PanoRadar marks a breakthrough in the ever-advancing world of robotics, addressing the challenge of providing effective perception systems for robots that can function in severe weather and unfavorable conditions. 



Unlike traditional sensors, PanoRadar uses radio waves to penetrate smoke, fog, and even certain materials, offering a robust alternative to light-based systems. 



This innovative approach paves the way for more resilient robotic applications, from autonomous vehicles to rescue missions in hazardous environments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-limitations-of-traditional-sensors">Limitations of traditional sensors</h2>



Current sensor systems, such as cameras or LiDAR, rely on light, which limits their effectiveness in conditions like heavy smoke or fog. Alternatively, they may rely on traditional radar which can 'see' through walls and other obstacles, but which produce images lacking in detail.



Nature, however, shows us that perception need not rely solely on light. Bats use <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/soundwaves-can-be-used-to-move-objects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sound wave</a> echoes for navigation, while sharks detect electrical fields from their prey's movements. 



These examples highlight alternative perception methods that can inform technological innovations, like radio wave-based sensing.



<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/some-radio-waves-disrupt-the-magnetic-compass-of-migratory-birds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Radio waves</a>, with their longer wavelengths, can penetrate challenging conditions and even certain materials, surpassing the limitations of human vision and conventional sensors. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-panoradar-a-new-era-of-robot-vision">PanoRadar: A new era of robot vision</h2>



Enter researchers from the <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Pennsylvania</a> School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering). They have initiated a new era in robot vision with their creation, the PanoRadar.



This novel invention enables robots to perceive their surroundings in three dimensions with incredible detail, by transforming simple radio waves into detailed, 3-D images of the environment.



"Our initial question was whether we could combine the best of both sensing modalities - the robustness of radio signals, which is resilient to fog and other challenging conditions, and the high resolution of visual sensors," explained Mingmin Zhao, assistant professor of computer and information science.



The birth of PanoRadar is the novel answer to this complex challenge. It has opened new possibilities for robotic perception in environments where traditional systems fail.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-does-panoradar-work">How does PanoRadar work?</h2>



Think about how a lighthouse works. It sweeps its beam in a circle, scanning the entire horizon, revealing the presence of ships and coastal features. That's how the PanoRadar operates. 



It consists of a rotating vertical array of antennae that scan the surroundings. These antennae send out radio waves and listen for their reflections from the environment.



But PanoRadar is not just a simple scanner. It intelligently combines measurements from all rotation angles, enhancing its imaging resolution. 



"The key innovation is in how we process these radio wave measurements. Our signal processing and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/machine-learning-reveals-how-to-prevent-covid-19-from-ever-returning/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">machine learning</a> algorithms are able to extract rich 3D information from the environment," explained Zhao.



This novel approach allows PanoRadar to achieve imaging resolution comparable to that of LiDAR, but at a fraction of the cost.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-comprehending-and-interpreting-complex-data">Comprehending and interpreting complex data</h2>



Implementing high-resolution imaging while the robot is moving presented a significant challenge. The team needed to combine measurements from various positions with sub-millimeter accuracy.



"Even small motion errors can significantly impact the imaging quality," said Haowen Lai, lead author of the paper.



In addition, they had to train their system rigorously to comprehend and interpret the complex data it receives, to ensure that it could accurately identify and understand various objects and environmental features in real time.



"Indoor environments have consistent patterns and geometries. We leveraged these patterns to help our AI system interpret the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/radar-imaging-will-help-protect-polar-bears-from-human-disturbances/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">radar</a> signals, similar to how humans learn to make sense of what they see," explained Gaoxiang Luo.



Thanks to machine learning algorithms, the model was able to improve its understanding against reality using LiDAR data.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-radio-waves-and-robot-vision">Radio waves and robot vision</h2>



PanoRadar’s capabilities extend beyond what traditional sensors can perceive.



"Our field tests across different buildings showed how radio sensing can excel where traditional sensors struggle," said Liu. "The system maintains precise tracking through smoke and can even map spaces with glass walls."



This advantage comes from the ability of radio waves to pass through airborne particles with ease, allowing the system to detect elements that LiDAR often misses, such as glass surfaces. 



Additionally, PanoRadar's high resolution enables it to identify people accurately, an essential capability for applications like autonomous vehicles and rescue operations in challenging environments.



These attributes make PanoRadar a game-changer for robots operating in difficult conditions, where reliability and precision are paramount.



The research will be presented at the 2024 International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (<a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sigmobile.org%2Fmobicom%2F2024%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MobiCom</a>).



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Giving robots 'superhuman' vision through radio waves

PanoRadar marks a breakthrough in the ever-advancing world of robotics, addressing the challenge of providing effective perception systems for robots that can function in severe weather and unfavorable conditions. Unlike traditional sensors, PanoRadar uses radio waves to penetrate smoke, fog, and even certain materials, offering a robust alternative to light-based systems. This innovative approach paves the way for more resilient robotic applications, from autonomous vehicles to rescue missions in hazardous environments. Limitations of traditional sensors Current sensor systems, such as cameras or LiDAR, rely on light, which...

