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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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Spacecraft will fly through the Sun's atmosphere tomorrow for the first time ever

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

Human heart rate fluctuates due to many different factors. We know that practices such as meditation can slow down heart rate, while <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercise-can-improve-heart-health-at-any-age/">exercising</a>, thinking about a frightening experience or watching a riveting movie can speed it up. If we carry out these activities with other people then it is predictable that they will experience the same changes in heart rate as we do.



However, the authors of a new study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a>, propose that individuals listening attentively to a story will synchronize their heart rates as well – even though they are listening entirely on their own.&nbsp;



“There's a lot of literature demonstrating that people synchronize their physiology with each other. But the premise is that somehow, you're interacting and physically present in the same place,” explained study co-senior author Lucas Parra, a professor at City College of New York. “What we have found is that the phenomenon is much broader, and that simply following a story and processing stimulus will cause similar fluctuations in people’s heart rates. It's the cognitive function that drives your heart rate up or down.”



“What’s important is that the listener is paying attention to the actions in the story,” noted study co-senior author Jacobo Sitt, a researcher at the Paris Brain Institute and Inserm. “It’s not about emotions, but about being engaged and attentive, and thinking about what will happen next. Your heart responds to those signals from the brain.”



In a series of experiments the researchers investigated the role of attention in synchronizing the heart rates of participants. For example, when volunteers listened to an audiobook of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, their heart rates increased and decreased at similar points during the story. The electrocardiogram (EKG) measurements of their heart rates were synchronized over time, even though they were isolated from one another.



In order to prove that synchronization was not occurring because participants were responding to the emotional content of the narrative, the researchers asked participants to watch short, unemotional educational videos. Participants who watched the videos showed synchronization of their heart rates, despite the lack of emotional content.&nbsp;



But participants who had to count backwards in their heads while watching the videos showed less synchronization of emotions. This indicated to the researchers that it is the act of paying attention to the narrative and thinking about it that is important in synchronizing heart rates.



Further experimentation revealed that heart rate synchronization also predicts how well a participant comprehends and remembers the events of the story. When participants listened to children’s short stories, some while attentive and others while being distracted, those with higher heart rate synchronization achieved better scores when questioned later about the story. The authors felt this was evidence of the relationship between changes in heart rate and the conscious processing of the narrative.&nbsp;



In a final experiment healthy volunteers and patients with disorders of consciousness (e.g., in a coma or a persistent vegetative state) listened to an audiobook of a children’s story. Patients with disorders were unable to pay attention and, as expected, showed lower rates of heart synchronization than did healthy participants.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“This study is still very preliminary, but you can imagine this being an easy test that could be implemented to measure brain function,” said Sitt. “It doesn’t require a lot of equipment. It could even be performed in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.” The study authors emphasized that more validation is needed, with larger numbers of patients, as well as comparisons with accepted tests of brain function like EEGs and fMRIs, before this method could be accepted as a useful measure of brain function.&nbsp;



According to Parra, such research is also important for understanding mindfulness and the brain-body connection.&nbsp;



“Neuroscience is opening up in terms of thinking of the brain as part of an actual anatomical, physical body. This research is a step in the direction of looking at the brain-body connection more broadly, in terms of how the brain affects the body.”



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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

Our heart rates synchronize when we experience the same story

Human heart rate fluctuates due to many different factors. We...

A recent study from the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> found that flowers are employing “mechanical buckling,” a term that signifies the deformation of a structural component under load. The flowers are using this strategy to produce three-dimensional, iridescent patterns that can lure <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-spaces-provide-a-refuge-for-urban-pollinators/">pollinators</a>. 



Although in civil engineering buckling is typically associated with mechanical failure and is something that engineers try to avoid at all costs, for flowers, this phenomenon is surprisingly employed to their advantage.&nbsp;



Flowers use a variety of strategies to attract pollinators, including not only the well-known employment of chemical color from pigments, but also the less-known phenomenon of iridescence – the optical effect produced by an intricate pattern of microscopic ridges on the surface of petals that diffract light. The scientists discovered that hibiscus flowers employ buckling to alter the deformations of the surface of petals in order to produce iridescence.&nbsp;



“The petal striations on hibiscus flowers develop during petal growth, and&nbsp;Professor Beverley Glover’s team, who were the first to discover the iridescence properties in flowers, suspected that they may be caused by mechanical properties as the petals expanded," explained study lead author&nbsp;Dr. Sarah Robinson&nbsp;from the University of Cambridge’s <a href="https://www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/">Sainsbury Laboratory</a>.



