In the midst of our busy lives, those seemingly insignificant everyday experiences - like booking a flight home for Thanksgiving or writing a thank-you note - may feel less meaningful.



But according to Erin Westgate, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida, these experiences carry more value than we attribute them.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-purpose-behind-the-research">Purpose behind the research</h2>



Alongside her team at the <a href="https://socialcognition.psych.ufl.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Florida Social Cognition and Emotion Lab</a>, Westgate recently secured a grant from the National Science Foundation.



The researchers intended to examine why people underestimate the significance of future life <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/facial-expressions-arent-enough-to-understand-human-emotions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">experiences</a>. The spark for this exploration ignited during Westgate's school days.



“This started a long time ago when I was in grad school where I was talking to another student who asked me if we know how meaningful events will be in the future,” Westgate said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-meaningful-experience-of-thanksgiving">Meaningful experience of Thanksgiving</h2>



The question prompted an interesting study involving <a href="https://www.virginia.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Virginia</a> undergraduates. The students were asked about their expectations of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday's meaningfulness and their thoughts afterward. 



“Surely people know how significant Thanksgiving will be, right? It’s the poster child for gratitude and meaning,” Westgate said.



Much to Westgate's surprise, the students extensively misjudged their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-likes-have-a-strong-emotional-effect-on-young-people/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">feelings</a> about the holiday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-missing-out-on-meaningful-experiences">Missing out on meaningful experiences </h2>



Fast forward to the pandemic-ridden 2020. Westgate revisited her initial findings, asking, “We found it once, but can we find it again?”



With a larger sample of University of Florida undergraduates, the results echoed the first study. People chronically underestimated the value of their Thanksgiving holiday.



“We want to live meaningful lives, we want to do meaningful things and so if we are not realizing that an experience is going to be meaningful, we may be less likely to do it and miss out on these potential sources of meaning in our own lives,” Westgate said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-decision-factors-in-meaningful-experiences">Decision factors in meaningful experiences</h2>



The research indicated a key factor in decision-making - anticipated <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mixed-emotions-linked-to-unique-brain-activity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">feelings</a>.



Whether it's a life-altering decision like a career choice or a family start, or a minor one like attending a holiday event, our decisions lean towards promoting a sense of purpose and fulfillment.



Over the course of a three-year study, Westgate aims to condense the reasons behind our underestimation of experiences - from our career choices to the seemingly mundane task of writing thank-you notes.



The research considers both positive and negative experiences, including the acceptance or rejection of medical school applications.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-making-sense-of-events">Making sense of events</h2>



The study also explores personal growth experiences that entail discomfort, leading to avoiding certain decisions out of fear.



Still, these very decisions could play an instrumental role in developing resilience and yielding deep satisfaction.



“We don’t make sense of events until they actually happen. We don’t process events until we need to, when they actually happen and not before,” said Westgate. Jumping the gun might lead us to underestimate the potential meaning of certain events.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seeking-solutions-for-underestimation">Seeking solutions for underestimation</h2>



The research aims to go beyond merely identifying problems; it seeks actionable solutions. Many of us often overlook the true value of meaningful experiences. 



This oversight can lead to a less fulfilling life, as we fail to appreciate the depth and significance of our everyday moments. By delving into the reasons behind this underestimation, Westgate’s work strives to illuminate the cognitive biases and misconceptions that cloud our perception of meaning.



Understanding the root of these misconceptions is crucial. It involves exploring psychological patterns and societal influences that lead individuals to undervalue their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/emotional-intelligence-may-be-secret-to-academic-success/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">experiences</a>. 



By identifying these patterns, the research can offer strategies to shift our perspectives and encourage a deeper appreciation of our lives. This shift could not only enhance individual well-being but also promote a more profound connection with others and the world around us.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-harnessing-meaningful-experiences-in-daily-life">Harnessing meaningful experiences in daily life</h2>



The findings suggest that by becoming more aware of our tendency to underestimate the meaningfulness of experiences, individuals can purposefully cultivate more fulfilling daily lives.



