Researchers have discovered that mangrove forests - a shield against destructive storms across many coastlines - are now suffocating underwater in the Maldives.



The data shows that the combination of an escalating sea level and a shift in Indian Ocean conditions has caused some Maldivian islands to lose more than half of their mangrove <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mangroves-and-saltmarshes-are-much-better-at-storing-carbon-than-previously-believed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cover</a> since 2020.



The researchers, led by Lucy Carruthers and Dr. Vasile Ersek of Northumbria University, noted that this isn't a singular incident affecting only the Maldives. 



The experts said that extreme climate events represent an emerging threat to mangroves and coastal ecosystems worldwide.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-slowly-deteriorating-mangroves">Slowly deteriorating mangroves</h2>



In 2020, the mangroves on more than a quarter of the Maldives islands started showing signs of slow deterioration, sliding into a state known as dieback, before bidding the world adieu. 



The intensity of this mangrove loss phenomenon was captured by satellite imagery. The experts found that some islands had lost more than half of their mangrove cover.



For their investigation of mangrove dieback, the researchers combined evidence from sea level, climate data, and remote sensing. Field observations of sediment geochemistry and dendrology were also taken into consideration.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-signs-of-salinity-stress-in-mangroves">Signs of salinity stress in mangroves </h2>



According to the results, the dead trees exhibited increased signs of salinity stress when compared to their living counterparts.



This stress gives us a clue that the tree roots were having a tough time dealing with the heightened salt levels, which played a key role in their demise.



The scientists concluded that sea levels around the Maldives had risen at an escalated rate of over 30mm per year from 2017 to 2020. 



Adding fuel to the fire, there was a particularly intense shift in the Indian Ocean Dipole during this period. This brought along warmer sea surface temperatures and a sea-level increase in the Western Indian Ocean.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limited-tidal-movement">Limited tidal movement </h2>



While mangroves do have a way to cope with slow and steady rising seas by building up sediment, they found the pace of sea level rise over the past few years too fast to keep up with. 



Due to limited tidal movements in the basin areas where many <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mangroves-and-saltmarshes-are-much-better-at-storing-carbon-than-previously-believed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mangrove forests</a> grow, the rising sea levels essentially drowned them. 



The lack of tidal movement and the consequent flooding obstructed the mangroves from building the sediment they needed to stay above water.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-extreme-magnitude-of-forest-dieback">Extreme magnitude of forest dieback</h2>



Dr. Vasile Ersek is an associate professor in Northumbria University’s <a href="https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/academic-departments/geography-and-environmental-sciences/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences</a>.



"Dieback was first observed in the center of low-lying basin areas before gradually spreading outwards," said Dr. Ersek.



"As these basin areas have something we call limited tidal flushing we saw evidence of the rising sea level inundating the forests with seawater. This prolonged exposure created higher concentrations of salt."



“As the mangroves’ build-up of sediment slowed down due to the pace of the rising sea level, the soil salinity increased beyond what even these salt-tolerant trees could handle. Essentially, the mangroves were drowning."



Dr. Ersek noted that the extreme magnitude of dieback seen in the Maldives is a vivid illustration of how climate change may push natural systems past their limits, with cascading consequences for both nature and people.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-mangroves-in-a-warning-climate">Future of mangroves in a warning climate</h2>



Lucy Carruthers, the study's lead author, is now a postdoctoral scholar in <a href="https://coastal.ecu.edu/faculty/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">East Carolina University’s Department of Coastal Studies</a>.



“Sea level in the region reached its highest point on tide gauge records when the dieback occurred in 2020. This coincided with an intense positive phase in the Indian Ocean Dipole which can induce climate extremes for countries within the Indian Ocean," said Carruthers. 



“As our planet continues to warm, we can expect to see the Indian Ocean Dipole occurring more frequently and at higher magnitude, meaning events like this mangrove die-off may become more common."



“These remarkable forests have thrived at the interface of land and sea for many centuries. Whether they can survive the rapid changes of the coming decades will depend largely on our actions in managing the climate crisis today.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-73776-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scientific Reports</a>.



