A long-standing enigma surrounding the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star at the center of the Crab Nebula, may have been unraveled by a theoretical astrophysicist from the University of Kansas.&nbsp;



The study, led by Professor Mikhail Medvedev and recently published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.205201" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Physical Review Letters</a>, explains the origins of the pulsar’s unique “zebra” pattern, a peculiar banding in high-frequency radio waves.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-powerful-emission-from-the-crab-nebula">Powerful emission from the Crab Nebula</h2>



At the heart of the Crab Nebula, 6,000 light years from Earth, lies the Crab Pulsar, a 12-mile-wide neutron star emitting powerful electromagnetic radiation.



“The emission, which resembles a lighthouse beam, repeatedly sweeps past Earth as the star rotates,” said Medvedev, professor of physics and astronomy at the <a href="https://www.ku.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Kansas</a>.&nbsp;



“We observe this as a pulsed emission, usually with one or two pulses per rotation. The specific <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/pulsars-are-helping-astronomers-pinpoint-dark-matter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pulsar</a> I'm discussing is known as the Crab Pulsar.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-zebra-pattern-in-the-crab-nebula">Zebra pattern in the Crab Nebula</h2>



The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/unraveling-the-mysterious-origins-of-the-crab-nebula/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nebula</a> itself is the remnant of a supernova documented in 1054, with historical records from China describing an unusually bright star in the sky.&nbsp;



However, unlike other pulsars, the Crab Pulsar exhibits a zebra pattern in its high-frequency emissions, making it a singular case in the study of neutron stars.



“This is the only object we know of that produces the zebra pattern, and it only appears in a single emission component from the Crab Pulsar,” Medvedev noted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-puzzle-decades-in-the-making">A puzzle decades in the making</h2>



Since its discovery in 2007, the zebra pattern has stymied researchers. The band spacing in its electromagnetic spectrum, along with its high polarization and stability, defied explanation.&nbsp;



“Researchers proposed various emission mechanisms, but none have convincingly explained the observed patterns,” said Medvedev.



The zebra pattern occurs within the pulsar’s high-frequency interpulse, a range between 5 and 30 gigahertz - frequencies akin to those of a microwave oven. Using innovative techniques, Medvedev’s research links the phenomenon to the plasma surrounding the pulsar.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-decoding-the-crab-nebula-s-zebra-pattern">Decoding the Crab Nebula's zebra pattern </h2>



Medvedev’s breakthrough came from studying the Crab Pulsar’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/secrets-of-jupiters-magnetosphere-will-help-us-predict-space-weather/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">magnetosphere</a>, a region filled with plasma composed of charged particles like electrons and positrons.&nbsp;



By applying wave optics, Medvedev connected the zebra pattern in the Crab Nebula to diffraction effects caused by the pulsar’s plasma.



“If you have a screen and an electromagnetic wave passes by, the wave doesn’t propagate straight through,” Medvedev explained.&nbsp;



“Wave optics introduces a different behavior - waves bend around obstacles and interfere with each other, creating a sequence of bright and dim fringes due to constructive and destructive interference.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-plasma-diffraction-patterns-in-the-crab-pulsar">Plasma diffraction patterns in the Crab Pulsar </h2>



In the Crab Pulsar, these diffraction patterns vary based on the plasma’s density and the radio wave’s frequency.



“A typical diffraction pattern would produce evenly spaced fringes if we just had a neutron star as a shield,” Medvedev said. “But here, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neutron-stars-may-hold-the-key-to-understanding-dark-matter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">neutron star</a>’s magnetic field generates charged particles constituting a dense plasma, which varies with distance from the star.”&nbsp;



“Low frequencies reflect at large radii, casting a bigger shadow, while high frequencies create smaller shadows, resulting in different fringe spacing.”



This plasma diffraction creates the zebra pattern, with the fringe spacing reflecting variations in the density of the plasma.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mapping-the-pulsar-s-magnetosphere">Mapping the pulsar’s magnetosphere</h2>



“This model is the first one capable of measuring those parameters,” Medvedev said. “By analyzing the fringes, we can deduce the density and distribution of plasma in the magnetosphere.”&nbsp;



“It’s incredible because these observations allow us to convert fringe measurements into a density distribution of the plasma, essentially creating an image or performing tomography of the neutron star’s magnetosphere.”



Medvedev’s findings not only clarify the zebra pattern but also open the door to understanding the intricate structure of the Crab Pulsar’s plasma environment.



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



The study provides a framework for further investigation of the Crab Pulsar and other neutron stars. With additional data collection and refinements to account for gravitational and polarization effects, the method could yield insights into other young and energetic pulsars.