Simple changes, such as being more present in the moment, keeping a gratitude journal, or actively reflecting on past experiences, can enhance appreciation for life's ordinary events. 



These practices can help individuals recognize the intrinsic value in seemingly minor experiences, thereby enriching personal happiness and well-being.



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



The research carries significant implications for psychological interventions aiming to promote mental well-being. Interventions could focus on enhancing awareness of meaningful experiences and encouraging individuals to engage in activities that nurture a sense of purpose.



By integrating these insights into therapy and counseling, mental health practitioners can better support clients in recognizing and capitalizing on the meaningful dimensions of their lives, potentially improving mental resilience and overall life satisfaction.



“Sometimes we go into a project, and we know what we are going to find. This is one of those projects that surprised us,” concluded Westgate.



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We often undervalue the most meaningful experiences in life

In the midst of our busy lives, those seemingly insignificant everyday experiences - like booking a flight home for Thanksgiving or writing a thank-you note - may feel less meaningful. But according to Erin Westgate, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida, these experiences carry more value than we attribute them. Purpose behind the research Alongside her team at the Florida Social Cognition and Emotion Lab, Westgate recently secured a grant from the National Science Foundation. The researchers intended to examine why people underestimate the...

A $3 billion project backed by the UN was launched in 2017 to map the Earth's <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/co2-ocean-floor-dissolve/">sea floor</a>. According to experts leading the <a href="https://seabed2030.gebco.net/">Seabed 2030</a> campaign, only nine percent of ocean floor has been mapped in high definition to date.

“If you go to the deep water, to the deep sea, right up in the centre of the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, you actually could miss entire mountains,” team member Geoffroy Lamarche told <a href="https://abc.go.com/">ABC</a>.

Even though 71 percent of our planet's surface is covered with water, less than 18 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped. Only about half of those maps have a high resolution. The scientists behind the new initiative are calling for countries and organizations to contribute data that can be incorporated to develop a map that covers the entire sea floor.

Mao Hasebe is the project coordinator at <a href="https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/en/">The Nippon Foundation</a>, a Japanese nonprofit that is supporting Seabed 2030.

“We obviously need a lot of cooperation from different parties - individuals as well as private companies,” said Hasebe. “We think it's ambitious, but we don't think it's impossible.”

The scientists use high-tech multibeam echosounders which transmit acoustic beams from a ship. The way these beams ping back to the boat indicates the depth and topography of the ocean floor, creating data points that are converted into a map.

“With advanced sonar technology it really is like seeing. I think we've come out of the era of being the blind man with the stick,” said Robert Larter, a marine geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey. “We can survey much more efficiently - and, not only that, but in much greater detail.”


The two companies that have contributed the most data to Seabed 2030 so far are the deep-sea mapping firm Ocean Infinity and the Dutch energy prospector Fugro. Both companies were involved in the underwater search for the Malaysian airliner MH370, which vanished in 2014. 

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: NOAA

Massive project aims to map the entire ocean floor

A $3 billion project backed by the UN was launched...

This week, the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/">Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) approved a nasal spray prescription to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/psychedelic-mushrooms-treat-depression/">treat depression</a>, and it’s one of the first new drugs for depression to hit the market in decades.  

The new nasal spray uses the anesthetic ketamine, and it’s a fast-acting treatment is said to relieve depression symptoms in a matter of hours. 

Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. developed the spray called esketamine, but will be sold under the brand name Spravato, and the drug could potentially provide a lifeline to the millions of people that suffer from treatment-resistant depression. 

The drug will only be available to patients who have tried two or more antidepressants with little or no success, and patients will only be able to get the spray under supervision at a treatment center. 

Ketamine as a treatment for depression is not new, and the anesthetic has been shown to help alleviate symptoms.

Although the generic version of ketamine was previously only available as an anesthetic, doctors have prescribed it to patients with depression, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/04/700014137/fda-expected-to-approve-esketamine-nasal-spray-for-depression">NPR</a>.

Esketamine is similar to ketamine which is a mind-altering drug that has become a popular party drug and can sometimes cause out of body experiences and hallucinations. 

There is potential that users could abuse esketamine, so the makers and distributors of the drug are working to ensure that patients only take the right dose. 

