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From the tiniest fluctuations after the Big Bang, gravity has orchestrated the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, creating the vast cosmic web we see today.



Gravity isn't just what keeps us grounded -- it's been shaping the universe since its earliest days. Recent studies have provided the most precise tests of gravity on the grandest scales imaginable. 



By examining how cosmic structures have grown over the past 11 billion years, scientists have confirmed that gravity behaves just as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cosmic-glitch-in-gravity-expands-the-theory-of-general-relativity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Einstein's theory</a> of general relativity predicts, even across billions of light-years.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-desi-tracks-gravity-over-11-billion-years">DESI tracks gravity over 11 billion years</h2>



Pauline Zarrouk, a cosmologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (<a href="https://www.cnrs.fr/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNRS</a>) working at the Laboratory of Nuclear and High-Energy Physics (LPNHE), has been exploring this cosmic evolution.



In collaboration with the international team behind the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (<a href="https://www.desi.lbl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DESI</a>), Zarrouk and her colleagues have traced how cosmic structures grew over the past 11 billion years.



Using data from DESI, the researchers provided the most precise test to date of gravity on the largest scales. 



"General relativity has been very well tested at the scale of solar systems, but we also needed to test that our assumption works at much larger scales," Zarrouk explained. 



"Studying the rate at which galaxies formed lets us directly test our theories and, so far, we're lining up with what <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radical-new-theory-finally-unites-gravity-spacetime-and-the-quantum-realm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">general relativity</a> predicts at cosmological scales."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-einstein-is-smiling-from-the-grave">Einstein is smiling from the grave</h2>



Their findings confirm that gravity behaves as Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts, even across the immense distances of the universe. 



This validation supports our leading model of the cosmos and narrows down alternative theories of gravity that have been proposed to explain puzzling observations, like the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/universe-expansion-rate-dark-energy-measured-11-billion-years-ago/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accelerating expansion</a> of the universe often attributed to dark energy.



The study also sheds light on <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/quantum-gravity-search-south-pole-neutrinos-experiment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neutrinos</a> -- the elusive particles that zip through space almost undetected. 



Previous experiments determined that the combined mass of the three types of neutrinos should be at least 0.059 electron volts (eV/c²). For perspective, an electron has a mass of about 511,000 eV/c². 



DESI's results suggest that the total mass of neutrinos should be less than 0.071 eV/c², tightening the constraints on these mysterious particles.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-desi-gravity-and-cosmic-structure">DESI, gravity, and cosmic structure</h2>



"Both our BAO results and the full-shape analysis are spectacular," said Dragan Huterer, a professor at the <a href="https://umich.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Michigan</a> and co-lead of DESI's group interpreting the cosmological data. 



"This is the first time that DESI has looked at the growth of cosmic structure. We're showing a tremendous new ability to probe modified gravity and improve constraints on models of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-energy-is-ripping-the-universe-apart-but-we-arent-sure-how/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy</a>. And it's only the tip of the iceberg."



DESI is no ordinary telescope. Mounted on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at <a href="https://kpno.noirlab.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kitt Peak National Observatory</a>, it's capable of capturing light from 5,000 galaxies at once. 



Funded by the DOE Office of Science, the project is now in its fourth year of surveying the sky and aims to collect data from roughly 40 million galaxies and quasars by the time it's done.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/theory-gravity-exists-without-mass-so-dark-matter-does-not-exist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testing gravity</a> at cosmic scales is crucial. While Einstein's theory has passed every test within our solar system, there's always the possibility that it might behave differently across the vastness of space. 



By confirming that gravity acts as expected over billions of light-years, scientists can be more confident in their models of how the universe has evolved. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interpreting-the-desi-data">Interpreting the DESI data</h2>



<a href="https://profiles.utdallas.edu/mishak">Dr. Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki</a>, a professor of physics in the <a href="https://nsm.utdallas.edu/">School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics</a> at UT Dallas, co-led the DESI working group that interpreted the cosmological data.



“For this round of DESI results, I focused my efforts at UT Dallas on conducting a large part of the analysis on gravity, which puts constraints on how matter in the universe moves and how large-scale structures, such as clusters of galaxies, evolve,” explained Ishak-Boushaki. 



“The results from DESI, combined with datasets from other experiments, are consistent with general relativity theory operating at cosmic scales, although they do not completely exclude other theories of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/central-theory-of-quantum-gravity-is-modeled-in-the-laboratory/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">modified gravity</a>.”



The new results provide an extended analysis of <a href="https://news.utdallas.edu/science-technology/desi-findings-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DESI’s first year of data</a>, which in April contributed to the largest 3D map of the universe to date and revealed hints that <a href="https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2024/04/04/desi-first-results-make-most-precise-measurement-of-expanding-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy might be evolving</a> over time.