“The Crab Pulsar is somewhat unique - it’s relatively young by astronomical standards, only about a thousand years old, and highly energetic,” Medvedev said. “But it’s not alone; we know of hundreds of pulsars, with over a dozen that are also young.”



The method may even be applied to binary pulsars, which were instrumental in confirming Einstein’s theory of general relativity. “Known binary pulsars can also be explored with the proposed method,” Medvedev added.&nbsp;



“This research can indeed broaden our understanding and observation techniques for pulsars, particularly young, energetic ones.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-leap-forward-in-astrophysics">A leap forward in astrophysics</h2>



By identifying the role of plasma diffraction in the Crab Pulsar’s zebra pattern, Medvedev’s work bridges a critical gap in astrophysics.&nbsp;



The study not only explains a unique phenomenon but also establishes a technique for probing the magnetospheres of pulsars, advancing our understanding of these extraordinary objects.



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University)



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Mysterious signals from Crab Nebula form a zebra pattern

A long-standing enigma surrounding the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star at the center of the Crab Nebula, may have been unraveled by a theoretical astrophysicist from the University of Kansas.&nbsp; The study, led by Professor Mikhail Medvedev and recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters, explains the origins of the pulsar’s unique “zebra” pattern, a peculiar banding in high-frequency radio waves. Powerful emission from the Crab Nebula At the heart of the Crab Nebula, 6,000 light years from Earth, lies the Crab Pulsar, a 12-mile-wide neutron...

He,Is,The,Champ,.,Mixed,Media

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/blueberries-grown-grass/">Grass</a> is an extremely resilient plant in general. But a particular species of turfgrass - Paspalum vaginatum (colloquially known as seashore paspalum) – which has been used to pad soccer fields recently built in Qatar for the World Cup, can tolerate stresses diverse and lethal enough to rival cactuses or camels. Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.unl.edu/">University of Nebraska-Lincoln</a> has argued that seashore paspalum may soon assist another goal – growing crops which yield more food with less of the fertilizer that imposes significant costs on farmers, ecosystems, and water resources.



Since mid-20th century, the application of fertilizers such as nitrogen and phosphorous has skyrocketed, in order to boost plant growth. However, the seashore paspalum does not seem to need much of these nutrients, a surprising feature which sets it apart from its close relatives such as corn and sorghum.



By analyzing this plant’s genes and gene expression, the scientists discovered that it responds to a lack of nutrients by nearly doubling its production of a sugary molecule called trehalose. Although corn and sorghum naturally churn out some of the same molecule, the researchers saw no change in its production among these two nutrient-starved crops.



Unfortunately, trying to increase trehalose in corn proved ineffective. “So I thought about it in the opposite way,” said study lead author Guangchao Sun, a bioinformatician at the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/">Mayo Clinic</a>. “If I cannot supply trehalose to the plants, what if I stopped its degradation in those plants?”



By using an antibiotic that can inhibit the enzyme responsible for degrading trehalose, the scientists finally succeeded in cranking up the trehalose levels in corn and, within days, the crops started growing more. According to Sun and his colleagues, these changes also relied on autophagy – a “recycling program” in plant cells that takes apart old or damaged proteins, then reassembles them into new, functioning ones.&nbsp;



Eventually, the team managed to develop a mutant of corn which lacked the ability to engage the final stage of recycling. Moreover, even with a surplus of trehalose, the mutant failed to thrive when deprived of essential nutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorous, marking autophagy as an equally important facet of the resilience.



According to Sun, there are still other things to do before scientists will clearly understand seashore paspalum’s world-class tolerance. However, he hopes that very soon his team will manage to identify the genes that code for higher trehalose.



“And if you could (introduce) that genomic region into other elite corn varieties — say, some maize that has high yield but is really sensitive to nutrient stress — maybe now you get both a high yield and high resilience,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35507-8">Nature Communications</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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World Cup turfgrass may help make corn more resilient

Grass is an extremely resilient plant in general. But a...

Taxonomists all over the world are working to discover and classify new species before they disappear, in order to help protecting our planet’s dwindling biodiversity. Now, a large international team of specialists has made a major stride forward in clarifying the taxonomy of Madagascar’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dozens-of-frog-species-rediscovered-in-ecuador/">frogs</a>, naming and describing 20 new species.



The newly identified frogs belong to the genus&nbsp;Mantidactylus&nbsp;and subgenus&nbsp;Brygoomantis, which contained only 14 species until now. These tiny, brown frogs – with males emitting subtle calls to attract females - are ubiquitous along streams in Madagascar’s humid forests.&nbsp;



“The calls typically sound like a creaking door, or a gurgling stomach,” said study lead author, Mark D. Scherz, the Curator of Herpetology at the <a href="https://snm.ku.dk/english/">Natural History Museum of Denmark</a>. “Finding, recording, and catching calling individuals of these frogs is a real challenge, but has proven critically important for the discovery and description of these many new species. That means a lot of time on hands and knees in the mud.”