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Drowning mangroves: Climate change is pushing nature past its limits

Researchers have discovered that mangrove forests - a shield against destructive storms across many coastlines - are now suffocating underwater in the Maldives. The data shows that the combination of an escalating sea level and a shift in Indian Ocean conditions has caused some Maldivian islands to lose more than half of their mangrove cover since 2020. The researchers, led by Lucy Carruthers and Dr. Vasile Ersek of Northumbria University, noted that this isn't a singular incident affecting only the Maldives. The experts said that extreme climate...

One detail of President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget has climate scientists worried. The budget could make deep cuts to Environmental Protection Agency funding, including hundreds of millions of dollars that support research.

Environmentalists say the deep cuts to academic research and fact-finding projects could have huge consequences if they make it into the official federal budget, which the president will unveil on Thursday.

Among the cuts suggested in the proposed budget is a 40 percent reduction of funding for the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">EPA</a>’s Office of Research and Development, according to sources who spoke to the media. The agency’s Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program could see up to half its funding slashed, they said. 

“A budget is a statement of priorities, and with this proposal, Trump is telling America he doesn’t care about what happens to children who are forced to drink toxic water and breathe polluted air,” Sierra Club president Michael Brune said in a <a href="http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/02/trump-budget-attacks-core-american-values-public-health">press release</a> upon the unveiling of the federal budget outline. 

It’s not just environmental activists who are concerned. Scientists around the U.S. have released statements expressing worries over the Trump administration’s attitude toward scientific research. 

“There are important research grant programs at EPA, NOAA, USDA and other parts of the government,” Dr. Robert Cook-Deegan of <a href="http://www.asu.edu/">Arizona State University</a> said in February at the <a href="https://www.aaas.org/news/science-policy-faces-uncertainties-under-new-administration">2017 AAAS Annual Meeting</a>. “There are a lot of people in those programs worried about climate and energy research. All we have right now are question marks.”

Cutting the EPA’s budget would jeopardize public health, Elliot Negin wrote at the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gutting-epas-budget-and-staff-would-endanger-the-health_us_58b75494e4b0563cd36f6496">Huffington Post</a>. 

“If anything, the environmental challenges of today suggest that the EPA needs more money and staffing to carry out its congressionally mandated mission, especially since Congress has already reduced its budget between fiscal years 2010 and 2016 by 28 percent in real dollars,” wrote Negin, a senior writer for the <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>. Staff has also shrunk by about 10 percent in the past 10 years, he said.

The proposed slash of research funding in the federal budget would come with other <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trumps-budget-epa-programs/">deep cuts at the EPA</a> – up to 24 percent of the agency’s budget.

Those cuts would trickle down to states that rely on the EPA not just to fund clean air and water programs, but to provide educational materials, scientific studies and training not easily available elsewhere, Negin said.

“We must not return to an era when mercury, smog, lead, hazardous wastes, acid rain, sulfur dioxides, radon and pesticides galore went unregulated. To curtail testing our water or monitoring our air quality is to court disaster,” Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defence Council, said in a <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2017/170227-0">press release</a> in response to the proposed cuts. “Since its creation in 1970, EPA has proven to be a health-protection agency extraordinaire, providing us with clean air, water and lands. There is no turning back.”

However, a bill currently in the House of Representatives, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/861">H.R. 861</a>, would go even farther and dissolve the Environmental Protection Agency by December 31, 2018 if passed.

The president has also proposed huge cuts to the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>’s research into Earth’s changing <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/steep-budget-cuts-noaa/">oceans and atmosphere</a>. President Trump has previously criticized <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>’s Earth Sciences program, though no official cuts have been proposed at this time.

—

By <a href="mailto:kcathey@earth.com">Kyla Cathey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com/staff">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

New federal budget could cut climate change research funds

One detail of President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget has...

We already know that CO2 stored in soil is a major contributor to carbon release into the atmosphere. In fact, the soil contains more than three times the amount of <a href="https://www.earth.com/video/giant-molten-carbon-lake/">carbon</a> than what’s found in the atmosphere at any one time.

