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From the tiniest fluctuations after the Big Bang, gravity has orchestrated the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, creating the vast cosmic web we see today.



Gravity isn't just what keeps us grounded -- it's been shaping the universe since its earliest days. Recent studies have provided the most precise tests of gravity on the grandest scales imaginable. 



By examining how cosmic structures have grown over the past 11 billion years, scientists have confirmed that gravity behaves just as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cosmic-glitch-in-gravity-expands-the-theory-of-general-relativity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Einstein's theory</a> of general relativity predicts, even across billions of light-years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-desi-tracks-gravity-over-11-billion-years">DESI tracks gravity over 11 billion years</h2>



Pauline Zarrouk, a cosmologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (<a href="https://www.cnrs.fr/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNRS</a>) working at the Laboratory of Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), has been exploring this cosmic evolution.



In collaboration with the international team behind the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (<a href="https://www.desi.lbl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DESI</a>), Zarrouk and her colleagues have traced how cosmic structures grew over the past 11 billion years.



Using data from DESI, the researchers provided the most precise test to date of gravity on the largest scales. 



"General relativity has been very well tested at the scale of solar systems, but we also needed to test that our assumption works at much larger scales," Zarrouk explained. 



"Studying the rate at which galaxies formed lets us directly test our theories and, so far, we're lining up with what <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radical-new-theory-finally-unites-gravity-spacetime-and-the-quantum-realm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">general relativity</a> predicts at cosmological scales."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-einstein-is-smiling-from-the-grave">Einstein is smiling from the grave</h2>



Their findings confirm that gravity behaves as Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts, even across the immense distances of the universe. 



This validation supports our leading model of the cosmos and narrows down alternative theories of gravity that have been proposed to explain puzzling observations, like the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/universe-expansion-rate-dark-energy-measured-11-billion-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accelerating expansion</a> of the universe often attributed to dark energy.



The study also sheds light on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-gravity-search-south-pole-neutrinos-experiment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neutrinos</a> -- the elusive particles that zip through space almost undetected. 



Previous experiments determined that the combined mass of the three types of neutrinos should be at least 0.059 electron volts (eV/c²). For perspective, an electron has a mass of about 511,000 eV/c². 



DESI's results suggest that the total mass of neutrinos should be less than 0.071 eV/c², tightening the constraints on these mysterious particles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-desi-gravity-and-cosmic-structure">DESI, gravity, and cosmic structure</h2>



"Both our BAO results and the full-shape analysis are spectacular," said Dragan Huterer, a professor at the <a href="https://umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a> and co-lead of DESI's group interpreting the cosmological data. 



"This is the first time that DESI has looked at the growth of cosmic structure. We're showing a tremendous new ability to probe modified gravity and improve constraints on models of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-energy-is-ripping-the-universe-apart-but-we-arent-sure-how/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy</a>. And it's only the tip of the iceberg."



DESI is no ordinary telescope. Mounted on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at <a href="https://kpno.noirlab.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kitt Peak National Observatory</a>, it's capable of capturing light from 5,000 galaxies at once. 



Funded by the DOE Office of Science, the project is now in its fourth year of surveying the sky and aims to collect data from roughly 40 million galaxies and quasars by the time it's done.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/theory-gravity-exists-without-mass-so-dark-matter-does-not-exist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testing gravity</a> at cosmic scales is crucial. While Einstein's theory has passed every test within our solar system, there's always the possibility that it might behave differently across the vastness of space. 



By confirming that gravity acts as expected over billions of light-years, scientists can be more confident in their models of how the universe has evolved. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interpreting-the-desi-data">Interpreting the DESI data</h2>



<a href="https://profiles.utdallas.edu/mishak">Dr. Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki</a>, a professor of physics in the <a href="https://nsm.utdallas.edu/">School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics</a> at UT Dallas, co-led the DESI working group that interpreted the cosmological data.



“For this round of DESI results, I focused my efforts at UT Dallas on conducting a large part of the analysis on gravity, which puts constraints on how matter in the universe moves and how large-scale structures, such as clusters of galaxies, evolve,” explained Ishak-Boushaki. 



“The results from DESI, combined with datasets from other experiments, are consistent with general relativity theory operating at cosmic scales, although they do not completely exclude other theories of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/central-theory-of-quantum-gravity-is-modeled-in-the-laboratory/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modified gravity</a>.”



The new results provide an extended analysis of <a href="https://news.utdallas.edu/science-technology/desi-findings-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DESI’s first year of data</a>, which in April contributed to the largest 3D map of the universe to date and revealed hints that <a href="https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2024/04/04/desi-first-results-make-most-precise-measurement-of-expanding-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy might be evolving</a> over time.