“The latest analysis is also consistent with our previous findings that give preference to the theory that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-energy-could-explain-the-rapid-expansion-of-the-early-universe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy</a> is not constant, but dynamic, which is a very important result for cosmic acceleration,” Ishak-Boushaki said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-did-this-happen">How did this happen?</h2>



The collaboration is currently analyzing data from the first three years and expects to present updated measurements of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-evidence-suggests-that-dark-energy-comes-from-black-holes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dark energy</a> and the universe's expansion history by spring 2025. 



The recent results align with earlier hints that dark energy might be evolving over time, adding to the excitement for what's to come.



"Dark matter makes up about a quarter of the universe, and dark energy makes up another 70 percent, and we don't really know what either one is," said Mark Maus, a PhD student at <a href="https://www.lbl.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Berkeley Lab</a> and UC Berkeley who worked on theory and validation modeling pipelines for the new analysis. 



"The idea that we can take pictures of the universe and tackle these big, fundamental questions is mind-blowing."



The study utilized nearly 6 million <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/lonely-quasars-in-the-early-universe-cannot-be-explained/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">galaxies and quasars</a>, allowing researchers to peer up to 11 billion years into the past. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-next-for-desi-and-gravity">What's next for DESI and gravity?</h2>



To sum it all up, with just one year of data, DESI has made the most precise overall measurement of the growth of cosmic structures, surpassing previous efforts that took decades.



The DESI project is remarkable not just for its technological capabilities but also for its collaborative spirit. 



With over 900 researchers from more than 70 institutions worldwide, it's a testament to what can be achieved when the global scientific community comes together.



As we await the next round of results, one can't help but wonder: What other secrets of the universe are waiting to be uncovered? 



The quest to understand gravity, dark matter, and dark energy continues, and each new discovery brings us a little closer to unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos.



The full study was published in <a href="https://data.desi.lbl.gov/doc/papers/">several scientific journals</a>.



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New 'mind-blowing' gravity discovery proves Einstein right again

From the tiniest fluctuations after the Big Bang, gravity has orchestrated the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, creating the vast cosmic web we see today. Gravity isn't just what keeps us grounded -- it's been shaping the universe since its earliest days. Recent studies have provided the most precise tests of gravity on the grandest scales imaginable. By examining how cosmic structures have grown over the past 11 billion years, scientists have confirmed that gravity behaves just as Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts, even across...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-evidence-suggests-earths-inner-core-is-rotating/">Earth’s inner core</a> – a scorching ball of solid iron located three thousand miles below the surface inside a liquid outer core – generates electric currents that turn into a magnetic field surrounding out planet and protecting living organisms from the most damaging cosmic radiation.&nbsp;



While in the mid-1990s scientists discovered that the inner core is spinning at its own pace, slightly faster than the rest of the planet, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://english.pku.edu.cn/">Peking University</a> in China has now found that around 2009, the core slowed its rotation, becoming similar with that of the surface for a while, and is now lagging behind it.&nbsp;



According to the scientists, a similar phenomenon seems to have happened in the late 1960s and early 1970s, suggesting that it could represent a 70-year cycle of the inner core’s speeding up and slowing down.



Since the core is buried deep between the Earth’s mantle and crust, it cannot be visualized directly. However, scientists can use seismic waves triggered by earthquakes to infer what is happening in our planet’s deepest parts. Since these waves travel at different speeds that depend on the temperature and density of the rock, they act as a type of X-ray for the Earth.&nbsp;



By examining seismic waves traveling from specific sites of earthquakes to the opposite side of the planet, and passing through the core on their way, the researchers analyzed time lags and perturbations in these waves which offered them indirect information about the core.



The analysis revealed that the core has recently slowed its rotation. “Most of us assumed that the inner core rotated at a steady rate that was slightly different from the Earth,” said Paul Richards, a seismologist at <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a>. “The evidence accumulates, and this paper shows that the evidence for [faster] rotation is strong before about 2009, and basically dies off in subsequent years.”



Although the reasons of this shift are not yet clearly understood – and the change itself is debated by some scientists – the behavior of the core appears to be connected to small changes in the length of the day, which has been growing by milliseconds over the past centuries because of other forces too, such as the moon’s pull on our planet. However, after removing predictable fluctuations in the length of a day due to moon’s forces, the scientists found that there are changes appearing to track with the 70-year oscillation in the inner core’s rotation.



Further research is needed to precisely understand the core’s behavior in order to shed more light on the Earth’s formation and how its innermost layers affect life on its surface.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-01112-z">Nature Geoscience</a>.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Earth’s inner core is slowing down

The Earth’s inner core – a scorching ball of solid...

