The next time you clean out your closet and happily donate old clothes to charity, you might want to pause for a moment. A novel study, published in the journal Nature Cities, has brought to light some shocking revelations about the destiny of our donated garments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unfortunate-fate-of-donated-clothes">Unfortunate fate of donated clothes</h2>



Researchers have been diligently following the trail of donated clothes and textiles across several western cities. 



The findings are quite disturbing. In most cities, spanning from Melbourne to Manchester, donated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fashion-industrys-plastic-waste-is-a-major-environmental-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">textiles</a> are either exported or dumped as waste.



It's alarming to consider that the weight of global textile waste each year is 92 million tonnes, a number that could see a scary doubling by 2030.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-role-of-charity-shops">Crucial role of charity shops</h2>



Charity shops do an admirable job of handling a large volume of used and donated clothes. However, they face a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fast-fashion-toll-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complex predicament</a>. 



Quite a few of the donations they receive are of poor quality, reducing the financial benefit of managing them locally. So, how do these charities adapt? They trade valuable items and discard or export the remainder.



An interesting case in point is Melbourne, where charities export high-quality, often vintage, second-hand clothes to Europe. This results in the city's independent resale businesses importing similar clothing back from Europe or the United States.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-of-high-volume-and-low-quality">Challenges of high volume and low quality</h2>



Over the past 15 to 20 years, charities and collectors have reported a concerning decrease in the quality of the garments they receive, which negatively impacts their resale potential.



According to Dr. Yassie Samie of <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RMIT University</a> in Melbourne, local governments and charities need a stronger and more efficient collaboration to manage textile waste.



"We're used to charities doing the heavy lifting, but they've been unable to fully handle the volume of donated clothes for a long time now," said Dr. Samie.



"Charities are driven by social welfare values and need to raise funds for their programs. However, their operations are ill-equipped to deal with the volume of used textiles that need to be reused and recycled."



Local government cooperation is essential in this regard, and Samie suggests that charities explore other business models, such as swapping and repair centers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-export-of-donated-clothes">Export of donated clothes</h2>



Overconsumption and oversupply are the main culprits behind the cities' textile waste crisis. These lead to the export of between 33% (Australia) and 97% (Norway) of donated clothes.



It's important to note that most local governments in the cities studied do not get involved in textile waste beyond providing public spaces and licenses for charity bins and commercial resellers. 



In fact, in cities like Melbourne, local governments send discarded textiles directly to landfill, instead of diverting them to recycling or reuse facilities, or other employing other, local alternatives.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-need-for-systemic-change">Need for systemic change</h2>



Dr. Samie noted that systemic change is vital to address the issue of textile waste. She emphasizes the importance of promoting local <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/eco-friendly-vegan-leather-could-transform-the-fashion-industry/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alternatives</a> to fast fashion, including reselling, swapping, and repairing.



"Sustainable fashion initiatives, like second-hand retailers, struggle to compete with fashion brands' big marketing budgets and convenient locations," said Dr. Samie.



"Fast fashion alternatives exist but they are under-promoted, despite their potential to significantly reduce cities' textile waste."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hidden-cost-of-donated-clothes">Hidden cost of donated clothes</h2>



The exportation of donated clothes presents another layer of complexity in the textile waste conundrum. 



While sending garments abroad might appear as a practical solution for local waste management challenges, it offloads the environmental and social costs onto less-regulated markets.



These exported textiles often end up in countries with weak waste management infrastructures, where they can accumulate in landfills, contributing to pollution and resource strain. 



Moreover, the influx of cheap, second-hand clothing can undermine local textile industries, impacting the livelihoods of workers who depend on traditional garment production.



Relying on exports as an easy fix not only perpetuates global inequalities but also stalls the necessary advancements in sustainable local solutions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-approaches-to-mitigating-waste">Approaches to mitigating waste</h2>



Transformative approaches to addressing textile waste are beginning to emerge, albeit at varying scales of impact. 



Some forward-thinking cities and organizations have started to implement circular economy strategies, focusing on keeping resources in use for as long as possible through upcycling, recycling, and the utilization of biodegradable materials. 



Collaborations between fashion brands, municipalities, and environmental organizations have led to the establishment of community repair cafes and textile recycling hubs. These initiatives not only reduce waste but also educate the public on the value of sustainable practices. 



A multi-faceted approach incorporating education, policy change, and grassroots involvement is critical for creating lasting change. By promoting a culture of sustainability, cities can turn the tide on textile waste and lead the way towards a more environmentally responsible future.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fashion-advertising-ban">Fashion advertising ban</h2>



The study's authors propose a ban on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fast-fashion-carbon-footprint/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fashion</a> advertising in cities to make room for promoting more sustainable alternatives to donating clothes. 



Recently, France introduced a ban on advertising ultra-fast fashion. Dr. Samie supports such regulations and would like to collaborate with local governments to find better uses for discarded textiles.



Ultimately, the study sheds light on the urgent need for smarter methods of managing textile waste.



As the global textile waste burden continues to grow, each one of us must take responsibility for our shopping habits and make more sustainable choices. 



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-024-00140-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Cities</a>.