What researchers conducting soil warming experiments for the <a href="https://energy.gov/">U.S. Department of Energy’s</a> National Laboratory found was that microbes break down the soil at a faster rate when warmed and that the added heat most affects deeper soil. What this could say about the future is that, as climate change continues to intensity, it might lead to a faster rate of CO2 release from soil and act as a sort of feedback loop to further intensify the effects of climate change.

Soil warming experiments have been conducted before, but this was the first that tested warming conditions on much lower soil depths. The researchers surrounded soil plots with heating cables buried more than two meters below the surface of the plots. Half the plots were heated 4 degrees C – replicating the predicted level of temperature increase by the year 2100 – for two years while the other half were left unheated.

What they found was that the heated plots resulted in between 34 and 37 percent more carbon release than the unheated plots. Furthermore, 40 percent of the increase came from soil more than 15 centimeters down. And it’s estimated that soil below 20 centimeters down contribute more than half of the planet’s soil organic carbon.

“There's an assumption that carbon in the subsoil is more stable and not as responsive to warming as in the topsoil, but we've learned that's not the case,” said study co-author Margaret Torn. “Deeper soil layers contain a lot of carbon, and our work indicates it's a key missing component in our understanding of the potential feedback of soils to the planet's climate.”

The research was reported in the March issue of the journal Science.

 --

By David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/"> Science</a>

Soil releases CO2 faster at deeper depths as climate warms

We already know that CO2 stored in soil is a...

Last week, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trumps-budget-epa-programs/">we reported</a> on the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> (EPA) programs likely to be cut under the Trump administration. Now, Trump-appointed EPA head Scott Pruitt has caused an uproar after saying in an interview that he does not believe that carbon dioxide is a major cause of global warming. 

"I would not agree that [CO2] is a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Scott Pruitt told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in an <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/09/epa-chief-scott-pruitt.html">interview</a> today.

"I believe that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there's tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact," said Pruitt.

It is an unprecedented move for the leader of an organization responsible for preserving the environment to question what the scientific community has already proven as <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/CO2-and-global-warming-faq.html#.WMHGamX9P7E">fact</a>: that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-carbon-dioxide-levels-reach-another-all-time-high/">carbon dioxide</a> is a heat trapping gas and that humans are causing the climate to warm by releasing mass amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Pruitt’s statements even contradict the very stance of the organization he oversees, as stated on the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-science/causes-climate-change">EPA website</a>.

Former EPA Chief Gina McCarthy said in a statement, “The world of science is about empirical evidence, not beliefs. When it comes to climate change, the evidence is robust and overwhelmingly clear that the cost of inaction is unacceptably high."

Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, co-chair of the Senate Climate Action Task Force, had strong words for Pruitt. "Anyone who denies over a century's worth of established science and basic facts is unqualified to be the administrator of the EPA. Now more than ever, the Senate needs to stand up to Scott Pruitt and his dangerous views," Schatz said in a statement.

According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/us/politics/scott-pruitt-environmental-protection-agency.html?_r=0">The New York Times</a>, Pruitt is expected to appoint additional climate change skeptics to high posts at EPA. Many of his appointees are likely to come from the office of Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, Pruitt’s longtime friend and a Republican senator known for his skepticism of climate change.

Interestingly enough, Pruitt’s remarks on global warming follow what the <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/">NOAA</a> has reported was the second-warmest February in the past 123 years.

--

By Rory Arnold, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/09/epa-chief-scott-pruitt.html">CNBC</a>

EPA Head Scott Pruitt doubts scientific facts of global warming

Last week, we reported on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...

In a stunning development, brain activity was found to continue for ten minutes after the clinical death of one of four test subjects in a hospital in Canada. The heart rates of all four were monitored, and all brain activity stopped after death in three of the subjects. But not for the fourth, according to research conducted scientists at the <a href="http://www.uwo.ca/">University of Western Ontario</a> and written up in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/">The National Centre for Biotechnology Information</a>.

“In one patient, single delta wave bursts persisted following the cessation of both the cardiac rhythm and arterial blood pressure (ABP),” researchers wrote.

