Cannabidiol (CBD) is emerging as the future of medicinal cannabis, as new research uncovers how it works with brain receptors to affect anxiety and pain management.



Unlike its psychoactive cousin, THC, cannabidiol has the potential for therapy without the high.



Scientists have long hypothesized about CBD's functional mechanisms, but a recent breakthrough has provided new insight into how it fine-tunes key biological processes.



While research on cannabis has intensified recently, there is still much to understand regarding the ways in which the plant components interact in the body.



In a significant advance, researchers have now looked more closely at what researchers are characterizing as a highly complex interplay between CBD and THC that opens new avenues for using the benefits with fewer of the negatives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-introducing-the-power-of-cbd-and-thc">Introducing the power of CBD and THC</h2>



A team of researchers from the <a href="https://olemiss.edu/departments/pharmacy/natural-products-research/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Mississippi's</a> National Center for Natural Products Research has investigated the complex relationship between cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis.



Their study sheds new light on how these compounds interact with the body's cellular receptors, potentially revolutionizing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-women-experience-more-chronic-pain-than-men/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pain</a> and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chemical-found-in-cannabis-plants-can-actually-reduce-cannabis-induced-anxiety/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">anxiety</a> treatments.



As demand for CBD products surges in the U.S., following hemp’s decriminalization by the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, it as become critical to understand these interactions.



"The 2018 Farm Bill passage effectively opened a Pandora's box of research challenges," said Amar Chittiboyina, principal scientist and associate director of the Center.



"CBD's use proliferated across a wide spectrum, from pain management and recreational purposes to seemingly endless other applications. However, the fundamental question lies in understanding how CBD works on various targets and exerts its perceived effects at the molecular level," commented Chittiboyina.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-magic-key-cb1-receptor">The magic key: CB1 receptor</h2>



At the core of the study is cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), a protein that is found throughout the body and regulates pain, mood, appetite, metabolism, and memory.



Both CBD and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/prenatal-thc-exposure-linked-to-life-long-health-risks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">THC</a> interact with this receptor, but they do so in distinctly different ways.



When THC binds to CB1, it acts like an "off switch" for pain, providing relief but often leading to side effects such as memory loss, nausea, and addiction.



CBD, on the other hand, behaves more like a dimmer switch, as it delicately modulates the receptor’s function.



This newfound understanding paves the way for future research aimed at harnessing the benefits of THC while minimizing its drawbacks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-future-of-cannabis-research">The future of cannabis research</h2>



"Often, to mitigate pain, patients combine opiates with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/recreational-cannabis-use-protects-against-cognitive-decline/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cannabis</a>, kratom, and other substances. Is this approach beneficial or detrimental?" asked Chittiboyina, highlighting the many research opportunities that lie ahead.



The findings could even pave the way for the development of a more efficient, synthetic form of CBD that is designed to optimize receptor interactions while reducing unwanted effects.



This research goes beyond viewing cannabis merely as a drug - it positions the substance as a "treasure chest" of medicinal advances.



"We're trying to pull out the benefits and leave the harms behind," said Robert Laprairie, an associate professor at the <a href="https://www.usask.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Saskatchewan</a>, and co-author of the study.



One of the next research frontiers involves investigating whether CBD interferes with opioids like morphine. 



If CBD negatively interacts with opioid receptors, it could reduce the efficacy of opioids, which is a potential concern for individuals who rely on opioids for pain relief.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cbd-research-s-promising-path">CBD research’s promising path</h2>



While these findings provide a foundation for understanding CBD’s therapeutic potential, the researchers emphasize that further studies are necessary before drawing definitive conclusions.



"But, if we can pinpoint how CBD interacts with multiple targets on a molecular level, we will be in a stronger scientific position to develop solutions that are relevant to public health," the team concluded.



Their discoveries not only deepen our understanding of cannabis compounds but also open doors for targeted drug development aimed at reducing the risks associated with THC and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-discovery-offers-hope-for-tackling-opioid-addiction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">opioids</a>. 



The study marks an important step toward safer and more effective treatment options for those suffering pain and struggling with mood disorders. 



-----



The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Science Foundation XSEDE Bridges, and the Mississippi State-sponsored National Center for Cannabis Research and Education.



The full study was published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acschemneuro.4c00343" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACS Chemical Neuroscience</a>.