“The latest analysis is also consistent with our previous findings that give preference to the theory that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-energy-could-explain-the-rapid-expansion-of-the-early-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy</a> is not constant, but dynamic, which is a very important result for cosmic acceleration,” Ishak-Boushaki said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-did-this-happen">How did this happen?</h2>



The collaboration is currently analyzing data from the first three years and expects to present updated measurements of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-evidence-suggests-that-dark-energy-comes-from-black-holes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy</a> and the universe's expansion history by spring 2025. 



The recent results align with earlier hints that dark energy might be evolving over time, adding to the excitement for what's to come.



"Dark matter makes up about a quarter of the universe, and dark energy makes up another 70 percent, and we don't really know what either one is," said Mark Maus, a PhD student at <a href="https://www.lbl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Berkeley Lab</a> and UC Berkeley who worked on theory and validation modeling pipelines for the new analysis. 



"The idea that we can take pictures of the universe and tackle these big, fundamental questions is mind-blowing."



The study utilized nearly 6 million <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lonely-quasars-in-the-early-universe-cannot-be-explained/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxies and quasars</a>, allowing researchers to peer up to 11 billion years into the past. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-desi-and-gravity">What's next for DESI and gravity?</h2>



To sum it all up, with just one year of data, DESI has made the most precise overall measurement of the growth of cosmic structures, surpassing previous efforts that took decades.



The DESI project is remarkable not just for its technological capabilities but also for its collaborative spirit. 



With over 900 researchers from more than 70 institutions worldwide, it's a testament to what can be achieved when the global scientific community comes together.



As we await the next round of results, one can't help but wonder: What other secrets of the universe are waiting to be uncovered? 



The quest to understand gravity, dark matter, and dark energy continues, and each new discovery brings us a little closer to unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos.



The full study was published in <a href="https://data.desi.lbl.gov/doc/papers/">several scientific journals</a>.



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New 'mind-blowing' gravity discovery proves Einstein right again

From the tiniest fluctuations after the Big Bang, gravity has orchestrated the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, creating the vast cosmic web we see today. Gravity isn't just what keeps us grounded -- it's been shaping the universe since its earliest days. Recent studies have provided the most precise tests of gravity on the grandest scales imaginable. By examining how cosmic structures have grown over the past 11 billion years, scientists have confirmed that gravity behaves just as Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts, even across...

How butterflies get their wing colors. The vibrant colors of butterfly wings serve many purposes. They can attract a mate, act as camouflage, or communicate different warnings signals. 

But Heliconius butterflies, a group of colorful species native to Central and South America, use their coloring as a disguise. The distinct yellow or white markings of Heliconius cydno stand out against their muted, black wings. 

Researchers from the <a href="https://www.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago</a> examined Heliconius cydno butterflies in a new study and discovered that one gene is responsible for these yellow or white markings. 

The researchers then used CRISPR <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/alter-butterfly-wing-patterns/">gene editing technology</a> to turn the gene off and change of the coloring of some H. Cyndo butterflies. 

The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

[caption id="attachment_1861284" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/butterflies.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1861284" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/butterflies.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="433" /></a> Image Credit: Kat Carlton, UChicago[/caption]

First, the researchers developed a genetic map and sequenced the genome of yellow and white H. cydno butterflies.

A gene called aristaless1 (al1) was discovered to be the switch that determined if a butterfly would have white or yellow markings, and the researchers found that if the switch was turned on, the butterfly markings were white. 

After the researchers found out what caused the white markings, CRISPR was used to turn off the al1 gene in the butterfly embryos where it was switched on, in other words in the butterflies that would have white markings. These butterflies ended up with yellow markings instead. 

“For decades people have been cross-breeding these butterflies, and they knew that this white vs. yellow switch was in one spot in the genome. They just weren't able to trace it to the actions of a single gene,” said Marcus Kronforst, the senior author of the study. “Now with CRISPR we can knock the gene out and see what happens. It turns out the evolutionary innovation here is not one species gaining a pigment, but instead turning on a gene to repress an ancestrally present pigment.” 

The same gene that determines wing color for H. cydno may also play a role in mating preference, because butterflies with the same color markings prefer to mate with each other. 

Future research investigating why the butterflies have this mating preference could yield important evolutionary insights about species diversity within Heliconius butterflies. 