-----



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The dark side of donating clothes to charity

The next time you clean out your closet and happily donate old clothes to charity, you might want to pause for a moment. A novel study, published in the journal Nature Cities, has brought to light some shocking revelations about the destiny of our donated garments. Unfortunate fate of donated clothes Researchers have been diligently following the trail of donated clothes and textiles across several western cities. The findings are quite disturbing. In most cities, spanning from Melbourne to Manchester, donated textiles are either exported or dumped...

Atmospheric oxygen leads to the development of fingers over webbed digits. The presence of webbed fingers on an animal typically indicate that the species either lives in an aquatic environment, or gets around by gliding through the air, as these are where webbed fingers have an advantage. On land, free fingers allow us and many other species to grasp objects and move around easily. But how does the developing body decide whether its fingers should be webbed or free? 

New research published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/developmental-cell/home">Developmental Cell</a> has found that during embryo development, some animal species detect the presence of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/evolutionary-booms-oxygen-levels/">atmospheric oxygen</a>, which causes the removal of interdigital webbing.Atmospheric oxygen leads to the development of fingers over webbed digits

Amphibians and amniotes – which includes mammals, reptiles, and birds – can have webbed digits. Amniotes rely on interdigital cell death to form fingers, while amphibians have differential growth patterns between the digits and the areas between them, known as interdigital regions. The researchers found that removal of the interdigital membrane through cell death by amniotes depends on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Embryos are only able to produce ROS when they are exposed to sufficient oxygen levels during their development.

Because high oxygen levels are able to cause cell death in frogs, the researchers believe that this mechanism is shared by both amphibians and amniotes. 

“But amphibians do not employ cell death to shape their interdigital regions; it is the difference in growth rate between the digital and interdigital regions that will determine their final proportions,” explains Mikiko Tanaka of the <a href="https://www.titech.ac.jp/english/">Tokyo Institute of Technology</a>. “We think that interdigital cell death appeared in amphibians only as a by-product of the high oxygen levels, a first step in this evolutionary process. This new step eventually was integrated to the limb development and became essential to shape the limbs of modern amniotes.”

The study led by Tanaka involved analyzing embryos from a number of species. When oxygen levels were changed for chicken embryos – an amniote with interdigital cell death – this directly affected the number of dying cells. When oxygen levels were increased for African clawed frog embryos, interdigital cell death was induced, which is out of the norm for this amphibian.

[caption id="attachment_1873848" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Interdigital-Cell-Death-in-Tetrapods-.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-1873848" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Interdigital-Cell-Death-in-Tetrapods-.jpeg" alt="" width="650" height="231" /></a> How interdigital cell death and environmental oxygen are correlated in various tetrapods. Image Credit: Cordeiro et al. / Developmental Cell[/caption]

In an effort to expand their evolutionary perspective, the research team also studied cell death and ROS in the Japanese fire-bellied newt and the coqui frog. Similar to the African clawed frog, the Japanese fire-bellied newt had not interdigital cell death, but coqui frogs did have cell death in their interdigital regions. But one important distinction is that, unlike the other two amphibians, coqui frogs grow as terrestrial eggs and breathe oxygen from the air. “This way, we show both experimentally and comparatively that interdigital cell death is correlated with life history strategy and oxygen availability in tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates),” Tanaka says.

While these findings being related to ROS is interesting, particularly because ROS is usually considered a detriment in aging and fertility, Tanaka also explains that “while both amniotes and amphibians can have either free or webbed fingers, they are formed in different ways in these two groups. The new developmental mechanism acquired by amniotes – interdigital cell death – allowed for the evolution of a great variety of limb shapes, such as the lobed fingers of coots, and even removal of some fingers in horses and camels.”

For future research, the researchers want to figure out exactly which pathways are regulated by ROS during development. They also are looking to discover how cell death became a key part of the limb development of amniotes. Furthering our understanding of these processes could help us gain insight into how drugs that combat excessive ROS production (i.e. ethanol, phenytoin, and thalidomide) may cause development defects.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Shutterstock/Paikong

Atmospheric oxygen leads to the development of fingers over webbed digits

Atmospheric oxygen leads to the development of fingers over webbed...

A team of international scientists were able to measure how “bad” ozone levels have increased since the Industrial Revolution by studying ancient oxygen molecules trapped in air bubbles within old layers of snow and ice. 

"We've been able to track how much ozone there was in the ancient atmosphere," said lead author Laurence Yeung, a geochemist from <a href="https://www.rice.edu/">Rice University</a>. "This hasn't been done before, and it's remarkable that we can do it at all."

The team combined their new data with state-of-the-art atmospheric chemistry models to determine that <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/drought-ozone-pollution-levels/">ozone levels</a> in the lower atmosphere, also known as the troposphere, have increased by about 40% since 1850.

"These results show that today's best models simulate ancient tropospheric ozone levels well," said Yeung. "That bolsters our confidence in their ability to predict how tropospheric ozone levels will change in the future."

"These measurements constrain the amount of warming caused by anthropogenic ozone," Yeung continued. 