Delta waves are the level of brain activity we put out while in deep sleep.

This research followed an earlier and more ghoulish study of brain activity in newly deceased rats in 2013. Researchers found brain activity for one minute after the rodents had been beheaded. Even more shockingly, the brain signals were up to eight times stronger than while the rats were alive and fully conscious.

In this current study, the human subject’s brain activity was stronger in the first five minutes after death than in the 30 minutes preceding it.

So when can we say that “actual” death occurs? If there’s still brain activity for several minutes after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sharks-hear-preys-heartbeat-important/">heart</a> stops beating and clinical death occurs, when is it ethically permissible to harvest organs for transplant? That’s an important question for ethicists since donated organs must be removed with little time to spare.

Scientists not involved with the research are cautious to draw any sort of conclusions since the phenomenon only occurred in one of four test patients.

Keep in mind that as many as 20 percent of patients who’ve come back from clinical death report out-of-body experiences, which science usually attributes to the hallucinations of brains going amuck as they shut down. Why does this happen sometimes – but not on a consistent basis?

What’s really going on? That’s the rational question following this latest brain activity study.

-- 

By David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source:<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28231862"> National Centre for Biotechnology Information</a>

Brain activity can continue for 10 minutes after death

In a stunning development, brain activity was found to continue...

DNA technology has progressed to the point where researchers can – and have – identified the types of meals and even relationships based on analysis of fossilized remains. Now, researchers have made an interesting discovery from a hardened tooth plaque of five Neanderthals found in a <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/millipede-species/">cave</a>.

Our ancient relatives seem to have had the capability to use natural remedies to treat oral pain and stomach ailments. And they appear to have interacted intimately – smooched, at the very least – with humans.

“It really paints a different picture, almost of their personalities, of really who they were,” said study co-leader Laura Weyrich, a palaeomicrobiologist at the <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide in Australia</a> of the findings from El Sidrón Cave in northern Spain.

The clue of natural pain remedy use was the unexpected DNA found on the teeth of one of the El Sidrón Neanderthals. It came from poplar trees and a mold that’s the source of penicillin. Poplars contain salicyclic acid, which is traditionally used to make aspirin. The conclusion is that the remedies were used to try to treat a visible tooth abscess and a stomach infection.

As for the suggestion of possible fooling around between humans and Neanderthals, that came about with genetic evidence of a microbe called Methanobrevibacter oralis in the mouths of the El Sidrón Cave crew that can still be found in modern human mouths but was not endemic to Neanderthal populations.

“If you’re swapping spit between species, there’s kissing going on, or at least food sharing,” says Weyrich, “which would suggest that these interactions were much friendlier and much more intimate than anybody ever possibly imagined.”

The study also suggested that Neanderthal diets consisted of whatever they could scrounge up. While a 2013 study of the plaque DNA of a Neanderthal population found in a cave in Belgium discovered woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep on the menu, the El Sidrón group indicated a primarily plant-based diet – mushrooms, moss and pine nuts.

The research team’s findings were reported in <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/">Nature</a>.

 --

By David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source:<a href="http://www.nature.com/news/neanderthal-tooth-plaque-hints-at-meals-and-kisses-1.21593"> Nature</a>

Neanderthals might have smooched with humans and treated toothache

DNA technology has progressed to the point where researchers can...

This will not be good news for germaphobes. <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">MIT</a> researchers using high-speed cameras have found that bacteria gets around in ways that are tough, if not impossible, to avoid. They attach to fallen raindrops and then take their nastiness airborne with evaporation. They can live in a protective moisture bubble for up to an hour.

Once in the atmosphere, the bacteria become bioaerosols that can spread from nation to nation, contributing to biological forms of pollution.

As the researchers wrote, “In the atmosphere, bioaerosols can influence on the global climate, promoting cloud formation and ice nucleation even though their fraction is relatively small compared to all the atmospheric aerosols. On the ground, bioaerosols can change micro-biogeography faster than many other transport mechanisms.”

The effect on humans and animals can be even more immediate – and nasty.