“Whether it was natural selection driving it or it was just chance that these two things are linked, that might be part of the reason why we have such a diverse group of butterflies,” said Kronforst. “When the color and preference for the color are linked together, it causes these things to evolve together very rapidly.”

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How butterflies get their wing colors

How butterflies get their wing colors. The vibrant colors of...

What do sand crabs and comets have in common? You may be surprised. Researchers recently found a link between the mechanics of a sand crab’s tunnel and the pits that cover your typical comet. 

If you walk on a sandy beach, you might notice an array of holes near the shoreline which are entrances to narrow tunnels burrowed by sand crabs. Sand crabs feed on tiny plankton and can quickly scope out their prey as the waves wash up near the burrows. 

Researchers from <a href="http://en.nagoya-u.ac.jp/">Nagoya University</a> knew that the wet grainy mixture of sand was a key component for sand crab burrows and so conducted a study to better understand how the tunnels kept their strength and stability. 

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. 

First, the researchers modeled crab tunnels in a wet mixture of tiny glass beads and water which was meant to replicate the densely packed damp sand near the shoreline. 

The team dug different size holes with varying widths and diameters to test the structural capacity of the burrows. Interestingly, when the researchers pressed on the “sand” above a tunnel, the burrow shrunk. 

However, the larger in diameter a burrow, the less stable it was and more likely to collapse. It was diameter which is dependent on the size of sand granules that determined how strong the tunnel was and the pit that formed after collapse. 

The researchers discovered there was a threshold between a burrow collapsing but not disrupting the soil above and collapsing into a pit. This threshold was anywhere between five centimeters and seven centimeters in diameter. 

Sand crabs burrows are rarely larger than five centimeters which means that the crabs know how big is too big for an unsafe burrow. 

The researchers next looked to comets because many comets are covered in pit structures like those of a collapsed sand burrow. 

It’s been suggested that the origin of these pits on comets is the volatile materials that make up the comet itself, a cohesive mixture of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/interstellar-ice-grains-life-earth/">ice and solid particles</a>. 

The researchers were able to apply their threshold model to comet pit structures and found that the boundaries were similar as far as the diameters of the holes on the comet and the kind of collapse that followed. 

The results show that tunnel collapse in granular matter is more universal than previously thought and besides explaining cometary pits, the study could also help aid in disaster prevention methods for roads and bridges in the future. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Sand crabs and comets have more in common than you may think

What do sand crabs and comets have in common? You...

The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on Earth. The famous space race refers the international exploration competition that got the most publicity in the United States.  There are of course many other examples of countries racing to plant a flag somewhere, if for nothing more than saying they were first and the chance at scientific discovery.  

The race to the South Pole between Roald Amundsen of Norway and Robert Falcon Scott of Britain in 1911 to 1912 is one of the earliest and most famous examples of explorers racing to a goal for a nation’s glory.  The long term competition between explorers often sponsored by national governments to be the first to summit Mount Everest is another good example of this type of exploration. Further from the limelight, there’s another exploration race that still hasn’t been concluded.  This less known race is a race between explorers and scientists going on literally underground.The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on Earth 

Project Mohole was started in 1958 as a US government-backed program to drill to the Earth’s hotter mantle below the crust.  The project was ambitious in its hope to physically access a part of the Earth never before contacted by humans. 

 The payoff for drilling through the earth’s crust of course would be scientific discovery.  We could learn much about the age of the earth, continental drift and the makeup of the earth itself.  When project Mohole was first started, continental drift was still controversial. Drilling into earth would in fact be a way to verify much that is theoretical in geology.  

Project Mohole was named for the Mohorovicic Discontinuity, which marks the boundary between the earth’s crust and the earth’s mantle.  It was decided that Project Mohole was to be undertaken in the seafloor rather than on land. It was thought that drilling equipment at that time wouldn’t hold up to the depths and temperatures involved in drilling on land.  

<a href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/history/mohole/">NationalAcademies</a> reports that the first stage of Project Mohole was a success.  A test hole was drilled off the coast of La Jolla California, already a hot spot for oceanographic research.  Drilling was then moved off of Guadalupe Mexico, where five holes were drilled, one to a depth of 601 feet below the seafloor.  Eventually changes in leadership and a request to congress for additional funding that was denied shelved Project Mohole. The whole project never got past stage one of three final stages and was ended in 1966.  But the US wasn’t the only country that had a project aimed at drilling deep into the Earth. 

