Chlorella vulgaris is a small species of microalga that is rapidly becoming the new champion in superfoods. It combines high nutritional power with sustainable production methods and may represent a game-changer in terms of global food security.



Could this little green powerhouse be the future of sustainable nutrition? Science is starting to say yes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chlorella-vulgaris-is-a-nutritional-powerhouse">Chlorella vulgaris is a nutritional powerhouse</h2>



This tiny <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-microalgae-show-photosynthesis-is-possible-in-near-darkness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microalga</a> is abundant in freshwater habitats and uses sunlight and carbon dioxide to manufacture its own food, even though its entire body consists of only a single cell. 



Previous <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3106856?origin=crossref">research</a> has found that Chlorella vulgaris cells contain almost 50% protein, along with a healthy supply of fats, carbohydrates, and various vitamins and minerals.



This makes algae a go-to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/algae-may-be-the-future-of-sustainable-superfoods/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">superfood</a> for our increasingly health-conscious society. Not only is it rich in nutrients, but its cultivation requires minimal land and water use. 



Thus, it is a way to reduce our environmental footprint while eating without concerns about animal cruelty or damage to the planet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-healthy-for-body-and-environment">Healthy for body and environment</h2>



Its environmental friendliness is not the end of its superpowers - it also has antioxidant properties and supports immune function, making it an attractive, nutrient-dense addition to food products.



It is currently marketed on a small scale in tablet and powder form, as a food supplement.



In this current wave of health and eco-conscious awakening, a team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Birmingham</a> have investigated the potential of Chlorella vulgaris as a large-scale source of nutrients for humans.



“Chlorella vulgaris could be one of the superfoods that redefine the future of food innovation,” they state. However, they caution that realizing this potential food revolution will not be without hurdles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-overcoming-challenges-for-widespread-adoption">Overcoming challenges for widespread adoption</h2>



The researchers acknowledge the need for further development in various areas. 



From refining cultivation techniques to processing methods that can enhance its appeal to the average consumer's palate, the future is ripe with opportunities for growth. 



“Our study underscores the critical role of applied research in addressing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vaccinating-plants-could-boost-global-food-security/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">global food security</a> challenges while promoting environmental sustainability,” shared Dr. Helen Onyeaka, a co-author of the study.



The bright future of this microalga is dependent on continued technological advances, which can improve the efficiency of production and broaden its adoption among food producers.



The researchers note that the key to success involves enhancing strains of C. vulgaris using genetic modification and improving cultivation systems. They propose that the development of new culture systems could increase yields and cut costs.



Furthermore, they recommend the use of diverse bioreactors that allow for the tweaking of light and nutrient parameters in order to maximize yield in sterile conditions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-innovations-for-a-better-future">Innovations for a better future</h2>



In order to unlock the full potential of Chlorella vulgaris as a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/study-confirms-that-broccoli-is-a-superfood/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mainstream superfood</a>, significant advances in processing and cultivation are essential.



Various techniques, such as mechanical milling and ultrasonication, can significantly increase nutrient accessibility, making this micro-organism's rich protein and vitamin content more bioavailable.



Additionally, advanced techniques such as pulsed electric fields can improve digestibility while retaining the production costs within economically acceptable limits. 



Sensory evaluations and consumer testing play a crucial role in refining the taste and texture of the final products, so that it is palatable and appealing to a wide audience.



As scientists continue to refine these processes, Chlorella vulgaris is poised to transition from a niche supplement to a widely accepted dietary staple that merges nutrition, sustainability, and food security into a single, green solution.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chlorella-vulgaris-a-superfood-with-far-reaching-benefits">Chlorella vulgaris: A superfood with far-reaching benefits</h2>



Chlorella vulgaris is not only a promising addition to the food industry but also a powerful tool in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/increasing-plant-extinction-threatens-the-future-of-medicine-and-human-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">medicine</a> and environmental sustainability.



Studies suggest it may aid in cholesterol reduction, cancer prevention, and neuroprotection against some diseases, including Alzheimer’s.



Its antioxidant and immune-boosting properties make it a compelling candidate for future medical research.



Additionally, this microalga contributes to sustainability by absorbing carbon dioxide, supporting carbon sequestration, and helping to purify wastewater through its ability to remove heavy metals and toxins. 



With continued research and technological advances, Chlorella vulgaris could become a cornerstone of health, industry, and environmental solutions, paving the way for a more <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/nature-inspires-solutions-for-a-sustainable-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sustainable future</a>.



