Ever since scientists discovered DNA's crucial role in life, they've known our cells have built-in repair systems to fix damaged genetic material. But recent research has revealed something unexpected - some types of DNA damage can dodge these repair mechanisms and lurk in our cells for years, creating multiple opportunities for cancer-causing mutations.



The research team, led by Dr. Michael Spencer Chapman from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the Barts Cancer Institute, made this discovery by studying an impressive collection of cellular family trees. 



The findings, published in the journal Nature, challenge long-held beliefs about how DNA damage works.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-some-dna-damage-lingers-for-years">Some DNA damage lingers for years</h2>



The scientists analyzed family trees of hundreds of single cells from individuals. These trees, pieced together from shared mutation patterns, provide insights into the ancestry of cells.



By examining blood stem cells, bronchial epithelial cells, and liver cells, researchers uncovered unexpected patterns of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-of-microrna-may-change-the-fight-against-cancer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mutation</a> inheritance.



In blood stem cells, up to 20% of mutations arise from specific DNA damage that remains unrepaired for two to three years or longer. 



“With these family trees, we can link the relationships of hundreds of cells... meaning we can track back through the divisions each cell has gone through,” explained Dr. Chapman.



This persistence means damaged DNA can repeatedly introduce mutations during cell division. Each attempt to replicate the damaged DNA risks generating new errors, creating multiple chances for cancer-causing mutations.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-mutations-and-structural-alterations">DNA mutations and structural alterations </h2>



DNA damage and mutations are related but distinct concepts. A mutation occurs when one of the DNA bases (A, T, C, or G), which are the "letters" of the genetic code, is in the wrong position. 



This is similar to a typo in a written sentence. For example, replacing a "C" with a "T" changes the meaning of the genetic instruction.



DNA damage, on the other hand, refers to chemical alterations to the DNA's structure itself. Instead of a "wrong letter," it's like a letter being smudged or distorted, making it unreadable. This type of damage can prevent the DNA from being properly copied or understood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dna-damage-and-cancer-risk">DNA damage and cancer risk</h2>



If the cell’s repair mechanisms fail to fix the damage, it can create permanent mutations during cell division. 



When the cell replicates its DNA, it may misinterpret or incorrectly copy the damaged section, introducing errors into the genetic code. These errors can accumulate and, over time, contribute to diseases like cancer.



“When exploring family trees of blood stem cells, we found a type of DNA damage that results in around 15 to 20 percent of the mutations and can last for several years,” noted study co-author Emily Mitchell.



This finding raises critical questions: Why does this persistent damage occur in blood stem cells but not other tissues? What is the exact nature of this damage?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-implications-for-cancer-research">Implications for cancer research</h2>



Persistent DNA damage presents a challenge to what scientists previously believed about how cancer mutations form. Until now, the assumption was that most <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/molecular-fingerprints-could-be-key-to-early-cancer-detection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DNA</a> damage is either repaired quickly or eliminated, preventing long-term effects. 



However, this study reveals that some types of DNA damage can persist for years without repair, causing mutations each time cells divide. These findings reshape our understanding of how mutations accumulate over time and their role in diseases like cancer.



“These findings don’t fit with what scientists have previously thought. This paradigm shift brings a new dimension to the way we think about mutations,” noted co-author Dr. Peter Campbell.



Understanding why some DNA damage escapes repair and persists for years offers new avenues for cancer prevention and treatment. Intervening to repair or eliminate such damage could significantly reduce mutation rates.



The research also highlights the importance of curiosity in science. “This study is a prime example of exploratory science – you don’t always know what you’re going to find until you look,” Dr. Chapman noted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-targeting-dna-damage-to-combat-cancer">Targeting DNA damage to combat cancer</h2>



This study from Wellcome Sanger Institute and <a href="https://www.bci.qmul.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Barts Cancer Institute</a> changes our understanding of how DNA damage contributes to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ai-is-the-next-frontier-in-cancer-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cancer</a>. Previously, scientists believed most DNA damage was quickly repaired by the body’s natural mechanisms.



However, the research shows that certain types of damage can persist for years without being fixed. These long-lasting forms of damage can repeatedly introduce mutations every time cells divide, increasing the risk of harmful changes that lead to cancer.



