A wilting flower is not always a sign of poor health or inadequate care. It could actually be a strategic play, millions of years in the making, created by Mother Nature herself.



Researchers from Macquarie University, along with international collaborators, have discovered a simple strategy that has been overlooked: plants recycle resources from wilting flowers for future reproduction.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-recycling-resources-from-wilting-flowers">Recycling resources from wilting flowers </h2>



"Our research delivers the first direct demonstration that plants can salvage resources from wilting flowers and reuse these resources to promote future reproduction," said lead author Honorary Professor Graham Pyke from <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Macquarie University</a>.



Why bother with this recycling effort? Well, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flowers-blooming-92-days-earlier-due-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flowers</a> aren't just pretty faces. They are rich in energy and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. When they wilt, it isn't necessarily the end but rather the beginning of another chapter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wilting-flowers-of-christmas-bells">Wilting flowers of Christmas bells </h2>



The focus of the three-year study was a native of Eastern Australia, the stunning Blandfordia grandiflora. Known commonly as Christmas bells, it casts a striking image with its vibrant red and yellow flowers, especially around December.



"Our research takes place on a plantation containing several hectares of native wet heath where Christmas bells flower quite profusely, along with a commercial shadehouse," noted Professor Pyke.



To assess the abilities of the plant, the team used an array of techniques. They modulated pollination and flower wilting and then gauged the effect on seed production and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bees-prefer-flowers-with-large-bullseyes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reflowering</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-storing-up-chemical-energy">Storing up chemical energy </h2>



The researchers soon realized things weren’t exactly as they had predicted. They found that plants did not use resources from wilted flowers to bolster short-term reproduction.



"These plants salvage resources invested in reproduction during one flowering season and reuse these resources during the next flowering season," explained Professor Pyke.



Blandfordia grandiflora was found to transfer resources from its wilting flowers to its underground corms and roots, effectively storing this "chemical energy" to produce new flowering stems in the subsequent season, often a year later.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-resource-management-in-wilting-flowers">Resource management in wilting flowers</h2>



Professor Pyke noted that plants work on principles similar to economics. "Plants must make decisions about where to allocate their limited resources; investing in one area means they can't invest as much in another."



This concept of resource allocation prompted Professor Pyke to investigate flower wilting, which he anticipated to be a plant's mechanism of diverting resources to other processes.



The results, however, were not quite what he expected. The plants were storing their reclaimed resources for the next flowering season - not using them right away.



According to Professor Pyke, plants have different ways of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/flowers-are-picky-when-choosing-their-mate-for-fertilization/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">managing their flowers</a> post reproduction, with wilting being just one of many strategies. Some plants, such as the jacaranda and the frangipani, even shed their flowers before they wilt.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seed-production-and-wilting-in-flowers">Seed production and wilting in flowers</h2>



The study findings were confirmed through various experiments. One such experiment compared seed production between plants with flowers that were allowed to wilt and those with petals removed to prevent wilting.



Another experiment stopped seed production in all flowers but allowed wilting in one group of plants. Results showed that plants with wilting flowers were more likely to reflower the next season than those where wilting was prevented.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-factors-that-influence-seed-production">Factors that influence seed production </h2>



The study also took into consideration other factors that might influence seed production, such as stem height, the number of flowers per stem, and flower position.



"Taller flowering stems, for example, produced more seeds and heavier seeds, as did stems with more flowers. But flowers positioned lower down on the plant tended to have fewer seeds, and seeds that weighed less," said Professor Pyke.



"Our findings pave the way for further research into other plant species, and how they recover and reuse the resources from wilting flowers."



An exciting road lies ahead, with a lot to discover. Future research will explore what these salvaged resources are composed of, how plants move and change them, and whether saving these resources outweighs the costs of making <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/organic-farming-and-flower-strips-improve-honey-bee-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">flowers</a> in the first place.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/plb.13720" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Plant Biology</a>.



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Plants with wilting flowers aren't dying - they are saving energy

A wilting flower is not always a sign of poor health or inadequate care. It could actually be a strategic play, millions of years in the making, created by Mother Nature herself. Researchers from Macquarie University, along with international collaborators, have discovered a simple strategy that has been overlooked: plants recycle resources from wilting flowers for future reproduction. Recycling resources from wilting flowers "Our research delivers the first direct demonstration that plants can salvage resources from wilting flowers and reuse these resources to promote future reproduction," said...

Invasive plants can be valuable in some coastal areas where native plants are declining, a new study concludes.

