This,Man-made,Vehicle,Reached,A,Record,Speed,Of,635,Thousand

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is set to achieve its most dangerous feat yet tomorrow, December 24, 2024. After a six-year journey of spiraling closer to the star at the heart of our solar system, the spacecraft is expected to come within 3.8 million miles of the Sun’s surface. 



This tiny distance in cosmic terms lets scientists capture a new type of information, revealing secrets about solar winds, extreme heat, and magnetic fields.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-solar-probe-on-the-sun-s-doorstep">Solar probe on the Sun's doorstep</h2>



Engineers have spent years carefully adjusting <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Parker’s flight path</a> using multiple Venus gravity assists. These flybys reshape the spacecraft’s orbit and tighten its looping path around the Sun. “This is one example of NASA’s bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe,” explained <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/people/dr-arik-posner/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arik Posner</a>, Parker Solar Probe program scientist at NASA Headquarters, describing this mission’s significance.



Ever since the launch in 2018, Parker’s main goal has been to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona. Tomorrow’s approach, often called <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/glossary/perihelion.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">perihelion</a>, marks a new milestone in that quest. The probe moves at speeds around 430,000 miles per hour, faster than any other spacecraft. At such high velocity, it can swing around our star without getting swallowed. Even so, mission managers won’t receive immediate updates once Parker hits its closest point because signals cannot travel through the intense solar environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extreme-heat-and-lasting-protection">Extreme heat and lasting protection</h2>



What sets Parker apart is its resilient heat shield. This 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite barrier enables the spacecraft’s instruments to continue functioning in an environment where temperatures can reach roughly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the harsh surroundings, the precious science instruments remain near room temperature, thanks to expert engineering by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (<a href="https://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">APL</a>).



During every close approach, Parker is pelted by gusts of solar wind and bathed in radiation. Still, it keeps sending back readings about magnetic fields, <a href="https://www.plasmacoalition.org/plasma_writeups/solar_plasmas.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plasma</a> behavior, and energetic <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/solar-radiation-storm#:~:text=Solar%20radiation%20storms%20occur%20when,of%20the%20speed%20of%20light." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">particles</a>. The probe’s data illuminates reasons behind the corona’s blazing heat, which can climb into the millions of degrees, significantly hotter than the visible surface of the Sun. Such puzzling behavior has fascinated scientists for decades.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chasing-the-solar-wind-s-origins">Chasing the solar wind’s origins</h2>



Solar wind, a stream of charged particles flowing away from the Sun at speeds topping one million miles per hour, plays a major role in <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/sun/what-is-the-solar-wind/">space weather</a>. 



By skimming through the corona, Parker records fresh evidence of how these particles speed up and scatter across the solar system. The answers may help experts forecast disturbances that affect satellites and astronaut safety. Surges of these charged particles can disable communication systems or even disrupt power grids on Earth.



For researchers, big questions remain. How does the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/sun/what-is-the-solar-wind/">solar wind</a> pick up its pace so dramatically? Is there a specific region in the corona that triggers bursts of fast-moving particles? 



Parker’s measurements bring us closer to unraveling these mysteries. Officials at NASA say that by tomorrow’s approach, new layers of data will help them see patterns not possible to detect from a greater distance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-solar-probe-and-the-sun-s-active-cycle">Solar probe and the Sun's active cycle</h2>



The Sun moves through an 11-year activity cycle. Right now, it is in an active phase, meaning increased sunspots, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/secondary-peak-extreme-geomagnetic-solar-storm-expected-today/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">solar flares</a>, and <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coronal mass ejections</a>. 



Researchers are tracking not only Parker’s journey but also the Sun’s changing patterns. Sometimes these outbursts interact with Earth’s magnetosphere and spark colorful auroras, even in places unused to such displays. And although most solar weather events are harmless for life on Earth, severe storms can interfere with GPS systems or satellites.



This is why Parker’s findings are so relevant. Gaining a better understanding of how energetic solar events begin could lead to timelier warnings, giving operators on Earth a heads-up to power down sensitive instruments or adjust satellite orbits.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-paying-tribute-to-eugene-parker">Paying tribute to Eugene Parker</h2>



In 2017, NASA renamed the probe after <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/eugene-parker-legendary-figure-solar-science-and-namesake-parker-solar-probe-1927-2022">Dr. Eugene N. Parker</a>, the first person to predict the solar wind in the 1950s. He introduced key ideas about how stars interact with their surroundings. The mission’s name honors his influential work. Dr. Parker passed away in 2022, but his legacy continues. 