-----



Like what you read? <a href="https://www.earth.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to our newsletter</a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.&nbsp;



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



-----

CBD can help ease chronic pain, anxiety, and mood disorders

Cannabidiol (CBD) is emerging as the future of medicinal cannabis, as new research uncovers how it works with brain receptors to affect anxiety and pain management. Unlike its psychoactive cousin, THC, cannabidiol has the potential for therapy without the high. Scientists have long hypothesized about CBD's functional mechanisms, but a recent breakthrough has provided new insight into how it fine-tunes key biological processes. While research on cannabis has intensified recently, there is still much to understand regarding the ways in which the plant components interact in the...

A new study published in the journal <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL097448">Geophysical Research Letters</a> has found that over the past two decades, the Arctic has lost approximately one third of its winter <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-ice-levels-complicate-predictions-of-future-climate-change/">sea ice</a> volume. The phenomenon is largely due to a decline in the ice that persists over several years, called “multiyear ice.” This thick, long-lasting ice is increasingly replaced by seasonal sea ice, which melts completely each summer rather than accumulating over the years.&nbsp;&nbsp;



By using an innovative combination of lidar (<a href="https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/">ICESat-2</a>) and radar (<a href="https://earth.esa.int/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/c-missions/cryosat-2">CryoSat-2</a>) data and comparing them to previous ice thickness and snow depth estimates from climate records, the scientists found that multiyear sea ice has lost 16 percent of its winter volume, or about half a meter of thickness, over the past three years, and one-third of its volume during the past 18 years (approximately 6,000 cubic kilometers).



“We weren’t really expecting to see this decline, for the ice to be this much thinner in just three short years,” said lead study author Sahra Kacimi, a polar scientist at the California Institute of Technology’s <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/research/jpl">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a>.



“Arctic snow depth, sea ice thickness, and volume are three very challenging measurements to obtain,” added study co-author Ron Kwok, another polar scientist at the University of Washington’s <a href="https://www.apl.washington.edu/">Applied Physics Laboratory</a>.&nbsp;



“The key takeaway for me is the remarkable loss of Arctic winter sea ice volume - one-third of the winter ice volume lost over just 18 years - that accompanied a widely reported loss of old, thick Arctic sea ice and decline in end-of-summer ice extent.”



Older, multiyear ice is thicker and thus more resistant to melting. As this reservoir of old Arctic sea ice is depleted and seasonal sea ice becomes the norm, the overall volume and thickness of Arctic sea ice is expected to decline.&nbsp;



“Current models predict that by the mid-century we can expect ice-free summers in the Arctic, when the older ice, thick enough to survive the melt season is gone,” Dr. Kacimi concluded.



Image Credit: NASA/Kathryn Hansen



---



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

Summers in the Arctic could be ice-free by mid-century

A new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/permafrost-could-release-much-more-carbon-than-expected/">Permafrost</a> peatlands in Europe and Western Siberia are much closer to a climatic tipping point than previously thought, according to a new study led by the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/">University of Leeds</a>. Scientists estimate that, even with the strongest efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions and therefore limit climate change, by 2040 the climates of Northern Europe will no longer be cold and dry enough to sustain peat permafrost.



“Peatland permafrost responds differently to changing climates than mineral-soil permafrost due to the insulating properties of organic soils, but peatlands remain poorly represented in Earth system models,” said study co-author Dr. Ruza Ivanovic, an associate professor of Climatology at Leeds. “It is vitally important these ecosystems are understood and accounted for when considering the impact of climate change on the planet.”



By using the latest generation of climate models to examine possible future climates of these regions, the scientists found that global warming will most likely cause massive permafrost melting, and subsequent release of the huge quantities of carbon dioxide that are stored in these frozen peatlands (about 39 billion tons of carbon – the equivalent to twice that stored in all the European forests).



“We examined a range of future emission trajectories. This included strong climate-change mitigation scenario, which would see large-scale efforts to curb emissions across sectors, to no-mitigations scenarios and worse-case scenarios,” said study lead author Richard Fewster, a PhD student in Geography at Leeds.



“Our modelling shows that these fragile ecosystems are on a precipice and even moderate mitigation leads to the widespread loss of suitable climates for peat permafrost by the end of the century.”



“But that doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel,” he stressed. “The rate and extent to which suitable climate are lost could be limited, and even partially reversed, by strong climate-change mitigation policies.”



