Earworms - those persistent tunes that play in our heads unbidden - can be more than a minor annoyance.



Imagine going about your day when, without warning, a song loops repeatedly in your mind. 



While these spontaneous musical memories can feel intrusive, earworms offer a fascinating glimpse into the precision of our musical recall.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-unveiling-the-mystery-of-earworms">Unveiling the mystery of earworms</h2>



A recent study has shed light on the surprising accuracy of earworms.



Published in the journal Attention, Perception, &amp; Psychophysics, the study revealed that nearly half of participants' renditions of earworms matched the original <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/most-people-have-a-hidden-musical-talent-for-singing-on-pitch/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pitch</a> of the songs.



This finding challenges prior beliefs about the limitations of musical memory, suggesting that our brains may preserve detailed “absolute pitch” memories even without formal pitch recognition skills.



Earworms, experienced by over 90% of people, are involuntary musical memories that spontaneously play in our minds. 



This study indicates that our recall of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/song-melodies-have-become-much-simpler-since-1950/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">melodies</a> may be more precise than previously thought, even without external references.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-encountering-music-in-a-new-light">Encountering music in a new light</h2>



Matthew G. Evans, PhD candidate at <a href="https://admissions.ucsc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">UC Santa Cruz</a>, said he first learned about the field of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/music-can-prevent-brain-aging-and-cognitive-decline/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">music</a> cognition from Daniel Levitin’s book&nbsp;This Is Your Brain On Music. 



"In that book, he describes a study where they found evidence for absolute pitch recall in voluntarily-recalled musical imagery - and I tried it myself, and it worked, and I’ve been hooked on the topic of musical memory ever since.”



Evans set out to investigate whether this accurate recall extended to spontaneous earworms or was limited only to songs that people purposefully tried to remember.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-earworms-more-than-just-random-tunes">Earworms: More than just random tunes</h2>



The study involved 30 undergraduate students who participated in a two-week research period aimed at exploring the accuracy of spontaneous musical recall. 



Using the experience sampling method, the researchers documented these involuntary musical memories in real time by sending participants random text prompts throughout the day.



Students were asked to record any song playing in their minds, capturing the natural occurrence of earworms outside of a controlled laboratory setting.



While most participants had some familiarity with music, none reported having perfect pitch or formal training that would give them an advantage in recalling exact musical notes. 



Each recording was analyzed against the original <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-evolution-of-song-lyrics-less-complexity-and-more-emotion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">song</a> to determine how closely the pitch matched the song’s actual key. 



The findings were striking: 44.7% of the earworms matched the original song’s pitch exactly. When the range was expanded to include recordings within one semitone of the original pitch, nearly 69% of the renditions met this criterion - far surpassing what could be attributed to random chance.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-melodic-imprint-of-our-brains">The melodic imprint of our brains</h2>



The study also found that pitch accuracy was not significantly affected by recent exposure to a song.



Some participants noted that their earworm was triggered by recently hearing the song, but their ability to match the original pitch remained similar to those whose earworms were not influenced by recent listening.



"When we divided our data into responses where participants said they had recently heard the song and those where they hadn’t, we saw absolutely no difference in absolute pitch accuracy," noted Evans. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-research-directions">Future research directions </h2>



While this study provides valuable insights into how we recall music, it also highlights the need for further research to validate and expand upon these findings. 



To gain a broader understanding of how earworms and pitch recall function across different populations, future studies should incorporate a larger and more diverse participant pool, including individuals with no musical background and participants from varied age groups and cultural settings.



By expanding the scope of the research, scientists could explore questions such as whether musical memory accuracy varies by age, cultural exposure to music, or training. 



It may also be valuable to investigate whether factors such as musical genres or personal attachment to specific songs influence pitch accuracy in earworms.



This research marks an early step in unraveling the complex mechanisms of our brain's musical memory. 