The full study was published in the <a href="https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/publications/ichlorella-vulgarisi-as-a-food-substitute-applications-and-benefi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Food Science</a>.



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This nutritional powerhouse is shaping up to be the next big 'superfood'

Chlorella vulgaris is a small species of microalga that is rapidly becoming the new champion in superfoods. It combines high nutritional power with sustainable production methods and may represent a game-changer in terms of global food security. Could this little green powerhouse be the future of sustainable nutrition? Science is starting to say yes. Chlorella vulgaris is a nutritional powerhouse This tiny microalga is abundant in freshwater habitats and uses sunlight and carbon dioxide to manufacture its own food, even though its entire body consists of only...

Researchers may have found a way to control the random germination that occurs as a protective measure in plants. 

Plants “hedge their bets” and have their seeds germinate at different times. It’s part of the unavoidable, random nature of biochemical processes in cell biology. 

Germinating at different times is meant as a preemptive guard against environmental challenges that plants can face. 

While helpful for the plants, this gambling approach to germination can be problematic for farmers who want uniform fields of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/crops-use-less-water/">crops</a>. 

The new research could help aid the agricultural industry and reduce the varying germination times. 

The study was conducted by researchers from the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/">University of Birmingham</a> and was published in the Journal of The Royal Society Interface. 

The researchers focused on stochasticity in the thale cress plant in order to identify and analyze the circuitry in plant cells that control random germination. 

Hormone levels are difficult to observe in plant embryos so the researchers had to use mathematical modeling to predict different biological processes in the thale cress. 

“It's really this interface of biology with maths that lets us understand and predict the processes generating variability in plant cells,” said Iain Johnston, from the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham. 

By better understanding the inner workings of the plants, the researchers were able to determine potential ways for reducing this variability. 

The results could help create uniformity in crops and aid in future global food security challenges. 

“Our identification of this variability-generating circuit provides the opportunity to synchronize and enhance future agricultural production,” said George Bassel, a co-author of the study.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Iain Johnston

Plants have their seeds germinate at different times

Researchers may have found a way to control the random...

Elon Musk’s mission to Mars has been all the rage among space enthusiasts, and his <a href="http://www.spacex.com/about">SpaceX</a> enterprise is the only private company with successful return missions from space under its belt. 

Plans involving future Mars trips have been discussed before, but learning to optimally grow food in space and enclosed environments will be critical to the success of those missions. 

The <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/TTP2/Top_tomatoes_thanks_to_Mars_missions">European Space Agency</a> (ESA) recently reported on a company that has been working to find the best way to fertilize plants in space and has created better solutions for fertilization on Earth. 

The Dutch company <a href="http://www.agrocontrol.nl/en/">Groen Agro Control</a>, inspired by President Obama’s 2010 speech on the importance of missions to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/life-earths-driest-desert-mars/">Mars</a>, invested considerably in fertilization research.

“In space, you can fertilize plants only with the minerals you take with you, but you still want them to produce the best possible crops,” said Lex de Boer, a Groen Agro Control employee told ESA. 

Groen Agro Control met with a team from ESA, which helped the company create a smart service for horticulturalists on Earth.

Because any sort of crop or plant growth in space will happen in a closed environment with only the supplies brought along, the goal was to create a system that utilized the perfect amount of minerals, and reused and recycled water and carbon dioxide produced by plants with very little waste. 

The <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/MELiSSA_life_support_project_an_innovation_network_in_support_to_space_exploration">ESA’s Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative Project</a> is a perfect example of this symbiotic kind of relationship. 

“Ideally, you would also use the water that evaporates from the plants as a source of drinking water, with the minimum amount of purification. That means you have to apply doses of each mineral extremely carefully so that as little as possible ends up unused in the drain water,” said de Boer. 

Groen Agro Control built an enclosed system and conducted different experiments with tomato and pepper plants. 

The plants were given doses of 16 minerals and the researchers recorded how different doses affected the plants’ growth. 

During these experiments, the company developed a fertilization plan for growers on Earth that maximizes growth and crop yield. Growers who are signed up for the service will receive alerts from the Dutch company as they continue to test and modify their fertilizer solution. 

Even though the ultimate goal of the project was to create a fertilization system in space, the smart service could help the agricultural industry in the coming years as global concerns involving food security increase. The techniques cultivated inadvertently resulted in some of the most healthy looking tomatoes, which could help further driver agricultural strategies.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Techniques to grow plants in space offer perfect tomatoes

Elon Musk’s mission to Mars has been all the rage...