Honey bees fly out of the hive each day in search of flowers with nectar and pollen. Once they have loaded up with these delicacies, they head back to the hive to make a deposit and inform other workers where the successful foraging locations are. All of this relies on a bee’s ability to process wide-field visual motion information, to navigate using environmental queues and to fly directly back home. Research now shows that certain common <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/neonicotinoids-kill-bees-and-threaten-hundreds-of-species/">pesticides</a> interfere with a bee’s brain in such a way that it may no longer be able to navigate its way around or fly home successfully.



“Here we show that commonly used insecticides like sulfoxaflor and the neonicotinoid imidacloprid can profoundly impair the visually guided behavior of honeybees. Our results are reason for concern because the ability of bees to respond appropriately to visual information is crucial for their flight and navigation, and thus their survival,” said study lead author Dr. Rachel H Parkinson, an expert in the Department of Zoology at the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>.&nbsp;



Insects show an innate&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienting_response">orienting</a>&nbsp;behavior whereby they correct their body position in order for them to continue moving in a straight trajectory if they have gone off course by mistake. Known as the optomotor response, this position-stabilizing behavior is switched on by whole-field visual motion on the left and right of the flying or walking insect. The response is crucial for insects to adjust to unexpected perturbations in their flight path, such as a breeze blowing them to one side, so that they can continue to move in a straight line.&nbsp;



Dr. Parkinson and colleagues worked with four groups of wild-caught worker honey bees, with between 22 and 28 bees in each group. They exposed the bees to videos of vertical bars that moved from left to right, or vice versa, across two screens placed in front of the bees and watched their walking response. Variations in the speeds of the bars on the two screens “trick” the bee into thinking that it has suddenly been pushed off-course and is turning to one side. A healthy optomotor response will instruct the bee’s motor system to perform a corrective adjustment in the form of a turn that takes the bee back to an illusory straight line mid-way between the optic flow from the right and from the left.&nbsp;



Prior to testing the optomotor response in the experimental honey bees, the researchers allowed them to drink unlimited 1.5 molar sucrose solution over five days. However, although one group received pure sucrose solution, the other groups received sucrose contaminated with either 50 ppb (parts per billion) imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid insecticide), 50 ppb sulfoxaflor, or 25 ppb imidacloprid and 25 ppb sulfoxaflor simultaneously.&nbsp;



Neonicotinoid insecticides disrupt visual motion detection in locusts, resulting in impaired escape behaviors, but it had not been shown previously whether these insecticides disrupt wide-field motion detection in honeybees.&nbsp;When the researchers compared the efficiency of the optomotor responses in the four groups of bees, they found that the bees were nowhere near as efficient at making the expected adjustments if they had ingested pesticides.&nbsp;



All bees responded less efficiently to the simulated optic flow when the bars were narrow or moving slowly (i.e., seemed far away) than when they were wide or moving fast (i.e., seemed close by). But for any width and speed of bars, the bees that had ingested pesticides performed poorly compared to the control bees. For example, they turned quickly in one direction only and didn’t respond to changes in the direction of movement of the bars, or failed to show any turning response at all. The asymmetry between left and right turns was at least 2.4 times greater for pesticide-exposed bees than for control bees.



The poor optomotor responses in pesticide-exposed honey bees were accompanied by alterations in the expression of genes in their brains, particularly genes related to detoxification and the presence of stress. But these genetic changes were relatively weak and highly variable across bees, and unlikely to be the sole explanation for the observed strong impairment of the optomotor response. Exposure to sulfoxaflor led to small but noticeable increases in dead brain cells, primarily in the optic lobes which are important for processing visual information. 



“Neonicotinoid and sulfoximine insecticides activate neurons in the insect brain and are not always recycled fast enough to prevent toxicity. The effects we observed could be due to a type of rewiring in the brain: to prevent neural damage by reducing the sensitivity of neurons to these compounds,” said Dr. Parkinson.



“To fully understand the risk of these insecticides to bees, we need to explore whether the effects we observed in walking bees occur in freely flying bees as well. The major concern is that, if bees are unable to overcome any impairment while flying, there could be profound negative effects on their ability to forage, navigate, and pollinate wildflowers and crops."



"The results add to what the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the World Health Organization, have identified as&nbsp;the “rapidly growing body of evidence [which] strongly suggests that the existing levels of environmental contamination [from neonicotinoid pesticides] are causing large-scale adverse effects on bees and other beneficial insects.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/finsc.2022.936826/full">Frontiers in Insect Science</a>.



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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

Honey bees cannot fly straight after ingesting pesticides

Honey bees fly out of the hive each day in...

It is not only the land that is currently experiencing extreme weather events, such as <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/human-activities-are-fueling-more-extreme-heatwaves/">heatwaves</a>, but also the world’s seas and oceans. For instance, in the Mediterranean Sea, water temperatures are now up to 5°C higher than the average. Although scientists have already started investigating marine heatwaves, relatively little is known about how they co-occur with other extreme events in the ocean, creating “compound events” that are a major risk to marine ecosystems and contribute to climate change.