He explained that the most recent estimate from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that ozone in the troposphere is contributing 0.4 watts/square meter of radiative forcing to Earth’s climate. However, the margin of error for that estimate was 50% (0.2 watts/square meter). 

"That's a really big error bar," Yeung said. "Having better preindustrial ozone estimates can significantly reduce those uncertainties. It's like guessing how heavy your suitcase is when there's a fee for bags over 50 pounds. With the old error bars, you'd be saying, 'I think my bag is between 20 and 60 pounds.' That's not good enough if you can't afford to pay the penalty.’”

The majority of the Earth’s ozone resides in the stratosphere, where it’s considered “good” ozone because it blocks most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, thus making Earth habitable. The rest of the ozone lies in the troposphere, closer to Earth’s surface, where it is labelled “bad” due to its harmful reactivity that affects plants, animals, and humans. When you think of tropospheric ozone, think smog in urban areas.

"The thing about ozone is that scientists have only been studying it in detail for a few decades," Yeung said. "We didn't know why ozone was so abundant in air pollution until the 1970s. That's when we started to recognize how air pollution was changing atmospheric chemistry. Cars were driving up ground-level ozone."

Pre-1970s, “starch-paper tests,” where paper changes color after reacting with ozone, were used to measure ozone. But these tests are incredibly unreliable because of the barrage of outlying factors that could have influenced the results.

“But [starch-paper tests] suggest, nevertheless, that ground-level ozone could have increased up to 300% over the past century,” Yeung said. “In contrast, today's best computer models suggest a more moderate increase of 25-50%. That's a huge difference. There's just no other data out there, so it's hard to know which is right, or if both are right and those particular measurements are not a good benchmark for the whole troposphere."

To find new data, Yeung and his colleagues looked to ozone’s wake — the traces it leaves behind in oxygen molecules.

"When the sun is shining, ozone and oxygen molecules are constantly being made and broken in the atmosphere by the same chemistry," Yeung said. "Our work over the past several years has found a naturally occurring 'tag' for that chemistry: the number of rare isotopes that are clumped together."

These clumps are molecules that have the usual two atoms for molecular oxygen, but they also have rare isotopes of those atoms rather than the commonly found ones. These isotope clumps are called oxygen-18 because they contain two additional neurons in comparison to the common oxygen-16 atom.

Yeung and his team studied how many oxygen-18 clumps are in a given sample of air, and found that isotope clumps in molecular oxygen vary in number depending on where ozone and oxygen chemistry occurs. The odds of an oxygen-18 pair forming in the lower stratosphere are slightly increased due to the cold. However, where it is warmer in the troposphere, fewer oxygen-18 pairs get the chance to form.

During the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century, people began adding more ozone into the troposphere, and therefore, the number of oxygen-18 clumps should have decreased. The molecules found in ice confirm just that.

"We constrain the increase to less than 40%, and the most comprehensive chemical model predicts right around 30%," Yeung said.

"One of the most exciting aspects was how well the ice-core record matched model predictions," he continued. "This was a case where we made a measurement, and independently, a model produced something that was in very close agreement with the experimental evidence. I think it shows how far atmospheric and climate scientists have come in being able to accurately predict how humans are changing Earth's atmosphere — particularly its chemistry."

The findings are published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1277-1">Nature</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Ancient air bubbles show how much ‘bad’ ozone levels have increased

A team of international scientists were able to measure how...

A team of scientists from the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> used a new technology to study the evolution of multi-celled animals, and uncovered something surprising in the process. Their discovery has been published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

“We've found that the first multicellular animals probably weren't like the modern-day sponge cells, but were more like a collection of convertible cells," said Professor Bernie Degnan. "The great-great-great-grandmother of all cells in the animal kingdom, so to speak, was probably quite similar to a stem cell.”

"This is somewhat intuitive as, compared to plants and fungi, animals have many more cell types, used in very different ways — from neurons to muscles — and cell-flexibility has been critical to animal evolution from the start,” Professor Degnan explained.

This new discovery completely disproves a centuries-old theory that suggests all multi-celled animals evolved from a single-celled ancestor called choanocyte, which is similar to a modern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/sponges-dna-sea-creatures/">sponge</a> cell.

"Scattered throughout the history of evolution are major transitions, including the leap from a world of microscopic single-cells to a world of multi-celled animals," Professor Degnan said. "With multicellularity came incredible complexity, creating the animal, plant, fungi and algae kingdoms we see today. These large organisms differ from the other more-than-99-per-cent of biodiversity that can only be seen under a microscope."

The team sequenced all the genes expressed in each individual cell studied, which allowed them to compare similar cell types over time. By potentially finding the “signatures” of each cell type, the team could then discover the evolutionary history of each type.

"Biologists for decades believed the existing theory was a no-brainer, as sponge choanocytes look so much like single-celled choanoflagellates - the organism considered to be the closest living relatives of the animals," said senior coauthor Associate Professor Sandie Degnan. "But their transcriptome signatures simply don't match, meaning that these aren't the core building blocks of animal life that we originally thought they were.”

"This technology has been used only for the last few years, but it's helped us finally address an age-old question, discovering something completely contrary to what anyone had ever proposed,” she continued. "We're taking a core theory of evolutionary biology and turning it on its head.”