A recent study has revealed that sweet potatoes emerged before there were any humans around. The research also indicates that the sweet potato made its way from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/americans-benefit-cutting-salt/">America</a> to Polynesia without human assistance 

“Apart from identifying its progenitor, we also discovered that sweet potato originated well before humans, at least 800,000 years ago,” said study co-author Robert Scotland from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>. “Therefore, it is likely that the edible root already existed when humans first found this plant.”

The research team set out to investigate the origin and evolution of the sweet potato and also to determine how the sweet potato was widespread in Polynesia by the time Europeans first arrived. Because the crop originated in America, the presence of sweet potatoes in Polynesia was thought to be evidence of pre-European contacts between Americans and Polynesians.

The experts sequenced the DNA of almost 200 specimens, including the sweet potato and all of its relatives found in the wild. The analysis produced evidence which strongly suggests that sweet potatoes arose as the result of a genome duplication event.

The researchers concluded that the only species that was involved in the origin of the sweet potato was its closest wild relative, Ipomoea trifida.

“We demonstrate that the existence of those two different lineages is the result of an ancient hybridization between sweet potato and its progenitor,” said study first author Munoz-Rodriguez.

“We conclude that sweet potato evolved at least 800,000 years ago from its progenitor, and then after the two species became distinct, they hybridized.”

Scotland explained that, now that the sweet potato’s progenitor has been identified, scientists can examine its potential for breeding.

“Our results challenge not only the hypothesis that the sweet potato was taken to Polynesia by humans, but also the long-time argued existence of ancient contacts between Americans and Polynesians,” said Munoz-Rodriguez. 

“These contacts were considered as true based on evidence from chickens, humans, and sweet potato. Evidence from chickens and humans is now considered questionable, and thus sweet potato was the remaining biological evidence of these alleged contacts. Therefore, our results refute the dominant theory and call into question the existence of pre-European contacts across the Pacific.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sweet potatoes emerged before humans 800,000 years ago

A recent study has revealed that sweet potatoes emerged before...

“Why would a plant give a shit about Mozart?” I remember him saying. “And even if it did, why should that impress us?  I mean they can eat light.  Isn’t that enough?” 
- One River by Wade Davis
<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-know-start-flowering/">Plants</a> are easy to overlook.  Plants are inanimate (mostly) and often become more of a background or a food item than a dynamic, living, breathing aspect to our world.  It’s easy to forget the casual, everyday miracle that plants can take dirt, sunlight and water and turn it into delicious food, building an ecosystem from the bottom up.  Beyond the everyday characteristics of plants that we so take for granted, they are firmly rooted (pun intended) in mythology, religion and spirituality. In a word, many plants are sacred.  

Trees cover the gamut from sacred to almost evil depending on your perspective.  The story of Cain and Abel, as well as their parents of Adam and Eve show interesting insights into the early Israelite relationship to the earth.  Of course, the knowledge of good and evil are imparted to Eve and then to Adam from the fruit of a tree. The curious revelations from the fruit lead to Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden and a life of toil.  The curious thing is that later, Cain a man growing fruit seems to be rejected or at least ignored by the God of the Bible, while Abel, a herdsman is embraced. To some the story of original sin as well as Cain and Abel is a veiled tale of a people torn between a sedentary life of agriculture and a pastoral, free roaming, nomadic lifestyle.  In this way, a life of tree planting is seen as a life of hardship and toil, out of balance with a more natural life of gathering or perhaps pastoralism. In this light, fruit trees are cast as a sort of villain, a harsh master demanding so much work for the mixed blessing of their fruit. 

Trees continue to be villainized throughout the Bible.  In Exodus, Deuteronomy and Kings, you see the God of the Bible connecting groves of trees to pagan worship and even commanding Jews to burn pagan groves.  To me, this hints that Judaism may have itself risen from an early polytheistic religion that included tree planting. The mention of sacred groves certainly says that other religions in the Biblical Middle East connected trees to their deities.  In many other parts of the world there are other religions with their own sacred trees. 

There are groves of trees sacred to Hindus in India where hunting and other activities have traditionally been strictly regulated.  There are also a few Indian Islamic and Buddhist groves. It’s said that the Buddha himself reached enlightenment meditating beneath a Bodhi Tree (Ficus religosa).  Japan has groves associated with Shinto shrines and the Celts throughout Europe had groves, usually associated with the Druid goddess Nemetona.  In Norse mythology, the tree Yggdrasil is an enormous ash that connects the nine worlds from the roots of the dark underworld to the airy heavens together.  