"With the progressive decline of coastal habitats worldwide, our findings suggest it's better to have a non-native habitat than no habitat at all," said Aaron Ramus, a PhD student at the <a href="http://uncw.edu/">University of North Carolina-Wilmington</a>, who led the research. "There's a good chance that many invaders don't have the negative effects that we often think they do.”

On otherwise barren mudflats, invasive species such as non-native seaweed can offset the loss of native species and be useful in other ways. These plants can provide storm protection and food production, on which nearly half the human population depends, the researchers found.

The study focused on Gracilaria vermiculophylla, a Japanese seaweed affecting lagoons and estuaries throughout coastlines of the North Atlantic. Recent research suggests that it came to North Carolina with the export of oysters from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/japans-shoreline-climate-change/">Japan</a>.

The research was conducted over 10 months in 48 large plots with different densities of Gracilaria. The team measured monthly changes in seven functions for which coastal ecosystems are highly valued. This included soil stabilization and erosion control, storm surge and flood protection, biodiversity, food production, and a habitat for economically important seafood species such as shrimp, crab, and fish.

The invasive plants can help on many of these measures, the researchers found.

"Conservation practitioners are investing millions of dollars to eradicate invasive species, but what if some of those invasive species are actually benefiting native species and ecosystem services?" said Brian Silliman, professor at <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> who co-authored the study. "Our experimental study shows for the first time that this can be the case."

Conservationists “must now begin the hard conversation about changing their black-and-white picture of invasive species impacts," Silliman said.

The study was published in <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://uncw.edu/">University of North Carolina-Wilmington</a>

Why invasive coastal plants are better than no plants at all

Invasive plants can be valuable in some coastal areas where...

Plant-based diets that include lots of sweets and refined grains could increase the risk of heart disease, a new <a href="http://www.harvard.edu/">Harvard University</a> study found.

Previous research on the impact of plant-based diets treated plant foods equally, even though some such as refined grains and sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with a higher risk of heart disease.

In the new study, the researchers created three versions of a plant-based diet: an overall plant-based diet consisting of of all plant food and reduced animal food intake; a diet that consisted of healthy plant foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables; and a plant-based diet consisting of less healthy plant foods such as refined grains.

Researchers used a baseline sample of 73,710 women from the Nurses' Health Study, 92,320 women from the Nurses' Health Study 2, and 43,259 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Participants with coronary heart disease at baseline were excluded along with those with cancer, stroke, and coronary artery surgery.

The research showed that 8,631 participants developed coronary heart disease. A higher intake of a more healthy plant-based diet rich in whole grains, fruits, and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/labeling-make-vegetables-appealing/">vegetables</a>, was associated with a substantially lower risk of heart disease. But a plant-based diet that emphasized less healthy plant foods like sweetened beverages, refined grains, potatoes and sweets had the opposite effect, the study found.

"It's apparent that there is a wide variation in the nutritional quality of plant foods, making it crucial to take into consideration the quality of foods in a plant-based diet,"said Ambika Satija, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard University School of Public Health and the study's lead author.

The study was published in the <a href="http://www.onlinejacc.org/">Journal of the American College of Cardiology</a>.

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.acc.org/">American College of Cardiology</a>

Some plant-based diets can increase risk of heart disease

Plant-based diets that include lots of sweets and refined grains...

A new study has unravelled mysteries of a key protein that allows moss and green algae to protect themselves from too much sunshine.

Most plants absorb far more sunlight than they can use, the study said. In very sunny conditions, they convert only about 30 percent of the available sunlight into sugar.

If green plants absorb too much sunshine, the extra energy from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/use-photosynthesis-create-hydrogen-fuel/">photosynthesis</a> destroys their tissue. As a defense, plants have mechanisms to release the extra energy as heat.

"These photoprotective mechanisms have evolved from the fact that sunlight is not constant. There are sunny days; there are cloudy days,” said Gabriela Schlau-Cohen, a <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> Assistant Professor of Chemistry and the senior author of the study.

Several years ago, researchers discovered that the protein LHCSR1 is the key player in photoprotection that occurs over short timescales (seconds to minutes) in green algae and moss. It is embedded in the membranes in the chloroplast and interacts with chlorophyll and carotenoids, another type of light-absorbing pigment. However, the mechanism of how this photoprotection works was not known.

In the new study, researchers used a very sensitive microscope that can analyze single proteins to determine how the LHCSR1 protein found in moss reacts to different light conditions. The protein can assume three distinct conformations, which correspond to different functions, the researchers discovered.

