Circadian rhythms are the natural, internal processes that regulate the sleep-wake cycle and repeat roughly every 24 hours. 



These rhythms, influenced by environmental cues like light and darkness, play a crucial role in various bodily functions ranging from sleep regulation to hormone release.



When these rhythms fall out of sync - due to factors such as artificial lighting, irregular schedules, or travel across time zones - people can experience disruptions in sleep, mood, and overall well-being.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lights-reset-circadian-rhythms">Lights reset circadian rhythms</h2>



New research has revealed that the vibrant blue and orange hues seen at sunrise and sunset may hold the key to resetting these rhythms. 



By mimicking these natural light cycles, scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle have developed a novel LED light that emits alternating wavelengths of blue and orange. 



The LED device, designed to realign circadian rhythms, has been proven to significantly advance melatonin production. This could offer a promising solution for those suffering from sleep disorders and other health issues linked to circadian misalignment. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-improving-circadian-health">Improving circadian health</h2>



Published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms, the research represents a breakthrough in how humans can influence circadian rhythms. 



The findings hold significant promise for improving circadian health. Study co-author Jay Neitz is a professor of ophthalmology in the UW School of Medicine. 



“Our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/exercising-shift-internal-clock/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">internal clock</a> tells us how our body's supposed to act during different times of day, but the clock has to be set. If our brain is not synced to the time of day, then it's not going to work right," said Professor Neitz.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-disrupted-circadian-rhythms">Disrupted circadian rhythms </h2>



The study suggests new strategies to combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and other health issues linked to disrupted circadian rhythms, offering hope for improving <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sleep-quality-is-determined-by-daily-activities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep quality</a>, mood stabilization, and overall mental health.



Circadian rhythms are naturally reset daily by the 24-hour solar light-dark cycles, which help regulate our biological processes in alignment with the environment. 



Professor Neitz noted that the light used in the LED device has alternating blue and orange wavelengths which stimulate the circuit that our brains use to reset our internal clocks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-role-of-melatonin">The role of melatonin </h2>



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/melatonin-keeps-fruits-and-vegetables-fresh-as-well-as-helping-you-sleep/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Melatonin</a>, the hormone responsible for sleep regulation and the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, is produced when light signals from the eyes stimulate specific areas of the brain to begin the winding-down process for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/how-sleep-patterns-affect-your-health-over-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep</a>.



This hormone plays a critical role in helping the body adjust to darkness, promoting relaxation, and ensuring restful sleep.



People spending more time under artificial light, especially in the evening, often experience delayed melatonin production, which can disrupt their sleep patterns and overall well-being. 



Prolonged exposure to artificial lighting can also interfere with the body’s ability to properly align with natural day-night cycles, contributing to sleep disturbances and fatigue.



To address this issue, the research team conducted a study comparing different types of artificial lights to measure their impact on melatonin production and their effectiveness in resetting circadian rhythms.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-revolutionary-approach-to-lighting">A revolutionary approach to lighting</h2>



Unlike other commercial products that emphasize blue light to trigger melanopsin, this new LED light emits alternating blue and orange wavelengths, which stimulate a different circuit in the retina. 



“The light we developed does not involve the melanopsin photopigment. It stimulates a blue-yellow opponent circuit that operates through cone photoreceptors in the retina," explained Professor Neitz.



In an experiment, participants were exposed to three different light devices. The alternating blue-orange LED led to the most significant shift in melatonin production, advancing it by 1 hour and 20 minutes, compared to just 40 minutes for the blue LED and 2.8 minutes for white light.



“Even though our light looks white to the naked eye, we think your brain recognizes the alternating blue and orange wavelengths as the colors in the sky,” said Professor Neitz.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lighting-the-way-forward">Lighting the way forward</h2>



The LED device has now been successfully commercialized through the University of Washington. The product is distributed by TUO, a Chicago-based company. This marks an important step toward bringing this technology to the public.



By harnessing the natural color palette of sunrise and sunset, this innovative lighting solution offers a new approach to resetting circadian rhythms, potentially transforming how we address <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/daylight-saving-time-changes-are-directly-linked-to-sleep-disorders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sleep disorders</a>, mood regulation, and overall health.



The technology holds the promise of improving well-being for those affected by modern lighting and lifestyle challenges, helping individuals reconnect with the rhythms of the natural world.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07487304241262918" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Journal of Biological Rhythms</a>.



-----



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Colors of sunset and sunrise reset our circadian rhythms

Circadian rhythms are the natural, internal processes that regulate the sleep-wake cycle and repeat roughly every 24 hours. These rhythms, influenced by environmental cues like light and darkness, play a crucial role in various bodily functions ranging from sleep regulation to hormone release. When these rhythms fall out of sync - due to factors such as artificial lighting, irregular schedules, or travel across time zones - people can experience disruptions in sleep, mood, and overall well-being. Lights reset circadian rhythms New research has revealed that the vibrant...

