxies (color coding) and galaxy clusters (black dots) in a spherical shell with a distance of 416 to 826 million light years surrounding us. The five superstructures are marked: 1 Quipu, 2 Shapley, 3 Serpens-Corona Borealis and Hercules (overlapping in the sky), 4 Sculptor-Pegasus. The area enclosed by white lines is shadowed by the disk of the Milky Way. Credit: MPE" class="wp-image-1960536"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Distribution of galaxies (color coding) and galaxy clusters (black dots) in a spherical shell with a distance of 416 to 826 million light years surrounding us. The five superstructures are marked: 1 Quipu, 2 Shapley, 3 Serpens-Corona Borealis and Hercules (overlapping in the sky), 4 Sculptor-Pegasus. The area enclosed by white lines is shadowed by the disk of the Milky Way. Credit: MPE</figcaption></figure>



“This breaks the size record of all reliably measured cosmic structures,” note the researchers who compared the finding with other known formations. 



“The Quipu superstructure, end to end, is slightly longer than the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/SDSS-3D-Universe-Map-Credit-Sloan-Digital-Sky-Survey-Team-NASA-NSF-DOE_fig2_357328983" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sloan Great Wall</a>,” says J. Richard Gott III at Princeton University, who helped discover the Sloan Great Wall. “Congratulations to them for finding it.” 



The name also reflects a connection to Chile, where many distance measurements took place, and where ancient quipus are showcased in Santiago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quipu-and-cosmological-principle">Quipu and cosmological principle</h2>



Across extremely large distances, matter is believed to spread out nearly evenly. At smaller scales of about a billion light-years, it collects in superclusters and leaves behind voids. 



This balance underpins the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cosmic-order-or-chaos-universe-expansion-may-follow-a-hidden-pattern/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cosmological principle</a>, which suggests that if we look far enough, the universe should appear uniform in every direction. 



Some experts argue these huge arrangements question that principle’s validity, with past findings triggering debates. 



<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/great-sloan-wall_superstructure_SDSS_credit-MIT_1m.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/great-sloan-wall_superstructure_SDSS_credit-MIT_1s.webp" alt="Sloan Great Wall of galaxies. SDSS 3D Universe Map Credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey Team, NASA, NSF, DOE." class="wp-image-1960531"/></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sloan Great Wall of galaxies is 1.1 billion light years long. SDSS 3D Universe Map Credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey Team, NASA, NSF, DOE.</figcaption></figure>



“Making observations in too small a part of the universe, which has been done earlier on, can be misleading,” says Böhringer. 



Another point comes from an ambiguous definition of the principle. “There is not yet one definition of the cosmological principle that every cosmologist agrees on,” says Alexia Lopez at the <a href="https://www.uclan.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Central Lancashire</a> in the UK. 



Meanwhile, Seshadri Nadathur at the <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Portsmouth</a> notes that “some of those galaxies may drift apart from each other instead of collapsing in on themselves, in which case, according to some interpretations, it’s not really a bound structure.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cosmic-measurements-and-consequences">Cosmic measurements and consequences</h2>



Quipu’s existence highlights how vast formations can shape calculations of cosmic expansion rates and the properties of primordial radiation left over from the early universe. 



Astronomers pay close attention to features like superclusters because they alter light paths and influence how we determine important parameters such as the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unknown-factors-are-accelerating-the-expansion-of-the-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hubble constant</a>. 



Small discrepancies can add up when researchers aim for precise numbers in modern cosmological studies.



“Even if these are only corrections of a few percent, they become increasingly important as the accuracy of cosmological observations increases,” emphasizes Gayoung Chon from the Max Planck Institute for Physics. 



This structure offers a reminder that the cosmos presents patterns on many scales. Those patterns appear to affect how we interpret data on the universe’s origin and shape the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/massive-galactic-explosion-provides-clues-about-galaxy-evolution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evolution of galaxies</a> in our vicinity and beyond.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-quipu-and-the-incas">Quipu and the Incas</h2>



The Incas once managed vast territories using quipus, a system of knotted strings that helped track resources and information. 



Each knot arrangement acted like a code, revealing essential data in a form that required no written script.



Quipu’s naming borrowed that image of intertwined threads. 



Researchers see it as a nod to humanity’s long history of gathering knowledge, whether through knotted strings or advanced telescopes that trace the distribution of galaxies across cosmic depths.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happens-next">What happens next?</h2>



The discovery underscores how ongoing surveys might uncover more structures. 



Scientists are keen to see if similar patterns exist in parts of the sky that remain less charted, which could either confirm current theories or reveal new gaps in our understanding.



Future maps will rely on technology to gather clearer data from remote regions. 