The data this spacecraft is sending back not only expands knowledge of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tracing-solar-wind-directly-to-its-source-for-the-first-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">solar physics</a> but also shows how correct Dr. Parker’s early theories were.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-record-setting-solar-probe-flyby">Record-setting Solar Probe flyby</h2>



Mission operations expect Parker to reach perihelion at 6:53 a.m. EST on December 24. 



At that time, the spacecraft will run autonomously, and engineers at APL will wait until December 27 for a beacon tone confirming a safe passage around the Sun. “No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory. We’re excited to hear back from the spacecraft when it swings back around the Sun,” explained <a href="https://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Show-Article.php?articleID=205" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nick Pinkine</a>, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager. 



When that update arrives, scientists will study Parker’s recent measurements to identify potential clues about solar wind origins and coronal heating. Each orbit is another chance to witness the scorching conditions near our star. At the same time, the probe helps refine predictions about solar eruptions that might drive future storms toward Earth.



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



Beyond the scientific breakthroughs, Parker’s success can have practical benefits for technology we rely on every day. Our society depends on GPS signals and stable power systems, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/team-creates-video-showing-the-sun-in-gamma-rays-over-a-14-year-period/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">major solar events</a> can disrupt both. By learning how to anticipate strong solar winds or flares, experts might one day keep satellites out of harm’s way or shield power grids from unexpected surges.



Tomorrow’s close approach continues a streak of remarkable achievements for NASA. As Parker zips through the corona, it gathers observations that no other mission could obtain. The craft appears ready for another sizzling pass, thanks to the robust thermal design and careful planning. 



Whether it’s helping forecast solar tempers or refining our knowledge of basic astrophysical processes, Parker remains on track to change the way we see the Sun.



Learn more about <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/parker-solar-probe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NASA's Parker Solar Probe here...</a>



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Spacecraft flew through the Sun's atmosphere today for the first time ever

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is set to achieve its most dangerous feat yet tomorrow, December 24, 2024. After a six-year journey of spiraling closer to the star at the heart of our solar system, the spacecraft is expected to come within 3.8 million miles of the Sun’s surface. This tiny distance in cosmic terms lets scientists capture a new type of information, revealing secrets about solar winds, extreme heat, and magnetic fields. Solar probe on the Sun's doorstep Engineers have spent years carefully adjusting Parker’s flight path...

Cancer patients who are treated with the chemotherapy <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/apples-can-help-store-and-transmit-drug-resistant-pathogens/">drug</a> doxorubicin may experience side effects that have long-lasting consequences. Among these, damage to the heart muscle and wasting away of skeletal muscle can affect a survivor’s physical stamina and quality of life. It is, however, a potent anti-cancer drug and is currently on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. It is used to treat breast cancer,&nbsp;bladder cancer,&nbsp;Kaposi's sarcoma,&nbsp;lymphoma, and types of leukemia. The fact that it can cause serious side effects is of great concern to patients and doctors alike.



The results of a recent study to test the effect of vitamin C supplementation in rats treated with doxorubicin will be presented at the annual meeting of the <a href="https://www.physiology.org/">American Physiological Society</a>. This meeting will be held under the auspices of the annual <a href="https://www.experimentalbiology.org/">Experimental Biology (EB) 2022 meeting</a>, where scientists gather to share the newest research findings in anatomy, biochemistry, molecular biology, investigative pathology, pharmacology and physiology.&nbsp;



“Our results suggest vitamin C as a potential adjunct therapy to assist in the management of peripheral muscle disorders after treatment with doxorubicin, thereby improving functional capacity and quality of life and reducing mortality,” said study first author Antonio Viana do Nascimento Filho, a master’s student in medicine at the University Nove de Julho (UNINOVE) in Brazil. Nascimento Filho will present the findings at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.physiology.org/">American Physiological Society</a>&nbsp;annual meeting.



Previous research, conducted in conjunction with scientists from the University of Manitoba in Canada, found that vitamin C supplementation improved markers of heart health and survival in rats given doxorubicin. The heart pathology resulting from treatment with doxorubicin appears to involve inflammation and oxidative stress, and vitamin C acts as an anti-oxidant that can reduce these processes. This led the authors to investigate whether vitamin C could also help to prevent the drug’s negative effects on skeletal muscle.