Such strong action to reduce greenhouse emissions could help preserve suitable climates for permafrost peatlands at least in the northern parts of Western Siberia, a region where 13.9 billion tons of carbon are stored.&nbsp;



These projections emphasize the importance of socio-economic policies aimed at reducing emissions and mitigating climate change. Further research is needed to improve maps of modern peat permafrost distribution in areas where observation data is lacking and thus to enable future modelling studies able to make hemispheric-scale projections.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01296-7">Nature Climate Change</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



---



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

Permafrost peatlands approach a climate tipping point

Permafrost peatlands in Europe and Western Siberia are much closer...

The TP53 gene is responsible for making a protein known as p53, which helps to protect our bodies from cancer by slowing the spread of cancerous cells. Even though p53 is a promising target for cancer treatment, the protein is not very stable and breaks down rapidly within cells. In a groundbreaking new study from <a href="https://ki.se/en">Karolinska Institutet</a>, researchers have demonstrated that a spider silk protein can stabilize and strengthen p53.



The experts explain that if a cell is lacking functional p53, it quickly becomes a cancer cell that starts to divide uncontrollably. The research suggests that adding spider silk to p53 increases its ability to kill cancer cells and keep them from spreading.&nbsp;



“The problem is that cells only make small amounts of p53 and then quickly break it down as it is a very large and disordered protein,” said study last author Michael Landreh. “We’ve been inspired by how nature creates stable proteins and have used spider silk protein to stabilise p53. Spider silk consists of long chains of highly stable proteins, and is one of nature’s strongest polymers.”



In the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition at Karolinska Institutet, Jan Johansson and Anna Rising use spider silk in their research. Along with Landreh, the researchers attached synthetic spider silk protein onto the human p53 protein. When the modified protein was introduced into human cells, the cells started to produce it in large quantities.&nbsp;



The experts found that the new protein was more stable and potent than unmodified p53.&nbsp;



Electron microscopy, computer simulations, and mass spectrometry revealed that the spider silk seemed to add structure to the disordered sections of p53.



Going forward, the experts want to gain a more detailed understanding of the structure of p53, and how its various parts interact to prevent cancer. The researchers will also investigate how the more potent protein they have created with spider silk may affect cells.



“Creating a more stable variant of p53 in cells is a promising approach to cancer therapy, and now we have a tool for this that’s worth exploring,” said study co-author Sir David Lane. “We eventually hope to develop an mRNA-based cancer vaccine, but before we do so we need to know how the protein is handled in the cells and if large amounts of it can be toxic.”



Sir David Lane is one of the scientists who first discovered the p53 protein, which is referred to as the "guardian of the genome" due to its ability to stop cells with DNA damage from turning into cancer cells. Mutations of the TP53 gene are present in roughly half of all cancer tumors, representing the most common genetic change in cancer.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/structure/home">Structure</a>.



---



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

Spider silk can help human cells kill cancer

The TP53 gene is responsible for making a protein known...

Ozone is a highly reactive gas that has molecules composed of three oxygen atoms (O3). It is a natural product found in the Earth’s upper <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/acidity-in-the-atmosphere-is-transforming-the-ocean/">atmosphere</a>, the stratosphere, where it is very beneficial and helps to reduce the amount of harmful UV radiation that reaches Earth. However, ozone is also produced as a result of human activities in the lower levels of the atmosphere, the troposphere. This ground-level ozone is a toxic pollutant that we breathe in, and its levels are regulated by environmental laws.



Ozone is formed primarily when various pollutants from motor vehicle exhausts, power plants and other sources react in the presence of sunlight. It is a component of "smog" that is found in many large cities, but is also found in smaller cities and can be carried by the wind to almost any location. Higher levels of this gas have been linked to&nbsp;the occurrence of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/health-effects-ozone-pollution">various physical ailments</a>, including asthma, respiratory viruses and premature death from respiratory causes.&nbsp;



Now, a new study from the <a href="https://www.apa.org/">American Psychological Association</a> is the first to link exposure to ozone from pollution with an increase in depressive symptoms in adolescents, even in neighborhoods that meet air quality standards. Those symptoms include persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, difficulty with concentration, sleep disturbances, poor performance at school and thoughts about suicide.&nbsp;



Past research attempting to identify environmental contributors to the development of depression have focused mainly on individual and family-level psychosocial characteristics, such as the quality of interpersonal relationships or socioeconomic resources. Very little research has been conducted into the possible role of pollution in the development of mental health issues.



