Have you ever paused to admire a morning glory? Just as their name suggests, these flowers open at sunrise and often close by afternoon or evening.



Despite their fragile appearance, a recent study from the University of Michigan suggests that morning glory plants are quite resilient. The team discovered that these plants can withstand the effects of weed killers and display resistance to damage from herbivorous insects.



In particular, morning glory plants were found to resist glyphosate - the active component in the herbicide RoundUp.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-resistance-to-insect-damage">Plant resistance to insect damage</h2>



Interestingly, the researchers found that plants which are susceptible to glyphosate are also susceptible to damage from insects. This implies that glyphosate can disrupt the co-evolution of plants and their insect adversaries.



Study lead author&nbsp;Grace Zhang is a U-M doctoral student working with&nbsp;Regina Baucom, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.



"When people think about herbicides and study them in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/insects-boost-plant-evolution-in-surprising-ways/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plants</a>, they think about herbicide resistance," said Zhang. 



"Resistance is a big problem, tolerance is a big problem. But beyond that, we don't really have a great idea of how herbicides impact plant evolution in general, and also how it might impact how plants interact with other things in their environment."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-insect-damage-on-plants-with-glyphosate">More insect damage on plants with glyphosate</h2>



The researchers set up the study with 1,600 morning glory plants in <a href="https://umich.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U-M</a>'s Matthaei Botanical Gardens. They sprayed half of the plants with glyphosate and recorded the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tiny-leaf-eating-insects-have-a-huge-impact-on-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plants</a>' growth traits.



Noteworthy findings from the study included the fact that plants treated with glyphosate incurred more damage from insects compared to the non-treated (control) plants. However, plants resistant to glyphosate had less insect damage.



While conventional ecological theory would suggest a tradeoff between these two traits, Zhang said the team "saw the opposite."



The researchers also analyzed the fitness of the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dna-technology-will-accelerate-the-pace-of-plant-species-discovery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plants</a>, i.e., their likelihood of producing seeds. They discovered a positive selection acting on glyphosate resistance: the more resistant the plants are to glyphosate, the fitter they are and the more likely to produce seeds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plant-genes-and-insect-defenses">Plant genes and insect defenses</h2>



But, why are plants that are resistant to glyphosate also resistant to insect damage?



While Zhang and Baucom are yet to confirm, they hint at the role of the shikimate pathway - a metabolic process that glyphosate attacks, impacting the plant's herbivory defenses.



In contrast, the plants resistant to glyphosate seem to have multiple genes working together. These form detoxification pathways that can wade off glyphosate, thereby maintaining their insect defenses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-agricultural-practices">Implications for agricultural practices</h2>



This study has profound implications for current agricultural practices and the management of herbicide application. Understanding the dual resistance to both glyphosate and herbivory challenges the conventional approach to pest and weed management. 



For farmers, this could mean re-evaluating the use of herbicides like glyphosate to mitigate potential unintended ecological repercussions. 



The development of crops that can naturally resist both herbicides and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-does-the-milkweed-beetle-safely-feed-on-a-toxic-plant/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">insect</a> predation could lead to more sustainable agricultural strategies, reducing the need for chemical inputs while preserving biodiversity in farmlands.



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



The findings open the door to further exploration into the genetic underpinnings of plant resistance. Future research could investigate the exact genetic pathways involved in this dual resistance, potentially leading to breakthroughs in genetic engineering for crop improvement.



Another avenue of research could focus on the long-term evolutionary consequences of glyphosate use on plant-insect interactions. 



Scientists could harness these insights for developing crops that are better suited to withstand both chemical and biological stressors, ensuring food security in an ever-changing environment.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-human-made-impacts-on-nature">Human-made impacts on nature</h2>



"Studies in the past usually look at the evolution of herbicide resistance in these plants or they'll look at how applying the herbicide directly to specific insects will affect them," Zhang said. 



"But they haven't really looked at this question from more of a community level: How does herbicide act as a disruptor on this community level?" 



"So that's what we really wanted to focus on: how does this new disruptive agent that is human-made impact a very natural, long standing relationship between plants and their insects?"



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.20238" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New Phytologist</a>.



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Herbicides disrupt the co-evolution of plants and insects

Have you ever paused to admire a morning glory? Just as their name suggests, these flowers open at sunrise and often close by afternoon or evening. Despite their fragile appearance, a recent study from the University of Michigan suggests that morning glory plants are quite resilient. The team discovered that these plants can withstand the effects of weed killers and display resistance to damage from herbivorous insects. In particular, morning glory plants were found to resist glyphosate - the active component in the herbicide RoundUp. Plant resistance...