These efforts reflect a human wish to capture our place in the universe, searching for the patterns that connect everything from particles to vast congregations of galaxies.



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Featured image: The open cluster Westerlund 1 is located roughly 12,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Ara (the Altar) where it resides behind a huge interstellar cloud of gas and dust. Credit: <a href="https://www.esa.int" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESA</a>



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.19236" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Astronomy and Astrophysics</a>.



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Largest structure ever found in the universe is 1.4 billion light years long

The Universe contains many types of massive formations that shape our understanding of how stars and galaxies group together. Astronomers have long studied these sprawling patterns, which give valuable clues about where matter gathers and where it remains thinly spread. These features define how cosmic evolution unfolds and guide current theories of how the universe expands. Recently, a team of experts announced a giant find. This collection of galaxy clusters surpasses previous giants by orders of magnitude. This study adds fresh insights by demonstrating that our cosmic...

Health misinformation and disinformation are a major public health concern, with a massive spread of fake health news on social media platforms over the past few years. Such <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-are-some-people-fascinated-by-fake-news/">fake news</a> are often inaccurate and incomplete and can lead to poor health choices, risk-taking behavior, and loss of trust in health authorities. While research on message credibility has focused largely on adults, a new study led by the <a href="https://uniba.sk/en">Comenius University Bratislava</a> has now investigated to what extent teenagers are equipped to tackle the high volume of online fake health news.&nbsp;



The analysis revealed that 41 percent of the teenagers were unable to tell the difference between true and fake medical content, and that not even the poor editing of health messages was perceived as a sign of low trustworthiness.&nbsp;



“There has been an explosion of misinformation in the area of health during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said study principal investigator Radomír Masaryk, an expert in Health Psychology at Comenius. “As adolescents are frequent users of the internet, we usually expect that they already know how to approach and appraise online information, but the opposite seems to be true.”



Previous research has found that teenagers look at the structural features of a website, such as language and appearance, to evaluate the information they find. For instance, authoritative organizations, trusted brands, or the use of business-like language tend to be more trusted. By contrast, the presence of editorial elements like superlatives, clickbait, grammar mistakes, authority appeal, and bold typeface, reduced the credibility of the content.



To test these hypotheses, Professor Masaryk and his colleagues presented 300 teenagers with seven short messages about the health effects of various fruits and vegetables. These messages belonged to different categories: fake messages, true neutral messages, and true messages with editorial elements (superlatives, clickbait etc.) The participants were asked to rate the trustworthiness of the messages.



The teenagers seemed to be able to distinguish between overtly fake health messages and health messages either true or slightly charged with editing elements, with 48 percent of the participants trusting the true neutral health messages more than the fake ones. However, a staggering 41 percent of them considered fake and true neutral messages equally trustworthy, while 11 percent considered true neutral messages less trustworthy than the fake ones.



These rather disheartening results highlight an urgent need for better instruction of teenagers to spot editing cues that give away the quality of a piece of information, and an increase in health literacy and media literacy training to help them develop skills such as analytical thinking and scientific reasoning.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.940903">Frontiers in Psychology</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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Alarming number of teens can't recognize fake health news

Health misinformation and disinformation are a major public health concern,...

Numerous past studies have shown a link between levels of physical activity and the risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/steep-rise-in-cardiovascular-disease-expected-in-the-u-s/">cardiovascular disease</a> (CVD). Despite the fact that mortality from CVD has decreased in recent decades, it remains a leading contributor to the global burden of disease and physical activity is an important, modifiable risk factor that can be implemented in a person’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/weight-loss-can-be-achieved-at-any-age-with-simple-lifestyle-changes/">lifestyle</a> without too much difficulty. However, most of the evidence in studies to date has relied on self-reported levels of physical activity, which may be prone to various sources of bias and inaccuracy.



A new study by researchers based at the University of Glasgow is the first to use device-measured levels of physical exercise to investigate the association between activity and risk of heart failure. During the years 2013–2015, participants were randomly invited to take part in the study if they had already given their data to the U.K. Biobank, a large research database in the United Kingdom that enrolled and collected health information on 500,000 adults between 2006 and 2010.&nbsp;



The 94,739 adults that were selected in this way had an average age of 56, were predominantly female (57 percent) and white (97 percent). None of them had been diagnosed with heart failure or had had a heart attack at the time of their enrolment in this study. Each participant wore a wrist accelerometer for seven consecutive days, 24 hours per day, to measure the intensity and duration of physical activity. Subsequent data on incidence of heart attacks in participants was collected through linked hospital and death records.