“I think our findings really speak to the importance of considering air pollution’s impact on mental health in addition to physical health,” said lead researcher Dr. Erika Manczak, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Denver.



The experts investigated whether levels of neighborhood ozone predicted the development of depressive symptoms over a four-year period in 213 adolescents (57 percent female; 53 percent male; of minority race/ethnicity). The average age of participants at the start was 11.4 years and they all lived in the San Francisco Bay area. The participants self-reported depressive and other types of psychopathology symptoms up to three times during the four-year period.&nbsp;



In addition, their home addresses were used to obtain relevant ozone levels in their census tract, using data from air monitoring sites compiled by the California Environmental Protection Agency. Daily maximum eight-hour average concentrations of ozone for all air monitoring sites in California were extracted for the years 2012–2014 and the respective levels for each participants’ home address were used. Confounding variables, including personal, family, and neighborhood characteristics, were also assessed by the researchers.



The findings showed that adolescents who lived in areas with relatively higher ozone levels exhibited significant increases in depressive symptoms over time, even though the ozone levels in their neighborhoods didn’t exceed state or national air quality standards. The findings weren’t affected by the participants’ sex, age, race, household income, parental education, or the socioeconomic characteristics of their neighborhoods.



“It was surprising that the average level of ozone was fairly low even in the communities with relatively higher ozone exposure,” said Dr. Manczak. “This really underscores the fact that even low levels of ozone exposure have potentially harmful effects.”



Late childhood and early adolescence are times of physiological and emotional change, often associated with the onset of several forms of psychopathology. Thus, adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of ozone exposure at this stage. Furthermore, adolescents are exposed to more air pollution than are individuals in other age groups because they usually spend more time outside.&nbsp;



Research by other scientists has shown that one of the ways in which ozone exposure may be linked to physical health is by activating immune processes. For example, inhaling ozone can contribute to both local and systemic inflammation; such inflammatory processes are also implicated in psychopathology symptoms, most importantly with those of depression. Research on animal models has also indicated that ozone exposure can disrupt neurotransmitter activity, promote greater oxidative stress, and lead to increased levels of inflammatory proteins



Although the authors acknowledge that this was a correlational study and does not prove a causal relationship between ozone exposure and the development of depression in adolescents, they do feel that it adds to a growing body of research implicating air pollution not only in physical health outcomes, but also in youth mental health outcomes. They feel it is important to consider environmental pollutants as possible causative factors, given that symptoms of depression in childhood and adolescence can be associated with life-long difficulties in psychosocial functioning



Because air pollution disproportionately affects marginalized communities, ozone levels could be contributing to health disparities, Manczak said. Communities also should consider ways to reduce ozone exposure, such monitoring the quality of the air in their homes, holding youth sporting events indoors when necessary and limiting driving and refueling during peak hours of air pollution. Investment in clean and renewable energy sources that reduce air pollution also could be helpful.



“I believe state and federal air quality standards should be stricter, and we should have tighter regulations on industries that contribute to pollution,” said Dr. Manczak. “Our findings and other studies suggest that even low levels of ozone exposure can pose potentially serious risks to both physical and mental health.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/developmental-psychology.html">Developmental Psychology</a>.



---



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

Ozone exposure linked to depression in adolescents

Ozone is a highly reactive gas that has molecules composed...

According to a research team led by the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/">University of Technology Sydney</a> (UTS), a single-celled marine microbe (Prorocentrum&nbsp;cf.&nbsp;balticum) that is capable of both photosynthesis and hunting and eating prey may turn out to be a valuable secret weapon in the fight against climate change.&nbsp;



This microbe, abundant in the world’s oceans, photosynthesizes and releases a carbon-rich exopolymer which attracts and helps immobilize other marine microbes. After eating some of the entrapped prey, it abandons its exopolymer “mucosphere” which, heavy with entrapped prey, sinks and becomes part of the ocean’s natural biological <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/meltwater-influences-carbon-storage-in-the-arctic/">carbon pump</a>.



While the contribution of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/phytoplankton-remain-surprisingly-active-underneath-arctic-sea-ice/">phytoplankton</a> to the carbon pump has already been well documented by scientists, the role of mixotrophic protists – microbes that can simultaneously photosynthesize and consume other organisms – is far less understood.



“Most terrestrial plants use nutrients from the soil to grow, but some, like the Venus flytrap, gain additional nutrients by catching and consuming insects. Similarly, marine microbes that photosynthesize, known as phytoplankton, use nutrients dissolved in the surrounding seawater to grow,” said study lead author Michaela Larsson, a marine biologist at UTS.