Many scientists are currently worried about the negative effects <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/screen-time-damages-childrens-health-reduces-well-being/">screen time</a> – defined as time spent on tablets, phones, computers, or television devices – has on the development of children worldwide.&nbsp;Now, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/ja">Osaka University</a> in Japan has found that, although more screen time at age two is correlated with poorer communication and daily living skills at age four, these negative effects can be significantly reduced if children play more outside.



The scientists followed a cohort of 885 children from 18 months to four years of age and examined the relationship among three key features: the average amount of screen time per day at age two, the amount of outdoor play at two years and eight months, and neurodevelopmental outcomes (communication, daily living skills, and socialization) at age four.



“Although both communication and daily living skills were worse in four-year-old children who had had more screen time at age two, outdoor play time had very different effects on these two neurodevelopmental outcomes,” reported study lead author Kenji J. Tsuchiya, a professor of Child Mental Development at Osaka University.&nbsp;



“We were surprised to find that outdoor play didn’t really alter the negative effects of screen time on communication—but it did have an effect on daily living skills.”



The analysis revealed that nearly one-fifth of the effects of screen time on daily living skills were mediated by outdoor activities, meaning that increasing outdoor play can reduce these negative effects by almost 20 percent.&nbsp;



Moreover, the researchers also discovered that, although it was not associated with screen time, socialization was better in four-year-olds who spent more time playing outside at two years and eight months of age.



“Taken together, our findings indicate that optimizing screen time in young children is really important for appropriate neurodevelopment,” said senior author Tomoko Nishimura, an expert in Child Development at Osaka.&nbsp;



“We also found that screen time is not related to social outcomes, and that even if screen time is relatively high, encouraging more outdoor play time might help to keep kids healthy and developing appropriately.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.5356">JAMA Pediatrics</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Negative effects of screen time offset by outdoor play

Many scientists are currently worried about the negative effects screen...

Alzheimer’s disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder which mostly affects older humans, leading to memory loss, confusion, and forgetfulness. However, a new study published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900">European Journal of Neuroscience</a> has found evidence that other species of animals may also suffer from this debilitating condition. 



By conducting postmortem studies on 22 odontocetes, or toothed whales – a group of cetaceans included <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dolphins-have-accents-that-vary-by-region/">dolphins</a>, porpoises, and other species of whales possessing teeth – the experts discovered hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of three species of dolphins found stranded along the Scottish coast.



The scientists examined specimens from five species: Risso’s dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbor porpoises, and bottlenose dolphins. “Critically, we examined the whole brains to provide lesion (abnormality) profiles using more markers of Alzheimer’s disease,” said study senior author Mark P. Dagleish, an expert in Anatomic Pathology at the <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/">University of Glasgow</a>.



The analysis revealed that three aged dolphins - a long-finned pilot whale, a white-beaked dolphin, and a bottlenose dolphin – presented brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease in humans. More specifically, these animals seemed to have accumulated phospho-tau and glial cells and formed amyloid-beta plaques, or the clumping of a protein found in the brains of humans suffering from this disease.



According to Dagleish, these findings are&nbsp;“the closest anyone has been able to show that any animals develop the Alzheimer’s disease-associated lesions spontaneously,” which scientists thought could only develop in humans.&nbsp;However, while the similar neuropathology of the aged dolphins and humans with Alzheimer’s suggests that these marine mammals have a susceptibility to the disease too, a clear diagnosis could only be made if clear cognitive deficits are also identified – which is of course impossible in postmortem studies.



“The simultaneous occurrence of amyloid-beta plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau pathology in the brains of odontocetes shows that these three species develop AD-like neuropathology spontaneously. The significance of this pathology with respect to the health and, ultimately, death of the animals remains to be determined. However, it may contribute to the cause(s) of unexplained live-stranding in some odontocete species and supports the ‘sick-leader’ theory whereby healthy conspecifics in a pod mass strand due to high social cohesion,” the authors concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Dolphins may also suffer from Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder which mostly affects...

Pheasants are more likely to be killed by predators in unfamiliar areas, according to a study led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/">University of Exeter</a>. The experts note that most animals know the central areas of their home ranges better than the edges.



For the investigation, the researchers tested the cognitive abilities of more than 100 captive-reared pheasant chicks. The birds were then tagged and released into the wild.&nbsp;



During a six-month study period, about 40 percent of the pheasants were killed by predators, which were primarily foxes.&nbsp;



The results show that the pheasants were far more likely to be killed near the edge of their range. The researchers say this was due to inexperience in these areas, because other birds that knew the same spots well were not likely to die there.