The results of the analysis showed that, during the follow-up period (median duration of 6.1 years after the physical activity measurement was conducted), adults who had logged 150–300 minutes of moderate physical activity in one week had a 63 percent lower risk of heart failure, compared to participants who engaged in minimal to no physical activity. Adults who had performed 75–150 minutes of vigorous physical activity in one week were estimated to have a 66 percent lower risk of heart failure. These estimated risk reductions are after taking into account factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, education, socioeconomic conditions, smoking, alcohol intake and diet.



Physical activity is such an important aspect of keeping ourselves healthy that the US Department of Health and Human Services issued&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2712935">Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans</a>&nbsp;in 2018. They recommended that adults engage in at least 150–300 min/wk of moderate physical activity or 75–150 min/wk of vigorous physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both intensities. The American Heart Association followed suit, recommending at least 150 min/wk of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or at least 75 min/wk of vigorous aerobic exercise, or a combination of both.



“There are many potential ways that regular physical activity may reduce the risk of developing heart failure,” said Frederick K. Ho, Ph.D., co-lead author of the study and a lecturer in public health at the University of Glasgow. “For example, physical activity helps prevent weight gain and related cardiometabolic conditions, such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, all of which are risk factors for heart failure. Regular physical exercise may also strengthen the heart muscle which, in turn, may prevent heart failure from developing.”



Heart failure&nbsp;is a chronic, progressive condition that develops when the heart is not capable of pumping sufficient blood to keep up with the body’s needs for blood and oxygen, and it can result in fatigue and difficulty breathing. Heart failure affects more than 6 million adults in the United States, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001052">American Heart Association</a>, and more than 86,000 Americans died of heart failure in 2019.&nbsp;



According to Ho, the study results suggest that going above and beyond the current AHA recommendations for moderate activity may provide even greater protection against heart failure. “We found that moderate physical activity has the potential increased cardiovascular risk benefits up until 500 min/wk, as appropriate for each individual,” he said. However, participants who performed more than 150 min/wk of vigorous physical activity showed did not show a further reduction in risk of heart failure.&nbsp;



“These findings indicate that every physical movement counts. A leisurely, 10-minute walk is better than sitting and no physical activity. And, if possible, try to walk a little faster, which increases the intensity and potential benefits of exercise,” Ho said.



People whose risk of heart failure is high, due to their being overweight or obese, having high blood pressure or elevated glucose or cholesterol, may be particularly likely to benefit from increasing their physical activity, according to Ho and colleagues.



“Health care professionals may suggest more physical activity based on a patient’s current lifestyle and health status,” Ho said. “Generally, moderate physical activity is easier to incorporate into daily routines, and it’s generally safer. Vigorous physical activity is sometimes the most time-efficient and may be more suitable for busy people. However, caution is advised for all when beginning a new physical activity regimen to prevent injuries or acute adverse events (such as a heart attack in a formerly sedentary person initiating a vigorous exercise program).”



Although the results of the study suggest a link between reduced risk of heart failure and boosting the duration, frequency and intensity of exercise, this is an observational study and so it cannot prove a cause-and-effect link. Further experimentation would be required for this. In addition, because participants were overwhelmingly white, further studies would be needed to confirm that these results also apply to people from diverse backgrounds.



“Our findings add to the overwhelming body of other evidence, suggesting that maintaining even a modest amount of regular physical activity can help prevent a range of chronic conditions from developing, including heart failure,” said senior study author Professor Naveed Sattar.



The research is published in Circulation, the flagship journal of the <a href="https://www.heart.org/">American Heart Association</a>



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

Even modest exercise reduces the risk of heart failure

Numerous past studies have shown a link between levels of...

Although leopard seals are some of Antarctica’s apex predators, their solitary habits and lethal reputation, combined with their habitat’s extreme <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fish-die-offs-are-intensifying-with-climate-change/">climate</a>, make them one of the most difficult top predators to study on Earth. However, a research team led by <a href="https://www.baylor.edu/">Baylor University</a> has now attempted to shed more light on these fascinating creatures’ activities and behavioral patterns by studying 22 leopard seals off the Western Antarctica Peninsula, a region rapidly warming.



By weighing and measuring each seal and tracking their activities and diving patterns using satellite data and GPS tags, the scientists managed to document the flexible behaviors and traits which may offer leopard seals the necessary resilience to cope to Antarctica’s warming climate and environmental stresses.



“This study greatly increases our understanding of leopard seals’ life history, spatial patterns, and diving behavior,” said study lead author Sarah Kienle, an assistant professor of Biology at Baylor. “We show that these leopard seals have high variability (or, flexibility) in these different traits. Across the animal kingdom, variability is vital for animals adapting and responding to changes in their environment, so we’re excited to see high variability in this Antarctic predator.”



