The influence of synthetic plastic on our planet is concerning, to say the least. It's everywhere - from the depths of our oceans to the food we eat, even finding its way into our bodies. But, Avinash Manjula-Basavanna, a seasoned research scientist at Northeastern University, sees "MECHS" as a solution. 



"The kind of impact that human-made materials are making on the living world is resulting in&nbsp;climate change, pollution and more," he says. 



"One of the ways that we are able to address this is to make materials sustainable and also make materials which are smart or intelligent."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-birth-of-a-new-bioplastic">Birth of a new bioplastic</h2>



Joining forces with Neel S. Joshi, an associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern, Manjula-Basavanna gave birth to a new bioplastic named MECHS.



It stands for Mechanical Engineered Living Materials with Compostability, Healability, and Scalability.



The team recently showcased their discovery in the journal Nature Communications. Here, they articulated their unique work with engineered living materials, living cells that produce functional <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-pollution-is-changing-the-entire-earth-system/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">materials</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wonders-of-bioplastic">Wonders of bioplastic</h2>



What makes MECHS stand out? Manjula-Basavanna and Joshi gave us two major reasons.



Firstly, MECHS exhibits the beauty of nature-inspired solutions, with the ability to regenerate, regulate themselves, and respond to external stimuli such as light. 



The second reason is even more significant in today's context. Unlike the harmful plastics choking our planet and bodies, MECHS is biodegradable in water and even in a compost bin. 



"Right now we use a lot of conventional nonbiodegradable plastics for applications they don't need to be used in at all," Joshi says. "If we replace that with our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/major-plastic-pollution-lurks-beneath-the-surface-of-rivers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plastic</a>, you could just flush it down the toilet and it would biodegrade."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-engineered-living-materials">Engineered living materials</h2>



Until now, such engineered living materials haven't been scalable for broad production. Enter MECHS.



Essentially, it's comprised of engineered E. coli bacteria intertwined with a fiber matrix, crafted into a paper- or film-like material. 



The fibrous structure gives MECHS some desirable properties. For instance, the bioplastic can stretch like plastic wrap and be genetically engineered for variable stiffness. And, quite fascinatingly, it has self-healing capabilities.



But the real cherry on top? MECHS is fully dissolvable, be it in large amounts of water or a compost bin. It dissolves rapidly, much faster than other existing biodegradable plastics. Plus, it can be mass-produced similarly to paper.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-applications">Potential applications</h2>



The scientific marvels envision MECHS as the solution to "primary packaging." This includes the plastic cover protecting your new iPhone or the detergent pods for your appliances. Imagine MECHS wrapped around a pot plant, slowly breaking down and releasing proteins to fertilize the plant!



Addressing the global problem of plastic pollution, Manjula-Basavanna sees a strong potential for MECHS in plastic packaging, which covers almost one-third of the plastic market. 



He observes that such packaging’s lifespan could last a few days to two years, but the petrochemical plastics used can take hundreds of years to biodegrade.



"For such a short lifespan of packaging, the petrochemical plastics that can take hundreds of years to biodegrade are unnecessary in many cases and thus a sustainable alternative like MECHS due to its biodegradability, flushability, and mechanical tunability could be a game changer," says Manjula-Basavanna.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-challenges-in-adopting-mechs">Challenges in adopting MECHS</h2>



While MECHS presents a revolutionary solution to the global plastic crisis, adopting this technology on a large scale is not devoid of challenges. One primary concern lies in the genomic stability of the engineered E. coli bacteria used in MECHS. 



Scientists must ensure that the bacteria remain safe and stable under various environmental conditions to avoid unintended consequences. Additionally, transitioning industries reliant on traditional plastics to MECHS involves overcoming significant economic and logistical barriers. 



Production facilities worldwide may need to adopt new techniques and infrastructure to accommodate this novel material, potentially incurring considerable costs in the short term. 



Furthermore, public perception and regulatory hurdles need to be navigated to gain trust and approval for its widespread use.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-future-of-sustainable-materials">Future of sustainable materials</h2>



Looking to the future, the innovations around MECHS signal a burgeoning era of sustainable and adaptable materials capable of transforming industries. 



As research into living materials progresses, new possibilities emerge, such as enabling the development of dynamic, adaptable materials for technologies yet to be imagined. 



Building on their success with MECHS, Manjula-Basavanna and Joshi envision an expanding palette of biodegradable materials, each tailored for specific applications ranging from environmental conservation to health care. 



Their work emphasizes collaboration across disciplines - bridging biology, chemistry, and engineering - to advance sustainable solutions.



Ultimately, MECHS is a testament to how embracing nature-inspired innovation can lead to breakthroughs with the power to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-on-beaches-is-now-visible-from-space/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reshape our relationship with the materials</a> we use and the environment we inhabit.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53052-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nature Communications</a>.