Now, a team of researchers led by the <a href="https://www.oeschger.unibe.ch/">Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research</a> (OCCR) has investigated such compound events, focusing on the combination of marine heatwaves with stressors such as high acidity levels in the oceans. 



“For the first time, we have quantified the frequency of compound events in which marine heatwaves happen together with extreme acidity,” said study lead author Friedrich Burger, a postdoctoral fellow at OCCR.



By using monthly observations from the surface open ocean from 1982 to 2019, the scientists found that marine heatwaves and extreme ocean acidity occur relatively often together. Thus, the negative impacts of past marine heatwaves were probably exacerbated by extreme acidic conditions. 



“We can show that these compound events are most common in the subtropical oceans, but comparably rare in the high latitudes and tropical Pacific,” said Dr. Burger.



The co-occurrence of heatwaves and acidity extremes in subtropical oceans is caused by an increase in acidity at higher temperatures. However, if ocean warming causes other effects too – such as less mixing of the more acidic subsurface water with surface water – heatwaves can also reduce acidity and decrease the frequency of compound events, as it happens in the Southern Ocean or the tropical Pacific. 



"To determine the relative frequency of combined extreme events, it is crucial to understand the effects of heatwaves on the circulation, biology, and chemistry of the respective ocean region,” said study co-author Jens Terhaar, an oceanographer at the <a href="https://www.unibe.ch/">University of Bern</a>.



According to the experts, such compound extreme events will continue to increase in frequency due to climate change and continuing CO2 emissions, with climate modelling showing that the number of days in which marine heatwaves and high acidity events co-occur will increase 22-fold at a global warming of 2°C&nbsp;above pre-industrial levels. Such events may irreversibly damage marine ecosystems and pose significant threats to fisheries. Thus, urgently curbing greenhouse emissions is essential for safeguarding marine biodiversity.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32120-7">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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Compound events could irreversibly damage the ocean

It is not only the land that is currently experiencing...

A new study led by the <a href="https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/home.html">Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research</a> (Leibniz-IZW) has investigated the influence of maternal, social, and ecological factors during early life on the survival and reproductive fitness of female adult <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/spotted-hyenas-change-their-foraging-behavior-to-adapt/">spotted hyenas</a> (Crocuta crocuta). The analysis revealed that the social status of the mother had a positive effect on the reproductive success of the next generation, while being born to an elderly mother or growing up during a period of environmental stresses such as massive rainfall reduced survival and longevity. 



However, the experts suggest that the combination of specific conditions during early life may matter more than just the simple accumulation of either beneficial or adverse conditions in predicting life prospects in hyena populations.



The scientists analyzed data from the life histories of 666 female spotted hyenas from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania from 1987 to 2020 to assess how a variety of maternal, social, demographic, and ecological factors affected their evolutionary fitness (how many of an individual’s offspring reach reproductive age and manage to pass their genes to the next generation).



“Through careful analyses of the long-term data we were able to show clearly, for example, that female offspring of elder mothers have a significantly shorter lifespan and raise fewer young than those of mothers in their prime age,” said study lead author Morgane Gicquel, an expert in Ecological Dynamics at Leibniz-IZW. The investigation also revealed that daughters benefited if they did not have siblings, if were the dominant rather than the subordinate cubs in twin litters, or if their mothers had a high social status.



“We were surprised to find that maternal social status, litter size, and offspring dominance status only mattered to hyena offspring in the first few years, namely for survival to adulthood and for age at first reproduction, but that they did not influence longevity or lifetime reproductive success,” Gicquel explained.



“In contrast, we found both short-term and long-term effects for the number of lactating&nbsp;adult females&nbsp;in a clan,” said study senior author Sarah Benhaiem, a behavioral ecologist at Leibniz-IZW. “As the number of lactating female clan members increased, growth rate, survival to adulthood, and lifetime reproductive success of the offspring decreased. This could be related to more frequent conflicts and increased competition among breeding females.”



The scientists also discovered that ecological factors, such as increases in rainfall in the first six months of their lives, reduced the changes of female hyenas of surviving to adulthood, possibly due to increased parasite load and transmission of pathogens, or the flooding of communal dens, leading to cubs drowning at an early age. “In terms of climate change, it now rains more in the Serengeti than ever before - quite in contrast to many other areas in Africa. In the light of these insights, this might have a long-term negative effect on the population,” concluded Leibniz-IZW director Heribert Hofer.



The study is published in the <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13785">Journal of Animal Ecology</a>.&nbsp;&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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Early life has long-term effects on the health of hyenas

A new study led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo...

Today, the Inflation Reduction Act became "one of the most significant laws" in the history of the United States. Just hours ago, the sweeping $750 billion health care, tax and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/plans-by-oil-companies-fall-short-of-climate-goals/">climate</a> bill was signed by President Joe Biden.&nbsp;



"With this law, the American people won and the special interests lost," said Biden. "For a while people doubted whether any of that was going to happen, but we are in a season of substance."



On Wednesday, July 27, 2022, Senate Democrats announced the agreement, which will open the path for the most ambition <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/people-must-be-placed-at-the-heart-of-climate-action/">climate action</a> ever undertaken by the United States.&nbsp;



"I am confident this bill will endure as one of the greatest legislative feats in decades. It'll lower costs, create millions of good paying jobs and is the boldest climate bill ever," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.