One extremely promising effect of the nasal spray is its reported ability to quell suicidal thoughts. It’s also been to shown to treat anxiety as well. 

“What seems remarkable is that the drug also seems to help domains other than depression, like anxiety, suicidal thinking, and anhedonia,” Dr. Carlos Zarate Jr., chief of the <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/labs-at-nimh/research-areas/clinics-and-labs/etpb/index.shtml">N.I.M.H. </a>experimental therapeutics and pathophysiology branch, told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/health/depression-treatment-ketamine-fda.html">New York Times</a>. “It seems to have more broad effects, on many areas of mood.”

--

By <a href="http://mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

FDA approves new nasal spray to treat depression

This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a...

Knitting dates back thousands of years, but new research suggests that it may be more than just an old way of manufacturing <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/heal-wounds-natural-methods/">materials</a>. According to Elisabetta Matsumoto from the <a href="https://www.gatech.edu/">Georgia Institute of Technology</a>, the underlying mathematical rules of knitting could inform the development of groundbreaking materials. 

Matsumoto believes that understanding how stitch types regulate shape and stretchiness will be invaluable for designing new “tunable” materials. For example, a flexible material could be created to replace biological tissues, such as torn ligaments. The shape and stretchiness could be custom made for different individuals. 

“By picking a stitch you are not only choosing the geometry but the elastic properties, and that means you can build in the right mechanical properties for anything from aerospace engineering to tissue scaffolding materials,” said Matsumoto.

After knitting as a child, Matsumoto developed a new appreciation for the hobby later in life when she became interested in mathematics and physics.

“I realized that there is just a huge amount of math and materials science that goes into textiles, but that is taken for granted an awful lot.” 

“Every type of stitch has a different elasticity, and if we figure out everything possible then we could create things that are rigid in a certain place using a certain type of stitch, and use a different type of stitch in another place to get different functionality.”


[caption id="attachment_1869226" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/knitting.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869226" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/knitting.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="290" /></a> Image Credit: Elisabetta Matsumoto[/caption]

Applying the mathematics of knot theory to a huge catalog of knit patterns is a challenge for Matsumoto's graduate student, Shashank Markande. 

“Stitches have some very strange constraints; for instance, I need to be able to make it with two needles and one piece of yarn - how do you translate that into math?”

The team is building the knit algebra into larger, more complex patterns and feeding them into the elastic modeling of simple lattice-like knits. The researchers hope to soon discover how knits behave in 3D.

Matsumoto will present the research at the <a href="https://www.aps.org/">American Physical Society</a> March Meeting this week in Boston.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The science of knitting may be the future of sophisticated materials

Knitting dates back thousands of years, but new research suggests...

The <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> (ESA) has released atmospheric methane and ozone data captured by the Sentinel 5P Copernicus satellite, making it available to climate scientists and researchers. 

Sentinel-5P was launched in 2017, and it’s the first of the Copernicus satellites tasked with monitoring the atmosphere, which it can do in vivid detail thanks to a spectrometer called a Tropomi.

CO2 may make all the headlines when it comes to greenhouse gasses and climate change, but methane is <a href="https://www.edf.org/climate/methane-other-important-greenhouse-gas">84 times</a> more potent. 

Unfortunately, despite its potency as a greenhouse gas, research has shown that methane emissions are often <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/methane-emissions-measured-reported/">underreported or inaccurately measured</a>. 

Data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission were used to produce global maps of methane and ozone emissions. Now, climate models will be able to more accurately project climate changes and temperature increases in the coming years and better target the source of emissions.

[caption id="attachment_1869164" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/global-methane.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869164" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/global-methane.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="443" /></a> Global methane, Image Credit: ESA/Copernicus data (2018–19), processed by SRON[/caption]

“Like all gases that enter the atmosphere, methane is spread by the wind, so it is unclear where it originates,” said Jochen Landgraf, from the <a href="https://www.sron.nl/">SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research</a>, said in an ESA news article. “But thanks to Tropomi’s ability to measures at a spatial resolution of 7 x 7 km and global coverage every 24 hours, we can see daily methane emissions on regional scales and also larger point sources.”