New software can quickly assess coral bleaching. Scientists using facial recognition technology and 360-degree underwater photos said Wednesday they have developed new software to quickly assess coral bleaching and other damage to the world's imperiled reefs.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials say the technology will provide an unmatched resource for assessing the growing problem.
Researchers at the XL Catlin Global Reef Record told The Associated Press that creating the virtual reality scenes allows hundreds of thousands of images to be analyzed within weeks rather than years.
Coral reefs are essential to food supplies, natural environment and coastal economies the world over, according to scientists who attended this week's International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii.
The survey crew also partnered with Google Street View to provide interactive underwater reef experiences for users all around the world. Now, with the click of a mouse people can immerse themselves in a world they may never have been able to see.
"Less than one percent of humanity has been diving on a coral reef," said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and lead scientist for the project. "So most of us on the planet don't know what a coral reef really is, and thereby, if you don't know about something, how are you going to feel compelled to protect it?"
The data on damage is critically important because it provides a baseline for much of the world's undocumented reef, Hoegh-Guldberg said.
"As we see greater impacts from climate change, things like larger cyclones, mass bleaching events and so on, we really need to know what's in the cupboard to begin with," Hoegh-Guldberg said. "That's what this technology does."
Scientists have never before captured such a comprehensive picture of reef health - and they hope it will lead to the discovery of new phenomena on reefs, said Ruth Gates, president of the International Society for Reef Studies and director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.
"We don't have a lot of time to understand what's going on and we've never had the capacity to look across large spatial scales across the world," Gates said. "They've solved that."
The technology can process the data 900 times faster than previous methods, and its accuracy rivals a human expert, said Richard Vevers, project director of the survey.
The research team used processing units that analyzed 90 images a minute and let them log their entire archive in just a few weeks.
The images can also be used to identify different species of coral and details about reef conditions.
Hoegh-Guldberg said the scientific community needs to get the average person excited about saving reefs and have those people share their passion with the world's leaders to influence policy change.
More important, however, are the discoveries that science will make because of the data, Gates said.
"We will lose reefs if we don't understand the cause," she said.
---
Follow Caleb Jones on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/CalebAP">https://twitter.com/CalebAP</a> Find more of his work at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/caleb-jones">http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/caleb-jones</a>
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New software can quickly assess coral bleaching

New software can quickly assess coral bleaching. Scientists using facial...

Weizmann Institute scientists engineer bacteria to create sugar from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide

Scientists create fuel from carbon dioxide. All life on the planet relies, in one way or another, on a process called carbon fixation: the ability of plants, algae and certain bacteria to "pump" carbon dioxide (CO2) from the environment, add solar or other energy and turn it into the sugars that are the required starting point needed for life processes. At the top of the food chain are different organisms (some of which think, mistakenly, that they are "more advanced") that use the opposite means of survival: they eat sugars (made by photosynthetic plants and microorganisms) and then release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This means of growth is called "heterotrophism." Humans are, of course, heterotrophs in the biological sense because the food they consume originates from the carbon fixation processes of nonhuman producers.

Is it possible to "reprogram" an organism that is found higher in the food chain, which consumes sugar and releases carbon dioxide, so that it will consume carbon dioxide from the environment and produce the sugars it needs to build its body mass? That is just what a group of Weizmann Institute of Science researchers recently did. Dr. Niv Antonovsky, who led this research in Prof. Ron Milo's lab at the Institute's Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, says that the ability to improve carbon fixation is crucial for our ability to cope with future challenges, such as the need to supply food to a growing population on shrinking land resources while using less fossil fuel.

The Institute scientists rose to this challenge by inserting the metabolic pathway for carbon fixation and sugar production (the so called Calvin cycle) into the bacterium E. coli, a known "consumer" organism that eats sugar and releases carbon dioxide.

The metabolic pathway for carbon fixation is well known, and Milo and his group reckoned that, with proper planning, they would be able to attach the genes containing the information for building it into the bacterium's genome. Yet the main enzyme used in plants to fix carbon, RuBisCO, utilizes as a substrate for the CO2 fixation reaction a metabolite which is toxic for the bacterial cells. Thus the design had to include precisely regulating the expression levels of the various genes across this multistep pathway.

In one way the team's well-thought-out plan was a resounding success: The bacteria did indeed produce the carbon fixation enzymes, and these were functional. But the machinery, as a whole, did not "deliver the goods." Even though the carbon fixation machinery was expressed, the bacteria failed to use CO2 for sugar synthesis, relying instead on an external supply of sugar. "Of course, we were dealing with an organism that has evolved over millions of years to eat sugar, not CO2," says Antonovsky. "So we turned to evolution to help us create the system we intended."

Antonovsky, Milo and the team, including Shmuel Gleizer, Arren Bar-Even, Yehudit Zohar, Elad Herz and others, next designed tanks called "chemostats," in which they grew the bacteria, gradually nudging them into developing an appetite for CO2. Initially, along with ample bubbles of CO2, the bacteria in the tanks were offered a large amount of pyruvate, which is an energy source, as well as barely enough sugar to survive. Thus, by changing the conditions of their environment and stressing them, the scientists forced the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/ocean-algae-steal-beneficial-genes-from-bacteria/">bacteria</a> to learn, by adaptation and development, to use the more abundant material in their environment. A month went by, and things remained fairly static. The bacteria seemed to not "get the hint." But at around a month and a half, some bacteria showed signs of doing more than "just surviving." By the third month the scientists were able to wean the evolved bacteria from the sugar and raise them on CO2 and pyruvate alone. Isotope labeling of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide">carbon dioxide</a> molecules revealed that the bacteria were indeed using CO2 to create a significant portion of their body mass, including all the sugars needed to make the cell.