By using a robotic system developed to measure mechanical properties in plants, Dr. Robinson and her colleagues applied a certain force to stretch immature hibiscus petals which have not yet developed striations to check whether it was possible to mechanically induce the patterns.



“We saw striations appear almost instantaneously when a mechanical stress was applied. This told us that it was buckling that was causing a wrinkling of the petal surface and not a slower biological process," explained Dr. Robinson. "We were able to measure the striations and show that they had the same properties as they do when they develop naturally.&nbsp;



"One of the big surprises was that we could also induce striations at 90 degrees to the striations that naturally occur, which indicates that the orientation of the striations is not pre-patterned. However, we could not induce striations in other parts of the petals, suggesting that the ability to form striations is under genetic control."



Considering that more than 35 percent of the world’s crop harvests rely on animal pollinators, it is of crucial importance to gain a better understanding of how the relationship between plants and pollinators functions. This study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(21)01164-5?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2211124721011645%3Fshowall%3Dtrue">Cell Reports</a>, is a major step forward in elucidating this mysterious connection. 



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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

Flowers use mechanical buckling to lure pollinators

A recent study from the University of Cambridge found that...

A new study published in American Heart Association’s journal <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/journal/hyp">Hypertension</a> found that elevated levels of stress hormones increase the risk of developing hypertension and other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/green-spaces-linked-to-lower-rates-of-heart-disease/">cardiovascular</a> problems.



The researchers measured levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine (neurotransmitters known as catecholamines, which have a fundamental role in maintaining the stability of the autonomous nervous system), as well as cortisol (a steroid hormone regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which modulates stress response). The analysis was focused on 412 participants between the ages of 48 to 87 years who had normal blood pressure at the beginning of the study.&nbsp;



“Although all of these hormones are produced in the adrenal gland, they have different roles and mechanisms to influence the cardiovascular system, so it is important to study their relationship with hypertension and cardiovascular events, individually,” said study lead author Kosuke Inoue, an assistant professor of Social Epidemiology at the <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en">University of Kyoto</a> in Japan.&nbsp;



Between 2005 and 2018, participants were followed by three more visits to assess whether they experienced any subsequent cardiovascular problems. The scientists discovered that during a follow-up period of 6.5 years, each time the levels of the stress hormones doubled, there was a 21 to 31 percent increase in the risk of developing hypertension.&nbsp;



Furthermore, during a follow-up period of 11.2 years, each doubling of the cortisol levels triggered a 90 percent increase in the risk of experiencing cardiovascular events.



“The stress hormones norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine and cortisol can increase with stress from life events, work, relationships, finances and more. And we confirmed that stress is a key factor&nbsp;contributing&nbsp;to the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular events,”&nbsp;said Professor Inoue.&nbsp;



“Previous research focused on the relationship between stress hormone levels and hypertension or cardiovascular events in patients with existing hypertension. However, studies looking at adults without hypertension were lacking."



“It is important to examine the impact of stress on adults in the general population because it provides new information about whether routine measurement of stress hormones needs to be considered&nbsp;to prevent hypertension and CVD events.”



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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

Elevated stress hormones raise the risk of heart problems

A new study published in American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension...

New research by neuroscientists has revealed that a single brain cell can both sense the environment and control foraging behavior. The study, which used computer modeling to examine a small roundworm called a nematode, was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/commsbio/">Communications Biology</a>. 



The scientists found that the same cells that sense the environment - in this case, cells that sense salt in microscopic nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans) - also control decision making.&nbsp;



“Our findings are startling – we found simple mechanisms by which salt tasting cells drive a rather sophisticated strategy to forage for food," said study co-lead author Professor Netta Cohen.



"When a nematode first senses a salty environment, the sensory cell that is sensitive to increasing salt concentrations is stimulated - and provides all the information the animal needs to steer into the salt patch."