The $369 billion climate and tax package will significantly reset the country’s role in the global fight against climate change, by ramping up wind, solar, geothermal, battery, and several other sustainable energy industries over the next decade.



“By a wide margin, this legislation will be the greatest pro-climate legislation that has ever been passed by Congress,” said Schumer. “This is the action the American people have been waiting for,” President Biden added, praising the bill’s “investments in our energy security for the future.”



The groundbreaking deal will provide companies financial incentives to keep open nuclear plants that might have otherwise closed, and to capture emissions from industrial facilities and bury them underground before they can contribute to global warming. Moreover, car buyers with income beneath a certain threshold will received a $7,500 tax credit to purchase a new electric car and $4,000 for a used one, while most Americans will be offered rebates to install heat pumps in order to make their homes more energy-efficient.



According to the Senate Democrats, the legislation will enable the U.S. to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade, thus coming closer to President Biden’s earlier promise to reduce emissions by 50 percent over the following years. This is a major step forward to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius below pre-industrial levels - a threshold beyond which the chance of extreme climate events, such as droughts, wildfires, storms, and catastrophic floods would significantly increase.



The bill “keeps us in the climate fight and makes it possible that executive action, state and local government policies, and private sector leadership can get us across the finish line,” said Jesse Jenkins, a macro-scale energy systems engineer at <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/">Princeton University</a>. “Without this bill, we’d be hopelessly far from our climate goals.”



Climate experts hope that this new deal will revitalize international efforts to curb climate change and restore American credibility in international negotiations. “You can’t preach temperance from a bar stool, and you can’t ask China, India, Brazil or other countries to cut emissions if we’re not doing it ourselves in a significant way,”&nbsp;said Democrat Senator Edward J. Markey.&nbsp;



The bill includes $30 billion in incentives for companies to construct wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries, and to process critical minerals in the United States,&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;$60 billion to solve the disproportionate burden of pollution on low-income and minority communities, $27 billion for a “green bank” that will offer financial support to clean energy projects, and $20 billion for programs to cut agricultural emissions.



“The entire clean energy industry just breathed an enormous sigh of relief,” said Heather Zichal, chief executive of the <a href="https://cleanpower.org/">American Clean Power Association</a>. “This is an 11th-hour reprieve for climate action and clean energy jobs.”



"The American people won and the special interests lost," said President Biden. "That's the choice we face. We can protect the already powerful or show the courage to build a future where everybody has an even shot."



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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;

"American people won" as Biden signs sweeping climate bill

Today, the Inflation Reduction Act became "one of the most...

There are not many species of birds or mammals that inhabit the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/arctic-has-warmed-four-times-faster-than-the-rest-of-the-planet/">Arctic</a>, but those that do can keep their body temperatures above the icy cold of the environment around them. Fish, on the other hand, do not have this luxury. Their body temperatures are as cold as the Arctic waters around them, which can sometimes be below freezing point. They have to make use of a special adaptation in order to prevent their cells from freezing at these very low temperatures.



Fish cannot survive the freezing of their body fluids, and they make use of special proteins, made primarily in the liver, that effectively lower the freezing point of fluids in their bodies. These antifreeze proteins also bind to existing ice crystals in the body fluids and prevent them from growing any bigger. The ability of Arctic and Antarctic fish to make these specialized proteins was discovered nearly 50 years ago, but new research in the icy waters off Greenland has revealed just how high the concentrations of these proteins can be.



The research, led by scientists at the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a> and the City University of New York (CUNY),&nbsp;focuses on small snailfish, Liparis gibbus, that inhabit the ocean depths around the Arctic. The snailfish can be found in the waters of Alaska, Canada and Greenland. Previous research on this species had shown that it is capable of biofluorescence, and glows red and green even though it lives habitually in the darkness. In addition to displaying this property, it also had high concentrations of antifreeze proteins in its body fluids.&nbsp;



“Similar to how antifreeze in your car keeps the water in your radiator from freezing in cold temperatures, some animals have evolved amazing machinery that prevents them from freezing, such as antifreeze proteins, which prevent ice crystals from forming,” said David Gruber, a research associate at the Museum and a&nbsp;distinguished biology professor at CUNY’s Baruch College. “We already knew that this tiny snailfish, which lives in extremely cold waters, produced antifreeze proteins, but we didn’t realize just how chock-full of those proteins it is – and the amount of effort it was putting into making these proteins.”



Gruber and co-author John Sparks, a curator in the Museum’s Department of Ichthyology, decided to investigate the antifreeze proteins of the snailfish after discovering its unusual ability to biofluoresce during a previous research expedition. In 2019, as part of a Constantine. S.&nbsp;Niarchos Expedition, Sparks and&nbsp;Gruber were exploring the iceberg habitats&nbsp;off the coast of Eastern Greenland when they found a juvenile variegated snailfish glowing in green and red. This phenomenon is rare among Arctic fishes and the snailfish they encountered <a href="https://www.amnh.org/about/press-center/scientists-document-bioflourescent-fish">remains the only polar fish reported to biofluoresce</a>.