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Nature-inspired solutions: New bioplastic dissolves rapidly in water

The influence of synthetic plastic on our planet is concerning, to say the least. It's everywhere - from the depths of our oceans to the food we eat, even finding its way into our bodies. But, Avinash Manjula-Basavanna, a seasoned research scientist at Northeastern University, sees "MECHS" as a solution. "The kind of impact that human-made materials are making on the living world is resulting in&nbsp;climate change, pollution and more," he says. "One of the ways that we are able to address this is to make materials...

For decades, archaeologists struggled to understand past peoples, while ecology has focused on current <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/ecosystems-moving-north/">ecosystems</a>. However, both of these well-established scientific disciplines generally neglect the crucial questions of how humans and nature interacted and shaped each other across different geographical places and time periods. In order to fill these knowledge gaps and provide insights into how to solve today’s sustainability challenges, a team of researchers from the <a href="https://www.santafe.edu/">Santa Fe Institute</a> (SFI) has now defined a new field of scientific inquiry, archeoecology, which attempts to examine the complex interplay between humans and the ecosystems they were embedded in.



While archeologists or paleobiologists might investigate a particular relationship, such as how humans in New Guinea raised cassowaries during the Late Pleistocene, archeoecology aims to take a much broader view. “It’s about understanding the whole ecological context, rather than focusing on one or two species,” said study co-author Jennifer Dunne, an ecologist and Vice President for Science at SFI.



According to Dunne and her archaeologist colleague Stefani Crabtree, archaeoecology’s mission is to examine the past 60,000 years of interplay between humans and ecosystems, by showing not only how humans impacted nature, but also how the ecosystems they lived in shaped human culture and dynamics. To achieve this, archeoecology weaves together research questions, methods, data, and modeling tools from archaeology, ecology, and paleoecology. “What it’s doing is breaking down a traditional, but unnecessary, disciplinary separation between archaeology and ecology,” Dunne explained.



With humanity facing the interconnected crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, archaeoecology could yield critical insights to help us navigate these contemporary environmental challenges. For instance, using an archaeoecological lens to analyze the situation of the Aral Sea during the height of the Silk Road can clarify how Soviet Union’s 1960s water diversion project and the subsequent desiccation of the Aral Sea impacted both the surrounding ecosystems and human communities.



“Every ecosystem on the planet is impacted by humans in one way or another,” Crabtree said. “It's naïve to look at just the last 100 years because people have been impacting ecosystems everywhere for many thousands of years. We need to understand the past to understand our present and future. Archaeoecology helps with that. We can learn from these experiments with sustainability in the past,” she concluded.



An in-depth definition of this new discipline and examples of its possible applications can be found in an article published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.07.010">Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution</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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Archeoecology will examine the history of humans and nature

For decades, archaeologists struggled to understand past peoples, while ecology...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/">University of Edinburgh</a> has found that some prehistoric mammals were born almost independent from their parents and grew up twice as fast as most of today’s mammals, features which gave them a significant edge over other animals after the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/new-impact-crater-dates-back-to-the-end-of-the-dinosaurs/">dinosaurs</a> went extinct.&nbsp;



The scientists used dental analysis to uncover the life history of Pantolambda bathmodon, a member of the earliest known group of herbivores from the post-dinosaur era which grew to approximately the size of a sheep. By examining razor-thin sections of this animal’s teeth, and using laser to vaporize the teeth to expose their chemical constitution, the experts identified the mammal’s daily growth lines, known as “bands.”



The analyses revealed major transitions in P. bathmodon’s early life, such as high levels of zinc deposited at birth, and enrichment with barium during the suckling period, providing evidence that these animals’ mothers were pregnant for under seven months and gave birth to single, well-developed infants, sporting a mouthful of teeth. They were most likely mobile from the first day after birth, and suckled for less than two months before becoming fully independent.



Although the gestation period is similar to that of today’s mammals, P. bathmodon has probably lived and died more rapidly. According to the researchers, they were ready to mate before their first birthday, and lived only three to four years on average – a rather short lifespan compared to the roughly 20 years lifespan of modern mammals of similar size.



“When the asteroid knocked off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, some mammals survived, and they ballooned in size really quickly to fill the ecological niches vacated by T. rex and Triceratops and other giant dinosaurs,” said study senior author Steve Brusatte, a professor of Paleontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh.



“Being able to produce large babies, which matured for several months in the womb before being born, helped mammals transform from the humble mouse-sized ancestors that lived with dinosaurs to the vast array of species, from humans to elephants to whales, that are around today.”



“Our research opens the most detailed window to date into the daily lives of extinct mammals. This unprecedented level of detail shows the kinds of lifestyles that make placental mammals special evolved early in their evolutionary history,” added study lead author Gregory Funston, a paleontologist at the same university.