Plants are the primary source of food, fiber and medicine for traditional cultures, so it’s not surprising that sometimes they’re endowed with special powers.  What may be surprising to some is that plants actually do have special powers, containing millions of bioactive compounds. Some compounds such as caffeine are easily taken for granted but imagine the world without coffee, tea or chocolate.  Some compounds and plants are stranger and harder to discount. Quanah Parker, a Comanche Chief and proponent of the Native American Church, highlights the power of some plants in this quote: 

“The White Man goes into his church and talks about Jesus. The Indian goes into his tipi and talks with Jesus.”

Parker is talking about using Peyote in the American Indian Church.  Peyote is just one of many mind bending, plants imbued with spiritual powers.  There is even talk that psychedelic plants were instrumental in creating even the most popular of modern religions.  Looking again at the Bible story of Adam and Eve, one wonders if there is another interpretation to be made. Perhaps the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a psychedelic plant giving revelation from a powerful wallop of drug.  Ayahuasca is another drug, derived from vines and other plants that is becoming more popular. The drink is a powerful hallucinogen from the Amazon region and extremely important in Native South American culture. These days tourists visit retreats to take Ayahuasca as a sort of short cut to ‘instant Karma’ or enlightenment.  There are hints that the ancient Greeks may have mixed hallucinogenic plants into their wine on special occasions.

Of course our most common mood altering drugs also come from plants in their own way, alcoholic beverages although created by yeast are created from plants.

Marijuana is also obvious as a mind altering plant and is considered something sacred by the Rastafarian religion.  Rastafarians even believe marijuana is mentioned several times in the Bible, such as in Revelations 22:2, “The herb is the healing of the nations”

Plants provide medicine as well as enlightenment.  Many modern drugs are derived from plants. Heart medicine is made from the poisonous flowering plant foxglove; aspirin was originally discovered in tree bark.  Quinine, a drug used for malaria was discovered in the bark of the Cinchona tree of South America, despite that malaria originated in Africa. 

With all the uses of plants and our dependence on them, it’s hard to say they aren’t sacred.  If you consider your own life special, sacred, valuable, consider this: your life depends on plants for almost everything.                       

 --

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sacred plants in mythology, religion, and spirituality

“Why would a plant give a shit about Mozart?” I...

As far as the natural world is concerned, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/us-mexico-border-wall-threaten-100-endangered-species/">international borders</a> are just lines drawn on a map.  Abstract. A wall is a way to manifest an unnatural idea. 

Jaguars perhaps most famously often cross the fluid border between the US and Mexico.  Fish seem to wander at will along the very fluid border set by the Rio Grande between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas.

Of course it’s little different with people.  Native American tribes such as the Tohono O’odham and Yaqui have lived on both sides of the US-Mexico border since before either country existed, often travelling across the not yet existing border.  Today the reality hasn’t changed much, with many tribes crossing the borders for ceremonies, work or simply to visit family members and friends. 

The truth of the ecological unity between the United States of America and Mexico is shown quite clearly in the lands protected by governments on both sides of the border.  

Organ Pipe National Monument is a desert park taking up 330,689 acres of land on the southern border of Arizona and Mexico.  95% of the land in Organ Pipe is set aside as wilderness area. From peaks inside Organ Pipe National Monument, you can look across the border into Mexico and see El Picante y Gran Desierto de Altar.  El Picante y Gran Desierto de Altar is considerably larger than the US Organ Pipe, measuring approximately 1,765,731 acres. Organ Pipe also partners with Delta de Rio Colorado and Alto Golfo de California in Mexico for management.  The landscape of broken volcanic geology and spare desert vegetation is common to Organ Pipe as well as El Picante y Gran Desierto de Altar. Sonoran Pronghorn are monitored by staff in both desert parks. The parks on the coast in Mexico share water from the Colorado River originating in the US.  

Of course, the border is a stark reality to humans on both sides of it.  In the 90s, border security in urban areas increased dramatically; forcing Mexicans seeking a better life, and illegal smuggling operations into the desert to cross into the US.  According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/">The Guardian</a>, border patrol intercepted about 23 people in Organ Pipe National Monument per day in 2015.  The remains of 129 people who crossed the border illegally were found in the desert of southern Arizona in 2014.       