The researchers worked with four groups of rats, each with eight to 10 individuals. One group received both vitamin C and doxorubicin, while another received neither. A third group received only doxorubicin and a fourth received only vitamin C. The researchers then measured and compared skeletal muscle mass and markers of oxidative stress in all the rats.&nbsp;



The results showed that rats that received vitamin C along with doxorubicin had reduced oxidative stress and better muscle mass compared with those that were given doxorubicin but not vitamin C.



“It is exciting that the vitamin C prophylactic and concurrent treatment, given for just one week before and maintained for another two weeks after the use of doxorubicin, was sufficient to attenuate the side effects of this drug on skeletal muscle, contributing to a hugely positive impact on the health of the studied animals,” said Nascimento Filho. “Our work demonstrated that vitamin C treatment can mitigate the loss in muscle mass and improve many markers of free radical imbalance in rats subjected to doxorubicin administration.”



Future research would need to include randomized clinical trials in order to confirm whether vitamin C is also helpful for human patients receiving treatment with doxorubicin. In addition, appropriate dosages of vitamin C would need to be established for humans. Previous studies have suggested vitamin C could interfere with the effects of chemotherapy drugs, so patients are not advised to take these supplements during cancer treatments unless directed to do so by their doctor.



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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

Vitamin C may reduce adverse effects of cancer treatment

Cancer patients who are treated with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin...

A new study from the <a href="https://www.ulisboa.pt/en">University of Lisbon</a> reveals that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urbanization-does-not-always-decrease-food-diversity/">urbanization</a> impacts the personalities of individual shrews. The greater white-toothed shrew is expanding its range in Europe and has been identified as invasive on some islands in Ireland. In order to predict where else shrews may emerge, it is important to understand how these small mammals adapt so rapidly to new environments.



"Urban environments differ in many aspects from natural or rural ones and thus pose challenges for many animal species. Some of these challenges have been connected to the observation that urban individuals of many animal taxa are bolder and more aggressive than their rural conspecifics," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"Apart from average behavioral differences between rural and urban populations, the variation of such behaviours within these populations may differ, enabling them to deal with the spatially and temporally heterogeneous habitats within cities. Here we tested average differences in behavior as well as the components of variation in these behaviors in rural and urban populations of shrews."



Beyond confirming that urban shrews are more active and aggressive, the researchers have discovered that shrews from urban environments differ more in their individual behavior than those in rural environments.



“Possibly, such diverse city personalities are caused by the high spatial and temporal heterogeneity in urban environments,” explained study first author Sophie von Merten.



The shrews that were observed for the study came from a diverse assortment of sites, ranging from small patches of vegetation on a busy university campus to city parks or green spaces located next to a noisy highway. Furthermore, the same results were found in two different species of shrews: the greater white-toothed shrew and the common shrew.



“The fact that similar results were found in two species that are so different to each other hints at a general pattern," said study co-author Professor Leszek Rychlik. “As cities are continuously growing around the globe, studies like ours are important to better understand of the consequences of urbanization on wild animals. Ultimately this might help us to protect biodiversity."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/animal-behaviour">Animal Behaviour</a>.



Image Credit: Ana Cerveira



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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

City shrews have bigger personalities

A new study from the University of Lisbon reveals that...

Just like flash floods, flash <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/europe-will-face-more-frequent-and-extreme-droughts/">droughts</a> occur rapidly, often drying out the soil in a matter of days. Such events can wipe out crops and cause enormous economic losses. According to an international research team led by the <a href="https://www.polyu.edu.hk/en">Hong Kong Polytechnic University</a>, although the number of flash droughts has remained relatively stable over the past two decades, many of these droughts are coming on faster, sending areas into drought conditions sometimes within just five days.



The scientists analyzed global hydroclimate data sets that use satellite soil moisture measurements to capture how the dynamics of flash droughts has changed over the past 21 years. The data revealed that about 34 to 46 percent of flash droughts came on in just five days. The rest usually emerged within a month, with 70 percent developing in two weeks or less.



According to the researchers, rising global temperatures are most probably the main cause behind the fast onset of droughts. “Every year, we are seeing record-breaking warming episodes, and that is a good precursor to these flash droughts,” said study co-author Zong-Liang Yang, a professor of Geosciences at the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/">University of Texas at Austin</a>. “The hope and purpose of this research is to minimize the detrimental effects.”



