On September 29, 2024, something unusual happened in our cosmic neighborhood. Earth captured a tiny asteroid named 2024 PT5, turning it into a temporary mini-moon. 



That's right... as of today, November 2, 2024, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/its-official-earth-now-has-two-moons-captured-asteroid-2024-pt5/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth has two moons</a>.



Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (<a href="https://www.mit.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MIT</a>), shed some light on these fleeting celestial companions.



"These happen more often than we think, but they're small and tough to spot," Binzel explained. "Only lately have our telescopes become powerful enough to catch them regularly."



Back in August, a team of astronomers from the <a href="https://www.ucm.es/english" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Complutense University</a> of Madrid detected the small space rock using a powerful telescope in Sutherland, South Africa.



They weren't the only ones keeping an eye on it. The asteroid was first noticed on August 7, 2024 by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (<a href="https://atlas.fallingstar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ATLAS</a>) at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii.



This discovery sparked excitement among astronomers, offering a chance to learn more about <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-test-simulation-shows-earth-not-prepared-prevent-large-asteroid-strike/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">near-Earth objects</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-exactly-is-2024-pt5">What exactly is 2024 PT5?</h2>



Earth occasionally captures small asteroids like 2024 PT5, placing them into temporary orbits around our planet. 



While most asteroids circle the sun on their regular paths, some venture close enough for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earth-global-electric-field-discovered-equally-important-gravity-magnetic-fields/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth's gravity</a> to snatch them up for a brief visit.



These cosmic visitors only stay in Earth's orbit for a short time -- typically a few weeks or months -- before breaking free and resuming their solar journey.



Each mini-moon gives scientists a rare opportunity to examine <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/27500-hidden-near-earth-asteroids-discovered-using-google-cloud/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">near-Earth asteroids</a> up close, revealing valuable insights about our solar system's mechanics.



So, what makes this asteroid special, aside from the fact that new technology and the internet made it famous? 



William Blackmore, Planetarium Director and Astronomy Instructor at <a href="https://www.mhcc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mt. Hood Community College</a>, offered his thoughts.



"All mini-moons are unique in their own way," Blackmore explained. "This one isn't different from others except that it's the most recent.”



2024 PT5 will be around for about two more weeks, probably until mid-November.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comparing-2024-pt5-to-our-moon">Comparing 2024 PT5 to our moon</h2>



Let's compare our moon to this new mini-moon: 2024 PT5 is only about 37 feet across, while our familiar moon stretches a massive 2,159 miles in diameter. That makes <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-did-earth-get-its-moon-a-new-theory-has-emerged/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">our moon</a> over 300,000 times wider than this tiny asteroid.



Knowing it’s up there is pretty exciting, even though we can't see it for ourselves without an invitation to a huge Earth telescope installation.



“These temporary captures are natural cosmic laboratories,” Binzel mentioned. “They help us understand the small bodies that come close to Earth and could be important for future space missions.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-asteroid-2024-pt5-became-famous">How Asteroid 2024 PT5 became famous</h2>



Understanding how 2024 PT5 became Earth's temporary moon involves a bit of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/finding-order-in-the-chaos-of-the-three-body-problem/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">orbital mechanics</a>. 



Blackmore explained, "It's moving along with us in our orbit around the sun. It's part of a group of asteroids called the Arjuna asteroids, which move at about the same pace as Earth."



He added an interesting analogy: "Imagine a skateboarder dropping into a skate park. They ride the curves, adding energy as they go. That's like the asteroid getting caught in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dart-mission-debris-will-create-a-human-made-meteor-shower/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earth's gravitational field</a>, riding the curve before moving on."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-significance-of-spotting-mini-moons">Significance of spotting mini-moons</h2>



Spotting mini-moons is tough because they're incredibly small and faint. These tiny asteroids are often just a few dozen feet across, which means they don't reflect much sunlight. That makes them nearly invisible against the dark backdrop of space.