"We think this is a mechanism built into these sensory cells. Not only is it remarkably effective, but surprisingly, because it all takes place inside the sensors, it is very easy to implement with the basic toolkit that nearly all brain cells have at their disposal."&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



The nematodes have only 302 cells altogether, including two cells that sense salt - one activated by increased levels of salt, the other turned on by decreased levels of salt. Together these cells can steer the animal towards salt. Although in some ways nematodes are simple animals, the scientists suspect that other animals may use a similar mechanism for food searches.



“We think this is a mechanism built into these sensory cells. Not only is it remarkably effective, but surprisingly, because it all takes place inside the sensors, it is very easy to implement with the basic toolkit that nearly all brain cells have at their disposal," said Professor Cohen.



While C. elegans may use salt cues to forage for food, we suspect similar mechanisms may be used by other animals to selectively attend to other cues or features of the environment."



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

Taste cells may control foraging and decision making

New research by neuroscientists has revealed that a single brain...

A team of experts at the Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology has identified the gene that is responsible for tiger stripes, leopard spots, and other fur patterns found in cats. The colors and fur patterns that cats are born with are the same markings they will have for life.&nbsp;



"From leopards to giraffes to zebras, the developmental biology of self-organizing color pattern in mammals is an unsolved mystery," said Professor Gregory Barsh. "Tigers with black stripes on an orange or white background roam the grasslands of Southeast Asia and India."



"Spotted cheetahs chase antelope through the shrubland in Africa. Jaguars with their rosette patterned coats stalk down prey throughout South and Latin America. And domesticated cats of many coat colors and patterns bask in the sunlight of living rooms across the world."



For their investigation, the researchers analyzed skin samples from non-viable cat embryos at different stages of development.



The genetic analysis of single cells and proteins in the tissue showed that a signaling molecule encoded by the gene Dkk4 plays a central role in determining cat fur patterns, including their shape and color. As the embryo develops, the expression of this molecule drives unique fur patterns that emerge in cats during hair growth.&nbsp;



“Intricate color patterns are one aspect that defines morphological diversity in cats,” said Professor Barsh. He noted that early in development, his team identified strip-like alterations in the thickness of the epidermis preceded by a pre-model of gene expression.



"Our findings lead to a molecular understanding of how the leopard got its spots. They suggest similar mechanisms underpinning the periodic color pattern and hair follicle spacing and identify targets for different variations of the pattern in other mammals."



Dr. Chris Kaelin, a senior scientist at Alpha Hudson, explained that the study has identified a network of molecules involved in pattern formation. "Several of the molecules, including Dkk4, are known to function coordinately as activators and inhibitors, exactly as Alan Turing predicted 70 years ago."



According to Dr. Kelly McGowan, the findings suggest that even before pigment producing melanocyte cells enter the epidermis, the cells are predestined to signal for a specific fur color.



"Our results bring molecular understanding to how the leopard got its spots, suggest that similar mechanisms underlie periodic color pattern and periodic hair follicle spacing, and identify targets for diverse pattern variation in other mammals," wrote the study authors.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.



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

Experts have solved the mystery of fur patterns in cats

A team of experts at the Hudson Alpha Institute for...

The,Starry,Night,,,Art,Painting,Oil,Color,Moon,Mountain

A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25477-8">Nature Communications</a> has proposed a new theory to explain innovation in arts and sciences. By using artificial intelligence to mine big data, researchers from the <a href="https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/">Kellogg School of Management</a> at Northwestern University discovered a pattern of creative exploration followed by exploitation that generally led to artists’ and scientists’ most successful breakthroughs.



Jackson Pollock, for instance, spent years drawing, printmaking, and painting surrealist pictures of humans, nature, and animals, before developing his unique “drip technique,” which brought him world fame. Similarly, Vincent Van Gogh painted a series of somber, realistic pictures before experiencing his artistic breakthrough from 1888-1890, during which he painted his most innovative works.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“If you look at his production before 1888, it was all over the place,” said lead author Dashun Wang, director of the <a href="https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/science-of-science.aspx">Center of Science &amp; Innovation</a> at Northwestern University. “It was full of still-life paintings, pencil drawings and portraits that are much different in character from the work he created during his hot streak.”



