Meditation has long been associated with relaxation and mental clarity. Many cultures have used it for centuries to promote emotional balance and spiritual growth. Modern science is now beginning to reveal the biological effects of meditation, particularly its benefits for the brain.



A recent study by researchers at the <a href="https://icahn.mssm.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Icahn School of Medicine</a> at Mount Sinai provides remarkable insights into how meditation affects brain activity.



By using advanced brain recording techniques, the study highlights how meditation influences key brain regions responsible for emotional regulation and memory. 



The findings offer a new understanding of how meditation might <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mindfulness-meditation-is-a-powerful-weapon-against-chronic-pain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">support mental well-being</a> and contribute to potential therapies for mood disorders.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-brain-s-response-to-meditation">Brain’s response to meditation</h2>



For years, scientists have explored the connection between meditation and brain function. While previous research linked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-deep-meditation-experiences-feel-timeless-no-past-no-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meditation</a> to improved mental health, the exact neural mechanisms remained unclear. This study aimed to address that gap by focusing on deep brain activity during meditation.



The researchers used intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings to examine brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus.



These two regions play a major role in processing emotions and forming memories. By analyzing brain waves, scientists could observe the immediate impact of meditation at a neural level.



The study was led by Christina Maher, a neuroscience PhD student at Mount Sinai. 



“Traditionally, it has been challenging to study these deep limbic brain regions in humans using standard methods like scalp EEG," noted Maher.



"Our team was able to overcome this challenge by leveraging data collected from a unique patient population: epilepsy patients with surgically implanted devices that allow for chronic EEG recording from electrodes implanted deep in the amygdala and hippocampus."



“It was quite amazing to uncover changes in brain wave activity in these key regions, even during first-time meditation.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-impact-of-meditation">Impact of meditation</h2>



To conduct this research, scientists worked with eight neurosurgical patients who suffered from drug-resistant epilepsy. These individuals had responsive neurostimulation devices implanted in their brains, allowing for continuous monitoring of deep brain activity. 



Unlike traditional scalp EEG, which only records surface-level activity, these implants provided a more precise and detailed view of brain function.



The participants had little prior experience with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/transcendental-meditation-using-the-power-of-the-mind-to-heal-trauma/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meditation</a>. Before the experiment, they completed a five-minute audio-guided introduction. They then engaged in ten minutes of “loving kindness” meditation, a practice that involves focusing on thoughts of well-being for oneself and others. 



Afterward, the individuals rated their depth of meditation on a scale of 1 to 10. The average reported score was 7.43, indicating that even first-time meditators could engage meaningfully with the practice.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meditation-s-influence-on-brain-waves">Meditation’s influence on brain waves</h2>



One of the key discoveries of the study involved changes in specific brain waves. 



Scientists focused on beta and gamma waves, which are linked to attention, memory, and emotional processing. These waves play a crucial role in mental health and are often affected in conditions such as anxiety and depression.



Study senior author Dr. Ignacio Saez is an associate professor of neuroscience at Mount Sinai.



“We found that loving kindness <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meditation-reveals-common-altered-states-of-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meditation</a> is associated with changes in the strength and duration of certain types of brain waves called beta and gamma waves,” said Dr. Saez.



“These kinds of brain waves are affected in mood disorders like depression and anxiety, so the possibility of being able to willfully control these through meditation is pretty amazing, and may help explain the positive impact that these practices have on individuals.”



This finding suggests that meditation might offer a natural way to regulate mood and improve mental health. By engaging in meditation, individuals could potentially strengthen their ability to control emotional responses, reducing stress and anxiety over time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-creating-a-real-world-meditation-environment">Creating a real-world meditation environment</h2>



One of the study’s unique aspects was its setting. Instead of conducting the research in a traditional hospital or laboratory environment, scientists used the Quantitative Biometrics Laboratory at Mount Sinai West. 



This space was designed to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere, free from the distractions commonly found in medical facilities.



By allowing participants to meditate in a naturalistic setting, the researchers improved the study’s ecological validity. This means the results are more likely to reflect real-world experiences.



The ability to observe brain activity in such an environment strengthens the case for meditation as a practical tool for mental well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions</h2>



While the findings are promising, the study had certain limitations. The sample size was small, with only eight participants. The study also focused on a single meditation session rather than tracking the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mindfulness-training-improves-mental-resilience/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">effects of long-term practice</a>. 