By uncovering this process, scientists have created new opportunities to study and combat cancer. For example, understanding why some DNA damage evades repair may lead to treatments that target and fix these persistent issues, reducing mutation rates and preventing cancer development.



As we learn more about our genome - the complete set of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/gene-regulation-controlling-cells-to-improve-medical-treatments/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DNA</a> in our bodies - this study highlights how even tiny, hard-to-detect changes in DNA can have significant impacts on our health. It serves as a reminder that understanding these small changes is key to tackling major diseases like cancer.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08423-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature</a>.



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DNA damage can persist for years, increasing cancer risks

Ever since scientists discovered DNA's crucial role in life, they've known our cells have built-in repair systems to fix damaged genetic material. But recent research has revealed something unexpected - some types of DNA damage can dodge these repair mechanisms and lurk in our cells for years, creating multiple opportunities for cancer-causing mutations. The research team, led by Dr. Michael Spencer Chapman from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the Barts Cancer Institute, made this discovery by studying an impressive collection of cellular family trees. The findings, published...

Biodiversity variables can help slow species loss

Scientists believe that Earth has undergone five major species extinctions in its history. The sixth, they say, is happening right now. Each year, thousands of species on Earth go extinct, and the trend will only continue if action is not taken. But while climate change data is readily available to influence policy decisions, data on changes in biodiversity has remained scarce. Enter: essential biodiversity variables.

Essential biodiversity variables is a term that refers to the measurements recorded to track and manage changes in biodiversity. The concept was coined by GEO BON (<a href="http://geobon.org/">Group of Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network</a>) in the interest of providing hard evidence of species loss. The team compared essential biodiversity variables to stocks. The price of a stock share varies depending on supply and demand and the price of all shares determines the index of the stock exchange. Similarly, data recorded pertaining to the populations and locations of species calculates the biodiversity variable. This, in turn, helps highlight which indices require the most attention on a policy making level. Biodiversity variables can be a way to correct misconceptions and protect biodiversity across the planet. 

According to Dr. Dirk Schmeller, researcher at the <a href="http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=33573">Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ</a>, “At the beginning there was a lot of hype surrounding the biodiversity variables. There was widespread discussion about them, but many people don't really understand what they are and what they can do. The EBVs are the link between the raw data and the indices. They enable us to document critical changes in biodiversity and provide the data basis on which politically relevant indices can be calculated, so that appropriate decisions can be made. So we can say to decision-makers, we need more monitoring or more capacity in this or that area.”

"It will take a few years before everything works in the way we envisage," said Dr. Schmeller. "The more information we can provide about biodiversity, the more it will influence policy decisions - even though biodiversity still often takes a back seat where economic affairs are concerned."

Biodiversity variables can help slow species loss

Biodiversity variables can help slow species loss Scientists believe that...

Clams don’t speak, so what can they tell scientists about the ocean? A lot, it turns out – the sea’s history is written in clam shells.

Dr. Alan Wanamaker, now a professor at <a href="https://www.iastate.edu/">Iowa State University</a>, learned how to read that record while he was working as a postdoctoral researcher in Wales.

At <a href="https://www.bangor.ac.uk/">Bangor University</a>, he was put in charge of sorting through thousands of Arctica islandica clams gathered from the North Icelandic Shelf, located in the North Atlantic. The goal was to study the clam shells and use them to create a 1,000-year-long record of life in the marine climate of that area.

Wanamaker processed the clams by sectioning shells, saving portions of each one in epoxy, radiocarbon dating, determining oxygen isotopes, and more. 

He also looked for clam growth rings. Like trees, clam shells grow a little each year, and how the shell grows in a certain year can tell scientists about the ocean conditions they were living in, including temperature. Since some of the clams were alive – and the species can live for up to 500 years – Wanamaker was able to work backwards and overlap specimens to build a chronological record.

When he completed his postdoctoral studies, the work was taken up by Dr. Paul Butler of Bangor University and Dr. David Reynolds, a postdoctoral research associate at <a href="http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/">Cardiff University</a>.

Now, the three and eight others who worked on the project have <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13502">published their research</a>, with Reynolds taking the role of lead author. The work provides a record of more than 1,000 years of marine history, with a focus on the oxygen isotopes. 

The work begins to fill a major gap in data about ocean climate through history, the researchers said. Because of lack of data, there has been debate in recent years over what role, if any, the North Atlantic plays in climate change, they said. 