As Professor Wang and colleagues explained in a previous <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0315-8">study</a>, hot streaks highlight specific periods during which an individual’s performance is substantially better than his or her typical performance. In their new study, by analyzing data from 2,128 visual artists, 4,337 film directors, and 20,040 scientists, Wang and his team discovered that hot streaks emerge from years of exploration (painstaking study of diverse topics and styles), followed by a period of exploitation (focus on a narrow area to develop deep expertise).



“Neither exploration nor exploitation alone in isolation is associated with a hot streak. It’s the sequence of them together,” explained Wang.&nbsp;



“Although exploration is considered a risk because it might not lead anywhere, it increases the likelihood of stumbling upon a great idea. By contrast, exploitation is typically viewed as a conservative strategy."&nbsp;



"If you exploit the same type of work over and over for a long period of time, it might stifle creativity. But, interestingly, exploration followed by exploitation appears to show consistent associations with the onset of hot streaks.”&nbsp;



According to co-author Jillian Chown, an assistant professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management, identifying this universal pattern across creative domains “can help individuals and organizations understand the different types of activities to engage in - such as exploring new domains or exploiting existing knowledge and competencies - and the optimal sequence to use in order to achieve the most significant impact.”



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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

Experts discover a pattern that drives artistic breakthroughs

A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications has...

Sea ice reduction in the Arctic caused by global warming diminishes the genetic diversity of polar bears, according to a new study published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rspb">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>. By isolating polar bear groups from one another, sea ice melting forces the bears to inbreed, which gradually decreases their genetic differentiation.&nbsp;&nbsp;



A team of Norwegian researchers funded by the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research and the World Wildlife Fund analyzed DNA samples from 622 polar bears in the archipelago of Svalbard in Norway. The experts discovered a 3 to 10 percent loss in their genetic diversity from 1995 to 2016. According to the scientists, this loss of diversity is caused by inbreeding. The shrinking of polar bears’ habitats due to sea ice melting is isolating different groups of bears, reducing thus their mating possibilities and forcing them to inbreed.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The magnitude and rate of loss of genetic diversity and gene flow that we observed is alarming considering that polar bears have historically shown relatively little genetic differentiation even on a global scale, but now are facing increasingly strong climatic selective pressure,” the scientists reported.&nbsp;



The loss of genetic diversity within isolated populations of polar bears was accompanied by an almost 200 percent increase in genetic differentiation between regions, showing that polar bears are starting to form several genetic subpopulations which become increasingly different from one another.&nbsp;



In the future, the effects of climate change on polar bears’ populations may be even more drastic. Increased levels of isolation might ultimately cause a phenomenon called “inbreeding depression,” a significant reduction of the survival and fertility rates of offspring born from genetically related parents. Such a phenomenon can strongly endanger a population’s ability to survive and reproduce, bringing it to the brink of extinction.



Further research is needed to develop conservation strategies for endangered species such as these. “Our study shows that tracking of temporal population-genetic changes will become important for our understanding of how polar bears and other ice-dependent species may cope with rapid habitat fragmentation and loss in the Arctic and Antarctic,” concluded the study authors.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



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

Sea ice loss forces polar bears to inbreed

Sea ice reduction in the Arctic caused by global warming...

The summer of 2021 is the hottest on record in the United States, according to the latest climate report from <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/">NOAA</a>. The average temperature this summer in the contiguous U.S. was 74.0 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 2.6 degrees above average in the last 126 years of record keeping.



According to NOAA, this technically exceeds the record heat of the 1936 Dust Bowl Summer, but the difference is extremely small - less than 0.01 of a degree.



"A record 18.4 percent of the contiguous U.S. experienced record-warm temperatures. California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah each reported their warmest summer on record, as 16 other states had a top-five warmest summer on record," states NOAA.