More research is needed to determine whether these changes in brain activity persist over time and how repeated meditation might strengthen these effects.



“This study provides a foundation for future research that could contribute to developing meditation-based interventions to help individuals modulate brain activity in areas involved in memory and emotional regulation,” said Dr. Saez. 



“Meditation is noninvasive, widely accessible, and doesn’t require specialized equipment or medical resources, making it an easy-to-use tool for improving mental well-being." 



"However, it is crucial to note that meditation is not a replacement for traditional therapies. Instead, it could serve as a complementary low-cost option for individuals experiencing challenges with memory or emotional regulation.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-steps-in-meditation-and-brain-research">Next steps in meditation and brain research</h2>



The Mount Sinai research team plans to build on these findings by conducting follow-up studies. Future research will explore the connection between brain activity and mental health outcomes. 



Scientists aim to determine whether meditation can produce lasting changes in mood and emotional regulation.



A key focus will be understanding how ongoing meditation practice influences brain function over time. If researchers can establish a link between meditation and long-term mental well-being, this could open the door to new therapeutic applications. 



Meditation could become a widely recommended practice for individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, or cognitive difficulties.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-role-of-meditation-in-mental-health">Role of meditation in mental health</h2>



As scientific interest in meditation grows, more studies will likely explore its impact on the brain. The ability to measure brain activity in real time provides valuable insights into how meditation shapes neural processes. If future research confirms these effects, meditation could become a mainstream tool for improving mental health.



For now, this study serves as a compelling starting point. It demonstrates that even a brief meditation session can produce measurable changes in brain activity. 



As researchers continue to investigate meditation’s potential, individuals seeking mental clarity and emotional balance may find encouragement in these findings. 



Meditation, long regarded as a practice for personal well-being, may soon be recognized as a powerful tool for enhancing brain function and emotional resilience.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409423122" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.



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Meditation rewires the emotional centers of the brain

Meditation has long been associated with relaxation and mental clarity. Many cultures have used it for centuries to promote emotional balance and spiritual growth. Modern science is now beginning to reveal the biological effects of meditation, particularly its benefits for the brain. A recent study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provides remarkable insights into how meditation affects brain activity. By using advanced brain recording techniques, the study highlights how meditation influences key brain regions responsible for emotional regulation and memory. The...

Changing climate, with associated increasing global temperatures and more severe droughts in places, has created favorable conditions for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-will-increase-by-50-percent-by-the-end-of-the-century/">wildfires</a> over the past few decades. Large-scale fires in Australia, Brazil and California in the past two years have highlighted this phenomenon and drawn the world’s attention to the plight of forests around the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Studies have shown changing fire dynamics across the globe due to both changes in climate and changes in land use by humans. However, when scientists try to assess the global trends in fire-related forest loss, they are faced by a lack of globally consistent methodology in measuring this variable, as well as the problem that some satellite maps used have a course resolution (375&nbsp;m for VIIRS and 1&nbsp;km for MODIS)&nbsp;that does not allow discrimination between forest wildfires and burns on agricultural lands at the forest fringes.&nbsp;



“In the case of the Amazonian fires of 2019, there was no clear information on what exactly was burning: forests or previously deforested areas that had been converted to pasture and cropland,” explained Dr Alexandra Tyukavina, of the University of Maryland.&nbsp;“Even I, as a geographer, was terrified reading all the headlines that seemed to imply that the last patch of the Amazonian rainforest was on fire, which was not true.”



No high-resolution global satellite-based assessment of forest loss due to fire, employing consistent definitions and methods across biomes, has been available to date. In order to address this information gap, Tyukavina and her colleagues have developed the first ever 30m resolution (a 30 meter pixel represents a square patch of the land with a 30m side) global map of forest loss due to wildfires between 2001 and 2019. The study was published recently in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/remote-sensing">Frontiers in Remote Sensing</a>.



In their study, they defined forest loss as the removal of woody vegetation over five meters in height, and distinguished between forest loss due to fires and forest loss due to other factors such as agriculture (mechanical clearing of forests), floods, and hurricanes.&nbsp;They report the annual estimates of forest loss due to fire, and their trend between 2001 and 2019, globally and by climate domain within each region/continent. In addition, they analyzed trends in fire loss in tropical primary forests separately, because these forests have a high biodiversity and ecosystem service value.



