If you were to rewind the clock to the 1980s and tune your ear to the deep-sea waters off the coast of New Zealand, a peculiar sound might have caught your attention. 



This sound, reminiscent of a "quack," echoed through the South Fiji Basin's underwater soundscape in July 1982, presenting a unique mystery for researchers investigating marine acoustics at the time.



This strange, quack-like sound quickly became a topic of widespread interest, and its continuous repetition earned it the nickname "Bio-Duck."



Initially recorded during an experiment designed to characterize the marine audio environment of the region, the sound's repetitive and patterned nature left researchers astonished and intrigued at the possibility that it was biological in origin.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-source-of-the-quack-still-unknown">The source of the quack still unknown</h2>



One of the pivotal contributors to this research was Ross Chapman who, at the time, was associated with the <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Victoria</a>. He reflects about how the sound generated heated discussions among scientists who were perplexed about its source.



"The sound was so repeatable, we couldn't believe at first that it was biological. But in talking to other colleagues in Australia about the data, we discovered that a similar sound was heard quite often in other regions around New Zealand and Australia."



The mysterious <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/baleen-whales-cannot-escape-human-noise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">underwater communications</a> became a major point of discussion at the 187th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in November, 2024, where Chapman and his team presented their findings. They have yet to identify the makers of these enigmatic sounds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unchartered-territory-of-ocean-noise-exploration">Unchartered territory of ocean noise exploration</h2>



Chapman’s journey into deciphering the mystery began in 1986 with the analysis of the data from the experiment. 



"We discovered that the data contained a gold mine of new information about many kinds of sound in the ocean, including sounds from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/marine-mammals-in-the-us-are-highly-vulnerable-to-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">marine mammals</a>," he recalled. 



The field of marine acoustics was in its fledgling stages in the '80s, and every day was an opportunity for a new discovery. 



Despite the thrill and excitement, the source of the Bio-Duck sounds remained an enigma, with some theories suggesting that the sounds could be originating from <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/whales-may-have-ultrasonic-hearing-as-a-form-of-defense/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Antarctic minke whales</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-engaging-in-a-deep-sea-dialogue">Engaging in a deep-sea dialogue</h2>



Chapman, however, had a different hypothesis. He believed these sounds were something more than just random noises - they could be a conversation. 



This hypothesis was supported by the pattern of the sounds recorded by an acoustic antenna, an array of hydrophones towed behind a ship. 



The acoustic array's unique design allowed the researchers to identify the direction the sounds were originating from and revealed that they came from different directions all around the ship.



"The most amazing thing was that when one speaker was talking, the others were quiet, as though they were listening. Then the first speaker would stop talking and listen to responses from others," Chapman noted.



This observation hinted at an organized communication pattern among the unseen marine speakers. He likened this to a conversation where one individual speaks while the others wait to respond.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-story-unfolds-in-the-deep-sea">A story unfolds in the deep sea</h2>



"Maybe they were talking about dinner, maybe it was parents talking to children, or maybe they were simply commenting on that crazy ship that kept going back and forth towing that long string behind it," said Chapman.



While the mystery of the Bio-Duck is yet to be conclusively solved, the intriguing possibility of a deep-sea dialogue continues to fascinate us. 



It offers a reminder that the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/monitoring-ocean-life-through-underwater-soundscapes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">underwater</a> universe is rich with life and communication, and humbles us with the realization that there is so much more left for us to understand about the world beneath the waves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-legacy-of-the-bio-duck-mystery">The legacy of the Bio-Duck mystery</h2>



The quack-like sounds of the Bio-Duck are not just a relic of past research; they’ve become a cornerstone for understanding the complexity of deep-sea ecosystems. 



These sounds have inspired decades of study into marine <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/language-like-patterns-decoded-in-sperm-whale-communication/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">animal communication</a>, particularly among whales and other cetaceans. 



Today, advancements in acoustic technology allow scientists to revisit these historical recordings with modern tools, uncovering new layers of information that were previously inaccessible.



In recent years, the Bio-Duck has been referenced in studies seeking to map marine animal behaviors and migration patterns. 



These efforts emphasize the importance of long-term data collection, proving that even recordings from the 1980s can yield fresh insights when paired with today’s computational power.