The analyses revealed that adult female leopard seals are 1.5 larger and longer than their male counterparts, an unusual phenomenon among marine mammals. According to the researchers, larger females may be better at defending feeding areas, and stealing prey from smaller seals. Moreover, they consume bigger, energy-rich prey, such as fur seals or penguins, while smaller females and males frequently eat smaller prey, like krill or fish.



Females also spend more time “hauled-out” on ice than males. For instance, two females spent two weeks hauled-out on ice in the middle of the ocean, without getting into the water or eating. The scientists argue that this two-week period is when female seals give birth and nurse their pups. Soon after, they wean their offspring and return to their usual activities.



Another interesting finding is that female and male leopard seals are capable of swimming both short and long distances in coastal, as well as open-ocean habitats. For example, one seal travelled only 46 kilometers from where the research team was located, while another one travelled 1,700 kilometers during the same period.



Finally, leopard seals of both sexes appear to be short, shallow divers, reaching an average of 30 meters deep during three-minute-long dives. However, there are exceptions too, with a male diving to 1,256 meters for 25 minutes.



“It’s interesting to see such variation [in movements and dive behavior] in a relatively small number of animals. To me, this means that leopard seals are highly flexible in their movement patterns, and that’s a really good thing in terms of adapting to changes in your environment,” Professor Kienle said.



In future research, the scientists aim to compare these leopard seals with other population across the Southern Ocean. “I have so many more questions, and I’m excited to continue learning about leopard seals for years to come. There’s so much more to discover about this incredible Antarctic predator,” Kienle concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.976019">Frontiers in Marine Research</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Scientists reveal new features of the elusive leopard seal

Although leopard seals are some of Antarctica’s apex predators, their...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en">Leiden University</a> has analyzed recent archaeological excavations from the Middle/Upper Paleolithic in Western Romania at the site of Româneşti, which is one of the most important southeastern European sites associated with the earliest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/diverse-climates-homo-sapiens-thrive/">Homo sapiens</a> on this continent. These excavations offer a significant glimpse of how modern humans adapted to their new environment after reaching Europe.



Over the past decades, scientists have discovered many early Homo sapiens fossils in Southeastern Europe, most likely because they first entered the continent through the Balkan Peninsula. However, until recently, very few of such fossils have been associated with cultural remains. The excavations at Româneşti revealed a variety of artifacts which were probably geared towards producing highly standardized chipped stone bladelets that might have been used to straighten wooden shafts, suggesting that this region was a type of projectile workshop.



The presence of thousands of such artifacts, spanning around 300 kilometers around the site, together with evidence for onsite fire use, shows that Româneşti was an important place where the early humans returned frequently. Since microscopic analyses of the artifact surfaces revealed that most of them were not used, the site may have acted as a place for manufacturing tools which were later transported in other areas.



“The use of good-quality local, meso-local, and exotic raw materials at the onset of the Aurignacian [one of the first cultural-technological traditions commonly associated with the expansion of&nbsp;Homo sapiens&nbsp;in Europe] also demonstrates that Româneşti and the other Banat sites were repeatedly returned to from a range of distances up to 300&nbsp;km and were persistent places in the landscape,” the study authors explained.



Although these findings indicate changes in how Homo sapiens subsisted in comparison to the Neanderthals, further research is needed to clarify what the relationship of these early Homo sapiens with the Neanderthals was. While nearby contemporary fossils suggest that the two species of hominids were interbreeding, it is still not yet clear what this means for the ways in which their lifestyles were changing and how the archeological remains reflect this.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15544-5">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&nbsp;&nbsp;

New clues about the earliest Europeans found in Romania

A new study led by Leiden University has analyzed recent...

On Thursday, August 25, 2022, by using NASA’s groundbreaking <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/webb-will-completely-change-how-we-view-the-universe/">James Webb Space Telescope</a>, a team of astrophysicists reported that they have detected <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-carbon-dioxide/">carbon dioxide</a> for the first time in the atmosphere of a planet located outside our solar system. The exoplanet, called WASP-39b, is a hot gas giant with a mass similar to Saturn’s, orbiting a Sun-like star 700 light-years away.&nbsp;



Besides providing important insights into this planet’s composition and formation, the discovery of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere also offers hope that the Webb telescope may be able to detect and measure carbon dioxide in the thinner atmosphere of smaller rocky planets.&nbsp;



WASP-39b was first discovered in 2011 by an international consortium called <a href="https://wasp-planets.net/">Wide Angle Search for Planets</a>, with the help of a network of robotic telescopes. Unlike the cooler, more compact gas giants from our solar system, this planet orbits very close to its star, completing one circuit in a just over four Earth-days.&nbsp;



While scientists have already detected the presence of water vapor, sodium, and potassium in its atmosphere, Webb telescope’s unmatched infrared sensitivity has now also confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide, providing the first clear, detailed evidence for carbon dioxide ever detected on an exoplanet.