"Now we have an opportunity to re-imagine the steps that gave rise to the first animals, the underlying rules that turned single cells into multicellular animal life,” she concluded.

As Professor Bernie Degnan stated, this discovery could help scientists better understand our own human evolution and stem cells, which could lead to better understanding cancer.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: University of Queensland

New technology helps scientists rewrite evolutionary history

A team of scientists from the University of Queensland used...

‘Real-life Loch Ness Monster’ fossil discovered in Antarctica. You don’t have to go too far back in sailing lore to find mention of all manner of sea monsters waiting in the deep to prey upon those daring enough to brave the open ocean.

While most of these monsters are only found in the pages of fiction, the ocean has housed some of the most mysterious and giant marine animals ever to swim, walk, or crawl on Earth. 

For proof, look no further than the elasmosaur, one of the largest <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/06/fossil-sea-monster-found-antarctica-heaviest-of-its-kind-elasmosaurs/">Plesiosaurs</a> of the Cretaceous period. The elasmosaur was a giant marine reptile with a long giraffe-like neck and four flippers that were quite at home in the chilly waters around the Antarctic. 

In a remarkable discovery that took years of painstaking excavation, researchers have finally uncovered one of the largest and heaviest known elasmosaurs, first found on Seymour Island in 1989. 

The discovery was initially made by William Zinsmeister from <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/">Purdue University</a> who happened upon the fossil remains near the Antarctic Peninsula, but lacking funds he was unable to dig further. 

The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instituto_Ant%C3%A1rtico_Argentino">Argentine Antarctic Institute</a> took up the dig, but the harsh weather conditions and remote location made excavations challenging. 

Researchers finally unearthed the elasmosaurid in its entirety in 2017, and it’s the most complete reptile fossil ever found in Antarctica, according to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/06/fossil-sea-monster-found-antarctica-heaviest-of-its-kind-elasmosaurs/">National Geographic</a>. 

“For years it was a mystery ... we didn’t know if they were elasmosaurs or not,” José O’Gorman, a paleontologist with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina told National Geographic. “They were some kind of weird plesiosaurs that nobody knew.” 

Weighing a massive 15 tons during its lifetime, the specimen is the heaviest elasmosaur yet discovered, but researchers are most intrigued by the ancient reptile’s age. 

The 70 million-year-old fossil dates back to the end of the Cretaceous period proving that elasmosaurs were thriving 30,000 years before the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. 

The full discovery was detailed in the journal Cretaceous Research.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: New Dinosaurs/Juan

‘Real-life Loch Ness Monster’ fossil discovered in Antarctica

‘Real-life Loch Ness Monster’ fossil discovered in Antarctica. You don’t...

Gut microbes react differently to foods with the same nutritional content. According to a new study published by <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell Press</a>, foods with similar nutrition labels can have very different effects on the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/gut-microbiome-promotes-healthier-aging/">human gut microbiome</a>. The research suggests that the relationship between what we eat and the composition of our gut microbiota is much more complex than what was previously realized.

"Nutrition labels are human-centric. They don't provide much information about how the microbiome is going to change from day to day or person to person," explained study senior author Dr. Dan Knights, who is an expert in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

The investigation was focused on 34 participants who recorded everything they ate for 17 days. Stool samples were collected daily, and the genetic material was analyzed using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. 

This approach enabled the researchers to compare the individual microbiomes at a very high resolution. The technique also allowed the team to get a close look at how various enzymes and metabolic functions that are influenced by the microbiome were changing in response to different foods.

"We expected that by doing this dense sampling - where you could see what people were eating every single day and what's happening to their microbiome - we would be able to correlate dietary nutrients with specific strains of microbes, as well as account for the differences in microbiomes between people," said Dr. Knights. "But what we found were not the strong associations we expected. We had to scratch our heads and come up with a new approach for measuring and comparing the different foods."

The researchers discovered that there was a much stronger correlation between changes in the diet and the microbiome when they took into account how foods were related to each other rather than considering only their nutritional content. 

For example, two different leafy greens like spinach and kale would have a similar influence on the microbiome, while another type of vegetable like carrots would have a very different influence. These discrepancies were observed even when the nutrient profiles were similar. 

Two of the study participants consumed nothing but Soylent, a meal replacement drink that is popular with people who work in technology. Their microbiomes still showed variations from day to day, which indicates that a monotonous diet does not necessarily stabilize the microbiome.

"The microbiome has been linked to a broad range of human conditions, including metabolic disorders, autoimmune diseases, and infections, so there is strong motivation to manipulate the microbiome with diet as a way to influence health," said Dr. Knights. 

"This study suggests that it's more complicated than just looking at dietary components like fiber and sugar. Much more research is needed before we can understand how the full range of nutrients in food affects how the microbiome responds to what we eat."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/home">Cell Host &amp; Microbe</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: Kateryna Kon

Gut microbes react differently to foods with the same nutritional content

Gut microbes react differently to foods with the same nutritional...

A team of neuroscientists at the <a href="http://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT) has identified the brain circuit that allows us to tune out distracting sights and sounds. The prefrontal cortex was found to control this circuit by suppressing irrelevant sensory information as it flows into the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-breaks-tough-decisions/">brain</a> through the thalamus.

