The era of wondering and wildly speculating may be drawing to a close, with researchers recently devising a new model they're calling the "formula for life." 



The experts hope this tool will calculate the chances of intelligent life existing in our universe and even predict the potential for alien life in future universes.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-next-generation-of-intelligent-life">Next generation of intelligent life </h2>



According to this new calculation model, the likelihood of life beyond our galaxy sits at 27 percent, which may let down the 65 percent of American adults who firmly believe in extraterrestrial life.



Interestingly, the chances of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/are-aliens-sending-radio-signals-to-each-other/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intelligent life</a> existing within our own Milky Way are even lower - just 23 percent.



These estimates come from the concerted efforts of researchers at the <a href="https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ed.ac.uk%2F&amp;utm_campaign=aga&amp;utm_source=agsadl2%2Csh%2Fx%2Fgs%2Fm2%2F4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">University of Edinburgh</a> and the University of Genevieve. The study suggests that star formation and the evolution of large-scale planets might intertwine to quietly "form the next generation of intelligent life."



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dark-energy-and-the-potential-for-alien-life">Dark energy and the potential for alien life</h2>



To understand the potential of other life forms, the team devised a theoretical model that leans heavily on the Drake Equation, developed in 1960. 



This well-known formula calculates the universe's expansion and has been used to research the existence of advanced civilizations in our galaxy.



The researchers emphasized that their calculations do not suggest a number of intelligent life forms but rather estimate the likelihood of their <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/dark-oxygen-in-the-deep-sea-may-hold-clues-about-alien-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">existence</a>.



Their estimation process takes into account dark energy, which comprises over two-thirds of the universe and fuels its expansion.



"Understanding dark energy and the impact on our universe is one of the biggest challenges in cosmology and fundamental physics," said lead researcher Dr. Daniele Sorini, affiliated with <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Durham University</a>’s Institute for Computational Cosmology.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-potential-for-future-alien-life">Potential for future alien life</h2>



In addition to the probabilities of current extraterrestrial life, the researchers' model also accommodates for alien life forms that don't exist yet but could develop in the future. 



To do this, they calculated the amount of ordinary matter that combined to form stars across the universe's history, stretching back a staggering 13.8 billion years.



It seems the chances of <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/cosmic-connection-aliens-could-make-contact-by-2029/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">intelligent life</a> appearing in universes beyond our own also hover at around 27 percent. 



"Surprisingly, we found that even a significantly higher dark energy density would still be compatible with life, suggesting we may not live in the most likely of universes," said Dr. Sorini.



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



The pioneering work of modeling the probability of intelligent life in other universes opens up numerous avenues for future research. Scientists are now challenged to refine these models further, grounding them in observations and experiments to reach more precise conclusions. 



Such work may involve advancing our understanding of dark matter and energy - components of the universe that remain elusive yet crucial to grasping the cosmic puzzle.



This pursuit could bridge the gap between theoretical physics and cosmology, bringing them closer within the realms of empirical science.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-interplay-of-gravity-and-alien-life">Interplay of gravity and alien life</h2>



Another intriguing factor in cosmic life creation is gravity's role. Gravity influences the formation of stars and galaxies, effectively setting the stage for potential habitats where life could develop. 



The extent of gravity's influence in these processes highlights its importance, not just in structural formation, but in setting conditions that could favor the emergence of life. 



Existing research suggests that regions with optimal gravity balance might support complex planetary systems, paving the way for biological evolution. 



As scientists continue to explore the mysteries of the universe, understanding the precise role of gravity will add another layer to our comprehension of life's cosmic potential.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-speculation-to-exploration">From speculation to exploration</h2>



"It will be exciting to employ the model to explore the emergence of life across different universes and see whether some fundamental questions we ask ourselves about our own universe must be reinterpreted," noted study co-author Lucas Lombriser, a professor at the University of Genevieve.



If this research can help us to better understand our own universe and its likelihood for hosting life, it seems we have come a long way from wild speculation to measured investigation into our place in the cosmos.



So, what does this all mean for us? Are we on the brink of making contact with alien life forms? While the research findings might lead some to temper their expectations, the search for extraterrestrial life continues.