“As soon as the data appeared on my screen, the whopping carbon dioxide feature grabbed me,” said Zafar Rustamkulov, a graduate student at <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> and member of the <a href="https://ers-transit.github.io/">James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science</a> team, which conducted this investigation. “It was a special moment, crossing an important threshold in exoplanet sciences.”



“Detecting such a clear signal of carbon dioxide on WASP-39b bodes well for the detection of atmospheres on smaller, terrestrial-size planets,” added team leader Natalie Batalha, a professor of Astrophysics at the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California, Santa Cruz</a>.



Understanding the composition of a planet’s atmosphere is crucial for clarifying the planet’s origins and evolution. “Carbon dioxide molecules are sensitive tracers of the story of planet formation,” explained team member Mike Line, an associate professor of Planetary Science at the <a href="https://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a>.&nbsp;



“By measuring this carbon dioxide feature, we can determine how much solid versus how much gaseous material was used to form this gas giant planet. In the coming decade, JWST will make this measurement for a variety of planets, providing insight into the details of how planets form and the uniqueness of our own solar system.”



A detailed description of the composition of WASP-39b’s atmosphere and of what can be inferred about this planet’s formation and evolution will be published soon in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Carbon dioxide detected for the first time on an exoplanet

On Thursday, August 25, 2022, by using NASA’s groundbreaking James...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/">Liverpool John Moores University</a> has found that our sense of how quickly or slowly time is passing is partly structured by changes in our bodies. More specifically, the experts have shown that greater activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (SNS), characterized by increased <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/extreme-weather-heightens-risk-of-death-from-heart-disease/">heart</a> rate and electricity conductance, had a “small, but significant” effect on the feeling of time passing faster.



The scientists asked 67 participants to complete a normal day’s activities while wearing sensors measuring how their SNS was behaving, including a heart rate monitor and a skin sensor tracking electricity conductance caused by the activity of the sweat glands. The participants had to provide an hourly report regarding how fast or slow they felt time had passed.



“The results show, for the first time that increases in SNS activity can significantly speed up our subjective experience of time - being aroused really does make time pass more quickly,” explained study lead author Ruth Ogden, an experimental psychologist at Liverpool John Moores. “When an individual experiences a significant increase in heart rate or skin conductance this can make time seem like it is passing up to ten per cent faster.”



According to the scientists, this relatively small effect may be due to the participants experiencing quite “normal” days. If they had been experiencing a more chaotic fluctuation of events, the effect would have likely been greater. “The work I have done in the lab using electric shocks and other aversive stimuli has shown much larger effects of SNS activity on time experience,” Dr. Ogden said.&nbsp;



In her view, such changes in time experience could have evolutionary benefits. “When we think about why humans would experience distortions to time, one idea is that there is some sort of evolutionary benefit to having a flexible timing system - think back to being a cave man, having “extra time” may have provided some survival advantage.”



“Assuming this evolutionary survival account is correct then it wouldn’t make sense to have a timing system that waxed and waned with every small change in arousal. Instead it would need to be a system which reacted to large changes - fight or flight. In our study, participants were mainly students going about their normal daily lives - there really weren’t that many life or death situations and maybe this limited the role of arousal in time experience.”



In future research, the scientists aim to test this hypothesis by using a virtual reality environment in which participants are exposed to a variety of virtual threats.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-16198-z">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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Increased heart rate makes us feel time passing faster

A new study led by the Liverpool John Moores University...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> (NYU) has found that two doses of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/psilocybin-can-safely-treat-mental-health-disorders/">psilocybin</a> – the main psychoactive compound from hallucinogenic mushrooms – reduces heavy drinking by 83 percent on average (when combined with psychotherapy) among people suffering from alcoholism. This is the first controlled trial exploring psilocybin as a treatment for excessive alcohol consumption.&nbsp;&nbsp;



According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention</a> (CDC), excessive alcohol use kills nearly 95,000 Americans each year, frequently due to binge drinking or liver disease. Alcohol abuse has also been linked to enormous economic and workplace losses, injuries, and impaired learning, memory, and mental health. Current methods to treat alcohol dependency include psychotherapy, supervised detoxification programs, and drug regimens that reduce alcohol craving.&nbsp;



To test the effect of psychedelic treatment on alcoholism, the researchers enrolled 93 participants of both genders, and randomly assigned them to receive either two doses of psilocybin or an antihistamine placebo. Within an eight-month period from the start of the treatment, those given psilocybin reduced heavy drinking by 83 percent, while those in the placebo group only by 51 percent. Moreover, 48 percent of those who received psilocybin stopped drinking altogether, compared with 24 percent of the control group.



