It's no secret that the global health community has been grappling with the catastrophic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic since it arose in 2019. This disease has presented unprecedented challenges in treatment and prevention, and we still do not fully understand the behavior of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.



As of today, the World Health Organization has documented over 770 million COVID-19 cases worldwide, indicating the extensive reach and impact that this virus has had on global populations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-mystery-of-how-covid-19-travels">The mystery of how COVID-19 travels</h2>



While we have decent knowledge about how the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-19-virus-lingers-body-two-years-after-infection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">virus</a> enters our bodies - by attaching onto healthy cells in our nose and throat - there remains a level of mystery about how COVID-19 further travels and spreads once inside an airway, and how it contributes to severe illness and long-term complications.



But recently, thanks to extensive research efforts and collaborative studies, a new piece of the puzzle has been identified. The findings offer fresh insights that may inform future treatment strategies and preventive measures.



Scientists at <a href="https://www.nm.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Northwestern Medicine</a> embarked on a mission to uncover the mysteries of SARS-CoV-2 's proliferation in our bodies.



One of their most significant findings was that the virus uses our body's own mucus as its personal highway into the lower lungs.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mucus-the-unexpected-accomplice">Mucus: The unexpected accomplice</h2>



In their study, which was published recently in Nature Communications, the researchers performed live imaging on human bronchial epithelium cells after they were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 virus.



Their observations revealed the virus' cunning tactic - the movement of our own mucus helps the virus to travel inside the respiratory tract.



This eventually leads to the formation of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-covid-19-is-transmitted-through-aerosols/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">infectious aerosols</a>, which can further affect other individuals.



"The virus goes where the mucus goes," said Mark Becker, the leading student author of the study.



We generally understand mucus as a protective shield against infection, that traps viruses and other harmful particles before they can enter the tissues. Our own ciliated cells help to "sweep" dirty mucus upwards towards the throat, thus keeping the respiratory surfaces clean.



Ironically, when exploited by the SARS-CoV-2 virus , this protective defense becomes an accomplice that aids the spread after <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/covid-impacts-the-brain-through-inflammation-not-infection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">infection</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-covid-19-insights-and-future-research">COVID-19 insights and future research</h2>



While funding for COVID-19 related research has started to decrease, the experts remain hopeful. 



They believe their discovery of how COVID-19 travels could have substantial applications in the context of other viral diseases as well, specifically <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetic-variant-linked-to-both-covid-risk-and-hiv-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HIV</a>.



"The mucosal environment most similar to the lungs is the upper female reproductive tract," noted study senior author Dr. Thomas Hope.



Perhaps, then, this understanding of how the virus that causes COVID-19 manoeuvres through the respiratory tract can open doors to new research on other diseases that may similarly exploit the supply of mucus.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-story-of-scientific-innovation">A story of scientific innovation </h2>



The success of this study is also a reflection of the robust infrastructure and commitment at Northwestern Medicine.



"The university really supported us and that is a testament to what a great environment Northwestern Medicine is," noted Dr. Hope.



It's a story of scientific innovation, pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the virus that has turned our world upside down. And above all, it's about teamwork - because that's how scientific breakthroughs happen.



This research contributes to the ever-growing body of knowledge about COVID-19. It demonstrates the virus's surprisingly strategic use of our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reprogramming-the-immune-system-to-attack-cancer-cells/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">body's own defenses</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-covid-19-insights-and-innovative-treatments">COVID-19 insights and innovative treatments</h2>



The newfound understanding of SARS-CoV-2's behavior in the mucosal environment has sparked interest in developing innovative treatment approaches.



Researchers are now looking at how this knowledge could be applied to create therapies that reinforce mucosal barriers, potentially preventing viral entry and spread. 



This type of preventive treatment could revolutionize how viral diseases are managed, particularly for infections that target mucosal tissues.



By focusing on fortifying the body’s first line of defense, scientists hope to reduce the severity and transmission of certain viral diseases.



Beyond COVID-19, these strategies could offer hope for combating other viruses that similarly exploit mucosal pathways, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). 