Under cloudy or shady conditions, LHCSR1 simply absorbs photons and passes the energy on to the rest of the photosynthetic machinery, the researchers said. When the sun comes out and energy intake rises, LHCSR1 switches to another conformation within seconds. The switch is caused by a decrease in pH, which occurs when too many hydrogen ions are generated by water-splitting during photosynthesis.

The researchers are now creating mutated versions of LHCSR1, which they plan to test to see if they have the ability to produce more biomass while still offering some photoprotection.

Learning more about how the protein works could allow scientists to alter it in a way that would promote more photosynthesis, potentially increasing the biomass yield of crops and algae grown for biofuels, Schlau-Cohen said.

The study was published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nchem/">Nature Chemistry</a>.

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a>

&nbsp;

How plants protect themselves from sunshine overdose

A new study has unravelled mysteries of a key protein...

Researchers using high-resolution X-ray technology have been able to document the revolution of thinning seed coats, a major marker of domestication of seeds by humans.

"Seed coat thickness is a great indicator of domestication, as thinner coats will mean faster germination of a seed when it is watered," said Dorian Fuller of <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a>, co-author of the paper.

The researchers found evidence of seed coat thinning between 2,000 BC and 1,200 BC in the legume horsegram, a bean commonly eaten in southern <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-crisis-india/">India</a>.

Using the high-resolution X-ray computed tomography technique (HRXCT) at the UK's synchrotron facility, <a href="http://www.diamond.ac.uk/">Diamond Light Source</a>, allowed researchers to measure thickness without breaking and destroying archaeological specimens.

"Being able to look at the seed coat thickness without breaking the sample is possible by other methods, but you can only look at a spot on the seed," said Charlene Murphy, co-author on the paper.

Researchers analysed 12 samples, putting the seeds into two distinct groups: thicker (wild type) seed coats, with averages thicknesses above 17 micrometres, and thinner (more domesticated) seed coats between 10 and 15 micrometers.

The findings show the potential for HRXCT to be used to look at a variety of domesticated grains and pulses, such as peas, the authors said.

"We're continuing to work with Diamond to look at other interesting archaeological seeds, and how they've become domesticated," said Fuller. "Peas are a great example of this - wild peas are ejected from their pods naturally, but domesticated peas only leave the pod when the cultivator removes them - a quite symbiotic relationship."

--

By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.diamond.ac.uk/">Diamond Light Source</a>

Humans domesticated plant seeds thousands of years ago

Researchers using high-resolution X-ray technology have been able to document...

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, may be more effective than traditional psychiatric therapies for depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders, a new study found.

Researchers at <a href="http://www.tu.edu/">Touro University California</a> reviewed seven published psilocybin clinical trials and concluded that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has strong potential in improving patient outcomes, particularly for those who haven’t responded to other treatments.

Patients can also show improvement after just a few six-hour “medicated” therapy sessions and a few weeks of follow-up therapy, the review found.

The studies all investigated the use of psilocybin in strictly controlled clinical conditions under the supervision of therapists and other health professionals.

“Additional studies are required to determine if psilocybin will be deemed safe and effective enough to gain FDA approval,” the researchers wrote. “While psilocybin’s clinical utility still remains uncertain, it should be investigated further to determine if this novel treatment paradigm has the potential to dramatically improve outcomes in patients with psychiatric disorders.”

As psychological and psychiatric researchers have gained greater access to brain imaging technologies, they are forming new hypotheses about the physiological roots of psychological disorders. One is the idea that major depression is rooted in atypical connections between regions of the brain that aren’t usually connected, which may in turn underlie the fixation and rumination on thoughts that characterizes depression.

Recent studies have found that psilocybin from mushrooms significantly affects connectivity among different <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-training-no-affect-decision/">brain</a> regions. 

In most of the United States psilocybin is still classified as a Schedule I substance, meaning it has “a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision,” according to the<a href="https://www.dea.gov/index.shtml"> U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration</a>.

Whether the DEA will take the most recent scientific data into account, remains to be seen, the authors said.

The study is published in the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujpd20/current">Journal of Psychoactive Drugs</a>.

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.tu.edu/">Touro University California</a>

Ingredient in magic mushrooms could help psychiatric therapies

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, may be more...

Warmer Arctic temperatures have triggered cooler winters and springs in North America, which has weakened vegetation growth and lowered carbon uptake capacity in its ecosystems, according to a new study. 