When the scientists sequenced the genomes of the evolved bacteria, they found many changes scattered throughout the bacterial chromosomes. "They were completely different from what we had predicted," says Milo. "It took us two years of hard work to understand which of these are essential and to unravel the 'logic' involved in their evolution." Repeating the experiment (and again waiting months) gave the scientists essential clues for identifying the mutations necessary for changing the E. coli diet from one based on sugar to one using carbon dioxide.

Milo: "The ability to program or reengineer E. coli to fix carbon could give researchers a new toolbox for studying and improving this basic process." Although currently the bacteria release CO2 back into the atmosphere, the team envisions that in the future their insights might be applied to creating microorganisms that soak up atmospheric CO2 and convert it into stored energy or to achieving crops with carbon fixing pathways, resulting in higher yields and better adaption to feeding humanity.
###
Prof. Ron Milo's research is supported by the Mary and Tom Beck-Canadian Center for Alternative Energy Research; the Lerner Family Plant Science Research Endowment Fund; the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust; Dana and Yossie Hollander, Israel; the Larson Charitable Foundation; and the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust. Prof. Milo is the incumbent of the Charles and Louise Gartner Professorial Chair.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Scientists create fuel from carbon dioxide

Weizmann Institute scientists engineer bacteria to create sugar from the...

Future global warming will not only depend on the amount of emissions from man-made greenhouse gasses, but will also depend on the sensitivity of the climate system and response to feedback mechanisms. By reconstructing past global warming and the carbon cycle on Earth 56 million years ago, researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute among others have used computer modelling to estimate the potential perspective for future global warming, which could be even warmer than previously thought. The results are published in the scientific journal,Geophysical Research Letters.

Global warming from greenhouse gas emissions depends not only on the size of the emissions, but also on the warming effect that the extra amount of gas has on the atmosphere. This effect, called climate sensitivity, is usually defined as the warming caused by the doubling of the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Climate sensitivity depends on a number of properties of the earth's climate system, such as the composition of clouds and cloud cover.

"The research shows that climate sensitivity was higher during the past global, warm climate than in the current climate. This is bad news for humanity as greater climate sensitivity from warming will further amplify the warming," says Professor Gary Shaffer, University of Magallanes, Chile, and the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

The past tells about the future

The study was based on reconstructions and climate modelling of a period of global warming 56 million years ago. The period known as the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was triggered by massive releases of carbon into the atmosphere and climate researchers have long identified it as a time that could in some ways be analogous to today's global warming.

Reconstructions of past temperatures show that even before the PETM the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth">Earth</a> was about 10 degrees warmer than today and then warmed an additional 5 degrees during the PETM. In addition, they combined data about minerals, isotopes and the carbon cycle with climate models to estimate the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere - both before and during the period. From this, they could estimate the climate sensitivity and the result was that where it was about 4.5 degrees C before the PETM, the temperature rose to about 5.1 degrees during the PETM. Climate sensitivity is currently around 3 degrees.

"Our results show that the amount of carbon that drove the PETM warming was about the same amount as the current 'easily accessible' fossil fuel reserves of about 4,000 billion tons. But the warming that would result from adding such large amounts of carbon to the climate system would be much greater today than during the PETM and could reach up to 10 degrees. This is partly due to the current atmosphere containing much less<a href="http://www.earth.com/news/warming-temperatures-soil-expelling-co2/"> CO2</a> - approximately 400 ppm (parts per million) - compared to before the PETM, where the concentration was about 1,000 ppm and partly because we emit carbon into the atmosphere at a much faster rate than during the PETM. If we then also take into account the fact that climate sensitivity increases with the temperature, it means that it is all the more urgent to limit global warming as soon as possible by reducing the man-made emissions of greenhouse gases," explains Professor Gary Shaffer, who conducted the study in collaboration with researchers from Purdue University, USA, the University of Chile and the Technical University of Denmark.

--

<a href="http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/press_and_media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Copenhagen</a>

Future global warming could be even warmer

Future global warming will not only depend on the amount...

Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe. Filtered tap water is safe for everyone in Flint, Michigan, the federal government said Thursday, lifting a recommendation that pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 6 drink only bottled water to avoid lead exposure.
The announcement was based on tests of filters that have been distributed for months for free by the state of Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency said the filters remove or reduce lead to well below the action level of 15 parts per billion, although no lead is considered safe. Some samples from high-risk areas in Flint have been coming back at less than 1 part per billion. Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe
"It is encouraging news," said Mayor Karen Weaver, who still wants all lead-tainted plumbing replaced.
Flint used the Flint River for 18 months, but lead leached from old pipes at homes because the water wasn't treated to control corrosion. Although the city switched water sources last fall, there still is lead in the system.
Officials have been telling most Flint residents that it's OK to drink filtered tap water, including President Barack Obama, who sipped from a glass during a visit in May. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he drank filtered water from a Flint home for more than 30 days.
"People using filtered water instead of bottled water can relieve a significant burden on themselves because they don't have to deal with transporting and storing it," Snyder said.
Trust still is a hurdle in Flint, 60 miles north of Detroit, where people were repeatedly told that water from the Flint River was safe before Snyder and his environmental regulators last fall finally acknowledged that the system was poisoned by lead.
Marc Edwards, an environmental engineering expert at Virginia Tech who helped uncover the lead scandal, praised the government for confirming that filters were working properly before lifting the bottled water recommendation.
"The agencies involved in the disaster response are now worthy of the public trust," Edwards said.
Bob Kaplan, the EPA's Midwest acting regional administrator, said water quality is improving but it's not known when Flint can drink unfiltered tap water.
Volunteers will be fanning out Saturday to check more than 2,300 homes for filters and provide help if needed. Weaver said donations of bottled water still are needed because there are homes where filters don't fit on old faucets.
"This is not the ultimate solution to the problem in Flint," the mayor said of filters. "We still need new infrastructure."
In March, a state task force that investigated the Flint crisis concluded that it was a "case of environmental injustice" in a poor, majority black city. While under state emergency management, the city began using the Flint River to save money while a regional pipeline was being built to Lake Huron.
---
Follow Ed White at <a href="http://twitter.com/edwhiteap">http://twitter.com/edwhiteap</a>
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Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe

Feds: Filtered tap water in Flint is safe. Filtered tap...

Volkswagen Emission Testing

Volkswagen settles emissions scandal for $10.2 billion. Volkswagen has agreed to take a series of steps costing about $10.2 billion to settle claims from its unprecedented diesel emissions scandal in the U.S., two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.
Most of the money would go to compensate 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel engines that were programmed to turn on emissions controls during lab tests and turn them off while on the road, said the people, who asked not to be identified because a judge has issued a gag order in the case.
One of the people said the agreement was tentative and could change by the time the terms are officially announced by the judge on Tuesday. The bulk of the cash would be used to fix the cars, buy them back and compensate owners. Some funds would go to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plan-manage-wild-horses/">government</a> agencies as penalties and for a program to remediate the environmental damage caused by pollution, the person said.
Owners would have a choice between selling their vehicles back to VW at the value before the scandal broke on Sept. 18, 2015, or keeping the cars and letting the company repair them for free. Either way, they would also get $1,000 to $7,000 depending on their cars' age, with an average payment of about $5,000, one of the people said.
Attorneys representing owners, VW and government agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency have not yet agreed on the steps VW will take to repair the cars, the person said. Any fix likely would require a bigger catalytic converter or injection of the chemical urea into the exhaust to help neutralize the pollution.
The $10.2 billion cost eclipses costs of all recent automotive scandals. General Motors, for instance, paid roughly $6.9 billion for its giant recall of defective ignition switches two years ago. But unlike other scandals, VW has admitted to deliberately deceiving government regulators.
The EPA has said the cars, which include many of VW's most popular models, can give off more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems in humans. Around 11 million cars worldwide also had the cheating software, but nitrogen oxide emissions standards aren't as stringent outside the U.S.
Neither VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan nor EPA spokesman Nick Conger would comment on the settlement.
VW may have to pay additional penalties to government agencies, one of the people said. The Justice Department has sued VW on the EPA's behalf, and the automaker could also be penalized by the California Air Resources Board and the Federal Trade Commission, which has sued over false advertising claims.
Volkswagen owners filed dozens of lawsuits against VW after it acknowledged in September that it intentionally defeated emissions tests and put dirty vehicles on the road.
The company faces as much as $20 billion in fines for Clean Air Act violations alone, on top of paying to fix the cars or compensate their owners.
The settlement does not include 3-liter Volkswagen diesels, which had another version of cheating software.
Full details of the settlement are scheduled to be released Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.
----
Biesecker reported from Washington. Follow Tom Krisher at <a href="https://twitter.com/tkrisher." target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://twitter.com/tkrisher.</a> His work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tom-krisher" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tom-krisher</a>
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Volkswagen settles emissions scandal for $10.2 billion

Volkswagen settles emissions scandal for $10.2 billion. Volkswagen has agreed...