The potential for cross-applicability means that advancements made now could lay the groundwork for a more resilient response to future viral outbreaks, and create a broad-spectrum approach to viral prevention and treatment.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53791-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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How the COVID-19 virus travels deep inside our lungs

It's no secret that the global health community has been grappling with the catastrophic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic since it arose in 2019. This disease has presented unprecedented challenges in treatment and prevention, and we still do not fully understand the behavior of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As of today, the World Health Organization has documented over 770 million COVID-19 cases worldwide, indicating the extensive reach and impact that this virus has had on global populations. The mystery of how COVID-19 travels While we have decent knowledge...

Feeling a chill? The unstable polar vortex is back, and it’s ready to deliver a brutal winter to the East Coast of the U.S., at least for the next several weeks – and maybe longer.

“[It] can affect the entire winter,” Dr. Judah Cohen told the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</a> in an interview.

Cohen, a climate researcher at <a href="https://www.aer.com/">Atmospheric and Environmental Research</a>, has been monitoring conditions in the Arctic, and says we’re in for another unstable polar vortex this winter.

A weaker polar vortex spells icy conditions and a brutal winter outside the Arctic. The polar vortex is a swirling mass of cold air centered, as the name indicates, near the North Pole. When it’s spinning tightly, that cold air stays massed in the Arctic.

But as the vortex loses stability, that cold air spills south, stretching freezing fingers of winter down farther south than usual.

The unstable polar vortex made itself felt last year, in February. Before then, Europe and Asia had seen a normal winter – cold, but nothing unusual.

Then, scientists say, the vortex was disrupted. The result? The “Beast from the East,” a frigid, sudden and brutal winter that swept from Siberia into the rest of the Eurasian continent. In March, another finger stretched down from the unstable polar vortex into the United States, hurling a series of nor’easters at the East Coast.

“We were still feeling the impacts into the end of April,” Cohen told the Post.

An unstable polar vortex led to brutal winter conditions in 2009-10 and 2013-14, too. The cause of the instability and the freezing temperatures that follow is usually, ironically, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/warmer-arctic-northeast-winter/">warming in the stratosphere</a>, according to experts.

Current models by Cohen and his colleagues point to a burst of cold on the East Coast as we enter January, and in Europe toward the middle of the month, though conditions could change. Predicting the vortex is still a new and inexact science.

Still, people living in those areas should brace for freezing weather.

“Confidence is growing in a significant #PolarVortex disruption in the coming weeks,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/judah47/status/1072232091717373952?lang=en">tweeted</a>. “This could be the single most important determinant of the weather this #winter across the Northern Hemisphere.”

Read more about Cohen’s predictions at the <a href="https://www.aer.com/science-research/climate-weather/arctic-oscillation/">AER blog</a>.

--

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

Unstable polar vortex may ring in 2019 with brutal winter

Feeling a chill? The unstable polar vortex is back, and...

While many people have experienced that tipsy feeling after one too many cocktails, everyone reacts differently to alcohol as it <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-happening-to-us-when-we-get-drunk-51245">enters the bloodstream</a> and causes the all too familiar effects of intoxication. 

This is why some people are done after one glass of wine while others have a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/why-binge-drinking-causes-you-to-build-up-alcohol-tolerance/">higher tolerance for alcohol</a> and can seem to drink in much higher quantities before showing any obvious signs of being drunk. 

Many different factors impact alcohol sensitivity including body mass, genetic factors, and medical history.

However, one thing researchers were sure of was alcohol's direct effect on the brain and body once it enters the bloodstream. 

Now, a new study led by <a href="https://www.scripps.edu/">Scripps Research</a> has found that there may be another step in the process that changes our understanding of how intoxication happens. 

The study was published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, and the results show that alcohol travels to the nerve cells and attaches molecules to the membrane surface of a neuron that indirectly produces the effects of intoxication. 

The researchers discovered this intermediary molecule step by studying inebriated fruit flies which have a similar reaction to alcohol that we as humans do. 

“They act just like people,” said Scott Hansen, a co-author of the study. “They start losing coordination. They literally get drunk.”