&nbsp;“This is the culmination of intensive fieldwork across Madagascar over more than 30 years,” added Frank Glaw, the Curator of Herpetology at the <a href="https://zsm.snsb.de/?lang=en">Bavarian State Collection of Zoology</a>. “Our dataset contains genetic data from over 1,300 frogs, and measurements of several hundred specimens.”



The scientists used a cutting-edge tool called “museomics,” where DNA is sequenced from old museum material. Although this process is often difficult (since DNA degrades over time), by using a method called “DNA Barcode Fishing,” the experts succeeding in obtaining DNA sequences from most of the relevant museum materials.



“Museomics gave definitive identifications of sometimes very ambiguous-looking specimens,” explained study senior author Miguel Vences, a professor of Evolutionary Biology at the <a href="https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/en/">Technical University of Braunschweig</a>. “This gives us a level of confidence in our species descriptions that was not previously possible based on morphology alone.”



However, there are still several Brygoomantis lineages which are most likely separate species, but scientists did not have enough data or material to identify them. “Even for those species for which we have names, we know almost nothing about their biology or ecology. We need a lot more field research on these frogs, and more specimens in museum collections, to really gain a good understanding of them,” concluded co-author Andolalao Rakotoarison, the co-chair of the <a href="https://www.iucn-amphibians.org/">Amphibian Specialist Group</a> for Madagascar.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.7.2.1">Megataxa</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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Twenty new species of frogs identified in Madagascar

Taxonomists all over the world are working to discover and...

Herd,Of,African,Elephants,Walking

As human-elephant conflicts continue to exacerbate across Africa, scientists are searching for new methods to keep track of wild <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/african-elephants-recovering-poaching/">African elephants</a> by using cutting-edge technologies, such as satellite imagery and state-of-the-art GPS systems. 



In the rural community of Sagalla in Tsavo, Kenya - a hotspot for crop-raiding elephants – researchers led by the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a> and the <a href="http://www.savetheelephants.org/">Save the Elephants</a> organization have now tracked the footprints of elephants through a high-resolution Garmin GPS combined with state-of-the-art satellite imagery to identify how plant diversity on a micro-scale affects elephant movement.



The investigations revealed that elephants make considered decisions about which paths to take based on their dietary preferences. For instance, bull elephants prefer to walk paths that have or lead to plants such as&nbsp;Combretum&nbsp;and&nbsp;Cissus,&nbsp;which are only eaten by bulls. 



On the other hand, family groups will usually walk paths that have Commiphora&nbsp;and&nbsp;Terminalia, which are preferred by females and young calves. Finally, when the two groups move together, they choose paths that have or lead to regions where both preferred foods are available.



Better understanding how elephants access their favorite foods could help conservation managers focus their resources on potential conflict hotspots outside protected areas and safeguard plant diversity within parks and buffer zones. Moreover, clarifying the location and composition of specific vegetation species within plant communities could also help scientists to learn more about the impact of human encroachment and vegetation removal on elephant movement.



“It is incredible the level of detail we can infer from free satellite imagery about the processes that control the spatial dynamics of elephant movements. A lot is known about what kinds of foods are eaten by elephants, however, being able to single out the fact that their movements can be driven by their fancied, gender-based diet, helps to further our understanding of micro-level ecological interactions,” explained study lead author Gloria Mugo, a remote sensing analyst at Save the Elephants.



“The insight that different compositions of elephant groups prefer different vegetation patches could help us better understand where elephants are moving to within community areas to focus mitigation efforts, and also will promote better understanding for management of vegetation quality and composition inside wildlife reserves to keep parks more attractive to elephants inside than outside,” concluded senior author Lucy King, a biologist at Oxford.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14215386">Remote Sensing</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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African elephants choose paths leading to their favorite food

As human-elephant conflicts continue to exacerbate across Africa, scientists are...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hummingbirds-have-more-colors-than-all-other-birds-combined/">Hummingbirds</a> occupy a unique place in nature: although they fly like insects, they have the musculoskeletal system of birds. Since they have extreme aerial agility and flight forms, many drones and other aerial vehicles are recently designed to emulate hummingbird movements. Now, by using a novel modeling method, a team of researchers led by <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a> has gained new insights into how hummingbirds move their wings, which could lead to design improvements in artificial flying machines.