While investigating the biofluorescent properties of the snailfish, the researchers also found two groups of genes that encode for the production of antifreeze proteins in this species of fish. Notably, these snailfish genes have the highest levels of expression of antifreeze proteins ever observed, indicating their importance in a species that survives in freezing conditions most of its life. In addition, the authors question how this adaptation may affect the survival of snailfish as the oceans warm in the foreseeable future.&nbsp;



“Since the mid-20th century, temperatures have increased twice as fast in the Arctic as in mid-latitudes and some studies predict that if Arctic sea ice decline continues at this current rate, in the summer the Arctic Ocean will be mostly ice-free within the next three decades,” Sparks said.&nbsp;



“Arctic seas do not support a high diversity of fish species, and our study hypothesizes that with increasingly warming oceanic temperatures, ice-dwelling specialists such as this snailfish may encounter increased competition by more temperate species that were previously unable to survive at these higher northern latitudes.”



The study is published in the journal&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/evb">Evolutionary Bioinformatics</a>.



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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

Snailfish have a secret weapon to survive in frozen Arctic waters

There are not many species of birds or mammals that...

At 29,032 feet (8,849 m), Mt. Everest is the world's highest mountain. Although many people go to Everest to climb, very little is known about its <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vanilla-cultivation-can-boost-biodiversity-in-madagascar/">biodiversity</a>.



In 2019, National Geographic and Rolex came together for the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/topic/perpetual-planet">Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition</a>, the most comprehensive scientific expedition in Everest's history. Scientists from The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Appalachian State University led the research team.&nbsp;



The experts collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples for various water sources between 14,763 feet and 18,044 feet. Environmental DNA can be used to search for small amounts of genetic material left by organisms and is known to be more efficient than traditional surveys. This technique has previously helped scientists to study elusive marine animals such as humpback whales and Swinhoe's softshell turtle. Samples were collected in the field using sealed cartridges and analyzed in a lab.&nbsp;



The scientific team analyzed 20 liters of water and found organisms representing 187 taxonomic orders, or one-sixth of all known orders. The team was also able to identify some samples to the species level. They found DNA from microorganisms, rotifers and tardigrades, as well as from Tibetan snow cock, domestic dogs, and domestic chickens. Several sites contained mayfly DNA, an indicator species of environmental change.&nbsp;



"High-alpine and aeolian environments, which have often been thought of as barren and mostly devoid of life, in fact have abundant biodiversity," said Dr. Tracie Seimon, co-leader of the Everest biology field team. "High mountain environments including Mount Everest should be recognized as a target for sustained long-term biodiversity monitoring of high-alpine taxa to complement bioclimatic monitoring and climate change impact assessments."



Dr. Marisa Lim of the Wildlife Conservation Society is excited about what is left to discover. "We went in search for life on the roof of the world. This is what we found. However, the story does not end here. There is more to be discovered and we hope our findings help to inform future exploration," said Dr. Lim.



The team hopes that the eDNA inventory gathered in this study will help future scientists monitor high alpine regions in the Himalaya and inform past studies so that we may better understand how the region's biodiversity is responding to human pressure and a changing climate.



This study is published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)01120-8?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2589004222011208%3Fshowall%3Dtrue">iScience</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

Environmental DNA reveals the diversity of Mount Everest

At 29,032 feet (8,849 m), Mt. Everest is the world's...

Pipes,In,The,Hands,Of,Musicians

During the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/trees-spread-covid-19-through-pollen/">Covid-19</a> pandemic, many live musical events were postponed or cancelled in order to protect musicians and audience members from coronavirus infections. When such events started to be staged again, musical artists often resorted to performing for remote or limited crowds, and adapted their repertoire to promote pieces featuring strings, while making significant changes in the number of musicians and their positions in the auditorium. A main concern throughout the pandemic has been whether wind instruments – which are common in orchestral ensembles – are vectors of contamination through aerosol dispersal.&nbsp;



In a recent study, a team of researchers from <a href="https://www.psu.edu/">Pennsylvania State University</a> collaborated with musicians from the <a href="https://www.philorch.org/">Philadelphia Orchestra</a> to shed more light on what quantities of aerosols are produced and dispersed by wind instruments.&nbsp;



“Ideally, musicians would sit near one another to compose the best sound, but such an arrangement became an issue during the Covid pandemic,” said study senior author Paulo Arratia, a professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at Penn State.



The scientists used visualization methods to characterize the flow of aerosols by tracking fog particles in the air with a laser, while also measuring aerosol concentrations from wind instruments with a particle counter. By combining these two measurements, they developed a simple equation to describe aerosol dispersion - a phenomenon in which aerosol speed slows down proportionally with the distance from the instruments.&nbsp;



The results revealed that aerosols emitted by wind instruments shared a similar concentration and size distribution as those produced during normal speech and breathing. “We were surprised that the amount of aerosol produced is of the same range as normal speech,” said Professor Arratia. “I was expecting much higher flow speeds and aerosol concentrations.”