“We think that their babies’ longer gestation period could have nurtured large body sizes faster than other mammals, which may be why they became the dominant mammals of today,” he concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05150-w">Nature</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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Prehistoric mammals grew fast and died young

A new study led by the University of Edinburgh has...

Last week, California became the first state to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, with the <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/">California Air Resources Board</a> (CARB) approving an ambitious phase-out plan which will require all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in California to be <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/biden-lays-out-plan-for-electric-vehicle-charging-stations/">electric vehicles</a> or other types of zero-emissions vehicles. Now, other states such as Washington, Massachusetts, or Virginia are discussing their intentions to follow in the Golden State’s footsteps and implement similar initiatives.



Recently, the federal <a href="https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview">Clean Air Act</a> has allowed California to set more stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards than those currently implemented by the federal government, while offering the possibility of other states to set similar rules. About 16 states have opted to adopt California’s standards, meaning that a gas-powered car ban could apply to almost one third of the country’s auto market.



For instance, Washington started adopting California’s emissions standards in 2020 and has committed to reduce vehicle-related emissions by 68 percent by 2030. Other states, such as Massachusetts and Virginia, have also aligned their vehicle emission standards with those of California and plan to phase out gas-powered cars too.



Currently, electric vehicles account for about 5.6 percent sales in the United States – with a much higher percentage in California (16 percent), which is the largest automobile market in the country. Although automakers are generally supportive of the idea of producing and selling more electric vehicles, they have expressed skepticism that the ban on gas-powered cars could be implemented by 2035, due to the fact that there are not enough electric vehicle charging stations to accommodate a massive surge in demand, as well as the difficulty to get enough raw materials to make batteries for so many electric cars.



“These are complex, intertwined and global issues well beyond the control of either [California regulators] or the auto industry,” concluded John Bozzella, the president of the <a href="https://www.autosinnovate.org/">Alliance for Automotive Innovation</a>.&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&nbsp;&nbsp;

California moves to ban gas-powered cars by 2035

Last week, California became the first state to ban the...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.calpoly.edu/">California Polytechnic State University</a> and the <a href="http://www.unm.edu/">University of New Mexico</a> (UNM) has found that stock market investors predict that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cannabis-legalization-reduces-designer-drug-poisonings/">cannabis legalization</a> may reduce conventional pharmaceutical sales by billions of dollars. 



By analyzing how the stock market returns of publicly traded pharmaceutical firms responded to medical and recreational cannabis legalization events, the experts discovered that stock market returns were 1.5 to two percent lower at ten days following a cannabis legalization event, and that the implication for the annual sales from this reduction were in the billions of dollars.



While previous studies have investigated how cannabis access reduces the consumption of various types of medications, such as opioids, or focused on its impact on certain groups, like Medicaid patients, this is the first study to comprehensively analyze the overall effect of cannabis legalization on pharmaceutical firms across all products and types of patients.&nbsp;



Since the cost of pharmaceutical products remains a critical barrier to healthcare for many Americans, cannabis could offer a more affordable solution. Moreover, unlike other drugs which are designed to target specific health conditions, cannabis is used to treat a wide variety of problems – ranging from headaches and muscle spasms to depression or anxiety. These factors could make cannabis a major competitor in drug markets, which – in a scenario of full federal legalization – could reduce conventional pharmaceutical sales by 11 percent, regardless of the fact that currently, there is no standardization, clear dosing instructions, or health insurance coverage related to cannabis use.



&nbsp;“Currently, cannabis patients and their providers have little information to guide them towards the most effective treatment for their condition,” said study co-author Sarah Stith, an expert in Applied Microeconomy at UNM. 



“The future of cannabis medicine lies in understanding the prevalence and effects of the plants’ components beyond THC and CBD and identifying ways to categorize cannabis by measurable characteristics that are known to yield specific effects. Mimicking conventional pharmaceuticals through standardization may not be the optimal endpoint for cannabis, as the variability inherent in the cannabis plant is likely driving its ability to treat so many conditions.”&nbsp;



Thus, conventional pharmaceutical manufacturers may benefit from investing in cannabis markets rather than lobbying against them, while regulatory policies should facilitate further research to clarify the risks and benefits of using cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0272492">PLoS ONE</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Pharmaceutical companies could lose billions to cannabis

A new study led by the California Polytechnic State University...