I’ve always been fascinated by ethnobotany, although as a kid, I didn’t know it by that name.  In Boy Scouts, I took great pride in learning that rose hips were edible, and despite being far from the most appetizing snack, I’ll still occasionally eat one on the trail.  I remember in literature class in high school reading a translation of a Native American poem about Yucca, it’s sacred nature and many uses. Yucca is a beautiful plant and it happens that I’ve lived almost all my life within the range of one species of Yucca or other.  Yucca is a plant resembling an agave or an aloe vera but with thinner, pointed leaves giving it another common name: Spanish Bayonet. Long flower stalks form on yucca in the fall, decorated with large waxy, white blossoms that attract nocturnal yucca moths to help in pollination.  Separate yucca species sometimes have separate species of yucca moth adapted to visit them.

The root of yucca can be cut up very fine and mixed with a little water to create suds, it’s said to be a wonderful shampoo that some swear will give you luscious locks of shiny hair.  I’ve also learned to make cordage from yucca leaves, although this is a bit harder, requiring some experience in twisting ropes. The green flesh is cleaned off leaves by boiling and pounding or less thoroughly with a knife.  The fibers can be then twisted to make almost any length or diameter of rope. There are pieces of yucca rope left by Anasazi people and still relatively intact in cliff dwellings after hundreds of years. 

Closer to home the roots of dandelions, the yellow flowers many consider yard pests, are actually useful.  Dry dandelion roots make delicious tea. The leaves and flowers of dandelions are also delicious and can make a salad a little bit prettier.  A pet turtle I had once loved eating dandelions I picked in the yard or let her find herself on her wanders. 

Prickly pears are edible and have been eaten in the southwestern United States and Mexico for time out of mind.  You can by nopales (diced prickly pear) in many grocery stores in the US. If you want to be adventurous, don’t eat an entire plant, leave enough for it to continue to grow and be careful.  Cactus pads are perilous foods and it’s easy to get a needle in the mouth. Fruits are even more delicious but also covered in fine glochids (tiny hair-like needles) that are even easier to miss.  Other animals seem to have little problems eating cacti. 

On hikes in the Sonoran desert, it’s easy to see bites taken from prickly pear pads by javelina and tortoises.  There are also plenty of bites taken by insects. The cactus that seemed to be one of the more important in the southwestern US is also perhaps the most famous.  <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cacti-birds-sonoran-desert/">Saguaro cactus</a> was the center of the Tohono O’odham traditional calendar. The season for Saguaro cactus fruit was a time of celebration, a time to make wine and syrup a time of feasting in a land that was often a place of harsh famine.  In the southwest, you can still find cactus seasoning everything from syrup to margaritas. 

A handy trick to know on the trail is how to use aspen trees.  Aspen trees are beautiful, their leaves flutter and dance and throw light and shadow in a way uniquely theirs.  Aspen trees are also useful. The fine, white powder covering an aspen tree bark can be applied to exposed skin as an emergency sunblock.  It’s not rated by SPF but if you have nothing else, run yourself thoroughly on an aspen tree to prevent sunburn.

Willow bark tastes horrible.  Actually willow bark tastes like aspirin, which if you allow it to linger on your tongue, you’ll agree tastes horrible.  The same active ingredient is in aspirin and willow bark. You can chew a small amount of willow bark to relieve a headache but it’s hard to gauge dosages in the same way you would with a controlled substance like aspirin tablets.  

Plants have long been used by humans for food, medicine, shelter, clothing, tools and anything else you can think of.  Interacting with plants directly for your needs or wants is a way to connect to the planet, to other species and your species history.  What’s especially great is how omnipresent plants are. You can have a small herb garden in your window sill, or collect flowers from a city park.  The woods, deserts, farms, orchards and even empty lots are full of plants. There are edible plant walks in New York City’s Central Park and botany classes in local community colleges.  There are books and websites and videos to help anyone learn about plants. With a little bit of caution and care, anyone can identify a few edible or useful plants. There are so many more useful plants all over the world than those I discussed.  There are plants better for starting fires, there are leaves useful for weaving hats, there are botanical sunburn ointments. Maybe someday, using wild plants will again become common place in North America. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Practical ethnobotany: the many uses of local plants

I’ve always been fascinated by ethnobotany, although as a kid,...

American dairies produced over 1.3 billion gallons of ice cream in 2016, according to the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>. And with the average American eating more than 23 pounds of ice cream per year, it’s no wonder they produce so much. 

But despite its popularity and overall deliciousness, eating ice cream can have its downsides. Mainly, the eventual melting of this frozen treat and the calories that can add inches to your waistline. But what if they could make ice cream that takes longer to melt while also being healthier? That’s a door that researchers from the <a href="https://www.uoguelph.ca/">University of Guelph</a> and the <a href="https://www.upb.edu.co/es/home">Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana</a> may have just opened.

By adding tiny cellulose fibers extracted from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bananas-crucial-arteries-healthy/">banana</a> plant waste to ice cream, the research team found that they could slow melting, increase shelf life, and possibly replace some of the fats used to make this frozen treat. 