“However, our study organism, Prorocentrum&nbsp;cf.&nbsp;balticum, is a mixotroph, so is also able to eat other microbes for a concentrated hit of nutrients, like taking a multivitamin. Having the capacity to acquire nutrients in different ways means this microbe can occupy parts of the ocean devoid of dissolved nutrients and therefore unsuitable for most phytoplankton.”



According to a 2019 <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2018/10/technologies-that-remove-carbon-dioxide-from-air-and-sequester-it-need-to-play-a-large-role-in-mitigating-climate-change-says-new-report">report</a> of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, in order to meet climate change mitigation goals, about 10 gigatons of CO2 should be removed from the atmosphere each year until 2050. Dr. Larsson and her colleagues have estimated that this microbe species has the potential to sink between 0.02 and 0.15 gigatons of carbon annually. Thus, it could be used as a nature-based solution to enhance carbon capture in the world’s oceans.



“The natural production of extra-cellular carbon-rich polymers by ocean microbes under nutrient-deficient conditions, which we’ll see under global warming, suggest these microbes could help maintain the biological carbon pump in the future ocean,” said study senior author Martina Doblin, a professor of Oceanography at UTS.



“The next step before assessing the feasibility of large-scale cultivation is to gauge the proportion of the carbon-rich exopolymers resistant to bacteria breakdown and determine the sinking velocity of discarded mucospheres. This could be a game changer in the way we think about carbon and the way it moves in the marine environment,” she concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28867-8">Nature Communications</a>.



---



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

Marine microbe may help in the fight against climate change

According to a research team led by the University of...

Crocodilians species such as the unique, small Chinese <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/alligators-birds-hearing-dinosaur/">alligator</a> once flourished in China. However, during the Tang Dynasty in the 9th century, people started to push out crocodilians in the Han River Delta of Guangdong province.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



A government official named Han Yu is said to have attempted to warn the crocodilians, even offering them animal sacrifices to leave the area in peace. Unfortunately, the crocodilians did not need the warning, and new evidence suggests that they were most likely wiped out by humans.&nbsp;



Recently, a team of experts led by Professor Minoru Yoneda from the <a href="https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/">University of Tokyo</a> studied two crocodilian subfossils found in the region. The animals appear to have died in the 10th and 14th centuries B.C. Although the timing means these crocodiles weren’t connected to Han Yu, the story fits with them nicely and the researchers named the croc Hanyusuchus sinensis.



Interestingly, the H. sinensis remains appear to have been beheaded as part of a ritual. Perhaps even more interestingly, the individual shares skull features both with <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gharials-are-vanishing-in-bardia-national-park/">gharials</a> and with other crocodilians.&nbsp;



“I have studied modern crocodilians for years, but even though it’s extinct, Hanyusuchus sinensis is by far the most astonishing creature I’ve ever seen,” said study co-author Professor Jun Liu from Hefei University of Technology in China.



"Everyone is familiar with sharp-nosed crocodiles and blunt-nosed alligators, but may be less familiar with a third kind of modern crocodilian called gharials that have much longer and thinner skulls. Hanyusuchus sinensis is a type of gharial, but what’s exciting is how it also shares some important skull features with the rest of the crocodilians."



"This is significant as it could settle a decades-long debate about how, when and in what way crocodilians evolved into the three families still roaming the Earth today.”



The marks of human violence on the two subfossils indicate that they were driven to extinction by an expanding human population. The researchers believe that the crocodilians may have also left scars on the culture of China. Stories of dragons, and other cultural elements may have been inspired by the crocodilians people feared and even wiped from the Earth.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences</a>.



---



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

Ancient remains shed new light on crocodilian evolution

Crocodilians species such as the unique, small Chinese alligator once...

A research team led by the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> has recently described a new species of softshell turtle (Hutchemys walkerorum) that lived in North Dakota at the end of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 66.5 million years ago – just before the mass extinction that wiped-out the dinosaurs. Although the fossils – consisting of a partial carapace - were discovered in 1975 by a field crew from the <a href="https://www.appstate.edu/">Appalachian State University</a>, they have only been properly analyzed and described now.