"This is a fundamental operation that cleans up all the signals that come in, in a goal-directed way," said study senior author Professor Michael Halassa.

We often block out sensory information that is bombarding our brain automatically without even realizing it. Other times, the incoming information requires a conscious effort to dismiss.

In a 2015 study, Professor Halassa and his colleagues investigated how attention can be consciously shifted between different types of sensory inputs by training mice to switch their focus between visual and auditory cues. The mice managed to suppress the competing sensory input in order to focus on the cue that was associated with a reward.

The execution of this task was found to originate in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is critical for decision-making and planning. In addition, an area of the thalamus that processes vision was inhibited when the animals were focusing on the sound cues. With no direct physical connection between the PFC and the thalamus, however, it was unclear how the prefrontal cortex was able to control this activity. 

For the current investigation, the researchers conducted the same training in mice and mapped the brain connections that were involved. The study revealed that a PFC connection to the striatum was used to suppress visual input when the animals were paying attention to the sounds.

The striatum was found to relay this information to a region called the globus pallidus, which is part of the basal ganglia. Finally, the basal ganglia suppressed activity in the part of the thalamus that processes visual information. 

The researchers also identified a parallel circuit that suppresses auditory input when animals pay attention to the visual cues. For this activity, the circuit travels through parts of the striatum and thalamus that are associated with processing sound.

"What we realized here is that the connection between PFC and sensory processing at this level is mediated through the basal ganglia, and in that sense, the basal ganglia influence control of sensory processing," said Professor Halassa. "We now have a very clear idea of how the basal ganglia can be involved in purely attentional processes that have nothing to do with motor preparation."

Next, the researchers will investigate whether impairments of this circuit may cause the hypersensitivity to noise and other stimuli that is characteristic of individuals with autism.

"Controlling noise is something that patients with autism have trouble with all the time," said Professor Halassa. "Now there are multiple nodes in the pathway that we can start looking at to try to understand this."

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</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: Shutterstock/FGC

Scientists identify the brain circuit which allows us to tune out distractions

A team of neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

Despite growing global awareness surrounding the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/antimicrobial-resistance-worldwide/">antimicrobial resistance epidemic</a>, policy options that governments could employ to combat the misuse of antibiotics have not been thoroughly reviewed or evaluated.

Without rigorous evaluations, policymakers and health professionals have little evidence to justify costly campaigns or policy that may or may not be effective in mitigating the growing global problem of antimicrobial resistance. 

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms like bacteria or viruses develop a resistance to the drugs used to eradicate them.

Misuse, overprescribing, and improper disposal and management of antimicrobials have all contributed to the current epidemic, and already once easily treatable infections are now impervious and resistant to antibiotics or antivirals. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.uottawa.ca/en">University of Ottawa</a> combed through seven global databases to find studies that evaluated and described policy interventions to target antimicrobial resistance. 

Examples of such policies included public awareness campaigns, guidelines for proper use and prescriptions, and vaccination policies. 

Overall, the researchers found 69 studies from around the world that evaluated and tested 17 different antimicrobial interventions and policies. 

Only four of the 69 studies had a randomized control design which is considered the gold standard for research. 35 used quasi-experimental designs, but the rest had no control experiments and only described the potential policies. 

This limits the potential usefulness of the studies for policymakers or health experts in implementing preventative measures. 

The research, published in the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002819">PLOS Medicine</a>, highlights an overlooked but essential component of combating antimicrobial resistance. 

“To avoid future waste of public resources, and in line with WHO recommendations for national action on AMR, governments should ensure that AMR policy interventions are evaluated using rigorous study designs and that study results are published,” the researchers said. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com </a>Staff Writer 

Image Credit: NIAID, Flickr

In order to combat antimicrobial resistance, policies must be evaluated

Despite growing global awareness surrounding the antimicrobial resistance epidemic, policy...

A new mobile application developed by experts at the <a href="https://le.ac.uk/">University of Leicester</a> will use data from Earth observation satellites to pinpoint urban pollution hotspots. The program will advise individuals on whether it is a good time for outdoor activities and will map the best routes to go for a walk or a jog based on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/visiting-city-air-pollution-breathing-issues/">air quality</a>. 

For individuals with certain health conditions such as heart disease or asthma, outdoor exercise becomes counterproductive and even dangerous on days with high levels of air pollution. 

"Whilst we know physical activity is good for many patients with long-term conditions including heart and lung diseases, clinicians are often anxious about recommending exercise and often unable to prescribe accurate and effective exercise for their patients," explained Professor Andre Ng.

"We will develop a patient-centred mobile app that takes in satellite data with unique resolution including that of air quality that delivers precise guideline-based exercise advice tailored to their condition and ability. This greatly enhances the confidence of both healthcare professionals to prescribe, and patients to put into practice, effective physical activity which improves well-being and reduces healthcare utilization."

The app will provide users with customized, disease-specific exercise advice based on air quality data obtained in real-time from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite.