In 1970, scientists from the Soviet Union began their own drilling project.  The end result of the Soviet attempt is the Kola Superdeep Borehole. This land based drilling project on the Kola peninsula reached a greater depth than Project Mohole, being the deepest borehole in the world in terms of true vertical depth, measuring  40,318 feet, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole">Wikipedia</a>.  

This was achieved by branching from a central borehole.  It was also possible to drill to these depths because the borehole was only 9 inches in diameter.  According to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-whats-deepest-hole-ever-dug-180954349/">Smithsonian Magazine</a>, one of the discoveries of Kola was microscopic fossils four miles deep in the earth.  The Kola Superdeep Borehole was abandoned in 1995 after the Soviet Union dissolved and is now just a ruin sometimes visited by the curious.  Other projects were inspired by Kola Superdeep Borehole and perhaps by project Mohole as well.

The KTB Superdeep Borehole, initiated by the German Continental Deep Drilling Programme, drilled to about 28,859 feet deep and the borehole is still open for scientific research.  For people like me, the most interesting subterranean exploration race is taking place in caves, where explorers still risk their lives and fortunes against the natural elements.

A different race to the naturally deepest place on the Earth has been taking place in caves.  American engineer Bill Stone has long been convinced that Sistema Huautla in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/experts-track-the-flow-of-nutrients-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/">Mexico</a> might be the deepest cave in the world.  Exploring Sistema Huautla has required weeks underground at a time, climbing, SCUBA diving and even the deaths of some team members.

Some have criticized Bill Stone as being willing to sacrifice the safety of others for his own obsession, but exploration has often cost lives and safety.  With over 40 cave expeditions under his belt, Stone is a veteran of so-called extreme caving. He’s pioneered cave exploration by engineering new cave equipment as well as helping NASA in using cave exploration techniques for exploration in space.  

In the end, it’s impossible to tell whether a cave is the deepest in the world until every cave has been explored completely.  With caves like Sistema Huautla, it’s virtually impossible to explore the entirety of the cave system. There are always side passages and no way of knowing where they lead or if there’s a deeper passage somewhere that’s been missed.  Inevitably the depth of a cave is just the measured depth and Sistema Huautla has been surpassed by another cave in the country of Georgia. 

Krubera Cave is now the deepest known cave on Earth.  Descending to the bottom of Krubera Cave has been described in <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/deepest-cave/">National Geographic</a> by one expedition member as ascending an inverted Mount Everest.  Sistema Huautla is maze like, with long passages that aren’t very vertical.  Krubera is more like a series of boreholes going vertically into the earth. It’s more a matter of rappelling over and over again.  There’s also the grueling work of clearing boulders and other debris out of the way of descent, working underground in sometimes cramped conditions.  So far Krubera has been explored to a surveyed depth of about 6,824 feet and is the deepest known cave in the world. 

The expeditions exploring Krubera to its deepest point were made of members of at least seven countries.  The style of caving is reminiscent of the traditional mountaineering expeditions that first scaled peaks like Everest.  Camps were set up and resupplied by people carrying tons of gear into the cave as a smaller expedition crew pushed deeper and deeper into the cave.  The cave required SCUBA diving and technical caving skills, much like Sistema Huautla. 

The difference between caving the deepest cave and climbing the highest mountain in the world is a matter of finality.  When Everest was first climbed, it was already known to be the highest mountain in the world. Surveyors can measure mountains without ever setting foot on them, Everest was named for a surveyor who discovered it’s prodigious height from a distance away without ever setting his boot to the mountain itself.  In caving, it’s impossible to know how deep a cave is until you crawl, climb, dive, squeeze your way to the bottom and then survey the depth of that point. Every step of the process of cave exploration is physically demanding and painstaking. It’s still only a matter of time before a deeper cave or a deeper part of a known cave is discovered somewhere on Earth.     

--

By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Contributing Writer

The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on Earth

The inner space race: Getting to the deepest places on...

Working memory is critical in guiding us through everyday actions such as taking directions or weighing the costs and benefits of a decision. Experts have developed a new model of working memory that explains how the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-compensates-uncertainty/">brain</a> holds information while executing volitional control over itself.

Study lead author Earl Miller is a professor in the <a href="https://picower.mit.edu/">Picower Institute for Learning and Memory</a> at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As a neuroscientist, Professor Miller has been studying how working memory operates for more than 20 years. 

“What's special about working memory is that it is volitional,” said Professor Miller. “It is the main mechanism by which your brain wrests control from the environment and puts it under its own control. Any simple creature can just react to the environment. But what higher order animals have evolved is the ability to take control over their own thoughts.”