While the satellite has been collecting data on our atmosphere’s greenhouse gas concentrations, before the data on methane and ozone levels could be made available, ESA scientists first had to confirm the accuracy of the data.

[caption id="attachment_1869165" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ozone.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869165" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ozone.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="165" /></a> Global tropospheric ozone, Image Credit: ESA/Copernicus data (2018–19), processed by DLR[/caption]

“We have spent more than a year carefully testing the methane data, and now the availability of data to everyone offers new opportunities for climate services,” said Landgraf. “This information is important for policymakers working on climate regulations and for checking that countries adhere to agreements.”

ESA will continue to verify the data and maps produced by the satellites, but having access to tropospheric ozone data could play an important part in informing future climate models and public health assessments on pollution. 

“Tropospheric ozone is a difficult greenhouse gas to measure because of its short lifespan and the fact that concentrations can vary hugely from place to place,” said Diego Loyola from the <a href="https://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/">German Aerospace Center</a>. “The unprecedented spatial resolution offered by Copernicus Sentinel-5P’s Tropomi instrument means that we can now better analyse the complex relationship between tropospheric ozone and climate.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New maps reveal global distribution of atmospheric methane and ozone

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released atmospheric methane and...

A research team led by the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/">Zoological Society of London (ZSL)</a>, the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a>, and the <a href="http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/">New Mexico Museum of Natural History</a>, have discovered three new species and subspecies in fossilized <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/crocodiles-hide-caves/">crocodile</a> digestive remains. The fossilized bones, originally found between 1930 and 1990 and predicted to belong to a species that existed about 300 years ago, were discovered in caves, peat deposits, and sinkholes in the Cayman Islands.

The team found two new large rodents — Capromys pilorides lewisi and Geocapromys caymanensis — and a small shrew-like animal, dubbed Nesophontes hemicingulus. These three animals only existed in the Cayman Islands and likely went extinct in the 1700s after European settlers brought cat, dogs, and rat species to the Islands. 

This new discovery was published March 4th in the <a href="http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/7">Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History</a>.

[caption id="attachment_1869143" align="aligncenter" width="650"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/new-mammal-species.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1869143" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/new-mammal-species.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="797" /></a> Cuban hutia Capromys pilorides, the closest living relative to the newly described mammals, Image Credit: Nancy Albury[/caption]

"Humans are almost certainly to blame for the extinction of these newly described mammals, and this represents just the tip of the iceberg for mammal extinctions in the Caribbean,” said co-author Professor Samuel Turvey, Senior Research Fellow at the <a href="https://www.zsl.org/science">ZSL Institute of Zoology</a>. “Nearly all the mammal species that used to live on these tropical islands, including all of the native Caribbean sloths and monkeys, have recently disappeared.”

"It's vitally important to understand the factors responsible for past extinctions of island species, as many threatened species today are found on islands,” he continued. “The handful of Caribbean mammals that still exist today are the last survivors of a unique vanished world and represent some of the world's top conservation priorities."

When Sir Francis Drake visited the Islands in 1586 and recorded seeing “little beasts like cats,” which he also called “coneys,” he was most likely describing the Capromys and the Geocapromys, the researchers believe. Similar species to those of the Capromys and the Geocapromys have survived to modern day on Cuba. It is thought that the Cayman Islands became populated with mammals by way of said mammals being transported via floating vegetation from Cuba.

"Although one would think that the greatest days of biological field discoveries are long over, that's very far from the case,” added co-author Professor Ross MacPhee, of the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/our-research/vertebrate-zoology/mammalogy">American Museum of Natural History Mammalogy Department</a>. “With only one possible sighting early in the course of European expansion into the New World, these small mammals from the Cayman Islands were complete unknowns until their fossils were discovered.”

With their closest relatives residing on Cuba, MacPhee ponders the question, “how and when did they manage a 250-km journey over open water?"

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New mammal species found in an ancient crocodile’s digestive system

A research team led by the Zoological Society of London...