“For pheasants, experience within an area is much more important for predicting whether they are killed by predators than how dangerous the area is itself,” said study lead author Dr. Robert Heathcote.



“Ambush predators like foxes are quite habitual in their hunting behavior, so local pheasants may learn particular locations where foxes prefer to stalk their prey or lie in wait."



“Another explanation is that, with time, pheasants might gain more knowledge about the fastest and safest escape routes should they be attacked."



“Our study suggests this might cause pheasants to evolve better spatial memory, allowing them to expand the region that they have detailed knowledge about.”



Before their release, the birds were tested on two kinds of spatial memory by using a maze and a memory task. Ultimately, the researchers found that chicks with greater cognitive abilities grew up to have a larger range.



“One of the tasks we presented the chicks was to learn to navigate through a carefully designed maze to test for navigation-related spatial cognition including spatial reference memory," said study co-author Dr. Mark Whiteside.



“The ability to remember locations such as sites for foraging, drinking and refuge could explain why individuals that performed well on this task had larger home ranges after their release into the wild."



“Their performance in these tests that were administered when the birds were just a few weeks old went on to predict their chance of being killed by foxes months later.”



The team was able to establish the cause of death by using a novel reverse-GPS tracking system developed by Professor Sivan Toledo of Tel-Aviv University and Dr. Yotam Orchan of Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The high-precision system enabled the team to determine the exact timing, location, and cause of death among tagged birds.



“Our findings show that basic spatial abilities, revealed by tests in mazes, relate to real-world space use in the wild and, crucially, affect the survival of individuals in the face of predation,” said study co-author Dr. Joah Madden.



“We demonstrate that knowing about an area helps pheasants stay alive, and this means that these cognitive abilities can be shaped by natural selection. We now understand a bit more about how cognitive abilities can evolve.”



The research, which was funded by the European Research Council, is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/">Nature Ecology and Evolution</a>



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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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Pheasants are most vulnerable in unfamiliar territory

Pheasants are more likely to be killed by predators in...

According to a new study published in the <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/xge/">Journal of Experimental Psychology</a>, adolescent <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/chimpanzees-use-surprisingly-complex-vocal-sequences/">chimpanzees</a> exhibit similar risk-taking behaviors as human teenagers, but they may be less impulsive than their human counterparts. These findings shed more light on the age-old nature versus nurture debates regarding whether adolescents take more risks due to biological predispositions or environmental influences.



“Adolescent chimpanzees are in some sense facing the same psychological tempest that human teens are,” said study lead author Alexandra Rosati, an associate professor of Psychology and Anthropology at the <a href="https://umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a>. “Our findings show that several key features of human adolescent psychology are also seen in our closest primate relatives.”



The scientists conducted two tests involving food rewards with 40 wild-born chimpanzees in Congo. In the first test, adolescent and adult chimpanzees had to choose between two containers in a gambling task. While one container was filled with peanuts – a food that chimps somewhat like – the other contained either a cucumber slice, which the apes dislike, or a banana slice (their favorite food). The animals could “play it safe” and get the peanuts, or take a chance for the coveted banana at the risk of ending up with the cucumber.&nbsp;



The chimps’ emotional reactions and vocalizations were recorded, and saliva sample were collected for tracking their hormonal levels. During several reiterations of the experiment, adolescent chimpanzees took the risky option more often than the adult ones, but had similar negative reactions when receiving the unwanted cucumber.



In a second test – modeled after the famous “marshmallow test” initially conducted with human children – chimpanzees could receive a slice of banana immediately or wait for one minute to get three slices, thus showing an ability for delayed gratification. In this case, both adolescent and adult chimps choose the greater delayed reward. By contrast, human teens tend to be more impulsive than adults, and are more likely to take the immediate reward.



“Prior research indicates that chimpanzees are quite patient compared with other animals, and our study shows that their ability to delay gratification is already mature at a fairly young age, unlike in humans,” Rosati explained. Thus, although risk-taking behavior in both adolescent chimpanzees and humans seem to be biologically ingrained, increases in impulses behavior may be specific to human teens.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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.

Young chimpanzees take risks like human teens

According to a new study published in the Journal of...

New research led by the <a href="https://www.nioz.nl/en">Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research</a> (NIOZ) has found that a type of bacteria (Rhodococcus ruber) can eat and actually digest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-a-planetary-emergency/">plastic</a> particles. By using a model study with plastic in artificial seawater in the laboratory, the experts calculated that bacteria can break down about one percent of the fed plastic per year into carbon dioxide and other harmless substances.