The reality of Organ Pipe National Monument has changed radically in recent decades.  In 2002 Kris Eggle, a Park Law Enforcement Officer, was killed by members of a drug cartel fleeing Mexico.  The murder prompted closing the majority of the park, an order that remained largely in effect for almost 11 years.  When the park completely reopened to the public in 2014, it was with a very different face. <a href="https://www.hcn.org/">High Country News</a> reported that the park in 2014 had 20 law enforcement officers compared to 5 in 2003.  Likewise, Border Patrol agents increased 20-fold to a total of over 500. The park is now said to be safe for tourists.

Big Bend National Park in Texas shares a border with Mexico for 118 miles says the National Park Service website.  On the same website, under the heading of ‘Safety Advice’ is a recommendation: 

“People in distress may ask for food, water, or other assistance. It is recommended that you do not make contact with them, but note the location, and immediately notify park rangers. Lack of water is a life-threatening emergency in the desert.”

It’s clear from the context that this refers to illegal immigrants from Mexico.  Elsewhere on the website, the subject of border merchants is broached. On the U.S. side of the border, tourist items such as walking sticks and bracelets are left for sale by Mexican merchants.  The website says buying these items encourages illegal crossing of the river which may lead to incarceration. 

According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/">NPR</a>, The Big Bend Sector of the border has had the lowest apprehension rate of illegal crossers annually for the last 44 years.  The inhospitable terrain might be the reason why. Unlike in the Sonoran desert, the terrain of Big Bend might keep many from even trying to cross into the US, outside of border merchants.

In Big Bend, the Rio Grande River which already forms a natural border between US and Mexico is also of supreme importance to wildlife.  A potential border wall could kill animals searching for a drink in the arid Chihuahuan Desert. Black Bears, Mountain Lions, Big Horn Sheep, Coyotes, and Coati all live in the park.  Wildlife doesn’t respect borders and needs freedom to move for survival, especially in demanding desert regions. 

Bordering Big Bend National Park on the Mexico side are Cañón de Santa Elena Flora and Fauna Protection Area and Maderas Del Carmen Biosphere Reserve, both of which are sister parks to Big Bend.  As sister parks, the managing agencies of the parks in the US and Mexico work together on things such as wildlife monitoring on both sides of the border. All together, the two Mexican protected areas and the one in the US make up The Big Bend Conservation Corridor Initiative, protecting more than 3 million acres, an area Wikipedia notes, as large as the US state of Connecticut.  As the name corridor implies, the area has been set aside partially to enable migration of wildlife north to south through the border region. 

At the turn of the last century, Black Bears were said to be common in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park.  Ranchers, hunters and federal predator control agents put an end to Black Bears in the Big Bend region. By 1944 when Big Bend National Park was established, there were virtually no Black Bears at all.

In the 1980s bears made a comeback in Big Bend, journeying across the deserts of Mexico, swimming the Rio Grande a female from Sierra Del Carmen crossed even more desert in Texas to re-establish her species in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend once again.  Without the corridor left intact between the US and Mexico, Black Bears could never have come back to Big Bend. 

So far, the president and his cabinet have said that Big Bend won’t be a place where an actual border wall will be built.  

All along the border, parks and preserves in the US partner with those in Mexico to protect the land and wildlife common to both.  Chiricahua National Monument, Saguaro National Park, Coronado National Memorial all in Arizona have sister Parks in Mexico. White Sands National Monument in New Mexico partners with Cuatrocienagas Biosphere Reserve to develop shared inventory and monitoring programs.  Besides Big Bend in Texas, Padre Island National Seashore also partners with a Biosphere Reserve and a National Park in Mexico. 

Beyond parks, projects such as the Northern Jaguar Project bridge the international border between the US and Mexico.  Monarch Butterflies that pollinate millions of flowers in the US winter in Mexico, where tourists flock to see magical clouds of the insect.  

It’s easy to forget that nature works as a whole and isn’t divided by artificial boundaries drawn on the map so human can cut the world into chunks easily used for human purposes.  For now, the border between US and Mexico remains fluid in many areas. 

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Life on the US-Mexico border is fluid for many wildlife species

As far as the natural world is concerned, international borders...

Doctors are reporting that an individual was hospitalized with a disorder characterized by severe “thunderclap” headaches and narrowing of the blood vessels in the brain after ingesting the world's hottest chili pepper.

Temporary side effects such as sweating and a burning sensation in the mouth or stomach are commonly associated with eating <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chili-peppers-marijuana-stomach/">hot peppers</a>. It is far less common, however, that eating a chili pepper leads to an urgent need for medical attention.