As future studies build on this foundational work, we may discover more about the intricate ways in which our minds store and retrieve musical information, shedding light on the intersection of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/memory-is-shaped-by-both-past-and-future-experience-and-events/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">memory</a>, perception, and cognitive processes.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13414-024-02936-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Attention, Perception, &amp; Psychophysics</a>.



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Earworms: The surprising accuracy of our musical memory

Earworms - those persistent tunes that play in our heads unbidden - can be more than a minor annoyance. Imagine going about your day when, without warning, a song loops repeatedly in your mind. While these spontaneous musical memories can feel intrusive, earworms offer a fascinating glimpse into the precision of our musical recall. Unveiling the mystery of earworms A recent study has shed light on the surprising accuracy of earworms. Published in the journal Attention, Perception, &amp; Psychophysics, the study revealed that nearly half of participants'...

Ancient ice melts were caused by increases in air temperatures, right?

Don’t feel bad if you were nodding enthusiastically at the question, but you’re way off. Scientists have been confused for decades on how giant sheets of <a href="http://www.earth.com/image/camp-century-buried-waste/">ice</a> managed to melt during some of the coldest times during the last Ice Age. It defies all logic – but scientists think they may have uncovered the secret behind this Ice Age paradox. 

A research team including Professor Jeremy Bassis of the<a href="https://umich.edu/"> University of Michigan</a> looked at the behavior of the Laurentide ice sheet that used to cover a large part of North America. During the times when it would melt and splinter, weather temperatures were at their coldest, so scientists dug in to discover what else was going on.

What they found is that warm ocean water likely caused the ancient ice melts – not warm air, as was previously thought. While this provides answers to the strange behavior of the Laurentide, it also gives us a peek into our own future. 

"We've shown that we don't really need atmospheric warming to trigger large-scale disintegration events if the ocean warms up and starts tickling the edges of the ice sheets," said Bassis. "It is possible that modern-day glaciers, not just the parts that are floating but the parts that are just touching the ocean, are more sensitive to ocean warming than we previously thought."

This is important because scientists believe the same type of warming is at work on the Greenland ice sheet, as well as Antarctica. Researchers believe that as the Antarctic ice melts, it may raise sea levels by three feet or more. 

"What we are showing is that the models we have of this process seem to work for Greenland, as well as in the past so we should be able to more confidently predict sea level rise,” Bassis said.

The team’s findings were published in the journal<a href="http://www.nature.com/nature"> Nature</a>. 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 
Source: Jeremy Bassis,<a href="https://umich.edu/"> University of Michigan</a>

Think ancient ice melts were caused by warm air? Wrong.

Ancient ice melts were caused by increases in air temperatures,...

If you’ve ever discovered a long-forgotten peanut butter sandwich somewhere in your house (thanks, kids!) or practically petrified french fries that fell underneath the seat of your car weeks (or months – when was the last time you cleaned your car?) ago, you probably felt a little weird about it. A story out of Siberia may help you not feel so bad. Archaeologists there just uncovered dinner leftovers from – wait for it – 400 years ago. 

The leftovers were the remains of a turnip dinner that scientists believe was intended either for political exiles or tsarist soldiers who were working to conquer Siberia. The food was found in a clay pot in the remains of a house in Tara, first founded in 1594. 

Whoever cooked the meal should get a free pass for not cleaning up after the fact, however: the remains of the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/14-billion-dollars-edible-foods-trashed/">food</a> and the house were badly charred by a huge fire that apparently broke out there.

According to Professor Maria Chernaya of<a href="http://en.tsu.ru"> Tomsk State University</a>, after the log house burned down, it was left exactly as it was, where it remained until archaeologists discovered it.  

“The fire was quite big. Near the stove was a big clay pot, called 'korchaga' in Russian,” Chernaya explained to the <a href="http://siberiantimes.com/">Siberian Times</a>. “It was used not for cooking, but for storing food.”

“So there was a turnip, and it was standing near the stove,” she said. “When the fire began, the temperature was so high that the turnip 'baked' inside this pot.”

Chernaya explained that the turnip had even retained its original shape, but collapsed when researchers removed it from the clay pot. They were able to determine that the food was, indeed, a turnip though analyzing the material. 