Hutchemys walkerorum roamed the Earth during the same period as large dinosaurs such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/were-there-three-distinct-species-of-tyrannosaurus-rex/">Tyrannosaurus Rex</a> and Triceratops did. It belonged to a particular group of softshell turtles&nbsp;in the Trionychidae family called plastomenines which lived during the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods, approximately 80 million to 50 million years ago. Members of this group first appear in the fossil record during the Late Cretaceous, and were at their peak diversity before and after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.



A phylogenetic analysis has revealed that this turtle belonged to a group of early trionychids (softshell turtles) in the subfamily Kuhnemydinae, which are fossil species from Asia. These findings suggests that the family Trionychidae originated in Asia before migrating to North America sometime in the Late Cretaceous. Although these turtles are similar to the softshell turtles that exist today, the bones covering their abdominal area were larger and more strongly sutured together.



“Until recently we didn’t understand these softshell turtles very well,” said study lead author Steven Jasinski, a paleontologist at <a href="https://www.harrisburgu.edu/">Harrisburg University</a>. “However, we are starting to get more information on this extinct group of turtles and further understanding their evolution, including how they dealt with the mass extinction.”&nbsp;



“With this study we gain further insight into winners and losers during the cataclysm that ended the Age of Dinosaurs,” added study senior author Peter Dodson, a professor emeritus of Paleontology at the University of Pennsylvania. “The mighty dinosaurs fell, and the lowly turtle survived.”



A detailed description of this specimen is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105172">Cretaceous Research</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Softshell turtles lived alongside the dinosaurs

A research team led by the University of Pennsylvania has...

While some rivers in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/amazon-rainforest-is-creeping-closer-to-a-tipping-point/">Amazon</a> basin are muddy, others run clean and clear due to different geographies. The Tapajos River, which feeds into the Amazon as a major tributary, is one of those rivers. In fact, the Tapajos is one of the largest clearwater rivers in South America and contributes six percent of the Amazon Basin’s water.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Illegal mining, which is being conducted by small scale operators who are running below the radar of environmental regulators, is destroying the Tapajos and other rivers in the region. The Tapajos has been transformed from its usual clarity to a turgid brown color. Small mining projects have long been a problem in the Amazon region, but with gold prices up, there has been a gold rush since 2019.&nbsp;



Dredging the river, digging pits and vacuuming sediment from the bottom along with deforestation all contribute to the muddying of the waters. Now, Conservation X Labs may have some solutions.



To deal with this ongoing problem, Conservation X Labs has hosted <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-technology-developed-to-protect-the-amazon/">contests</a> to encourage innovative groups to develop new approaches. Now, it's time for these solutions to be used in the field.



One proposed solution is a tool that could automatically detect illegal mining operations using satellites and artificial technology. Another idea is to make mining in the area safer and less detrimental to the environment. This approach would involve a safe and affordable system that increases gold yields.&nbsp;



Lastly, the organization developed tools to deal with mercury pollution. One of these is a new portable mercury detector that alerts the user to mercury in the field in realtime. A separate system was designed to capture mercury vapor released during amalgam burning.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Altogether, these tools represent some of the high tech solutions being developed to solve conservation problems in the Tapajos River and beyond. Time will tell whether these newer solutions will work better than old ones.



---



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

The Tapajos River is polluted by illegal gold mining

While some rivers in the Amazon basin are muddy, others...

As <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-will-increase-by-50-percent-by-the-end-of-the-century/">wildfires</a> increase in frequency and severity, they are taking a significant toll on the wine industry. Volatile compounds in the smoke can be absorbed by grapes and produce an unpleasant taste known as “smoke taint” in the wines made from such grapes. A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California, Santa Cruz</a> provides practical guidelines for using biomarkers to identify grapes and wines affected by smoke taint.



Previous studies have associated smoke taint with volatile phenols that are present in the smoke produced by burning vegetation. These chemical compounds are absorbed through the skin of ripening grapes and, through binding with sugars, they form nonvolatile compounds called phenolic diglycosides. Although in their bound state, these compounds cannot be smelled or tasted, foul-tasting free phenols can be released by enzymes, either during the fermentation process or in the mouth by the enzymes present in saliva.



“We found that the phenolic diglycosides are stable in cabernet sauvignon during bottle aging, but then during tasting the monomers that smell bad get released in the mouth,” said study lead author Phillip Crews, a distinguished research professor of Chemistry at UC Santa Cruz.



By using sophisticated methods such as ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and quantitative mass spectrometry, Professor Crews and his colleagues have provided some of the first quantitative measurements of phenolic diglycosides in premium California and Oregon grapes and wines that were exposed to six different levels of natural wildfire smoke.