“We essentially reverse-engineered the inner working of the wing musculoskeletal system — how the muscles and skeleton work in hummingbirds to flap the wings,” said study lead author Suyash Agrawal, a mechanical engineer at Penn State. “The traditional methods have mostly focused on measuring activity of a bird or insect when they are in natural flight or in an artificial environment where flight-like conditions are simulated. But most insects and, among birds specifically, hummingbirds, are very small. The data that we can get from those measurements are limited.”



By using muscle anatomy knowledge, computational fluid dynamics simulation data, and wing-skeletal movement information captured through micro-CT and X-ray techniques, along with an optimization algorithm based on evolutionary strategies, the experts managed to design a model mimicking hummingbird flight.



“We can simulate the whole reconstructed motion of the hummingbird wing and then simulate all the flows and forces generated by the flapping wing, including all the pressure acting on the wing,” explained study senior author Bo Cheng, an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State. “From that, we are able to back-calculate the required total muscular torque that is needed to flap the wing. And that torque is something we use to calibrate our model.”



The scientists discovered that hummingbirds’ primary muscles do not only flap their wings in a simple back and forth motion, but rather pull their wings in three directions – up and down, back and forth, and twisting (or pitching) of the wing. Moreover, the researchers also noticed that hummingbirds tighten their shoulder joints in both the up-and-down direction and the pitch direction by using the same set of small muscles.



“It’s like when we do fitness training and a trainer says to tighten your core to be more agile,” Cheng said. “We found that hummingbirds are using similar kind of a mechanism. They tighten their wings in the pitch and up-down directions but keep the wing loose along the back-and-forth direction, so their wings appear to be flapping back and forth only while their power muscles, or their flight engines, are actually pulling the wings in all three directions. In this way, the wings have very good agility in the up and down motion as well as the twist motion.”



“Even though the technology is not there yet to fully mimic hummingbird flight, our work provides essential principles for informed mimicry of hummingbirds hopefully for the next generation of agile aerial systems,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.2076">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</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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Hummingbird flight could be mimicked by aerial vehicles

Hummingbirds occupy a unique place in nature: although they fly...

This winter, flu – alongside other respiratory illnesses such as RSV or Covid-19 - is ravaging many areas of the United States. However, humans do not seem to be the only animals suffering from this winter’s extreme flu season. In fact, a similar virus is now causing significant outbreak in <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dogs-domesticated-america-10000-years/">dogs</a>, with veterinarians across the country strongly advising dog owners to vaccinate their furry companions.



Canine flu causes symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, nose and eye discharges, fever, lethargy, and sometimes trouble breathing. Although there are limited treatment options once a dog gets infected, there is a preventive vaccine that dogs at risk for catching the flu can receive from their veterinary doctors for about $25 to $35.



According to an <a href="https://www.dogflu.com/">online resource</a> mapping the spread of this disease across the U.S., there currently are worrisome dog influenza outbreaks in nine American states, including New York, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.



While veterinarians argue that not all dogs need to receive a vaccine, more social pets that are frequently interacting with other conspecifics would clearly benefit from such as vaccine. “It’s going to be somewhat specific, based on region and what they are exposed to, but, generally, dogs exposed to a lot of other dogs,&nbsp;dogs in doggie day care,&nbsp;boarding, things like that,” said Jess Fejes, the medical director of the <a href="https://veterinaryemergencygroup.com/">Veterinary Emergency Group</a>.&nbsp;



However, if owners decide to keep their dogs unvaccinated, there are ways of preventing their pets to catch the flu. Since the virus is airborne, places where dogs congregate, such as dog parks, could be risky, particularly for unvaccinated animals.



“Canine influenza is transmitted through droplets or aerosols containing respiratory secretions from coughing, barking, and sneezing. Dogs in close contact with infected dogs in places such as kennels, groomers, day care facilities, and shelters are at increased risk of infection,” experts from the <a href="https://www.avma.org/">American Veterinary Medical Association</a> explained. “Canine influenza can be spread indirectly through objects (e.g., kennels, food and water bowls, collars and leashes) or people that have been in contact with infected dogs.”



While vaccination will not always protect dogs from catching the virus, it may significantly reduce the severity and duration of the illness, thus remaining a helpful tool in stopping what for the moment remains a series of disparate outbreaks to turn into a full-blown epidemic.&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



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.

Dog flu outbreaks spiking across the US

This winter, flu – alongside other respiratory illnesses such as...