The team also retrieved the remains of a leather wallet, a knitted women’s stocking, as well as pieces of high-quality glass. Because of this, they believe that the home may have belonged to wealthy people.

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Scientists unearth long-lost leftovers in Siberia

If you’ve ever discovered a long-forgotten peanut butter sandwich somewhere...

The Ark of the Covenant has fueled the imaginations of <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ancient-meteorite-material-iran/">scientists</a> and Hollywood directors alike for years. The ancient box, rumored to contain the stone tablets on which God inscribed the Ten Commandments, was the main plot point in the 1981 Indiana Jones film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082971/">Raiders of the Lost Ark</a>. 

Now, scientists have started a new search for the Ark. Although this hunt likely won’t involve swinging from ropes, cracking whips, and enemies who meet their end when their faces melt off, the research team involved in the search believes that they will finally discover what Indiana Jones and his foes risked their lives to uncover. 

Between August 7 and September 1, the team of researchers from Israel and France plans to excavate Kiriath-Jearim, an ancient biblical site in the hills of west Jerusalem. The site is rumored to have inspired the hit Indiana Jones film. 

“It's a large, central site in the Jerusalem hills that hasn't been studied until now,” explained Israel Finkelstein, a professor at<a href="https://english.tau.ac.il"> Tel Aviv University</a>.

“It may be the only key site in Judah that hasn't undergone a systematic archaeological excavation,” he said to<a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com"> The Times of Israel</a>.

In addition to the site remaining largely unexplored, researchers have another reason to be hopeful about discovering the Ark at Kiriath-Jearim. A reading of the Book of Samuel reveals that the Ark was stored there for 20 years. 

Finkelstein said, “It’s reasonable to assume there was a temple there. To follow the story, the place where they took the Ark of the Covenant wasn’t, of course, just some field or under a tree. They refer to an important cult place.” 

Kiriath-Jearim definitely fits the bill. In multiple instances throughout the Bible, the site is referenced as a sacred place where people would gather to worship. Just don’t touch the Ark or look into it, team! 

--

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Israel Finkelstein, <a href="https://english.tau.ac.il">Tel Aviv University</a>

&nbsp;

Researchers go all Indiana Jones in search for the Lost Ark

The Ark of the Covenant has fueled the imaginations of...

<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/archaeological-lost-kingdom-dark-ages/">Archaeologists</a> often uncover evidence of life on earth millions of years ago. A scientist has just returned from an Iranian desert with a discovery that ups the ancient ante: material from an ancient meteorite that originated some 4.5 billion years ago. 

Yes – that’s billion with a “b.” 

Viktor Grokhovsky and three other scientists from<a href="https://urfu.ru/en/"> Ural Federal University</a> made their find in the Lut desert, also known as Dasht-e-Lut. They believe that the incredibly dry conditions there helped preserve the matter, allowing them to bring it in for closer examination. Half of the material collected will stay in Iran for testing, while the other half was shipped to a Russian test lab. 

The material discovered weighed roughly 29 pounds and consisted of 70 samples, 10 of which are believed to be from the same kind of ancient meteorite. 

The meteorite is reminiscent of one that crashed near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013. The rock that fell during that incident is the largest one to have hurtled to earth in over 100 years. It caused a huge explosion near Chelyabinsk – creating a shock wave as powerful as 20 atomic bombs. Grokhovsky was part of the team that recovered fragments of that meteorite, as well. 

“In order to determine the age of the found fragments, the scientist should consider when a fragment was formed in space, when it split from its parent body and how much time has it spent on Earth,” Grokhovsky told<a href="https://sputniknews.com"> Sputnik News</a>. 

“'Based on the isotopes it will be possible to talk about cosmogonist age, that is, how long the outer body of the meteorite was in the form of an asteroid.”

To provide some perspective on the meteorite’s age, 4.5 billion years ago would place the rock’s origin sometime around the time our entire universe was born. 