“Our findings suggest that cellulose nanofibers extracted from banana waste could help improve ice cream in several ways,” says Robin Zuluaga Gallego of the <a href="https://www.uoguelph.ca/">University of Guelph</a>. “In particular, the fibers could lead to the development of a thicker and more palatable dessert, which would take longer to melt. As a result, this would allow for a more relaxing and enjoyable experience with the food, especially in warm weather.”

Past research on this topic has included using polyphenol compounds found in strawberries to develop melt-resistant ice cream, or wood pulp extracts to accomplish the same goal. But now, Zuluaga Gallego and Jorge A. Velásquez Cock and their colleagues at the <a href="https://www.upb.edu.co/es/home">Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana</a> in Colombia have been investigating how banana plants can do the same – and more. 

The researchers extracted cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) from ground-up banana fruit stems. These CNFs are thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. They then mixed the CNFs into ice cream at varying concentrations, ranging from zero to three-tenths of a gram per 100 grams of ice cream. They used a number of analytical tools in order to evaluate the effects that CNFs had on ice cream. This included using a rheometer, which measures the force needed to move a fluid, and a texturometer, which measures the hardness of the ice cream.

The results showed that the ice creams mixed with CNFs melted much more slowly than traditional ice creams. They also found that CNFs could increase the shelf life of ice cream, or at least lower its sensitivity to the temperature changes that happen when ice cream is moved in and out of freezers. CNFs also increased the viscosity of low-fat ice cream, improving the creaminess and texture of the dessert. Because these CNFs could help stabilize the fat structure in ice cream, they could be used to potentially replace some of the fats and reduce calories. 

For future research, the team plans to explore how different types fats – like coconut oil and milk fat – affect the behavior of CNFs in other frozen desserts. 

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Bananas could hold the secret to creamier, healthier ice cream

American dairies produced over 1.3 billion gallons of ice cream...

A new study has found that certain pollutants such as diesel fumes may be damaging the scents of flowers, making their fragrance less potent and harder to detect from further away. 

This effect could also be making it difficult for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bees-pesticides-lack-nutrition/">bees</a> to detect where flowers are located and could be further hurting their population numbers.

The research was conducted by researchers from the <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/">University of Reading</a> and led by Robbie Girling. 

Girling has been examining the effects of diesel fumes on flower scents for quite some time, and an earlier study confirmed that five single compounds in floral odors could be altered by pollution. 

If you have noticed that flowers don’t smell quite like they used to in the spring, it may well be because pollution like nitrogen oxide from diesel cars is disrupting the chemical makeup of the flowers’ unique scents. 

Lavenders, daffodils, roses, snapdragons, and lilies are all reportedly affected by pollution. 

In an article for the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23731650-200-dirty-talk-how-pollution-is-snuffing-out-plants-scent-messages/">Daily Scientists</a>, Marta Zaraska describes how flowers “talk” to one another with their scents. 

“If you stroll through a forest and take a deep breath, you can smell the ‘words’ – complex, volatile chemicals such as beta-pinene, which smells fresh and piney,” writes Zaraska. “Plants produce thousands of these, combining them to create ‘sentences’.”

The scents and sentences help bees find where they can collect pollen and feed on nectar. 

An increase in diesel emissions is interrupting this natural language process in plants and the scents, in turn, grow weaker. 

Girling suggests that the pollution is making it difficult for bees to find flowers when pollution levels are at their peak. 

“I have spoken to amateur beekeepers in the past who insist during rush hour they cannot smell the flowers in their garden,” said Girling. 

The continuing research by Girling and his colleagues could explain part of the reason why bee colonies may be facing such steep declines. The results also illustrate another reason to reduce urban pollution and emissions. 

---

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Pollution is stunting the scents of flowers

A new study has found that certain pollutants such as...

In 2010, an unprecedented marine heat wave in Western Australia drove water temperatures up by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius for over two months. Researchers discovered that the loss of seagrass meadows at Shark Bay, which is one of the largest seagrass ecosystems on the planet, resulted in major carbon dioxide emissions.

Ultimately, seagrass loss at Shark Bay led to 9 million metric tons of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reforestation-efforts-greenhouse-gas/">carbon dioxide emissions</a> over the three years following the heat wave. This amount is roughly equivalent to driving 1.6 million cars for a year or the annual carbon dioxide output of 800,000 homes.


“The widespread losses in the summer of 2010/11 were unprecedented,” said first author Ariane Arias-Ortiz. “The net loss of seagrass extent was accompanied by a dramatic shift in seagrass cover. What remained was sparser with 'dense' seagrass areas that had declined from 72 percent in 2002 to 46 percent in 2014.”