It seems that when a many legged animal walks, and when a legless animal slithers along, the mechanics involved in the two processes are not all that different. Well this is what scientists from <a href="https://ucsd.edu/">UC San Diego</a> have proposed after conducting research into walking <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/predicting-the-movement-of-sea-lions-can-help-protect-them/">movements</a> by ants and robots. The team of roboticists, physicists and biologists have published their findings in the&nbsp;Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,&nbsp;in a paper titled “Walking is like slithering: a unifying, data-driven view of locomotion.”&nbsp;



In previous research, the scientists had studied the mechanics of walking in ants, and they thought their findings could be applied to designing algorithms for walking in robots. They conducted research on several colonies of Argentine ants at UC, San Diego, and on two different types of multi-legged robots at the University of Michigan. While conducting this research, they discovered a new mathematical relationship between walking, skipping, slithering and swimming in viscous fluids, for multi-legged animals and bots.&nbsp;



“This is important because it will allow roboticists to build much simpler models to describe the way robots walk and move through the world,” said study co-author Nick Gravish, a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California San Diego.



Argentine ants are good subjects to study because they walk long distances over diverse terrains. “Argentine ants are very easy to study in the lab,” said Glenna Clifton, a faculty member at the University of Portland, who conducted most of the ant research while she was a postdoctoral scholar in Gravish’s lab at UC San Diego.



These ants also adapt to laboratory settings easily, and will rapidly reconstruct their colony once transferred into the lab. Researchers then motivate them to walk by placing food in specific locations, and monitor their movements using video recordings. “These ants will set up foraging trails and follow them,” Clifton said. “They bounce back quickly and they don’t hold a grudge.”&nbsp;



To study locomotion in these animals and robots, researchers used an algorithm developed by the research group of Shai Revzen at the University of Michigan, which turns complex body motions into shapes. “This algorithm allows us to create a simple relationship between what posture you’re in and where you are going to move next,” Gravish said.&nbsp;



The researchers found that the same algorithms could be applied both to ants and to the different types of robots in the study, even though different numbers of legs were sometimes involved. And the amount of slipping motion was also very different when the animal and robot subjects were walking. Argentine ants don’t slip much when they walk – just 4.7 percent of total motion. By contrast, slipping occurred in 12 to 22 percent of the motion in the six-legged BigANT robot and 40 to 100 percent in the multipod robots with six to 12 legs in the study.&nbsp;



By using a model based on the above-mentioned algorithms, the experts could predict where the insect or robot was going to move next simply based on what posture – or shape – it is making with its body.&nbsp; “This provides a universal model for location that applies whenever the movement is dominated by friction with the environment,” wrote the researchers.&nbsp;



The mathematics that the researchers used isn’t new, but it was understood to only apply to slithering and swimming movements in viscous liquids. The team showed that the same equations apply to multi-legged walking, whether the walkers are slipping or not. In addition, the same rules apply from millimeter-scale insects, such as ants, to meter-scale robots.&nbsp;



“The universality of this approach may have applications in robot design and motion planning, and provides insight into the evolution and control of legged locomotion,” wrote the researchers.&nbsp;



For example, these universal principles may have implications for understanding major evolutionary transitions, for example from swimming to walking, say the authors. Given that walking, even with slipping, follows the same general control principles as viscous swimming, early land animals might already have had the neural circuitry needed for locomotion on land.&nbsp;



The team did not study locomotion in two-legged animals or robots, but the model would apply equally to these, provided that they move slowly, have both feet on the ground at the same time, and do not fall over. The researchers have more fine-tuning to do in order to understand other factors, such as the role friction forces play in the model.&nbsp;



In conclusion, Gavish says, “Either way, walking can be much simpler than we usually think.”&nbsp;



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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

Walking is like slithering, experts have found

It seems that when a many legged animal walks, and...

Corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is considered by some to be the most costly crop pest in North America. Also known as tomato fruitworm, sorghum headworm, vetchworm, and cotton bollworm, this pest feeds on over a hundred different plant species, favoring the buds, flowers and fruits for forage. This results in extensive damage to many important <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soil-quality-can-help-crops-survive-rising-temperatures/">crops</a> each year. The pest is not a worm, but the larva of a moth that flies strongly and is able to migrate up to 400km in its lifetime, depositing eggs along the way.



In the past, corn earworms have been found to occur in North America up to the latitude of around 40o. Further north than this was always too cold for the larvae to survive the winter. However, with climate changing it is possible that the species’ distribution on the continent will change and that farmers, whose crops were previously spared the ravages of this insect, may find themselves in the line of sight. Although the species feeds preferentially on corn ears, it also infests crops such as tomatoes, peas, cabbage, lettuce, okra, peppers, spinach, pumpkin and sweet potatoes.&nbsp;



A new study from scientists at the <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/">North Carolina State University</a> has proposed that soil temperature can help predict the success of corn earworm pests and therefore prepare farmers to protect their crops as global warming advances. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that soil temperature can be a good predictor of where the pest will survive successfully over the winter, and this will enable farmers in those areas to use pesticides more effectively, thus reducing the financial and environmental impacts of this practice.&nbsp;



The researchers combined historical soil temperature data with long-term population data on corn earworms, along with information on how the pest survives cold conditions in a lab setting to better understand “overwintering success,” or how well the pest can survive underground during the colder winter months.&nbsp;



Greater overwintering success can expand the areas where the pest can live and thrive, the researchers say, as the pest can migrate long distances. Generally, greater overwintering success in more northern latitudes increases the potential for crop damage from this pest further north. Climate change also affects overwintering success.