By using particle image velocimetry, the researchers also measured aerosols’ exit jet speeds and found that they are much lower than those produced by coughing or sneezing. For most of the instruments, the maximum decay length was less than two meters from the instrument’s opening, suggesting that musicians should stay six feet apart when performing.



In future studies, the scientists aim to analyze contamination through aerosol dispersion from a group standpoint to clarify how much aerosol and flow is produced by a whole orchestra performing together. “Hopefully, this manuscript will guide health officials to develop protocols for safe, live musical events,” Professor Arratia concluded.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0098273">Physics of Fluids</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;

Do wind instruments spread Covid-19?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many live musical events were postponed...

Energy consumption projections and decarbonization plans are nothing new. These types of projections are regularly created by governments, scientists, and even industry. In fact, oil companies have long created energy consumption scenarios to plan for the future. In recent years, oil companies have created projections that include decarbonization scenarios.&nbsp;



Unfortunately, these projections are sometimes hard to compare to other scenarios created by academics and government planners. This is because the underlying assumptions of these companies’ claims to meet Paris climate agreements are sometimes opaque. A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/">Nature Communications</a> has taken a closer look at some of these plans.&nbsp;



Researchers at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a> analyzed six projections published in 2020 and 2021. Among these scenarios, two were published by BP, one by Royal Dutch Shell, one by Equinor, and two were published by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The analysis revealed that all of the projections fall short of the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 ̊C.&nbsp;



“Most of the scenarios we evaluated would be classified as inconsistent with the Paris Agreement as they fail to limit warming to ‘well below 2 ̊C, let alone 1.5 ̊C, and would exceed the 1.5 ̊C warming limit by a significant margin," said Dr. Robert Brecha, co-lead author of the study from <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/">Climate Analytics</a>.



In Equinor’s plan, the temperature increase peaks at 1.73 ̊C in 2060, BP’s "Rapid" at 1.73 ̊C in 2058, Shell’s at 1.81 ̊C in 2069 and BP’s "Net Zero" peaks at 1.65 ̊C. These plans may seem close to the Paris Agreement numbers but previous research has shown that even small changes can be critically important.&nbsp;



“Even temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C warming would lead to catastrophic impacts and severely weaken our ability to adapt to climate change," said Bill Hare, CEO and Senior Scientist at Climate Analytics.



Many of the plans from these oil companies still incorporate large uses of coal, which is problematic for other reasons beyond climate change. There is also a reliance on reforestation to offset emissions, which may not be realistic with a growing human population and worse growing conditions.&nbsp;



Overall, it’s good that oil companies are planning for decarbonization. However, they must continue to be held accountable to higher standards if we are to meet important climate goals.&nbsp;



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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

Plans by oil companies fall short of climate goals

Energy consumption projections and decarbonization plans are nothing new. These...

In a special section of the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biac021">BioScience</a>, a team of researchers led by the US National Science Foundation’s <a href="https://lternet.edu/">Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network</a> has synthesized 40 years of research on how ecosystems are responding to climate change, providing evidence that climate change is affecting our planet on every scale, from global shifts in weather patterns to changes in local ecosystems.&nbsp;



The large scale of this research allows for long-term spatial and temporal analyses of change and “enhances the impact of science on environmental policy relative to short-term studies.” The scientists argue that although various ecosystem have some common responses to climate change, most of their responses are in fact unique, and emerge from a combination of region-specific drivers, human activity, and interactions between a diversity of climate drivers.&nbsp;



In the lead article, researchers from <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/">Oregon State University</a> and <a href="https://www.syracuse.edu/">Syracuse University</a> lay out the conceptual framework behind the processes driving ecosystem changes, together with the logistics of and varied results from the 28 LTER research sites which were used to collect the data.



A <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biac050">contribution</a> by Hugh Ducklow (<a href="https://www.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a>) and his colleagues investigates the variety of ocean ecosystem responses to climate change, as well as broader marine physical system changes, including sea ice loss and modifications of the ocean surface layer, while a related <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biab134">article</a> authored by Daniel C. Reed (<a href="https://www.ucsb.edu/">University of California, Santa Barbara</a>) and his team analyzes the natural capacity of coastal ecosystems to resist and adapt to climate change.



Back on land, Amy R. Hudson (<a href="https://www.usda.gov/">US Department of Agriculture</a>) and her colleagues provide a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biab134">comparative analysis</a> of drylands’ responses to climate change, revealing consistent warming across sites but significant variability in droughts and their effect on primary production, while John L. Campbell (<a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/">USDA Forest Service</a>) and colleagues discuss how forest and freshwater ecosystems are both directly and indirectly impacted by climate change.



Finally, in a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/biosci/biac065">viewpoint article</a>, Michael Paul Nelson (Oregon State University) reflects on environmental scientists’ duty to actively advocate for mobilization and change. “Our love and knowledge create a new kind of work for us in the face of the climate crisis. Beyond the work of revealing and explaining our ecosystems, we are called also to do the work of caretakers for those ecosystems,” he concludes.



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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;

Scientists synthesize four decades of climate change research

In a special section of the journal BioScience, a team...