“But this is certainly not a solution to the problem of the plastic soup in our oceans. It is, however, another part of the answer to the question of where all the ‘missing plastic’ in the oceans has gone,” said study lead author Maaike Goudriaan, a doctoral student in Microbiology and Biogeochemistry at NIOZ.



For these experiments, the scientists manufactured a special type of plastic with a distinct form of carbon (13C) in it. When fed to the bacteria after pretreatment with UV radiation mimicking sunlight in a bottle of simulated seawater, the special version of carbon appeared as CO2 above the water. “The treatment with UV light was necessary because we already know that&nbsp;sunlight partially breaks down plastic&nbsp;into bite-sized chunks for bacteria,” Goudriaan explained. “This is the first time we have proven in this way that bacteria actually digest plastic into CO2&nbsp;and other molecules.”



While scientists already knew that this bacterium&nbsp;can form a so-called biofilm on plastic in nature, and that the plastic disappears under that biofilm, this study is the first to prove that the bacteria actually digest the plastic.



By calculating the total breakdown of plastic into CO2, the researchers found that the bacteria can break down about one percent of the available plastic per year. “That’s probably an underestimate,” Goudriaan said. “We only measured the amount of carbon-13 in CO2, so not in the other breakdown products of the plastic. There will certainly be&nbsp;13C in several other molecules, but it’s hard to say what part of that was broken down by the UV light and what part was digested by the bacteria.”



However, as Goudriaan stresses, microbial digestion is far from being a solution to the major problem of plastic pollution. “These experiments are mainly a proof of principle. I see it as one piece of the jigsaw, in the issue of where all the plastic that disappears into the oceans stays. If you try to trace all our waste, a lot of plastic is lost. Digestion by bacteria could possibly provide part of the explanation.”



Further research is needed to investigate whether bacteria&nbsp;also eat plastic “in the wild,” with some promising results already arising from experiments with real sea water and sediment collected from the Wadden Sea floor. “The first results of these experiments hints at plastic being degraded, even in nature. A new PhD student will have to continue that work. Ultimately, of course, you hope to calculate how much plastic in the oceans really is degraded by bacteria. But much better than cleaning up, is prevention. And only we humans can do that,” Goudriaan concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114369">Marine Pollution Bulletin</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



—



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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.

Bacteria can eat and digest plastic

New research led by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea...

Despite the existence of many mechanisms that prevent reproduction between two different species in nature, hybridization is a widespread phenomenon that has shaped the genomes many of today’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/more-than-350-new-species-discovered-in-2022/">species</a>, humans included. When the genomes of two different species are combined through successful reproduction, this provides a source of genetic novelties that can be crucial in helping populations adapt to changing environments. Understanding the evolution of hybrid genomes is therefore important because it can shed light on how species barriers become established, on the costs and benefits of hybridization, and on the function of genes and their interactions.&nbsp;



Researchers at the <a href="https://www.helsinki.fi/en">University of Helsinki</a> were aware that two species of wood ants, Formica aquilonia&nbsp;and&nbsp;F.&nbsp;polyctena have bred and formed populations of hybrids in several different locations in Finland. The researchers took advantage of these known hybrid populations to measure how rapid and predictable the evolution of genomes is in the wild, after hybridization has taken place. In this case, predictability applies to the genetic outcome after hybridization, and the question of whether, if one could redo the same hybridization, the genetic results would be similar.&nbsp;



The scientists collected 39 ants from the three different hybrid populations in the forests in southern Finland, close to the Tvärminne Zoological Station. They then generated whole-genome DNA sequences from these individuals and compared them with genomes from 10 individual ants of both parent species, found within and outside the ranges where the hybrids and parental species overlap. In order to do this, they collaborated with scientists from Scotland and Portugal, and used supercomputers from the Finnish IT center for science (CSC). In total, the researchers analyzed about 1.6 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms from locations throughout the ant genomes.



The results, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001914">PLOS Biology</a>, showed that, for the three different hybrid populations, hybridization between the two ant species occurred only about 125 years ago, which equates to 50 ant generations. After hybridization, the three distinct hybrid populations evolved independently towards the same genetic outcome. This means that, today, the genomes of ants from the hybrid populations are remarkably similar to one another in terms of their genetic composition, even though they started out being dissimilar at the time of hybridization.&nbsp;



To explain this unexpected finding, the researchers tested for evidence of gene flow between the hybrid populations, and between hybrids and parental species. They found no evidence of gene flow and concluded that other mechanisms must be involved to explain this rather rapid evolution of the three hybrid populations towards a similar genome. They suggest that natural selection against deleterious genes in the hybridizing species with the lowest effective population size&nbsp;(and presumably higher load of disadvantageous alleles) could explain how the hybrid populations became genetically similar over such a short time.