Professor Yang and his colleagues have also discovered that humidity and variable weather patterns are influencing the emergence of flash droughts, with these events becoming more likely when there are shifts from humid to arid conditions like those occurring seasonally in Southeast Asia, the Amazon Basin, and the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States. In such areas, flash droughts that come on the fastest have increased by 22 to 59 percent.



“We should pay close attention to the vulnerable regions with a high probability of concurrent soil drought and atmospheric aridity,” said study co-author Shuo Wang, an assistant professor of Geosciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The advancements in drought-detecting technologies and modeling tools have led to a growing awareness of the influence and impact of flash droughts. However, further research is needed to find ways of translating this knowledge into on-the-ground planning to mitigate the environmental and economic impact of such extreme weather events.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28752-4">Nature Communications</a>.



Image Credit: United States Department of Agriculture



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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

Flash droughts are coming on faster due to climate change

Just like flash floods, flash droughts occur rapidly, often drying...

Many species of large-bodied, land <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/large-mammals-play-a-role-in-combating-climate-change/">mammals</a> went extinct in the late Quaternary Period, between 115,000 and 500 years ago. These megafaunal extinctions are usually attributed to changing climatic conditions during this time, as well as to the impacts of hunting by humans. However, not all of the mammal species went extinct. Previous research has shown that mammals with larger bodies had an increased risk of extinction,&nbsp;although even this does not tell the whole story.



There are many mammal taxa (groups of related species) with some representatives that went extinct while others, of similar body size, survived into modern times. Jacob Dembitzer, from the School of Zoology, University of Tel Aviv, and colleagues, hypothesized that brain size may also have been a factor in whether mammalian species went extinct. They set out to determine whether there is a difference in brain size between extant (living) species and those that went extinct during the Late Quaternary, after accounting for differences in body size.&nbsp;



To do this, they measured the endocast volume (a measure of cranial capacity) of 291 living mammal species and 50 that went extinct during the Late Quaternary. In total, the researchers collected data on the volumes of 3,616 specimen skulls, with a median of three specimens per species, to calculate brain size. They used previously published research data on mammal body mass and extinction dates.&nbsp;



The species belonged to a total of 10 taxonomic orders, nine of which have both extinct and extant members, meaning that comparisons could be made between closely related species. More than half of the dataset was made up of species belonging to the Xenarthrans (sloths, armadillos and anteaters), Proboscideans (mastodons, mammoths and elephants), and Primates, which reflects a good cross-section of species that went extinct during the Late Quaternary.



The findings of the investigation, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>, showed that the major factor correlated with risk of extinction was indeed body size, as expected. However, brain size was also a significant predictor of extinction. In a linear regression model, extant species had endocast volumes that were 83 percent larger, on average, than similar-sized extinct counterparts. The brain size was still 53 percent larger in extant species when mammalian order was used as a random effect.



The authors suggest that having a larger brain would have predisposed certain mammalian species to cope better with changes in climate, habitat and predation scenarios during the Late Quaternary Period. They feel that differences in brain size may explain why some large mammals went extinct (e.g., the relatively small brained&nbsp;Mammut americanum) while others, such as the large brained extant elephants (Elephas maximus&nbsp;and&nbsp;Loxodonta africana), survived.&nbsp;



Interestingly, extinct species from the mammalian orders Notoungulata, Pilosa (sloths and anteaters), Cingulata (armadillos), and Diprotodontia (marsupials) possessed, on average, the smallest brains (relative to body size) of any species in the dataset). Almost no large-bodies species from these orders have survived to modern times as the risk of extinction probably increased with body size and with small brain capacity.



The authors propose that, on the other hand, larger brain size may have helped large-bodied species that were prone to extinction anyway, to survive. A larger brain may have helped species to adapt quickly to changes such as increased hunting by humans, and may have meant the species were able to remember several sources of food and water within a changing landscape.



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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

Greater risk of extinction for large-bodied mammals in the past

Many species of large-bodied, land mammals went extinct in the...

A compound found in wild blueberries may speed up the process of wound healing, according to new research. The results of the study suggest that blueberry <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/could-a-botanical-extract-extend-the-lifespan-of-humans/">extract</a> could dramatically improve wound healing, and may ultimately reduce the massive cost of $50 billion that is spent on wound care each year.&nbsp;



Diabetic ulcers and other non-healing wounds often develop among the elderly. These wounds persist due to a reduced development of nutrient-rich blood vessels, which is known as vascularization. A lack of vascularity is associated with diabetes, vascular disease and other conditions. The trouble is, vascularity&nbsp;is critical for the efficient delivery of oxygen and nutrients to support tissue and wound healing.