The researchers used satellite imagery from the <a href="https://www.dbca.wa.gov.au/">Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions of Western Australia</a> and soil samples from 50 sites to estimate the potential carbon dioxide emissions.


Professor Carlos M. Duarte is a professor at <a href="https://www.kaust.edu.sa/">King Abdullah University of Science and Technology</a> and the lead author of the study.

“This decrease is significant because seagrass meadows rank among the most intense CO2 sinks in the biosphere, giving them the name 'Blue Carbon ecosystems.’ They take up and store CO2 in their soils and biomass through biosequestration. The carbon that is locked in the soils may remain there for millennia if seagrass ecosystems, which offer physical protection to these stocks, remain intact,” explained Duarte.

Study co-author Dr. Oscar Serrano added: “When you have an event such as the losses at Shark Bay, not only do you lose the benefits of CO2 uptake by seagrasses but also any carbon sequestered by the seagrasses is released back into the atmosphere as CO2 when the seagrasses decompose.”

Arias-Ortiz pointed out that climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of extreme weather events. Now that these carbon stores have been compromised, she said, it further stresses “the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and implementing management actions to avoid adverse feedback on the climate system.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nclimate/">Nature Climate Change</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Image Credit: Oscar Serrano

Heat wave kills seagrass resulting in major CO2 emissions

In 2010, an unprecedented marine heat wave in Western Australia...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/essential-oils-mosquito-repellent/">Essential oils</a> are usually thought of as natural and safe ingredients for soaps, lotions, detergents, and cleaning products. The oils are also recommended for a myriad of home remedies and are often used for aromatherapy. 

But a new study conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.niehs.nih.gov/">National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences </a>has found that both tea tree and lavender oil contain hormone-disrupting chemicals. 

The research revealed that lavender and tea tree oil could be the cause of the growing number of reported cases of prepubertal gynecomastia among young boys. Prepubertal gynecomastia refers to abnormal breast growth before puberty. 

The study will be presented to the annual meeting of the <a href="https://www.endocrine.org/about-us">Endocrine Society</a>, a global organization that focuses on hormone research and finding new treatments for hormone diseases.

The Endocrine Society classify essential oils as safe, but this new research shows the importance of the understanding the chemical components of different oils before their widespread use in common household and hygiene products. 

“Our society deems essential oils as safe,” said J. Tyler Ramsey, the study’s lead investigator. “However, they possess a diverse amount of chemicals and should be used with caution because some of these chemicals are potential endocrine disruptors.”

Endocrine glands distribute hormones throughout the body, and endocrine disruptors would be any chemicals or processes that disrupt the natural pathways and distribution of hormones. 

For the study, the researchers focused on eight chemicals that are known components of lavender and tea tree oil. 

The researchers then applied these chemicals to human cancer cells using an in vitro method in test tubes to see how each chemical affected or influenced the cells on a hormonal level. 

Each of the eight chemicals tested and analyzed had varying degrees of influence over hormones and contained either estrogenic and anti-androgenic properties. 

These properties could easily account for prepubertal gynecomastia. 

What's more, the chemicals chosen for the study are found in at least 65 other essential oils, which means that many other widely used products could have hormone-disrupting chemicals. 

The results show that even though essential oils are safe, they are not regulated by the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/">Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) and could contain chemicals that are harmful to the body’s natural endocrine processes.

--

By<a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com"> Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Tea tree and lavender oils can disrupt your hormones

Essential oils are usually thought of as natural and safe...

The caffeine in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/coffee-production-good-birds/">coffee</a> is a mind- and mood-altering substance, and may carry an interesting connection to another “altering” substance that has been dominating the news recently. The legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in states across the U.S. has this plant on the forefront of discussions ranging from recreational drugs to healthcare to taxes. Now, new research reveals an interesting connection between the coffee you can find across the street, and the cannabis that may be on your corner (legally) in no time.

Researchers from <a href="https://www.nm.org/">Northwestern Medicine</a> have published a study in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2796">Journal of Internal Medicine</a> that shows how coffee changes many more metabolites in the blood than previously known, including neurotransmitters typically linked to cannabis. Metabolites are chemicals in the blood that change after we eat or drink, or for a variety of other reasons. The neurotransmitters linked to the endocannabinoid system decreased after an individual drank four to eight cups of coffee per day. However, this is the opposite of what occurred after an individual used cannabis. Endocannabinoids are naturally produced by the body, and mimic the activity of cannabinoids, which are the chemicals that give the cannabis plant its unique properties. 

The study also revealed that certain metabolites related to the androsteroid system increased after individuals drank four to eight cups of coffee in one day, suggesting that coffee might facilitate the elimination or excretion of steroids. Since the steroid pathway is a focus for certain diseases – including cancers – coffee could have an effect on these diseases.

