The influence of synthetic plastic on our planet is concerning, to say the least. It's everywhere - from the depths of our oceans to the food we eat, even finding its way into our bodies. But, Avinash Manjula-Basavanna, a seasoned research scientist at Northeastern University, sees "MECHS" as a solution. 



"The kind of impact that human-made materials are making on the living world is resulting in&nbsp;climate change, pollution and more," he says. 



"One of the ways that we are able to address this is to make materials sustainable and also make materials which are smart or intelligent."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-birth-of-a-new-bioplastic">Birth of a new bioplastic</h2>



Joining forces with Neel S. Joshi, an associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern, Manjula-Basavanna gave birth to a new bioplastic named MECHS.



It stands for Mechanical Engineered Living Materials with Compostability, Healability, and Scalability.



The team recently showcased their discovery in the journal Nature Communications. Here, they articulated their unique work with engineered living materials, living cells that produce functional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-changing-the-entire-earth-system/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">materials</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wonders-of-bioplastic">Wonders of bioplastic</h2>



What makes MECHS stand out? Manjula-Basavanna and Joshi gave us two major reasons.



Firstly, MECHS exhibits the beauty of nature-inspired solutions, with the ability to regenerate, regulate themselves, and respond to external stimuli such as light. 



The second reason is even more significant in today's context. Unlike the harmful plastics choking our planet and bodies, MECHS is biodegradable in water and even in a compost bin. 



"Right now we use a lot of conventional nonbiodegradable plastics for applications they don't need to be used in at all," Joshi says. "If we replace that with our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/major-plastic-pollution-lurks-beneath-the-surface-of-rivers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plastic</a>, you could just flush it down the toilet and it would biodegrade."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-engineered-living-materials">Engineered living materials</h2>



Until now, such engineered living materials haven't been scalable for broad production. Enter MECHS.



Essentially, it's comprised of engineered E. coli bacteria intertwined with a fiber matrix, crafted into a paper- or film-like material. 



The fibrous structure gives MECHS some desirable properties. For instance, the bioplastic can stretch like plastic wrap and be genetically engineered for variable stiffness. And, quite fascinatingly, it has self-healing capabilities.



But the real cherry on top? MECHS is fully dissolvable, be it in large amounts of water or a compost bin. It dissolves rapidly, much faster than other existing biodegradable plastics. Plus, it can be mass-produced similarly to paper.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-applications">Potential applications</h2>



The scientific marvels envision MECHS as the solution to "primary packaging." This includes the plastic cover protecting your new iPhone or the detergent pods for your appliances. Imagine MECHS wrapped around a pot plant, slowly breaking down and releasing proteins to fertilize the plant!



Addressing the global problem of plastic pollution, Manjula-Basavanna sees a strong potential for MECHS in plastic packaging, which covers almost one-third of the plastic market. 



He observes that such packaging’s lifespan could last a few days to two years, but the petrochemical plastics used can take hundreds of years to biodegrade.



"For such a short lifespan of packaging, the petrochemical plastics that can take hundreds of years to biodegrade are unnecessary in many cases and thus a sustainable alternative like MECHS due to its biodegradability, flushability, and mechanical tunability could be a game changer," says Manjula-Basavanna.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-in-adopting-mechs">Challenges in adopting MECHS</h2>



While MECHS presents a revolutionary solution to the global plastic crisis, adopting this technology on a large scale is not devoid of challenges. One primary concern lies in the genomic stability of the engineered E. coli bacteria used in MECHS. 



Scientists must ensure that the bacteria remain safe and stable under various environmental conditions to avoid unintended consequences. Additionally, transitioning industries reliant on traditional plastics to MECHS involves overcoming significant economic and logistical barriers. 



Production facilities worldwide may need to adopt new techniques and infrastructure to accommodate this novel material, potentially incurring considerable costs in the short term. 



Furthermore, public perception and regulatory hurdles need to be navigated to gain trust and approval for its widespread use.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-sustainable-materials">Future of sustainable materials</h2>



Looking to the future, the innovations around MECHS signal a burgeoning era of sustainable and adaptable materials capable of transforming industries. 



As research into living materials progresses, new possibilities emerge, such as enabling the development of dynamic, adaptable materials for technologies yet to be imagined. 