When asked whether these results represented a small step or giant leap in knowledge, researcher Pierre Nouhaud, from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki responded, “A bit of both! Finnish wood ants give the opportunity to observe multiple, very recent hybridization events, and the amount of predictability we found, despite this recency, is remarkably high, which is quite novel. In the meantime, our study also confirms previous results obtained in a handful of species, including humans, suggesting the patterns we see in wood ants are quite general.”&nbsp;



“On an evolutionary timescale, we are dealing with recent events, less than 50 ant generations, which had very little time to leave footprints in DNA sequences,” adds Nouhaud. “This means it can be hard to distinguish between competing hypotheses. In our study we performed computer simulations considering different evolutionary scenarios to take this uncertainty into account and ensure our results are robust.”



The researchers emphasize that hybrid genomes provide powerful insights into evolution because they are exposed to strong, and often opposing, selective forces. In this way, evolution has shaped the hybrid genomes in a predictable manner, such that the genomes of the different hybrid populations are now similar. This indicates that selective pressures were similar for each hybrid population and this led to the removal of deleterious genes from the genomes.



“Since hybridization is also frequent in many other species than ants, our results could help understand its consequences more generally,” concludes docent Jonna Kulmuni, from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki. “On the long term, our work would help better apprehend the impact of hybridization in the wild and assess whether it could help species cope with changing environments,” she says.&nbsp;



Next, the ant research group will monitor the genetic composition of hybrid populations over multiple years to find evidence for adaptation and test whether hybrids can combine temperature ranges from both species, which might help wood ants deal with warming climate. According to Nouhaud this could be quite important because wood ants are key species of boreal forests: they provide food for many species, contribute to nutrient cycling, and hunt many other insects. Without them, Finnish forests would certainly look quite different.



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By <a href="mailto:bosman@truewan.co.za">Alison Bosman</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Hybrid ants evolve rapidly to remove deleterious genes

Despite the existence of many mechanisms that prevent reproduction between...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ucsc.edu/">University of California, Santa Cruz</a> has investigated how different populations of red <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/sea-urchin-behavior-drives-destruction-of-kelp-forests/">sea urchins</a> – a commercially valuable species – responded to changes in their environments. The analysis revealed that red sea urchin populations in Northern and Southern California are both adapted to their local environmental conditions, but differ in their vulnerability to future climate change and ocean acidification.&nbsp;



Although sea urchins in Southern California are already adapted to warmer conditions, the scientists estimate that further warming of the habitats may be more than they can tolerate.



“Red sea urchins from the Southern California population were much more sensitive to environmental changes than those from Northern California, and we think that is likely because they are already closer to some kind of thermal limit,” said study senior author Kristy Kroeker, a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz.



The scientists examined the effects of three key environmental variables in sea urchins’ habitat: water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH (a variable measuring the level of ocean acidification). All of these variables are affected by climate change, which is warming the oceans, reducing oxygen levels in the water, and increasing acidification through the absorption of CO2 by seawater.



Currently, Northern California sea urchin populations are already adapted to more acidic, less oxygenated, and colder conditions than their Southern Californian counterparts. By exposing sea urchins from both populations to projected future conditions simulated in the laboratory, the researchers found that Northern California sea urchins experienced lower mortality than the Southern Californian ones.



“Despite the Northern California populations being in more acidic, lower-oxygen conditions in the future, it was the Southern California populations that were much more impacted,” said Kroeker.&nbsp;



This is surprising since the Northern Californian populations are already adapted to seasonal changes in which temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH all decrease in concert. With climate change, this so-called “covariance structure” will be broken: while dissolved oxygen and pH will decrease further, temperatures will rise.



“It’s breaking down the environmental covariance structure they’re adapted to, so our prediction was that this would make them more vulnerable. But that’s not what we found,” Kroeker said.



These discoveries suggest that water temperature is a critical variable for red sea urchins. Thus, with already warmer temperatures, the Southern Californian coastal waters may not have to get much warmer to reach temperatures inhospitable to their inhabitants.



“We should not assume that a species’ vulnerability to climate change is the same across its whole range. Each population is adapted to local conditions, and not all populations are going to respond similarly to global climate change,” Kroeker concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade2365">Science Advances</a>.&nbsp;



—



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Some red sea urchins will tolerate climate change better than others

A new study led by the University of California, Santa...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University&nbsp;</a>(ELTE) in Hungary has investigated whether companion <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-are-more-aware-of-actions-than-objects/">dogs</a> and pigs would show their owners the location of a food reward that is out of reach for them, but accessible to the owners.&nbsp;



The experts discovered that only if the owners were present in the room, pigs paid them as much attention as dogs did. However, when the reward was also in the room, only dogs tried to direct the attention of the owners to the location of the reward. The findings suggest that directing humans’ attention to relevant locations may not be something that every domestic animal can do.