Brain-to-computer interfaces and intelligence boosting chips implanted in the brain could soon make their way out of the realms of science fiction and into reality.

Already, some of the biggest tech giants in the industry like Elon Musk and Facebook are working to create brain-computer interfaces.

<a href="https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/03/04/northwestern-neuroscientist-researching-brain-chips-to-make-people-superintelligent/">CBS Chicago</a> recently spoke to Dr. Moran Cerf, a neuroscientist at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a>, who is currently developing a non-invasive computer chip that when implanted in the brain could give an individual super intelligence.

The average <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/embryo-screening-iq-possible/">IQ</a> is around 100. A high IQ is anything above 140, and a genius IQ is 160 or more, but with a smart brain chip, people could pay to have IQs of 200 or more.

It’s a concept that takes the idea of “brain power” to a whole new level.

“Make it so that it has an internet connection, and goes to Wikipedia, and when I think this particular thought, it gives me the answer,” Cerf told CBS.

A super smart brain chip could be available to the masses within the next five years, and Cerf is working with top Silicon Valley personnel to make it a reality.

A key part of the research is finding a non-invasive way to get the computer chip to the brain without drilling a hole in the skull.

Regardless of how the chip gets there, with an IQ of 200 or more at your fingertips, the neuroscientist says the advantages go far beyond just being a little smarter than everyone else.

People with smart chips will be healthier, wealthier, and able to take advantage of smart investments and weigh pros and cons in a way that is unattainable to the average IQ.

However, with that kind of intelligence, Cerf warns that it could create an intelligence gap and a social problem of inequality.

“Are they going to say, ‘Look at this cute human, Stephen Hawking. He can do differential equations in his mind, just like a little baby with 160 IQ points. Isn’t it amazing? So cute. Now let’s put it back in a cage and give it bananas,’” Cerf told CBS.

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Brain chips could soon give people superintelligence

Brain-to-computer interfaces and intelligence boosting chips implanted in the brain...

The reason why humans and other animals <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/make-up-lost-sleep/">sleep</a> is considered to be one of the most important unanswered questions in life sciences. A new study from <a href="https://www1.biu.ac.il/indexE.php">Bar-Ilan University</a> in Israel has proposed an unexpected function of sleep that may explain why deprivation has such a strong impact on cognitive performance and aging.


The research, which was focused on zebrafish, was conducted using 3D time-lapse imaging technology. For the first time, the researchers showed that individual neurons require sleep in order to perform nuclear maintenance.

DNA damage can be caused by many processes such as radiation, oxidative stress, and neuronal activity, and each cell contains repair systems that correct this damage. The current study demonstrates that DNA damage consistently accumulates and can reach unsafe levels during wakefulness, when chromosome dynamics are low.

According to the experts, the role of sleep is to increase chromosome dynamics and to return DNA to normal in each individual neuron. This suggests that a period of reduced brain input is required to repair DNA damage.

“It's like potholes in the road,” said study lead author Professor Lior Appelbaum. “Roads accumulate wear and tear, especially during daytime rush hours, and it is most convenient and efficient to fix them at night, when there is light traffic.”

The discovery may not have been possible without the unique characteristics of zebrafish, who have absolute transparency and a brain very similar to humans. The movement of DNA and nuclear proteins within cells inside the fish can be observed using a high resolution microscope.

The researchers did not expect to find that chromosomes are more active at night when the body rests. This increased activity is what enables the body to efficiently repair DNA damage.

“We've found a causal link between sleep, chromosome dynamics, neuronal activity, and DNA damage and repair with direct physiological relevance to the entire organism,” said Professor Appelbaum. “Sleep gives an opportunity to reduce DNA damage accumulated in the brain during wakefulness.”'

“Despite the risk of reduced awareness to the environment, animals - ranging from jellyfish to zebrafish to humans - have to sleep to allow their neurons to perform efficient DNA maintenance, and this is possibly the reason why sleep has evolved and is so conserved in the animal kingdom.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists may have finally solved the mystery of why we need sleep

The reason why humans and other animals sleep is considered...