The Carolina Reaper, a hybrid of the ghost pepper and the red habanero, is estimated to be about 300 times as hot as the spiciest jalapeno and holds the record as the hottest pepper in the world. 

After eating one of these scorching hot peppers, a young man immediately began dry heaving and then developed severe neck pain and a series of intense headaches, which lasted for just a few seconds at a time yet persisted over several days.

A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed that several arteries in the patient's brain had constricted, and he was diagnosed with reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS).

This disorder occurs when contraction of the blood vessels cause the arteries to narrow temporarily. In addition to the onset of severe thunderclap headaches, which can last up to several weeks, RCVS is known to cause nausea, blurred vision, vomiting, confusion, and difficulty speaking.

While the direct cause of RCVS is often unknown, the condition has been associated with many risk factors including binge drinking, head trauma, and the use of nasal decongestants or prescription drugs. 

According to the study authors, this is the first time that RCVS has been linked to chili peppers. The researchers said that cayenne pepper, on the other hand, has been previously linked to sudden constriction of the coronary artery and subsequent heart attacks.

“Given the development of symptoms immediately after exposure to a known vasoactive substance, it is plausible that our patient had RCVS secondary to the Carolina Reaper,” wrote the study authors.

The man's RCVS symptoms reportedly disappeared on their own, and a CT scan performed five weeks after the incident showed that his arteries had returned to normal.


The study is published in the journal <a href="http://casereports.bmj.com/">BMJ Case Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Man hospitalized after eating world’s hottest chili pepper

Doctors are reporting that an individual was hospitalized with a...

Growing the ingredients for an entire salad doesn’t sound impressive, until you add that the feat was accomplished by scientists in Antarctica – and it could bring us closer to a manned mission to Mars.

Germany’s <a href="http://www.dlr.de/irs/en/">DLR Institute of Space Systems</a>, based in Antarctica, managed to produce eight pounds of greens along with 70 radishes and 18 cucumbers, all without the use of soil. More impressive, their greenhouse succeeded while temperatures plummeted to -6 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you’re wondering what that has to do with space, the <a href="http://eden-iss.net/">EDEN-ISS</a> project’s growing conditions are about as close as researchers can get to Mars or the Moon here on Earth. 

Growing an entire salad is an early success for the Antarctica program, which launched in December 2017.

“We have learned a lot about self-sufficient plant breeding in recent weeks, it shows that the Antarctic is an ideal test field for our research,” project manager Daniel Schubert said in a statement, translated from the original German by <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us">Vice</a>.

The new plant growing technology could help humans spend more time on the surface of the Moon, or even survive the long trip to Mars. 

But there’s no need to look to the stars for potential benefits from the program. The EDEN-ISS researchers are also hoping to develop new agricultural technologies and practices that can help humans who live in harsh climates here on Earth.

The team is hoping regular harvests will be in full swing by next month. 

“In May, the DLR researchers are expecting full operation of the container greenhouse, with around four to five kilograms of fresh vegetables being harvested each week,” Schubert wrote.

They’re also looking forward to more salad. Turns out, the first crop tasted great – at least, the station manager Bernhard Gropp seemed to to think so. 

“It tasted as if we had harvested it fresh in the garden. It was special to have the first fresh salad in Antarctica,”  he wrote on the program’s site.

—

By Kyla Cathey,<a href="http://www.earth.com"> Earth.com</a> staff writer

How an experiment to grow an entire salad could lead to space

Growing the ingredients for an entire salad doesn’t sound impressive,...

Along with many other environmental benefits, green roofs introduce new habitats for wildlife. A team of researchers is reporting that some organisms are making their way onto green roofs by riding along with birds or getting carried by the wind.

Green roofs can be a challenging place for plants to survive with conditions such as extreme temperatures, high winds, and intense sunlight and rainfall. This harsh environment makes it even more critical that certain soil organisms are present which promote nutrient cycling and plant growth.

The research team set out to determine whether soil organisms such as mites, springtails, bacteria, and fungi are introduced to green roofs in their building materials or if they arrive by some other means.

Study co-author Dr. Heather Rumble is a senior lecturer in Environmental Geography at the <a href="http://www.port.ac.uk/">University of Portsmouth</a>.

“We found that while there was a healthy soil community in construction materials, most species died off soon after the roof was constructed due to the harsh conditions,” said Dr. Rumble. “This means that green roof soil species must arrive via another mechanism, such as by hitching lifts on birds or by coming in the aerial plankton.”