“These are entirely new pathways by which coffee might affect health,” Marilyn Cornelis, assistant professor of preventive medicine at <a href="http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine</a> and says lead author of the study. “Now we want to delve deeper and study how these changes affect the body.”

For their study, the researchers had 47 participants abstain from coffee for one month, then consumed four cups a day for the second month and eight cups a day for the third month. They then used advanced profiling techniques to analyze more than 800 metabolites in the blood collected after each stage of the study. The results showed that blood metabolites of the endocannabinoid system decreased during the periods of coffee consumption – especially with eight cups consumed per day.

The endocannabinoid metabolic pathway is a major regulator of stress response, and some endocannabinoids decrease in the presence of chronic stress. “The increased coffee consumption over the two-month span of the trial may have created enough stress to trigger a decrease in metabolites in this system,” Cornelis explains. “It could be our bodies’ adaptation to try to get stress levels back to equilibrium.” It also regulates a variety of other functions, such as cognition, blood pressure, immunity, addiction, sleep, appetite, energy, and glucose metabolism. 

Coffee has been shown to aid in weight management and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. 

“This is often thought to be due to caffeine’s ability to boost fat metabolism or the glucose-regulating effects of polyphenols (plant-derived chemicals),” says Cornelis. “Our new findings linking coffee to endocannabinoids offer alternative explanations worthy of further study.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How coffee and cannabis impact your brain and health

The caffeine in coffee is a mind- and mood-altering substance,...

Herd of African elephants. Amboseli National Park, Kenya.

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> are reporting that around half of plant and animal species in the world's most diverse regions, such as the Amazon and the Galapagos, will face extinction by the end of this century if human-induced climate change continues at the current rate. 

At this point, even if <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/limit-global-warming/">global warming</a> is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, these regions are still likely to lose around 25 percent of their species.

“Our research quantifies the benefits of limiting global warming to 2°C for species in 35 of the world's most wildlife-rich areas,” said study lead author Rachel Warren. 

“We studied 80,000 species of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and found that 50% of species could be lost from these areas without climate policy. However, if global warming is limited to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, this could be reduced to 25%. Limiting warming to within 1.5°C was not explored, but would be expected to protect even more wildlife.”

The study was focused on 35 of the world's most wildlife-rich areas. The researchers took into account a number of future climate scenarios that would result in a rise of global mean temperatures from 2 degrees Celsius to 4.5 degrees Celsius.

The experts identified the most vulnerable regions in the world, which include the Miombo Woodlands, southwest Australia, and the Amazon-Guianas. A global mean temperature rise of 4.5 degrees Celsius in these areas would make most habitats completely unsuitable to sustain life.

The study revealed that up to 90 percent of amphibians, 80 percent of mammals, and 86 percent of birds could become locally extinct in the Miombo Woodlands under these conditions. 

In southwest Australia, 89 percent of amphibians could disappear, while 69 percent of plant species in the Amazon would likely vanish.

“Within our children's lifetime, places like the Amazon and Galapagos Islands could become unrecognizable, with half the species that live there wiped out by human-caused climate change,” said WWF CEO Tanya Steele. 

“Around the world, beautiful iconic animals like Amur tigers or Javan rhinos are at risk of disappearing, as well as tens of thousands plants and smaller creatures that are the foundation of all life on earth. That is why this Earth Hour we are asking everyone to make a promise for the planet and make the everyday changes to protect our planet.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/10584">Climatic Change</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: WWF

Half of plant and animal species in diverse places face extinction risk

Researchers at the University of East Anglia are reporting that...

In sci-fi movies, aliens are often modelled after insects or other invertebrate animals, which seems to be a reflection of a common view of how alien insects are.  I would argue that although insects are very different from humans, plants, despite their prevalence, are quite a bit more alien.

As humans we often treat plants as little more than inanimate objects, ignoring or even missing the fact that they’re actually living beings in their own right.  We assume that intelligence and depth of life are saved for those life forms with spines, with large brains, with hair and fast metabolisms. How can we possibly judge just by first impressions a life so incredibly different from our own as the life of a plant?  Plant life is subtle, and their fascinating details are easy to miss.

People have the habit of using the term “co-evolution” when it comes to two other species and using words like “domestication” when it involves humans and another species.  For instance, we feel we’ve domesticated crops like corn, but the history of how corn became a part of human life is not so clear cut. Hidden in the dark passages of prehistory, corn and humans have both benefited from their partnership.  <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/switchgrass-biofuel-source/">Corn</a> has provided us nutrition, changed from human selection, and in turn, has received enormous help in reproduction. Corn in its own way has used humans to spread across the globe, to destroy competitors, to be watered and fertilized all by human hands.  