EarthSense, a spin-off company from the University of Leicester, is also creating a second application that will help guide traffic management in polluted urban areas. 

"Using the information from the app, users can choose to avoid certain high pollution areas, reducing the amount of emissions inhaled, and hopefully divert traffic away from those areas, thereby reducing the levels of pollution," said Tom Hall, who is the managing director of EarthSense.

The research is being funded by the ESA’s program of Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) in partnership with the UK Space Agency and NHS England.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: ESA

Mobile apps can help steer users away from polluted city areas

A new mobile application developed by experts at the University...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">University of California, Riverside</a> have identified a molecular mechanism that disrupts communication between the gut and the brain and causes <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/mediterranean-diet-prevent-overeating/">overeating</a>. The team found that overactive endocannabinoids in the gut block the signals that alert the brain when it is time to stop eating.

Endocannabinoids are cannabis-like physiological activators which occur naturally in the body to help regulate immune, behavioral, and neuronal processes. Just like cannabis, endocannabinoids can enhance feeding behavior.

For the investigation, mice were fed a "Western diet" that was high in fat and sugar. After 60 days, the researchers detected high activity of endocannabinoids at cannabinoid CB1 receptors in the gut of the mice. This overactivity was found to prevent the food-induced secretion of the peptide cholecystokinin, a short chain of amino acids that are released to signal satiation. In the absence of cholecystokinin, the mice were overeating. 

"If drugs could be developed to target these cannabinoid receptors so that the release of satiation peptides is not inhibited during excessive eating, we would be a step closer to addressing the prevalence of obesity that affects millions of people in the country and around the world," said study lead author Professor Nicholas V. DiPatrizio.

Previous research has demonstrated that endocannabinoid levels and are elevated in obese humans and increase in the blood just before and after eating a high-energy food, according to Professor DiPatrizio.

"Research in humans has shown that eating associated with a palatable diet led to an increase in endocannabinoids - but whether or not endocannabinoids control the release of satiation peptides is yet to be determined," explained study first author Donovan A. Argueta.

Next, the team plans to analyze the link between CB1 receptor activity and cholecystokinin.

"We would also like to get a better understanding of how specific components of the Western diet - fat and sucrose - lead to dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system and gut-brain signaling," said Professor DiPatrizio. "We also plan to study how endocannabinoids control the release of other molecules in the intestine that influence metabolism."

The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology">Frontiers in Physiology</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: Shutterstock/Syda Productions

Disruptive molecular mechanism in the gut causes overeating

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have identified a...

While studies have shown that humans and our closely-related monkey cousins process sight similarly in the brain, the same cannot be said for sound. 

In a new study, researchers from the the <a href="http://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> discovered key differences in the way macaques and humans<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-babies-monkey-vocalize/"> hear and process sounds</a>. 

Humans are highly sensitive to pitch while macaques can recognize noises and changes in frequency. 

The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, is part of the <a href="https://www.nih.gov/research-training/medical-research-initiatives/sound-health">Sound Health project </a>funded by the <a href="https://www.nih.gov/">National Institutes of Health</a>, which aims to examine how music impacts health. 

“We found that a certain region of our brains has a stronger preference for sounds with pitch than macaque monkey brains,” said Bevil Conway, Ph.D., the senior author of the study. “The results raise the possibility that these sounds, which are embedded in speech and music, may have shaped the basic organization of the human brain.”

Previously, Conway was researching differences between monkey and human sight but found little difference in how vision was controlled in the brain of either species. 

Conway then teamed up with Dr. Norman-Haignere to see if the same methodology could be applied to sound processing in the brains of monkeys and humans. 

“I told Bevil that we had a method for reliably identifying a region in the human brain that selectively responds to sounds with pitch,” said Norman-Haignere. 

The two researchers played harmonic sounds (tones) to both human volunteers and macaques. Participants had their brain activity monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measured the responses to each tone. 

The participants were also played noises without tones. Imagine hearing someone talk in a normal tone of voice but then change to whispering. The whispering noises are noises without pitch. 

At first, it seemed like there was little difference between the brain scans of macaques and humans. But upon closer examination, the researchers identified areas in the human brain that were much more responsive to tones than pitch-less noises. 

In fact, humans were more receptive to natural pitch changes in macaque calls than macaques. 

“We found that human and monkey brains had very similar responses to sounds in any given frequency range,” said Conway. “It’s when we added tonal structure to the sounds that some of these same regions of the human brain became more responsive.”

The results of the study show that humans and monkeys experience auditory stimuli very differently, and this could help researchers understand how hearing evolved in humans. 

“This finding suggests that speech and music may have fundamentally changed the way our brain processes pitch,” said Conway. “It may also help explain why it has been so hard for scientists to train monkeys to perform auditory tasks that humans find relatively effortless.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Human brains are highly sensitive to musical pitch

While studies have shown that humans and our closely-related monkey...

In the winter, Antarctica’s Weddell Sea is covered with a thick layer of sea ice that makes up a vast flat icescape stretching as far as the eye can see.  

However, every few years or so, researchers would report holes or polynyas that had formed in the sea ice. Polynya means “hole in the ice” in Russian and they are not an uncommon sight along the Antarctic coast. These enormous gaps had been a huge mystery especially given their sporadic nature. 