The continued analysis of sounds like the Bio-Duck serves as a reminder of the mysteries still hidden in the deep sea. 



They highlight the need for sustainable marine exploration to protect these habitats and preserve the uncharted conversations of the underwater world.



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Unknown origin: 'Quack-like' sounds heard in the deep ocean remain a mystery

If you were to rewind the clock to the 1980s and tune your ear to the deep-sea waters off the coast of New Zealand, a peculiar sound might have caught your attention. This sound, reminiscent of a "quack," echoed through the South Fiji Basin's underwater soundscape in July 1982, presenting a unique mystery for researchers investigating marine acoustics at the time. This strange, quack-like sound quickly became a topic of widespread interest, and its continuous repetition earned it the nickname "Bio-Duck." Initially recorded during an experiment designed...

A new study from researchers at the <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a>, has found that it is likely a 66 million-year-old asteroid or comet impact in the Caribbean Sea reignited volcanic eruptions in India. However, it remains unclear if and how these two events contributed to the mass extinction of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-dinosaurs-global-tsunami/">dinosaurs</a> and other prehistoric life forms.

The data, published February 21st in Science, shows how massive lava flows have erupted and and affected Earth’s atmosphere and life on the planet throughout history.

Using a method called argon-argon dating, researchers were able to pinpoint the volcanic eruptions in India to a specific date — a date that coincides with the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period (the K-Pg boundary). The eruptions, which spanned over a million years, spurted lava over 500 kilometers of the Indian continent, creating what we now know as the Deccan Traps flood basalts.

"Now that we have dated Deccan Traps lava flows in more and different locations, we see that the transition seems to be the same everywhere. I would say, with pretty high confidence, that the eruptions occurred within 50,000 years, and maybe 30,000 years, of the impact, which means they were synchronous within the margin of error," said senior author Paul Renne, a professor-in-residence of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley, and director of the <a href="http://www.bgc.org/">Berkeley Geochronology Center</a>. "That is an important validation of the hypothesis that the impact renewed lava flows."

The new dates also show that three-quarters of the total lava erupted after the impact, which contrasts previous beliefs that 80% of the lava erupted before the impact.

It was previously thought that if most of the lava erupted before the impact, then the volcanic gases could have caused global warming within the last 400,000 years of the Cretaceous Period, thus increasing the temperatures and forcing species to evolve to survive within the warming climate. Then, confronted by global cooling, either from volcanic dust or climate cooling gases, species would be ill prepared and would end up going extinct.

However, the new data proves that this probably didn’t happen.

"This changes our perspective on the role of the Deccan Traps in the K-Pg extinction," said first author Courtney Sprain, a former UC Berkeley doctoral student and current postdoc at the <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/">University of Liverpool</a>. "Either the Deccan eruptions did not play a role — which we think unlikely — or a lot of climate-modifying gases were erupted during the lowest volume pulse of the eruptions."

Climate-altering gases frequently leak out of underground magma chambers, as is happening right now with Mt. Etna and Popocatepetl. Eruptions aren’t necessarily needed to transmit gases into the atmosphere.

"We are suggesting that it is very likely that a lot of the gases that come from magma systems precede eruptions; they don't necessarily correlate with eruptions," Renne said. This theory therefore suggests that the K-Pg extinction, the beginning symptoms of climate change took place before the peak in volcanic eruptions across the entire Indian continent.

It’s still unclear which gasses were emitted from the Deccan Traps, however Renne and Sprain hope to discover more about the sequence, scale, and effects of the eruptions from the Traps, which are young enough to contain this information.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Courtney Sprain

Volcanic eruptions played a mysterious role in the dinosaur extinction

A new study from researchers at the University of California,...

A memo issued by the White House last week outlines plans for a 12-member climate change panel to review the potential threats of climate to national security. 

The panel will review recent reports that found that rising sea levels, coastal flooding and weather extremes caused by increases in CO2 emissions pose a specific risk to military installations. 

The memo comes after multiple reports issued by government agencies including the <a href="https://www.reed.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Sec%20335%20RTC%20on%20Effects%20of%20a%20Changing%20Climate%20to%20DOD2.pdf">Department of Defense</a> and the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/military-bases-climate-change/">Pentagon</a> highlighted the impacts of global <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-driving-climate-change/">climate change</a>. 