The news comes shortly after July 2021 was established as being the world's hottest month ever. Many states throughout the country experienced both record heat and rainfall.&nbsp;



Summer of 2021 will be remembered as a season of deadly extremes, including severe weather, flash flooding, record wildfires, and tropical cyclones.&nbsp;



"Devastating flash flooding and fatalities resulted from multiple events during August including Tropical Storm Fred in western North Carolina, convective flooding from a complex of storms across middle Tennessee, Hurricane Ida across Louisiana and portions of the Northeast in early September and from Tropical Storm Henri, also across parts of the Northeast. With 35 fatalities accounted for during August, it was the deadliest month for flooding across the U.S. since Hurricane Harvey in 2017," the report states.&nbsp;



"Wildfires continued to spread across the western U.S. during August as the Dixie Fire in north-central California became the second-largest fire in the state’s history. The Caldor Fire also in California grew rapidly during August, threatening South Lake Tahoe communities. Air quality remained a concern across the U.S. as ash and fine particulates from the many wildfires obscured the skies."



In June, NOAA and NASA released a study which found that Earth's atmosphere is trapping an "unprecedented" amount of heat - with the planet's energy imbalance approximately doubling from 2005 to 2019.



"Continued increases in concentrations of well-mixed greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere and the long time-scales time required for the ocean, cryosphere, and land to come to thermal equilibrium with those increases result in a net gain of energy, hence warming, on Earth," explained the study authors.



"Most of this excess energy (about 90 percent) warms the ocean, with the remainder heating the land, melting snow and ice, and warming the atmosphere."



The rapid changes are partially due to natural variability, but are primarily driven by human-caused global warming that is associated with greenhouse gas emissions. From the record heat wave that struck the Pacific Northwest in late June to the rapid intensification of Hurricane Ida, scientists warn that these trends will continue alongside human-caused global warming.



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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

Summer 2021 was the hottest ever in the contiguous U.S.

The summer of 2021 is the hottest on record in...

The chief editors of 17 health journals based around the world have simultaneously published an editorial in 233 international journals to address the climate crisis.&nbsp;The report makes an urgent appeal to world leaders to limit rising temperatures, halt the destruction of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/investing-in-nature-is-needed-to-avoid-the-next-pandemic/">nature</a>, and to restore biodiversity and protect health.



At a time when the world has been focused on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors of the editorial warn that the health impacts of climate change combined with the consequences of extreme weather events and the widespread degradation of ecosystems could be far more severe than the current pandemic.&nbsp;



According to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, the risks posed by climate change could dwarf those of any single disease.&nbsp;



"The COVID-19 pandemic will end, but there is no vaccine for the climate crisis. The IPCC report shows that every fraction of a degree hotter endangers our health and future. Similarly, every action taken to limit emissions and warming brings us closer to a healthier and safer future," said Dr. Ghebreyesus.



This warning comes just prior to the UN General Assembly meeting which is one of the last international meetings to be held before the (COP26) climate conference in Glasgow, UK, in November. It is thus an appropriate time to urge the leaders of all countries to develop workable strategies to honor the goals of the Paris Agreement.&nbsp;



The editorial authors state that the greatest threat to global public health in the future is the continued failure of world leaders to take adequate action to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C.



While there have been some recent commitments to reduce emissions and protect biodiversity, these fall far short of what is needed. The editorial urges governments worldwide to develop credible short- and long-term plans to limit global warming and to invest in the transformation of societies and economies. For example, there needs to be significant redesign of transport systems, cities, production and distribution of food, markets for financial investments, and health systems. These changes would bring much needed jobs, cleaner air, better health for citizens, improved housing and better-quality food.



According to the authors of the editorial, the global action needed would only be realized if high-income countries were to reduce their own consumption and support the initiatives in less developed countries. Developed countries have an outstanding commitment to provide $100 billion a year which, if fulfilled, would increase climate funding for less-developed countries that often bear the brunt of climate change catastrophes.&nbsp;



The impacts of climate change are disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable of populations in less-developed countries, including children, the elderly, ethnic minorities, poverty-stricken communities and those with underlying health conditions. With this in mind, the editorial suggests that money should be provided to low-income countries in the form of grants, and that the debts of these countries should be relieved so that climate change organizations on the ground can operate without constraints.&nbsp;



Global warming affects all people on earth and the recent IPCC report shows that, until the world has reached net-zero greenhouse gases, the planet will continue to warm. It is the responsibility of governments to seize this opportunity to propose and plan ambitious climate goals in order to limit temperature rise and reduce the impact of a warming planet.