“There are still major gaps in our understanding of these compounds, so more research is needed. But people can use these procedures now to look at a bottle of wine or a batch of grapes and tell if it’s likely to be affected by smoke taint,” explained Professor Crews.



“This research is highly valuable, with the potential to save countless dollars, and is increasingly relevant in our world of drought and climate change,” said Eleni Papadakis, a winemaking consultant from Portland, Oregon, who was not directly involved in the study, but helped connect the researchers with Oregon winemakers and participated in frequent discussions. “I believe I speak for the whole of the winemaking community when I express the excitement and appreciation for the strong data and evidence-based guidance Professor Crews and his team have provided with this groundbreaking work,” she concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.2c00028">Journal of Natural Products</a>.&nbsp;



---



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

Wildfire smoke is taking a toll on the wine industry

As wildfires increase in frequency and severity, they are taking...

A new study led by <a href="https://www.qmul.ac.uk/">Queen Mary University of London</a> has found that a “social supergene” drove the spread of a new form of society across groups of red fire <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ants-can-detect-cancer-through-smell/">ants</a>. The supergene emerged in one fire ant species, and then carried the instruction-set for the novel social organization into other species through hybridization (breeding between ants of different species).&nbsp;



Originally, red fire ants – which are native to South America and infamous for their painful sting – had only colonies with one queen. However, about one million years ago, a new social form evolved where colonies could have dozens of queens. 



The scientists found that a particular version of a large section of chromosomes, called the “social supergene,” included the genetic information which was necessary to make workers accept more than one queen, and was transferred through hybridization to many other red fire ant species.



Although transfer of massive amounts of genetic information across species is rare due to genetic incompatibilities, in this case, the advantage of having multiple queens overrode these incompatibilities, making the supergene spread widely.



“This research reveals how evolutionary innovations can spread across species. It also shows how evolution works at the level of DNA and chromosomes,” said study senior author Dr. Yannick Wurm, a Reader in Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics at Queen Mary University.



“It was incredibly surprising to discover that other species could acquire a new form of social organization through hybridization. The supergene region that creates multi-queen colonies is a large piece of chromosome that contains hundreds of genes. The many parts of a genome evolve to work together in fine-tuned manners, thus suddenly having a mix with different versions of many genes from another species is complicated and quite rare.”&nbsp;



According to Dr. Wurm, the presence of this supergene made workers accept extra queens, instead of executing them as they would in a single-queen colony. This new form of social organization had multiple advantages. For instance, it had more workers and could thus outcompete colonies with a single queen. Moreover, during floods or other natural disasters, such a colony of fire ants was less likely to become queenless.



Further research is needed to identify which genes or parts of the supergene region lead to these changes in behavior, and thus shed more light on this rare evolutionary process.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28806-7">Nature Communications</a>.



---



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

"Supergene" transformed the social hierarchy of fire ants

A new study led by Queen Mary University of London...

On Monday, March 7, 2022, the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/">Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) have given their approval for the sale of beef from gene-edited cattle in the United States, after concluding that these genetically modified animals “do not raise any safety concerns.” 



The cattle were designed by <a href="https://recombinetics.com/">Recombinetics</a> – a Minnesota-based bioengineering company – to have short, slick coats that would make them more resistant to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-cattle-industry-could-lose-billions-due-to-heat-stress/">heat stress</a>. The beef resulting from these animals could be available for human consumption in about two years.



These cattle are the third genetically altered animals which were approved for human consumption in the U.S., after salmon and pigs. Unlike these animals though, the cattle did not have to go through an extended, years-long approval process, since their genetic makeup is similar to that of existing cattle and the trait can even be found naturally in some breeds.



According to Dr. Steven Solomon, the director of FDA’s <a href="https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/center-veterinary-medicine">Center for Veterinary Medicine</a>, the agency’s review of Recombinetics’ cattle took only a few months, and there is no reason that meat from these animals should be labeled differently once it will start to be commercialized. However, he made clear that genetically altered animals marketed to have certain advantages – such as a considerably higher ability to withstand heat than their “natural” counterparts – may need to pass through the full approval process.&nbsp;



The gene-edited trait in these cattle can be inherited, so semen and embryos could be used to produce offspring with the same shorter, more heat-resistant coats. Once the semen is used to create embryos, gestation would take approximately nine months and the resulting calves could be slaughtered after about 10 more months. These genetic alterations could make beef production more sustainable and improve animal welfare in warmer climates.