President Trump himself has publicly denied the findings of the latest installment of the <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/">National Climate Assessment</a>, a federal report published in November of last year that involved more 13 federal agencies and over 300 scientists. 

The White House memo, which was first acquired by the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/white-house-readies-panel-to-assess-if-climate-change-poses-a-national-security-threat/2019/02/19/ccc8b29e-3396-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?">Washington Post</a>, suggests that these reports need to be further examined to ensure their credibility, even though they are the result of thorough research and exhaustive peer-review.

The memo states that the reports “have not undergone a rigorous independent and adversarial peer review to examine the certainties and uncertainties of climate science, as well as implications for national security.”

Critics of the administration’s blind eye to the realities of climate change are quick to combat and refute these claims. 

“At every turn here they have tried to basically bury the science behind climate change,” Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/climate/climate-national-security-threat.html">New York Times</a>. “It is simply not debatable from a scientific standpoint. Climate change will lead to instability in parts of the world that are fairly predictable.”

One of the more galling discoveries to come to light with the new panel is that it’s spearheaded by William Happer, a notorious advocate fossil fuels who has been outspoken about his belief that carbon emissions are not harmful to the planet.

Happer, a physicist, has no background in climate science and told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/">CNBC</a> in 2014 that the “demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

White House panel to assess global warming threat to national security

A memo issued by the White House last week outlines...

In 1911, a 500-million-year-old worm named Amiskwia was described by paleontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott. He compared it to modern arrow worms known as chaetognaths, which are fierce <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/humans-predators-prey/">predators</a> in the ocean that use spines on their head to grasp their prey.

More than 50 years after Doolittle Walcott came up with this theory, however, scientists rejected his interpretation because they could not find evidence of the grasping spines. They suggested it could be a ribbon worm, or a distinct lineage with only distant relatives remaining today.


When Dr. Jakob Vinther from the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a> studied specimens of Amiskwia at the Smithsonian Institution, he discovered something that had been missed before.

“I coated the specimen with ammonium chloride smoke to make the relief of the fossil stand out and then I could see that in the head was a pair of robust elements,” said Dr. Vinther.

He interpreted these structures as a set of jaws, which strongly resembled the distinctive jaws of a group of microscopic worms called gnathiferans. The scientists realized that Amiskwia had the jaw of a gnathiferan, but the body of an arrow worm.


“The bizarre combination of anatomy seemed altogether alien back in 2012,” said Dr. Vinther. “Some people have proposed that there could be a relationship between arrow worms and gnathiferans based on their shared possession of a jaw apparatus, both made of a substance called chitin.”

“However, there was little other evidence to suggest a relationship, such as evidence from phylogenetic analyses of DNA.”

[caption id="attachment_1868340" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/500-million-year-old-worm-is-the-key-link-between-two-animal-groups.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868340" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/500-million-year-old-worm-is-the-key-link-between-two-animal-groups.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="478" /></a> Image Credit: Rafael Martin Ledo/Consejería de Educación de Cantabría[/caption]

Study co-author Luke Parry added, “It altogether seemed like heresy to propose that gnathiferans and arrow worms may be related back then so we held off publishing our intriguing results out of fear of criticism from our peers. However, new DNA studies have since emerged that found arrow worms to be more and more closely affiliated to the Gnathifera in the Tree of Life.”

“In particular, some researchers found that arrow worms share a duplication of the important Hox genes with a gnathiferan, the rotifers. We suddenly felt no more in a deadlock situation.”

The new phylogenetic study found evidence to support the theory that arrow worms formed an evolutionary group with gnathiferans.

“We were excited to see that these researchers found a relationship between arrow worms and rotifers,” said Parry. “Our phylogenetic analysis, based on anatomical features, strongly suggest a relationship between these two groups of animals as well.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/home">Current Biology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit:Martin Vinther Sørensen/SNM Denmark

500 million-year-old worm is the key link between two animal groups

In 1911, a 500-million-year-old worm named Amiskwia was described by...

A protein discovered in the ringed teeth of a squid's arms may provide a biodegradable and renewable alternative to plastics. The protein can be processed into fibers and films with applications ranging from “smart” clothes for health monitoring to self-healing, recyclable fabrics.