Corn is just one example of a model that applies to virtually all plants humans cultivate.  If another animal, like ants, are adapted to live in one plant that they protect vigorously, we think of it as an unthinking partnership.  I see no reason to think an ant-plant relationship is unthinking evolution benefiting both parties while human plant interactions are thoughtful and benefit humans chiefly.  Plants on their own have severe limitations for how far they can spread and use fruits, nectar and other enticements to get birds, butterflies, bats to pollinate. Plants also get hosts of frugivorous animals of all types and nut storing squirrels to spread their seeds.  Humans are just one other herbivore utilized by plants providing delicious nutrition to receive reproduction and broader distribution of their offspring.

You may have heard about experiments showing plant reacting to the sound of classical music.  Many green thumbed enthusiasts feel that talking to their plants encourages better growth and greater plant success.  Less common is knowledge of experiments mirroring Pavlov’s experiments with dogs. Pavlov showed that dogs, like humans, can learn to associate a ringing bell with being fed. Recently, research has taken pea plants in a dark room and conducted a similar experiment.  Pea plants were put in a room with a small light next to a small fan. Unsurprisingly the plants grew towards the light. What is surprising is that after the light has been removed, plants will grow towards the fan by itself, suggesting that the pea plants have associated the fan with light, which they need for life.

Of course everyone knows about Venus Fly Trap plants, those strange plants that I so desired as a child.  I was fascinated at a plant with eerily gaping leaf mouths into which I could put a bit of ground beef to be eaten.  The plant is one of a few carnivorous plants, mainly plants which have adapted to poor soils by consuming insects. Other examples are pitcher plants which lure creatures into their trap with smells of rotting meat.  Once a hungry fly has made its way into the depths of the plant looking for dead flesh, they’re trapped and digested in a vat of digestion fluid. There are the more obscure sundew plants that curl prickly leaves around their prey.  

Mimosa Pudica is a plant adapted to react to herbivory in a strange way.  When an animal such as a deer bumps the plant, trying to get a bite, all the leaves immediately fold up.  The plant gains the appearance of unappetizing sticks, instead of a lush, leafy snack. An experiment has been done to see if these odd plants can learn when there is actually no threat to stop reacting in this way.  An experimenter dropped these plants over and over, in a safe, controlled environment and she discovered what seems to be learning. After several drops, the plants stop reacting to being dropped but will react to being touched in their normal way.  After waiting almost a month between droppings, the plants ‘learn’ to stop reacting to drops even faster. 

Recently, plants have been sedated, even though sedation seems to require a nervous system, which plants lack.  In an experiment, plants were exposed to a range of anesthetics, including those used on humans during medical procedures.  The anesthetics stopped the plants normal sun following behavior. It seems plants can be drugged unconscious. The real question is what does it mean for a plant to be conscious in the first place?               

Carnivorous plants and moving mimosa plants seem odd things, exceptions to the rules we implicitly expect plants to follow but the closer we look the more we find odd abilities of our green neighbors.  What is intelligence besides a thoughtful reaction to the surrounding environment? It’s easy to see that plants react and interact with their environment. What’s less obvious is whether there is anything that could be considered thought in a plant.  We usually assume that something with no brain is not thinking in anyway whatsoever. It’s hard to explain especially complex interactions with an environment without thought though. What does it mean for a plant to interact with its environment in a sophisticated way without a brain?  Perhaps it should make us reconsider our ideas of intelligence and thought. 

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Plants are more intelligent than you may think

In sci-fi movies, aliens are often modelled after insects or...

Researchers from <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> are reporting that city trees have a much better chance of surviving threats from heat and insect pests if they are hydrated. Dehydration can harm trees on its own, but the new study suggests that a lack of water also makes them more vulnerable to other stressors.

“We would see some vibrant urban trees covered in scale insects, but we'd also see other clearly stressed and struggling urban trees covered in scale insects,” said study first author Emily Meineke. “We wanted to know what allowed some trees to deal with these pests so much more successfully.”

“This is important because trees need to grow in order to perform valuable ecosystem services, such as removing pollutants from the air and storing carbon,” said co-author Steve Frank.

The research team used both field data and controlled laboratory experiments in an effort to account for the complex number of variables involved.

Over the course of two years, data was collected on 40 urban willow oak trees. The experts documented how water-stressed the trees were, the temperature conditions, and the density of common tree pests known as scale insects. 

Willow oak saplings were used in lab experiments. While the young trees were growing, the researchers manipulated the temperature as well as the presence of water and scale insects.

The study revealed that warmer temperatures actually had a positive impact on tree development when the trees had enough water. In addition, scale insects had no significant effect on the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/urban-green-spaces-carbon/">trees</a> when they were hydrated.

The experts discovered that water stress was enough to limit tree growth on its own, but also found that this impact was greatly increased by the presence of heat or scale insects.

“This tells us that management strategies aimed at increasing tree hydration in cities may reduce the adverse effects of all three of these key stressors,” said Meineke. 