In the end, we need to remember that the universe is vast, mind-bogglingly diverse, and still largely unexplored. The <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/finding-alien-life-searching-for-color-purple-not-green/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">potentials for life</a> - both as we know it and beyond our current comprehension - remain a thrilling frontier in scientific exploration.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/535/2/1449/7896079?login=false#493432585" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</a>.



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What are the chances that alien life exists?

The era of wondering and wildly speculating may be drawing to a close, with researchers recently devising a new model they're calling the "formula for life." The experts hope this tool will calculate the chances of intelligent life existing in our universe and even predict the potential for alien life in future universes. Next generation of intelligent life According to this new calculation model, the likelihood of life beyond our galaxy sits at 27 percent, which may let down the 65 percent of American adults who firmly...

Anyone who’s heard of the problems in the Everglades probably knows that released <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/praying-mantises-are-becoming-more-popular-as-pets/">pets</a> can become invasive. Non-native plants and animals often outcompete native wildlife and harm ecosystems. Unfortunately, releasing a pet into the wild can mean hurting other wild creatures.&nbsp;



Unsurprisingly, fish are one of the most commonly released pets. In fact, released pets make up one third of aquatic invasive species. Goldfish have been domesticated for thousands of years and are extremely popular. These fish have established non-native populations all over the planet.&nbsp;



Now, a study published in the journal <a href="https://neobiota.pensoft.net/">NeoBiota</a> looks at goldfish and another pet fish, the white cloud mountain minnow in Northern Ireland. The researchers developed new techniques for assessing the potential risks and impacts of invasive pet species.&nbsp;



Goldfish, in particular, appeared to be dangerous to the native ecology of Ireland. Goldfish ate more food than either the white cloud mountain minnow or native Irish fishes. Goldfish were also brave, a trait thought to promote invasive behavior.&nbsp;



“Our research suggests that goldfish pose a triple threat. Not only are they readily available, but they combine insatiable appetites with bold behavior," explained study lead author Dr. James Dickey from Queen’s University Belfast.



"While northern European climates are often a barrier to non-native species surviving in the wild, goldfish are known to be tolerant to such conditions, and could pose a real threat to native biodiversity in rivers and lakes, eating up the resources that other species depend on.”



The scientists hope that they not only show that goldfish are potentially dangerous to ecology, but also help others assess risks of goldfish and other pets in other locations in the world.&nbsp;



“Our research highlights that goldfish are high risk, but we hope that the methods developed here can be used to assess others in the pet trade across Ireland and further afield," said Dr. Dickey.



"Readily available species are most likely to be released, so limiting the availability of potentially impactful ones, alongside better education of pet owners, is a solution to preventing damaging invaders establishing in the future.”



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Releasing goldfish is a threat to native wildlife

Anyone who’s heard of the problems in the Everglades probably...

As people leave less productive farmlands to move into urban areas, the abandoned farms can possibly revert to a more wild state. Such reversions to native plants, animals and ecology is not only good for <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/hedgehogs-are-spreading-the-superbug-mrsa-to-humans/">wildlife</a>, but can also help combat climate change.&nbsp;



Unfortunately, new research published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a> shows that much of this "abandoned" farmland is eventually recultivated instead of being reverted to a natural state.



“As people move from rural areas into cities, there is a chance for wildlife and the climate to gain ground - literally - as abandoned farms and pastures revert back to forests and grasslands,” said study co-author Professor David Wilcove of the <a href="https://environment.princeton.edu/">High Meadows Environmental Institute</a> (HMEI). “Our work shows that this is not happening because the ‘abandoned’ lands are being rapidly recultivated.”



“Unless countries and policymakers develop better regulations and incentives to allow these lands to recover, this chance to restore ecosystems will not be fully realized,” said study lead author Christopher Crawford, a PhD candidate who is advised by Professor Wilcove. “It will remain a missed opportunity to fight climate change and biodiversity loss.”



To understand the process of abandoned farmland regenerating, the researchers looked at satellite photos from 11 locations scattered across four continents. Some of the locations were in the United States, Brazil, Bosnia, Herzegovina, China, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia. Croplands in these locations were abandoned for a host of reasons including war, socioeconomic changes and environmental factors. In China, some of the land was restored due to incentives to plant trees on marginal farmlands.&nbsp;



Across the sites, farmland was abandoned for an average of less than 14 years, with land in China staying abandoned longer than in most places, probably due to incentives. The scientists estimate that land should be abandoned for at least 50 years for significant biodiversity and climate benefits to be seen.&nbsp;



“Without incentives for restoration, cropland abandonment rarely lasts long enough to yield benefits for biodiversity or carbon sequestration,” Crawford said. “For abandoned croplands to reach levels of carbon stocks and biodiversity comparable to more intact natural ecosystems, they typically need at least 50 years of regeneration.”



Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces in China, where land stayed abandoned longer, show that incentives can work. The researchers also propose that unused croplands - which are not necessary for food - should be made into formally protected lands.&nbsp;



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By <a href="mailto:zachfitzner@yahoo.com">Zach Fitzner</a>, <a href="https://www.earth.com/staff/">Earth.com</a> Staff Writer

Restoring abandoned farms could help fight climate change

As people leave less productive farmlands to move into urban...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/showing-signs-of-stress-could-make-you-more-likeable/">Stress</a> is a widespread phenomenon among humans, usually occurring when we feel threatened or overwhelmed. Humans often communicate to others that they are stressed through their behavior or physiological changes. Thus, stress can also convey information, and even be useful in certain situations. 



However, since stress can be easily transmitted from one person to another, it frequently leads to dangerous situations, such as mass panics. Now, a research team led by the <a href="https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/">University of Konstanz</a> has found that the transmission of stress can also be observed across various animal species.&nbsp;



“It has been repeatedly shown that stress can be transmitted from one human to another,” said study lead author Hanja Brandl, a behavioral ecologist at the Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz. “Often a similarly strong physiological response is triggered, even though you have never experienced the stress yourself.”



As most animals spend at least parts of their lives associating socially with their conspecifics, stress is also transmitted among them. “Other animals in the group can be just as stressed as the friend who experienced something bad. Stress is evolutionarily deeply rooted and the process is similar in all vertebrates,” Dr. Brandl explained.



According to the researchers, wild animals are primarily stressed by naturally occurring threats, such as predators. However, human influences can also raise animals’ level of stress. “Increasing changes in the habitat or noise and light pollution also have an impact, as these massively affect the environment of the animals,” said Dr. Brandl.&nbsp;



While animals are usually flexible and can adapt to changing circumstances, when both natural and anthropogenic stressful factors accumulate, stress is exacerbated and is often transmitted through animal collectives, becoming unhealthy for both individual animals and the groups in which they live. “At some point, the stress response – the adaptations that otherwise help animals better escape stressors like predators – no longer gives them a survival advantage.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Clarifying how the underlying mechanisms of stress work at both the individual and collective level can help scientists find better ways to protect animals. Moreover, understanding the evolutionary roots of stress responses could also shed more light on how humans experience such phenomena, and open ways for mitigating the negative impact stress often has on health.



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.2158#d1e853">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a>.&nbsp;



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

Stress gives animals a survival advantage, but only to a point

Stress is a widespread phenomenon among humans, usually occurring when...

Engineers at <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> have created a tiny robotic crab that walk, bend, twist, turn, and jump. Smaller than a flea and just half-millimeter wide, it is the tiniest walking robot ever invented.



The experts have also developed millimeter-sized robots that resemble inchworms, crickets and <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/beetle-glands-help-explain-how-complex-organs-evolved/">beetles</a>. The research is just exploratory at this point, but the researchers believe their technology may bring the field closer to realizing micro-sized robots that can perform practical tasks inside tightly confined spaces.



Last year, the Northwestern team introduced a winged microchip that was the smallest-ever flying structure made by humans.&nbsp;



“Robotics is an exciting field of research, and the development of microscale robots is a fun topic for academic exploration,” said John A. Rogers, who led the experimental work. “You might imagine micro-robots as agents to repair or assemble small structures or machines in industry or as surgical assistants to clear clogged arteries, to stop internal bleeding or to eliminate cancerous tumors - all in minimally invasive procedures.”



According to Yonggang Huang, who led the theoretical side of the study, the technology enables a variety of controlled motion modalities and can walk with an average speed of half its body length per second. “This is very challenging to achieve at such small scales for terrestrial robots.”