While the speed with which FDA moved in this case was applauded by many scientists and industry leaders, others criticized the agency for the lack of transparency in the review process. For instance, Greg Jaffe, an expert in biotechnology at the <a href="https://www.cspinet.org/">Center for Science in the Public Interest</a> argued that more transparency could lead to better public acceptance and minimization of potential economic disruptions from global trade (since other countries could consider these cattle genetically modified foods in need of labeling).&nbsp;



Moreover, Jaydee Hanson, the Policy Director of the <a href="https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/">Center for Food Safety</a>, urged the FDA to keep track of the animals for several generations to ensure no unintended problems will arise.



---



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

Genetically modified cattle have been cleared in the U.S.

On Monday, March 7, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration...

Fatu and Najin are the last two northern white rhinoceroses in the world, and they are both females. As a result, they can no longer reproduce naturally, and face an imminent threat of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/higher-levels-of-biodiversity-reduce-extinction-risks-in-birds/">extinction</a>. In order to assure that this subspecies will not disappear forever, the international <a href="http://www.biorescue.org/en/home-0">BioRescue</a> consortium is attempting to create artificial egg cells by using skin cells of these rhinos. 



The scientists aim to first convert the skin cells into stem cells, and then into germ cells, or gametes, which could finally be matured into functional egg cells. These could be implanted in surrogate female southern white rhinos - a species closely related to the northern white rhinos.



Although this method seems highly futuristic for many scientists, there is in fact a precedent: in 2016, Professor Katsuhiko Hayashi from <a href="https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/">Kyushu University</a> in Japan managed to successfully transform skin into egg cells in mice, and to successfully fertilize several females, which ultimately gave birth to 11 healthy and fertile offspring. Even if the percentage of offspring was lower than with conventional artificial insemination, the fact that they developed normally and did not die prematurely make scientists optimistic that the same method could soon save northern white rhinos from extinction.



“Considering that Hayashi spent many years researching this method, we can be proud if, in three years’ time, we understand the process and have managed to produce mature northern white rhino progenitor germ cells,” said the head of the research team Sebastian Diecke, a professor at the <a href="https://www.mdc-berlin.de/">Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association</a> (MDC) in Berlin. “If we are able to then mature these into functional egg cells, that would naturally be the crowning achievement of our research.”



In a new study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07059-w">Nature Scientific Reports</a>, Professor Diecke and his team have revealed that they managed to take an important step in this direction by creating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from northern white rhino skin cells, which could eventually develop into immature eggs cells, or oocytes.&nbsp;



“Our paper sheds new light on pluripotency – the ability of stem cells to differentiate into all cells of the body,” said lead author Dr.&nbsp;Vera Zywitza, a postdoctoral researcher at MDC. “It therefore represents an important milestone on the road to artificially generated rhino oocytes.”&nbsp;



Although the iPS cells cannot yet be used to create germline cells due to the fact that they contain persistent foreign genetic material that the scientists were forced to add in order to prevent cell death, they can still shed much light on the nature of rhino stem cells and help scientists understand the molecular mechanisms that take place in such cells.&nbsp;



“For example, we can study why the gestation period of a rhinoceros is 16&nbsp;months whereas that of a mouse is only 21&nbsp;days, or how organs develop in different species. This teaches us a lot about evolution,” Dr. Zywitza said.



Further research is needed to clear the iPS cells from the foreign genetic factors that they now contain and make them grow into egg cells. Once this process is complete, the northern white rhino is sure to be saved from extinction.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;



Image Credit: Jan Zwilling, IZW



---



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

Scientists are one step closer to creating artificial rhino eggs

Fatu and Najin are the last two northern white rhinoceroses...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0ynNMYkMKa-2340414-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="3upvlAaHgO-2256633-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="X0f6OHYoI4-2310561-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JRaP49ISmm-2357509-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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"

[sendtonews key="uV9Lh2fQbV-1760058-12187" type="single"] Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky" Today’s...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"]</div>



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)



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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



---



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...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"]</div>



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



---



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

[sendtonews key="vpljfR2VBX-2560867-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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

[sendtonews key="MHyhtebibJ-2200368-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

<div class="wp-block-sendtonews-playerselector">[sendtonews key="761m2QQvR1-2035772-12187" type="single"]</div>



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;



---



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...