Their research indicates that the North Atlantic has played a role in previous transitions in surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, the researchers said.

One interesting item from the data, Wanamaker said, was that for most of the chronology, ocean temperature changes preceded atmospheric changes. However, after the Industrial Revolution began in the 1800s, that flipped, he said; for the past 200 years, atmospheric temperatures have led any oceanic warming or cooling.

Even without that important data, however, the study would make history for ocean science. It’s the first time that scientists have been able to piece together a year-by-year chronology of ocean conditions for such a long period of time, Wanamaker said.

Their study was published online by the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a>. Funding was provided by the <a href="http://www.nerc.ac.uk/">United Kingdom's Natural Environment Research Council</a> and the <a href="https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en">European Union</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Clam shells help scientist interpret 1,000 years of ocean history

Clams don’t speak, so what can they tell scientists about...

The authors of a new study think that if the Earth gets warm, the North and South Poles could get even warmer, with temperatures rising two or three times as much as the rest of the planet.

The team of geophysicists found that as the last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago, temperatures in Antarctica rose more than twice as much as temperatures worldwide. The team was led by <a href="http://berkeley.edu/">University of California, Berkeley</a> glacier expert Dr. Kurt Cuffey and <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey</a> research geophysicist Dr. Gary Clow.

Or, in hard numbers, the temperatures in Antarctica rose an average of 20 degrees Fahrenheit over the continent, while temperatures around the world averaged only 7 degrees higher than the previous norm.

The study’s calculations match up with what climate models predict for the frozen southern continent, as well as scientists’ past estimates of how the end of the ice age affected Antarctica, Cuffey said.

That gives credence to climatologists’ predictions that Antarctica will warm twice as much as the rest of the Earth during the current warming period, though it may take a century or two to see the full effects, he said.

The scientists measured the current temperature of 20,000-year-old glacier ice in Antarctica, then used their knowledge about how quickly pure ice heats up to calculate the glacier’s temperature at various points over the past several thousand years. They repeated this process with other, older ice, and used a technique developed by Cuffey to combine the resulting data for more accurate temperature estimates. 

While temperatures at both the North and South poles rose more than elsewhere, the Arctic warmed more slowly than the Antarctic, probably due to the huge sheets of ice in the north, and changes in ocean currents and Earth’s orbit that sped warming in the Southern Hemisphere, the researchers said.

The new study, the first thorough calculations of temperature changes in Antarctica at the end of the last ice age, was published online by the journal <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Could North and South Poles warm more than the rest of the Earth?

The authors of a new study think that if the...

A massive rift in the Antarctic Ice Shelf may create an iceberg the size of Delaware.

The Larsen C Ice Shelf, part of the larger Antarctic Ice Shelf, has developed a massive rift that extends over 300 feet wide, 70 miles long, and 1500 feet deep. The shelf has been gradually melting since the 1960s and is expected to completely vanish by the end of this decade.

“The crack completely cuts through the Ice Shelf but it does not go all the way across it – once it does, it will produce an iceberg roughly the size of the state of Delaware,” <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> said in an official statement.

The Larsen B Ice Shelf, formerly located on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula, dissolved in 2002 after developing a similar kind of rift. This fracture caused a 1,235 square mile chunk to break off into thousands of smaller icebergs. Scientists believe Larsen B had been stable for 12,000 years and had only begun melting a few years before dissolving. Water flowing into the cracks of the Larsen B Antarctic Ice Shelf began increasing due to rising temperatures, causing the fissure to rapidly develop.

The rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf now cuts through the glacier, but not all the way across. If the shelf were to disintegrate, it could cause the global sea level to rise by 2.5 feet.

According to a recent study on the opposite side of the Antarctic Ice Shelf, more than 386 square miles of ice have been lost in the last four decades. Overall, however, the Antarctic ice sheet has actually been growing. According to photos, the ice sheet gained 112 billion tons of ice each year between 1992 and 2001, slowing between 2003 and 2008 to 82 billion tons of ice annually.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Antarctic Ice Shelf rift could create Delaware-sized iceberg

A massive rift in the Antarctic Ice Shelf may create...