The researchers constructed the robot using a shape-memory alloy material that transforms to its “remembered” shape when heated. As the robot transitions between deformed and remembered shape and back again, this creates locomotion.&nbsp;



A laser is used to activate and remotely control the robot. In addition, the laser scanning direction also determines the direction that the bot will walk in.&nbsp;



“Because these structures are so tiny, the rate of cooling is very fast,” explained Rogers. “In fact, reducing the sizes of these robots allows them to run faster.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/scirobotics">Science Robotics</a>.&nbsp;



Image Credit: Northwestern University



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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

Tiny crab robot is smaller than a flea

Engineers at Northwestern University have created a tiny robotic crab...

The <a href="https://www.cabi.org/products-and-services/one-health-resources-cabi/one-health-journal-cabi/">CABI One Health</a> journal has published a commentary calling on government and experts to “recognize the importance of animal welfare for sustainable development, and to aspire to harm animals less and benefit them more as part of sustainable development governance.”



This commentary comes ahead of the UN Stockholm+50 Conference on June 2-3, 2022. The conference will include a number of environmental proposals and suggestions to address <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/climate-change-threatens-the-health-of-billions-of-people/">climate change</a>.&nbsp;



The commentary calls attention to the fact that animal welfare has not been considered since the UN Conference on the Human Environment began 50 years ago. To be clear, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development may include protecting species as a whole, but ideas on how to protect the welfare of those animals were not considered. The commentators are perplexed as to why animal welfare has not been a part of the discussion.



“Human, animal, and environmental health are linked,” explained Jeff Sebo of New York University, a lead author of the commentary. “Governments need to take steps to include animals in sustainable development governance for the sake of human and non-human animals alike.”



To see an example of the link between the environment, humans, and non-human animals, look no further than the industrial animal agriculture complex.



The commentary authors noted that animal agriculture requires more land and water and produces more pollution and waste than plant-based foods. And, of course, the industry is the leading cause of climate change.



We can also consider the current outbreaks of bird flu which have led to the deaths of millions of birds and can be attributed to overcrowding and the overuse of antibiotics.&nbsp;



Cleo Verkuijl of the Stockholm Environment Institute mentions an even more omnipresent disease caused by a lack of attentiveness to animal welfare. “COVID-19 reminds us that industries like industrial animal agriculture and the wildlife trade not only harm and kill many animals per year but also contribute to global health and environmental threats that imperil us all.”&nbsp;



Over 180 experts have endorsed the commentary as of May 23, 2022. But, its authors encourage more experts and governments to acknowledge the “intrinsic value of animals and consider their interests when making policy decisions that affect them.”&nbsp;



Professor Maria José Hötzel of the Federal University of Santa Catarina emphasizes that “governments cannot afford to wait another 50 years to take this issue seriously.”&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

Animal welfare is essential to sustainable development

The CABI One Health journal has published a commentary calling...

For decades, paleontologists have debated whether <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/the-dinosaurs-died-in-the-springtime/">dinosaurs</a> were cold-blooded, like reptiles, or warm-blooded, like mammals or birds. Since cold- and warm-bloodedness are closely related to animals’ metabolic rates – how quickly their metabolism could transform oxygen into energy - clarifying this issue could shed more light on how active dinosaurs were and what their daily life looked like.&nbsp;



A research team that included scientists from the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a> in Chicago has now developed a new method for studying dinosaurs’ metabolic rates by using clues in their bones which indicated how much oxygen they breathed. By using this groundbreaking technique, the experts found that most of the dinosaurs, such as the theropods or sauropods (the so-called ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs), were warm-blooded, while saurischian (lizard-hipped) species, such as the Triceratops and Stegosaurus, were cold-blooded.&nbsp;



“This is really exciting for us as paleontologists - the question of whether dinosaurs were warm- or cold-blooded is one of the oldest questions in paleontology, and now we think we have a consensus, that most dinosaurs were warm-blooded,” said study lead author Jasmina Wiemann, a postdoctoral fellow at the <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/">California Institute of Technology</a>.