In a previous study that was focused on human umbilical cord cells, researchers at the <a href="https://umaine.edu/">University of Maine</a> found that a phenolic extract from wild blueberries improved vascularization and cell migration - critical steps in the healing process.



For the current study, a team of experts led by Dr. Dorothy Klimis-Zacas analyzed the effects of phenolic extract on wounds. Found naturally in some foods, phenols are compounds that serve as antioxidants, which can prevent and even reverse some types of cell damage.



Using a mouse model, the experts treated a group of animals with a topical gel that contained a wild blueberry phenolic extract. These mice were compared with animals that were treated with a base gel lacking the phenolic extract, and with a control group that received no treatment.



The experiment revealed that the treated mice exhibited improved migration of endothelial cells to the wound site, as well as a 12 percent increase in wound closure.



“Wild blueberries have the potential to enhance cell migration, new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) and vascularization and to speed up wound closure," said study first author Tolu Esther Adekeye. "This is especially important in conditions that require enhanced wound closure in patients with chronic wounds such as diabetic wounds, burns and pressure ulcers."



The study will be presented this week in Philadelphia at the American Physiological Society’s (APS) annual meeting at <a href="https://www.experimentalbiology.org/">Experimental Biology 2022</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

Blueberries could be key to treating non-healing wounds

A compound found in wild blueberries may speed up the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.who.int/">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) has found that, by the third quarter of 2021 – thus, before the emergence of the highly contagious <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/omicron-high-transmissibility-and-chance-for-reinfection/">Omicron</a> variant in South Africa in November – 65 percent of the African population already had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Since at the time when this data was gathered only four percent of the population of the continent has been vaccinated (to date, this number has increased to 14 percent), the vast majority of these antibodies appear to be the result of natural infection.&nbsp;



But why have hospitalizations and deaths remained so low in West and Central Africa throughout the pandemic? According to Sierra Leone’s health minister Austin Demby, the answers to this question “are relevant not just to us, but have implications for the greater public good.”



Some scientists argue that perhaps Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths are simply not counted in Africa and that, in fact, the pandemic’s toll has been as great on this continent as in many other parts of the world. Indeed, excess mortality data in South Africa shows that during the first two years of the pandemic, over 250,000 more people died than expected from mortality patterns in previous years. Could it be that in other countries there are similar death rates and they are not noticed and reported?



“We have not seen massive burials in Africa. If that had happened, we’d have seen it,” said Dr. Thierno Baldé, the leader of WHO’s Covid emergency response in Africa. “A death in Africa never goes unrecorded, as much as we are poor at record-keeping,” added Dr. Abdhalah Ziraba, an epidemiologist at the <a href="https://aphrc.org/">African Population and Health Research Center</a> in Nairobi, Kenya.&nbsp;



“There is a funeral, an announcement: A burial is never done within a week because it is a big event. For someone sitting in New York hypothesizing that they were unrecorded - well, we may not have the accurate numbers, but the perception is palpable. In the media, in your social circle, you know if there are deaths.”



Sierra Leone’s health minister – a trained epidemiologist – strongly agrees: “We haven’t had overflowing hospitals. We haven’t. There is no evidence that excess deaths are occurring.”&nbsp;



Some scholars argue that high temperatures, the fact that much of daily life is spent outside, the low population density in many areas, and the relatively young population could have been crucial factors that helped spare the Africans from the worst Covid outcomes. However, India has largely similar conditions, and it nearly collapsed under the Delta variant last spring, with over four million estimated deaths.



Perhaps a more plausible explanation would be that many Africans had cross-immunity from being exposed to a variety of other pathogens, including not only other coronaviruses, but also microbes causing deadlier infections such as malaria, Lassa fever, or Ebola. However, this remains an unproven hypothesis in need of investigation. Urgent research is needed to find out if and which of these pathogens might offer cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2. Clarifying this issue is critical not only for solving Africa’s mysterious relation to Covid-19, but also for the future development of better vaccines and treatments worldwide.&nbsp;



A pre-print version of the WHO seroprevalence study can be found <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.14.22270934v1.full">here</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

Why has Covid-19 largely spared Africa?