Plus, they're zipping around at high speeds and don't hang around for long, so by the time we point our telescopes their way, they might already be gone. 



It's like trying to catch a glimpse of a firefly from miles away -- you need the right conditions and equipment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-modern-high-tech-telescopes">Modern high-tech telescopes</h2>



Astronomers find them by using powerful telescopes equipped with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gaia-reveals-moons-around-hundreds-of-asteroids/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sensitive detectors and smart software</a>.



Projects like the ATLAS system scan the skies every night, searching for any objects that weren't there before. 



When they spot something moving in a way that suggests it's close to Earth, they alert other astronomers to help confirm the find. 



It's a collaborative effort, combining technology and teamwork to spot these elusive cosmic visitors.



Knowing more about these temporary moons helps us prepare for any potential asteroid threats and opens up possibilities for mining resources from near-Earth objects.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-in-observing-2024-pt5">Challenges in observing 2024 PT5</h2>



For those eager to see this mini-moon, both experts warned that it would be extremely difficult. "You'd need a telescope with a diameter of at least 30 inches," Blackmore mentioned. "That's beyond what most amateur astronomers have."



Todd agreed, adding, "It won't be visible to the naked eye. Being 33 feet wide and so far away, you'd need a very large telescope."



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



While 2024 PT5 doesn't pose any threat to Earth, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/is-there-a-fifth-force-of-nature-asteroids-provide-new-clues/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studying it is crucial</a>. 



"It's important to analyze how it moves and interacts with Earth's gravitational pull," Blackmore said. "This helps us refine our techniques for tracking objects that could cross our path again."



Todd highlighted the practical applications of this knowledge. 



"We need to understand how to intercept an asteroid at a distance and change its direction," he said. "This could be vital in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nasa-dart-mission-proves-humanity-can-be-saved-from-asteroid-collision/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">preventing potential impacts</a> in the future."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-inspiration-for-future-space-missions">Inspiration for future space missions</h2>



Blackmore envisioned future missions that could take advantage of these temporary visitors. 



"It would be fascinating if we had missions ready to send small satellites or probes to these objects when they come close," he mused. "Imagine building a network of sensors or cameras traveling along with us, like space webcams."



Todd also saw <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-named-psyche-is-worth-10000-quadrillion-for-whoever-can-extract-minerals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potential in asteroid mining</a> and scientific discovery. 



"There might be materials on these asteroids that we can't find on Earth," he said. "They could solve problems in medicine or technology. But we need to weigh the benefits carefully."



To sum it all up, the brief visit of asteroid 2024 PT5 serves as a reminder of the dynamic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/building-blocks-of-life-found-in-asteroids-were-formed-in-cold-regions-of-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nature of our solar system</a>. 



While it won't be with us for long -- just a couple more weeks -- its presence offers valuable opportunities for learning and exploration.



As technology advances, we'll likely spot more of these mini-moons. Each one gives us a chance to understand our cosmic environment better and prepare for the future. 



So even though you'll never see it, you might want to spare a moment of your time and stop to appreciate 2024 PT5 while you still can.



The full study was published in the&nbsp;<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad781f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">journal IOPscience</a>.



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Earth's second moon, a mini-moon, will drift away in a few days and never return

On September 29, 2024, something unusual happened in our cosmic neighborhood. Earth captured a tiny asteroid named 2024 PT5, turning it into a temporary mini-moon. That's right... as of today, November 2, 2024, Earth has two moons. Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), shed some light on these fleeting celestial companions. "These happen more often than we think, but they're small and tough to spot," Binzel explained. "Only lately have our telescopes become powerful enough to catch them regularly." Back in August,...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/snake-eating-spiders-live-on-every-continent-except-antarctica/">Spider</a> silk is known for its incredible strength. For its size, it is stronger than most man-made materials, and scientists have long dreamed of a way to synthesize it. 