APTOPIX Mine Waste Leak

New Mexico is suing the state of Colorado, saying its northern neighbor should be held responsible for the contamination from the massive Gold King Mine waste spill last year as well as decades of toxic drainage from mines near the headwaters of a shared river.
The New Mexico Attorney General's Office and the state Environment Department announced late Wednesday that they filed a complaint against Colorado with the U.S. Supreme Court. It seeks damages and demands that Colorado address problems at the mines.
It marks the second major legal salvo fired by New Mexico in the wake of the August 2015 spill, which fouled rivers in three Western states with a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. The state also is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the owners of two mines.
"We had hoped EPA and <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=colorado&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=43a1bcd8519042938587934e6410c467&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNO4RA7ltALoNE5SspyvjPippfC5dYryHbFj%21iL6CyeVzODeCYVxBPjGgZaG6pe0mG8clvmyzw1vPyBZKyfra7h&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">Colorado</a> would try to work with us and come up with solutions," New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn told The Associated Press. "But the state of Colorado, its leadership, seems intent on defending EPA at every turn and is unwilling to work with us to move forward in a meaningful manner."
The Colorado governor's office said it is disappointed New Mexico has chosen "costly and time-consuming litigation."
"While the Gold King Mine spill was a striking reminder throughout the West that there are thousands of abandoned mines that would benefit from joint cleanup efforts, the litigation doesn't impact our commitment to addressing the challenges posed by historic mine drainage," the governor's office said in a statement.
The EPA has declined to comment on the lawsuit, but it has said it takes responsibility for the cleanup at the Gold King Mine.
An agency contractor accidentally triggered the spill. Wastewater made its way into the Animas River and eventually down to the San Juan River, setting off a major response by government agencies and private groups.
During the spill, water utilities shut down intake valves and farmers stopped drawing from the rivers as the plume moved downstream.
The EPA said water quality quickly returned to pre-spill levels. But New Mexico officials and others warn about heavy metals collecting in the sediment and getting stirred up each time rain or snowmelt results in runoff.
The lawsuit against Colorado details the results of recent soil samples taken north of Durango, Colorado, where discolored sediment was visible at residential properties. The results showed lead at concentrations far above the risk level established by the EPA.
It also outlines the business and regulatory history of the Sunnyside Gold Mine, where operators were allowed to install plugs that eventually caused wastewater to back up and fill the mine. That led to problems at nearby mines.
The shuttering of a water treatment plant for mine discharge further aggravated the situation, according to New Mexico officials.
By 2011, acidic drainage from four inactive mines at and above the former treatment plant - including at Gold King Mine - was pouring into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River, at a rate of nearly 850 gallons per minute, according to the lawsuit.
"The Gold King Mine release was the coup de grâce of two decades of disastrous environmental decision-making by Colorado, for which New Mexico and its citizens are now paying the price," the lawsuit says.
New Mexico contends Colorado's conduct now and in the past and the resulting contamination amounts to a public nuisance.
Attorney General Hector Balderas said New Mexicans rely on the Animas and San Juan rivers for drinking water, ranching, farming, tourism and more, so communities must be compensated and protected from future health and safety risks.
New Mexico and Colorado officials had been in talks for months, and Flynn said the state is still open to discussions in hopes of settling with the EPA and Colorado.
"We're here out of necessity," the environment secretary said. "I would prefer to spend time and resources resolving this rather than duking it out in court."
---
Associated Press writer Dan Elliott in Denver contributed to this report.
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New Mexico sues Colorado over Gold King Mine spill

New Mexico is suing the state of Colorado, saying its...

Climate impacts life strategies, time orientation, self-control

Climate change is linked to violent behavior. Researchers have long struggled to explain why some violent crime rates are higher near the equator than other parts of the world. Now, a team of researchers have developed a model that could help explain why. This new model goes beyond the simple fact that hotter temperatures seem to be linked to more violent behavior. Paul van Lange, a professor of psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam along with Maria I. Rinderu (VU Amsterdam) and Brad Bushman, a professor of psychology at The Ohio State University and VU Amsterdam developed a new model - called CLASH (CLimate Aggression, and Self-control in Humans). They describe the CLASH model in an online article in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences.Climate change is linked to violent behavior

The researchers believe that hot climates and less variation in seasonal temperatures leads to a faster life strategy, less focus on the future, and less self-control - all of which contribute to more aggression and violence. "Climate shapes how people live, it affects the culture in ways that we don't think about in our daily lives," said Paul Van Lange, lead author of the article. "We believe our model can help explain the impact of climate on rates of violence in different parts of the world."

Many studies have shown that levels of violence and aggression are higher in hot climates. "But the two leading explanations of why that is so aren't satisfactory", Bushman said. The General Aggression Model (which Bushman helped develop) suggests hot temperatures make people uncomfortable and irritated, which makes them more aggressive. "But that doesn't explain more extreme acts, such as murder", he said. Another explanation (Routine Activity Theory) is that people are outdoors and interacting more with others when the weather is warm, which leads to more opportunities for conflict. But that doesn't explain why there's more violence when the temperature is 95 degrees F (35 °C) than when it is 75 degrees F (24 °C) - even though people might be outside under both circumstances.

Not just hotter temperatures lead to violence

The CLASH model states that it is not just hotter temperatures that lead to more violence - it is also climates that have less seasonal variation in temperature. "Less variation in temperature, combined with heat, brings some measure of consistency to daily life", Rinderu said. That means there is less need to plan for large swings between warm and cold weather. The result is a faster life strategy that isn't as concerned about the future and leads to less need for self-control. "Strong seasonal variation in temperature affects culture in powerful ways. Planning in agriculture, hoarding, or simply preparing for cold winters shapes the culture in many ways, often with people not even noticing it. But it does shape how much a culture values time and self-control, " Van Lange said. "If there is less variation, you're freer to do what you want now, because you're not preparing foods or chopping firewood or making winter clothes to get you through the winter. You also may be more concerned with the immediate stress that comes along with parasites and other risks of hot climates, such as <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=venomous&amp;form=EDGEAR&amp;qs=PF&amp;cvid=bd3786fe91f54a9aaca37de066a2a5aa&amp;cc=US&amp;setlang=en-US&amp;elv=AY3%21uAY7tbNNZGZ2yiGNjfNO4RA7ltALoNE5SspyvjPizdbvc29r90BnjdqidggKkm9xnaRfoQ6bHJF5mnAon6Rn7d7wY7qXPfInfCSfDgGP&amp;plvar=0&amp;PC=HCTS">venomous</a> animals "

People living in these climates are oriented to the present rather than the future and have a fast life strategy - they do things now. "We see evidence of a faster life strategy in hotter climates with less temperature variation - they are less strict about time, they have less use of birth control, they have children earlier and more often," Bushman said. With a faster life strategy and an orientation toward the present, people have to practice less self-control, he said. That can lead people to react more quickly with aggression and sometimes violence.