According to Professor Miller, the new model brings together the maintenance and volition of working memory. The model proposes that the brain operates working memory by coordinating neurons in the cortex with bursts of activity specifically timed during the frequencies of specific brain waves. 

In the model, waves in the low “alpha and beta” frequencies carry our knowledge and goals and regulate the higher frequency “gamma” waves, which handle new sensory information that needs to be manipulated. 

For example, low frequency waves may carry the knowledge that you need to purchase a new set of long-lasting tires, as well as the highest price that you are willing to pay for them. High frequency waves may carry the salesperson's pitch about how much two different sets of tires cost and how long they would last.

Meanwhile, the temporary storage of the new sensory information is achieved based on the interactions of these rhythmic waves and the subsequent changes in the strength of the connections among the neurons, called synapses.

Professor Miller said that his lab is using the model to explore new questions that may explain working memory in finer detail. The team also hopes to find ways that working memory may be therapeutically enhanced for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism.

“Can we strengthen the ‘top down’ rhythms when you need to focus, or can we strengthen gamma by weakening beta when you need to be more sensorily receptive?” According to Professor Miller, the model may eventually answer these questions.

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/neuron/home">Neuron</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How working memory guides you through the day

Working memory is critical in guiding us through everyday actions...

A team of neuroscientists at the <a href="http://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT) has discovered a way that the brain compensates during challenges when it doubts its own abilities. The study revealed that when tasks are too complicated, the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/brain-control-movement-limbs/">brain</a> draws on previous experiences for guidance. According to the experts, this strategy actually improves overall performance.

Study senior author Mehrdad Jazayeri is the Robert A. Swanson Career Development Professor of Life Sciences and a member of MIT's <a href="https://mcgovern.mit.edu/mcgovern-institute-for-brain-research-at-mit">McGovern Institute for Brain Research</a>.

“If you're doing something that requires a harder mental transformation, and therefore creates more uncertainty and more variability, you rely on your prior beliefs and bias yourself toward what you know how to do well, in order to compensate for that variability,” explained Professor Jazayeri.

For many decades, neuroscientists have recognized an amount of uncertainty in the brain as it responds to things that we see or hear but do not fully understand. This uncertainty causes random fluctuations of electrical activity in the brain, or “noise,” that is also generated during social interactions and as we attempt to recall past events.

Previous research has revealed many strategies which help the brain to compensate for this uncertainty, such as relying on an average of its past experiences. The brain is also known to handle conflicting evidence by choosing the more reliable source.

Professor Jazayeri explained that these strategies have been previously shown to work together to increase bias toward a particular outcome, which makes our overall performance better because it reduces variability.

Noise is also produced in the brain during the mental conversion of sensory information into a motor plan. For example, if you try to write your name backward so that it can be read in the mirror, the brain faces uncertainty when attempting to perform this unfamiliar conversion.

Researchers set out to investigate the brain's response to this type of mental conversion using three different tasks. For each task, they compared the performance of the participants in a version of the task that was simple versus a version that was extra challenging.


Overall, the experts found that during the version of a task that required difficult mental transformations, people altered their performance using the same strategies that they use to overcome noise in sensory perception. For example, when the individuals  had to draw lines ranging from 7.5 to 15 centimeters, they tended to draw lines that were closer to the average length of all the lines they had previously drawn. 

“This regression to the mean is a very common strategy for making performance better when there is uncertainty,” said Professor Jazayeri.

Based on their findings, the researchers believe that when people get very good at a task that requires complex computation, the noise will decrease and become less detrimental to overall performance. At this point, people will trust their computations more and stop relying on averages.

“As it gets easier, our prediction is the bias will go away, because that computation is no longer a noisy computation,” said Professor Jazayeri. “You believe in the computation; you know the computation is working well.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

How the brain compensates for its own uncertainty

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

Could Fido’s coat color play a role in his health? In the case of chocolate Labs, a new study shows that it might. 

Researchers at the <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/">University of Sydney</a> have analyzed vet records for 33,000 Labrador retrievers of all colors. They found that chocolate Labs have higher rates of ear and skin infections than black and yellow Labs do. 

They also found that chocolate Labs’ lifespans are, on average, 10 percent shorter than their non-chocolate counterparts. Lead author Dr. Paul McGreevy said the researchers were surprised by the findings.

"The relationships between coat color and disease may reflect an inadvertent consequence of breeding certain pigmentations," he said. "Because chocolate color is recessive in dogs, the gene for this color must be present in both parents for their puppies to be chocolate. Breeders targeting this color may therefore be more likely to breed only Labradors carrying the chocolate coat gene. It may be that the resulting reduced gene pool includes a higher proportion of genes conducive to ear and skin conditions."