Alcohol acts as an anesthetic and at first causes feelings of hyperactivity, or a “buzzed” feeling in both people and fruit flies. 

The researchers tracked alcohol molecules as they traveled through the fruit flies by using previous anesthesia research. 

A key part of the process, according to the researchers, has to do with an enzyme on the nerve cell membrane called phospholipase D2, (PLD2).

PLD2 allows alcohol molecules to attach to the membrane of the nerve cell and this in term creates a fatty alcohol metabolite called phosphatidylethanol (PEtOH).

After enough PEtOH metabolites build up on the nerve cell membrane, the neurons are able to fire easily which causes that “buzzed” sensation of hyperactivity. 

Once the researchers silenced the gene expression that creates the PEtOH metabolite, the fruit flies did not become hyperactive after being exposed to alcohol. 

Now, researchers have a pathway that can help determine alcohol sensitivity and the results could also produce insights into hangovers, according to the study. 

“It has definitely led to some different ways of thinking about alcohol intoxication at the molecular level,’ said Hansen. “Most scientists thought alcohol had a direct effect. Blocking the enzyme in flies shows that's not likely true.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Why you get that buzzed feeling when drinking alcohol

While many people have experienced that tipsy feeling after one...

Christmas tree pine needles could soon be used in an array of products including paint and sweeteners, thanks to new research from the <a href="https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/">University of Sheffield</a>.  

The Christmas pine tree is a staple in many households this time of year, but as 2019 fast approaches, that same Christmas tree quickly turns from festive holiday decoration to a blight and fire hazard. 

Some cities offer <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/environmentally-friendly-christmas-tree/">Christmas tree recycling programs</a>, and trees are usually ground up into free mulch that residents can use in their yards and gardens. 

It’s a wonderful idea, and more and more cities are offering free tree recycling programs after the holidays every year. However, for every tree that’s recycled, millions more end up in landfills and pine needles take a long time to biodegrade. 

In the US alone, around 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees are sold every year, according to the <a href="http://www.realchristmastrees.org/dnn/Education/Quick-Tree-Facts">National Christmas Tree Association</a>, and in the UK around seven million of the eight million trees used to decorate homes for the holidays end up in a landfill. 

Pine needles emit large amounts of greenhouse gases as they decompose and so even though Christmas trees are biodegradable, they are still contributing to atmospheric greenhouse gas levels every year and adding to a city’s or country’s carbon footprint. 

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have developed a new solution for recycling Christmas trees and found a way to break down the complex polymer in pine needles. 

Once this polymer, known as lignocellulose, is broken down, it could be used in many different products such as adhesives and food sweeteners. 

“My research has been focused on the breakdown of this complex structure into simple, high-valued industrial chemical feedstocks such as sugars and phenolics, which are used in products like household cleaners and mouthwash,” said Cynthia Kartey, who headed the new research. “Biorefineries would be able to use a relatively simple but unexplored process to break down the pine needles.”

Kartey discovered that heat and solvents like glycerol which are environmentally friendly help break down the lignocellulose into liquid bio-oil and solid bio-char. 

The bio-oil has many useful chemicals like glucose and phenol acids, and overall the process is completely sustainable.

Recycling pine trees this way would help keep trees out of the landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from pine needles in landfills. 

“The use of biomass - materials derived from plants - to produce fuels and chemicals currently manufactured from fossil resources will play a key role in the future global economy,” said James McGregor, a member of the research team. “If we can utilise materials that would otherwise go to waste in such processes, thereby recycling them, then there are further benefits.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Christmas tree pine needles can be turned into sweeteners and paint

Christmas tree pine needles could soon be used in an...

A team of scientists at <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il/">Tel Aviv University</a> have developed a non-toxic bioplastic polymer that could help facilitate a much-needed shift away from toxic plastics. The sustainable alternative is derived from a marine microorganism that feeds on <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/seaweed-south-florida-beaches/">seaweed</a> and does not require many resources to produce. 

According to the United Nations, around 90 percent of marine pollution is plastic waste. Scientists have been working for many years to come up with feasible and environmentally friendly replacements for petroleum-based plastics. 