“Our findings strongly suggest that psilocybin therapy is a promising means of treating alcohol use disorder, a complex disease that has proven notoriously difficult to manage,” said study senior author Michael Bogenschutz, the director of the <a href="https://med.nyu.edu/departments-institutes/psychiatry/research/center-psychedelic-medicine">NYU Langone Center for Psychedelic Medicine.</a>&nbsp;



“As research into psychedelic treatment grows, we find more possible applications for mental health conditions. Beyond alcohol use disorder, this approach may prove useful in treating other addictions such as cigarette smoking and abuse of cocaine and opioids.”&nbsp;



More research is needed to document psilocybin’s effects and find the appropriate dosages before the treatment will be ready for widespread clinical use. Moreover, since this drug raises blood pressure and heart rate and can cause overwhelming and sometimes debilitating psychological and emotional effects, it should only be used in clinical settings in conjunction with psychological evaluation and preparation.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.2096">JAMA Psychiatry</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Psychedelic drug therapy could help treat alcoholism

A new study led by the New York University (NYU)...

An international team of paleontologists led by the <a href="https://www.ulisboa.pt/">University of Lisbon</a> is currently investigating the remains of what could be the largest dinosaur found in Europe. The fossils were discovered in 2017 by the owner of a property in Pombal, Portugal, who spotted several fragments of fossilized bones in his yard while carrying out construction work. The remains are now thought to belong to a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sauropod-dinosaurs-lived-only-in-earths-warmer-regions/">sauropod</a> - a group of herbivorous, quadrupedal dinosaurs, with long neck and tails - measuring approximately 12 meters in height and 25 meters in length.



“It is not usual to find all the ribs of an animal like this, let alone in this position, maintaining their original anatomical position. This mode of preservation is relatively uncommon in the fossil record of dinosaurs, in particular sauropods, from the Portuguese Upper Jurassic,” said Elisabete Malafaia, a postdoctoral researcher in Geology at the University of Portugal.



Until now, an important set of elements of the axial skeleton has been unearthed at the site, including several vertebrae and ribs. The scientists believe that this remains belonged to a massive brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur which lived during the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous (approximately 160 to 100 million years ago), and was characterized by markedly developed forelimbs. Some of the most emblematic dinosaur species that belong to this group of sauropods include Brachiosaurus altithorax&nbsp;and&nbsp;Giraffatitan brancai, as well as Lusotitan atalaiensis, a Late Jurassic species found in Portugal’s West region.



The preservation characteristics and disposition of the fossils indicate the possible presence of other parts of the skeleton, a hypothesis the researchers aim to test during future excavation campaigns at the site.



“The research in the Monte Agudo paleontological locality confirms that the region of Pombal has an important fossil record of Late Jurassic vertebrates, which in the last decades has provided the discovery of abundant materials very significant for the knowledge of the continental faunas that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula at about 145 million years ago,” Dr. Malafaia concluded.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Largest dinosaur skeleton in Europe discovered in Portugal

An international team of paleontologists led by the University of...

Each year on August 26, <a href="https://www.nationaldogday.com/">National Dog Day</a> (NDD) is recognized worldwide as a time to raise awareness about adopting dogs who are currently in shelters.&nbsp;



The holiday was first established in 2004 by pet advocate Colleen Paige. August 26th is a significant date - when Colleen's family adopted her first dog "Sheltie" from the local animal shelter.



A recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-09140-w">study</a> from <a href="https://www.uu.nl/en">Utrecht University</a> revealed that shelter dogs have elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol.&nbsp;



"Dogs can suffer from chronic stress in environments that are sub-optimal to their needs, such as in many kennel environments," wrote the study authors. "Chronic stress may exceed the animals’ adaptive capacity and thus, threaten its welfare state."



"Chronic stress may even elicit medical and behavioral problems in the long term. Therefore, to improve canine welfare, reliable and feasible non-invasive indicators of long-term stress levels need to be evaluated."



According to lead researcher Janneke Van der Laan, even if a shelter is organized in the best possible way, there are still stress factors, such as crowds of other dogs and not being able to go outside as often as usual.



Fortunately, the researchers found that when dogs were adopted into new homes, their cortisol and stress levels rapidly returned to normal.&nbsp;



"National Dog Day celebrates all dogs, mixed breed and pure. Our mission is to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year and acknowledges family dogs and dogs that work selflessly each day to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort," says NDD.



"Dogs put their lives on the line every day - for personal protection, for law enforcement, for the disabled, for our freedom and safety by detecting bombs and drugs and pulling victims of tragedy from wreckage, now they're detecting cancer and seizures - things even humans cannot do."



National Dog Day is against laws that either regulate or ban certain dog breeds. "Dogs should not have to lose their lives because of the atrocities they have been forced to endure at the hands of man", says Colleen Paige.