The amount of Sun that reaches the Earth's surface fluctuates due to cyclic changes in how the planet spins on its axis and the shape of its orbit. For years, scientists have speculated that major shifts in our climate are driven by these fluctuations. The lengths of planetary cycles, however, are inconsistent and difficult to predict, which has made it challenging for experts to pinpoint what caused <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/deep-ocean-predators-thrived/">ancient climate shifts</a>. 

Up until now, researchers had only tracked the movement of planets back to about 60 million years ago. However, a new study led by geologist and paleontologist Paul Olsen of <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> has extended this record by 140 million years. The research was based on periodic changes in ancient sediments drilled from Arizona and New Jersey. 

Last year, Olsen’s team identified a 405,000-year cycle in Earth's orbit that apparently has not changed at all in the last 200 million years. Using the same rock cores for the current study, the experts identified a cycle that once lasted 1.75 million years, but currently persists for 2.4 million years. According to the experts, knowing the length of the planetary cycle helps them to interpret long-term changes in the paths of Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, and Mars - the planetary movement that is most likely to impact the Earth.

“With two major coring experiments to date, we've we learned that changes in tropical climates from wet to dry during the time of early dinosaurs, from about 252 to 199 million years ago, were paced by orbital cycles lasting about 20,000, 100,000 and 400,000 years. On top of that is a much longer cycle of about 1.75 million years,” explained Olsen.

“The shorter cycles are about the same today, but the 1.75 million year cycle is way off - it's 2.4 million years today. We think the difference is caused by a gravitational dance between Earth and Mars. This difference is the fingerprint of solar system chaos. No existing set of models or calculations precisely duplicates these data.”

Olsen wants to use sediments to develop a record of climatic changes on Earth that will inform the creation of a map of solar system movement over hundreds of millions of years. Olsen refers to this record as a “Geological Orrery,” which he says would offer new insight into our own climate and also into the evolution of the solar system itself.

“The Geological Orrery is the opposite of an equation or model. It's designed to provide a precise and accurate history of the solar system. We get that history right here on Earth, from the history of our climates, which is recorded in the geological record, especially in large, long-lived lakes,” said Olsen. “Earth's orbit and axis orientation are constantly changing because they are being deformed by the gravitational attractions of other bodies. These changes affect the distribution of sunlight hitting our surface, which in turn affects climate, and the kinds of sediments that are deposited. That gives us the geological record of solar system behavior.”

Olsen pointed out that what is new about his research is the systematic approach of taking rock cores that date back tens of millions of years, looking at the sedimentary record of climate, and accurately dating those changes over multiple sites. 

“That allows us to capture the full range of solar system-driven deformations of our orbit and axis over long time periods,” Olsen said.

Olsen also explained how his work is relevant to the climatic changes we are experiencing today.

“In addition to the way climate is tuned to our orbit, it's also affected by the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Now we're heading into a time when CO2 levels may be as high as they were 200 million years ago, early dinosaur times. This gives us a potential way to see how all the factors interact. It also has resonance with our search for life on Mars, or for habitable exoplanets.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The movement of other planets has impacted Earth’s climate

The amount of Sun that reaches the Earth's surface fluctuates...

Carbon capture technology could be a key weapon in the fight against climate change, and researchers are now working on viable large-scale options for scrubbing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it over the long-term. 

While the scientists have come up with many methods for capturing and storing carbon, policymakers, power companies, and manufacturers are lagging far behind when it comes to implementing meaningful changes to reduce emissions let alone shift to a carbon neutral midframe. 

Some of the various carbon scrubbing methods include taking carbon emissions and recycling them to make a sturdy material that could be used in everything from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/recycling-carbon-emissions/">concrete to shoes</a>, along with scrubbing carbon emissions from factory or power plant emissions and storing them into the ground. 

There are even developing technologies that could suck carbon out of the air using <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/fans-suck-carbon-dioxide/">huge fans</a>.

At our current rates, we’re adding around 37 gigatons of carbon into to the atmosphere every year, and the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> has issued stark warnings about how much more carbon our atmosphere can hold before temperatures rise more than 1.5 Degrees Celsius.  

If emissions continue unchecked, we’ll use up our carbon budget in the next 22 years. 