Dr. Alexander Golberg of TAU's Porter School of Environmental and Earth Sciences is the study's lead author.

“Plastics take hundreds of years to decay. So bottles, packaging and bags create plastic ‘continents’ in the oceans, endanger animals, and pollute the environment,” said Dr. Golberg. “Plastic is also produced from petroleum products, which has an industrial process that releases chemical contaminants as a byproduct.”

Dr. Golberg teamed up with Chemistry Professor Michael Gozin and found that a polymer called polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) can be used to produce a sustainable plastic alternative. This polymer is obtained from a type of marine microorganism called Haloferax mediterranei, which does not require fresh water or fertile soil like most existing bioplastic alternatives.

The breakthrough could make the transition away from petroleum-derived plastics much more feasible, even in countries with a limited supply of fresh water.

“Our raw material was multicellular seaweed, cultivated in the sea,” said Dr. Golberg. “These algae were eaten by single-celled microorganisms, which also grow in very salty water and produce a polymer that can be used to make bioplastic.”

The next step for the researchers will be finding other microorganisms with the potential for producing a range of bioplastic polymers.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/bioresource-technology">Bioresource Technology</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

A seaweed-eating microbe could help transition to sustainable plastic

A team of scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.duke.edu/">Duke University</a> have found that trace elements in fish ear bones can be used to track down <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/trumps-epa-coal-plants/">coal ash contamination</a> in the waters where the fish lived.

“Calcified structures - or otoliths - found in a fish's inner ear are known to store a lot of life history information, including chemical and physical records of the fish's age, natal habitat and migration patterns,” said study lead author Jessica Brandt, who is currently a postdoctoral researcher with the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey</a>. “We've shown that otoliths also capture the signatures of contaminants that have affected the fish's ecosystems.”

The team discovered that strontium isotope ratios in the otoliths of fish from two North Carolina lakes matched the strontium isotope ratios in sediment samples from the lake bed. Both of the lakes had received waste water from coal ash ponds at nearby power plants.

“This shows otoliths can be used as biogenic tracers to assess the potential for ecological impacts of coal ash waste streams in affected waters,” said Brandt. “While strontium behaves differently than the toxic elements in coal ash effluents, it helps us connect high levels of those elements back to the contamination source.”

Even after coal is burned and the ash comes into contact with water, the naturally occurring trace element strontium retains its isotopic ratios. According to study co-author Professor Avner Vengosh, this is the first time that strontium isotope ratios have been used to measure the impacts of coal ash on living organisms. 

“This definitely shows the strontium in the fish must be from coal ash contamination,” said Professor Vengosh.

Study co-author Richard Di Giulio is the Sally Kleberg Professor of Environmental Toxicology at Duke. He explained that while strontium isotope ratios in surface water samples from the lakes did not always match those in the fish otoliths, this could be because surface water ratios are more variable over time.

“This study's finding demonstrates that otolith studies can add to our existing research efforts,” said Brandt. “Water-based strontium isotope tracers only give us information about coal ash impacts at a particular point in time, but because otoliths continuously grow over a fish's lifetime, we could use time-series analyses of otoliths to determine the timing of waste stream discharges or spills going back several years. This represents an emerging and important new direction in environmental toxicology and water-quality research.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/journal/estlcu">Environmental Science &amp; Technology Letters</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: Jessica Brandt, Duke University

Coal ash contamination in water can be tracked using fish bones

Researchers at Duke University have found that trace elements in...

DNA replication was first described in the late 1950s, and scientists have been working ever since to explain just how this critical process is regulated. Researchers at <a href="https://www.fsu.edu/">Florida State University</a> have finally solved the mystery. 

Inside of cells, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/age-related-differences-dna-bloodstream/">DNA</a> copies itself at regular intervals. This process takes place in all living organisms, contributing to biological characteristics ranging from hair color to how the body responds to disease.

Study co-author David Gilbert is the J. Herbert Taylor Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology. Around 60 years ago, Professor Taylor had demonstrated how different segments of chromosomes duplicate and published more than 100 papers on replication. Professor Gilbert has carried on this legacy by identifying how the replication process is regulated.