“There is a preconceived notion that pests have little overwintering success north of 40 degrees latitude,” said study co-author Douglas Lawton, a former NC State postdoctoral researcher. “That may have been true in the 1930s, but now we have more data-guided evidence to ask and answer the question, ‘Where can this species actually overwinter?’”



The researchers identified three overwintering suitability zones throughout North America, based on four decades of soil temperature data. These geographic zones included a “Southern Range” where pests predictably survive over the winter months, a “Northern Limits” area where pests are generally unable to survive during winter months, and a “Transitional Zone” in between the northern and southern areas, where pests may or may not survive the winter depending on the weather.&nbsp;



“These areas are biologically relevant and supported through studies in the lab and the academic literature,” Lawton said.



The researchers used the three zones to show historical trends for corn earworm populations, and then used a model to make predictions about pest spread in future.&nbsp; They show that the Southern Range has expanded by 3 percent since 1981; strikingly, the model predicts that this region, where corn earworm survival is a given, will double in size by the end of the century and will shift well to the north. The other two zones are predicted to shrink in size during this time.&nbsp;



“As the climate changes, the overwintering zones are likely to shift northward,” said Anders Huseth, assistant professor of entomology at NC State and the paper’s other co-corresponding author.



These changes suggest larger populations of the pest may persist at higher latitudes in the future due to reduced low temperature lethal events during winter. In addition, because H. zea is a highly migratory pest, predicting when populations accumulate in one region can inform the likely population changes in other regions, explain the authors.&nbsp;



“This is the canary in the coal mine for agricultural pests,” said Professor Huseth. “Making sense of what’s taking place with this pest is really important for agricultural producers. We’ve shown here the element of uncertainty that can have demonstrable effects on farmers and potentially new opportunities for pesticide resistance selection. Our models visualize that change and provide touchstones for pest management.”



“Now we’d like to come up with a better forecasting tool for this pest, along with a risk-prediction model, in order to give growers better information about pest spread. Success here could reduce both costs for farmers and pesticide into the environment.”



---



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

Crop pest will spread northward as soil temperatures warm

Corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is considered by some to be...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/">University of Exeter</a> has revealed that <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/bumblebees-are-waking-up-too-early-from-hibernation/">honeybees</a> are not just looking for colors, but also patterns, while hunting for flowers to feed on.&nbsp;



Honeybees can see at a resolution that is about 100 times lower than humans. This low-resolution vision does not allow them to see a flower's pattern clearly until they are within a few centimeters.&nbsp;



But now, the Exeter team has discovered that bees can distinguish between different flowers by using a combination of color and pattern.



For the investigation, the researchers set out to gain a better understanding of how bees see flowers. In a series of tests, the bees rarely ignored flower patterns while foraging. This indicates that bees do not rely on color alone to find flowers.&nbsp;



"We analyzed a large amount of data on plants and bee behavior," said Professor Natalie Hempel de Ibarra, from Exeter's Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour. "By training and testing bees using artificial patterns of shape and colour, we found they relied flexibly on their ability to see both of these elements."



"Showing how insects see color and learn color patterns is important to understand how pollinators may, or may not, create evolutionary 'pressures' on the colors and patterns that flowers have evolved."



"Our findings suggest that flowers don't need to evolve too many different petal colors, because they can use patterns to diversify their displays so bees can tell them apart from other flowers."



The experts also noticed one striking feature that consistently stood out to them among flowers: the outside edges usually contrasted with the plant's foliage, but this contrast was not found in the center of the flower. This may help bees identify color differences quickly.&nbsp;



Professor Hempel de Ibarra emphasized that understanding more about bees – and the threats they face – means that we need to see the world "through the eyes of a bee and the mind of a bee."



The research is published in a special issue of the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb">Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B</a>.



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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

Flower patterns help honeybees find food

A new study led by the University of Exeter has...

The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/thwaites-glacier-underground-lakes/">Thwaites Glacier</a> in West Antarctica – a colossus the size of Florida – is in a phase of fast retreat. This is causing widespread concern about how much and how fast this so-called "Doomsday Glacier" may give up its ice to the ocean, triggering dangerous changes in sea-level. The potential impact of the Thwaites Glacier’s retreat is spine-chilling: a total loss of the glacier and surrounding icy basins could raise the sea level from three to ten feet.