“We have been producing the global forest loss map and updating it annually since 2013, but we did not attribute drivers of forest loss. This means that we did not know what exactly happened to forests (fire or mechanical removal) and we didn't know whether this forest loss was temporary (for example, due to slash-and-burn farming) or long-term (deforestation),” said Tyukavina.



The new map with its more refined scale, showed that the proportion of global forest loss due to fires between 2001 and 2019 is 26 to 29 percent, which is higher than what was previously estimated. It showed relatively consistent increases in wildfires across the globe, with boreal forests having the highest proportion of forest loss (69–73 percent), followed by subtropical forests (19–22 percent), temperate forests (17–21 percent), and tropical forests (6–9 percent).



The map shows that the area of fire-related forest loss is increasing globally, but particularly within the tropical primary forests of Africa and Latin America.&nbsp; Primary forests are forests in their ‘final form’; fully grown, dense, and bursting with biodiversity. They are extremely important for the environment due to their biodiversity richness and the ecosystem services they provide.



“The map is annual, and not near-real-time, so it won't help monitoring forest fires in real time but will be useful as a historic baseline regarding the rates of forest loss due to fire,” said Tyukavina.



The researchers propose to use the map as a tool for forest management, policy and conservation program development, and climate modeling. They state that understanding more about the exact drivers of forest fires will help from the standpoint of carbon accounting and land management.



“Our new map is a good indicator of where the fires resulting in the loss of forest canopy have happened in the last two decades, and could help guide future finer-detail national, regional and local-scale studies, or tune coarser-scale global models,” concluded Tyukavina.



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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

One-third of global forest loss has been caused by wildfires

Changing climate, with associated increasing global temperatures and more severe...

Coffee ground waste may soon be used to detect <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-evidence-shows-exercise-can-actually-change-the-brain/">brain</a> activity, according to a new study from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a>. The experts have demonstrated that spent coffee grounds can be transformed into environmentally friendly electrode coatings for accessing sensitive neurochemistry measurements.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, coffee ground waste may ultimately help to detect minute levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.&nbsp;



Coffee grounds have previously been used to make supercapacitors for energy storage. Dr. Ashley Ross of the University of Cincinnati led the new study, which she says is the first example of residual coffee grounds being repurposed for biosensing applications.



“I saw papers about using spent grounds to produce porous carbon for energy storage, and I thought maybe we could use this conductive material in our neurochemistry detection work,” said Dr. Ross. “And I also thought this would be a good excuse to buy lots of coffee for the lab!”&nbsp;



Traditional microelectrodes are made from carbon fiber in a process that involves multiple steps and harsh chemicals. The goal of the ACS study is to fabricate entire electrodes with carbon from coffee grounds, which would be less expensive and much more energy efficient and eco-friendly.



"Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers released from nerve terminals between neuronal synapses to regulate brain function. Although very important, neurotransmission occurs in extremely low molar concentrations and are quite difficult to detect in-vivo. Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is an electrochemical technique which enables real-time detection of neurotransmitters at carbon fiber microelectrodes in the brain," wrote the researchers.



"Despite its utility, sensitive detection of low molar fluctuations in the brain remains difficult. Here, we are developing a carbon fiber modification method which uses porous carbon material made from waste coffee grounds for sensitive dopamine detection."



The researchers heated used, dried coffee grounds in a tube furnace at about 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, they added the material to a potassium hydroxide solution to activate the carbon and open up holes in the structure. This mixture was heated again under nitrogen gas to remove any undesired byproducts.&nbsp;



"A solution containing 2 mg/mL porous carbon material was dissolved in water and dip coated onto the carbon fiber. The oxidative current was compared before and after electrode modification," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;



"Overall, we demonstrate the use and synthesis of porous carbon material from waste coffee grounds to improve the sensitivity, limits of detection, and electron transfer rate for catecholamine detection with FSCV."



According to the experts, the electrodes coated with the material reached oxidative current levels that were more than three times higher than carbon fibers in the presence of dopamine. The technique is fast enough to detect neurotransmitter release as quickly as it happens in the brain.



Dr. Ross predicts that making carbon fiber electrodes from scratch with porous carbon from coffee grounds will boost their neurochemical detection abilities because an even larger total surface area of the electrode will be exposed to adsorb the dopamine molecules.&nbsp;



The research will be presented at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2022.



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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

Spent coffee grounds can be used to detect brain activity

Coffee ground waste may soon be used to detect brain...