Dinosaurs dominated the land habitats of Earth for over 100 million years during the Mesozoic era. At the peak of their success, they included species that were herbivorous, like the long-necked <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/giant-sauropods-walked-more-like-hippos-than-elephants/">sauropods</a>, and others that were dedicated carnivores like Tyrannosaurus rex&nbsp;and its relatives. However, they were not always the grand and impressive reptiles with which we are so familiar.&nbsp;&nbsp;



When dinosaurs first evolved, way back in the early Triassic Period (some 230 million years ago), they were not initially very successful or diverse. They were mostly small and lived in the shadow of the much more successful crocodile-like archosaurs. Scientists do not know how diverse they were in terms of their diets and ecology, but they do know that something happened during their early evolution in the Triassic, that enabled them to adapt to a wide range of habitats and lifestyles.&nbsp;



At the end of the Triassic Period, a mass extinction event occurred that wiped out the crocodile-like competitors, but most of the early dinosaurs survived. After this event, the dinosaurs were able to adapt and evolve into a diverse array of species that dominated the earth until their extinction, 66 million years ago.&nbsp;



Significant ways in which the early dinosaurs changed involved the shapes of their skulls and the morphology of their teeth. This is thought to indicate that they began to diversify their diets and eat different foods. By looking at the tooth shapes of the earliest dinosaurs and simulating their tooth function with computational modelling, a team of researchers has now been able to compare them to living reptiles and their diets. Their findings are published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a>.



“Soon after their origin, dinosaurs start to show an interesting diversity of skull and tooth shapes. For decades, this has made paleontologists suspect that different species were already experimenting with different kinds of diets," explained study lead author&nbsp;Dr. Antonio Ballell&nbsp;from the <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/">University of Bristol</a>.



The researchers compared the fossilized teeth of early dinosaurs to those of modern lizard species and tried to infer what the dinosaurs ate, based on the similarities with modern lizard species, for which the diets are known.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We investigated this by applying a set of computational methods to quantify the shape and function of the teeth of early dinosaurs and compare them to living reptiles that have different diets," said Dr. Ballell. "This included mathematically modeling their tooth shapes and simulating their mechanical responses to biting forces with engineering software.”



“With this battery of methods, we were able to numerically quantify how similar early dinosaurs were to modern animals, providing solid evidence for our inferences of diets. Theropod dinosaurs have pointy, curved and blade-like teeth with tiny serrations, which behaved like those of modern monitor lizards," explained study co-author Professor Mike Benton. "In contrast, the denticulated teeth of ornithischians and sauropodomorphs are more similar to modern omnivores and herbivores, like iguanas.”



The innovative study used machine learning models to classify the earliest dinosaurs into the different diet categories, based on their tooth shape and mechanics. The researchers found that some of the species, such as Thecodontosaurus (one of the earliest and oldest known dinosaurs), had teeth that were perfectly adapted for a diet of plants. However, many groups that ended up being herbivorous actually had ancestors that were omnivorous. And the long-necked herbivores, such as Diplodocus, had ancestors that ate meat.&nbsp;



The researchers suggest that this ability to diversify their diets early in their evolution likely explains the evolutionary and ecological success of the dinosaurs.



“Our analyses reveal that ornithischians - the group that includes many plant-eating species like the horned dinosaurs, the armored ankylosaurs and the duck-billed dinosaurs - started off as omnivores. And another interesting finding is that the earliest sauropodomorphs, ancestors of the veggie long-necked sauropods like&nbsp;Diplodocus, were carnivores. This shows that herbivory was not ancestral for any of these two lineages, countering traditional hypotheses, and that the diets of early dinosaurs were quite diverse," said study co-author Professor Emily Rayfield.



Dr. Ballell concluded: “It seems that one of the things that made the first dinosaurs special is that they evolved different diets throughout the Triassic, and we think this might have been key for their evolutionary and ecological success.”



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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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Dinosaurs' ability to adapt to new diets may explain their success

Dinosaurs dominated the land habitats of Earth for over 100...

Australia is home to a vast variety of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/it-remains-unclear-which-mammals-can-survive-climate-change/">mammals</a>, with over 350 native species, half of which are marsupials such as the kangaroos, wombats, koalas, and Tasmanian Devils. Scientists believed for nearly two centuries that placental mammals and related marsupials (a group of animals known as “Theria”) had originated in the Northern Hemisphere.&nbsp;



But now, a new study led by the <a href="https://australian.museum/">Australian Museum</a> proposes that the ancestors of Theria evolved in Gondwana – a supercontinent encompassing today’s Australia, New Zealand, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Madagascar, and India - 50 million years before migrating to Asia during the early Cretaceous Period around 126 million years ago.&nbsp;



“This new research has completely revised and turned on its head our understanding of early mammal evolution. It’s the most important piece of palaeontological research, from a global perspective that I’ve ever published, but it may take some time to find full acceptance among Northern Hemisphere researchers,” said study lead author Timothy Flannery, an Honorary Associate at the Australian Museum.