“Bioaerosols can be effective carriers of pathogenic organisms to plants, animals and humans, resulting in the spread of disease,” the MIT researchers wrote.

The team conducted experiments with the use of three types of harmless bacteria in petri dishes replicating soil conditions. In addition to the high-speed cameras, they tracked bacterial activity with fluorescent imaging and modeling experiments.

So how effective is this mode of transportation? The amount of bacteria transported this way was small, but it added up. The MIT team reported that 0.01 percent of bacteria on the soil surface piggybacked on a single drop of rain. As small and meaningless as that number sounds, it translated to as much as 25 percent of all soil-based bacteria finding its way into the atmosphere through global precipitation, the scientists estimated.

The research team reported its findings in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>.

 --

By Earth.com Staff Writer David Searls

Source: <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>

How bacteria travels through rain and spreads all over

This will not be good news for germaphobes. MIT researchers...

Uber has had a rough few weeks. From sexual harassment allegations to stolen technology lawsuits to a disturbing video of <a href="https://www.earth.com/image/uber-flying-car/">Uber</a> CEO Travis Kalanick berating a driver, the ride-sharing giant could use some good news. Unfortunately, we don’t have any for them. According to a new study, yellow taxis have been found to be safer than cabs that look like regular cars.

The study was performed by researchers at the <a href="http://www.nus.edu.sg/">National University of Singapore</a> and was published in the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/02/28/1612551114.abstract">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</a>. The team set out to see if there is a link between the color of a taxi and the frequency of its car accidents by comparing yellow taxis to blue cabs. 

The research found that yellow taxis are 9 percent less likely to be involved in accidents than blue ones. Scientists believe that this is in part due to the higher visibility of the color yellow, which makes other drivers more aware of its presence, thus making it easier to avoid hitting.

“The findings of our study suggest that color visibility should play a major role in determining the colors used for public transport vehicles,” said Professor Ho Teck Hua, lead-author of the study. “A commercial decision to change all taxis to yellow may save lives and potentially reduce economic losses by millions of dollars. Our results are also noteworthy to smaller taxi companies and to drivers who use their private vehicles as taxis to work for private-hire car services.”

The study was conducted over the course of 36 months, during which time researchers recorded accident data from two fleets of yellow and blue taxis. The team analyzed records from 4,175 yellow taxis and 12,525 blue cabs and found that yellow taxis average 6 fewer accidents per month. 

“We are keen to further validate the findings of our study by looking at the use of yellow in other types of public transport, such as school buses,” added Professor Ho. “For instance, we hope to compare the accident rates of yellow school buses against other colors to find out if yellow is indeed a safer color for school buses. Furthermore, we are also interested to look at private-hire vehicles and do a comparison of the accident rates of vehicles that are of different colors.”

--

By Rory Arnold, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.nus.edu.sg/">National University of Singapore</a>

Sorry Uber, yellow taxis found to be safer than other colors

Uber has had a rough few weeks. From sexual harassment...

To scientists, poop can be an exciting discovery. At least, it’s pretty interesting if it’s 180 million-year-old dinosaur poop fossils from a newly discovered <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dinosaurs-evolved-running/">dinosaur</a> species and it contains the creature’s undigested final meal.

The skeletal remains of the Early Jurassic Period herbivore, now known as Isaberrysaura mollensis, was discovered in Argentina and written up in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/">Scientific Reports</a>.

What was most intriguing about the meal discovery was that the dinosaur’s diet consisted of gulped – not chewed – seeds that were intact in the fossilized excrement, though permineralized. This means that they’d been turned to minerals over time.

The findings added volumes to what we know about dinosaur diets.

“As in modern ecosystems, there were complex ecological relations between plants and plant-eating organisms,” the authors wrote. “However, there is little evidence of the type and the parts of plants on which different phytophagous dinosaurs fed.”

The fossilized food remains were found in the skeleton’s “ghost gut” and came from cycad seed plants and other seed species. The term ghost gut implies that the stomach was no longer around, but the seeds were found where it would be.

The lack of chewing, or mastication, isn’t rare among certain animals even today. Elephants, for instance, eat the same types of seeds in the same hurried manner.