They found that across the UK, the most common health conditions among chocolate Labs were obesity, ear infections and joint problems. Male dogs who had been neutered were more prone to obesity than other Labs.

"We found that 8.8 percent of UK Labradors are overweight or obese, one of the highest percentages among dog breeds in the VetCompass database," McGreevy said.

The researchers collected their data through the VetCompass Programme, which began in 2007 at the <a href="https://www.rvc.ac.uk/">Royal Veterinary College</a> in London in partnership with the University of Sydney. 

The program is now working to collect data on chocolate Labs and their black and yellow fellows in Australia. VetCompass now works with all of Australia's veterinary schools with support from the <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au/">Australian Research Council</a>.

The study has been published in the open source journal <a href="https://cgejournal.biomedcentral.com/">Canine Genetics and Epidemiology</a>.

Chocolate Labs coat colors could affect health

Could Fido’s coat color play a role in his health?...

Scientists finally have solid evidence: the Earth’s core is solid, if a little squishy, a new study has discovered.

The theory that Earth’s core is solid dates back to 1936, proposed by seismologist Inge Lehmann as she reanalyzed data from the massive 1929 Murchison, New Zealand earthquake. But until recently, there was no way to prove it. 

Then the team from <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/">Australia National University</a> struck on the idea of using earthquakes again. They decided to study echoes of earthquakes using a technique that researchers have been using to measure Antarctic ice sheets for decades.

Dr. Hrvoje Tkalčić, scholar Than-Son Phạm and their colleagues looked at similarities recorded by pairs of receivers after major earthquakes. The team detected “J waves,” which can only pass through solid objects, deep in the Earth’s core. 

“Using a global network of stations, we take every single receiver pair and every single large earthquake – that’s many combinations – and we measure the similarity between the seismograms,” Tkalčić told the magazine <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/">Newsweek</a>. “That’s called cross-correlation, or the measure of similarity. From those similarities we construct a global correlogram – a sort of fingerprint of the Earth.”

What that fingerprint showed was that there is solid material in the Earth’s core. However, it’s also a lot softer than scientists expected. 

“It turns out – if our results are correct – the inner core shares some similar elastic properties with gold and platinum,” Tkalčić said. “The inner core is like a time capsule; if we understand it we’ll understand how the planet was formed, and how it evolves.”

The study solves one of the mysteries about Earth’s core, Tkalčić and Pham said, but there is still research to be done before scientists come close to understanding the center of our planet.

“For instance, we don’t know yet what the exact temperature of the inner core is, what the age of the inner core is, or how quickly it solidifies, but with these new advances in global seismology, we are slowly getting there,” Tkalčić said.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>.

Earthquake 'echoes' show Earth's core is solid

Scientists finally have solid evidence: the Earth’s core is solid,...

Carrot extract could be the key to creating environmentally friendly cement, according to a new study by British researchers.

The team at <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/">Lancaster University</a> used a surprisingly low-tech method to test their theory that carrot extract could make cement stronger while cutting carbon dioxide emissions: a common household blender.

The scientists blended nano platelets extracted from carrots and ordinary cement to create a crack-resistant material up to 80 percent stronger than traditional cement.

“The composites are not only superior to current cement products in terms of mechanical and microstructure properties, but also use smaller amounts of cement,” Dr. Mohamed Saai told the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">Daily Mail</a>. “This significantly reduces both the energy consumption and [carbon dioxide] emissions associated with cement manufacturing.”

The key is in the cellulose.

The fibrous material is what makes carrots so rigid and crunchy, even though the root vegetables are mostly water, Christian Kemp-Griffin, CEO of Scotland-based CelluComp, the company that provided the carrot extract.

“Those fibers have strength characteristics in them. It’s the building blocks of the strength of a vegetable,” he told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/">Reuters</a>.

It can be extracted from other plant material, but vegetables are easiest, Kemp-Griffin said. 

Adding the carrot extract saved about 88 pounds of cement per cubic square meter of concrete, and about the same amount in carbon dioxide emissions, the Lancaster researchers discovered during proof-of-concept studies.

“Our preliminary results show that adding about half a kilogram of carrot nanomaterial will reduce about 10 kilograms of cement per one cubic meter of concrete,” Saafi told the Mail.

The news could be big for the construction industry, not just because the resulting material seems stronger and less likely to crack. According to the <a href="https://www.iea.org/">International Energy Agency</a>, cement produces about seven percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Carrot extract isn’t the only solution, either. The British researchers are also experimenting with cellulose extracted from sugar beets.