“Our research indicates that Theria evolved in Gondwana, thriving and diversifying there for 50 million years before migrating to Asia during the early Cretaceous. Once they arrived in Asia they diversified rapidly, filling many ecological niches,” added study senior author Kristofer Helgen, a chief scientist at the same museum.



According to Helgen, teeth are a useful tool in identifying mammals, and advances in imaging techniques have significantly helped clarifying where fossils fit in the wider evolutionary picture. “A key component to the evolutionary success of Theria lies in their teeth. With their sophisticated molars, known as tropospheric molars, they were able to crush, puncture, and cut through food simultaneously.”&nbsp;



These astonishing discoveries have significantly changed our long-held theories about mammal evolution, suggesting that they evolved in the Southern Hemisphere in the Early Jurassic, about 50 million years prior to their earliest dated occurrence in the Northern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, human habituation and rapid climate change have had a major impact on Australia’s flora and fauna, leading to the extinction of many mammal species.



“If we can change the planet so profoundly, it is in our capability to rectify and stem the loss. We now know more about how our mammals evolved, and now we have to ensure that what is left pulls through the current extinction crisis we humans have triggered,” Helgen concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2022.2132288">Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology</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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New study changes our understanding of mammal evolution

Australia is home to a vast variety of mammals, with...

Although <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/asexual-reproduction-can-negatively-impact-evolution/">asexual reproduction</a> – a process called “parthenogenesis” that allows some female animals to fertilize an egg with their own genetic material - is common for animals such as starfish, stick insects, or deep-sea worms, it is a rare phenomenon among vertebrates. Scientists have long assumed that female vertebrates which usually reproduce sexually turn to parthenogenesis as a last-ditch effort at reproduction when there aren’t enough males around.&nbsp;



However, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum of Natural History</a> in Chicago were surprised to discover recently that a female zebra shark in an aquarium reproduced via parthenogenesis, even though there were healthy, reproductive males in the same enclosure. These findings have implications not only for the continued care of zebra sharks in aquariums and zoos, but also for conservation efforts of their wild conspecifics.



“We've known for several years that parthenogenesis occurs in animals like sharks, but some aspects of it remain unknown, like why it occurs and what triggers it,” said study lead author Kevin Feldheim, a researcher at the Field Museum. “This latest paper is just another step in learning why these ‘virgin births’ happen.”



“As we started to see successful breeding of zebra sharks at Shedd in 2004, we also began genetic testing to confirm which of the sharks were the parents of the offspring,” added study senior author Lise Watson, the assistant director of Animal Operations and Habitats at the <a href="https://www.sheddaquarium.org/">Shedd Aquarium</a>. “By confirming the lineage of the offspring, we could more soundly make decisions on future breeding efforts to maintain maximum genetic diversity while supporting the Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s Species Survival Plan for zebra sharks.”



Unfortunately, shark pups born by this type of “virgin birth” tend to have a short life expectancy, since they are likelier to experience rare recessive genetic conditions. Yet, although the pups examined in this study survived just a few months, the fact that they were born at all challenges long-standing biological theories.



“This is only the second case that we know of where sharks have been born by parthenogenesis even when there were healthy mates available,” said Feldheim. “This discovery throws a wrench in what we thought we knew about how and why parthenogenesis happens, and it illustrates a key aspect of science: we’re continually learning.”



“This study is just the beginning of our understanding of the occurrence of this genetic phenomenon in zebra sharks. Zoos and aquariums like Shedd have a key role to play in the conservation of species like zebra sharks, which are nearly extinct in some parts of the world. Knowing more about parthenogenesis and confirming the genetic makeup of our populations in zoos and aquaria is crucial to making informed decisions that fuel this work,” Watson concluded.



The study is published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15268">Journal of Fish Biology</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



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.

"Virgin births" discovered in zebra sharks

Although asexual reproduction – a process called “parthenogenesis” that allows...

The food that we get on our table travels long distances and undergoes various modifications – from production to processing to distribution and, finally, consumption. Now, an international team of researchers have produced digital maps detailing the pressures that the global food system is exerting on the environment and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/can-whales-help-mitigate-climate-change/">climate</a>.



“The food system is the biggest threat to biological diversity and one of the worst drivers of the climate crisis,” said study co-author Daniel Moran, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.ntnu.edu/">Norwegian University of Science and Technology</a> (NTNU).



“There are lots of different foods on the planet and numerous ways to produce them. The environmental consequences are manifold and difficult to calculate. By gaining a better understanding of the negative impacts, we can achieve more environmentally efficient food production. Doing this will protect the environment and help ensure that we have enough food for the world's population.”



The scientists have gathered data on 99 percent of all food production in water and on land reported in 2017, while taking into account the main types of pressure that food production exerts on the environment, including CO2 emissions, water consumption, pollution, and habitat destruction. Moreover, they have also followed the entire “life cycle” of food – from the sowing of grain or birth of the piglet all the way to the bread and bacon on the consumers’ tables – in order to measure the total environmental impact.