Unfortunately for us humans, there are problems with synthesizing spider silk. Professor Fuzhong Zhang at the Washington University <a href="https://engineering.wustl.edu/">McKelvey School of Engineering</a> explained that there is a problem with getting the amount of nanocrystals in synthetic silk right. Nanocrystals are an important component in making the silk strong. 

“Spiders have figured out how to spin fibers with a desirable amount of nanocrystals," explained Zhang. "But when humans use artificial spinning processes, the amount of nanocrystals in a synthetic silk fiber is often lower than its natural counterpart.”

To solve this problem, Zhang’s lab created new silk genetic sequences with code that emphasized the creation of nanocrystals. 

“After our previous work, I wondered if we could create something better than spider silk using our synthetic biology platform,” said Zhang.

The newly designed protein turned out to be simpler than previous attempts at synthetic spider silk and easier for bacteria to synthesize in culture. 

The resulting fibers are tougher than steel and kevlar; they are also stronger than some spider silks. The scientists at Zhang’s lab are optimistic about what this breakthrough could mean, hoping that this research could lead to more in the near future. 

“This demonstrates that we can engineer biology to produce materials that beat the best material in nature," said Zhang.

The small project examined just three - out of thousands - of possible variations on spider silk that could be engineered to potentially improve its properties for use by humans. This means that there are likely many more high performing materials to be manufactured based on spider silk alone, not to mention the endless possibilities of tweaking thousands of other natural products in the world. 

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Fibers inspired by spider silk are stronger than steel

Spider silk is known for its incredible strength. For its...

Xerces blue butterflies were last seen alive in San Francisco in the 1940s. The decline in their population numbers, and their eventual extinction, were generally credited to advancing urban development. If this is true, then the Xerces blue butterfly was the first known example of an American <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/painted-lady-butterflies-execute-the-longest-known-insect-migration/">insect</a> species driven to extinction by human activities. 

There was, however, the chance that Xerces blue butterflies were just a subpopulation of another, more widespread species - the silvery blue butterfly. This species has many of the same traits as the Xerces blue and is still common today. 

"There was a long-standing question as to whether the Xerces blue butterfly was truly a distinct species or just a population of a very widespread species called the silvery blue that's found across the entire west coast of North America," explained Corrie Moreau, director of the Cornell University Insect Collections and contributing author to the recent research paper on the project, published in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsbl">Biology Letters</a>.

In this study, researchers analyzed the DNA of a Xerces blue specimen that was collected in 1928 and preserved in the pinned butterfly collection of the Chicago Field Museum. A very small piece of the specimen’s dried abdomen was removed with tweezers and sent to the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> Pritzker DNA Laboratory for analysis.

The results were compared with DNA extracted from recently caught silvery blue butterflies. The results showed differences in the DNA which were significant enough to confirm that Xerces blue butterflies were indeed a separate species.

"It's interesting to reaffirm that what people have been thinking for nearly 100 years is true, that this was a species driven to extinction by human activities," said study lead author Felix Grewe, co-director of the Field's Grainger Bioinformatics Center.

"We're in the middle of what's being called the insect apocalypse – massive insect declines are being detected all over the world," said Moreau. She stresses the importance of conserving insect species because they are crucial to the functioning of healthy ecosystems. 

Insects aerate the soil, which promotes plant growth and provides food for herbivores. The herbivores, along with the insects themselves, are preyed upon by predators. 

According to Felix Grewe, the study also showcases the importance of museum collections. "When this butterfly was collected 93 years ago, nobody was thinking about sequencing its DNA. That's why we have to keep collecting, for researchers 100 years in the future."

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By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

DNA evidence confirms: humans wiped out Xerces blue butterflies

Xerces blue butterflies were last seen alive in San Francisco...

Research published in the <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/jaha">Journal of the American Heart Association</a> has found that babies who were breastfed in the first few days of life had lower blood pressure as toddlers. While it is well-known that sustained and exclusive breastfeeding lowers the risk of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eating-fish-lowers-risk-of-recurrent-cardiovascular-events/">cardiovascular</a> disease in adulthood, it was not known at what stage or for how long breastfeeding should take place in order to provide this health benefit.