Building on their success with MECHS, Manjula-Basavanna and Joshi envision an expanding palette of biodegradable materials, each tailored for specific applications ranging from environmental conservation to health care. 



Their work emphasizes collaboration across disciplines - bridging biology, chemistry, and engineering - to advance sustainable solutions.



Ultimately, MECHS is a testament to how embracing nature-inspired innovation can lead to breakthroughs with the power to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-on-beaches-is-now-visible-from-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reshape our relationship with the materials</a> we use and the environment we inhabit.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53052-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



-----



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Nature-inspired solutions: New bioplastic dissolves rapidly in water

The influence of synthetic plastic on our planet is concerning, to say the least. It's everywhere - from the depths of our oceans to the food we eat, even finding its way into our bodies. But, Avinash Manjula-Basavanna, a seasoned research scientist at Northeastern University, sees "MECHS" as a solution. "The kind of impact that human-made materials are making on the living world is resulting in&nbsp;climate change, pollution and more," he says. "One of the ways that we are able to address this is to make materials...

One of the tiniest fossils ever found from the Mesozoic Era is giving scientists new insight into how prehistoric birds evolved. The skeleton, which is almost entirely intact, is that of a baby bird dating back around 127 million years ago.

The chick is from a group of prehistoric birds called Enantiornithes. The specimen measures less than five centimeters and  would have only weighed about three ounces when it was alive.

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/preparing-fossils/">fossil</a> is very significant because it gives scientists a rare opportunity to analyze the ancient avian creature at a critical stage in life when its skeleton was still forming. 

By looking at the animal's bone tissue formation, or ossification, the researchers can learn a lot about the chick’s young life. The experts can determine, for example, whether the bird could fly or if it stayed with its parents after hatching.

Study lead author Fabien Knoll is a researcher from the <a href="http://www.manchester.ac.uk/">University of Manchester</a>'s Interdisciplinary Centre for Ancient Life (ICAL) and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

“The evolutionary diversification of birds has resulted in a wide range of hatchling developmental strategies and important differences in their growth rates,” said Professor Knoll. “By analyzing bone development we can look at a whole host of evolutionary traits.”

The team used synchrotron radiation to analyze the fossil at a “submicron” level, which allowed the experts to observe the microstructures of the bones in great detail.


“New technologies are offering palaeontologists unprecedented capacities to investigate provocative fossils,” said Knoll. “Here we made the most of state-of-the-art facilities worldwide including three different synchrotrons in France, the UK and the United States.”

The researchers concluded that the chick would not have yet been able to fly, considering that its sternum was still largely made of cartilage instead of solid bone. The patterns of ossification also indicate that this particular group of prehistoric birds may have been more diverse than previously realized.


“This new discovery, together with others from around the world, allows us to peek into the world of ancient birds that lived during the age of dinosaurs,” explained study co-author Luis Chiappe. “It is amazing to realise how many of the features we see among living birds had already been developed more than 100 million years ago.”

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image Credit: Raúl Martín

127 million year-old fossil gives clues about prehistoric birds

One of the tiniest fossils ever found from the Mesozoic...

Until the stormy weather of the past few days, the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/How-dry-is-this-winter-Sierra-snowpack-now-on-12563228.php">Sierra Nevada snowpack</a> was on track to record one of its lowest years ever, and it’s not alone. Western snowpacks have declined steadily over the past century, a new analysis of snow records found.

The study, led by Dr. Philip Mote of Oregon State University, found that more than 90 percent of snow monitoring sites across the western U.S. had seen declines in the snowpack since 1915 – and sometimes those declines were significant.

"It is a bigger decline than we had expected," Mote, who directs the university’s Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, said in a press release. "In many lower-elevation sites, what used to fall as snow is now rain. Upper elevations have not been affected nearly as much, but most states don't have that much area at 7,000-plus feet.”

Low snowpacks have caused worry along the Pacific Coast this winter, with Washington reporting <a href="http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20180206/warming-causes-worries-for-washington-snowpack">lower than average snow water equivalent</a> at the beginning of February while Oregon <a href="http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2018/02/08/oregon-warm-winter-low-snowpack-make-drought-likely/321237002/">prepared for a possible drought</a>. California’s Northern Sierra snowpack held only a <a href="http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action">quarter of its normal water volume</a> for this time of year on Friday, and sites farther south weren’t much better off.