Study lead author Melik Demirel is the director of the Center for Research on Advanced Fiber Technologies (CRAFT) at <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Penn State University</a>.

“Squid proteins can be used to produce next generation materials for an array of fields including energy and biomedicine, as well as the security and defense sector,” said Demirel. “We reviewed the current knowledge on squid ring teeth-based materials, which are an excellent alternative to plastics because they are eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable.”

After 100 years of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plastic-belizes-great-blue-hole/">plastic</a> production, the subsequent waste is plaguing our planet, and scientists are seeking eco-friendly alternatives. 

“Nature produces a variety of smart materials capable of environmental sensing, self-healing and exceptional mechanical function,” said Demirel. “These materials, or biopolymers, have unique physical properties that are not readily found in synthetic polymers like plastic. Importantly, biopolymers are sustainable and can be engineered to enhance their physical properties.”

The protein from squid ring teeth (SRT) has remarkable properties that will produce elastic, flexible, and strong materials. These SRT-based materials will have self-healing, optical, thermal, and electrical conducting capabilities. In the textiles industry, the SRT protein could address one of the main sources of microplastic pollution by producing a coating that will reduce microfiber erosion in washing machines.

Multiple layers of SRT proteins may be combined with other compounds or technology for the development of “smart” clothes, which could protect people from air pollution while also monitoring health.

“SRT photonics are biocompatible and biodegradable, so could be used to make not only wearable health monitors but also implantable devices for biosensing and biodetection,” said Demirel.

SRT proteins are easily produced from renewable resources, and the researchers have found a way to make them without catching a squid. 

“We don't want to deplete natural squid resources and hence we produce these proteins in genetically modified bacteria. The process is based on fermentation and uses sugar, water, and oxygen to produce biopolymers,” explained Demirel.

The team hopes that SRT-based prototypes will soon become widely available, but more development is needed.

“Scaling up these materials requires additional work,” said Demirel. “We are now working on the processing technology of these materials so that we can make them available in industrial manufacturing processes.”


The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry">Frontiers in Chemistry</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Protein from squid could become a sustainable alternative to plastics

A protein discovered in the ringed teeth of a squid's...

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown form of neural communication that transmits itself across <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-patterns-indicate-conscious/">brain</a> tissue. Incredibly, the signals can even jump from neurons in one brain region to another when the tissue has been completely severed. 

The study findings suggest that neurons are using an unknown process to talk to one another. The mysterious system is not related to any known communication mechanisms, such as synaptic transmission or axonal transport.

Dominique Durand is a neural and biomedical engineer at <a href="https://case.edu/">Case Western Reserve University</a>.

“We don't know yet the ‘So what?’ part of this discovery entirely,” said Durand. “But we do know that this seems to be an entirely new form of communication in the brain, so we are very excited about this.”


Scientists were already aware of unanswered questions regarding neural communication, including poorly understood neural oscillations that appear as slow waves in the cortex and hippocampus when we sleep.

“The functional relevance of this input‐ and output‐decoupled slow network rhythm remains a mystery,” explained neuroscientist Clayton Dickinson from the University of Alberta, who was not involved in the research. “But it's one that will probably be solved by an elucidation of both the cellular and the inter‐cellular mechanisms giving rise to it in the first place.”


Durand and his team investigated the brain waves in hippocampal samples extracted from decapitated mice. They discovered that slow periodic activity can generate electric fields which activate neighboring cells, enabling a wireless form of neural communication.

“We've known about these waves for a long time, but no one knows their exact function and no one believed they could spontaneously propagate,” said Durand. “I've been studying the hippocampus, itself just one small part of the brain, for 40 years and it keeps surprising me.”


The team was most surprised to find that these electrical fields could activate neurons even when the brain tissue was completely severed, as long as the two pieces of tissue were in close physical proximity.

“To ensure that the slice was completely cut, the two pieces of tissue were separated and then rejoined while a clear gap was observed under the surgical microscope,” wrote the study authors. “The slow hippocampal periodic activity could indeed generate an event on the other side of a complete cut through the whole slice.”


This finding was so radical that the review committee at The Journal of Physiology wanted the experiments to be performed again before they would agree to print the study.