This summer, an unprecedented <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/europe-will-face-more-frequent-and-extreme-droughts/">drought</a> is afflicting most parts of Europe - as well as the typically rainy U.K - drying up rivers, killing aquatic species, shriveling crops, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions, and causing severe wildfires. Experts argue that climate change is the main driver of this historical drought (which is estimated to be the worst in 500 years), contributing to hotter temperatures that speed up evaporation, “thirstier” plants which take up more moisture, and reduced snowfall in the winter that significantly limits the freshwater supplies generally used for irrigation in the summer.



According to Jean-Philippe Couasné, a chief technician at the <a href="https://www.peche-landes.com/en/who-are-we/">Federation for Fishing and Protection of the Aquatic Environment</a> in France, fish are dying at an unprecedented rate in the Tille river. “It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “On average, about 8,000 liters (2,100 gallons) per second are flowing…And now, zero liters.” Without rain, the river “will continue to empty. And yes, all fish will die...They are trapped upstream and downstream, there’s no water coming in, so the oxygen level will keep decreasing as the (water) volume goes down. These are species that will gradually disappear.”



Other major rivers throughout Europe, including the Rhine, the Danube, or the Po, as well as lakes such as Garda in Italy or Velence in Hungary face similar conditions, which damage a wide range of ecosystems, and significantly restrict shipping activities. This massive drying up of water sources negatively impacts crop production. For instance, EU corn production is expected to be 12.5 million tons below that in 2021, and sunflower production is projected to be 1.6 million tons lower. Livestock dependent on feed crops are also suffering, with the quantity and quality of milk dropping at unprecedented rates in France and other countries.



Scientists argue that this dire situation Europe is currently facing results from long periods of dry weather caused by changes in world weather systems. Climate change has leveled temperatures across different regions, sapping the forces that drive the Atlantic jet stream, which usually brings rainy weather to Europe. Instead, this weaker and unstable jet stream is now bringing unusually hot air from North Africa to Europe, leading to prolonged heatwaves and subsequent droughts.&nbsp;



If actions to mitigate climate change are not urgently taken, such droughts will become increasingly frequent in the following years, leading to the destruction of a variety of ecosystems, and endangering humans all over the globe.&nbsp;&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&nbsp;&nbsp;

Europe is experiencing its worst drought in 500 years

This summer, an unprecedented drought is afflicting most parts of...

In learning to communicate, a good teacher is essential not only in the case of humans, but also for other animals. For instance, juvenile <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/zebra-finches-use-both-calls-and-vision-to-coordinate-flight/">zebra finches</a> learn songs directly from a “tutor” – usually their father – through social interactions which keep them focused and motivated. The physical presence of the tutor seems to be essential – young birds that only hear the songs through a speaker don’t manage to learn so well. A research team led by the <a href="https://www.oist.jp/">Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology</a> (OIST) has now managed to identify for the first time the brain circuitry which controls such learning.&nbsp;



“This study is the first demonstration of the neural circuitry that is telling these animals what incoming information they need to pay attention to,” said study senior author Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama, an associate professor of Neuroscience at OIST. Since in the wild, zebra finches are surrounded by many sounds, including the songs of other birds, this specific neural circuit is activated to signal that the song coming from the tutor is important and has to be memorized.



Two decades ago, scientists discovered that human babies also need a personal tutor to teach them how to recognize phonemes in language by engaging the learner’s attention. “That is pretty logical – if we are attentive, we are learning better,” said study lead author Jelena Katic, a postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience at OIST. “We wanted to understand, is the same true for juvenile birds?”



Dr. Katic and her colleagues found that during the learning process, neurons from a brain area called locus coeruleus (LC) project to a higher order auditory region in the brain called the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), which is where the young birds’ memories of a tutor’s song are formed. Both of these brain regions responded more strongly when the tutor sang than when the youngsters heard a recording of the song, and the firing of the NCM neurons was time-locked to specific syllables of the tutor’s song, suggesting that they are registering the incoming auditory information.&nbsp;



However, since the LC neurons were active constantly while the tutor sang, they were likely responding to vocal communication itself rather than the specific notes that were emitted. Moreover, if the scientists deactivated the neurons projecting from the LC to the NCM while the tutor sang, the juveniles were unable to accurately copy the song.&nbsp;



“Imagine that the NCM neurons are receiving multiple inputs from different regions of the brain, including some from auditory areas that convey the notes and prosodic patterns of the song,” explained Dr. Katic. “But LC is conveying another type of information – the social context identifying that the song is important.”



Further research is needed to clarify what cues juveniles use to capture this social context, which chemicals in the brain structure the functioning of the LC-NCM circuitry, and what kinds of cues the juveniles emit that might encourage the tutor to teach them.



The study is published in the journal <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32207-1">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&nbsp;&nbsp;

What brain circuitry drives social learning in birds?

In learning to communicate, a good teacher is essential not...