As the southwestern United States continues to experience severe drought conditions, and climate change continues to increase the likelihood of future droughts, scientists are studying how drought-resistant plants conserve water. The genetic and metabolic mechanisms used to minimize water loss could be key to developing drought-resistant food and bioenergy crops.

A team of scientists from the <a href="http://www.energy.gov/">Department of Energy’s</a> <a href="https://www.ornl.gov/">Oak Ridge National Laboratory</a> have studied and identified these mechanisms in drought-resistant plants in a report published in <a href="http://www.nature.com/nplants/volumes/2/issues/12">Nature Plants</a>. Certain plants found in semi-arid climates, such as agave, adapted to their dry environment by developing an alternative form of photosynthesis known as crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). In CAM, the plants absorb and store carbon dioxide through their pores at night when water is less likely to evaporate. During the day, while the plant uses sunlight to turn carbon dioxide energy, the pores stay closed and minimize water loss. 

While scientists have been aware of the CAM process since the 1950s, there has still been much mystery surrounding how exactly it works. But the team of researchers from the Oak Ridge National Library conducted a study to determine which metabolic mechanisms allow the plant to photosynthesize this way. The ultimate goal, they say, is to introduce these water-saving traits into food sources and bioenergy to offer solutions during severe droughts.

According to Xiaohan Yang, coauthor the study, “Today's demand on agricultural systems to provide food, feed, forage, fiber and fuel call for more comprehensive research into understanding the complexities of CAM plants. As we uncover each layer of the CAM process, our studies aim to speed up the evolution of crops to give them the ability to thrive in more arid environments as the availability of freshwater becomes limited."

The team compared the molecular traits of agave with a Arabidopsis, a plant that conducts standard photosynthesis. Over a 24-hour period, the team studied the genetic behavior that prompts stomatal movement in the plant. They found the time of day that stomatal activity occurred varied greatly between the two plants, and also successfully determined which mechanisms prompt the pores to open and close. By understanding the timing and rhythm of the CAM process, scientists can parlay the process into crops like rice and corn.

Said coauthor Gerald Tuskan, "Further research is required to understand how this molecular timekeeping regulates CAM, but the results of this study provide new insights into the complexity of CAM biodesign, featuring an integrative understanding of CAM at the molecular level. The transfer of CAM molecular machinery into energy crops would facilitate their deployment onto marginal lands and would simultaneously reduce competition with food crops."

Drought-resistant plants hold key to new food sources

As the southwestern United States continues to experience severe drought...

Not all shorebird parents handle their family responsibilities the same way, a <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v540/n7631/full/nature20563.html">new study</a> of the feathered families revealed.

The study found that bonded shorebird parents tackle their parenting schedules very differently across species – and also within the same species, scientists said.

An international team of biologists found what they called “unexpected diversity” among shorebirds’ synchronized biorhythms, the pattern of when and how often parents switch incubation duties at their nests. 

Some flighty birds switched every hour or two, the study found. Others went nearly 48 hours before trading places. The average time most birds spent on the nest was between two and 24 hours.

The team was led by Dr. Brett Sandercock of <a href="https://www.k-state.edu/">Kansas State University</a> and Dr. Eunbi Kwon, postdoctoral researcher at <a href="https://www.vt.edu/">Virginia Tech University</a>. The pair are part of the <a href="https://www.manomet.org/program/shorebird-recovery/arctic-shorebird-demographics-network-asdn">Arctic Shorebirds Demographic Network</a>, and their portion of the team’s data came from birds nesting within the Arctic Circle. 

The study used data from 729 nests in 91 shorebird populations worldwide. 32 shorebird species were studied and most of them laid three to four eggs in a ground nest.

To monitor the birds, the scientists used light-sensitive geolocator tags. The tags normally track location, but in this case, the scientists used them to track when birds were on the nest – signaled by long periods of darkness – and when they had a chance to briefly fly the coop – signaled by light, which is plentiful in Arctic summers.

The researchers hoped to find out how, when, and why birds determine the length of time each half of a mating pair will stay on the nest. While more research needs to be done, Sandercock said, initial data points to predation risk and nest location, as well as each species’ evolutionary history.

For example, if birds switch frequently, it will be easier for predators to spot their nest than if they switch only once every 24 hours or more, he explained. The day-night schedule of the Arctic could also play a role; very long days and only a couple of hours of night in the summer would discourage the birds from following a day-night pattern, Sandercock said.