“It was a jaw-dropping moment, for us and for every scientist we told about this so far,” said Durand. “But every experiment we've done since to test it has confirmed it so far.”


The study is published in <a href="https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14697793">The Journal of Physiology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shocking discovery reveals that the brain can communicate wirelessly

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown form of neural communication...

2019 is shaping up to be a year filled with amazing lunar events including not one but three supermoons, the second of which is scheduled to light up the night sky on Tuesday, February 19th. 

A supermoon occurs when the moon is at its fullest and at its closest point to Earth. This point is called the perigee, and when the moon is farthest from the Earth in its orbit it’s called the apogee. 

The first supermoon of the year was not just a super moon but a “<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/super-blood-wolf-moon-eclipse/">Super Blood Wolf Moon</a>” because of a lunar eclipse that tinted the moon a reddish coppery color. 

Tonight’s supermoon will not be quite as exciting as a lunar eclipse Blood Moon, but it will be fuller and brighter.

February’s supermoon is what’s known as a “Super Snow Moon.” 

A <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/news/22/the-snow-moon/">Snow Moon</a> was the name given to the second full moon of winter by Native American tribes in the Northern and Eastern United STates, according to the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">National Aeronautics and Space Administration</a> (NASA).

The Snow Moon has the snowy months of January and February to thank for its name. 

If you’re hoping to get a glimpse of the Super Snow Moon this month, moonrise between 5:30 and 6:30 pm will be your best chance. During moonrise, an optical illusion makes the moon seems larger than it is because of how close the moon is to the horizon. 

<a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/">Time and Date</a> has a moonrise and moonset calculator so you can find out when is the best time in your local area to see the spectacle. The Super Snow Moon will be the second supermoon of 2019 with a third, less impressive supermoon expected in March. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Another supermoon arrives tonight and here’s the best way to see it

2019 is shaping up to be a year filled with...

China is looking to build the first ever solar power station in space and has announced plans to send a one-megawatt solar facility into orbit by 2030. 

The announcement was made in the state-sponsored Science and Technology Daily newspaper and claims the the station would provide an almost constant supply of power to Earth. 

If <a href="http://en.cast.cn/">China’s Academy of Space Technology</a> can develop the technology needed to harvest the Sun’s rays and beam them down Earth, the solar power station could go a long way in meeting the Earth’s clean energy demands. 

The floating orbital station could also help power missions and aid in future space explorations including both crew-less and crewed missions to Mars that China has also announced.

Researcher Pang Zhihao told the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/plans-for-first-chinese-solar-power-station-in-space-revealed-20190214-p50xtg.html">Sydney Morning Herald</a> that the solar power space station, which would weigh more than double the International Space Station, could provide "an inexhaustible source of clean energy for humans."

China and its space program have been making headlines and history as the first country to land a lunar rover on the far side of the moon with the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/china-landing-moon/">lunar Chang’e-4 mission</a>. 

But exploring the furthest, coldest reaches of the moon is only the beginning for China as the country’s space agency also hopes to build a lunar base. 

Four future missions to the moon have been planned, and China’s space program is second only to the US in terms of government funds allocated to space exploration. 

With the power station, an experimental testing base has been built in the city of Chongqing and the technology will hopefully be ready for testing by 2025 at the latest. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmai.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

China announces plans to build a solar power station in space

China is looking to build the first ever solar power...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> pinpoints the exact locations of two quarries in Wales where the “bluestones” of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/stonehenge-built-remains/">Stonehenge</a> originated. The research also reveals how the stones were quarried 5,000 years ago.

It was previously established that 42 of Stonehenge's smaller stones, known as bluestones, came from Pembrokeshire in west Wales. Now, two specific quarries have been identified by a team of archaeologists and geologists.


“What's really exciting about these discoveries is that they take us a step closer to unlocking Stonehenge's greatest mystery - why its stones came from so far away,” said Professor Mike Parker Pearson.

“Every other Neolithic monument in Europe was built of megaliths brought from no more than 10 miles away. We're now looking to find out just what was so special about the Preseli hills 5,000 years ago, and whether there were any important stone circles here, built before the bluestones were moved to Stonehenge.”