--
By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Russian scientists discover ancient meteorite material in Iran

Archaeologists often uncover evidence of life on earth millions of...

APTOPIX Damaged Dam

Evacuations ordered as officials fear Oroville Dam collapse. Twelve years ago, officials were warned that the Oroville Dam wasn’t in good shape. They rejected those concerns. Now, nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated from Butte, Sutter, and Yuba counties amid growing fears that the dam could collapse, putting neighborhoods under 100 feet of water. 

The <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/relentless-rain-california-nevada-west/">California National Guard</a> is on standby, waiting to be deployed as residents lined up to leave the area on Sunday. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper, and people were frightened and furious.

Gas station manager Raj Gill was told by his manager to evacuate, but chose to stay put and help evacuating residents gas up. 

“You can't even move,” he told the<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html"> Daily Mail</a>. “I'm trying to get out of here too. I'm worried about the flooding. I've seen the pictures - that's a lot of water.”

It would indeed be a lot of water. Although officials have activated an emergency spillway not put into use for almost 50 years, that may not be enough. A 170 x 250-foot hole on the concrete lip of the dam’s secondary spillway has been exacerbated by flooding from recent storms. Engineers dropped rocks into the hole in order to temporarily plug the water flow.

However, with more bad weather on the way, officials worry that the weakened area of the dam could fail entirely.

Although water is no longer pouring over the damaged area, the evacuation orders are still in place while law enforcement and engineers work to figure out the best course of action. 

At a news conference, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea updated residents on the situation. 

“There is [sic] still a lot of unknowns,” he said. “We need to continue to lower the lake levels and we need to give the Department of Water Resources time to fully evaluate the situation so we can make the decision to whether or not it is safe to repopulate the area.”

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Image credit: <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-us/">Associated Press</a>

&nbsp;

Oroville Dam about to cause Californian catastrophe

Evacuations ordered as officials fear Oroville Dam collapse. Twelve years ago,...

A three-foot shift in sea level might not sound like that much to most of us. To those who actually live within three feet of sea level, however, it sounds like a lot.

That’s why news of a sea level change that occurred in Southeast Asia 6,000 years ago is attracting major attention. Adding to the concern is the discovery that this fluctuation happened without humans influencing a change in <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/pre-industrial-climate-baseline/">climate</a>. 

A group of oceans scientists and statisticians reported that starting 6,850 years ago, the relative sea level around Belitung Island in Indonesia rose approximately two feet in 350 years. This shift happened without any human-assisted climate change, which suggests that any future sea level rises could be a significant: a combination of a natural rise in sea level plus that caused by climate change that’s been set in motion by humans. 

"This research is a very important piece of work that illustrates the potential rates of sea-level rise that can happen from natural variability alone," says Benjamin Horton of<a href="http://www.rutgers.edu"> Rutgers University</a>. "If a similar oscillation were to occur in East and Southeast Asia in the next two centuries, it could impact tens of millions of people and associated ecosystems.”

Lead author Aron Meltzner from<a href="http://www.apple.com"> Nanyang Technological University</a> and the rest of the team studied coral microatolls to learn about the rise and fall of sea levels in the area around Belitung. A microatoll is a coral colony with dead layers on top and living layers beneath. Scientists can study the layers of coral much the way archaeologists study layers of rock. The microatolls helped the team determine general dates when sea levels rose and fell.  

The findings, published in<a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/"> Nature Communications</a>, are of particular concern to those who live extremely close to the sea. Researcher hope that by understanding what happened in the past, they will be better able to predict what kind of changes to expect in the future. 

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Benjamin Horton, <a href="http://www.rutgers.edu">Rutgers University</a>

Aron Meltzner, <a href="http://www.ntu.edu.sg/Pages/home.aspx">Nanyang Technological University</a>

What does an ancient 3-foot sea level shift mean for us?

A three-foot shift in sea level might not sound like...

The first rule of Monkey Fight Club is that you do not talk about Monkey Fight Club. Monkey fights that start out as one or two primates throwing punches can often escalate into an all-out brawl involving the majority of the adults in the group. 