In a new study led by the <a href="https://www.usf.edu/">University of South Florida</a> (USF), scientists mapped in high-resolution an important area of the seafloor in front of the glacier, providing a window into how fast Thwaites retreated in the past. By documenting over 160 parallel ridges which were created – like a footprint – as the glacier’s leading edge retreated, and analyzing the rib-like formations submerged 700 meters beneath the polar ocean, while factoring in the tidal cycle for the region, the experts were surprised to discover that the glacier had periods of extremely fast retreat in the past. For instance, at some point during the last two centuries, the glacier retreated at a rate of more than 2.1 kilometers per year – twice as fast as it did between 2011 and 2019.



“Our results suggest that pulses of very rapid retreat have occurred at Thwaites Glacier in the last two centuries, and possibly as recently as the mid-20th century,” said study lead author Alastair Graham, an associate professor of Geological Oceanography at USF.



“Thwaites is really holding on today by its fingernails, and we should expect to see big changes over small timescales in the future - even from one year to the next - once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed,” added study co-author Robert Larter, a marine geophysicist at the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/">British Antarctic Survey</a> (BAS).



While previously, scientists thought that the Antarctic ice sheets are sluggish and rather slow to respond, these new findings show that the situation may be quite different and more worrisome. “Just a small kick to Thwaites could lead to a big response,” Professor Graham warned.



“This study is part of a cross-disciplinary collective effort to understand the Thwaites Glacier system better, and just because it’s out of sight, we can’t have Thwaites out of mind. This study is an important step forward in providing essential information to inform global planning efforts,” concluded Tom Frazer, dean of the USF College of Marine Science.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-01019-9">Nature Geoscience</a>.



Image Credit: NASA/OIB/Jeremy Harbeck



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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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Doomsday Glacier is retreating faster than expected

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica – a colossus the...

For years, scientists have been trying to design cyborg insects – part insect, part <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/robot-flying-fish/">robot</a> – to help inspect hazardous areas or monitor the environment. In order for the use of such insects to be practical, handlers must be able to control them remotely for extended periods of time, by employing wireless controls of their leg segments powered by tiny, rechargeable batteries. Since keeping the battery charged for long is essential, the best solution is to include an on-board solar cell which can constantly recharge it.



Now, an international team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.riken.jp/en/research/labs/cpr/">RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research</a> (CPR)&nbsp;has engineered a system for creating remote controlled cyborg cockroaches, which includes a tiny wireless control module powered by a rechargeable battery attached to a solar cell. To successfully integrate these devices into cockroaches with limited surface area, the scientists constructed a special backpack, ultrathin organic solar cell modules, and an adhesion system which keeps the machinery firmly attached for long periods of time, while also allowing for natural movements.&nbsp;



The team experimented with Madagascar cockroaches by attaching the wireless leg-control module and lithium polymer battery to the top of the insect’s thorax using a specially designed backpack modeled after the body plan of a model cockroach. This backpack was 3D printed with an elastic polymer and fit perfectly on the cockroach’s curved surface, allowing the rigid electronic device to remain stably mounted on the thorax for over a month. In addition, they mounted an ultrathin (0.004 millimeters thick) organic solar cell module on the dorsal side of insect’s abdomen.



“The body-mounted ultrathin organic solar cell module achieves a power output of 17.2 mW, which is more than 50 times larger than the power output of current state-of-the art energy harvesting devices on living insects,” said study lead author Kenjiro Fukuda, an expert in Applied Physics at RIKEN.



“Considering the deformation of the thorax and abdomen during basic locomotion, a hybrid electronic system of rigid and flexible elements in the thorax and ultrasoft devices in the abdomen appears to be an effective design for cyborg cockroaches,” he added. “Moreover, since abdominal deformation is not unique to cockroaches, our strategy can be adapted to other insects like beetles, or perhaps even flying insects like cicadas in the future.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41528-022-00207-2">npj Flexible Electronics</a>.



Image Credit: RIKEN



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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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Remote-controlled cyborg cockroach is powered by a solar cell

For years, scientists have been trying to design cyborg insects...

The close genetic link between humans and other great apes such as bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas or orangutans, makes these animals highly vulnerable to our <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-heightens-risk-of-most-infectious-diseases/">infectious diseases</a>. In a new study, an international team of experts from Portugal, the UK, Uganda, and Germany has investigated the behavior and expectations of tourists visiting great apes regarding their willingness to comply with disease protection measures. This study was conducted at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the researchers also created the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.protectgreatapesfromdisease.com/">Protect Great Apes from Disease</a>&nbsp;initiative.



The scientists asked nearly 1,000 tourists or potential future tourists to complete an online questionnaire. The analysis of their answers revealed that willingness to comply with disease prevention measures such as wearing masks depended upon several factors, including nationality, expectations about the visitor experience, and whether the participants believed that specific disease-risk measures were effective.