But the problem stretches back far longer than the past couple of years.

On average, western snowpacks have shrunk by about 15 to 30 percent since 1915, the study found. That translates to a water loss similar in volume to Lake Mead, which affects both the environment and wildlife, and human water use in cities, agriculture and industry, the researchers said.

During California’s recent drought, state water advocates and legislators looked to <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/editorials/sd-california-drought-lesson-dams-20170317-story.html">creating more storage for water</a>, but that’s not enough, Mote said.

"The solution isn't in infrastructure. New reservoirs could not be built fast enough to offset the loss of snow storage – and we don't have a lot of capacity left for that kind of storage,” he said. “It comes down to managing what we have in the best possible ways."

To measure the long-term trends in western snowpacks, researchers looked at historical records at 1,766 sites throughout the United States. While they focused primarily on the April 1 data – the usual peak of the snowpack in most western states – they also looked at data collected on the first of each month from January through May. 

Along with crunching the numbers, the researchers used computer modeling to visualize the water cycle and snow activity. 

The shrinking western snowpacks appear to be linked to warmer winters and earlier springs, the researchers found, not a lack of snowfall. Eastern Oregon and northern Nevada saw the most drastic declines, but sites in California, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Arizona also saw 70 percent declines.

"We found declining trends in all months, states and climates, but the impacts are the largest in the spring, in Pacific states, and in locations with mild winter climates," Mote said.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-018-0012-1">NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science</a>. Funding was provided by the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a>. The majority of the snowpack records were provided by the <a href="https://www.usda.gov/">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> and <a href="https://www.water.ca.gov/">California Department of Water Resources</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Image credit: Oregon State University

Western snowpacks shrank dramatically over past century

Until the stormy weather of the past few days, the...

When animals attack, they’re usually not the ones you’d expect, a new study shows. Farm animals – including cows, horses and pigs – lead the pack in bites, kicks and other fatal attacks. They’re followed by insects like hornets, wasps and bees, and dog attacks are in third place.

The researchers, led by Dr. Jared A. Forrester of <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a>, analyzed U.S. fatalities from 2008 to 2015 that were caused by animals. 

“There were 1610 animal-related fatalities, with the majority from non-venomous animals (2.8 deaths per 10 million persons),” researchers wrote in the study, which has been published in the journal <a href="http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(17)30313-7/fulltext">Wilderness &amp; Environmental Medicine</a>. “The largest proportion of animal-related fatalities was due to ‘other mammals,’ largely composed of horses and cattle.”

Cats and raccoons are also included in the “other mammals” umbrella.

The researchers also found that many of the deaths were preventable, and death rates due to animal causes didn’t decrease over the seven-year period.

They used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database to collect demographic information about animal-related fatalities and the victims involved.

The findings show that it’s not necessarily bears and wolves most humans need to fear, but domestic animals.

"Importantly, most deaths are not actually due to wild animals like mountain lions, wolves, bears, sharks, etc., but are a result of deadly encounters with farm animals, anaphylaxis from bees, wasps, or hornet stings, and dog attacks,” Forrester said. 

Dog attacks were most likely to be fatal among children 4 and under, the researchers found.

The study also underlined how important it is for anyone with an allergy to bee, wasp or hornet venom carry and know how to use an epinephrine delivery device like an EpiPen. This is especially true in the U.S. Southwest, where “Africanized” honey bees live. The bees are known to swarm aggressively when provoked, and their attacks can be fatal.

Preventing more animal attacks could save the U.S. billions of dollars in emergency room visits and other medical costs each year.

The study was a follow-up to a previous project Forrester and his colleagues undertook to catalogue fatal attacks and other animal-related deaths from 1999 to 2007.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Horses and cows and pigs, oh my: Livestock lead in fatal attacks

When animals attack, they’re usually not the ones you’d expect,...

Thawing permafrost in the Arctic Circle is having an unexpected side effect: it’s turning northern lakes and ponds brown.

Permafrost contains <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melting-permafrost-climate-change/">massive amounts of carbon</a>, and scientists have predicted in the past that thawing permafrost could release all of that carbon. Now, they’re seeing evidence of just that.