Researchers wondered: when a small fight breaks out, how many <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/baboons-math-abilities-par-kids/">monkeys</a> need to get involved to interrupt the system of things? What is the critical point at which the social regime totally upends? 

To get answers, scientists had to enter Monkey Fight Club – sort of. Bryan Daniels of the<a href="https://complexity.asu.edu/asu-sfi-center-biosocial-complex-systems"> ASU-SFI Center for Biosocial Complex Systems</a> and David Krakauer and Jessica Flack of the<a href="https://www.santafe.edu"> Santa Fe Institute</a> looked to ideas and models from statistical mechanics to analyze conflict behavior among monkeys to determine the critical point at which breakdown occurs. 

According to Daniels, "agitating four or five individuals at a time can cause the system to destabilize and huge fights to break out.” This isn’t an exact formula, however, as individual monkeys make distinct contributions to the overall sensitivity of the group. This means that depending on individual actions, the group may be more easily controlled or more likely to descend into madness. 

If more stable members of the group can break up ongoing monkey fights, the group will settle down and move away from the critical point. However, if other members of the group can target the influential members and rile them up, the group will go hurtling towards the critical point. 

Group sensitivity isn’t always a negative thing, as it can help animal societies better survive. For instance, it helps an animal such as a fish quickly shift from foraging for food into escape mode when threatened. 

Scientists would like to find out if an animal’s environment affects their overall sensitivity and distance from the critical point. 

“I think we’ve just scratched the surface,” said Daniels.

The team’s findings were published in the journal<a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/"> Nature Communications</a>. 

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Bryan Daniels,<a href="https://complexity.asu.edu/asu-sfi-center-biosocial-complex-systems"> ASU-SFI Center for Biosocial Complex Systems</a>

David Krakauer, Jessica Flack,<a href="https://www.santafe.edu"> Santa Fe Institute</a>

What do monkey fights tell us about animal society structure?

The first rule of Monkey Fight Club is that you...

Getting a real, live person on the telephone line may be even harder if officials and businesses take the advice of a new report from a non-party think tank. The group poses the question: could robots replace hundreds of thousands of human jobs? 

The report, published by Reform, suggests that in order to save money, employers in the UK could cut almost 250,000 human workers and replace them with computers and robots. This will also increase efficiency. 

What would the actual numbers look like if robots replace jobs in bulk? As many as 130,000 government administrators who work in Whitehall would be sent packing. This amounts to nearly 90% of administrative staff employed in the offices there, and would save £2.6 billion each year. 

In addition to this, 90,000 NHS administrative posts, as well as 24,000 GP receptionists would be affected. Automating those roles would save over £1.7 billion.

Administrative staff aren’t the only ones who would see cuts. Nursing tasks such as giving intravenous medication and collecting patient information could also be robotized. Machines are also capable of filling in for doctors, as they are more effective than humans at things like diagnosing lung cancer. 

Another reason for doctors to be nervous? Robots are better at performing routine surgical procedures. 

There could also be an increased use of robots in security and police arenas, as machines can be used to monitor suspicious activity in crowds. Facial recognition <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/green-technologies-development/">technology</a> can also be used to identify known criminals or terrorists. 

Alexander Hitchcock, a co-author of the report, said, “Such a rapid advance in the use of technology may seem controversial, and any job losses must be handled sensitively. But the result would be public services that are better, safer, smarter and more affordable.”

The report suggest that those who work in the public sector could move to a gig-based, flexible jobs for which they are hired via websites and apps in the vein of Uber.

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Could robots replace a quarter million jobs in the UK?

Getting a real, live person on the telephone line may...

<a href="http://www.earth.com/video/french-bulldogs-craze/">Doggy </a>emotions may mirror their owners. It’s common pet owner folklore that after many years together, people begin to resemble their dogs – or is it vice versa?

While the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/end-era-ringling-bros-circus-will-shut/">pet</a>/owner resemblance myth may not be scientific fact, researchers have uncovered an amazing connection between owners and their dogs. It turns out that over time, your furry friend may begin to take on your personality.