"This is the first study to evaluate the association of breastfeeding in the first days of life and blood pressure in early childhood," said lead study author Dr. Kozeta Miliku of McMaster University. 

Data for this study came from over 2,400 children (born between 2009-2012) who are part of the ongoing Canadian CHILD Cohort Study. The experts focused on factors that affect the health and development of children. 

The children’s early feeding records were collected from hospitals and divided into three categories of breastfeeding. The overwhelming majority (98 percent) of children were breastfed to some extent; this includes four percent who received only limited breast feeding while in the hospital and none thereafter. Only two percent of children received no breastfeeding at all.

The researchers found that, at three years of age, blood pressure was lower in children who had been breastfed than in those who had not. This result was irrespective of the child’s body mass index, the duration of breastfeeding or whether the child received other nutrition at the same time.

Even the children who had only been breastfed for a few days before leaving hospital showed a lower average blood pressure. This indicates that the benefits to the cardiovascular system are derived from breastfeeding in the very first few days of life. 

"Our study suggests that for cardiovascular outcomes such as blood pressure, even a brief period of breastfeeding is beneficial,” said study senior author Dr. Meghan B. Azad, who is an associate professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of Manitoba.

“This points to colostrum as a key factor in shaping developmental processes during the newborn period. For many reasons, sustained breastfeeding should be strongly supported, and it is also important to understand that 'every drop counts,' especially in those critical first few days of life."

---

By <a href="http://bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Just a few days of breastfeeding can lower baby's blood pressure

Research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association...

New research from <a href="https://www.ohsu.edu/">Oregon Health &amp; Science University</a> suggests that older people have less antibodies to fight <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-antibodies-persist-for-at-least-nine-months/">COVID-19</a>. The scientists measured the immune response of fifty people two weeks after their second dose of COVID-19 vaccination.

Among test groups, people in their twenties had about seven times the response to vaccination compared to people between 72 and 80 years of age. The lab results produced a clear pattern - the younger a participant, the stronger the antibody response.

Study senior author Dr. Fikadu Tafesse is an assistant professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the OHSU School of Medicine.

"Our older populations are potentially more susceptible to the variants even if they are vaccinated," said Dr. Tafesse.

The researchers stress that even though there is less of an immune response in older people to the COVID vaccine, it is usually still enough to be effective. 

Older people are more susceptible to coronavirus variants than younger people, making the situation even more dangerous. 

There is a solution, scientists say. Vaccination, they point out, is key to ending the pandemic. Although seniors are less protected by the vaccine, vaccination can stop the spread of the virus, thus protecting everyone, older and younger. 

"The vaccine still produces strong immune responses compared with natural infection in most older individuals, even if they are lower than their younger counterparts," said study co-author Dr. Marcel Curlin.

"Vaccination in this group may make the difference between serious and mild disease, and likely reduces the chances of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to another person."

"The good news is that our vaccines are really strong," noted Dr. Tafesse.

Even if an older person contracts COVID-19 after being vaccinated, the vaccine provides some protection and can be the difference between mild symptoms and something much more serious. 

The study is published in the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/">Journal of the American Medical Association</a>.

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Our body's immune response weakens with age

New research from Oregon Health &amp; Science University suggests that...

High levels of air pollutants alongside racial and social disparities can drastically increase the severity of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-antibodies-persist-for-at-least-nine-months/">COVID-19</a> symptoms and chances of mechanical ventilation, according to a recent study presented during the <a href="https://www.eccmid.org/">European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases</a> (ECCMID). 

The air we breathe is polluted by a number of sources - gases emitted by industry, the cars we drive, lead paint, and wastewater discharge can all contribute to ambient air pollution. Inhalation of fine particulate matter under 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) can be particularly damaging, causing inflammation and enhanced stress to the respiratory system. 