The analysis revealed that five countries – China, India, the United States, Brazil, and Pakistan – account for nearly half of the global environmental impact from food production. In the current study, the countries with the smaller environmental footprint have not been “crowned,” since they are generally poor countries that live with severe food shortages and widespread hunger.&nbsp;



According to the scientists, 90 percent of all food production takes place on the ten percent of the Earth’s land area. Nevertheless, its environmental impact is highly variable according to the specific regions where processes related to food production occur. “In general, locally produced food is the most environmentally friendly option, but we were surprised at how much the production footprint of the same product varied in different countries,” Moran explained.



“A food product can be sustainable when it is produced in one country, but not in another. For example, it turned out that soy production in the USA is twice as environmentally efficient as in India.”



The researchers concluded that no particular diet can be considered best for protecting the environment, and can vary greatly from country to country. Moreover, they warned that, although local food is often sustainable, people should find a balance between their desire for self-sufficiency with all types of food and the most environmentally efficient production possible.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00965-x">Nature Sustainability</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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Food production is one of the biggest drivers of climate change

The food that we get on our table travels long...

For the last 3.7 billion years, Earth’s <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-may-worsen-neurologic-conditions/">climate</a> has undergone drastic changes, and yet life has kept on beating. A new study from the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> has confirmed that the Earth has a “stabilizing feedback” mechanism that has pulled the climate back from the brink, keeping global temperatures within a steady, habitable range.



According to the experts, this phenomenon is likely caused by “silicate weathering” - the slow and steady weathering of silicate rocks involving chemical reactions that draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into ocean sediments. The Earth’s enduring habitability points to some inherent, geologic check on extreme temperature swings.



“You have a planet whose climate was subjected to so many dramatic external changes. Why did life survive all this time? One argument is that we need some sort of stabilizing mechanism to keep temperatures suitable for life,” said study co-author Constantin Arnscheidt. “But it's never been demonstrated from data that such a mechanism has consistently controlled Earth's climate.”



Arnscheidt and Professor Daniel Rothman sought to confirm whether a stabilizing feedback has been at work by looking at data of global temperature fluctuations through geologic history. They worked with a range of global temperature records, from the chemical composition of ancient marine fossils and shells, as well as preserved Antarctic ice cores.



The team analyzed the history of average global temperatures over the last 66 million years, considering the entire period over different timescales to see whether any patterns of stabilizing feedback emerged.



Without stabilizing feedbacks, fluctuations of global temperature should grow with timescale. The study revealed a regime in which fluctuations did not grow, implying that a stabilizing mechanism reigned in the climate before fluctuations grew too extreme.&nbsp;



The timescale for this stabilizing effect — hundreds of thousands of years — coincides with what scientists predict for silicate weathering.



On longer timescales, the data did not reveal any stabilizing feedbacks. Over these longer timescales, then, what has kept global temperatures in check?



“There’s an idea that chance may have played a major role in determining why, after more than 3 billion years, life still exists,” said Professor Rothman.



As the Earth’s temperatures change, these fluctuations may just happen to be within a range that a stabilizing feedback, such as silicate weathering, could periodically keep the climate in check - and within a habitable zone.



“There are two camps: Some say random chance is a good enough explanation, and others say there must be a stabilizing feedback,” said Arnscheidt. “We’re able to show, directly from data, that the answer is probably somewhere in between. In other words, there was some stabilization, but pure luck likely also played a role in keeping Earth continuously habitable.”



The results of the study, published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adc9241">Science Advances</a>, imply that today’s global warming could be eventually canceled out by the stabilizing feedback. However, this would take hundreds of thousands of years to happen, and can’t be relied on to solve the climate crisis.



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By <a href="mailto:katherinebucko@gmail.com">Katherine Bucko</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer



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Earth has a stabilizing mechanism that keeps it habitable

For the last 3.7 billion years, Earth’s climate has undergone...

More than half of the global population currently lives in cities, and this is projected to increase significantly by the end of the century. As cities expand in size, their green spaces, including remnant natural areas, <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-distance-between-humans-and-nature-is-growing/">nature</a> reserves and urban parks, will come under increasing pressure from human activities. Both managed and unmanaged green spaces are important as locations or people to exercise, get closer to nature, destress and improve their mental health. However, there is a delicate balance between allowing human access and conserving natural ecosystems.&nbsp;



Parks and other green spaces are also important for preserving ecosystem biodiversity and for providing services such as stormwater management and heat reduction. When people utilize green spaces, they can affect these functions, for example by disturbing wildlife and forging new trails that are then subject to erosion. It is therefore important for green space management strategies that the numbers and activities of visitors are measured in some way. This should not be invasive, but must be at a fine enough scale to inform management decisions.