Land managers have been working to restore the health of the Great Plains <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-parasite-disrupts-an-entire-ecosystem-in-the-high-andes/">ecosystem</a> through the widespread reintroduction of bison. A new study suggests that these efforts are paying off. The experts report that grazing by bison has restored bird diversity and improved the overall health of a mixed-grass prairie in Montana.



Study lead author Andy Boyce is a conservation ecologist at the <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/">Smithsonian National Zoological Park</a> and the Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center.



“We’ve known for some time that bison don’t spend as much time in wetland areas as cattle do, but what we didn’t understand was how this difference was going to influence biodiversity," said Boyce.&nbsp;



"When we looked at areas where bison were reintroduced, and compared them to similar areas with cattle, we found that the&nbsp; vegetation along small streams changed in ways that are associated with more diverse bird communities and increased use of these areas by native ungulates like white-tailed deer."



"Bison reintroduction is resulting in healthier more biodiverse riparian environments, which is great news for tons of other prairie species.”



The researchers explained that grazing by large herbivores in grassland ecosystems affects biodiversity by modifying the vegetative environment through selective consumption. To investigate whether restoration of bison is associated with increased bird diversity within a temperate grassland ecosystem, the experts focused on a mixed-grass prairie in northcentral Montana.&nbsp;



"We used a long time-series of remote sensing imagery to examine changes in riparian vegetation structure in stream networks within bison and cattle pastures. We then assessed how vegetation structure influenced diversity of bird communities and detection rates of mammals in these same riparian networks," wrote the study authors.



"We found that percent cover of woody vegetation, and native grasses and forbs increased more rapidly over time in bison pastures, and that these changes in vegetation structure were associated with increased bird diversity and cervid occupancy."



According to the researchers, the findings indicate that replacing cattle with bison could have positive impacts on vegetation and mammals.



"Furthermore, we predict that increases in riparian vegetation will be associated with increased diversity of bird communities," wrote the study authors."We also predict that deer use will increase with higher shrub and tree cover after accounting for distance to the Missouri River drainage, a forested landscape that serves as a source population for cervids."



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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

Bison can restore animal diversity and ecosystem health

Land managers have been working to restore the health of...

On March 11, 2020, the <a href="http://archive">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic. Two years later, after the development and roll-out of a series of highly effective <a href="https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/">vaccines</a> and the massive amounts of natural immunity induced by the fulminant rise of the highly contagious (but slightly less severe) Omicron variant, many countries are dropping nearly all containment measures, accepting the fact that Covid-19 will never be completely eradicated, and should be treated as an endemic disease. While parts of the world such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/omicron-wreaks-havoc-among-immunologically-naive-populations/">Hong Kong</a> are now facing their most severe outbreaks, many other countries are optimistic that the worst has passed - at least until the emergence of the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/03/new-covid-variant-mitigation/626980/">next variant</a>.



Regardless of this rather widespread optimism, a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02796-3/fulltext">The Lancet</a> paints a grim picture of Covid-19’s true death toll. While official figures claim that this disease has killed a little over six million people until now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.healthdata.org/">Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation</a> (IHME) has argued that the pandemic’s true death toll could be three times higher, reaching a total of 18 million worldwide deaths.



According to the study authors, lack of access to Covid-19 tests, patchy records of causes of death, and – in some countries – political incentives to undercount, hindered an accurate estimation of the number of deaths caused by this pandemic. Moreover, the researchers claim that people who died from delays to healthcare for other conditions caused by the pandemic should also be counted as victims of SARS-CoV-2 (although such cases don’t surpass more than 10 to 20 percent of the total of 18 million estimated deaths).&nbsp;



By calculating the excess deaths (the number of deaths over the historical average) in 74 countries and territories, and over 200 locations within countries, the scientists argued that the impact of the pandemic was seriously underestimated. “The pandemic has been much worse than anyone thinks,” said study lead author Christopher Murray, the director of IHME.



According to Murray and his colleagues, India suffered the highest number of excess deaths, estimated at 4.1 million, followed by the United States and Russia with about 1.1 million each. The excess mortality rate was highest in Russia (374.6 deaths for 100,000 inhabitants), and surpassed 300 deaths per 100,000 in 21 countries.&nbsp;



Calculating these excess deaths is important for estimating how various societies have managed the pandemic, and for better understanding what went wrong and why. “What we’ve missed is a huge toll in other parts of the world that probably would have change the urgency of things, such as scaling up vaccination in different parts of the world,” Dr. Murray said. Hopefully such highly costly mistakes will not be repeated during the remainder of this pandemic or in case other pandemics emerge.