“It's been quite a mystery,” said Professor Gilbert. “Replication seemed resilient to everything we tried to do to perturb it. We've described it in detail, shown it changes in different cell types and that it is disrupted in disease. But until now, we couldn't find that final piece, the control elements or the DNA sequences that control it.”

Along with doctoral student Jiao Sima, Professor Gilbert ran close to 100 genetic mutations on DNA molecules in an effort to understand how the replication process works. According to Professor Gilbert, the team reached a point of frustration and came up with a “hail Mary” attempt.

The researchers used the highest 3D resolution available to examine a single segment of the DNA. They noticed three sequences along the DNA molecule with frequent connections, and used gene editing technology known as CRISPR to remove the three regions.

In a major breakthrough, the team discovered that these three elements together were the key to DNA replication.

“Removing these elements shifted the segment's replication time from the very beginning to the very end of the process,” said Professor Gilbert. “This was one of those moments where just one result knocks your socks off.”


Beyond the influence on the timing of replication, the removal of the three elements caused the 3D structure of the DNA molecule to change dramatically.

“We have for the first time pinpointed specific DNA sequences in the genome that regulate chromatin structure and replication timing,” said Sima. “These results reflect one possible model of how DNA folds inside cells and how these folding patterns could impact the hereditary materials' function.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/">Cell</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists unravel the mystery of what regulates DNA replication

DNA replication was first described in the late 1950s, and...

Dr. Christine N. Smith and Dr. Larry R. Squire, both with the <a href="https://www.sandiego.va.gov/">Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System</a> and the <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">University of California San Diego</a>, have discovered how specific memory is linked to the hippocampus, and their findings provide new insight on how <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/stress-affecting-memory/">memory</a> works as a whole.

Smith and Squire found that declarative memory, the ability to recall facts and events, relies on conscious knowledge of what has previously been learned, thus involving the hippocampus. When a patient’s hippocampus is damaged, conscious knowledge is compromised.

“Our study shows that awareness is a key feature of declarative memory,” Smith stated within their study, published November 20th in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

Smith and Squire built their study off of previously discovered evidence that showed that damage to the medial temporal lobe (MTL), the region of the brain that contains the hippocampus, can cause problems with declarative memory. However, nondeclarative memory, the ability to remember performance and skills, does not seem to be affected by MTL damage. With this being said, scientists are still not certain how the hippocampus works during memory acquisition.

"A central issue for understanding memory and memory disorders is the matter of classification,” Squire said. “What kinds of memory are there, what are the characteristics of each kind, and what brain systems are important for each kind?"

Smith and Squire tested two theories — one that says declarative memory is connected to conscious knowledge, or awareness of what has been learned, and another that states that memory is dependent on how the brain processes information, rather than on conscious knowledge. They tested said theories on five patients, averagely aged 63, each with MTL damage and amnesia. 

Brain scans showed that each patient had smaller-than-normal hippocampus volume compared to six healthy control patients. So, using a method called the manipulation effect, Smith and Squire asked the MTL-damaged patients to point out alterations and changes in familiar pictures. Those with MTL damage were “markedly impaired” in pointing out changes to the pictures. Not only were these patients less confident in their ability to point out change, but they were only able to correctly identify and describe an alteration for 10.8% of the changed pictures. Controls did so for 60.4% of the images.

Furthermore, both controls and MTL-damaged patients focused their attention on parts of the image that were changed, even if they didn’t realize the alteration right away. This shows that the manipulation effect is a function of conscious memory, Smith and Squire state.

"When memory-impaired patients occasionally succeed at remembering a past event (measured in their eye movements), they also consciously remember the event,” Smith said. “When the patients failed to remember (and eye movements showed no recognition), they were unaware of the past event. Our findings suggest that awareness of the past is a crucial and consistent feature of the kind of memory that depends on the hippocampus.”

“Scientists often say that we want to fix the car but it will help to know how the car works. As we learn more about memory, we move closer to being able to detect, prevent, and treat diseases and disorders that affect memory," Squire concluded.

--

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New information sheds light on how memory works

Dr. Christine N. Smith and Dr. Larry R. Squire, both...