“We have developed visitor education and guide-training materials for use in African sites of great ape tourism,” said study lead author Ana Nuno, a research fellow in Sustainability at the <a href="https://www.unl.pt/en">NOVA University Lisbon</a>. “To do so, we first explored what factors seem to affect visitors’ compliance with disease mitigation measures.”



“This included asking them about their actions on previous visits, their willingness to comply in future, and exploring what factors should be promoted to increase their willingness to follow recommendations. To do so, we adapted a tool from the health literature which is commonly used for understanding why individuals may or may not act in the face of a threat to health.”



“Through this greater understanding of the visitors to wild African great ape tourism sites, we were able to identify ways of improving measures to reduce disease transmission,” added study co-author Kim Hockings, an expert in Ecology and Conservation at the<a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/"> University of Exeter</a>.



According to Dr. Hockings, this is important not only in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also to prepare for future pandemics, when information will initially be limited, but preventive action will be urgently required.&nbsp;



Compared to other disease-mitigation measures, participants expressed less willingness to be vaccinated against Covid-19, wear a mask during trekking, or quarantine after international travel before visiting the apes. Fortunately, most respondents seemed willing to wear masks when in the proximity of the animals. Believing that each specific measure was effective in preventing disease was crucial for participants’ willingness to follow that recommendation.



“In the face of growing threats from future pandemics, we must minimize disease transmission while ensuring that tourism and research promote long-term support for the conservation of great apes and their habitats, as well as maximizing benefits for local communities,” Dr. Hockings concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10396">People and Nature</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Protecting great apes from tourists

The close genetic link between humans and other great apes...

A research team led by <a href="https://www.stanford.edu/">Stanford University</a> has developed a new metric called “sleep age” which they hope could help clinicians predict emerging health issues and even mortality. <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-reduces-sleep-quality-elevates-disease-risk/">Sleep</a> age is a projected age which correlates to an individual health based on their chronological age and quality of sleep. 



According to the experts, people with older sleep ages compared to their actual age are at an increased risk of mortality, and often suffer from various diseases, including sleep apnea, neurodegeneration, obesity, and chronic pain. However, how poor sleep causes, exacerbates, or results from such health conditions remains unclear.



By analyzing the sleeping patterns of over 12,000 individuals and feeding the data into a machine learning algorithm, the scientists manage to develop a system that could reliably assign one’s sleep age and identify the variations in sleep more closely related to illness and mortality. They discovered that sleep fragmentation – waking up multiple times throughout the night for less than a minute without remembering it – was the strongest predictor of mortality. However, how this contributes to mortality is not yet clear.



Moreover, the researchers stressed that a person’s sleep age is not necessarily deterministic. “There is enormous variation. Even if you have an older sleep age&nbsp;than your chronological age, it doesn’t mean that your mortality risk is going to be higher. You see people chain smoking and drinking alcohol at 90 years old and you wonder, “How is this person surviving so long?” There is always huge natural variation,” explained study senior author Emmanuel Mignot, an expert in Sleep Medicine at Stanford.



According to Professor Mignot, going to bed and waking up at regular hours is key to improving sleep. In addition, “getting solid light exposure - preferably with outside light - during the day, keeping the sleep environment dark at night, exercising regularly but not too close to bedtime, not drinking alcohol and caffeine around bedtime, and avoiding heavy nighttime meals all contribute to healthy sleep. And, of course, make sure any sleep disorder is treated.”



In further research, the scientists aim to extend their cohort and refine their algorithms in order to use this newly developed metric to predict more accurately the future occurrence of illnesses such as heart disease, strokes, or Alzheimer’s. “Can you imagine if we could use sleep studies to predict a person's heart attack risk and then use that information to start early interventions? That would be a big deal,” Professor Mignot concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-022-00630-9">npj Digital Medicine</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&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Sleep age” could predict health and lifespan

A research team led by Stanford University has developed a...

Due to global climate change, sea ice levels in the Arctic ocean are decreasing quickly. However, monitoring sea ice has been difficult due to environmental conditions such as high winds and shifting distribution.&nbsp;



An international team of researchers led by Japanese scientists has compiled data collected during the <a href="https://mosaic-expedition.org/">MOSAiC</a> observational expedition to analyze the ice-ocean boundary layer (IOBL) as it melted and refroze. With this data, they were able to calculate the rate of growth and decline of sea ice.&nbsp;



“Owing to the complex patterns of heat and energy transfer, the physics of the cold oceans is complicated," said study lead author Dr. Yusuke Kawaguchi of <a href="https://www.aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/english/">The Atmospheric and Ocean Research</a> Institute at The University of Tokyo.



"Our objective was to quantify the thermodynamic growth and decay of the sea ice while incorporating effects of heat and salt exchange with near-surface water due to turbulent forces.”