But in a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> used data from satellites, seals, and robotic drifters to help make sense of the phenomenon. 

The study was published in the journal Nature. 

Some of the biggest holes in the Weddell Sea Ice <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/a-large-polynya-in-the-weddell-sea/">were first observed in 1974-1976</a>, when satellite imagery showed an ice-free area the size of New Zealand. The holes formed in the sea ice even though temperatures were well below freezing. 

Antarctica’s Southern Ocean plays a key role in both the carbon cycle and ocean currents, so understanding how and why these holes form could lend essential insights into climate and ocean processes.

[caption id="attachment_1873742" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ice.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873742" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ice.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="709" /></a> A hole in the sea ice off of the Antarctic coast. Image Credit: NASA[/caption]

Two consecutive holes formed in 2016 and 2017 which prompted the researchers to study the holes in greater detail 

“We thought this large hole in the sea ice -- known as a polynya -- was something that was rare, maybe a process that had gone extinct. But the events in 2016 and 2017 forced us to reevaluate that,” said Ethan Campbell, the lead author of the study. “Observations show that the recent polynyas opened from a combination of factors -- one being the unusual ocean conditions, and the other being a series of very intense storms that swirled over the Weddell Sea with almost hurricane-force winds.” 

For the study, the researchers reviewed data from robotic drifters as part of the <a href="https://soccom.princeton.edu/content/southern-ocean-carbon-and-climate-observations-and-modeling">Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modelling project</a>. 

The team also collected data from weather stations, satellite imagery, and the <a href="http://www.argo.ucsd.edu/">Argo ocean observing program</a>, which attaches sensors to elephant seals to help monitor the ocean. 

“This study shows that this polynya is actually caused by a number of factors that all have to line up for it to happen,” said Stephen Riser, a co-author of the study. “In any given year you could have several of these things happen, but unless you get them all, then you don’t get a polynya.”

One way a polynya can form is when ocean winds get close to the shore and force dense seawater to rise above an underwater mountain called Maud Rise. This perfect storm creates a spinning vortex above Maud Rise, which in turn prevents sea ice from covering the area. 

Another way that the holes form is if the surface layer of the ocean has higher salt concentrations. The constant rising and sinking of dense cold water and warmer saltier water cause a feedback loop where ice can’t form. 

“Essentially it’s a flipping over of the entire ocean, rather than an injection of surface water on a one-way trip from the surface to the deep,” said Earle Wilson, a fellow co-author of the study. 

Having a better understanding of how the polynyas form is crucial for climate and carbon monitoring. If polynyas form when deep ocean water rises to the surface, this could release carbon into the atmosphere and disrupt ocean currents. 

“This deep reservoir of carbon has been locked away for hundreds of years, and in a polynya it might get ventilated at the surface through this really violent mixing,” said Campbell. “A large carbon outgassing event could really whack the climate system if it happened multiple years in a row.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: Dan Costa/University of California, Santa Cruz

Seals and robots help solve Antarctic ice hole mystery

In the winter, Antarctica’s Weddell Sea is covered with a...

Current water cycle diagrams are dangerously outdated. Water cycle diagrams currently used for education and research purposes are dangerously out of date and give a false sense of water security. 

According to an international team of hydrology experts from <a href="https://www.byu.edu/">Brigham Young University</a>, <a href="https://msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a>, and the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx">University of Birmingham</a>, these diagrams must be edited to show human interference in the natural cycle, thus lessening the false sense of security.

The analysis of current water cycle diagrams, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/ngeo/">Nature Geoscience,</a> showed that 85% of more than 450 water cycle diagrams currently used in education did not show human interaction as part of the cycle. Only 2% of the diagrams connected the water cycle to climate change and/or water pollution.

Furthermore, almost all the diagrams depicted landscapes within mild climates and loads of freshwater within a single river basin — which is a misrepresentation of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/risk-severe-water-shortages/">water cycle</a> in the real world.

<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/water-cycle-a.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1873739" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/water-cycle-a.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="290" /></a><a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/water-cycle-2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1873738" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/water-cycle-2.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="281" /></a>

[caption id="attachment_1873737" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/water-cycle.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1873737" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/water-cycle.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="291" /></a> Image Credit: University of Birmingham[/caption]

"The water cycle diagram is a central icon of hydro science, but misrepresenting the ways in which humans have influenced this cycle diminishes our awareness of the looming global water crisis," said Professor David Hannah, UNESCO Chair in Water Sciences at the University of Birmingham. "By leaving out climate change, human consumption, and changes in land use we are, in effect, creating large gaps in understanding and perception among the public and also among some scientists."

The team produced new diagrams that aptly show how the water cycle works in the 21st century. The new proposed diagrams include meltwater from glaciers, flood damage, pollution, and sea level rise.

"For the first time, the new water cycle diagram adequately reflects the importance of not just quantities of water but also water quality and pollution as key criteria for assessing water resources,” said Professor Stefan Krause, Head of the Birmingham Water Council.