If your dog is anxious and behaves in a negative manner, look in the mirror. Could it be that he’s taking after you? The same goes if your pup is easygoing and friendly. She’s simply mimicking your emotions. 

To find this out, researchers tested over 100 dogs and their owners. They analyzed them inside and out, measuring their heart rates, how they respond to threats, and even taking saliva samples to check cortisol levels. Cortisol is a chemical that the body releases in response to stress. 

The doggie-owner pairs also underwent personality testing that covered five major areas: conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, extraversion, and neuroticism. Because the canine participants weren’t able to vocally respond to researchers’ questions, their owners provided personality info on their pets via a questionnaire. 

The result? Dogs definitely reflect their owners’ personalities and emotional states. Since they’ve lived with us for more than 30,000 years, dogs have had to adapt in order to tune into our emotions and modify their behavior to suit. 

Iris Schoberl of the<a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/"> University of Vienna</a> said that the personality influence goes both ways and dogs can influence humans, as well. However, the human in the pair is the more influential of the two.

In an interview with BBC News, she said, ”Our results nicely fit to experience from practice: owners and dogs are social dyads [a group of two], and they influence each other's stress coping.”

Dog owners and their pets can read more about this doggy emotions research in the journal<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/"> PLOS ONE</a>.

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: Iris Schoberl,<a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/"> University of Vienna</a>

&nbsp;

Dogs' emotions may mirror our own

Doggy emotions may mirror their owners. It’s common pet owner...

Unlearn everything they told you in grade school science class. First, we found out that Pluto isn’t really a proper <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/failed-planets-scarred-earth/">planet</a>; it’s just a dwarf planet. Our carefully-memorized list of nine dwindled to eight. Now, they’re coming after helium, that totally unreactive noble gas that can’t form bonds with other atoms– or so we thought. 

Scientists (who always ruin everything by experimenting and discovering new facts) have just created a stable helium compound composed of both helium and sodium atoms. 

Ivan Popov, the study’s co-author and a doctoral student at <a href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a>, told Gizmodo that the discovery is a “book changer.” 

The findings do have a purpose besides selling updated versions of science books, however. Scientists think it will help them understand what goes on in the high-pressure centers of gaseous planets like Jupiter and Saturn. 

The bonding has to happen under conditions of extremely high pressure – conditions that do not naturally occur on Earth, but do occur on the aforementioned planets of Jupiter and Saturn. In order to simulate such conditions, researchers placed helium gas and sodium crystals between a pair of diamonds in order to pressurize the atoms and compound them.  

The resulting cube-like structure “is not a real compound” in traditional scientific terms, Popov said to <a href="http://gizmodo.com/">Gizmodo</a>. 

“But [the helium] does stabilize the structure. If you take those helium atoms away, the structure will not be stable.,” he explained. Details of the findings were published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/nchem">Nature Chemistry</a>. 

While grade-school students may be disgusted at having to relearn what they memorized for last week’s multiple-choice quiz, scientists are delighted with the findings. Professor Henry Rzepa (who was not involved with the study) told Gizmodo that the discovery is “a breakthrough.” 

“We have long suspected that a quite different chemistry, controlled by rather different if not very different rules, must exist under extreme conditions such as ultra high pressures,” he explained. “This [sodium-helium compound] offers a tantalizing glimpse into this new frontier of chemistry.” 

--

By Dawn Henderson, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Ivan Popov, <a href="https://www.usu.edu/">Utah State University</a>

&nbsp;

Toss out the science books; helium is no longer unreactive

Unlearn everything they told you in grade school science class....

Electron spin measures time. When light strikes an object, the object emits electrons. Cool, huh? This phenomenon, known as photoemission, occurs with solids, gases, and liquids. When <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/led-lighting-wildlife/">Albert Einstein</a> discovered it back in 1905, it won him the Nobel Prize.