For their investigation, the experts monitored a new green roof on the grounds of Royal Holloway from September 2011 to July 2012. They tracked soil microorganisms living in the construction materials to find out if they would colonize the green roof.

As a result of the study, the researchers have made important recommendations. First off, in order to make the green roofs more sustainable, the soil must be engineered so that the biology is well-balanced.

“This is important, because as a completely man-made environment, getting the soil community right in the construction materials could ensure that the roof is sustainable in the long term,” said Dr. Rumble.

The experts also explained that green roofs must somehow be connected to ground-level <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antibiotics-soil-killing-superbugs/">soils</a> so that critical species have easier access. According to the experts, this could be done by combining green roofs and living walls.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-soil-ecology">Applied Soil 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: Heather Rumble, University of Portsmouth

&nbsp;

Green roofs offer habitat opportunities for diverse species

Along with many other environmental benefits, green roofs introduce new...

If April showers bring May flowers, how exactly do plants know when it’s time to start flowering? 

Previous studies have been unable to understand the exact processes behind <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pollution-stunting-scents-flowers/">flowering</a>, but new research has identified the cells that aid in the production of a critical protein called Flowering Locus T. 

Flowering Locus T (FT) moves from the plant’s leaves to its shoot apex where it triggers flowering. 

Researchers from <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> led the study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The results shed insight into the complex intracellular signaling system that regulates FT production and could be helpful for plant breeders and crop development. 

For the study, the researchers focused on Arabidopsis plants and the Maryland Mammoth tobacco plant. 

The researchers knew that flowering in these plants started with day-length changes. Leaves perceive longer or shorter days and FT is then transmitted through the plant’s phloem. 

The phloem is a plant’s vascular tissue which carries sugars and nutrients from the leaves to the rest of the plant.  

Finding where the FT originates and which cells produce it is difficult because of how small leaf veins are, so the researchers used fluorescent proteins that helped highlight the areas where FT was produced. 

“There's a complicated network and you can't unravel it until you realize what is going on with these particular cells, so the geography is very important,” said  Robert Turgeon, the senior author of the study. 

The fluorescent proteins showed the researchers two unique files of companion cells in the phloem where the FT was produced, and this was the case in both Mammoth Tobacco and the Arabidopsis plants. 

When the researchers killed the identified companion cells, it delayed the flowering process in the plants. 

The results shed light on the inner workings of the flowering process in plants and could help with future crop development. 

“Understanding where FT is located and how it coordinates with other flowering factors is important to breeders; it's useful for breeders for the fine manipulation of flowering times,” said Qingguo Chen, the paper’s first author. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette,</a> <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How plants know when it’s time to start flowering

If April showers bring May flowers, how exactly do plants...

It turns out that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/queen-bees-secret-ingredient/">bees</a> aren’t the only crucial players when it comes to plant pollination, as several different vertebrates are also an important part of the process.

Mice, birds, bats, and lemurs are all pollinators, and some have even developed complex relationships with certain plants aiding in reproduction. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/">University of Southampton</a> and the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> reviewed different exclusion experiments in order to determine the importance of vertebrates to pollination. 

The findings were published in the Ecological Society of America's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

With plants that have help from pollinating vertebrates, fruit and seed production drops 63 percent when only insects are allowed access to the plant. 

The researchers reviewed 126 similar exclusion experiments and studies that dealt with vertebrate pollination.

According to the research, vertebrates provide certain benefits and services that honeybees and insect vertebrates simply can’t.

Bat exclusion experiments showed a loss of fruit production by 83 percent, which means that bats are important to many plants’ reproductive cycles. 

Bats are known to pollinate 528 plant species around the world, and some plants like the blue agave rely on greater and lesser long-nosed bats exclusively for transporting pollen. 

Birds are also big pollinators, with over 920 bird species responsible for pollinating 5 percent of plant species in most regions. On islands that number can be as high as 10 percent. Even lizards can be pollinators in some parts of the world.

Tropical areas also had a higher percent loss in fruit and seed production when vertebrates were purposefully kept away from plants. 

The researchers say that the reason for the higher dependence on vertebrates in tropical areas has to do with more specialized codependent relationships, like the ones between bats and the agave plant. 