75 percent of the Earth’s freshwater is frozen in glaciers which have been steadily retreating since the early half of the 20th century. Glaciers also cover ten percent of the world’s land area, but glacial melt due to climate change has been a major contributor to rising sea levels. 

Despite the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/shrinking-glacier-floating-ice/">important role glaciers play in rising sea levels</a> and their rapid rates of decline, relatively little has been known about glacier motion or ice friction between glaciers and the bedrock below. 

Glacial movement has been difficult to study because of the inaccessibility of the bedrock beneath them. Glaciers are thousands of feet thick, and even the most advanced radar and satellite technology can’t penetrate through all that ice to study how masses of ice move or the friction that ice in contact with the bedrock causes. 

But now, Bo Persson, a theoretical physicist from <a href="http://www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Home/home_node.html">Jülich Research Center</a> in Germany, offers a solution to studying glacial movement in a new piece published in the Journal of Chemical Physics. 

Persson developed a new model of ice friction that accounts for a wide range of factors including water-filled cavities, melting temperatures, the temperature at the bedrock/glacier interface, regelation which is the melting and freezing caused by pressure changes, and the topography of the bedrock below. 

Accounting for surface roughness of both the ice and bedrock is especially important for modeling glacier movement because it can create friction and impact the speed of glacial movement. 

“The pressure fluctuates because of the bedrock surface roughness,” Persson said. “If you have a big ‘bump’ on the bedrock, the ice pressure against the bump will be higher on the side where the ice moves against the bump.” 

Persson reviewed previous studies of rubber surfaces that slide against each other or stay together and theorized that the models applied to those studies could be used to research glaciers as the principles are similar. 

“The most important contribution of my theory is that it describes accurately the formation of cavities during sliding, and shows that cavitation indeed occurs for sliding speeds typical of flowing glaciers,” said Persson. 

Glaciers are often filled with cavities of pressurized water that form when the glacier slides across the rough bedrock. As these cavities fill with water, they can act as lubrication, reducing friction and increasing the speed of glacial movement. 

“The friction between glacier and the bedrock is of crucial importance for the flow of glaciers and for the prediction of the increase in the sea level due to the melting of the polar ice caps,” said Persson.

Persson’s model will help improve glacier and ice sheet models and allow researchers to make more accurate projections about sea level rise and melting glaciers. 

“We ice sheet modelers need to resolve the base of ice sheets in our models better, which requires numerical methods that are not yet common for us,” said Angelike Humbert, a glaciologist not involved with the study. “Bo's work reminds us of the key role played by the roughness of the bedrock, which is very challenging to observe with the required accuracy in airborne radar surveys.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Image Credit: Julia Christmann, AWI

Paid for by <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a>

How do massive glaciers flow?

75 percent of the Earth’s freshwater is frozen in glaciers...

Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that neuronal cell death in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/exercise-benefits-alzheimers/">Alzheimer's disease</a> (AD) may not be a bad thing. Experts at <a href="http://first.fchampalimaud.org/en/the-foundation/champalimaud-centre-unknown/">Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown</a> (CCU) discovered that neuronal cell death may be the result of a cell quality control process that kicks in to protect the brain from the accumulation of malfunctioning neurons. 

The researchers observed a cell quality control mechanism called “cell competition,” which enables a type of fitness comparison among neighboring cells. The fittest cells then trigger the suicide of the less fit cells around them. It has been recently established that this process of cell competition is a powerful anti-aging mechanism in the body, particularly in the brain. 

“In 2015, we discovered that clearing unfit cells from a tissue was a very important anti-aging mechanism to preserve organ function,” said Eduardo Moreno, principal investigator of the CCU Cell Fitness lab. His team speculated that cell competition may also be involved in neurodegenerative diseases associated with accelerated aging, which had never been tested. 

The investigation was focused on fruit flies that had been genetically modified to mimic the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in humans. The team manipulated fruit flies to express the amyloid-beta protein, which forms aggregates in the brains of AD patients.

The scientists set out to determine whether neuronal death was activated by the process of fitness comparison. In other words, Moreno said they wanted to confirm “that the neurons were not dying on their own but being killed by fitter neighbors.”