[caption id="attachment_1868170" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/stonehenge.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868170" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/stonehenge.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="524" /></a> Stonehenge quarry, Image Credit: UCL[/caption]

The largest quarry was located almost 180 miles away from Stonehenge on the north slope of the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire.

“This was the dominant source of Stonehenge's spotted dolerite, so-called because it has white spots in the igneous blue rock. At least five of Stonehenge's bluestones, and probably more, came from Carn Goedog,” said Dr. Richard Bevins.

The researchers found that the bluestone outcrops were formed of natural pillars with vertical joints. This would have made it easier to access the stones compared to the quarries in ancient Egypt, where obelisks were carved out of the solid rock. In the Welsh quarries, the workers simply inserted wedges into the joints between pillars before removing them. 

“The stone wedges are made of imported mudstone, much softer than the hard dolerite pillars. An engineering colleague has suggested that hammering in a hard wedge could have created stress fractures, causing the thin pillars to crack. Using a soft wedge means that, if anything were to break, it would be the wedge and not the pillar,” said Professor Parker Pearson.


The excavations also uncovered the remains of man-made stone and earth platforms at the foot of each outcrop.

“Bluestone pillars could be eased down onto this platform, which acted as a loading bay for lowering them onto wooden sledges before dragging them away,” said Professor Colin Richards.


The team now speculates that Stonehenge was initially a circle of rough, unworked bluestone pillars, and that sandstone blocks were added about 500 years later. The findings also challenge the theory that the bluestones were transported by sea to Stonehenge.

Professor Kate Welham explained, “Some people think that the bluestones were taken southwards to Milford Haven and placed on rafts or slung between boats and then paddled up the Bristol Channel and along the Bristol Avon towards Salisbury Plain. But these quarries are on the north side of the Preseli hills so the megaliths could have simply gone overland all the way to Salisbury Plain.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://antiquity.ac.uk/">Antiquity</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists pinpoint where the Stonehenge bluestones originated

A new study led by the University College London pinpoints...

Experts have been looking into ways to improve beef production methods in an effort to reduce harmful <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/cowspiracy-film-review/">greenhouse gas emissions</a>. One environmentally-friendly option that is being explored is lab-grown meat. However, a new study from the <a href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> has revealed that cultured meat would not mitigate all of the negative impacts of beef production without a widespread shift to carbon-free energy.

The researchers determined that while some forms of cultured meat would be an improvement, others could actually drive higher global temperatures in the long term. The study authors emphasized that the climate impact of cultured meat production will depend on its energy demands and the availability of low-carbon power sources.

“There has been a great deal of public interest in cultured meat recently, and many articles highlight the potential for substituting cattle beef with cultured meat to provide an important climate benefit,” said study lead author Dr. John Lynch.

“We show that it is not yet clear whether this is the case, partly because of uncertainties about how cultured meat would be produced at scale. An important issue in comparing farmed and cultured beef is that the different warming impacts of greenhouse gases are also not well accounted for in the standard measure used in carbon footprints.”

Previous studies have established that agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for about 25 percent of the Earth's current warming. Replacing traditional beef with lab-grown meat has been widely discussed as a better alternative, but the emissions that result from creating meat in a lab may have been underestimated. 

“Cattle are very emissions-intensive because they produce a large amount of methane from fermentation in their gut,” explained study co-author Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert.

“Methane is an important greenhouse gas, but the way in which we generally describe methane emissions as ‘carbon dioxide equivalent’ amounts can be misleading because the two gases are very different. Per ton emitted, methane has a much larger warming impact than carbon dioxide, however, it only remains in the atmosphere for about 12 years whereas carbon dioxide persists and accumulates for millennia. This means methane's impact on long-term warming is not cumulative and is impacted greatly if emissions increase or decrease over time.”

A model created by the researchers showed that cattle have a greater initial warming effect through the release of methane, but some lab-grown meat techniques would ultimately result in more warming. 

“This is important because while reducing methane emissions would be good - and an important part of our climate policies - if we simply replace that methane with carbon dioxide it could actually have detrimental long-term consequences,” said Dr. Lynch.

“The climate impacts of cultured meat production will depend on what level of sustainable energy generation can be achieved, as well as the efficiency of future culture processes.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems">Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Cultured meat may not be the best substitute for conventional beef

Experts have been looking into ways to improve beef production...