A new study by an international team of scientists from Canada, Finland, Sweden and Denmark looked at 253 freshwater Arctic and subarctic lakes and ponds. They found that as permafrost melts and releases organic carbon, it makes its way to these northern ponds and changes their chemical makeup.

"Land-derived organic carbon is having a growing influence on Arctic and subarctic ponds, which carries over into the food web," the study authors said. "The browning of these systems leads to oxygen depletion and cooler water at the bottom of the ponds, which can have a major impact on the microbial activity responsible for the production and consumption of greenhouse gases, particularly the production of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas."

The carbon that is leaching into northern lakes and ponds is good at absorbing sunlight, the researchers said. That in turn makes the water darker and more stratified, which has a profound effect on the plants, animals and other organisms that live within them.

The team of scientists analyzed chemical, biological, optical, and isotopic measurements taken at the more than 200 bodies of water in 14 different circumpolar regions to come to their conclusions. The samples were all taken between 2002 and 2016, and 55 of the ponds were sampled multiple times.

Though there were variations between all of the ponds, the effects of the thawing permafrost could be observed in catchment soil, the scientists said.

The study has been published in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lol2.10063/full">Limnology and Oceanography Letters</a>. Core funding was provided by the <a href="http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/home-accueil-eng.aspx">Canada Research Chairs Program</a> and the <a href="http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/en/">Centre for Northern Studies</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Thawing permafrost causes ripples in northern lakes' health

Thawing permafrost in the Arctic Circle is having an unexpected...

Without a time machine, scientists can’t possibly know what Earth’s ancient climates looked like, right? Not exactly. Researchers have an array of tools they can use to peek at the ancient environment, and they’ve just added a new one to the kit: leaf wax.

Plants produce a protective, waxy substance in the cuticle of their leaves that changes depending on the environmental circumstances when the leaf budded and grew. The waxy substance helps to minimize water loss and protect leaves from UV radiation.

The makeup of this leaf wax changes depending on the conditions the plant is growing in. In dry conditions, for example, plants use different organic compounds and distribute them differently to hold onto more water and increase odds of survival.

The team of scientists, led by Dr. Yvette Eley of the <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/">University of Birmingham</a>, theorized that if they collected leaf wax lipids from organic soil and analyzed them, they could determine the growing conditions their parent plants grew in. 

"Looking at soil today, you're observing the integrated history of all the plant matter that went into forming that soil over the course of hundreds to thousands of years," Dr. Michael Hren of the <a href="https://uconn.edu/">University of Connecticut</a> said in a press release.

Eley and Hren examined leaf wax compounds in topsoil in North and South America, comparing their findings with modern climate records. They found a clear correlation with climate changes and distribution of leaf wax lipid compounds.

Paleoclimate scientists can get an idea of Earth’s past environment by analyzing stable isotopes in mammal bones and teeth, or ice core chemistry. But the new method fills an important gap, the researchers said.

"One of the huge gaps in the past is we didn't have great quantitative records of moisture," Hren said. "We're now managing to get a really nice glimpse of the whole ecosystem and how it's responding."

The study has been published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21959-w">Scientific Reports</a>. Funding was provided by the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://www.earth.com">Earth.com</a> staff writer

Leaf wax offers insight into Earth's climate history

Without a time machine, scientists can’t possibly know what Earth’s...

Today, an asteroid the size of a bus will pass within a lunar distance of the Earth 65,000 miles above the surface.

It’s a close call, but there is no need to be concerned that the asteroid, called 2018 DV1, will come in contact with Earth. This latest close encounter is actually the second recent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asteroid-blew-past-earth/">asteroid</a> to pass Earth, as 2018 DU swept pass Earth 175,000 miles above the surface on Sunday. 

Asteroids are so common that <a href="http://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-2018-dv1-closer-than-moon-mar-2-2018">EarthSky</a> reported 2018 DV1 is the 18th known asteroid to fly within one lunar distance of Earth since the start of the new year. 

2018 DV1 was discovered on Monday and advances in technology are only now making such sightings possible, which is why there may be more reported instances of close asteroids as astronomers are better able to detect them. 

An earlier asteroid named 2018 CB passed over one-fifth of a distance between the Earth and moon in February and was larger than this most recent asteroid, measuring between 50 and 130 feet in diameter. 2018 DV1 has an estimated diameter of 20 to 40 feet. 

“Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost exactly five years ago in 2013,” Paul Chodas of  <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5449317/Bus-sized-asteroid-fly-Earth-tomorrow.html">Daily Mail</a>.

2018 DV1 will be webcast live through the<a href="https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2018/02/28/near-earth-asteroid-2018-dv1-very-close-encounter-online-observations-2-mar-2018/"> Virtual Telescope Project</a> in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.tenagraobservatories.com/">Tengra Observatory</a> in Arizona. 

Similar live web footage has made it possible for people all over the world to view spectacular astronomical events such as the 2017 solar eclipse, which was broadcast by NASA. 

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>,<a href="https://www.earth.com/"> Earth.com </a>Staff Writer

An asteroid will pass between the Earth and Moon today

Today, an asteroid the size of a bus will pass...

Researchers at the <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory</a> may have just discovered an efficient method of converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into a usable energy. The experts have identified a new electrocatalyst that converts <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/co2-emissions-cars-uk/">CO2</a> to carbon monoxide (CO), which is a highly energetic molecule.

“There are many ways to use CO,” said co-author Eli Stavitski. “You can react it with water to produce energy-rich hydrogen gas, or with hydrogen to produce useful chemicals, such as hydrocarbons or alcohols. If there were a sustainable, cost-efficient route to transform CO2 to CO, it would benefit society greatly.”

Using single atoms of nickel as a catalyst, the researchers achieved what scientists have been trying to accomplish for years. Previous efforts were unsuccessful because a competing reaction called the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was dominant over the CO2 conversion reaction.

“Nickel metal, in bulk, has rarely been selected as a promising candidate for converting CO2 to CO,” said co-author Haotian Wang. “One reason is that it performs HER very well, and brings down the CO2 reduction selectivity dramatically. Another reason is because its surface can be easily poisoned by CO molecules if any are produced."

But now, the experts have found that single atoms of nickel produce a different result.

“Single atoms prefer to produce CO, rather than performing the competing HER, because the surface of a bulk metal is very different from individual atoms,” said Stavitski.

Co-author Klaus Attenkofer added, “The surface of a metal has one energy potential--it is uniform. Whereas on a single atom, every place on the surface has a different kind of energy.”

The CO2 conversion reaction was also facilitated by the interaction of the nickel atoms with a surrounding sheet of graphene. By anchoring the atoms to graphene, the scientists managed to adjust them and inhibit HER.

Results of the investigation revealed that single atoms of nickel catalyzed the CO2 conversion reaction with a 97 percent success rate. According to the study authors, the reliability of nickel atoms as a catalyst in this conversion process is a major step toward recycling CO2 for usable energy.

“To apply this technology to real applications in the future, we are currently aimed at producing this single atom catalyst in a cheap and large-scale way, while improving its performance and maintaining its efficiency,” said Wang.

The study is published in the journal <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/journal/ee">Energy &amp; Environmental Science</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

One step closer to recycling carbon dioxide into usable energy

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory...

Researchers at the <a href="http://www.manchester.ac.uk/">The University of Manchester</a> are working to create electronic swarms of bees and jumping spider robots. The experts believe that micro robots could blaze a trail into the next generation of technology.

Dr. Mostafa Nabawy is the Microsystems Research Theme Leader at the University's School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering.

“For our robotic spiders research we are looking at a specific species of jumping spider called Phidippus regius,” said Dr. Nabawy. “We have trained it to jump different distances and heights, recording the spider's every movement in extreme detail through high resolution cameras which can be slowed down.”

“We are now using this biomechanical data to model robots that can perform with the same abilities. With this extensive dataset we have already started developing prototype robots that can mimic these biomechanical movements and jump several centimetres.”

The robots were modeled after spiders because of their incredible ability to jump up to six times the length of their bodies from a standing position. Robots with this ability could be used for a variety of different purposes in complex engineering and manufacturing processes.

Dr. Nabawy said that another goal of the study is to replace declining <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/prepare-bees-pollinator-garden/">bee populations</a> with robotic bees that could pollinate crops and flowers.

“The ultimate aim is to create a robot bee that can fly independently and we're quite a long way into that project,” he explained. “But there are also many different opportunities for brilliant science and engineering outcomes along the way so it is a very exciting process.”