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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

Covid-related deaths are much higher than the official count

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared...

The Brazilian Atlantic <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-trees-are-vital-to-forest-survival/">Forest</a> is a rich natural region which originally occupied over 150 million hectares along the Atlantic Coast. Today, only about 32 million hectares remain. This highly fragmented and threatened ecosystem is considered by conservationists a regeneration hotspot.&nbsp;



However, according to a new study led by an international research team from <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a>, <a href="https://www5.usp.br/english/institutional/">University of São Paulo</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ufabc.edu.br/en/">Federal University of ABC</a> in Brazil, preventing the re-clearing of second-growth forests is a major challenge for restoration efforts in this area and other tropical regions. The researchers found that a third of regenerating areas in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest were sadly cut down again after just four to eight years of regeneration.



The scientists have analyzed detailed land use cover data from 1985 to 2019 to track the fate of over 4.5 million hectares of regenerated forest and discovered that only 3.1 million hectares persisted until 2019. “While the persistence of two-thirds of regenerated forest in the region casts a positive outlook for the biome’s conservation, the short life span of regenerated forests emerges as a new challenge for restoration efforts in the region,” said study lead author Pedro Ribeiro Piffer, a doctoral student at Columbia.



Moreover, while natural forest regeneration is considered a cost-effective strategy for countries to meet their ecological restoration and carbon sequestration goals, the ephemeral nature of these regrown forests significantly limits the biodiversity and carbon storage benefits of regeneration.



“Carbon sequestration through tropical reforestation and natural regeneration can make an important contribution to climate change mitigation, given that forest cover in many tropical regions increased during the early part of the 21st century,” said senior author María Uriarte, an expert in tropical forest dynamics at Columbia. “However, the size of this carbon sink will depend on the degree to which these forests are permanent and protected from re-clearing.”



“Our results underline a double challenge for forest conservation in tropical regions, where not only do we need to restore degraded areas, but we also need to ensure the persistence of these young regenerating forests,” added study co-author Jean Paul Metzger, a professor of Ecology at the University of São Paulo.



According to the scientists, regenerated forests had greater chances of survival on steeper slopes, close to rivers and existing forests, and near permanent agriculture. They were less likely to persist in rural areas and close to pastureland and regions of shifting agriculture.



“Regenerated forests can take decades to recover pre-disturbance species richness and biomass levels, so identifying the conditions that allow for a greater persistence of these young forests is vital for developing effective public policies targeted at increasing forest cover in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest,” concluded Piffer.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5ae1">Environmental Research Letters</a>.



Image Credit: Pedro Piffer



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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

Regenerated tropical forests often have short lifespans

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a rich natural region which...

Oceans have cooling events, the inverse of heat waves. These can be damaging and cause mass die offs, but they can also sometimes be beneficial. A new study published by the <a href="https://www.agu.org/">American Geophysical Union</a> shows that these cold spells are 25% less common and 15% less intense than they were in the 1980s. The research is one of the first of its kind to focus on marine cold spells and how climate change is impacting them.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Recently, studies have focused on heat waves and warm ocean temperature events, less so the cold events,” said study lead author Yuxin Wang, an ocean and climate scientist at the University of Tasmania.



The researchers undertook this study to look closely at what the ocean was like before anthropogenic climate change and how cold spells in the oceans are changing over time.&nbsp;



“Extreme events, either warm or cold, can bring an ecosystem to the edge,” said Sofia Darmaraki, an oceanographer at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens who was not involved in the study. “Establishing the oceans’ baseline climatology and sensitivity of heat waves and cold spells to temperature changes, like they did in this study, is a burning question for the community.”&nbsp;



The scientists analyzed climate data on the oceans from 1982 to 2020 and confirmed that the oceans are warming. The surface water of the ocean is also becoming more variable over time, changing the patterns of hot and cold spells and making them more complicated to predict. Understanding these patterns could be vitally important because cold spells can offset the sometimes negative impact of heat waves.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Extreme events affect coastal communities and economies, but members of the public might not be aware of how they’re going to intensify in the future. We need to get the word out,” said Darmaraki.&nbsp;



"Information about the underlying physical causes of these extreme events can help improve forecasting, which can lead to the development of early warning systems. That information can be provided to fisheries and other stakeholders, and they can collaborate on the best adaptations, the best path forward.”&nbsp;



The better communities know what to expect, the better they can prepare.&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19448007">Geophysical Research Letters</a>.