The study was published in the December 1st issue of the journal <a href="http://nature.com/">Nature</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Shorebird parents show not all families look alike

Not all shorebird parents handle their family responsibilities the same...

Archaeologists have uncovered a surprisingly modern find in the excavation of an ancient Egyptian town: a pet cemetery.

The cemetery is estimated to be about 2,000 years old, and holds the remains of scores of cats, along with dogs and monkeys. 

Most of the pets were carefully buried, the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/div-classtitlepet-cats-at-the-early-roman-red-sea-port-of-berenike-egyptdiv/3E9F9F08ABB32E00E56595C8D1187B0B">archaeologists found</a> – some still wearing their collars, with mats, vases, and in the case of two cats, ostrich-shell beads – indicating that the burials were deliberate and the animals were not thrown away.

The care that was taken with the animals’ burials shows a deep emotional connection between faithful Fluffy and Fido and their owners in ancient Egypt, said Dr. Marta Osypinska, who reported the researchers’ findings in the journal <a href="https://antiquity.ac.uk/">Antiquity</a>.

The animals also seem to be pets rather than animals used in magical rituals like many of the animal burials in the Nile Valley, the researchers said.

While pet burials are not unusual in ancient Egypt, most previous finds have been pets buried alongside or near their owners. In the pet cemetery at Berenike, only two human burials were discovered, Osypinska said. The rest of the cemetery went to the dogs (and cats).

The archaeologists stumbled on the cemetery while they were excavating a trash site outside the Red Sea port town of Berenike. The pet cemetery dates to sometime in the first or second century C.E., when the town was under Roman control.

The town was always animal-focused, the researchers said, and originally served as a waystation for elephants headed between battlefields.

While Egyptians were known for their love of cats, Romans adored their dogs, and both are found in the pet cemetery.

One of the biggest surprises, the researchers said, is that Berenike is a remote town that would have relied on food imports. Even with the need to import food, one of the dogs found in the cemetery – a mastiff-type dog, probably imported from Greece or Rome, with advanced bone cancer – had a belly full of meat.

The pet cemetery is an unusual find, but animal cemeteries are found throughout ancient Egypt, often containing scores of mummified cats or dogs that were used in ritual purposes.

The pets in the Berenike cemetery show no signs of having their necks broken, a common find in the ritual animals’ cemeteries, Osypinska said. And though it was found near a trash site, the graves all show signs of deliberate burial and many have grave goods, she said.

Archaeologists uncover ancient Egyptian pet cemetery

Archaeologists have uncovered a surprisingly modern find in the excavation...

Chimpanzees appear to recognize rear ends with as much ease as faces, according to <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0165357">a new study</a> on face processing among the primates.

Face processing is a brain shortcut that allows humans to recognize and process faces more quickly than other objects – as long as they are upright. 

This varies from other objects, which humans recognize in about the same amount of time regardless of their orientation.

Chimps also place some importance on faces, but scientists were aware that buttocks also played a role in how they recognize each other, as well as attraction between males and females. 

So Dr. Mariska Kent of <a href="https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en">Leiden University</a> set out to see if chimpanzees have the same processing “shortcut” for butts that humans do for faces. 

They conducted a series of matching tests with both humans and chimpanzees. In the experiments, humans and chimps were asked to match faces, buttocks and feet (as a control) of both species. Some of the images were in colors, and some were in grayscale. Several of the images were inverted, or upside down, to test whether recognition was more efficient right side up.

The study found that humans recognize and are able to match upright faces faster than other body parts, both with and without color.

Chimps showed some interesting results, however. In color, they were able to process upright images of chimpanzee buttocks faster than faces or feet. However, when the color was removed, their facial processing skills improved. 

According to Kret, this indicates that buttocks play a large role in chimpanzee socialization, but especially in sexual attraction. When female chimps are in the fertile part of their menstrual cycle, areas of their buttocks turn dark pink, which may explain why, in color images, chimps are better at recognizing individual pairs of buttocks.

This could be why chimpanzees evolved to have bare behinds, with little hair growing on them, as well as why primate eyes in general are good at spotting the color red, Kret said. 

The study was published in the November 30 issue of the journal <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/">PLOS ONE</a>.

---

By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Chimpanzees help us get to the bottom of face processing

Chimpanzees appear to recognize rear ends with as much ease...