The theory is not deterministic and isn't meant to suggest that people in hotter, consistent climates can't help themselves when it comes to violence and aggression. "How people approach life is a part of culture and <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/urban-agriculture-food-desert/">culture</a> is strongly affected by climate," Van Lange said. "Climate doesn't make a person, but it is one part of what influences each of us. We believe it shapes the culture in important ways," he said. Since CLASH is a new theory, studies have to be done to prove it is correct. But Rinderu said a lot of evidence already suggests that the theory may be on to something. "We believe CLASH can help account for differences in aggression and violence both within and between countries around the world," Van Lange said. "We think it provides a strong framework for understanding the violence differences we see around the world," he said.
###
Note for the editors

Contact: Paul Van Lange, <a href="mailto:p.a.m.van.lange@vu.nl">p.a.m.van.lange@vu.nl</a> or Brad Bushman, 614-688-8779;<a href="mailto:Bushman.20@osu.edu">Bushman.20@osu.edu</a>

Or contact our press officers at Ohio State: Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457;<a href="mailto:Grabmeier.1@osu.edu">Grabmeier.1@osu.edu</a> or Doede van der Hoeven from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam via<a href="mailto:d.c.vander.hoeven@vu.nl">d.c.vander.hoeven@vu.nl</a> or 0031-205982726

Climate change is linked to violent behavior

Climate impacts life strategies, time orientation, self-control Climate change is...

Good bacteria vital to coral reef survival. Scientists say good bacteria could be the key to keeping coral healthy, able to withstand the impacts of global warming and to secure the long-term survival of reefs worldwide.

"Healthy corals interact with complex communities of beneficial microbes or 'good bacteria'," says Dr. Tracy Ainsworth from the ARC Centre of Excellence for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef">Coral Reef</a> Studies at James Cook University who led the study. "It is very likely that these microorganisms play a pivotal role in the capacity of coral to recover from bouts of bleaching caused by rising temperatures."

"Facilitating coral survival and promoting coral recovery are growing areas of research for coral reef scientists," says co-author Dr. Ruth Gates from Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai'i. "To do this we need to explore and understand the bacteria that help keep corals and coral reefs healthy."

Dr. Ainsworth and Dr. Gates have identified new directions for research in understanding coral survival in rapidly changing reef environments.

"We know that lasting changes to the community of beneficial bacteria affects important aspects of the function of host organisms such as humans or corals, including their ability to withstand further stress," says Dr. Ainsworth.

"Corals rely on good bacteria but crucially we don't yet understand these microbes well enough to know how they influence coral survival."

Their latest research has been published in the journal Science, and gives an overview of the current understanding of bacterial communities on corals. It highlights the vital importance of good bacteria to coral health.

The scientists discuss how corals, and coral reefs that survive large-scale changes in the environment over the coming decades, are likely to be very different from those of today.

They say the interaction between corals and good bacteria is crucial to long-term survival.

Their work comes from recent advances in understanding the complexity of the coral's genetic make-up and the unique bacterial communities that corals maintain.

"Preventing physical contact with corals and maintaining high water quality on reefs during stress events will reduce stress loads on corals and creates the best case scenario for survival and recovery," says Dr. Gates.

Good bacteria vital to coral reef survival

Good bacteria vital to coral reef survival. Scientists say good...

Climate change makes it difficult to understand extreme weather. Scientists need more credible and relevant information to help communities become more resilient to extreme weather events such as floods, a <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Exeter</a> expert has said.

Researchers need improved techniques to be able to understand why the climate is changing, and the part humans play in this process, according to Professor Peter Stott, who also leads the Climate Monitoring and Attribution team at the Met Office.

In an article in the journal Science Professor Stott, who is part of the Mathematics Department at the University of Exeter, says reliable information is vital for policymakers as they decide how to safeguard people from extreme weather. Knowing what causes natural disasters can help inform decisions about how to rebuild or price insurance.

"Placing recent extreme events in the context of past and future climate variability and change would enhance the ability of societies to manage weather and climate-related risks," Professor Stott says in the article.

Climate change caused by humans has led to an overall increase in the frequency and intensity of daily temperature extremes and has led to more extreme rain over the world as a whole. But the risks of unusual weather events such as floods, droughts, and heat waves have changed differently in different parts of the world. More research is needed to understand exactly how communities are being affected by climate change.

Professor Stott co-edits an annual report explaining how the climate has affected extreme events of the previous year. The report has grown from considering only six events in 2011 to covering 28 different events in 2014. These reports help to explain if climate change has influenced either the magnitude or the probability of specific types of weather events.

Most researchers use mathematical modelling to help assess the extent of climate change. It is easier for them to find evidence that human-induced climate change causes extreme temperatures because there is a wealth of data on extreme hot and cold events and they can be well captured in climate models. Heatwaves occur over a wide area.