“We're aiming to create the world's first robot bee that can fly unaided and unaccompanied. These technologies can also be used for many different applications, including improving the current aerodynamic performances of aircraft.”

The research was presented by Dr. Nabawy at Manchester's Industry 4.0 Summit.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Engineers developing spider robots and electronic swarms of bees

Researchers at the The University of Manchester are working to...

A recent study has found that the brain still functions for some time even after a person’s heart stops, and if circulation is restored quickly enough, it’s possible to revive them. 

The research was conducted by a team of neurologists from the <a href="https://www.charite.de/en/">Charité–Universitätsmedizin</a> in Berlin and the<a href="https://med.uc.edu/"> University of Cincinnati College of Medicine</a>. 

Published in the journal Annals of Neurology, the study discusses an event called “spreading depolarization” and the critical timeline that a person has until the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/brain-learns-repeat-actions/">brain</a> completely shuts down and death is irreversible. 

For the study, the researchers attached electrodes to nine patients, both in Berlin and Ohio, who were dying from a fatal brain injury and who had requested not to be resuscitated. 

The electrodes allowed the researchers to examine brain activity leading up to and after someone’s death. 

In eight of the patients, the researchers observed an increase in electrical activity in the brain. This wave of spreading depolarization started two to five minutes after blood flow radically slowed down and stopped. 

The electrical activity was a response to the brain losing oxygen and energy, and the neurons function on reserves in the brain for a brief time until the brain eventually permanently shut down. 

The results show that that brain is still “conscious” even after the heart stops, and that there may be a small window of time after circulation is cut off from the brain that a person can still be revived. 

“After circulatory arrest, spreading depolarization marks the loss of stored electrochemical energy in brain cells and the onset of toxic processes that eventually lead to death,” said Jens Dreier told the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5444223/What-happens-brain-minutes-die.html">Daily Mail</a>. “'Importantly, it is reversible – up to a point – when the circulation is restored.” 

Although the researchers are not sure how long a person has until the brain shuts down completely, the results could impact future research examining the traditional markers of death and how to handle patients before declaring a time of death.  

--

By <a href="mailto:kayvandette@gmail.com">Kay Vandette</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The brain remains conscious for some time after the heart stops

A recent study has found that the brain still functions...

“It’s no secret that we derive pleasure from doing things we enjoy, such as playing our favorite video game,” says Rui Costa, the associate director and CEO of <a href="https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/">Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute</a> and senior author of a paper published today in <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/">Science</a>. His research reveals how brain activity is shaped and refined as mice learn to repeat behaviors that result in a feeling of pleasure. 

But how does this relate to playing video games? 

“When you move the game controller in exactly the right way to earn that high score, your brain remembers how it executed that action – which neurons get switched on, and in what pattern – so your brain can recreate that same move the next time you play,” says Costa, who is also a professor of neuroscience and neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “After repeated attempts, your brain gets better at recreating that pattern of neural activity, and you get better at the game.”

When we do something we enjoy, our neurons are triggered to release dopamine, resulting in a feel-good sensation and creating a desire to repeat that action again and again. The researchers wanted to determine if the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greener-neighborhood-brain-development/">brain</a> could be trained to learn the right pattern of neural activity involved in experiencing something enjoyable, and then repeat that pattern to trigger a dopamine release at will.

Using mice as test subjects, the researchers developed a computer program that connected the neural activity in the brains of mice to musical notes. When one group of neurons switched on, a corresponding musical note played. Varying patterns of neural activity resulted in different combinations of notes. When neural activity patterns triggered the right arrangement of musical notes – determined by the computer program – the scientists manually released dopamine into the animals’ brains.

Through this process, the mice learned which musical arrangement would result in a dopamine release. Their brains then began to rewire themselves to play that song more often, thus triggering dopamine release more often as well. This means that through hearing these musical notes, the mice learned to repeat the pattern of corresponding brain activity that they had previously evoked dopamine release and pleasure.

“In some ways, these results are entirely expected,” says Costa. “It makes sense that the brain would mimic the feeling of reward it gets from an enjoyable experience by producing the corresponding pattern of neural activity. But it had never been tested.”