Princess Cruises, one of the world’s largest cruise line companies, has been found to be polluting our oceans. The Californian company will plead guilty to seven felony charges relating to pollution and a cover-up operation, announced the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/">U.S. Department of Justice </a>on Thursday.

The Limited Liability Company which owns the cruise line has made a plea agreement to pay a $40 million penalty, the largest ever relating to vessel pollution.

Assistant Attorney General John Cruden said, "Let’s be very clear: Princess engaged in exceptionally serious criminal offenses. It deliberately violated the international law regime designed to make sure that our precious oceans are protected."

Five ships of the Princess fleet were involved in the illegal activity, which started in 2005. The investigation has been underway for several years, revealing that a 3192-passenger vessel, the Caribbean Princess, discharged oily waste into the sea through a "magic pipe," bypassing the ship's waste treatment system. A whistleblower reported the discharges to the UK authorities in 2013. After the crew learned they had been reported on, the chief and first engineers ordered cover-up operations, coercing their subordinates to lie. On one day in 2013, the same ship discharged more than 4,000 gallons of waste off the coast of England.

Cruden said, "Princess itself is to blame because the nature, extent and scope of the crimes involve a striking failure of corporate culture and a serious failure in ship management," finally stating that Princess is “a company that knew better and should have done better."

As part of the agreement reached, vessels operated by Princess and seven other Carnival Corporation-owned brands will be under a strict, court-supervised Environmental Compliance Program for five years.

Princess expressed remorse in a statement. "We are extremely disappointed about the inexcusable actions of our employees who violated our policies and environmental law when they bypassed our bilge water treatment system and discharged untreated bilge water into the ocean. Although we had policies and procedures in place, it became apparent they were not fully effective," the statement said. "We are very sorry that this happened."

This ruling is an embarrassing turn of events for the cruise line, who tout environmental responsibility in their advertising. However, the DoJ didn’t present any evidence that the executive team behind Princess cruises knew of these activities.

Princess Cruises found to be polluting our oceans

Princess Cruises, one of the world’s largest cruise line companies,...

According to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/ivanka-trump-climate-czar-232031">Politico</a>, Ivanka Trump is looking for ways to use her new role to combat climate change, despite her father's previous comments that global warming was a “hoax.”

The report goes on to state that Ms. Trump may have an even more public role than the future first lady. The president-elect’s ambitious daughter will take over running the Trump businesses alongside her brothers, but as of yet she has no plans to move to Washington. Politico reported that she may be planning to hire a chief of staff and additional team members.

Trump himself has warmed to the concept that humans may have affected the world’s climate recently, stating in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/us/politics/trump-new-york-times-interview-transcript.html?_r=0">New York Times interview</a> that he thinks there is “some connectivity” between global warming and human activity.

Ivanka and Donald Trump are reported to have an incredibly close relationship, with some commentators believing he may move on climate if pushed by his ambitious daughter. The former fashion model is thought to have more left-leaning views than her father, with an emphasis on women's rights, climate change, family leave and pay equality. Ivanka Trump commented earlier this year, “Policies that allow women with children to thrive should not be novelties – they should be the norm.” In July, she promised her father would change labor laws put in place years before women were a major part of the workforce.

Ivanka Trump makes plans to combat climate change

According to Politico, Ivanka Trump is looking for ways to...

While residents of coastal communities and Pacific island nations worry over how rising seas could change their lives, others are trying to find the bright side of climate change – like the UK wine industry.

If weather patterns in England, Wales and Scotland change as climate scientists are predicting, it could soon be prime real estate for vintners looking to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 

A new study by <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/">University College London</a> and <a href="http://www.laithwaiteswine.com/">Laithwaite’s Wine</a> found that rising temperatures and increased rainfall, which climatologists are suggesting could be in the UK’s future if climate change isn’t curbed. In that case Britain becomes wine country.

The researchers looked at climate models through 2100, as well as the ideal growing conditions for a number of grape varietals. These models suggest temperatures will rise by 2.2º C and rainfall could increase up to 5.6% by 2100.

According to the researchers, this would provide excellent growing conditions for Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Malbec, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Merlot in various locations throughout the UK. There would still need to be studies of soil quality and other variables, the researchers admitted.

England’s wine industry is already growing quickly, with the number of vineyards doubling over the past 10 years.