A recent expedition has produced the first 3D map of the world’s largest underwater sinkhole, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/plastic-belizes-great-blue-hole/">Great Blue Hole</a>, located off the coast of Belize. The team included Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of French oceanographer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau, who made this region famous in the early 1970s.

The Great Blue Hole, which is 984 feet across and more than 400 feet deep, is ranked as one of the world's top dive sites. Surrounded by reefs and caves, the ancient sinkhole lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef Atoll.

Last December, a group of researchers set sail for the Great Blue Hole equipped with two submarines. In addition to capturing fascinating video and images, the team has created a 3D map of the hole’s interior.

Erika Bergman was the chief pilot, oceanographer, and operations manager on the expedition. She told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/">CNN</a>: “We did our complete 360 sonar map and that map is now almost complete. It looks really cool, it's this mesh-layered, sonar scan of the entire thousand-foot diameter hole.”

Near the bottom of the hole, the team found some previously undiscovered mineral foundations known as stalactites. There is also a hydrogen sulfide layer around 300 feet down that blocks out all the light, transitioning divers into total darkness. 

“You lose all of that Caribbean sunlight and it just turns completely black, and it's totally anoxic down there with absolutely no life,” Bergman told CNN.

High-resolution sonar enabled the researchers to view features that were 20 or 30 feet away in perfect detail. According to CNN, the team found some intriguing tracks at the bottom of the sinkhole that could not be identified. 

The explorers reported that the hole was essentially free from trash, and that it appeared to be almost unaffected by human activities. Bergman credited the work of the Belize Audubon Society, which helps to preserve the Great Blue Hole. 

“There were basically two or three little pieces of plastic - and other than that, it was really, really clear,” Bergman explained to CNN. “It's neat that there are spaces on our planet - and most of them in the oceans - that are exactly the way they were thousands of years ago and will remain exactly the way they are thousands of years in the future.”

On Sunday December 2, the Blue Hole Belize 2018 Expedition was live streamed on the Discovery Channel.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Researchers reveal what they found inside Belize’s Great Blue Hole

A recent expedition has produced the first 3D map of...

The entire genome of the great white shark has been decoded in a major scientific breakthrough and an important step in conserving the declining species. 

Great whites are an apex predator known for their immense size. Some sharks can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh 7,000 pounds. 

Despite their huge and intimidating presence in the ocean, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predator-replacing-great-white-sharks/">great whites are declining</a>, and more effort is needed to ensure the preservation of the species, including understanding how the species evolved and adapted the way it did.

[caption id="attachment_1868075" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/great-white-shark.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868075" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/great-white-shark.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="394" /></a> Image Credit: Byron Dilkes, Danah Divers[/caption]

Researchers from <a href="https://cnso.nova.edu/save-our-seas/index.html">Nova Southeastern University's Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center</a>, <a href="https://www.vet.cornell.edu/">Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine</a>, and <a href="https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/">Monterey Bay Aquarium</a> sequenced the entire great white genome in a new study. 

The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

The genome of the shark itself is 1.5 times bigger than the human genome, and the researchers discovered many genetic changes that could explain how the shark evolved to be such a long-living and fast healing predator. The key is genome stability.

Repetitions of specific DNA sequences within the shark's genes indicated molecular adaptation which is essential in protecting DNA against damage. The repetitive sequences were found in genes linked to DNA repair. 

“Decoding the white shark genome is providing science with a new set of keys to unlock lingering mysteries about these feared and misunderstood predators - why sharks have thrived for some 500 million years, longer than almost any vertebrate on earth,” said Salvador Jorgensen, a co-author of the study.

The researchers also found evolutionary adaptations in genes that could be responsible for wound healing and specifically blood clotting. 

“Genome instability is a very important issue in many serious human diseases; now we find that nature has developed clever strategies to maintain the stability of genomes in these large-bodied, long-lived sharks,” said Mahmood Shivji, the co-leader of the study. “There's still tons to be learned from these evolutionary marvels, including information that will potentially be useful to fight cancer and age-related diseases, and improve wound healing treatments in humans, as we uncover how these animals do it.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Main Image Credit: Byron Dilkes, Danah Divers

Decoding the great white shark genome reveals key adaptations

The entire genome of the great white shark has been...