The findings also had interesting ramifications on earth’s ecosystem in pre-human times. The loaded excrement of the non-chewing herbivores might have played an unwitting but important role in the planting of the era’s fruit trees.

--

By Earth.com Staff Writer David Searls

Source:<a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/"> Scientific Reports</a>

Fossilized poop discovery provides important clues to dino diet

To scientists, poop can be an exciting discovery. At least,...

Black swan events is the lyrical name given to describe what’s more graphically known as “sudden die-offs” in the animal kingdom. One example that made fairly recent headlines was the mass death of some 200,000 saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan in 2015 – representing one-third of the world population of the species.

Scientists from the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/">University of Washington</a> and <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/">Simon Fraser University</a> in Canada studied data on 600 animal populations and have identified ways of detecting these events. They also earmarked four major causes: parasites, severe winters, predators – and climate change.

In fact, the researchers are predicting that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/calculating-cost-climate-change/">climate change</a> will cause these events to be make headlines more often in the near future. Think of how the Ice Age wiped out entire species.

“We expect an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme climate, and it’s quite possible we will see black swan events become more common in animal populations,” said the study’s lead author, Sean Anderson, a UW postdoctoral research in aquatic and fishery sciences.

The research team’s findings were published in the March 7 edition of <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

They also emphasized that groups studying species extinction models should also take these die-offs into their calculations and better manage animal populations so as to avoid species loss when these events do occur.

“Everyone just assumes an animal population has an equal chance of going up or down, but we’ve found that isn’t true,” said study co-author Trevor Branch, a UW associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. “My hope is that when people are trying to assess extinction risk, they will use different models that project into the future in a more accurate way.”

As for the species involved in the die-offs, the researchers studied mammals, birds, fish and insects and found that birds were most commonly involved and fish rarely experienced the event.

In the case of the saiga antelopes, a bacterial infection that’s common to the species but turned hemorrhagic was the culprit that raced through herds.

--

By Earth.com Staff Writer David Searls

Source:<a href="http://www.pnas.org/"> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>

Will climate change make black swan events more common?

Black swan events is the lyrical name given to describe...

Common excuses like “I have terrible memory!” or “I’m bad with names!” may not work so well for much longer. According to a new study, the human brain can be trained to significantly improve memory and the ability to remember large sums of information. 

The study was performed the a team of researchers at <a href="http://www.ru.nl/english/">Radbound University Medical Center</a> in Nijmegen, The Netherlands and published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.02.003">Neuron</a>. 

According to the study, after 40 days of daily 30-minute memory training sessions, individuals with typical memory skills more than doubled their memory capacity. Trainees went from recalling an every of 26 words from a list of 72, to remembering 62. After four months without continued training, they still retained a high recall performance.

"After training we see massively increased performance on memory tests," said Martin Dresler, first author of the study and Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at <a href="http://www.ru.nl/english/">Radboud University Medical Center</a>. "Not only can you induce a behavioral change, the training also induces similar brain connectivity patterns as those seen in memory athletes."

Dresler worked alongside co-author Boris Konrad, a professional memory trainer and accomplished <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/tree-vegetation-in-the-arctic-has-memory/">memory</a> athlete who can memorize 500 digits or 100 words in 5 minutes. They studied the brains of 23 different memory athletes and 23 people of a similar age and health status with typical memory skills. Dressler measured brain activity by detecting changes in brain blood flow in order to determine the differences in the strength of communication across the brain.

At first, the team expected that the memory athletes would possess significant differences in brain anatomy, much like how bodybuilders have larger-than-average-muscles. Instead, they found that the differences were actually in the brain’s connectivity patterns. The memory athletes were found to have a subset of 25 connections that those with typical memory skills lacked.

Dresler emphasized that the athletes were not simply born with these connectivity patterns, but rather, built them over time. "They, without a single exception, trained for months and years using mnemonic strategies to achieve these high levels of performance," he said.

--

By Rory Arnold, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.02.003">Neuron</a>

How the brain can be trained to significantly improve memory

Common excuses like “I have terrible memory!” or “I’m bad...