It’s not just new possibilities in the UK wine industry – a <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n7/full/nclimate2960.html">study earlier this year</a> found the effects of climate change appeared to be improving French wine.

The research is a silver lining for a climate change future that has looked stormy for the UK. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/08/potential-impacts-climate-change-uk">Computer models</a> have predicted a wet future for the country, with more winter rain, more intense downpours, and a loss of coastline due to sea levels rising. Hotter, drier summers may also become the norm, if climatologists’ predictions play out.

The researchers shared their findings through <a href="http://blog.laithwaites.co.uk/wine-climate-change-uk-margaux-margate-chateau-petrus-chateau-peckham/#.WECNG-ArLnC">Laithwaite’s blog</a> and with a number of news outlets.

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Climate change could be good news for UK wine industry

While residents of coastal communities and Pacific island nations worry...

Fruit fly fights illustrate social behavior patterns

A fruit fly fight club may sound like a terrible sequel idea, but it turns out much can be learned about social evolution by these fruit fly fights. For several months, Julia Saltz, assistant professor of biosciences at <a href="http://www.rice.edu/">Rice University</a>, observed fruit fly fights in different scenarios to determine how their aggression altered their social environment.  

Psychologists have long believed that human behavior isn’t simply a reaction to the environment we happen to fall into. Rather, people choose and create their environment through social interactions. Saltz wanted to examine how a fruit fly’s genotype affected its phenotype. In other words, how the flies’ genetic code influences social behavior. 

In a study published in the <a href="http://nature.com/">Nature</a> journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/hdy/">Heredity</a>, Saltz placed male fruit flies in different stressful situations and observed how stress altered their behavior. Using a process called social-environment construction, she moved a stressed fly into a different group for observation.

Said Saltz, "The main takeaway is that individuals' behaviors affect their social environments. In other words, when you pick your friends, it matters to you and it affects both what happens in the group and your behavior at a later time."

Due to the aggressive nature of the study, Saltz used fruit flies, in part because humans punching each other would quickly get messy. Fruit flies, however, can be easily manipulated and observed.

Saltz observed the male fruit flies for two days each, both alone and in groups of 2 to 8. She placed genetically identical fruit flies in their preferred or non-preferred environments and observed their aggression, finding that different genotypes have different group size preferences. After determining preference, she put individual males into variously sized groups.

"For day one, I put a 'genotype one' focal male with a group of flies, and a 'genotype two' with a replica group with the same sex ratio, number and genotype, reared under standard lab conditions," said Saltz. "That way, I knew the social environment was the same for both focal males. If there was something different about how the groups behaved, it had to be due to the genotype of that one extra male. Arguably, the focal male would influence the behavior of other individuals in the group, which is what we saw.”

It turned out that males in their preferred groups were attacked more often than males in non-preferred groups. 

One the second day, Saltz took the focal males into a new environment with a “naive” male and found the previous day made the focal male less aggressive. Saltz calls this “the loser effect,” in which males who lose a confrontation are subsequently less aggressive.  

"That seems to be true here,” she said. “Except that there's no good definition of losing. That's why I like to think of it as being attacked more often."

"The male actually rears up. The front two legs and part of its body go up and it slams its legs onto another male. It's not ambiguous, and a male can only lunge at one other male at a time, so you know exactly who was being aggressive and who was the recipient."

While the long-term effects are impossible to determine using fruit flies as they only live for about 70 days, Saltz hopes to use larger sets with more genotypes in future studies. 

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By <a href="mailto:oliviagharvey24@gmail.com">Olivia Harvey</a>, <a href="http://earth.com">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Fruit fly fights illustrate social behavior patterns

Fruit fly fights illustrate social behavior patterns A fruit fly...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Santiago, the capital city of Chile. The city is located in the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about eight million people.&nbsp;



'The weather of Santiago resembles the Mediterranean climate with dry and warm summers with temperatures reaching up to 35°C (from October to March) and cool and humid winters that can drop to 0°C (from April to September)."



"The city lies in the centre of the country’s central valley around 80 km from the Pacific Ocean to the west and borders Argentina to the east. A tiny part of Argentina is visible in the top-right corner of the image where the mountain crest of the Andes Mountains acts as a divider between the two countries," says ESA.



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

[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...