Carrot extract could make cement stronger, more eco-friendly

Carrot extract could be the key to creating environmentally friendly...

The Pacific blob is back, and that could spell bad news for the west coasts of the United States and Canada.

That’s because in the past, the blob of warm ocean water has brought with it poor feeding for salmon. It’s been connected to whale deaths and warmer temperatures in western North America. 

It’s also been connected to a phenomenon California meteorologists dubbed the <a href="https://weatherwest.com/archives/tag/ridiculously-resilient-ridge">Ridiculously Resilient Ridge</a>, believed to have played a large role in the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/california-drought-changing-landscape/">drought that plagued the state</a> from 2011 to 2016.

Now, Alaska and northwestern Canada are seeing the “son of the Pacific blob,” Armel Castellan of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change.html">Environment and Climate Change Canada</a> said. 

"To see a blob sort of establish itself at this time of year is sort of surprising," Castellan told <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news">CBC News</a>. "It's a symptom of the enduring or stagnant weather we've been having over the last four years."

Alaska is already seeing unseasonably warm temperatures, and northern British Columbia is still experiencing summer-like weather. Alaska just ended one of its warmest Septembers in 94 years, according to the <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/alaska's-2018-early-fall-extremes">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>. Parts of southern Italy are experiencing a drought.

The Pacific blob of warm water creates a high-pressure period, which changes the direction of the Pacific Jet Stream. That causes warmer weather, and in the case of California’s Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, prevented normal winter storms from making landfall where they’re most needed.

Right now, if the Pacific blob fails to dissipate, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, Montana, northern Wyoming and western North Dakota could see warmer-than-usual temperatures into the winter. 

A side effect of the Pacific blob seems to be colder and wetter than usual weather in the U.S. Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic states.

Phenomena like the Pacific blob are becoming more common, meteorologists say.

"It's definitely something we're starting to see with these resilient ridges," Castellan said. "It just begs the question of how much of this is linked to climate change."

—

Image credit: Rick Thoman, based on OISST data from <a href="https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/">NOAA Earth System Research Lab</a>.

Pacific blob returns, bringing warm days and fear of drought

The Pacific blob is back, and that could spell bad...

How can we know how long we’re going to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/life-expectancy-2040/">live</a>? The true answer is that we can’t, but new research from the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a> may help give some people a better idea of their projected lifespan.

In recent research presented at the <a href="http://www.ashg.org/">American Society of Human Genetics</a> annual meeting, scientists detail how they devised a way to estimate whether an individual can expect to live longer or shorter on average. Their approach came from studying the effect of genetic variations on lifespan across the human genome.

Through the largest ever genome-wide association study of lifespan, the researchers combined genetic data from more than 500,000 participants in the UK Biobank and other cohorts with data on the lifespan of participant’s parents. The effects of just a single gene on lifespan are tiny, so this larger sample size was needed to identify the genes relevant to our lifespan. This sample helped researchers validate six previously identified associations between specific genes and aging – such as the APOE gene, which has been linked to risk of neurodegenerative disease. 

Additionally, the research team found 21 new genomic regions that have an influence on the human lifespan. They then used their results to create a polygenic risk score for lifespan, which is a personalized genomic score that estimates an individual’s genetic likelihood of a longer life.

“Using a person’s genetic information alone, we can identify the 10 percent of people with the most protective genes, who will live an average of five years longer than the least protected 10 percent,” explains Paul Timmers, a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh.

The study also dove deeper into the specifics of the effects of genetic variants on the aging process, as the researchers wanted to determine whether certain variants were affecting aging directly or influencing the risk of individual diseases that could lead to death. They discovered that among common variants, the genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and smoking-related conditions were linked to overall lifespan. Interestingly, they did not find lifespan associations for other cancers, which may suggest that the risk of death due to other cancers is a result of rarer genetic variants or the environment.

“This was an interesting result,” says Timmers. “We suspect that the variants we found, such as for smoking and Alzheimer’s disease, pertain uniquely to the modern period of human history. For example, a genetic propensity to smoke wasn’t harmful before we discovered tobacco, but it is now. Since natural selection has not yet had many generations to act on these variants, the variants are still fairly common.”

Moving forward, the researchers plan to study how the variants and functional pathways they identified affect lifespan.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New lifespan “score” can help predict how long you might live

How can we know how long we’re going to live?...