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

In warmer seas, cold spells are vanishing

Oceans have cooling events, the inverse of heat waves. These...

A new study published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X22000212">Marine Pollution Bulletin</a> has found that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/scientists-rally-against-the-worlds-first-octopus-farm/">octopuses</a> have been increasingly forced to shelter among discarded garbage - including bottles, beer cans, batteries, or rusted metal pipes - as trash replaces seashells on the ocean floors.&nbsp;



The researchers, led by the <a href="https://www.furg.br/en/">Federal University of Rio Grande</a> in Brazil, have analyzed hundreds of underwater photos posted on social media platforms and image databases or collected by marine biologists and underwater divers. They found 24 species of octopus sheltering inside glass bottles, cans, or batteries, or even carrying plastic items while “stilt-walking” on two tentacles in order to conceal themselves from predators. Moreover, they also used such discarded trash as sanctuaries for their eggs.



“The deep-sea records were extremely interesting, because even at great depths these animals are interacting with the litter,” said study senior author Maira Proietti, a professor of Marine Biology and Oceanography at the Federal University of Rio Grande. “They clearly see that there’s a lot of litter around, and it can therefore act as a kind of artificial camouflage. It shows their extreme ability to adapt. They are very intelligent animals, and they will use what they have at their disposal to continue sheltering or walking around with protection.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The animals appeared to show a preference for unbroken items and darker or opaque containers that could shelter them from the myriad predators continuously endangering their lives. Professor Proietti warns that, while these interactions may seem positive for the animals since they are lacking natural shelters such as seashells (which have largely been removed by humans for ornamental purposes, driven by tourism), “it is not a good thing to think that the animals may be using litter as shelter because the seashells are gone.”



Moreover, sheltering or laying eggs inside discarded tyres, batteries, or various plastic objects could easily expose the animals to a large variety of harmful compounds, such as heavy metals or the toxic additives usually added to plastic. 



“It is possible that the negative impacts of litter on octopuses is underestimated due to the lack of available data, and we therefore emphasize that the problem must be more thoroughly assessed,” the study authors concluded.



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

Octopuses are sheltering in discarded human trash

A new study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin has...

When we perceive images in real life, our brains take in the visual information in a way that can be detected by a technique called electrocorticography, which records patterns of electrical activity in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-evidence-shows-exercise-can-actually-change-the-brain/">brain</a>. However, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en">Osaka University</a>, these patterns are not set in stone, but can be changed by what we are paying attention to or imagining at the time.



“Attention is known to modulate neural representations of perceived images,” said study lead author Ryohei Fukuma, an assistant professor of Neuroscience at the Osaka University. “However, we didn’t know whether imagining a different image could also change these representations.”



In order to test this, Professor Fukuma and his colleagues worked with 17 patients with epilepsy who already had electrodes implanted in their brains to record and display electrocorticogram readouts of what they were imagining. The patients were shown an image of the real-time readout and asked to imagine a different thing, such as a landscape, a word, and a human face.



“The results clarified the relationship between brain activities when people look at images versus when they imagine them,” explained study senior author Takufumi Yanagisawa, an expert in brain-machine interface at Osaka. “The electrocorticogram readouts of the imagined images were distinct from those provoked by the actual images viewed by the patients. They could also be modified to be even more distinct when the patients received real-time feedback.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The time needed to generate clear distinctions between viewed and imagined images was different for imagining a word and a landscape, suggesting that different parts of the brain are responsible for imagining these two concepts.



Considering the accuracy with which this new technology can display images that exist within a subject’s mind, a similar approach could be used to develop communication tools for paralyzed people, such as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. While similar devises that rely on motor control already exist for patients with such conditions, they degenerate faster than visual cortical activity, so an imagery-based device could be much more useful and reliable.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03137-x">Communications Biology</a>.



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

New technology can visually depict what we are imagining

When we perceive images in real life, our brains take...