By observing the sea from various angles and using data from the <a href="https://mosaic-expedition.org/">MOSAiC</a>, they determined that more ice was melting in the summer.&nbsp;



“Our first discovery was that in the summer, strong winds cause the mixing of water where the ice and ocean meet. We were able to show that enhanced heat transfer occurs right below the sea ice," explained Dr. Kawaguchi.



The experts also found that due to more ice melting, there was a drop in oceanic salinity, which caused changes in the point when ice refroze.



“As melt water accumulates beneath the sea ice, salinity of sea water decreases and then the freezing temperature increases. This terminates the melting of sea ice at an earlier timing because water gets easier to freeze," said Dr. Kawaguchi.



The team is looking forward to continuing their work with the hopes of creating an instrument that will simultaneously measure sea ice movement and salinity at the IOBL. With that simultaneous data, researchers will have a more accurate view of what the ice is doing.&nbsp;



“The extent of the Arctic sea ice may affect the regional climate in distant places, like Japan, via atmospheric disturbances. We believe that studying the sea ice will allow us to better predict future changes in the Earth’s climate.”



This study is published in the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021JC017975">Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans</a>.



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By <a href="mailto:nire518@gmail.com">Erin Moody </a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Meltwater profiling can help predict Arctic sea ice changes

Due to global climate change, sea ice levels in 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



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

[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

[sendtonews key="QGPzYnXEtN-1712599-12187" type="single"] Today’s Video of the Day from Carl...

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

[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



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The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

2022 illustrated the consequences of a warming climate

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Earth,Like,Exoplanet,3d,Render

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Today's Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes two exoplanets that are orbiting a star 218 light-years away. A team of researchers led by the University of Montreal has found evidence that these planets are "water worlds."



The experts used data from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. They discovered that exoplanets Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 could be composed largely of water.



"We previously thought that planets that were a bit larger than Earth were big balls of metal and rock, like scaled-up versions of Earth, and that's why we called them super-Earths," explained study co-author Björn Benneke.&nbsp;



"However, we have now shown that these two planets, Kepler-138 c and d, are quite different in nature and that a big fraction of their entire volume is likely composed of water. It is the best evidence yet for water worlds, a type of planet that was theorized by astronomers to exist for a long time."



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Leah Hustak (STScI)



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



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

Two distant planets may be "water worlds"

[sendtonews key="QIoVYJqRBi-2434608-12187" type="single"] Today's Video of the Day from NASA...

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Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected Today’s Video of the Day from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/goddard">NASA Goddard</a> describes Earth’s interconnected systems, and how this network is affected by rising temperatures.&nbsp;



During 2020, average global temperatures matched the hottest year on record. The hurricane season was also record-breaking, with many of the storms intensifying at extraordinary speeds. Hot water in the ocean is fuel for hurricanes. The satellite data shows that it's all one interconnected system showing how Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected.



According to NASA, dust swept up from Northern Africa plays a major role in the formation of hurricanes, and is also a key source of fertilization in the Amazon rainforest. As a result of<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/seagrass-wasting-disease-is-fueled-by-climate-change/"> climate</a> change, dust plumes are expected to decline, which will have an effect on vegetation far away.&nbsp;



Images from Earth-observing satellites show how the world’s plant life is affected by natural disasters, fires, and deforestation. Satellites also reveal how widespread changes in vegetation impact waterways,&nbsp; the climate, air quality. Satellites communicate by using radio waves to send signals to the antennas on the Earth. "Earth From Space" is a groundbreaking two-hour special that reveals a spectacular new space-based vision of our planet. 



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected

[sendtonews key="JbW4VsY53O-1632195-12187" type="single"] Satellites reveal how Earth's systems are interconnected...

Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://welcome.miami.edu/">University of Miami</a> Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science explores how changes in water temperatures have affected tiger shark habitats and movements in the North Atlantic Ocean. The study reveals that rising temperatures have caused the sharks to shift toward the poles over the past 40 years.



“Tiger shark annual migrations have expanded poleward, paralleling rising water temperatures,” explained study lead author Neil Hammerschlag. “These results have consequences for tiger shark conservation, since shifts in their movements outside of marine protected areas may leave them more vulnerable to commercial fishing.”



The researchers analyzed nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with four decades of conventional tag and recapture data provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program.



The experts found that during the last decade of record heat, for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temperatures, tiger sharks migrated further poleward by over 400 kilometers. They also migrated two weeks earlier than usual to waters off the northeastern coast of the United States.



“Given their role as apex predators, these changes to tiger shark movements may alter predator-prey interactions, leading to ecological imbalances, and more frequent encounters with humans,” concluded Professor Hammerschlag.



Video Credit: University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science



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



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

Tiger sharks are shifting poleward as temperatures rise

Today’s Video of the Day from the University of Miami...