This study may be able to help us learn more about disorders such as addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). “If the brain’s neural-activity patterns are in overdrive, as is often the case for people with addiction or OCD, could we create a computer program that can help to retrain their brains and downshift this activity?” Costa wonders. “This is something we’re actively exploring.”

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

The brain learns to repeat actions that bring pleasure

“It’s no secret that we derive pleasure from doing things...

Researchers in Austria have found evidence that there could be life inside of the solar system beyond our planet. They are reporting that a species of methane-producing microbes found on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/earths-remaining-untouched-forests/">Earth</a> may also be thriving on a moon that orbits Saturn.

Enceladus is an ice-covered moon that contains many of the components necessary for life, making it a popular target for research. The moon has a warm ocean just beneath its surface, as well as mysterious cracks at it southernmost point that release compounds including methane, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide.

Microorganisms on Earth use these compounds for growth, and the researchers believe that it is possible that there are microbes living in the underground ocean of Enceladus. 

The team theorizes that microbes called methanogenic archaea could be using carbon dioxide and hydrogen for development, and then expelling the methane that surrounds Enceladus.

For their investigation, the scientists grew three methanogenic archaea in the lab. Two of the microorganisms were from regions near Iceland and Japan that were isolated from Earth’s hydrothermal vent systems, while the third was a control species.

The experts exposed the microbes to harsh conditions that represented those found on Enceladus. The study revealed that one type of methanogenic archaea could survive even in the presence of extremely harsh chemicals like formaldehyde.

The researchers also found that a process called low-temperature serpentinisation, which is believed to occur at the core of Enceladus, could generate enough hydrogen to promote microbial life.

Dr. Simon Rittmann is a senior scientist in the Department of Ecogenomics and Systems Biology at the <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/">University of Vienna</a> and the study's lead author.

“If you know where these microbes survive on Earth, the results are not that surprising,” Dr. Rittmann told <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html">MailOnline</a>. “These organisms have a very special and ancient physiology - they are one of the first evolutionary developments on this planet. Our results suggest that these organisms or similar could exist on Enceladus.”

The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natastron/">Nature Astronomy</a>.

--

By <a href="http://csexton@earth.com">Chrissy Sexton</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Earth may not be the only planet with life in our solar system

Researchers in Austria have found evidence that there could be...

One of the inevitable consequences of aging is <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-slow-memory-loss/">memory loss</a> and inability to think as quickly and clearly. For some people, this problem occurs faster and more drastically than others. Now, scientists believe they have a new way to determine who is more likely to develop thinking and memory problems as they age.

A recent study in the journal <a href="http://www.neurology.org/">Neurology</a> has found that people whose eyes show signs of small changes in blood vessels at age 60 may be more likely to develop thinking and memory problems by the time they are 80 than people with healthy eyes.

The researchers had 12,317 participants take memory tests and assess their thinking skills at the beginning of the study. They then did follow-up tests six years later and a third time 20 years later. Using a special retinal camera, they also took photos of the back of the participants’ eyes about three years after the study began. At this point in time, the participants were an average age of 60.  Of the participants studied, 11,692 had no signs of retinopathy – damage to the blood vessels in the retina – while 365 people had mild retinopathy and 256 people had moderate to severe damage. 

“Problems with the small blood vessels in the brain are likely as important a factor in cognitive decline as problems with larger arteries, but we don’t have the ability to take pictures of these small vessels with brain imaging,” says Jennifer A. Deal, of <a href="https://www.jhu.edu/">Johns Hopkins University</a> and one of the study’s authors. 
“Because the blood vessels in the eye and the brain are so similar anatomically, we hypothesized that looking at the blood vessels in the eye would help us understand what was happening in the brain.”

The results showed that people who had moderate to severe retinopathy were more likely to have larger declines in their scores on the memory and thinking tests over time than those who had healthy eyes. “If our study results can be confirmed, differences in retinal integrity could provide reasonable estimates of how much small blood vessel damage in the brain is contributing to cognitive decline,” says Deal. Further study could increase our understanding of the factors behind cognitive decline, and possibly help us combat the condition in the future.

--

By <a href="mailto:certz@earth.com">Connor Ertz</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Future memory loss can be detected in our eyes today

One of the inevitable consequences of aging is memory loss...

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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

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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

[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

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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



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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

[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

[sendtonews key="3UUsNkFOuS-2487333-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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"

[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...