Researchers analyzed an index of sea surface temperatures from the Bering Sea and found that in years with higher-than-average <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/delay-antarctic-ozone-recovery/">Arctic</a> temperatures, changes in atmospheric circulation affected climate throughout North America. 

In years of intense cold and low precipitation, the team found that the unfavorable conditions adversely affected vegetation growth—including crop yields—which decreased carbon uptake capacity by about 14 percent, the study said.

“If current warming trends continue, it is feasible to conclude that the ecosystems in regions affected by the anomalous climate will suffer greater damages due to the cold and dry spells,” the authors saId.

Further research is needed to obtain a “general conclusion” on the matter, but the research “delivers important implications for climate adaptation,” the authors added.

The study was conducted by Jin-Soo Kim and Jong-Seong Kug at <a href="http://www.postech.ac.kr/">Pohang University of Science and Technology</a> (POSTECH), in collaboration with Su-Jong Jeong from <a href="http://www.sustc.edu.cn/en/">South University of Science and Technology </a>in China. It  is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ngeo/"> Nature Geoscience.</a>

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.postech.ac.kr/">Pohang University of Science and Technology</a>

Warmer Arctic is weakening vegetation growth in North America

Warmer Arctic temperatures have triggered cooler winters and springs in...

Tomato plants can turn caterpillars into cannibals, a new study found.

The plants can release a chemical that makes themselves so distasteful that the normally vegetarian insects will resort to eating their own kind, the <a href="http://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin Madison</a> study said.

“We struck upon a way that plants defend themselves that nobody had really appreciated before," saId postdoctoral researcher Brian Connolly. "It's grisly and macabre, but it's energy transfer."

The researchers set up experiments using <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/supermarket-tomatoes-taste/">tomato</a> plants and a species of caterpillar called the beet armyworm.

"Beet armyworms are important agricultural pests, in part because they can feed on a variety of plants," Connolly says. "And early, influential work describing plant responses to herbivore attacks used tomato and beet armyworm. We build on that work here."

Many plants can produce defensive chemicals such as jasmonate to deter their attackers.

This allows other plants to detect the airborne substances emitted and begin to invest in their own defenses.

In the new study, researchers sprayed tomato plants in plastic containers with either a control solution or a range of concentrations of methyl jasmonate - low, medium and high -- and then added eight caterpillar larvae to each container. 

Caterpillars living with the well-defended plants became cannibalistic much sooner than their counterparts with access to the less-well-defended plants, the study found.

"From the plant's perspective, this is a pretty sweet outcome, turning herbivores on each other," said University of Wisconsin-Madison integrated biology Professor John Orrock, author of the study. "Cannibals not only benefit the plant by eating herbivores, but cannibals also don't have as much appetite for plant material, presumably because they're already full from eating other caterpillars."

The research found that cannibalistic caterpillars on defended plants grew at similar rates to caterpillars given access to undefended plants.

However, caterpillars on well-defended plants with no fresh caterpillar carcasses ate less plant and grew slowly.

"The next step in this work is to figure out whether accelerated cannibalism would slow, or increase, the rate of spread of insect pathogens," said Orrock.

Researchers also hope to better understand whether caterpillars are as quick to turn to cannibalism when they are not trapped with a single plant, as they were in the lab, he said.

The study was published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution</a>.

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.wisc.edu/">University of Wisconsin Madison</a>

How plants can turn caterpillars into cannibals

Tomato plants can turn caterpillars into cannibals, a new study...

Toxic chemicals found in the soil as a result of human activities can cause major issues for the development and growth of plants. But now, researchers have discovered two genes in baker's yeast that are capable of increasing plant resistance to a broad range of contaminants. This could allow plants and crops to thrive despite soil pollution. 

Soil contamination is due in large part to heavy metals and organic pollutants that are leaked during industrial activity. Soil is also frequently polluted by improper use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. A research team led by Paula Duque from the <a href="http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/">Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia</a> took a new approach to this environmental issue by analyzing the properties of baker's yeast, most commonly used for making bread and beer. 

"Current strategies to decontaminate soils are very expensive and not so effective. The scientific community has been looking for alternative strategies to make plants more resilient to toxic compounds,” said Duque. “A possible solution may lie in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a species of yeast used for baking, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/probiotic-beer-helps-gut/">brewing</a>, and winemaking.”