If you would like to join the National Dog Day family and become a rescue partner, you can find more information <a href="https://www.nationaldogday.com/rescuemembership">here</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

National Dog Day: All dogs should live a safe, happy life

Each year on August 26, National Dog Day (NDD) is...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.fau.edu/">Florida Atlantic University</a> (FAU) has found that epaulette <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/oceans-are-already-too-warm-for-baby-sharks/">sharks</a> – a small but feisty aquatic creature commonly found on shallow reefs in Australia and New Guinea – have evolved an extraordinary ability to walk on land in order to have better chances of survival as sea temperatures rise and climate changes.



While many other shark species have ambulatory capacities, allowing them to walk in shallow water, this is the first species able to tolerate hypoxia (lack of oxygen) for an extended period of time, which helps them travel up to 30 meters on dry land using paddle shaped fins. According to the experts, these remarkable capacities enable the reef-dwelling sharks to survive increasingly hostile environments.



“Such locomotor traits may not only be key to survival but also may be related to their sustained physiological performance under challenging environmental conditions, including those associated with climate change,” the study authors explained. “Findings to date suggest that this species has adaptations to tolerate some, but perhaps not all, of the challenging conditions predicted for the 21st century.”



The scientists discovered that the epaulette sharks are able to walk both slow and fast, as well as swim, offering them the possibility to successfully cross patches of land to reach more favorable environments.



“You might not think of beautiful, tropical beaches as harsh but in reality tidepools and coral reef environments are pretty harsh, subjected to warm temperatures when the tide is out and a lot of changes, a lot of things happening when the tide comes in and goes out,” said study lead author Marianne Porter, a professor of Biomechanics at FAU. “These little sharks can move from tidepool to tidepool, allowing them to access new pools to forage for food, or tidepools with better oxygenated water.”



“Our collaborators in Australia have found they are able to withstand climate change conditions very well. These sharks are great models in starting to look at how these changing conditions may affect vertebrates in general, and other species, and can help us reflect what we might see in future oceans.”



Besides helping them escape a variety of environmental stressors, the ability to walk on land from one place to another also provides them unique opportunities to escape predators, and reach areas with more plentiful food sources and less competition for them.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icac127">Integrative &amp; Comparative Biology</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Some sharks are "walking" to find more favorable conditions

A new study led by the Florida Atlantic University (FAU)...

Tree rings are one of the best natural archives of past growing conditions because trees are sensitive to local climate factors, such as precipitation and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bushfires-linked-to-temperature-spikes-in-the-stratosphere/">temperature</a>. In warm, wet years, tree growth rings are usually wider while they are narrower in cold, dry years. Trees growing in subpolar regions are usually the most sensitive to temperature changes and if a good statistical match exists between recent tree growth and temperature records then the ring widths of ancient trees can be used to estimate past temperatures. 



Scientists from the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS), and the <a href="https://urfu.ru/en/">Ural Federal University</a> (UrFU), have been making expeditions to the region of the Yamal Peninsula, north-western Siberia, for the past 40 years, collecting subfossil wood for analysis. Stepan Shiyatov, a pioneer of dendrochronology in Russia, was the first to recognize the value of the ancient trees found in this region, and to begin collecting samples systematically.&nbsp;



Since then, more than two dozen expeditions have been carried out and more than 5,000 samples of ancient tree trunks have been collected by researchers from the RAS. Dendrochronologists from the RAS have measured and analyzed the rings and, with support from colleagues at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, and from the University of Geneva, they have been able to reconstruct and characterize the summer temperatures over the past 7,638 years.&nbsp;



Approximately 2,000 samples of larch and spruce subfossils have also been dated using with the cross-dating method, which has allowed the researchers to assign, with absolute accuracy, the exact year of formation to each annual ring over the last 8,800 years. This exceptional sample of tree rings from the Yamal region, which is archived at the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology at the RAS, is now the longest existing tree-ring chronology of the Polar Regions.



The results of the analysis, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32629-x">Nature Communications</a>, show that northwestern Siberia is currently experiencing its warmest summers in the past 7,000 years. While for several millennia the temperature of the region followed a pattern of general cooling, in the 19th century there was an abrupt change and temperatures began to rise rapidly.&nbsp;



“Due to changes in the Earth's orbit we would have expected a continuous, slow and gradual decrease of incoming summer solar energy, and thus temperature, at the subpolar latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere during last 8–9 millennia. However, [as] recorded by the trees growing in Yamal, this cooling trend has been interrupted in the middle of the 19th century, when temperature began to rise very quickly and reached the highest values in recent decades,” says Rashit Hantemirov, leading researcher of the Laboratories of Dendrochronology of the Ural Branch of the RAS and Natural Science Methods in the Humanities of UrFU.