A new study led by the World Health Organization (WHO)...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a> has found that infant monkeys conceived while their mothers were naturally exposed to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aerosols-in-wildfire-smoke-can-affect-the-climate-for-days/">wildfire smoke</a> shown significant behavioral changes compared to those conceived a few days after the exposure. These findings prove the importance of timing in the effects of smoke exposure during pregnancy, and suggest that exposure to such pollutants could have similar impacts on human infants.



“I think this will have an effect on future studies of exposures in pregnancy, because we’ll know when to look,” said study senior author Bill Lasley, a professor emeritus of Population Health and Reproduction at UC Davis. According to Lasley, existing studies of environmental exposure to pollutants during pregnancy in humans are largely retrospective, since women may not even realize that they are pregnant until weeks into the first trimester.



The Camp Fire – one of the largest and deadliest wildfires in California’s history – began on November 8, 2018 and provided a natural experiment in the effects of smoke exposure. At the peak of the breeding season for rhesus macaques housed in outdoor corrals at the <a href="https://cnprc.ucdavis.edu/">California National Primate Center</a> in Davis, the smoke blanketed the area, exposing many of the pregnant monkeys.



The 89 macaques conceived around that time were born approximately six months later. The researchers divided them into 52 animals conceived on or before November 22 – which were considered to be exposed to wildfire smoke during the first trimester – and 37 that were conceived later.



According to the scientists, the smoke exposed monkey infants showed increases in markers of inflammation, reduced cortisol responses to stress, memory deficits, and more passive temperaments than those conceived later. These effects appear similar to those identified in studies of prenatal exposure to air pollution, and are probably caused by airborne hydrocarbons such as phthalates, which were found in the smoke from the Camp Fire.



Unlike in the case of other mammals, the placenta of primates such as monkeys or humans produces hormones supporting brain development through the adrenal system. “Since fetal adrenal glands are the source of cortisol and other steroids for neurologic development, which determines behaviors, a scenario of a placenta-adrenal-brain axis could be the causal pathway,” explained Professor Lasley.



Further research is needed to clarify whether smoke exposure in humans could cause similar effects. The scientists are now beginning a prospective study on women with implanted embryos as a result of in vitro fertilization, since the time of conception is exactly known if the women are incidentally exposed to wildfire smoke or other types of pollutants.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29436-9">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

Wildfire smoke exposure changes behavior of infant monkeys

A new study led by the University of California, Davis...

A 2016 study found that 22 percent of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-doubles-the-risk-of-severe-pregnancy-complications/">pregnant</a> women in Colorado had detectable levels of cannabinoids in their bodies. Research shows that exposure to cannabis, including the popular CBD products, during pregnancy put children at risk for health problems.&nbsp;



CBD is seen as non psychoactive and is advertised as helping a host of psychological issues such as anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Because CBD is seen as therapeutic and few side effects are noted, it’s used in a whole host of products from tinctures and lotions to food.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The risks of cannabinoid exposure in the womb for the children include risks of obesity, high blood sugar and behavioral problems.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We found that cannabis use during pregnancy was linked to increased fat mass percentage and fasting glucose levels in 5-year-old children,” said Dr. Brianna Moore of the <a href="https://coloradosph.cuanschutz.edu/">Colorado School of Public Health</a>. “We would encourage women to refrain from using any cannabis while pregnant or breastfeeding to minimize adverse health effects in the offspring.”



The researchers tested for cannabinoids in urine samples from 103 pregnant women, and 15 percent of those tested had detectable levels of cannabinoids in their urine. The children of the women who tested positive for cannabinoids had children with higher fat content and higher fasting glucose levels than the children of women without cannabinoids in their urine. This is clear evidence of the negative impact of using cannabinoid products when pregnant. Still yet, the scientists caution that more research is needed to fully understand the full effect caused by cannabis use in pregnant women.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“More studies are needed to understand how exposure to different cannabinoids during pregnancy may impact the offspring,” said Dr. Moore.



The research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgac101/6554396?login=false">published</a> by The Endocrine Society.&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

Prenatal exposure to cannabis linked to health risks later in life

A 2016 study found that 22 percent of pregnant women...

Light <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/noise-pollution-is-a-major-risk-factor-for-heart-attacks/">pollution</a> can be a real problem for migratory birds that fly by night. Light can attract but also confuse birds, causing them to fly into buildings and become injured or die.&nbsp;



Some migratory birds are facing more light pollution on both ends of their migrations, according to new research from scientists at the <a href="https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/">Cornell Ornithology Lab</a> and Colorado State University.