“When we started, the current view was that neuronal death must be always detrimental. And much to our surprise, we found that neuronal death actually counteracts the disease,” said study first author Dina Coelho. 

When neuronal death was blocked in the brain of a fly, the insect developed even worse memory and motor coordination problems, died sooner, and experienced faster brain degeneration. On the other hand, when the fitness comparison process was boosted, the death of unfit neurons was accelerated and the flies expressing the AD-associated amyloid-beta proteins showed an impressive recovery. 

“The flies almost behaved like normal flies with regard to memory formation, locomotive behavior, and learning,” explained Christa Rhiner. 

This improvement came at a time when the flies were already strongly affected by AD symptoms, which means that the anti-aging mechanism keeps working well into the stages of Alzheimer's disease. According to Moreno, the findings show that “the neuronal death protects the brain from more widespread damage and therefore the neuronal loss is not what is bad, it is worse not to let those neurons die.”

“Our most important finding is that we have probably been thinking the wrong way about Alzheimer's disease,” said Moreno. “Our results suggest that neuronal death is beneficial because it removes neurons that are affected by noxious beta-amyloid aggregates from brain circuits, and having those dysfunctional neurons is worse than losing them.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home">Cell Reports</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The death of brain cells can actually be beneficial at times

Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that neuronal cell...

A study by Dr. Michael O'Sullivan at the <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/">University of Portsmouth</a> has revealed previously unknown details of well-armed flying reptiles from British Jurassic fossils. Dr. O'Sullivan has also discovered a new species of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pterosaurs-mass-extinction-event/">pterosaur</a> with a wingspan of two meters, which was a giant in its time.

Over the last two centuries, more than 200 fossils of flying reptiles known as pterosaurs have been recovered from the Stonesfield Slate. However, their significance has been overlooked by palaeontologists, likely because they are mere fragments.

But now, a detailed investigation has found that the fossils contain evidence of multiple pterosaur lineages in the UK's Jurassic past, including some unexpectedly large and formidably armed species.

The new species was named Klobiodon rochei, which mean “cage tooth” in reference to its huge, fang-like teeth. This feature, which is known from inspection of the lower jaw of Klobiodon, is particularly interesting because few pterosaurs had any teeth at this time. The coastal flier would have caught fish and squid using its enormous teeth, swallowing them whole.

“It's large fangs would have meshed together to form a toothy cage, from which little could escape once Klobiodon had gotten a hold of it,” said Dr. O'Sullivan.

“The excellent marine reptiles and ammonites of the UK's Jurassic heritage are widely known, but we celebrate our Jurassic flying reptiles far less.”

[caption id="attachment_1864283" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Flying-reptiles.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1864283" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Flying-reptiles-768x1024.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="933" /></a> Image Credit: Mark Witton[/caption]

“The Stonesfield pterosaurs are rarely pretty or spectacular, but they capture a time in flying reptile evolution which is poorly represented globally. They have an important role to play in not only understanding the UK's natural history, but help us understand the bigger global picture as well.”

Klobiodon and other Stonesfield pterosaurs lived alongside Megalosaurus, which is one of the most famous dinosaurs in the world and was the first ever named. As global sea levels rose and the world warmed, however, Jurassic Britain turned into a series of large tropical islands.

Dr. O'Sullivan explained, “Klobiodon has been known to us for centuries, archived in a museum drawer and seen by dozens or hundreds of scientists, but it's significance has been overlooked because it's been confused with another species since the 1800s.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.app.pan.pl/">Acta Palaeontologica Polonica</a>.

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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 

Image Credit: Mark Witton

A fresh look at old fossils reveals Britain’s Jurassic past

A study by Dr. Michael O'Sullivan at the University of...

A team of scientists at the <a href="https://www.pasteur.fr/en">Institut Pasteur</a> has identified the characteristics of CD4 T lymphocytes that are usually targeted by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is the metabolic activity of these <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/four-new-blood-cells/">white blood cells</a> that enables the virus to multiply. 