Researchers from the University of Toronto and Conservation Halton have now partnered to test the usefulness of anonymized GPS data from peoples’ smartphones to quantify the extent to which green spaces are used, and for what purposes. Conservation Halton is a local conservation authority responsible for managing natural areas, protected reserves and urban parks in the regional municipality of Halton, Ontario. The various green spaces total around 1,000 km2 and include forests, riverside vegetation and grasslands. More than 1.2 million visitors use these spaces each year, most of them from nearby large urban centers.



Visitors to the green spaces often take part in activities such as hiking, dog walking, cross-country skiing and picnicking, and GPS data from visitors’ smartphones can be a powerful tool in understanding what activities are taking place and how many people are present.&nbsp;



The researchers in the current study used Mapbox Movement to obtain an anonymized activity index representing visitor density aggregated to 100 x 100 m grid cells and two-hour windows. They developed new methods for the synthesis, management and analysis of this GPS data from smart devices in the Conservation Halton green spaces in order to understand how this data compares with traditional measures of human access and activity, and to investigate whether the activity index can be used to infer human presence and activity in green spaces in future.&nbsp;



Alessandro Filazzola and colleagues present their findings in a paper in the open-access journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010725">PLOS Computational Biology</a>. They found that the GPS data did indeed capture insights about people’s use of these green spaces, showing, for instance, that mobile device activity was strongly correlated with data on reservations made by people to access parks.&nbsp;



The data also revealed which areas within green spaces had more or less human activity, with established trails being particularly popular. In addition, greater human presence was linked to certain types of land cover, such as rock formations, as well as certain tree species. These findings highlight the potential for anonymized GPS smartphone data to help inform management of green spaces, especially as cities grow worldwide. Such efforts could optimize the benefits of green spaces for people while also preserving biodiversity and other ecosystem services.



The experts note several challenges to this approach, such as some people’s tendency to disconnect from their mobile devices when visiting green spaces and the difficulty of distinguishing between a smart phone located within a green space and one that is in a car passing just outside the perimeter. Future research could address these issues and refine the methodology.



“Access to parks is important for city residents for recreation, connecting to nature, and socialization, but it’s challenging to understand how people use these green spaces," said the researchers. "Our study is using anonymized mobility data to help shed light on the relationship between people and nature in parks.”



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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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Smartphones track interactions between people and green spaces

More than half of the global population currently lives in...

Across the animal kingdom, female genitalia are often overlooked by scientists in comparison to their male counterparts. In the case of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/modern-snakes-evolved-from-just-a-few-surviving-species/">snakes</a>, researchers have assumed for a long time that the clitoris (hemiclitores) is either absent or a non-functional anatomical part. However, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/">University of Adelaide</a> in Australia has recently provided the first anatomical description of the female snake clitoris, thus changing our understanding of these animals’ physiology and behavioral traits.



The experts examined female genitalia in adult snake specimens across nine species, and compared them to adult and juvenile male snake genitalia. “We found the heart-shaped snake hemiclitores is composed of nerves and red blood cells consistent with erectile tissue - which suggests it may swell and become stimulated during mating. This is important because snake mating is often thought to involve coercion of the female – not seduction,” reported study co-author Kate Sanders, an associated professor of Biological Sciences at Adelaide.



“Through our research we have developed proper anatomical descriptions and labels of the female snake genitalia. We can apply our findings to further understand systematics, reproductive evolution and ecology across snake-like reptiles, such as lizards.”



“We are proud to contribute this research, particularly as female genitalia across every species are unfortunately still taboo,” added study lead author Megan Folwell, a doctoral student in Biology at the same university.



According to the researchers, snake hemiclitores have functional significance in mating and clearly show that they are not just underdeveloped hemipenes or scent glands – as it was erroneously thought for a long time. Instead, they may have a crucial role in transducing sensation to the female snake during courtship and copulation, which might promote longer and more frequent mating leading to increased fertilization success.



“Further investigation into the sensory features of snake hemiclitores and hemipenes are needed to determine potential tactile sensitivity. Comparative morphological investigations of hemiclitores and hemipenes within and among taxa would also provide insight into the possible coevolution of male and female genitalia,” the authors concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1702">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</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



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.

Scientists found the snake clitoris

Across the animal kingdom, female genitalia are often overlooked by...

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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

[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

[sendtonews key="LvS8v8bp9z-2564889-12187" 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 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

[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



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Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

[sendtonews key="oL4FnPTGCV-2384527-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from the...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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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



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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...