It is more difficult to examine extreme rainfall because there is a lack of accurate data, climate models can fail to represent them adequately, and their relationship with climate variability and change is often not well understood. Flooding is often extremely localised. Scientists are trying to rectify this through projects, including the European project EUCLEIA (European Climate and Weather Events: Interpretation and Attribution) which is led by Professor Stott and a team from the Met Office.

Professor Stott believes better ways of modelling and analysing climate change will be available very soon. He said: "I believe there is the potential for improvement in our ability to attribute extreme weather events within the next year or two. It is both possible to do this and important that we do. With this information societies will be in a better position to manage the risks of weather and climate-related disasters."

Climate change makes it difficult to understand extreme weather

Climate change makes it difficult to understand extreme weather. Scientists...

Mount Nyiragongo brings rich soil with eruption threat. Hacking away in the midday sun, 49-year-old farmer Daniel Lazuba remembers vividly his life before one of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa">Africa's</a> most active volcanos erupted 14 years ago.
"All of this was corn before," he said as he pointed to rows of new banana trees pushing up between black stones. "My cabbage seems to be growing better than ever these days, but in this area, I still have to start from zero."
Traumatized farmers like Lazuba are slowly returning to fields decimated by the 2002 eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in eastern <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/nyiragongo-volcano-congo-active/">Congo</a>. Flowing lava flattened more than 30 percent of the city of Goma, 20 kilometers away. Nearly 150 people died, and 400,000 fled into neighboring Rwanda.
Now farmers returning to their fields find increased harvests from the rich volcanic soil, but there are signs that Nyiragongo will erupt again. Mount Nyiragongo brings rich soil with eruption threat
One farmer, Patrick Tamoini, said his harvests have risen over the past two harvests since he returned to his patch of land a short walk from the volcano's base. The 41-year-old pockets more than $100 a month after taking care of family expenses, more than double his earnings before the eruption, he said. The average per capita monthly income in Congo is nearly $32 a month, according to the World Bank.
But returning to the fields wasn't easy.
"The pain of what I lost kept me from coming back for such a long time," Tamoini said. "With this level of production, I'm glad I finally did."
The chemical makeup of volcanic soil makes for lucrative farming conditions, say researchers at the Goma Volcano Observatory.
"Lava actually enriches the soil that it initially burned," said Mathieu Yalira, the chair of observatory's geochemistry and environment department. Volcanic soil includes fertilizing elements such as iron, phosphorus and potassium, he said. In the years after an eruption, a process known as chemical weathering slowly makes lava soil more fertile than ordinary earth.
Local farmers didn't seize on those benefits right away, observers say.
"Initially, no one was coming back because they were too devastated to see their burned fields," said the chair of the observatory's seismology department, Georges Mavonga. "But within the past year, visits toward the volcano have shown new villages in areas that were uninhabited before."
He said the increase in lava soil farming may be a result of initial farmers seeing the benefits and spreading information to friends and family.
But the farmers should not get too attached to the newly fertile fields, warns the Rwanda Red Cross, which cared for many fleeing the 2002 eruption.
In February, an earthquake far beneath the surface caused rumbling noises near Virunga National Park, where the volcano is located. Since then, a new vent has appeared on the northeastern edge of the crater floor that shoots lava into the air every 30 seconds.
The Rwanda Red Cross has increased surveillance of the volcano in conjunction with the observatory.
"There are only presumptions about the next eruption, but people who study the daily life of this volcano tell us it could happen any day," said Yves Riupi, a Red Cross crisis manager who works with seismologists at the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority.
The risk of another eruption is one that some farmers, whose lives depend on their crops, are now willing to take.
With vegetation growing more than six feet tall in some places with the rich volcanic soil, farmers say they want to keep working their fields, until the volcano erupts.
"If another one comes, who am I to stop it?" Lazuba asked. "There is nothing I can do."
---
Roby's reporting was assisted by the International Women's Media Foundation African Great Lakes Reporting Initiative: <a href="https://www.iwmf.org/programs/african-great-lakes-reporting-initiative/">https://www.iwmf.org/programs/african-great-lakes-reporting-initiative/</a>
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Mount Nyiragongo brings rich soil with eruption threat

Mount Nyiragongo brings rich soil with eruption threat. Hacking away...