Superbees may only sound like a good idea if it’s the title of a drive-in horror film, but there’s actually some logic to the concept. The idea is that DNA sequencing could enable honey <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-smarter-thought/">bees</a> to be bred to withstand the effects of the parasites and pathogens that are decimating their populations across the globe.

A large study of 28 researchers across eight nations took the first critical step in that direction by identifying relevant genes.

“Our team created a new bioinformatics tool that has enabled us to integrate information from 19 different genomic data sets to identify the key genes involved in honey bees’ response to diseases,” said study co-author Professor Christina Grozinger, a professor of entomology at <a href="http://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a>.

With that information, scientists can not only breed heartier superbees, but can use what they learn about pathogens to control insects pests such as aphids and some moths.

“Honey bees were thought to respond to different disease organisms in entirely different ways, but we have learned that they mostly rely on a core set of genes that they turn on or off in response to any major pathogenic challenge,” said Professor Robert Paxton, a professor of zoology at the <a href="https://www.idiv.de/">German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research</a> and a co-author of the study. 'We can now explore the physiological mechanisms by which pathogens overcome their honey-bee hosts, and how honey bees can fight back against those pathogens.”

The findings of this study can also be used to protect other species, such as bumblebees.

Dr. Vincent Doublet, a researcher at the <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> and lead co-author of the study said, “With this analysis, we generated a list of genes that will likely be an important source for future functional studies, for breeding more resilient honeybee stocks and for controlling emerging bee diseases.”

--

By David Searls, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: <a href="http://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a>, <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a>, <a href="https://www.idiv.de/">German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research</a>

Scientists learn how to breed disease-resistant superbees

Superbees may only sound like a good idea if it’s...

Try not to panic, but <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/basking-sharks-vacation/">sharks</a> can detect your heartbeat in the water. What’s actually happening is that these sea predators, as well as rays and skates, can respond to the heartbeat of their prey through their super-sensitive electro-sensory organs.  And now we understand how that process works, from genes through response, thanks to research conducted at the <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">University of California at San Francisco</a> (UCSF).

The heart of the matter, so to speak, is electro-sensory cells that pick up even faint electrical signals.

The UCSF team examined the ampullary organ of a species of skate known as the little skate and found two ionic currents. The first, a voltage-sensitive calcium current that admits calcium ions into the cell in response to electrical disturbances, and the second, a calcium-sensitive potassium current that alters the normal electrical properties of the cell. These two currents interact to create an oscillating effect that allows the skate to fix on even the tiniest electrical signals, such as from the heartbeat of food sources in the ocean’s sandy bottom.

When the researchers chemically blocked these ion channels, the skates would be unaware of electrical signals in their aquariums that mimicked prey.

One of the reasons this research is important is that the electro-sensory organs of these marine animals are very similar to the human auditory system.

As Dr. Nicholas Bellono, a postdoctoral researcher in UCSF’s Julius lab and co-author of the study puts it, “Versions of the same ion channels with subtly different electrical properties are similarly important in our ears. So understanding exactly how small differences in these channels affect electrical function could be important for better understanding the auditory system.”

It also helps us advance our understanding of electrical receptors in other animals, said another co-author of the study.

--

By David Searls, Earth.com Staff Writer

Source: <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/">University of California at San Francisco</a>

How sharks ‘hear’ their prey’s heartbeat, and why it’s important

Try not to panic, but sharks can detect your heartbeat...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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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



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Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.acs.org/">American Chemical Society</a> explores the ability of salt to transform the way that foods and beverages taste. Salt is known to cover up undesirable flavors, such as bitterness in coffee or beer, but how exactly does sodium chloride change the taste of other compounds?



One previous study showed that, not only does salt suppress bitterness, but also enhances sweetness and sourness. Another study revealed that bitterness reduction by salt seems to be happening at the tongue receptor level as well as in the brain.&nbsp;



While it is known that salt taste is mediated by the presence of sodium channels in the form of taste buds, experts believe that there is also an unknown receptor responsible for how we taste salt that has not yet been identified.&nbsp;



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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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



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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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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



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The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[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...