“The southeastern United States, Mexico, and especially Central America are important migration corridors," said study lead author Frank La Sorte of the Cornell Lab. "Evidence that nocturnally migrating birds are encountering increasing light pollution levels within these regions is concerning. Birds largely avoid light during the breeding and non-breeding season. During migration, however, these associations break down as birds travel across a wide range of habitats, including populated areas that contain higher light pollution levels."



Although light pollution is decreasing in some parts of the Americas, the researchers found an increase in about 16 percent of the land area of the western hemisphere. By contrast, only seven percent of the area had a decline in light pollution.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Using eBird, a popular citizen science web service, the scientists looked into the occurrence of 42 species of migratory birds. The bird occurrences were then correlated with light pollution data collected by satellite over 22 years.&nbsp;



The scientists found that all of the birds experienced increases in light pollution, with birds migrating through Central America facing the greatest increases. Conversely, birds living year round in the northeastern US had the smallest amounts of light pollution increases, in fact much of this region has decreased in light pollution.&nbsp;



"Reversing light pollution trends in Central America, especially during the spring, and launching Lights Out programs during intense migration periods could save a substantial number of migrating birds," said study co-author Kyle Horton of Colorado State University. “Reversing light pollution trends in the southeastern United States during the summer breeding season and in Central America during the winter non-breeding season would generate the greatest benefits outside of migration periods."



The researchers hope that by identifying the biggest problem areas of light pollution, a plan might be developed to help migratory birds facing too much light.&nbsp;



The study was published in the journal <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21508925">Ecosphere</a>.&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

Light pollution is a growing issue for migratory birds

Light pollution can be a real problem for migratory birds...

According to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/university/">University of Bonn</a>, some species of fish such as cichlids and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/protruding-eyes-and-snout-improve-stingray-hydrodynamics/">stingrays</a> can perform simple additions and subtractions in the number range of one to five. Although it is not yet known what the animals need their mathematical abilities for, these findings provide strong evidence that fish may have more complex cognitive skills than scientists previously thought.



Researchers have long known that cichlids and stingrays can detect small quantities of objects precisely, and presumably without counting. For instance, they can be easily trained to reliably distinguish quantities of three from quantities of four. However, it appears that both species can even calculate.&nbsp;



“We trained the animals to perform simple additions and subtractions,” said study lead author Vera Schluessel, a professor of Zoology at Bonn. “In doing so, they had to increase or decrease an initial value by one.”



In order to do this, Professor Schluessel and her colleagues used a method that has previously been employed to test the mathematical abilities of bees. They presented the fish with a collection of geometric shapes, such as four squares. The color of the objects signified the arithmetical operation that needed to be performed: blue for addition, and yellow for subtraction.



After showing them the initial group of objects, such as four squares, the fish were presented with two new pictures – one with three and one with five squares. If they swam to the correct picture (for instance to the one with five squares in the “blue” arithmetic task), they were rewarded with food. Over a period of time, they learned to associate the blue color with an increase of one in the amount shown at the beginning, and the yellow number with a decrease of one. Moreover, the fish managed to reliably perform these operations even if the groups of objects were formed of different shapes, such as one triangle, two squares, and one circle.



“So the animals had to recognize the number of objects depicted and at the same time infer the calculation rule from their color,” said Professor Schluessel. “They had to keep both in working memory when the original picture was exchanged for the two result pictures. And they had to decide on the correct result afterwards. Overall, it's a feat that requires complex thinking skills.”



These results are highly surprising, especially considering the fact that fish do not have a neocortex (the part of the brain responsible for complex cognitive tasks in mammals), and confirm the fact that humans often tend to underestimate other animal species, such as fish, which “are quite far down in our favor – and of little concern when dying in the brutal practices of the commercial fishing industry,” according to Professor Schluessel.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07552-2">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

Fish are able to perform simple mathematics

According to a new study led by the University of...

When famous dinosaur fossil hunter Barnum Brown discovered the first <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/were-there-three-distinct-species-of-tyrannosaurus-rex/">Tyrannosaurus Rex</a> fossils in 1900, he thought its arms were too short to belong to the skeleton. His colleague, Henry Fairfield Osborn, who first described and named this specimen, argued that the short arms may have been “pectoral claspers,” or limbs that hold females in place during copulation - which is analogous to how some sharks’ or rays’ pelvic claspers function.&nbsp;



Since then, the shortness of T.rex’s limbs remained a highly debated issue, with scientists proposing various hypotheses, including waving for mate attraction or social signaling, serving as an anchor to allow the dinosaur to get up from the ground, holding down prey, or stabbing enemies. Some paleontologists even claimed that the arms had no function at all.