“And that is likely to become increasingly important as water availability, temperature and pest abundance are affected by further urbanization and climate change.”

Professor Frank pointed out that urban managers could invest in various hydration strategies and plant heat-resistant trees in the hottest city regions.


“Moving forward, we're very curious about the prevalence of water stress in urban trees globally - and whether this leads to similar problems regarding the impact of tree pests,” said Meineke. “If so, improved tree hydration could become a higher priority for urban forestry management.”

The study is published in the <a href="http://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2664/">Journal of Applied Ecology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Emily Meineke

Lack of water puts city trees at risk of multiple threats

Researchers from North Carolina State University are reporting that city...

According to an international team of researchers, trees are dying at an increasingly high rate in the tropical regions of South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The mortality rate of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tropical-trees-resist-drought/">trees</a> has doubled in some areas compared to just a few decades ago, and the experts are reporting that this trend will continue.

Study lead author Nate McDowell is a researcher at the <a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/">Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory</a>.

“No matter how you look at it, trees in the moist tropics will likely die at elevated rates through the end of this century relative to their mortality rates in the past,” said McDowell. “There is a host of factors that appear to be driving mortality, and the likelihood of those factors occurring is increasing.”

The team found that all of the driving factors that cause tree mortality in the tropics are increasing, including CO2 levels, unseasonably warm temperatures, drought, fires, and intense storms. Rising insect infestation and the abundance of woody vines known as lianas are also threatening the survival of the trees. 

Despite all of the present dangers, however, tree mortality in the tropics is most often caused by one of two events: carbon starvation or hydraulic failure.


Carbon dioxide is a source of food for trees, and so it would seem likely that trees would thrive as CO2 levels rise. Unfortunately, higher temperatures dehydrate trees and prevent them from absorbing carbon dioxide.

When trees are forced to conserve water in hot and dry conditions, they close their stomata to conserve water. If the stomata are closed for long enough, this leads to carbon starvation.

“It's like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet with duct tape over your mouth,” said McDowell. “There may be plenty of food, but it doesn't matter how much food is on the table if you can't eat.”

The other predominant threat comes from a fatal lack of water, or hydraulic failure, which can be caused by rising temperatures, fires, or through competition for resources.

“Trees have a great ability to survive, but there is only so much they can withstand - the question we now face is identifying those thresholds so we can predict risk to tropical forests,” said McDowell.

More than two dozen institutions across the globe were involved in the study, which is published in the journal <a href="http://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1469-8137/">New Phytologist</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Alarming rates of tree mortality found in the tropics

According to an international team of researchers, trees are dying...

The world’s population is continuously growing, and with it comes an increased need for more food to feed this rising population. Currently, agriculture uses 90 percent of global <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/freshwater-bodies-acidic-co2/">freshwater</a>, which presents quite the conundrum in a world where access to freshwater is becoming increasingly more important. Luckily, a new study in Nature Communications reports that – for the first time – scientists have improved crop water efficiency by 25 percent, without compromising yield.

“This is a major breakthrough,” says Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Director Stephen Long. “Crop yields have steadily improved over the past 60 years, but the amount of water required to produce one ton of grain remains unchanged – which led most to assume that this factor could not change. Proving that our theory works in practice should open the door to much more research and development to achieve this all-important goal for the future.”

This breakthrough was accomplished by increasing the levels of a photosynthetic protein (PsbS) to conserve water by tricking plants into partially closing their stomata. The stomata are the microscopic pores in the leaf that allow water to escape, they are essentially the gatekeepers the plant. When stomata are open, carbon dioxide enters the plant to help fuel photosynthesis, while also allowing water to escape. The specific plants used for this study were tobacco, as these plants are easier to modify and test than other crops.

“These plants had more water than they needed, but that won’t always be the case,” explains co-first author Katarzyna Glowacka, a postdoctoral researcher who led this research at the <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> (IGB). “When water is limited, these modified plants will grow faster and yield more – they will pay less of a penalty than their non-modified counterparts.”

Our atmosphere’s carbon dioxide concentration has increased by 25 percent in the last 70 years, which allows for plants to amass enough carbon dioxide without fully opening their stomata. “Evolution has not kept pace with this rapid change, so scientists have given it a helping hand,” says Long. Results showed that the increase in PsbS levels improved the plant’s water-use-efficiency by 25 percent, without sacrificing photosynthesis or yield in real-world field trials.

PsbS is an integral part of the signaling pathway in the plant that relays information about the quantity of light, which is one of the factors that triggers the stomata to open and close. Through increasing PsbS, the signal says that there is not enough light for the plant to photosynthesize. This triggers the stomata to close, as carbon dioxide is no longer needed to fuel photosynthesis.