Photoemission isn’t the end of the story, though. Scientists have been working to study the timescales of photoemission. Do electrons become excited at the exact moment – and we’re talking moments in terms of attoseconds, here – that the light hits the surface of the material, or is there a time delay? 

To find out, scientists didn’t use a clock. Instead, they studied the spin polarization of emitted electrons. The spin of an electron is what makes a particle seems as though it’s rotating around its axis. Meanwhile, spin polarization refers to the degree to which this acid is aligned towards a given direction. 

In a new study, Mauro Fanciulli and a team at<a href="https://www.epfl.ch"> EPFL</a> showed a connection between spin polarization of emitted electrons and attosecond time delays during photoemission. The researchers used photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES) to get spin measurements on electrons emitted from a crystal of copper. 

Fanciulli, first author of the study, explains why the findings are so significant. 

"With <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/space-lasers-phytoplankton-blooms/">lasers</a> you can directly measure the time delay between different processes, but it is difficult to determine when a process starts - time zero,” he said. ”But in our experiment we measure time indirectly, so we don't have that problem - we could access one of the shortest timescales ever measured. The two techniques [spin and lasers], are complementary, and together they can yield a whole new realm of information."

Another member of the team, Hugo Dil, elaborates: ”It deals with the fundamental nature of time itself and will help understand the details of the photoemission process, but it can also be used in photoemission spectroscopy on materials of interest.”

What materials does he have in mind? His team plans to study grapheme – an atom-thin layer of pure carbon – as well as high-temperature superconductors. 

The current study was published in the journal<a href="https://journals.aps.org/archive/"> Physical Review</a>. 

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer 

Source: Mauro Fanciulli and Hugo Dil,<a href="https://www.epfl.ch"> EPFL</a>

Researchers use electron spin to measure time without a clock

Electron spin measures time. When light strikes an object, the...

Nearly 252 <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/shattered-asteroid-millions-years-ago/">million </a>years ago, our planet experienced something scientists have deemed The Great Dying. What happened during the event isn’t any more cheerful than its name; the Earth lost up to 96% of its marine species, as well as nearly 70% of terrestrial vertebrates.

Why these species died out is a question that’s baffled scientists for years. A new study has added yet another theory to the mix: could waves have caused this kind of mass extinction? 

New evidence points to <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/app-helps-fishermen-sell/">shoaling</a> as a possible source of The Great Dying. Shoaling refers to the phenomenon that happens when waves grow taller as they reach shallow water while heading towards the shore. This causes changes in water density and velocity, stirring up the ocean floor. 

Researchers believe that when the ocean floor became churned up, it stirred up sulfides that made the water uninhabitable for many ocean species. They aren’t sure why there would have been such a sudden increase in shoaling. They do know that sulfide is toxic to animals in high concentrations.

They also know that the area around Pangea – a former supercontinent – had high levels of sulfide on the ocean’s floor. The team, which included Yanen Shen from the<a href="http://en.ustc.edu.cn"> University of Science and Technology of China</a>, studied rocks found in what was once the Panthalassic Ocean. They collected rocks from areas near Canada and Japan and noted a mixture of various types of sulfur. 

"The shoaling of sulphidic waters, therefore, would kill marine animals in the Permian-Triassic oceans," said Shen in a statement. The team believes that the sulfur may have caused the mass extinction, as well as the recovery process that took nearly 10 million years. 

"This study illustrates how environmental changes could have had a devastating effect on Earth's early biosphere, and may have present-day relevance because global warming and eutrophication are causing development of sulfidic zones on modern continental shelves, threatening indigenous marine life,” the study authors wrote. Their findings were published in the journal<a href="http://www.pnas.org"> PNAS</a>. 

–

By Dawn Henderson,<a href="http://earth.com"> Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Source: Yanen Shen,<a href="http://en.ustc.edu.cn"> University of Science and Technology of China</a>

&nbsp;

Did ocean waves cause The Great Dying?

Nearly 252 million years ago, our planet experienced something scientists...

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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

[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



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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

[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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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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



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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

[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



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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...