Through a genomic study of 50 African populations, researchers from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/">University of Pennsylvania</a> have found that some of the click-speaking hunter-gatherer populations of East Africa are more closely related to each other than their neighboring populations. The research also shows that this relation is fairly recent.

This evidence provides proof that a few of those who speak languages that utilize “clicks” can most likely be grouped into a single family, which goes against the belief of some linguists that the individual click languages are too different to be grouped together.

The genomic analysis, published February 18th in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>, also shows the importance of infectious diseases, immunity, and diet in the shaping of diverse populations across <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/widespread-burn-scars-africa/">Africa</a>.

"It's very rare to have a study of this many groups that are genetically different in terms of ancestry, in their subsistence patterns, and are geographically dispersed as well," said senior author Sarah Tishkoff, a geneticist and <a href="https://pikprofessors.upenn.edu/">Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor</a>. "This allows us to characterize population structure and demographic history as well as to look at signatures of natural selection acting on these populations."

[caption id="attachment_1868031" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/East-Africa’s-hunter-gatherers-share-a-common-ancestry.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1868031" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/East-Africa’s-hunter-gatherers-share-a-common-ancestry.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="525" /></a> Clockwise from upper left: Sabue, San, Hadza, and Sandawe[/caption]

The study, which has been decades in the making and examines African populations that have otherwise remained understudied, looked at the genomes of 840 Africans from hunter-gatherer populations spread across sub-Saharan Africa and discovered 621,000 separate nucleotides in the DNA of each study participant.

Researchers were particularly interested in the relationships between African populations who speak languages identified as Khoisan — a language that uses click consonants.

"Some linguists say it's not correct to place all of these into the Khoisan family, arguing that the Hadza and Sandawe languages are so different from each other and from the San that they really should be in separate language classifications," Tishkoff said. "It's an ongoing question in linguistics and genetics, and we wanted to ask the question, 'Do these groups with click phonemes have a common genetic ancestry?'"

Via their genetic mapping process, the team found that four hunter-gatherer populations in East Africa — the Hadza, Sandawe, Dahalo, and Sabue — clustered together.

"Typically what we see is that populations cluster by geography, but here we're seeing an exception to that," Tishkoff said. "Here you have three groups that either speak a click language, have remnant clicks, or have an unclassified language, and they're showing a common ancestry even though they're spread across different countries."

Researchers could not find a shared ancestry between these four groups and the South African San people, who also speak with Khoisan clicks. However, they were able to find a genetic link between the San and a population of rainforest hunter-gatherers from Central Africa, despite the large geographical distance.

But other hunter-gatherer groups, like the Wata, El Molo, and Yaaku, were seemingly more genetically similar to neighboring agriculturalist and pastoralist groups than to each other.

The analysis revealed that the common ancestry of the Hadza, Sandawe, Dahalo, and Sabue populations dates back about 20,000 years ago, around the beginning of the last glacial maximum during which ice covered large portions of Earth.

"The idea is that this may have changed environmental conditions and introduced a barrier between populations," said lead author Laura Scheinfeldt, a former research associate in Tishkoff's lab, and currently with the <a href="https://www.coriell.org/">Coriell Institute for Medical Research</a>. “What we found was the strongest signatures of adaptation tended to be population-specific.” This means that targets of natural selection differed from group to group and could be responsible for the unique evolution of each population.

"Genes involved in immune responses, diet, and metabolism were the broad categories that we saw coming up over and over again," Scheinfeldt added. "We know infectious disease in general is a very strong pressure, and, when you look solely at how prevalent malaria is, that also explains some of the patterns we see in adaptive signatures. Just that one disease is a very strong selective pressure."

Next, Tishkoff wants to explore how genetic variants may affect physical traits of those who carry them, which could help scientists better understand disease susceptibility. Furthermore, the team will use whole-genome sequencing techniques to discover more relationships between Africa’s many populations. 

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Tishkoff lab

East Africa’s hunter-gatherers share a common ancestry

Through a genomic study of 50 African populations, researchers from...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[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

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

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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



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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



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

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" 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 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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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...