Overall, decreasing the amount of water needed to grow the crops necessary for feeding our rising population will help us to continue keeping the public healthy while also conserving freshwater. Scientists are now looking to apply this discovery to other crops in order to improve the water-use-efficiency of different food crops.

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By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer
Image Credit: Jiayang Xie, Katarzyna G?owacka, Andrew D. B. Leakey

A new strategy helps crops use less water more efficiently

The world’s population is continuously growing, and with it comes...

Many people worry about their personal health when it comes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetically-modified-cacao-chocolate/">GMO crops</a>.  Individual health is a real problem, as there is possibly a link between increased allergy sensitivity and GMO grain crops.  

But my own health isn’t my first concern when it comes to genetically engineering food, at least not directly.  GMO crops are often modified in way more consistent with modern industrial agriculture than the organic, environment based farms that most traditional crops evolved in.  

What does increased industrial agriculture mean for the consumer?  Industrialization of our food supply has wide reaching implications, but first, let’s talk about chemicals.  Many GMO crops are designed to be more dependent on products such as the herbicide Roundup.  This means that the plant can survive being sprayed with an herbicide that destroys ‘pesky’ weeds.  Fertilizers are also used in heavy dosages in conjunction with GMO crops.  A part of the reason so many fertilizers are used is because the ecology of the soil that naturally creates nutrition is destroyed with large dosages of toxins, such as herbicides and pesticides. The end result of this process is a plant alone in a sterile, artificial environment, with less insects, less fungi, less microbes and less other plants, all of which contribute to the health of the environment.  

Of course the use of pesticides has gotten plenty of coverage in the media, especially neonicotinoid pesticides which cause colony collapse disorder in bees.  The problem goes far beyond honey bees and pollination though.  True pesticides may be devastating honey bees but it doesn’t stop with insects we all know and love.  The invertebrate world is incredibly complex and much of the diversity of the rest of the animal (and plant and fungi) world rests on the humble invertebrates.  We’re also destroying butterflies as well as crop ‘pests’ and insects bats, frogs, lizards and birds depend on for survival.. not to mention soil invertebrates that create living nutrition that feeds plants.

Fertilizers also go only so far.  Sure, a synthetic fertilizer will keep plants alive and give them some nutrition, but only to a finite extent.  Plants can give us only what we put into them.  Things like dung and worm casings, further processed by fungi and microbes, create many compounds.  Traditional synthetic fertilizers mainly contain Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium; the bare basics that are needed to keep a plant healthy.  Soil nutrition is important and we need plants with more than the three basic nutrients.  Soils that are treated only with artificial fertilizers become increasingly poor; soils that are allowed to develop their own ecology and nutrition naturally can become richer over time.  The difference is nutrition we evolved with and nutrition we invented for the modern convenience of industrial processes.  Runoff from fertilizers also causes problems, creating things like algal blooms that choke wetlands and create oxygen free water ways, killing fish and other aquatic organisms.  

Food security may be one of the biggest problems that GMO crops create.  Through the history of the human race, we’ve probably bred millions of different plants.  Many of the plants were bred in a specific environment, for specific conditions.  Some crops ripen faster, some slower.  Some food plants need a lot of water, some are drought tolerant.  Plants can survive intense heat or crippling cold depending on the conditions they evolved in.  As a whole group the incredible diversity of  and in different crops adds up to not putting all our eggs in one basket.  If you grow three types of tomatoes, two types of cucumber and five carrot varieties, it seems unlikely all will fail because of the same factor unless there is a catastrophe.  

GMO crops on the other hand are replacing local, traditionally developed crops with monocultures that thrive under the same, standard conditions.  GMO crops are usually clones so there isn’t any genetic variation even within a single variety unlike traditional crops.  A monoculture is more vulnerable to a devastating failure from one disease, one cold snap, one heat wave, one drought.  As more of the world grows the same few crops, the whole global food supply becomes increasingly fragile.  Foods also become increasingly boring.  Look at the difference between a thriving farmer’s market and the produce section of your local Wal-Mart. 

The overall impact of the process creating GMO foods is a problem few think about when considering GMO food.  Genetically modified crops, dependent on industrial farming, are more dependent on oil than organic foods.  The real problem isn’t in an individual plant’s genes but in the process of growing that plant.  

GMO may have a place.  It’s hard to entirely discount things like golden rice, designed to give more nutrition to impoverished children.  It’s unlikely that most crops, swapping genes between (mostly) other plants will be dangerous to human health.  Evolution through natural or artificial selection changes the prevalence of genes in a population all the time.  The problem is the process and the scale.  The problem comes when all the crops are GMO.  The problem increases when farms are industrial rather than subsistence.  Local farms engaging as many local people as possible in their own food production is probably the best way to ensure good food and a healthy environment.    

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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The real problem with GMO crops

Many people worry about their personal health when it comes...

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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

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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



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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



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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...