The researchers note that their findings should be used when examining management and conservation efforts in order to protect pollinators. If vertebrate pollinators suffer major population declines, as previous research has shown, so will key pollen-producing plants. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Petra Wester

Mice, birds, and bats also play important roles in pollination

It turns out that bees aren’t the only crucial players...

Scientists are reporting that the number of plant species that reside on mountaintops in Europe has increased very rapidly due to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/limit-global-warming/">global warming</a>. In the last decade, five times more species have expanded up to European mountaintops compared to the late 1950s and early 1960s.

An international research team focused its study on the number of plant species on 302 European mountain peaks over the past 150 years. The experts found that the increase in plant species, which is accelerating more every year, is undoubtedly linked to rising temperatures.

According to the study, the number of species on each of the mountain peaks increased by an average of 1.1 species from 1957 to 1966. Fifty years later, from 2007 to 2016, the average increase jumped up to 5.5 new species across the 302 mountaintops.

At this point, the researchers have only accounted for new plant species that have already moved up to the top of the mountains. They have not yet been able to examine the number of species that are currently spreading upwards.


It is also not yet known how the expansion of new plant species may have displaced other species that have survived on these extreme mountain peaks for centuries, but there is evidence that this will happen in the future if it is not already occurring.

“Some of the species which have adapted to the cold and rocky conditions on mountain summits will probably disappear in the long term,” explained lead author Manuel Steinbauer.

“They have nowhere else to go, and they can't develop rapidly enough to be able to compete with the new arrivals, which are taller and more competitive under warmer climates.”

While it is likely that new species will out-compete highly-specialized species on mountain summits, the subject remains up for debate at this point.

“The species that move upwards, often come from grassland above the treeline,” explained Steinbauer. “But they can't survive everywhere on the mountain top, so it's not certain that they will be a threat to all the existing species up there. The local soil conditions and micro-climates also play a role.”

Study co-author Jens-Christian Svenning is a professor in the Department of Bioscience at <a href="http://www.au.dk/en/">Aarhus University</a>.

“Even though the existing species on mountain tops are not acutely endangered, the strong acceleration in the effects of global warming on plant communities on the peaks does give cause for concern, as we expect far stronger climate change toward 2100,” said Professor Svenning.


The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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: Hansueli Rhyner, SLF, Switzerland

Rising temperatures bring new plant species to mountaintops

Scientists are reporting that the number of plant species that...

Researchers have identified a small hormone that helps plants retain water when they do not have access to it. The study has revealed that, when plants become dehydrated, the peptide CLE25 emerges and closes pores on the surface of the leaves to help prevent water loss.

Small chains of amino acids called peptide hormones are present in the blood of humans and animals that help keep our bodies in balance when the environment changes. Plants have hormones as well, which are called phytohormones, but little is known about their function.

Scientists at the <a href="http://www.riken.jp/en/research/labs/csrs/">RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science</a> (CSRS) in Japan set out to investigate if plant hormones respond to physical stress.

“Although we know that some peptide hormones in plants mediate cellular development, until now nobody had identified any that regulate responses to physical stresses such as dehydration,” said study first author Fuminori Takahashi.

The researchers examined CLE peptides that are synthesized in the roots. They also analyzed a hormone that is known to help close pores in response to drought stress known as ABA.

While applying CLE peptides to the roots of plants, the scientists discovered that only CLE25 boosted the accumulation of ABA in the leaves and led to pore closure. The experts found that the link between these two events was an increase in an enzyme that is needed to produce ABA. 

Furthermore, CLE25 levels were found to increase in the roots of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plants-impact-water-cycle/">plants</a> when water is scarce, leading to the same results. The experts set out to determine if CLE25 was mobile throughout a plant's circulatory system.

“By using a high sensitive mass spectrometry system, and developing a screening system that can identify the mobile peptides moving from root to shoot,” explained Takahashi, the researchers were able to tag CLE25 molecules and observe their movement. 

They found that CLE25 is, in fact, mobile. The team determined that this molecule likely interacts with others that are present in the leaves to trigger the production of ABA.

“Our research absolutely has applications in the real world and should contribute to the development of abiotic stress-resistant crops that take advantage of the mobile peptide system in plants,” said Takahashi.

The team is now actively working on such real-world applications.

“First, we are working on modified peptides that are more effective for stress resistance than the natural ones,” explained Takahashi. “Second, we are working on ways to mix functional peptides into fertilizer to enhance drought resistance of crops in the field.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</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: RIKEN

Plants have a hormone that helps keep them hydrated

Researchers have identified a small hormone that helps plants retain...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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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...