Flint children under the age of 6 had significantly higher blood-lead levels after the city switched its water source in 2014 to save money, according to a report released Friday by U.S. disease experts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report said the likelihood a child would have a concerning blood-lead level - at least 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood - was about 50 percent higher after the April 2014 switch from Detroit's water system to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_River_(Georgia)">Flint River</a>. Flint used the water for 18 months, during which lead leached from old pipes in homes, businesses and schools because the water wasn't treated to control corrosion. The city switched back to Detroit's system in October.
"This crisis was entirely preventable, and a startling reminder of the critical need to eliminate all sources of lead from our children's environment," Patrick Breysse, director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, said in a statement. Flint children have higher lead levels after drinking water switch.
About 9,600 children younger than 6 years old lived in homes served by Flint's water system, the report said. Among them, about 7,300 received nearly 9,700 blood lead tests before, during and after the water source switch.
Children can develop learning disabilities and behavior problems from lead exposure, even in low levels.
According to the <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/electric-scooter-safety-injuries/">CDC</a>, blood-lead testing in Michigan is targeted toward children at or below the poverty level and those enrolled in Medicaid. All children on Medicaid are required to receive blood-lead screenings when they're 1 and 2 years old, or 3 and 6 years old if previous screenings weren't done.
The lead-level test periods were: the year leading up to the initial switch; between April 2014 and the January 2015 release of a water advisory because of high levels of disinfectant byproducts; between the advisory and return to Detroit water; and after the return to Detroit.
After last fall, children's blood-lead levels dropped to what had been found before the switch to the Flint River.
The study underscores the need for a "big, public health discussion" about lead, Breysse told The Associated Press. A recent national health survey estimated that a half-million children under 6 have elevated blood-lead levels in the area of concern and 4 million U.S. households have lead-paint hazards.
"We have concerns being raised across the country," he said.
Officials noted some limitations with the Flint findings: They couldn't account for all factors that might have contributed to a child's lead exposure, such as whether lead-based paint was present in the children's homes or whether a decline in blood-lead levels post-return to Detroit water was at least partly because of the increased consumption of bottled water.
Still, the authors say the analysis suggests increased lead exposure related to consuming contaminated water in Flint.
Marc Edwards, an environmental engineering expert at Virginia Tech who helped uncover the lead scandal, said the study corroborates his work and that of Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha.
"It's a solid report confirming the veracity of our warnings of adverse health effects from water lead exposure in Flint (in) August 2015, as well as Dr. Mona's studies of elevated blood lead in September," he wrote in an email to the AP.
The report comes a day after federal officials announced filtered tap water was safe for everyone in Flint, lifting a recommendation that pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 6 drink bottled water to avoid lead exposure. The announcement was based on tests of filters that have been distributed for months for free by the state of Michigan.
In March, a state task force that investigated the Flint crisis concluded that it was a "case of environmental injustice" in a poor, majority black city.
© 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Flint children have higher lead levels after drinking water switch

Flint children under the age of 6 had significantly higher...

A comparison of recent and previous nourishments of San Diego beaches suggests that a larger sand grain size improved nourishment performance

A team of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego compared sand levels on several San Diego beaches during the last seven winters. The El Niños of winter 2009-10 and 2015-16 were the two most erosive. Three<a href="https://www.bing.com/travelguide?q=San+Diego&amp;l2sid=dbb1c326-5b67-4591-a264-0929e070e5ee&amp;form=PLACAB"> San Diego</a> County beaches that received imported sand in 2012 were about 10 meters (33 feet) wider, and one to two meters (three to six feet) higher in 2015-16 than in 2009-10, with the coarseness of the sand apparently aiding the effectiveness of the effort. Beach replenishment helps protect against storm erosion

In contrast, <a href="http://www.earth.com/news/beach-replenishment-helps-protect-against-storm-erosion/">Torrey Pines</a> State Beach, which had received no recent sand infusions, had slightly more storm erosion than in 2009-10.

"After sand is lifted off the ocean floor by waves, coarse grains fall more quickly to the bottom than finer grains, making it more difficult for the currents to move them around," said study leader Bonnie Ludka, a former Scripps graduate student partially supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.Beach replenishment helps protect against storm erosion

The research, funded by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Sea Grant, focused on San Diego beaches but has implications for beaches worldwide. As sea levels rise, already threatened coastal infrastructure will become more vulnerable to flooding and erosion. El Niño is superimposed on this long-term trend, modifying regional coastal sea levels by as much as 25 centimeters for a year or more. Most significantly, El Niño modulates the locations of storms responsible for large waves that can raise nearshore water levels by a meter or more.

Sand nourishments widen beaches to promote tourism and protect coastal infrastructure, but the transport of the sand by waves and currents remains poorly understood.

The 2012 effort deposited 1.15 million cubic meters of sand on eight San Diego County beaches (including Cardiff, Solana, and Imperial beaches) at a cost of $28.5 million. A 2001 project added 1.6 million cubic meters of sand to 12 local beaches at a cost of $17.5 million. The sand pad placed at Torrey Pines that year was swept out to sea after just one storm. The sand grains imported there were of a similar size as the sand naturally found on that beach.

The 2015-16 winter provided a wealth of data to researchers, who used relatively new technologies. Ludka, who received her doctorate in oceanography from Scripps in May, and other scientists used jet-ski- and ATV-mounted GPS instruments to study beach slope and width.

The study is described in the article "Mid-El Niño erosion at nourished and unnourished Southern California beaches" appearing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Other co-authors of the study include Scripps oceanographer Robert Guza, graduate student Sean Crosby, and postdoctoral researcher Timu Gallien.

"We do not understand the underlying processes sufficiently to design nourishments for effective mitigation," said Guza. "Monitoring is necessary to learn as we go, from failures as well as successes."

--

<a href="http://www.ucsd.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of California San Diego</a>

Beach replenishment helps protect against storm erosion

A comparison of recent and previous nourishments of San Diego...

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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

[sendtonews key="qjvhBOBnY8-2426650-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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Today's Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features 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

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" 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.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> features a visual dataset of.methane emissions from wetlands across the globe. Atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs in recent years, and wetlands are a major source of these emissions.&nbsp;



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

[sendtonews key="f8fukm28Vz-2491833-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

[sendtonews key="0879czfG3k-1785905-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from NASA...

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

[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...