“As health professionals, we must do all we can to aid the transition to a sustainable, fairer, resilient, and healthier world,” wrote the experts. “We, as editors of health journals, call for governments and other leaders to act, marking 2021 as the year that the world finally changes course.”



Professor Lukoye Atwoli, Editor-in-Chief of the East Africa Medical Journal, and one of the co-authors of the editorial, noted that while low- and middle-income countries have historically contributed less to climate change, they bear an inordinate burden of the adverse effects, including on health. "We therefore call for equitable contributions whereby the world’s wealthier countries do more to offset the impact of their actions on the climate, beginning now, and continuing into the future.”



“Health professionals have been on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis and they are united in warning that going above 1.5C and allowing the continued destruction of nature will bring the next, far deadlier crisis," said Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief of&nbsp;The BMJ. "Wealthier nations must act faster and do more to support those countries already suffering under higher temperatures. 2021 has to be the year the world changes course - our health depends on it.”



Seye Abimbola,&nbsp;Editor-in-Chief of&nbsp;BMJ Global Health, said:&nbsp;“What we must do to tackle pandemics, health inequities, and climate change is the same - global solidarity and action that recognize that, within and across nations, our destinies are inextricably linked, just as human health is inextricably linked to the health of the planet.”



HE Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, emphasized that every country must pursue an ambitious target to curb greenhouse gas emissions to keep the global temperature-rise below 1.5ºC. "Developed nations should facilitate the green recovery of the CVF-V20 countries. Dedicated support is required for reducing the cost of capital and encouraging private sector participation. Strict implementation of the Paris Agreement is the only way to check global emissions and thereby global warming. The time to take action to save the planet is not tomorrow, but today."



The editorial has been published in medical, nursing and public health journals around the world. These include The BMJ,<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/">&nbsp;The Lancet</a>,&nbsp;the&nbsp;New England Journal of Medicine, the&nbsp;East African Medical Journal, the&nbsp;Chinese Science Bulletin, the&nbsp;National Medical Journal of India, the&nbsp;Medical Journal of Australia, and 50 BMJ specialist journals including&nbsp;BMJ Global Health&nbsp;and&nbsp;Thorax. Never before have so many journals joined forces to publish the same message.



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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

Climate editorial calls for urgent action by world leaders

The chief editors of 17 health journals based around the...

Bodies of water are home to some of the most bizarre creatures that humans have studied, and many more are still yet to be discovered. A prime example of this is the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-impact-of-fire-on-amazon-biodiversity/">Amazon</a> River basin, which provides a habitat for around 15 percent of all freshwater fish species currently known, with an estimated 40 percent of additional species yet to be named. One of the strangest of these lesser-studied fishes includes the appropriately named "vampire fish," a member of the catfish subfamily Vandellinae and known locally as "candiru."



These catfish earned their name for the way they attach themselves to other fish and suck their blood. However, researchers have now discovered that one vampire fish sub-species of the genus Paracanthopoma attaches itself to fish in a very unique way.



The research team conducted a sampling study of freshwater fauna in the Demeni River Basin, located on a left-bank tributary of the Negro River. The study identified candirus that were attached to the bodies of Doras phlyzakion, a species of Amazonian thorny catfish. Across each of the nine catfish that were studied, one or two candirus were found attached close to the lateral bone plates, as opposed to their normal preference of the gills.&nbsp;



Normally, vampire fish use their strong teeth and robust snouts to attach to the epidermis of their host and suck their blood, a process that causes significant damage to the prey. However, macroscopic analysis of the stomach contents of the studied sub-species showed that no blood, flesh, skin, or mucus was present.&nbsp;



“We believe the association between candiru and host, in this case, might be commensalistic, rather than parasitic, because the hosts were not badly harmed, and the candiru apparently derived no food benefit,” explained study lead author Chiara Lubich of the Federal University of Amazonas.



Ultimately, this means that this particular type of vampire fish is much less benign than its relations, which raises the question – why do they attach themselves to the thorny catfish? While the answer to this question is unknown, it could be possible that the attachment presents an opportunity to hide from predators due to their tiny size and transparent appearance.&nbsp;



However, it is also possible that as opposed to hiding from predators, the candirus are instead using the larger catfish as a transportation method to locate new food sources.