By that metric, Detroit is the 12th most polluted city in the USA, per the American Lung Association. This recent study, conducted across multiple health centers, reports that the greater the exposure, the greater the risk. Often, populations that are already at risk are more likely to live in areas with high ambient air pollution. 

The researchers, focusing on cases in the Henry Ford Health System, looked at data from 2,039 adult COVID-19 hospitalizations between March 12 and April 14 of 2020, with data collected through May 27. 

By also collecting data on where patients lived, alongside their proximity to sources of air pollutants, the authors’ findings show patients who were black, male, obese, or with long-term health conditions who also lived in areas with high levels of PM2.5 were far more likely to be hospitalized and require mechanical ventilation. 

"Our study calls attention to the systemic inequalities that may have led to the stark differences in COVID-19 outcomes along racial and ethnic lines. communities of colour are more likely to be located in areas closer to industrial pollution, and to work in businesses that expose them to air pollution," explained study co-author Dr. Anita Shallal.

This corroborates previous studies into the relationship between race and health. In 2010, the American College of Physicians - a group of over 129,000 healthcare experts - reported that “overwhelming evidence shows that racial and ethnic minorities are prone to poorer quality health care than white Americans,” and that these disparities are rooted in “a number of societal determinants,” notably including exposure to air pollutants. 

While correlation does not necessarily prove causation, this growing body of evidence illustrates how interconnected the issues of health and race are in American society, and will hopefully provide a way forward for healthcare providers and policy makers. 

"The key takeaway is that living in a more polluted neighborhood is an independent risk factor for severity of COVID-19 disease," said Dr. Shallal. 

"Urgent further research is needed to guide policy and environmental protection, to minimise the impact of COVID-19 in highly industrialised communities that are home to our most vulnerable residents."

The research was presented at the <a href="https://www.eccmid.org/">European Congress of Clinical Microbiology &amp; Infectious Diseases (ECCMID)</a>.

---

By <a href="http://rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Air pollution exposure drastically worsens COVID-19 infection

High levels of air pollutants alongside racial and social disparities...

For climatologists, one of the biggest unknowns in predicting anthropogenic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-damage-by-wild-pigs-is-worse-than-a-million-cars/">climate</a> change is the effect of clouds. Now, a new study led by researchers at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> suggests that cloud feedback amplifies global heating. 

One of the goals of climatology is to model Earth’s climate and simulate how it may change. With the complex effects of anthropogenic climate change looming, one of the most important indicators that experts can use to predict global warming is known as "climate sensitivity." 

This particular index tells us how the planet’s thermostat will adjust when we double our pre-industrial carbon dioxide level of 240 parts per million (ppm). The higher that number, the warmer the planet gets. 

For those keeping score at home, we’re currently sitting at 420 ppm, with that number increasing about 2.5 ppm every year, according to the American Meteorological Society’s 2019 State of the Climate.

"The value of the climate sensitivity is highly uncertain, and this translates into uncertainty in future global warming projections and in the remaining 'carbon budget' - how much we can emit before we reach common targets of 1.5°C or 2°C of global warming," explained study co-author Dr. Paulo Ceppi.

Clouds that float closer to the ground tend to have a cooling effect, because they keep sunlight from directly reaching the Earth. Clouds higher up in the atmosphere let sunlight hit the ground, while also trapping energy emitted from our planet - enhancing the greenhouse effect. 

In collaboration with study co-author Dr. Peer Nowack, Dr. Ceppi looked at temperature and cloud cover data from satellite measurements. They used this data in a statistical learning analysis, a machine learning program that attempts to predict behavior from raw data. The program tells the researchers how clouds will react to a warming climate. 

"There's been a growing amount of evidence that clouds probably have an amplifying effect on global warming," said Dr. Nowack. "However, our new approach allowed us for the first time to derive a global value for this feedback effect using only the highest quality satellite data as our preferred line of evidence.”