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is known to be resistant to herbicide and other chemicals. Isabel Sa-Correia of the <a href="https://www.ulisboa.pt/en/">Universidade de Lisboa</a> and her colleagues identified two genes that give this particular species of yeast its resistance. Duque’s team put the two genes to the test on a small flowering plant known as Arabidopsis thaliana. 

"These two yeast genes produce proteins that are able to expel molecules from cells. So we hypothesized that they could play a similar role in plants, eliminating toxic molecules and allowing normal growth,” said Duque.

The researchers discovered that once either of the two yeast genes were inserted, the plants became more resistant to herbicides, fungicides and heavy metals. These plants were able to grow and develop significantly better with the modifications.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, will continue with further testing of the Arabidopsis thaliana and other plant species. The team hopes to extend the application of the genes to major crops. Duque expressed that the findings of this study “hold much promise to help solve a difficult environmental problem."

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: <a href="http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/">Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia</a>

Baker’s yeast could help battle soil contamination

Toxic chemicals found in the soil as a result of...

Ancient virus species infecting the same plant helped each other by exchanging DNA, according to a new study.

Researchers at <a href="https://www.global.hokudai.ac.jp/">Hokkaido University</a> in Japan made the discovery by analyzing ancient viral footprints in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rice-antioxidants-rich-superfood/">rice</a> genome, according to the study published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/">PLOS Pathogens</a>.

The team led by Yuji Kishima analyzed the sequences of PRVs in 20 grass genomes including Oryza sativa, also known as rice. The team found DNA of five non-autonomous PRVs lacking some essential genes and therefore incapable of functioning on their own. All previously identified PRVs have been autonomous.

Viruses including "pararetroviruses” can insert their DNA into their host's genome, the study said. For some viruses, this is a required step for replication, while in others, the DNA is inserted accidently and is passed from one generation to the next.

Inherited viral DNA sequences serve as fossil records for ancient viruses and studying them has revealed valuable data about the evolutionary dynamics of host-virus interactions, the authors said. However, little is known about the evolution of virus-virus interactions.

The study suggests that non-autonomous PRVs adopted two strategies to maintain their life cycles. One involves a "commensal" partnership with another species of autonomous PRV. The other strategy involves a "mutualistic" partnership with another species of non-autonomous PRV in which both PRVs compensate for a function they are each lacking.

"In both strategies, exchanging DNA between the virus species plays an important role in establishing the partnership,” said Kishima  "We suggest that the exchange of noncoding regulatory sequences is an important mechanism driving concerted evolution of the viruses."

The same type of partnerships could be used in existing non-autonomous PRVs, Kishima added.

“Whether plant or human, further studies are needed to better understand the mechanisms of viral evolution and pathology.”

[caption id="attachment_717785" align="aligncenter" width="300"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/143962.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-717785" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/143962-300x208.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="208" /></a> Image Credit: Chen S. et al., PLOS Pathogens, June 29, 2017[/caption]

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.global.hokudai.ac.jp/">Hokkaido University</a>

Image Credit: Chen S. et al., PLOS Pathogens, June 29, 2017

How ancient virus species helped each other by exchanging DNA

Ancient virus species infecting the same plant helped each other...

Open grasslands and the wildfires that sustain them have been greatly reduced over the last 20 years because of a massive increase in agriculture, a new study found.

The total area of Earth's surface torched by <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/wildfires-produce-pollution/">flames</a> fell by nearly 25 percent, or 452,000 square miles (1.2 million square kilometers) from 1998 to 2015 according to the study by <a href="https://uci.edu/">University of California, Irvine</a> and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> researchers and published in <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

The largest drops were in Central America and South America, across the Eurasian steppe and in northern Africa, according to the study that analyzed data from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites.

"A billion and a half more people have been added to the planet over the past 20 years, livestock has doubled in many places, and wide-open areas once kept open by fire are now being farmed," said James Randerson, professor at UCI. "Our fire data are a sensitive indicator of the intense pressure humans are placing on these important ecosystems."

Scientists have predicted that fire risk would soar with rising global temperatures. But the prediction tools didn't account for surging population growth or the conversion of grasslands and subsistence farming to industrial agriculture in some of the world's poorest areas, the new study said.

Without occasional blazes, trees and shrubs encroach on grassland, which covers about a fifth of the planet's terrain.

"Satellite images revealed clear relationships among the rapid disappearance of fires from grassland ecosystems across the world, human activity and changes in plant cover," said lead author Niels Andela, a NASA research scientist.