Referential communication is the act of directing someone’s attention to a specific object in the environment. Humans use this type of communication regularly through language and gestures. Scientists have long pondered whether some species of animals have similar capacities.



“Domestic animals seem especially predisposed to referentially communicate with humans,” said study lead author Paula Pérez Fraga, a doctoral student in the Neuroethology of Communication at ELTE. “However, some human-socialized wild animals can do this as well, thus domestication might not be key for this communicative ability to emerge after all. We noticed that a shared characteristic among these species is that they use many visual signals when communicating with their conspecifics. Could this be a necessary characteristic&nbsp;for animals to engage in referential communication with humans?”



In order to test this hypothesis, the scientists compared the behavior of similarly raised companion dogs and pigs. The animals entered a room where they were either alone with the owner, alone with a hidden food reward, or together with the owner and the reward. While dogs are known to rely heavily upon visual communications, pigs are less visually-oriented creatures.



“We expected an increase of referential communicative behaviors when both the owner and the food reward were present, meaning that the animal was directing the attention of the human to the food location,” said study senior author Attila Andics, an expert in Ethology at ELTE. “We found that when pigs and dogs were alone with their owners, they paid similar attention to her/him. However, after the experimenter hid the reward, only dogs tried to show their owners where it was. Pigs, in contrast, just tried to find the way to take it themselves.”



"We suggest that pigs might lack important characteristics that are crucial for the emergence of this sort of communication. Although we know that dogs are especially skillful in communicating with humans, other animals like horses, cats, and even kangaroos can referentially communicate with us, and all of them rely heavily upon visual communication when interacting with their mates. Pigs, on the contrary, don’t,” Pérez Fraga concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26503-5">Nature Scientific Reports</a>.&nbsp;



—



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Pigs lack the skills for referential communication

A new study led by the Eötvös Loránd University&nbsp;(ELTE) in...

Keeping domestic cats indoors is best for their health and the environment, according to a new study from <a href="https://www.umd.edu/">University of Maryland</a>. The experts report that humans are primarily responsible for the risks associated with free-roaming cats, such as threats to native animal populations and the potential for disease transmission.



"Free-roaming domestic cats (Felis catus) are known to pose threats to ecosystem health via transmission of zoonotic diseases and predation of native wildlife," wrote the study authors. "Likewise, free-roaming cats are also susceptible to predation or disease transmission from native wildlife."



The researchers analyzed data from the D.C. Cat Count, a survey that included 60 wildlife cameras across 1,500 sites. The cameras revealed where the cats frequently overlapped with native wildlife.



“We discovered that the average domestic cat in D.C. has a 61% probability of being found in the same space as racoons - America’s most prolific rabies vector - 61% spatial overlap with red foxes, and 56% overlap with Virginia opossums, both of which can also spread rabies,” explained study lead author Daniel Herrera. “By letting our cats outside we are significantly jeopardizing their health.”



The survey cameras also revealed the native animals that were commonly preyed upon by domestic cats, including grey squirrels, chipmunks, cottontail rabbits, groundhogs, and white footed mice. The experts noted that by hunting these animals, cats can reduce biodiversity and degrade ecosystem health.



“Many people falsely think that cats are hunting non-native populations like rats, when in fact they prefer hunting small native species,” explained Herrera. “Cats are keeping rats out of sight&nbsp; due to fear, but there really isn’t any evidence that they are controlling the non-native rodent population. The real concern is that they are decimating native populations that provide benefits to the D.C. ecosystem.”



Overall, the study showed that the presence of cats increased with human population density, yet decreased with tree cover and other natural features that are associated with a greater presence of wildlife. Herrera said that these associations run counter to arguments that free-roaming cats are simply stepping into a natural role in the ecosystem by hunting wildlife.



“These habitat relationships suggest that the distribution of cats is largely driven by humans, rather than natural factors,” noted Professor Travis Gallo. “Since humans largely influence where cats are on the landscape, humans also dictate the degree of risk these cats encounter and the amount of harm they cause to local wildlife.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.1048585">Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution</a>.



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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.

Humans are responsible for the risks of free-roaming cats

Keeping domestic cats indoors is best for their health and...

Computer,And,Beer,On,A,Wooden,Desk,Or,Table.,Modern

A new study published in the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/12/5/690/htm">Journal of Personalized Medicine</a> has identified several genes and their variants that trigger a variety of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/social-media-use-is-not-an-addictive-behavior/">addictive</a> behaviors. Besides confirming previous discoveries that addiction could be genetically determined, these recent findings also indicate possible overlaps between different types of disorders influenced by the same genes.