The prognosis is not promising. The study found with more than 97.5 percent probability that clouds will exacerbate the warming of the planet by enhancing the greenhouse effect and by reflecting less sunlight. According to the researchers’ model, this will ultimately raise the global mean temperature by 3.2°C.

"Our paper makes a major step towards narrowing the most important uncertainty factor in climate sensitivity projections," said Dr. Nowack. "As such, our work also highlights a new pathway in which machine learning methods can help us constrain the key remaining uncertainty factors in climate science." 

The experts hope that by specifying those constraints, they can better estimate the future effects of global warming.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="http://rugerpaleo@gmail.com">Alex Ruger</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Clouds have an amplifying effect on global warming

For climatologists, one of the biggest unknowns in predicting anthropogenic...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.osu.edu/">Ohio State University</a>, experts have found 15,000-year-old viruses preserved in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/last-ice-refuge-of-the-arctic-may-soon-be-gone/">ice</a> from the Tibetan Plateau in China. The experts report that most of the microbes are previously unknown to science.

For their investigation, the researchers created a method of analyzing microbes in ice without the risk of contamination. The findings may ultimately shed new light on how viruses have evolved over centuries. 

"These glaciers were formed gradually, and along with dust and gases, many, many viruses were also deposited in that ice," said study lead author Zhi-Ping Zhong. "The glaciers in western China are not well-studied, and our goal is to use this information to reflect past environments. And viruses are a part of those environments."

The ice cores examined for the study were collected in 2015 from the Guliya ice cap in western China. The cores originated at the summit of Guliya, which sits at an altitude of 22,000 feet above sea level. 

After dating the ice cores back 15,000 years, the team found the genetic codes for 33 viruses - only four of which have been previously identified. 

"These are viruses that would have thrived in extreme environments," said study co-author Professor Matthew Sullivan. "These viruses have signatures of genes that help them infect cells in cold environments - just surreal genetic signatures for how a virus is able to survive in extreme conditions."

According to Professor Sullivan, the genetic signatures were not easy to pull out. He said that the method developed by the team to decontaminate the cores and to study microbes could help us search for the genetic sequences in other extreme icy environments - like on Mars or the moon. 

The results of the analysis suggest that the viruses likely originated with soil or plants, not with animals or humans.

"We know very little about viruses and microbes in these extreme environments, and what is actually there," said study senior author Professor Lonnie Thompson. 

"The documentation and understanding of that is extremely important: How do bacteria and viruses respond to climate change? What happens when we go from an ice age to a warm period like we're in now?"

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/">Microbiome</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

15,000-year-old viruses found in Tibetan ice

In a new study from Ohio State University, experts have...

During the height of the COVID <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ozone-pollution-dropped-dramatically-during-pandemic/">pandemic</a>, and even now when some countries seem to see light at the end of the tunnel, disposable masks are more expensive and harder to find due to increased demand. 

It should come as no surprise that all those little paper products wreak havoc on the environment, especially with more of them circulating than ever before.  

The pandemic is responsible for an estimated 7,200 tons of medical waste every day. Much of that waste comes in the form of disposable masks. Even now, many healthcare workers must wear masks at all times during work. 

A new study from the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> shows that financial and environmental costs could be drastically reduced by switching to reusable masks. 

"Perhaps unsurprisingly, the approaches that incorporate reusable aspects stand to have not only the greatest cost savings, but also significant reduction in waste," explained study senior author Professor Giovanni Traverso.

"Our vision was that if we had a reusable system, we could reduce the cost. The majority of disposable masks also have a significant environmental impact, and they take a very long time to degrade."

 "During a pandemic, there's a priority to protect people from the virus, and certainly that remains a priority, but for the longer term, we have to catch up and do the right thing, and strongly consider and minimize the potential negative impact on the environment."

The experts have been developing reusable silicone masks with filters that are disposable or can be sterilized after exposure as a way to reduce cost, environmental impact and as a response to short supplies. 

Ultimately, the researchers envision a system like this becoming more widespread as a way to protect people with less environmental impact and fincancial cost.  