There’s no one clear answer to climate change. Slowing the impacts of climate change and reversing the course of global warming before temperatures reach a point of no return will take a major overhaul of our business as usual energy consumption and emissions. 

Carbon capture may not provide all the answers, but storing more carbon into newly planted forests and scrubbing CO2 emissions from factory smokestacks is a start. 

One recent  study found that the globe fit up to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/planting-trillion-trees-cancel-emissions/">1.2 trillion more trees</a> without encroaching on agriculture land. 

We may be closer to large-scale carbon capture operations thanks to the passing of a carbon tax credit called <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuarhodes/2018/03/09/the-new-federal-carbon-credits-might-bring-back-some-coal/#2ef2af2d5ef4">45Q</a> by Congress last February. The tax credit gives companies $35 for each ton of carbon dioxide stored in oil and gas fields and $50 for carbon stored in oil-free areas. 

Now companies have more of an incentive to store carbon rather than release it into the atmosphere. 

Whether we scrub, plant, reuse, or store it, something has to be done with the large amounts of carbon we emit every day. With all the new promising advancements being made in carbon capture, hopefully large scale CO2 storage solutions will be a real-world possibility sooner rather than later. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

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Carbon capture could play a key role in mitigating climate change

Carbon capture technology could be a key weapon in the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/">University of East Anglia</a> has revealed that manipulating a particular <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/loneliness-genes-feelings-isolation/">gene</a> in roundworms not only doubles their life expectancy but also improves the fitness of the worm’s offspring.

The researchers reduced the expression of a gene known as DAF-2, which is associated with aging in roundworms. The findings may ultimately lead to improved health and longer lives among humans.

“Understanding how and why we age is fundamental to improving quality of life in an increasingly long-lived society,” said study lead author Dr. Alexei Maklakov. 

“It is often thought that we age because of a slow accumulation of unrepaired cellular damage in our bodies, and that aging is the result of energy trade-offs between growth, reproduction and survival. But we now know that switching off the function of certain genes in adulthood can increase longevity without a reproduction cost.”


Dr. Maklakov said one new theory is emerging which proposes that the genes which age us are programmed to make us grow and reproduce in early life, but when their function “runs-on” in later life it starts causing problems. “If this is true, then we should be able to stay younger for longer by reducing high levels of gene signalling, or 'shutting down' these genes in later life.”

DAF-2 is the insulin receptor gene that plays a key role in the signalling pathway IGF-1, which controls an organism's growth, reproduction, and longevity. A reduction of IGF-1 signalling can increase lifespan in many animals. 

Since the DAF-2 function is important for early-life development, the team waited for the worms to develop and reach reproductive maturity before knocking out the gene.

“As expected, we found that the worms lived more than two times longer when IGF-1 signalling that ages them was reduced. Remarkably, we also found that their offspring were fitter and produced more offspring themselves,” said Dr. Maklakov.

“We are really killing two birds with one stone, because we are improving the health and longevity of the parents and the fitness of their offspring. This really challenges the classic idea that ageing is invariably linked to energy allocation between survival and reproduction.”


Dr. Maklakov explained that the study findings support the emerging view that suboptimal gene expression in adulthood lies at the heart of aging. “Essentially, our results show that natural selection optimizes gene expression in early-life but is not sufficiently strong to optimize gene expression in late-life.”

“Aging can result from accumulation of unrepaired damage with age. However, it can also result simply from suboptimal regulation of gene expression in late-life.”

“Understanding the importance of these two processes is important both for our understanding of the evolution of aging, and for the applied programs aimed at lifespan extension. We want to establish which of the two processes is more prevalent across the tree of life.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20563744">Evolution Letters</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shutting down certain genes may slow the aging process

A new study led by the University of East Anglia...

Skeletal fragments from 4.5 million years ago show an ancient human ancestor may have been more reliant on bipedalism than previously believed.

Researchers led by Dr. Scott W. Simpson of Case Western Reserve School of Medicine analyzed the skeletal remains of a female Ardipithecus ramidus, discovered in the Afar region of Ethiopia. 