When animals breathe, side products from this activity react with proteins, sugars, and lipids, leaving behind molecular “waste” which is extremely stable and water-insoluble. This waste is preserved during the fossilization process, leaving behind a reliable record of how much oxygen a dinosaur was breathing in, and thus, its metabolic rate.&nbsp;



The researchers analyzed the femurs of 55 different groups of animals, including dinosaurs and some of their relatives such as the pterosaurs or plesiosaurs, as well as modern birds, mammals, and lizards. By comparing the amount of breathing-related molecular byproducts with the known metabolic rates of the living animals, they found that dinosaurs’ metabolic rates were generally high, suggesting that they were warm- or even hot-blooded. For instance, bird-hipped dinosaurs – including predators such as Tyrannosaurus Rex or Velociraptor, as well as giant, long-necked herbivores such as Brachiosaurus – had extremely high metabolic rates, comparable to those of modern birds, and much higher than mammals. However, most of the lizard-hipped dinosaurs, such as Stegosaurus or Triceratops, had low metabolic rates similar to those of modern reptiles.



These findings could over fundamentally new insights on how various dinosaurs lived. “Dinosaurs with lower metabolic rates would have been, to some extent, dependent on external temperatures,” said Wiemann. “Lizards and turtles sit in the sun and bask, and we may have to consider similar ‘behavioral’ thermoregulation in ornithischians with exceptionally low metabolic rates. Cold-blooded dinosaurs also might have had to migrate to warmer climates during the cold season, and climate may have been a selective factor for where some of these dinosaurs could live.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



On the other hand, hot-blooded creatures were likely more active and needed to eat a lot. “The hot-blooded giant sauropods were herbivores, and it would take a lot of plant matter to feed this metabolic system. They had very efficient digestive systems, and since they were so big, it probably was more of a problem for them to cool down than to heat up.”



“This new study adds a fundamental piece of the puzzle in understanding the evolution of physiology in deep time and complements previous proxies used to investigate these questions,” concluded study co-author Matteo Fabbri, a postdoctoral fellow at the Field Museum. “We can now infer body temperature through isotopes, growth strategies through osteohistology, and metabolic rates through chemical proxies.”



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04770-6">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

Most of the dinosaurs were warm-blooded

For decades, paleontologists have debated whether dinosaurs were cold-blooded, like...

The Corn Belt is a region in the midwestern United States that is dominated by agriculture, including western Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, eastern Nebraska, and eastern Kansas. A new study led by <a href="https://www.emory.edu/home/index.html">Emory University</a> has found that climate change will make the U.S. Corn Belt unsuitable for cultivating corn and other major <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/genetically-modified-crops-could-reduce-climate-impacts/">crops</a> by 2100. 



According to the researchers, this transition will be inevitable without major technological advances in agricultural practices, as well as significant diversification beyond the major commodity crops that currently make up the bulk of U.S. agriculture.



“Climate change is happening, and it will continue to shift U.S. cultivation geographies strongly north,” said study author Emily Burchfield, an environmental scientist at Emory. “It’s not enough to simply depend on technological innovations to save the day. Now is the time to envision big shifts in what and how we grow our food to create more sustainable and resilient forms of agriculture.”



Currently, 80 percent of U.S. agricultural lands are cultivated with only five types of crops – alfalfa, corn, hay, soy, and wheat. By drawing upon historical land-use data classifying where these crops are grown, Professor Burchfield developed computational models to project biophysically driven shifts in cultivation to 2100 under low-, moderate-, and high-emissions scenarios. The results revealed that, even under moderate-emissions scenarios, the cultivation geographies of these major crops will all shift strongly north, with the Corn Belt becoming unsuitable to the cultivation of corn by the end of the century.



“These projections may be pessimistic because they don’t account for all of the ways that technology may help farmers adapt and rise to the challenge,” Professor Burchfield&nbsp;said. “But relying on technology alone is a really risky way to approach the problem. If we continue to push against biophysical realities, we will eventually reach ecological collapse.”



In her opinion, a better solution would be for agricultural systems to diversify beyond this handful of major crops. “One of the basic laws of ecology is that more diverse ecosystems are more resilient,” explained Professor Burchfield. “A landscape covered with a single plant is a fragile, brittle landscape. And there is also growing evidence that more diverse agricultural landscapes are more productive.”



“We need to switch from incentivizing intensive cultivation of five or six crops to supporting farmers’ ability to experiment and adopt the crops that work best in their particular landscape. It’s important to begin thinking about how to transition out of our current damaging monoculture paradigm toward systems that are environmentally sustainable, economically viable for farmers, and climate-smart."



The study is published in the journal <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac6c3d">Environmental Research Letters</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

The U.S. Corn Belt will take a hard hit from climate change

The Corn Belt is a region in the midwestern United...