"Every scientific diagram involves compromises and distortions, but what we found with the water cycle was widespread exclusion of a central concept,” added lead author Professor Ben Abbott, from Brigham Young University. “You can't understand water in the 21st century without including humans."

"Other scientific disciplines have done a good job depicting how humans now dominate many aspects of the Earth system,” he continued. “It's hard to find a diagram of the carbon or nitrogen cycle that doesn't show factories and fertilizers. However, our drawings of the water cycle are stuck in the 17th century. Better drawings of the water cycle won't solve the global water crisis on their own, but they could improve awareness of how local water use and climate change have global consequences."

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Main Image Credit: Shutterstock/Serkan Senturk

Current water cycle diagrams are dangerously outdated

Current water cycle diagrams are dangerously outdated. Water cycle diagrams...

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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.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&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.

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.igb.illinois.edu/">Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology</a> reveals how scientists can modify common crops like soybean, rice, and wheat to protect them from heat stress.



“We need to double crop production by 2050 to feed a growing global population, and not only are we not on track to do that, but climate change is further complicating things,” said Amanda Cavanagh, a lecturer at the University of Essex. 



The study is part of Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project that aims to develop food crops that turn the sun’s energy into food more efficiently.



“Using an engineering approach we designed multiple alternative metabolic pathways to photorespiration. Testing them in the field showed increases in productivity which led Amanda to significantly move the project forward by showing our engineered plants can withstand pretty extreme temperature stress,” said study co-author and RIPE researcher Paul South.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes and temperature stresses increase the pressure on our global food supply, farmers will need every tool available including engineering approaches like the synthetic biology used here to maintain safe and productive harvests.”



The experts tested plants modified to have more efficient photorespiration to see if they were better adapted to warmer temperatures.&nbsp;



The team found that the engineered plants produced 26 percent more biomass than the wild-type plants exposed to the same temperatures, and had 15 percent less yield loss under the higher temperatures.



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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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.

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes the first comprehensive estimate of carbon density in the Saharan, Sahel, and Sudanian zones of Africa. In an effort to measure the amount of carbon stored across these drylands, a team of scientists used high-resolution satellite images and artificial intelligence to map nearly 10 billion individual trees. 



"The high spatial resolution (50 cm) combined with AI and field measurements used in this study is key to improving tree inventories in drylands," said Pierre Hiernaux, a French researcher working for NASA. "The ever-increasing availability of very high-resolution satellite imagery will make it possible to assess carbon pools and their dynamics at the individual tree level on a global scale."



"This study is exceptional because it is pioneering a type of approach that will revolutionize the monitoring of trees and forests on a global scale: in the short term, it will be possible to map the world's trees from the centre of the Amazon to our schoolyards," said <a href="https://www.inrae.fr/en">INRAE</a> researcher Jean-Pierre Wigneron.



"Many fields of application will become much more efficient and accurate, such as tracking carbon stocks, biodiversity, monitoring logging and protection against illegal forest degradation, in near real time.”



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.

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" 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> 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



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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://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



"Methane is an important greenhouse gas that contributes substantially to global warming. On a molecule by molecule basis, methane is much more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the main driver of warming," says NASA.



"Though human activities, including agriculture, oil and natural gas production and use, and waste disposal, collectively contribute the majority of methane to the atmosphere, about a third of total methane emissions comes from wetlands."&nbsp;



According to NASA, understanding methane emissions from wetlands and other natural sources is critically important for scientists and policymakers who are working to combat climate change by reducing emissions from human activities.



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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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.

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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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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Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.stowers.org/">Stowers Institute for Medical Research</a> describes why experts are studying zebrafish to gain a better understanding of how the immune system responds to injury. Zebrafish have the ability to repair and regenerate organs.



“Organ regeneration offers an exciting opportunity for studying the immune system and to inquire why some species can regenerate organs like the heart or missing limbs while others like humans cannot,” explained Dr. Tatjana Piotrowski.



Zebrafish sensory organ hair cells are an ideal system to investigate the pathways and cell types involved in regeneration since they are easily destroyed with antibiotics and begin regenerating within five hours. This enabled the researchers to identify the exact timing and genetic programs for each anti-inflammatory macrophage activation state.&nbsp;



“Our hypothesis is that human macrophages do not receive the proper chemical activation 'cocktail' to instruct pro-regenerative processes,” said Dr. Nicolas Denans. “Identifying the molecular recipe of macrophage activation in zebrafish may one day enable us to design regenerative immunotherapies in humans.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The new evidence is a valuable resource for comparative studies on the genetic programs involved in macrophage-mediated repair and regeneration. In other words, different types of injuries may induce different kinds of inflammatory responses. We want to decipher whether this 'language' is universal or if there are a variety of dialects."



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&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.

How the immune system responds to injury

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes how record-breaking heat expressed itself around the world in 2022.



Scientists have determined that 2022 was the 5th warmest year since 1880. Furthermore, the last nine consecutive years have been the warmest on record.



From devastating floods and wildfires to natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, 2022 showed us yet again how a warming climate affects people across the globe.&nbsp;



"As we look back at 20:22 and years past, we see that each year we better understand the challenges we face and how important it is to meet them," says NASA.



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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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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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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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

[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



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...