"Humans are interrupting the ancient, natural cycle of burning and recovery in these areas," Randerson said.

There are some benefits from fewer fires, such as reducing lung-damaging smoke, the authors said.

There have been more wildfires the western U.S. and across North American boreal forests, where climate change is lengthening the fire season and drying out flammable vegetation faster, the authors noted.

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By: <a href="mailto:dbeasley@earth.com">David Beasley, </a><a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://uci.edu/">University of California, Irvine</a>

Earth losing grasslands and seeing fewer fires due to agriculture

Open grasslands and the wildfires that sustain them have been...

The chemical hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been used in bleach and as a wound disinfectant for years, but scientists have recently discovered that it also plays an important role in plants.

Hydrogen peroxide occurs naturally as a by-product of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/use-photosynthesis-create-hydrogen-fuel/">photosynthesis</a> in the chloroplasts of plant cells. Researchers have now observed that H2O2 is actually used to control how these cells react to different levels of light.

The study was done by the <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> and the <a href="http://www.essex.ac.uk/">University of Essex</a>, where researchers used a fluorescent protein that detects H2O2 in order to see how it moves from chloroplasts to cell nuclei. Since plants’ genes are located in the nuclei, this method allowed the researchers to observe how plants activate the genes they need for their leaves to adapt to potentially harmful levels of sunlight. This allows the chloroplasts and nucleus to communicate in order to control photosynthesis and properly adjust to certain light conditions.

“It’s important for plants to be able to detect how much light there is, so they can make the most of it for photosynthesis,” says Nick Smirnoff, at professor at the University of Exeter. “They also have to adjust to protect themselves, as high levels of light can damage leaves - similar in some ways to how we humans get sunburn on our skin.”

The researchers also discovered that some of the chloroplasts that produce this hydrogen peroxide signal are actually attached to the nucleus, which allows them to pass the chemical more effectively. In fact, this was the first time signals have been observed being exchanged from the chloroplast to the nucleus.

New research such as this helps us to understand the fascinating physiology of plants, a very necessary endeavor if we’re going to continue to benefit from their presence on our planet.

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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

Source: <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>

How hydrogen peroxide protects plants against sun damage

The chemical hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been used in bleach...

Remote sensing technologies could make huge improvements in the sustainable management of palm oil plantations. The new monitoring methods may be able to transform the oil palm industry into a more environmentally-friendly practice while optimizing the production of palm oil. 

Unfortunately, progress on the development of these geoinformation technologies is moving slowly. Environmental experts are expressing the need for a sense of urgency in the creation and implementation of remote oil palm plantation monitoring methods.

The oil palm industry is responsible for the destruction of large areas of tropical forest and ecosystems with high conservation value. The global demand for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/palm-oil-done-right/">palm oil</a> has also resulted in habitat degradation, climate change, and indigenous land rights abuse.

At the same time, global demand for oil palm production is rapidly increasing as palm oil has grown to become the most consumed oil in the world. Oil palms produce vegetable oil more cheaply than any other oil crop. More plantations are being developed, while existing plantations are being expanded.

Palm oil plantations are currently monitored using time-consuming, expensive land assessments. The high-resolution satellite imagery used for remote sensing will provide the same information more quickly and accurately. 

The computerized geographic information will also meet the monitoring standards of palm oil industry certification agencies such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, or <a href="http://www.rspo.org/about">RSPO</a>.

Use of remote sensing technologies will tackle the challenge of increasing oil palm production while reducing the negative impact on tropical forests and climate change. Illegal deforestation could be detected and disease and pest control problems could be identified sooner. 

The authors of a report published in the journal <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tgsi20">Geo-spatial Information Science</a> say the potential benefits are extensive. They say use of remote sensing imagery will improve the accuracy of yield prediction, and identify suitable land for plantation expansion while protecting forests with high carbon stocks or high conservation value.

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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 

Source: <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tgsi20">Geo-spatial Information Science</a>

Remote sensing could revolutionize the oil palm industry

Remote sensing technologies could make huge improvements in the sustainable...

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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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

[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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;&nbsp;



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



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

Lesotho: Africa's "Kingdom in the Sky"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[sendtonews key="6HyfrAJTBI-1831843-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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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"

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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

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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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



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Melt ponds on the Greenland Ice Sheet

[sendtonews key="qARzJPSabQ-2270617-12187" 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> 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

[sendtonews key="qas3EhyI0Y-2220951-12187" 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.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

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

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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...