Researchers at <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley</a> have found that with today's heat waves, the <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/greater-temperature-changes-linked-to-worse-extinction-events/">temperature</a> is a lot more stressful to the human body than what is indicated by the heat index. The experts report that the heat index calculated by meteorologists at the National Weather Service (NWS) may underestimate the perceived temperature by more than 20 degrees Fahrenheit on the hottest days of the year.



The heat index is a measure of humidity combined with the air temperature, which represents how it actually feels when you step outside. It indicates how humans can deal with heat when the humidity is high - when sweating is less effective at cooling the body down.&nbsp;



According to the researchers, a higher heat index means that the human body is more stressed during heat waves than what is accounted for by public health officials. A heat index above 103 is considered by the NWS to be dangerous, and above 125 to be extremely dangerous.



“Most of the time, the heat index that the National Weather Service is giving you is just the right value. It's only in these extreme cases where they're getting the wrong number,” said Professor David Romps. “Where it matters is when you start to map the heat index back onto physiological states and you realize, oh, these people are being stressed to a condition of very elevated skin blood flow where the body is coming close to running out of tricks for compensating for this kind of heat and humidity. So, we're closer to that edge than we thought we were before.”



The heat index was devised in 1979 by physicist Robert Steadman, who created simple equations to calculate the hot and humid conditions of summer. However, Steadman left the index undefined for many conditions that we are now experiencing much more frequently in a hotter climate. For example, with a relative humidity of 80 percent, the heat index is not defined for temperatures above 88 degrees Fahrenheit or for below 59 degrees Fahrenheit.



Professor Romps explained that meteorologists have extrapolated into these areas to get numbers that are correct most of the time, but not based on any understanding of human physiology. “There's no scientific basis for these numbers."



The researchers set out to expand upon Steadman’s work to make the heat index accurate at all temperatures and all humidities between zero and 100.



“The original table had a very short range of temperature and humidity and then a blank region where Steadman said the human model failed,” said graduate student Yi-Chuan Lu. “Steadman had the right physics. Our aim was to extend it to all temperatures so that we have a more accurate formula.”



Earlier this year, Professor Romps and Lu published their revised heat index equation. For the current study, they applied this index to the top 100 heat waves that occurred between 1984 and 2020. While they found mostly minor discrepancies from what was reported by the NWS, the team also discovered some instances where the NWS heat index was way off.



One of the most extreme examples occurred during a heat wave in Chicago in July of 1995, when at least 465 people were killed. The maximum heat index reported by the NWS was 135 degrees Fahrenheit - but it actually felt like 154 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the researchers.



“I'm no physiologist, but a lot of things happen to the body when it gets really hot,” said Professor Romps. “Diverting blood to the skin stresses the system because you're pulling blood that would otherwise be sent to internal organs and sending it to the skin to try to bring up the skin's temperature. The approximate calculation used by the NWS, and widely adopted, inadvertently downplays the health risks of severe heat waves.”



Even among the healthiest of individuals, the threshold of heat death is reached at a heat index of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. While Earth is not likely to reach this point in the next few decades, deadly heat conditions are still becoming much more common.&nbsp;



“A 200 F heat index is an upper bound of what is survivable,” said Professor Romps. “But now that we've got this model of human thermoregulation that works out at these conditions, what does it actually mean for the future habitability of the United States and the planet as a whole? There are some frightening things we are looking at.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326">Environmental Research Letters</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

Heat index is greatly underestimated on the hottest days

Researchers at UC Berkeley have found that with today's heat...

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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

Nushagak Bay in southwest Alaska

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Flu viruses are more flexible than expected

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



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



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



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



Video/Image Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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

Lake Trasimeno in Central Italy

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



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



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



Video Credit: American Chemical Society&nbsp;



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



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

Detecting mercury contamination with the tap of a finger

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Today’s Video of the Day from the <a href="https://www.esa.int/">European Space Agency</a> features Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River.



In 1968, Kainji Lake was created by the construction of the Kainji Dam. The Niger River, the third longest in Africa, enters the lake in the north.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/rivers-in-the-american-west-are-a-lifesaving-resource-for-birds/">ESA</a>, the creation of the lake submerged Foge Island and the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements, leaving around 50,000 people displaced.&nbsp;



Large parts of Foge Island are temporarily exposed during low water tides, and the land is often used by migrating fishermen. Kainji Dam is a dam across the Niger River in Niger State of Central Nigeria. 



Wild mammals occur at relatively low densities due to illegal hunting. Lake Kainji has suffered a dramatic decline as a fishery due to the high numbers of artisanal and subsistence fisherfolk using the lake. It has been suggested that a period of closure, together with controlled fishing rights may help improve fish stocks.



Kainji Lake National Park is the oldest of its kind in Nigeria. The park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. The park is home to around 65 mammal species, 350 bird species, and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians. 



Video/ Image Credit: European Space Agency&nbsp;



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



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

Kainji Lake in north central Nigeria

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Amanda Nguyen/University of Illinois



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



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

Designing crops that can beat the heat

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



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



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



Video Credit: ACS Reactions



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



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

How does salt makes things taste better?

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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

Santiago, Chile in South America

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

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Johns Hopkins&nbsp;



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



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

Interactive map of the universe includes 200,000 galaxies

[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...