The researchers have now had a major breakthrough and managed to destroy these infected cells, or “reservoirs,” using metabolic activity inhibitors.

The antiretroviral treatment that is given to patients today is designed to block HIV infection, but it is not able to eliminate the virus from the body. The virus remains in the CD4 T lymphocyte immune cells so the treatments for HIV must be taken for life. 

While it was known that the virus does not infect all types of CD4 cells, the reason for this was unclear. In the current study, the experts from the HIV, Inflammation and Persistence Unit at the Institut Pasteur have managed to identify the characteristics of the different CD4 subpopulations that are associated with HIV infection.

The more the CD4 cells are differentiated, the more they need to produce energy to perform their function. Previous research has shown that it is the metabolic activity of the individual cell, particularly its glucose consumption, that plays a key role in susceptibility to HIV infection. In other words, the virus primarily targets cells with high metabolic activity and then seizes their energy in order to multiply.


By using metabolic activity inhibitors, which have already been investigated in cancer research, scientists could exploit a weakness in the virus and destroy infected cells. In recent experiments, the Institut Pasteur has already succeeded in blocking the virus.

“We have observed ex vivo that, thanks to certain metabolic inhibitors, the virus is no longer able to infect cells and amplification is halted in reservoirs of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment,” wrote the researchers.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/home">Cell Metabolism</a>.

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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

Scientists destroy cells infected with HIV in new breakthrough

A team of scientists at the Institut Pasteur has identified...

Science has long been on the lookout for methods to predict aging and age-related diseases. A person’s chronological age may not always match their biological age, and age-related diseases can speed up mental and tissue deterioration. 

Diet and other lifestyle factors can influence unhealthy aging, but there are also other less understood underlying biological processes that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/aging-biological-processes-long/">can impact aging</a>. 

In a new study, researchers from the <a href="https://www.salk.edu/">Salk Institute</a> identified some key molecular signatures across all age groups that predict aging. 

The study was published in the journal Genome Biology. 

“This experiment was designed to determine whether there are molecular signatures of aging across the entire range of the human lifespan,” said Saket Navlakha, a co-senior author of the study. “We want to develop algorithms that can predict healthy aging and non-healthy aging, and try to find the differences.”

The researchers collected and analyzed dermal fibroblast skin cells from 133 individuals aged 1 to 94 with about thirteen people per decade of age to get a large enough representation of the different age groups. 

Dermal fibroblasts, which generate connective tissue and help with healing, were chosen for the study because they are easy to collect from a skin biopsy and previous research has suggested that the cells may contain aging signatures. 

RNA sequencing was used to find any biomarkers of aging and identify which genes were turned on or off within the cells. 

Next, the researchers used custom machine learning algorithms to analyze the RNA sequencing data. 

“We took a ‘kitchen sink’ approach with this project,” said Jason Fleischer, a first-author of the study. “Rather than going into this research with an idea of what we wanted to find, we decided to look at the changes in expression of all the protein-coding genes and let the algorithms sort it out. We used what's called an ensemble machine-learning method to do this.”

The algorithms were able to predict the age of a person from their cells within a range of eight years. 

To test their algorithms, the researchers collected fibroblasts from ten patients diagnosed with progeria, a genetic disease that accelerates aging, and used the machine learning system to analyze the cells. 

The results showed that the cells were at least a decade older than the actual age of the patients they came from, proving that the algorithm could accurately calculate and predict aging. 

“The fact that our system can predict this kind of aging shows that this model is starting to get at the true underpinnings of biological age," Fleischer says.

The study provides a better understanding of biological aging and could help pave the way for treating and preventing age-related health problems like dementia and heart disease. 

“Aging is a driver of so many diseases, including Alzheimer's and other neurologic problems,” said Navlakha. “If we are able to show that the changes we've seen in fibroblasts are connected with aging in other types of cells, we may eventually be able to use these signatures to develop targeted interventions.”

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By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Machine learning can help predict healthy aging

Science has long been on the lookout for methods to...

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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

[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

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[sendtonews key="EjmSP20gQK-2593093-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

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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

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" 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 the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a natural boundary between France and Spain in southwest Europe.



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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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...