A team of Argentinian scientists has recently discovered the fossilized remains of a huge flying reptile, Thanatosdrakon amaru, that lived alongside the dinosaurs 86 million years ago&nbsp;in the Andes mountains in Argentina's western Mendoza province. With a wingspan measuring over nine meters in length – as long as a yellow school bus - the “dragon of death" is the largest <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/mystery-solved-pterosaurs-had-colorful-feathers/">pterosaur</a> discovered in South America and one of the biggest flying vertebrates that ever lived.



This discovery suggests that predatory flying reptiles roamed the Earth at least 20 million years before the asteroid impact in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula that wiped out the dinosaurs - together with three-quarters of life on Earth – 66 million years ago.



Project leader Leonardo Ortiz, a researcher at the <a href="https://www.uncuyo.edu.ar/">National University of Cuyo</a> in Mendoza reported that the fossil’s peculiar features required a new genus and species classification. 



“The remains of Thanatosdrakon present different particularities that allow us to differentiate them from other known pterosaurs,” said Dr. Ortiz. “Fundamentally, these characteristics are found in the vertebrae and limbs. This allowed us to establish a new species of pterosaur.”&nbsp;



The term “thanatosdrakon” combines the ancient Greek words for death (thanatos) and dragon (drakon). “It seemed appropriate to name it that way,” explained Dr. Ortiz. 



“It's the dragon of death. We don't have a current record of any close relative that even has a body modification similar to these beasts. This species had a height similar to that of a giraffe, and a wingspan that defies the limits of our biological understanding.”



T. amaru belonged to a family of pterosaurs called “azdarchidae” which lived mostly in the Late Cretaceous period (100.5 to 66 million years ago) and are well-known for their enormous heads – sometimes even larger than their bodies – and their hyper-elongated necks and short, robust bodies.



The fossils – described in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195667122000921?via%3Dihub#!">Cretaceous Research</a> – are currently house in the Laboratory and Museum of Dinosaurs at the National University of Cuyo.&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

Giant “dragon of death” unearthed in Argentina

A team of Argentinian scientists has recently discovered the fossilized...

<a href="https://www.earth.com/news/vitamin-d-reduces-the-risk-of-autoimmune-disease/">Vitamin D</a> deficiency is linked to a number of health concerns across the world, and it is often recommended to increase intake by eating more fruits and vegetables. In a new study John Innes Centre, researchers have found a way to maximize vitamin D in tomatoes through gene editing.&nbsp;



Our bodies produce vitamin D after exposure to UVB light, but food is the biggest source. The new biofortified crop could help millions of people with vitamin D deficiency, which is linked to higher risk of cancer, dementia, and many leading causes of mortality. Recent studies have also identified a link between vitamin D deficiency and increased severity of Covid-19 infection.&nbsp;



During the winter months, and also at higher latitudes, people need vitamin D from their diet or supplements because the sun is not strong enough for the body to produce it naturally.&nbsp;



Tomato leaves contain provitamin D3, one of the building blocks of vitamin D at very low levels. Provitamin D3 does not normally accumulate in ripe tomato fruits. The researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to revise the genetic code of tomato plants so that provitamin D3 accumulates in the tomato fruit.&nbsp;



The leaves of the edited plants contained up to 600 ug of provitamin D3 per gram of dry weight. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 10 ug for adults.&nbsp; This may not sound beneficial as tomato leaves are usually discarded. However, the leaves of the edited plants can be used to manufacture vitamin D3 supplements.&nbsp;



“We’ve shown that you can biofortify tomatoes with provitamin D3 using gene editing, which means tomatoes could be developed as a plant-based, sustainable source of vitamin D3,” said study co-author Professor Cathie Martin.



“Forty percent of Europeans have vitamin D insufficiency and so do one billion people world-wide. We are not only addressing a huge health problem, but are helping producers, because tomato leaves which currently go to waste, could be used to make supplements from the gene-edited lines.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The gene-editing had no effect on growth, development or yield of the tomato plants. One tomato contained levels of vitamin D that were equivalent to two medium sized eggs or 28 grams of tuna. Vitamin D in ripe fruit could be further increased by extended exposure to UVB, for example during sun-drying.&nbsp;



“The Covid-19 pandemic has helped to highlight the issue of vitamin D insufficiency and its impact on our immune function and general health," said study first author Dr. Jie Li.