The research has been published in the journal <a href="https://aiep.pensoft.net/">Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:calumvaughan05@gmail.com">Calum Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The vampire fish that doesn’t suck blood

Bodies of water are home to some of the most...

A new study has revealed that dogs become attached to the voice of their owners. The researchers found that the sound of an owner's voice generates brain activity in dogs similar to the neural responses of newborn <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/babies-have-reduced-pain-response-with-skin-to-skin-contact/">babies</a> while listening to their mother.



Among human infants, the reward center of the brain is activated by their mother’s voice. This response is associated with feelings of love, and is also linked to the reassurance that infants receive from their mothers in unfamiliar situations. The researchers set out to investigate whether dogs have the same kind of attachment to their owners.



“To study the brain mechanisms behind dog-owner attachment is particularly exciting, because it can help to understand how similar this unique bond between individuals of different species can be to other well-known relationships between conspecifics (e.g. infant-mother attachment),” explained study lead author Anna Gábor of <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a>.



“Some years ago we discovered that dog brains are sensitive to verbal praises, but it remained unexplored how the relationship with the speaker affects this sensitivity."



The study was focused on the “Strange Situation Test, which has been used in the past to analyze how children respond to the absence of their caregivers. The experts also used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe the brain activity of dogs as they listened to praise or neutral speaking by their owner. The dogs also listened to a person who was familiar to them.



The analysis showed that the reward centers of the dogs' brains were more sensitive to the owner’s voice compared to that of a familiar person. The experts also determined that dogs who were more attached to their owners showed a greater neural response to their owner's voice, even when the dog was not being praised.&nbsp;



“The basic function of attachment is to keep the dependent individual (infant, dog) in the proximity of the caregiver,” said study co-author Márta Gácsi. “Our results point out that in dogs, just like in infants, not only positive interactions with the caregiver, but even listening to their neutral voice is rewarding.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/neuroimage">NeuroImage</a>.



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

Dogs become attached to their owner's voice

A new study has revealed that dogs become attached to...

Office air quality can affect employees’ cognitive functioning, measured in terms of response times and ability to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/breathing-exercises-improve-focus-in-children-with-adhd/">focus</a>, as well as their overall productivity, according to new research conducted at <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/">Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health</a>.



The longitudinal one-year study included over 300 participants from offices across six countries (China, India, Mexico, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The researchers discovered increased concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and high CO2 levels were associated with low ventilation rates and significantly decreased cognitive functioning.&nbsp;



To study the correlation between office air quality and cognitive functioning, the scientists monitored the concentrations of PM2.5 and CO2 in real time, as well as the temperature and humidity in participants’ offices. Each participant had a custom-designed app installed on their phones and was prompted to participate in cognitive tests and surveys at pre-established times or when sensors detected particularly high or low PM2.5 and CO2 levels.



The scientists discovered that as concentrations of pollutants increased, the participants performed worse at tests assessing cognitive speed, inhibitory control, and working memory.&nbsp;



“Our study adds to the emerging evidence that air pollution has an impact on our brain. The findings show that increases in PM2.5 levels were associated with&nbsp;acute&nbsp;reductions in cognitive function.&nbsp;It’s the first time we’ve seen&nbsp;these short-term effects among younger adults,” said study lead author Jose Guillermo Cedeño Laurent, a research fellow in the <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/environmental-health/">Department of Environmental Health</a>.



“The study also confirmed how low ventilation rates negatively impact cognitive function. Overall, the study suggests that poor indoor air quality affects health and productivity significantly more than we previously understood.”



According to senior co-author Professor Joseph Allen, the findings show that although the world is rightly focused (in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic) on improving office ventilation and filtration in order to slow indoor viral transmission, other health hazards associated with indoor pollutants must also be acknowledged.



“Our research consistently finds that the value proposition of these strategies extends to cognitive function and productivity of workers, making healthy buildings foundational to public health and business strategy moving forward,” concluded Professor Allen.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1bd8">Environmental Research Letters</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

Office air quality affects cognitive functioning and productivity

Office air quality can affect employees’ cognitive functioning, measured in...

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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



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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA



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



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

The history of Mars is much more complex than we thought

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research



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



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...