In a new study, Kevin Padian – a distinguished emeritus professor of Integrative Biology at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, and a curator at the <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/">UC Museum of Paleontology</a> – has proposed a new hypothesis, which he formulated after other paleontologists unearthed evidence that T.rex often hunted in packs, rather than singly, as depicted in many pictures and dioramas.



“Several important quarry sites unearthed in the past 20 years preserve adult and juvenile tyrannosaurs together,” Professor Padian said. “We can’t really assume that they lived together or even died together. We only know that they were buried together. But when you find several sites with the same animals, that’s a stronger signal. And the possibility, which other researchers have already raised, is that they were hunting in groups.”&nbsp;



According to Padian, T.rex’s arms might have shrank in length over several generations in order to prevent accidental or intentional amputation when a pack of T.rexes converged on a carcass with their huge heads and massive, bone-crushing teeth.



“What if several adult tyrannosaurs converged on a carcass? You have a bunch of massive skulls, with incredibly powerful jaws and teeth, ripping and chomping down flesh and bone right next to you. What if your friend there thinks you’re getting a little too close? They might warn you away by severing your arm,” explained Professor Padian.



&nbsp;“Bite wounds on the skull and other parts of the skeleton are well known in tyrannosaurs and other carnivorous dinosaurs. If fewer bite marks were found on the reduced limbs, it could be a sign that reduction worked,” he added.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://app.pan.pl/article/item/app009212021.html">Acta Paleontologica Polonica</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

Why are Tyrannosaurus Rex’s arms so short?

When famous dinosaur fossil hunter Barnum Brown discovered the first...

In 2014 Robert Dudley, a professor of Integrative Biology at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> wrote a famous book proposing the so-called “drunken monkey” hypothesis of how humans’ attraction to alcohol emerged and evolved. According to Dudley, our love of alcohol arose millions of years ago, when our ape and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/monkey-sperm-cells-could-treat-human-infertility/">monkey</a> ancestors discovered that the scent of alcohol led them to ripe, fermenting, and highly nutritious fruits. A new study, in which Professor Dudley collaborated with primatologists from <a href="https://www.csun.edu/">California State University, Northridge</a> (CSUN), provides further evidence that this hypothesis may be true.&nbsp;



The researchers collected fruit eaten and discarded by black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Panama and found that the alcohol concentration in the fruit was typically between one and two percent by volume – a by-product of natural fermentation caused by yeasts that consume the sugars from ripening fruits. Moreover, the scientists also collected urine from these free-ranging monkeys and discovered that it contained secondary metabolites of alcohol, suggesting that the animals were actually using the alcohol for energy.



“For the first time, we have been able to show, without a shadow of a doubt, that wild primates, with no human interference, consume fruit-containing ethanol,” said study lead author Christina Campbell, a professor of Anthropology at CSUN. “This is just one study, and more need to be done, but it looks like there may be some truth to that ‘drunken monkey’ hypothesis - that the proclivity of humans to consume alcohol stems from a deep-rooted affinity of frugivorous (fruit-eating) primates for naturally-occurring ethanol within ripe fruit.”



“The study is a direct test of the drunken monkey hypothesis,” added Professor Dudley. “Part one, there is ethanol in the food they're eating, and they're eating a lot of fruit. Then, part two, they're actually metabolizing alcohol - secondary metabolites, ethyl glucuronide, and ethyl sulfate are coming out in the urine. What we don't know is how much of it they're eating and what the effects are behaviorally and physiologically. But it's confirmatory.”



According to Dudley and his colleagues, the monkeys consume fermented fruits for the calories, and probably do not feel much the inebriating effects of alcohol that humans appreciate. This need for highly caloric intake may similarly have influenced human ancestors’ decisions in choosing which fruits to eat. This idea that humans’ natural affinity for alcohol is inherited from our primate ancestors could help society better understand and deal with the adverse consequences of alcohol abuse.



“Excessive consumption of alcohol, as with diabetes and obesity, can then be viewed conceptually as a disease of nutritional excess,” concluded Campbell.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211729">Royal Society Open Science</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

Humans may have inherited a love of alcohol from monkeys

In 2014 Robert Dudley, a professor of Integrative Biology at...

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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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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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



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

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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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