The remains included foot and ankle bones from the ancient human ancestor, and the team’s analysis found that she may have walked on two legs a lot more than earlier researchers anticipated.

“Our research shows that while Ardipithecus was a lousy biped, she was somewhat better than we thought before,” Simpson said.

While the toe bones they had showed that Ardipithecus did not have a big toe parallel to her other toes like modern humans, she was already undergoing adaptations that would allow her foot to work like a lever when walking. 

“This evidence for cartilage shows that the big toe was used in a more human-like manner to push off,” Simpson said. “It is a foot in transition, one that shows primitive, tree-climbing physical characteristics but one that also features a more human-like use of the foot for upright walking.” 

Previous studies of Ardipithecus remains showed that the species – which spent a good deal of its time in trees – was also able to walk bipedally on land. However, earlier specimens didn’t show the kind of adaptations to support bipedalism that Simpson and his team found in the new female remains.

The discovery is a breakthrough in creating a timeline of human evolution, from our earliest ancestors to the modern day.

“The fact that Ardipithecus could both walk upright, albeit imperfectly, and scurry in trees marks it out as a pivotal transitional figure in our human lineage,” Simpson said.

This isn’t the only recent study to suggest that human ancestors <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ancient-humans-walking-upright/">walked bipedally earlier and more frequently</a> than anthropologists suspected.

The new study has been published in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004724841730444X">Journal of Human Evolution</a>. The remains studied by Simpson and his colleagues were collected as part of the <a href="http://www.stoneageinstitute.org/gona.html">Gona Project</a>, which has been leading research in Ethiopia since 1999.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Ancient human ancestor relied on bipedal balancing act

Skeletal fragments from 4.5 million years ago show an ancient...

Gardeners know that tomatoes and marigolds are good friends, with the bright flowers protecting against a variety of hungry bugs. Now, scientists have discovered how marigolds stave off one common tomato pest – whiteflies.

"We spoke to many gardeners who knew marigolds were effective in protecting tomatoes against whiteflies, but it has never been tested scientifically,” doctoral student Niall Conboy, who co-led the study, said in a press release.

Conboy and fellow scientists from <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/">Newcastle University</a> narrowed it down to the chemical limonene, which is released by marigolds. The smell repels the common tomato pest.

They performed two trials. The first, which used French marigolds, determined that the marigold trick really did repel whiteflies and wasn’t just an old wives’ tale. The second analyzed the chemicals and gases released by marigolds, allowing them to pinpoint limonene as the key repellent. 

In the course of the study, they also found that other limonene-containing plants can repel the common tomato pest, not just marigolds.

“This is exciting because limonene is inexpensive, it's not harmful and it's a lot less risky to use than pesticides, particularly when you don't apply it to the crop and it is only a weak scent in the air,” Conboy said.

The discovery could lead to new innovations in pest control. The common tomato pest isn’t killed by limonene; it just doesn’t like the smell. Using the chemical is unlikely to lead to resistance in the bugs, the researchers said. It could also be much safer for the tomatoes – and the workers who pick them and families who eat them – as well as beneficial or neutral species that live around them.

"Most pesticides are sprayed onto the crops,” Conboy said. “This doesn't only kill the pest that is targeted, it kills absolutely everything, including the natural enemies of the pest."

Limonene isn’t just found in marigolds. It makes up around 90 percent of the oil in citrus peels and can be found in common household products like mosquito repellent.

Repelling the common tomato pest and other limonene-hating insects with marigolds is also bee-friendly. It doesn’t harm them as pesticides can, plus it offers a food source for the pollinators.

"Any alternative methods of whitefly control that can reduce pesticide use and introduce greater plant and animal diversity into agricultural and horticultural systems should be welcomed,” said Dr. Colin Tosh, who co-led the study with Conboy.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213071">PLOS ONE</a>.

—

By Kyla Cathey, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> staff writer

How marigolds protect against common tomato pest

Gardeners know that tomatoes and marigolds are good friends, with...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.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

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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

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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://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

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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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

[sendtonews key="0dEcERCq61-2283382-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Stowers...

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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



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.

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[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...