"The provitamin D enriched tomatoes we have produced offer a much-needed plant-based source of the sunshine vitamin. That is great news for people adopting a plant-rich, vegetarian or vegan diet, and for the growing number of people worldwide suffering from the problem of vitamin D insufficiency.”&nbsp;



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/nplants/">Nature Plants</a>.&nbsp;



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

Tomatoes could become an important source of vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency is linked to a number of health...

During <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/severity-of-covid-symptoms-linked-to-air-pollution/">Covid-19</a> lockdowns, many of us turned to our televisions for entertainment despite the fact that too much TV comes with negative health impacts. Now, a team of scientists led by the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/">University of Cambridge</a> has found that watching too much television is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, regardless of an individual’s genetic makeup.



The researchers found that 11 percent of cases of coronary heart disease could be prevented if people watched less than one hour of television each day.



According to the British Heart Foundation, coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the UK, claiming the lives of up to 64,000 people each year. One in eight men and one in 15 women die from the disease in the UK alone.&nbsp;



In addition, people with coronary heart disease are twice as likely to have a stroke. Sedentary behavior, or sitting for long periods of time, is one of the major contributing factors.&nbsp;



“Coronary heart disease is one of the most prominent causes of premature death, so finding ways to help people manage their risk through lifestyle modification is important," said Dr Katrien Wijndaele from the MRC Epidemiology Unit.



The researchers examined data from the UK Biobank, a study that followed 500,000 adults for 12 years. This allowed the team to examine the link between time spent on screen-based sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing, an individual’s DNA, and their risk of coronary heart disease.



The team created polygenic risk scores for each individual. These scores were used to identify the genetic risk of developing coronary heart disease. The results showed that people who watch more than four hours of TV per day had the greatest risk of the disease, regardless of their polygenic risk score.



Those who watched TV for two to three hours a day had a six percent lower risk, while those who watched less than an hour of TV had a 16 percent lower risk. The results were independent of genetic susceptibility and other known risk factors.



Television viewing tends to occur in the evening following dinner, usually our most calorific meal, leading to higher levels of glucose and lipids, such as cholesterol, in the blood. People also often snack more when watching TV which tends to be prolonged activity.&nbsp;



“Our study provides unique insights into the potential role that limiting TV viewing might have in preventing coronary heart disease,” said Dr Youngwon Kim, assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong. “Limiting the amount of time sat watching TV could be a useful, and relatively light touch, lifestyle change that could help individuals with a high genetic predisposition to coronary heart disease in particular to manage their risk.”



The research is published in the journal <a href="https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/">BMC Medicine</a>.



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

Television time linked with a greater risk of coronary heart disease

During Covid-19 lockdowns, many of us turned to our televisions...

Invasive, long-nosed <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/reconstructing-300-million-years-of-beetle-evolution/">beetles</a> known as palm weevils are destroying palm trees across California. In San Diego County alone, palm weevils have killed more than 20,000 palm trees since they were first detected in 2016.



Now, scientists at <a href="https://www.ucr.edu/">UC Riverside</a> are testing the effectiveness of a pheromone to attract and kill weevils. By seducing the beetles with the chemicals, experts may be able to save palm trees without harming bees.



According to study co-author Mark Hoddle, the weevils’ ability to produce very large populations is currently unchecked as there are no native natural predators that control this pest.



“Near Chula Vista there’s a road called Palm Avenue, but it’s all stumps and dead trees now, and the weevils are transforming the visual appeal of Old Town San Diego as well,” said Hoddle.



Currently, the only way to control palm weevils is with the application of insecticides. These treatments are expensive, and are applied several times a year.



“A weevil infestation is a death sentence for the palm. These insects have 100% kill rate in three to six months, unless the tree is treated very aggressively. Even treatment may not be enough to save an infected palm,” explained Hoddle.



The pheromone strategy represents a much more environmentally friendly way to reduce weevil populations compared to insecticides.



“One of the only ways we’re currently able to kill them is by spraying 60-foot palm trees. It’s literally raining insecticide from high-pressure hoses,” said Hoddle.