Massive,California,Wilde,Fire,Forcing,Thousands,Of,People,To,Evacuate

In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.oneearth.org/">One Earth</a>, experts have identified a positive feedback loop in the northern hemisphere in which brown carbon released by burning biomass is accelerating warming in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/summers-in-the-arctic-could-be-ice-free-by-mid-century/">Arctic</a>. The researchers warn that this could lead to even more wildfires in the future.&nbsp;



The year of 2021 saw land across the world destroyed from a record breaking wildfire season. Last month, a UN report warned that wildfires are on track to increase by 50 percent over the next couple of decades. Wildfires can be devastating, destroying homes, displacing families, and killing plant and animal life



During wildfires, vast plumes of smoke containing brown carbon particles are suspended in the air. Beyond the human health impacts of brown smoke, experts have long suspected that it contributes to global warming.&nbsp;



In 2017, scientists boarded a Chinese icebreaker vessel Xue Long in the Arctic Ocean to examine the aerosols that could be polluting the pristine Arctic air. The researchers considered how brown carbon released by wildfires affects the climate. This was compared to denser black carbon from fossil fuels, the second most powerful warming agent after carbon dioxide. The study revealed that brown carbon contributes more to global warming than previously estimated.&nbsp;



“To our surprise, observational analyses and numerical simulations show that the warming effect of brown carbon aerosols over the Arctic is up to about 30 percent of that of black carbon,” said study senior author Pingqing Fu, an atmospheric chemist at Tianjin University.



Over the last 50 years, the Arctic has been warming three times faster than the rest of the planet. The study found that brown carbon from burning biomass was responsible for twice as much warming as carbon from fossil fuels, identifying that wildfires are driving this discrepancy.&nbsp;



Brown carbon warms the planet by absorbing solar radiation and warming temperatures result in a rise of wildfires. This leads to a positive feedback loop.&nbsp;



“The increase in brown carbon aerosols will lead to global or regional warming, which increases the probability and frequency of wildfires,” said Fu. “Increased wildfire events will emit more brown carbon aerosols, further heating the earth, thus making wildfires more frequent.”



In the future, the researchers plan to dive deeper and investigate the effects of other sources of carbon released by wildfires. Specifically, the research team plans to analyze bioaerosols, which originate from plants and animals and can contain living organisms, including pathogens.&nbsp;



The researchers are hopeful that decision makers remain focused on mitigating wildfires. “Our findings highlight just how important it is to control wildfires,” said Fu. The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Brown carbon released from wildfires is warming the Arctic

In a new study published in the journal One Earth,...

One of the biggest questions in Biology has always dealt with the possible origins of life. For several decades, one hypothesis has been that RNA molecules – which are vital for cell functions – existed on ancient <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/supermountains-were-essential-for-the-evolution-of-life-on-earth/">Earth</a>, possibly together with proteins and other organic molecules, and that around four billion years ago, they started to self-replicate and develop from a simple single molecule into a diversity of complex molecules. This step-by-step change eventually led to the emergence of life as we know it, consisting of a wondrous array of plants, animals, and everything in-between.



While there has been much theoretical discussion about this subject, until recently scientists have not been able to physically create such RNA replication systems. However, a new study led by the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/">University of Tokyo</a> has now managed to build an RNA molecule that replicates, diversifies, and develops in complexity, following Darwinian evolution, which is characterized by a self-perpetuating process of incessant change based on mutations and natural selection, enabling different characteristics to emerge, and the ones that were adapted to the environment to survive.



“We found that the single RNA species evolved into a complex replication system: a replicator network comprising five types of RNAs with diverse interactions, supporting the plausibility of a long-envisioned evolutionary transition scenario,” said study lead author Ryo Mizuuchi, an assistant professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tokyo.



“Honestly, we initially doubted that such diverse RNAs could evolve and coexist,” he added. “In Evolutionary Biology, the ‘competitive exclusion principle’ states that more than one species cannot coexist if they are competing for the same resources. This means that the molecules must establish a way to use different resources one after another for sustained diversification. They are just molecules, so we wondered if it were possible for nonliving chemical species to spontaneously develop such innovation.”



The simplicity of Mizuuchi’s molecular replication system, compared to biological organisms, will allow scientists to examine evolutionary phenomena with unprecedented resolution. While there are still many questions left to answer about the origins of life, this study has provided empirically-based insights into a possible evolutionary route that a primitive RNA molecule may have taken on ancient Earth.



“The results could be a clue to solving the ultimate question that human beings have been asking for thousands of years - what are the origins of life?” Professor Mizuuchi concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29113-x">Nature Communications</a>.