The oldest known fossils on Earth may actually be nothing more than just some regular rocks, according to a new study by <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> astrobiologist Abigail Allwood. 

The structures, which were discovered by a team of Australian scientists in Greenland two years ago, were thought to date back 3.7 billion years. The results of that study suggested that scientists had underestimated how quickly and easily life on Earth had formed.

In the current investigation, however, advanced NASA technology used by Allwood indicated that the material found in Greenland is more rock than <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/fossils-modern-birds-dinosaurs/">fossil</a>.

[caption id="attachment_1861096" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<a href="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Are-the-“oldest-fossils-on-Earth”-really-just-average-rocks.png"><img class="wp-image-1861096" src="https://www.earth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Are-the-“oldest-fossils-on-Earth”-really-just-average-rocks.png" alt="" width="700" height="332" /></a> Image Credit: Allen Nutman[/caption]

Allwood was responsible for finding the previously oldest fossil, which is nearly 3.5 billion years old. After the 2016 study emerged, she went to Greenland to investigate.

Allwood determined that the shapes, weathering and the interior layers of the structures did not fit the characteristics of ancient fossils, known as stromatolites. She mapped the composition of the fossils in question, and concluded that they do not have the chemical signature of fossilized life.

According to the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>, several experts agree with Allwood that the fossils were dated incorrectly by Allen Nutman and colleagues at the University of Wollongong in Australia.

Despite the new findings, the Australian scientists maintain that the odd structures are partially made up of material from microbes that lived on an ancient seafloor. They argue that Allwood took samples from the far end of one of two sites and did not test the original specimens that were offered for analysis.

“This is a classic comparing apples and oranges scenario, leading to the inevitable outcome that ours and their observations do not exactly match,” the Australian researchers said in a statement.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Are the “oldest fossils on Earth” really just average rocks?

The oldest known fossils on Earth may actually be nothing...

Cancer is a ticking time bomb in our bodies. If there were an equation for cancer it would mainly consist of mutations + time = cancer. And it’s no secret that if we live long enough, we’ll likely experience some form of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/air-pollution-mouth-cancer/">cancer</a> ourselves. 

A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> has found that by the time we reach middle age, over half the esophagus in healthy people has been taken over by cells containing mutations in cancer genes. The report details how mutant cells mutate and compete with each other over time – with only the fittest mutations surviving.

Scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, MRC Cancer Unit, <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> along with collaborators have uncovered for the first time evidence that healthy cells in the esophagus carry at least several hundred mutations per cell on average in people in their twenties. These mutations only increase as we age, and rise to over 2,000 mutations per cell later in life. 

However, it’s important to note that only mutations in a dozen or so genes really matter when it comes to cancer, as these mutations give the cells a competitive advantage and allow them to take over the tissue, forming a dense patchwork of mutations.

The researchers made this discovery through studying normal esophageal tissue. 

“Under the microscope, the esophageal tissue looked completely normal – it came from healthy individuals who had no signs of cancer,” explains lead author Phil Jones, a professor at the University of Cambridge. “After studying the genetics we were shocked to see that the healthy esophagus was riddled with mutations. We discovered that by the time an individual reaches middle age, they probably have more mutant than normal cells.”

Using targeted and whole-genome sequencing to map groups of mutant cells in esophageal tissue, scientists found that these mutations ran rampant even in individuals with no history of esophageal cancer or any related problems.

Additionally, this research has brought new understanding to the mutations that are found in the squamous form of esophageal cancers. Mutations in the NOTCH1 gene – known to control cell division – were found in almost half of all cells in the normal esophagus by middle age. But a mutated gene known to be found in almost all esophageal cancers – TP53 – was only found to be mutated in 5 to 10 percent of normal cells. These findings suggest that researchers may need to reevaluate the role of some genes believed to be responsible for cancer, as it’s possible that the NOTCH1 mutation could possibly protect cells against cancer development, rather than being responsible for it.

“We have found that genetic mutations associated with cancer are widespread in normal tissues, revealing how our own cells mutate, compete and evolve to colonize our tissues as we age,” says Dr. Inigo Martincorena, joint lead author from the <a href="https://www.sanger.ac.uk/">Wellcome Sanger Institute</a>. “Given the importance of these mutations to cancer, it is remarkable that we have been unaware of the extent of this phenomenon until now. While the work sheds light on early cancer development, it also raises many questions about how these mutations may contribute to ageing and other diseases, opening interesting avenues for future research.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Average healthy esophagus still accumulates hundreds of mutations

Cancer is a ticking time bomb in our bodies. If...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

[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

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

[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...