"Masks are here to stay for the foreseeable future, so it's critical that we incorporate sustainability into their use, as well as the use of other disposable personal protective equipment that contribute to medical waste," said study lead author Dr. Jacequline Chu.

The study is published in the <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/">British Medical Journal Open</a>.

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

&nbsp;

Addressing the environmental impact of disposable masks

During the height of the COVID pandemic, and even now...

Coffee and caffeine in general have been suspected of causing heart arrhythmias, but the results of a new study suggest that this reputation is unwarranted. In fact, the research shows that coffee consumption may even lower the risk of arrhythmias and other common heart ailments. 

Study lead author Dr. Gregory Marcus is a professor of Medicine at <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">UCSF</a> who specializes in the treatment of heart arrhythmias.

"Coffee is the primary source of caffeine for most people, and it has a reputation for causing or exacerbating arrhythmias," said Dr. Marcus. "But we found no evidence that caffeine consumption leads to a greater risk of arrhythmias."

The research was focused on data in the UK Biobank involving 386,258 coffee drinkers - a larger sample size than any previous study of its kind. 

“Our population-based study provides reassurance that common prohibitions against caffeine to reduce arrhythmia risk are likely unwarranted," said Dr. Marcus.

The experts used genetics to account for people that naturally metabolize caffeine faster. Overall, they said that higher amounts of coffee were actually associated with a three percent reduced risk of developing an arrhythmia.

The study authors admit there are some limitations to their research. For example, self-reported data is not the most reliable. This means that even with a massive sample size, further research is needed to confirm the effect of coffee on heart health. Dr. Marcus still emphasizes the evidence found in the research. 

"Only a randomized clinical trial can definitively demonstrate clear effects of coffee or caffeine consumption...But our study found no evidence that consuming caffeinated beverages increased the risk of arrhythmia." 

"Coffee's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may play a role, and some properties of caffeine could be protective against some arrhythmias."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine">JAMA International Medicine</a>.

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By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Coffee may lower the risk of heart problems

Coffee and caffeine in general have been suspected of causing...

In a new study from <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/">Lancaster University</a>, experts report that climate change threatens food security for millions of people in countries that depend the most on the fishing industry. The study revealed that the increasing strain of climate change and overfishing will impact the availability of micronutrients that come from our oceans.

The researchers analyzed the future distribution and abundance of more than 800 fish species in 157 countries. These fish are a critical source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, iron, zinc, and calcium. 

When it comes to the availability of these essential micronutrients from marine fish catches, the experts found that climate change poses the biggest threat.

The study reveals that climate change threatens the supply of vital micronutrients from fisheries in 40 percent of countries. The micronutrient supplies were found to be less vulnerable to overfishing.

Countries with micronutrient sources that are most at risk are tropical nations, including Malaysia, Cambodia, and Indonesia. The Sub-Saharan African countries of Mozambique and Sierra Leone were also found to be particularly at risk.

"As climate change and overfishing are significant and growing pressures on global fish stocks, it is essential for the dietary requirements of millions of people to know the extent that these pressures will have on the availability of micronutrients in our seas in the future," said study lead author Dr. Eva Maire.

"We have shown that climate change is the most pervasive threat to the supply of vital micronutrients for many countries around the world, and in particular in the tropics."

According to the researchers, some countries may be able to adapt their fisheries to switch from vulnerable species and instead target alternative micronutrient-rich species that are also resilient to both climate change and overfishing.

"As well as highlighting the growing threat of climate change to the food security of millions of people, our study also offers hope for the future," said study co-author Professor William Cheung from the University of British Columbia.

"Armed with nutritional information about different fish species, many countries have the capacity to adapt their fisheries policies to target different more resilient fish species. By doing this then these nations can ensure a more reliable supply of micronutrients for their people."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

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By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Climate change threatens vital micronutrients from fisheries

In a new study from Lancaster University, experts report that...