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

Scientists find new clues about the origins of life

One of the biggest questions in Biology has always dealt...

Social bonds are good for people, and many studies have shown that our relationships with friends and family help us live healthier and longer. However, our knowledge of how social bonds affect stress in non-<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baboons-sacrifice-sleep-to-meet-lifes-daily-demands/">primate</a> species is lacking, especially considering the complex social lives of many animals.&nbsp;&nbsp;



An international team of scientists has attempted to glimpse into the social lives of an incredibly social animal to examine how their relationships, or lack thereof, affect their stress levels.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The researchers studied 95 Asian timber elephants (Elephas maximus) living in Myanmar. Since they are timber elephants, they work with people to move logs out of the forest. However, they spend a lot of time on their own in the forest. Studying elephants with this lifestyle gave the researchers a remarkable opportunity.&nbsp;



Study lead author Dr. Martin Seltmann is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biology at the <a href="https://www.utu.fi/en">University of Turku</a>.



"This is a unique research environment and population that allows us to study many elephants living in their natural environment, but at the same time have detailed information about their social lives," said Dr. Seltmann.



The handlers have an intimate understanding of the.elephants' social lives and behavior. They provided insight on whether the elephants preferred to be sociable or to be alone.&nbsp;



The researchers also evaluated the sizes and demographics of the work groups. To measure stress levels, they collected fecal samples and measured glucocorticoid hormones, also known as stress hormones.



"We found, that male elephants show higher levels of stress when they have no friends and when they are in social groups with more males than females," said study co-authors Martin Seltmann and Professor Virpi Lummaa.



"Female elephants show lower levels of stress when babies are present in the social group. The size of the social group is not related to levels of stress hormones in males nor females."&nbsp;



Interestingly, the researchers found that solitary females were not as stressed as predicted. This may be because- although they don't have strong social bonds with other elephants - the females can interact with individuals on a superficial level, which is enough to ease their stress.



Moreover, the results suggest that social bonds are more important for semi-captive male elephants than would be the case in a wild population, where males are typically solitary.&nbsp;



The study helps us understand the social lives of these brilliant animals. The authors hope that this information will be used to create more enriching environments for elephants and other captive animals.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/general-and-comparative-endocrinology">General and Comparative Endocrinology</a>.



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

Social bonds can ease stress among elephants

Social bonds are good for people, and many studies have...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/video/coastal-wetlands-are-threatened-by-salt-water-intrusion/">Wetlands</a> can be hard places to make a living, and life in fragmented forest amidst wetlands may be even harder. Despite the difficulty, the rare Olalla’s titi monkey (Plecturocebus olallae) has found a way to live in the Llanos de Moxos, the largest wetland in the Amazon Basin.&nbsp;



New research from the <a href="https://www.wcs.org/">Wildlife Conservation Society</a> (WCS) may explain how the monkeys can survive in the fragmented and damaged forest of the Llanos de Moxos. The scientists observed two groups of Olalla’s titi monkeys for a year. It seems that the key to their survival might be in their ecological flexibility.&nbsp;



During times of abundance, the monkeys were observed eating fruits and moving around a lot. During the leaner dry season, the monkeys ate less fruit and more leaves, and did not move around as much. They also expanded their diet to include more lichens, seeds and fungi.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Interestingly, the study shows that monkeys with their ecological flexibility have some ability to tolerate changes in their habitat, such as fragmentation caused by deforestation.&nbsp;



"The study illustrates the relevance of understanding primate ecological flexibility in response to food reductions to the development of conservation actions, especially in the light of increasing forest degradation and loss in the study region," said study co-author Rob Wallace, director of WCS's Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Program.



The scientists believe that these monkeys are still threatened by habitat loss and range limitations. It seems that eventually, even flexible monkeys have a breaking point. The monkeys are already critically endangered and endemic to a small area.&nbsp;



"The observed shift in diet toward consuming alternative foods during the fruit lean period and reducing movement instead of expanding ranging behavior to look for higher quality foods suggests that P. olallae follows an energy-area minimizing strategy that may enable these primates to inhabit fragmented forests," wrote the study authors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



"Nevertheless, deforestation and further fragmentation in the range of these endemic and critically endangered primates must be addressed, as they represent significant threats to the severely range-restricted P. olallae populations."



The study is published in the <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/10764">International Journal of Primatology</a>.



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

Monkeys can adapt by changing their diet

Wetlands can be hard places to make a living, and...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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...