While previous research has mainly focused on identifying relationships between genetic variants and one specific type of addiction, this new study examined a broad spectrum of substance and non-substance addictions and their possible associations to 32 gene polymorphisms, or variants.



The researchers collected DNA samples from 3003 young adults from Hungarian high schools, colleges, and universities and surveyed them about their alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption, as well as about their engagement in other seven potentially addictive behaviors: internet use, gaming, social networking sites use, gambling, eating, exercising, and hair pulling.



“It has been previously proven that a strong genetic influence exists in case of different addictions. Heritability, which is the measure of genetic contribution to a trait, is estimated to be between 50 percent and 70 percent for addictions, and the rest is environmental effects,” said study co-author Csaba Barta, an associate professor of Molecular Biology at the <a href="https://semmelweis.hu/english/">Semmelweis University</a> in Budapest, Hungary.&nbsp;



“However, the specific genetic variants and their neurobiological roles in addiction are not so well known. We found 29 nominally significant associations in the current study, and nine of those remained significant after statistical correction for multiple testing.”



The analysis revealed that some genes and their variants can make people susceptible to both the use of certain substances and other potentially addictive behaviors. For instance, one of the genes,&nbsp;FOXN3&nbsp;and its so-called&nbsp;rs759364 A&nbsp;allele (variant), was linked to more frequent alcohol consumption. However, the same allele was also associated with a higher occurrence of internet use and online gaming.&nbsp;



“These findings can contribute to the scientific knowledge on addictions which affects millions of people worldwide,” said study co-author Zsolt Demetrovics, a professor of Psychology at <a href="https://www.elte.hu/en/">Eötvös Loránd University</a>.&nbsp;



“A novelty of the PGA [Psychological and Genetic Factors of Addictions] study is that it explores the relationships between substance use and non-substance-related addictive behaviors in detail. It could bring us closer to understanding the overlap between the vulnerability of different types of potentially addictive behaviors. For example, being vulnerable to problematic alcohol use might also pose an increased risk for gambling, video game use, or working addiction. This could be a relevant consideration also when planning treatment interventions,” he concluded.



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By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Alcohol use linked to internet addiction

A new study published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine...

The tropical Pacific Ocean is home to most of the islands on Earth, including reef islands and atoll reefs. A new study led by <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">Flinders University</a> in Australia has found that Southeast Asian regions of the Pacific produce more <a href="https://www.flinders.edu.au/">fish</a> than all the world’s largest coastal upwelling areas combined, despite many scientists previously believing that tropical oceans are low in both nutrients and phytoplankton productivity.



According to the experts, transient short-lived wind events trigger the formation of massive phytoplankton blooms – which occupy the base of many marine food webs – close to tropical reef islands, such as the disputed Spratly Island in the South Island Sea, as well as a variety of other islands in the Pacific Ocean.



“The key here is that the tropical Pacific contains thousands of such islands, which implies that tropical wind events can create a large network of marine ecosystems existing year-round and spanning thousands of kilometers, possibly forming one of the largest upwelling biomes on Earth,” said study lead author Jochen&nbsp;Kaempf, an associate professor of Coastal Oceanography at Flinders.



Upwelling is a physical process which enriches oceans’ surface waters with dissolved nutrients, thus fueling the production of phytoplankton. The scientists discovered that coastal winds are the main drivers of the most productive upwelling systems on our planet, including those forming on the coasts of California and Peru-Chile, which are major global fish producers.



“We believe that this (Asia-Pacific) upwelling biome provides critical feeding habitats for migratory marine species such as sea turtles, tuna, and whales,” Kaempf explained. “For instance, pygmy blue whales migrate from their feeding habitat in upwelling regions of southern Australia to their breeding grounds in Indonesian waters, where they seem to gather near Christmas Island and volcanic arc islands of the Banda Sea. Our findings suggest that this behavior is primarily feeding-related.” &nbsp;



These findings opens new paths for examining the phytoplankton bloom mechanisms in tropical oceans, especially in the light of new worrisome phenomena caused by climate change, such as sea-level rise, enhanced wave erosion, and shifts in tropical rainfall and winds patterns.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10872-022-00673-2">Journal of Oceanography</a>.



—



By <a href="mailto:andrei.ionescu5891@gmail.com">Andrei Ionescu</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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.

Tropical winds support the world's most productive ocean systems

The tropical Pacific Ocean is home to most of the...

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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

[sendtonews key="G9bUoxcjr4-2511624-12187" 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 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



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Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[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

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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

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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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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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"

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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...