Independently of the period length considered (from 30 to 170 years), the most recent period has been the warmest in the time period covered by the tree ring record. Not only has the temperature reached unprecedented levels of warmth, but also the rate of temperature increase is greater currently than it has been since the middle of the 19th century.



“The exceptionality of the modern warming is corroborated by observations that the last century was characterized by a total lack of cold extremes contrasted by the occurrence of 27 extreme warm years, 19 of which have fallen in the last 40 years,” specifies Hantemirov.



The authors of this research are confident that human activities have not only influenced climate change, but have become its major determinant, at least for north-western Siberia. They plan to continue research on tree-ring based climate reconstruction in this region as the remains of even older trees, perhaps dating back a further 2,000 years, are still present on the Yamal Peninsula. They state that the remains of such trees that lived thousands of years ago, provide an understanding of the past, which is the best foundation to assess the future.



“Thanks to international cooperation it will also be possible to use other tree-ring parameters to further precise the climate reconstructions. With colleagues from Switzerland, we are working on the analysis of the tree rings cellular structures, and together with the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, we intend to perform a climate reconstruction based on the analysis of the oxygen-18 isotope in the annual rings,” adds Hantemirov.



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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

Global warming is the strongest in 7,000 years

Tree rings are one of the best natural archives of...

Although we are familiar with the association between smoking and lung cancer, a new study that investigates the effect of smoking on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/loneliness-is-an-underestimated-threat-to-heart-health/">heart</a> structure and function is to be presented at the <a href="https://www.escardio.org/Congresses-&amp;-Events/ESC-Congress">European Society of Cardiology Congress 2022</a>. The Congress takes place between 26 and 29 August, 2022, in Barcelona, Spain. The study finds that smokers have weaker hearts than non-smokers, and that the more a person smokes, the worse his or her heart function becomes.&nbsp;



“It is well known that smoking causes blocked arteries, leading to coronary heart disease and stroke,” said study author Dr. Eva Holt of Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. “Our study shows that smoking also leads to thicker, weaker hearts. It means that smokers have a smaller volume of blood in the left heart chamber and less power to pump it out to the rest of the body. The more you smoke, the worse your heart function becomes. The heart can recuperate to some degree with smoking cessation, so it is never too late to quit.”



Tobacco kills more than eight million people each year, according to the World Health Organization. Cigarettes are responsible for 50 percent of all avoidable deaths in smokers, with half of these due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke.&nbsp;



Studies have also shown that smoking is associated with a higher risk of heart failure, and that this is often caused by a weakened heart muscle that does not pump blood around the body adequately. Where a weakened heart does not pump as much blood as it should, the cells of the body will not receive the oxygen, glucose or other nutrients they need in order to function. However, the link between smoking and heart structure and function has not yet been fully examined.



In the current study, the researchers explored whether smoking was related to changes in the structure and function of the heart in people without cardiovascular disease, as well as investigating the effect of changing smoking habits. Data from the 5th Copenhagen City Heart Study was used; this study investigated cardiovascular risk factors and diseases in the general population. A total of 3,874 participants who had no heart disease were enrolled in the study and they were categorized as current smokers, former smokers or never smokers.&nbsp;



The participants, who were aged between 20 and 99 years, were required to complete a self-administered questionnaire that asked for details of smoking history, and to estimate their pack-years, which is a measure of the number of cigarettes smoked throughout life. One pack-year is defined as 20 cigarettes smoked every day for one year.



Participants also underwent an ultrasound examination of the heart, called echocardiography, which gave information about its structure and how well it was working. The researchers compared the echocardiography measures of current smokers to those who had never smoked, while taking into account the participants’ age, gender, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, diabetes status and lung function.



The average age of participants was 56 years and 43 percent of them were women. Nearly one in five participants (18.6 percent) currently smoked, while 40.9 percent were former smokers and 40.5 percent had never smoked. Compared to never smokers, current smokers had thicker, weaker and heavier hearts. In addition, less blood was pumped by the hearts of people who had high values for pack-years.



“We found that current smoking and accumulated pack-years were associated with worsening of the structure and function of the left heart chamber – the most important part of the heart," explained Dr. Holt.&nbsp;



"Furthermore, we found that over a 10-year period, those who continued smoking developed thicker, heavier and weaker hearts that were less able to pump blood, compared to never smokers and those who quit during that time.”



"Our study indicates that smoking not only damages the blood vessels but also directly harms the heart. The good news is that some of the damage is reversible by giving up.”



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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

Smokers have weaker hearts that pump less blood

Although we are familiar with the association between smoking and...

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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 



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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



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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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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



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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



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



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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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