Some city managers are injecting the surrounding soil with insecticides, but this can have unintended negative effects on bees. “The insecticide they’re using belongs to a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which has been implicated in bee decline,” explained Hoddle.&nbsp;



The pheromone is specific to the South American palm weevil, and is attractive to both male and female weevils.&nbsp;



“The weevil flies to it, walks over it several times, realizes there’s nothing in it to mate with and flies off. But by the time it’s gone, it’s gotten a lethal dose of insecticide,” said Hoddle.



According to the researchers, this new approach could provide weevil control at much lower costs, as well as reducing the amount and types of insecticides applied. The treatment may ultimately prevent the migration of palm weevils to Coachella Valley, which is home to a $100 million date palm industry.&nbsp;



Just a few “super flyers” could enable such an infestation of Coachella Valley, Hoddle said. “The date growers in Coachella could really use this. If it works in San Diego, we’ll have a tool ready for them.”



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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

Pheromones could help control deadly palm weevils

Invasive, long-nosed beetles known as palm weevils are destroying palm...

As the beginning of a phase 1 human clinical trial, scientists from biotechnology company <a href="http://www.imugene.com/">Imugene Ltd</a> and cancer research and treatment center <a href="https://www.cityofhope.org/">City of Hope</a> have recently injected the first human patient with a cancer-killing virus called CF33-hNIS VAXINIA, which has been shown to shrink solid cancerous tumors in animals. This oncolytic virus has been genetically engineered to infect, replicate within, and kill <a href="https://www.earth.com/news/a-plant-virus-could-help-cure-cancer/">cancer</a> cells, while sparing the healthy ones. Clinical trials on animals have shown that this treatment can significantly reduce the size of colon, lung, breast, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer tumors.



“The dosing of the first patient in our VAXINIA study is a significant milestone for Imugene and clinicians faced with the challenge of treatment for metastatic advanced solid tumors,” said Dr. Leslie Chong, MD, the CEO of Imugene.



“Our previous research demonstrated that oncolytic viruses can stimulate the immune system to respond to and kill cancer, as well as stimulate the immune system to be more responsive to other immunotherapies, including checkpoint inhibitors,” added Dr. Daneng Li, an assistant professor in the City of Hope’s Department of Medical Oncology &amp; Therapeutics.



VAXINIA is a type of “oncolytic virus” – a virus found in nature which has been genetically engineered to infect and kill cancer cells, while sparing healthy ones. Although other immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors have proven effective in containing the spread of certain cancers, patients often relapse and eventually develop resistance to this type of treatment. Researchers believe that VAXINIA can better prime patients’ immune systems by increasing the levels of a protein called PD-L1 in tumors, thus making immunotherapy more effective against a variety of cancers.



“Interestingly, the same characteristics that eventually make cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy or radiation treatment actually enhance the success of oncolytic viruses, such as CF33-hNIS,”&nbsp;said Dr. Yuman Fong, a surgical oncologist at City of Hope and one of the main developers of this innovative treatment. “We are hoping to harness the promise of virology and immunotherapy for the treatment of a wide variety of deadly cancers.”



The first phase of human clinical trials will begin by delivering low doses of this virus to cancer patients with metastatic or advanced solid tumors. If the trial demonstrates safety at low levels, new participants will receive the experimental oncolytic virus in combination with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, an engineered antibody which boosts the immune system’s ability to fight cancer cells.&nbsp;



“Now is the time to further enhance the power of immunotherapy, and we believe CF33-hNIS has the potential to improve outcomes for our patients in their battle with cancer,” concluded Dr. Li.



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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

First human injected with groundbreaking cancer-killing virus

As the beginning of a phase 1 human clinical trial,...

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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

[sendtonews key="iuA5mpp3jv-1641775-12187" 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.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

[sendtonews key="e4ZG0Jawp3-2374785-12187" type="single"] Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have created...

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard&nbsp;



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



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

Remote sensing will revolutionize the way we monitor trees

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

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: ESA&nbsp;



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



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

The city of Dublin on Ireland's east coast

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



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



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



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



Video/ Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The province of Zaragoza in northeast Spain

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



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



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



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



Video Credit: NASA Goddard



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



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

Wetlands are a major source of methane emissions

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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

The rapid retreat of the Columbia Glacier

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



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



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



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



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



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



Video &amp; Image Credit: ESA



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



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

The Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe

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

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



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



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



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



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



Video Credit: Stowers Institute for Medical Research&nbsp;



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



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

How the immune system responds to injury

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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"

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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

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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...