Fresh,Tomato

New research published by <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/">Frontiers</a> has found something very interesting. A certain variety of tomato has fruits that can use chemical and hormonal signaling to notify the rest of the plant when they're attacked by caterpillars. 

"We usually forget that a plant's fruits are living and semiautonomous parts of their mother-plants, far more complex than we currently think," said Dr. Gabriela Niemeyer Reissig of the Federal University of Pelotas.

"Since fruits are part of the plant, made of the same tissues of the leaves and stems, why couldn't they communicate with the plant, informing it about what they are experiencing, just like regular leaves do?"

"What we found is that fruits can share important information such as caterpillar attacks--which is a serious issue for a plant--with the rest of the plant, and that can probably prepare other parts of the plant for the same attack."

To study signaling of tomato plants, the researchers measured the electrical responses of the plant before, during and after herbivory by insects for a 24 hour period. The signals before and after the caterpillars munched on the tomatoes were different, showing that some sort of electrical signaling was taking place. 

The results showed an overall picture of signaling, not a narrow view of specific signals. However, the techniques used in the study can be replicated for a closer look in the future. Dr. Reissig is hopeful this study will lead to more research and important results,   

"If studies like ours continue to advance and the techniques for measuring electrical signals in open environments continue to improve, it will be possible to detect infestation of agricultural pests quite early, allowing for less aggressive control measures and more accurate insect management," said Dr. Reissig.

"Understanding how the plant interacts with its fruits, and the fruits among themselves, may bring insights about how to 'manipulate' this communication for enhancing fruit quality, resistance to pests and shelf life after harvest."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems">Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems</a>.

---

By <a href="http://zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tomato fruit warns the rest of the plant when attacked

New research published by Frontiers has found something very interesting....

Giant Galapagos tortoises that live in human-dominated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/success-of-rewilding-efforts-depends-on-the-landscape/">landscapes</a> have increased levels of antibiotic resistance, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.ucm.es/">Universidad Complutense de Madrid</a>.

The experts found that the number of bacteria with resistant genes was higher in tortoises who had human contact compared to those that live in more isolated ecosystems.

"Human activities are facilitating the dispersal of resistance into the environment, which has already been observed in other parts of the world, but which has never been demonstrated on the Galapagos Islands," said study lead author Ainoa Nieto.

According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to public health. The WHO estimates that by 2050, resistance to antibiotics could cause more deaths than cancer, diabetes, or traffic accidents. 

The new study has detected antibiotic resistant bacteria in the Galapagos archipelago for the first time.

For their investigation, the researchers collected samples from 270 tortoises in two Galapagos sites with different characteristics - the island of Santa Cruz, which has the largest human population, and the remote volcano of Alcedo on the island Isabela.

Overall, 21 genes were analysed that codify resistance for eight of the antibiotic families most commonly used in human and animal medicine.

"We don't know the real implications that this discovery could have for the health of giant tortoises, but resistance is considered environmental pollution, and the fact that species as iconic as Galapagos tortoises are entering into contact with these resistant bacteria implies that the ecosystem in which they live is being contaminated," explained study co-author Casilda Rodríguez.

The researchers said their findings suggest that human activities in Galapagos have a negative impact on ecosystem health through the dispersal of antimicrobial resistant genes.

"This research highlights a new threat for the health and conservation of the unique wildlife of the Galapagos, their ecosystems, and the humans inhabiting this World Heritage Site," wrote the study authors.

"Our recommendation to local policy makers is to control and reduce the use of antibiotics in both human and animal health, thus helping enforce antimicrobial regulations."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environmental-pollution">Environmental Pollution</a>.

---

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Antibiotic resistance found in giant tortoises of Galapagos

Giant Galapagos tortoises that live in human-dominated landscapes have increased...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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

Cavefish are healthy despite their sedentary lifestyle

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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Earth Observatory&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites capture the world's biggest and fastest waves

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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

Satellites have become essential to our survival

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